I love you guys for doing this. Your todo list also looks very impressive. It will contain everything I always dreamed of.
Additional wishes or recommendations if not added yet:
-Solokillers random trigger spawning possibility. Making each play through unique and different.
-Solokillers triggers that only activate based upon the set difficulty.
-Solokillers Audio library & entity maximum extension. (I believe that was already included within Field Intensity, am I right?) So that the game allows for more maximum npc sentences written within the sentences.txt and an increased number of entity usage within any given map.
-Fix on Field Intensity Code and probably here as well to give Hecu_Ally_Grunts a rifle. When I spawned em per entity or per console they still spawn without a rifle just like in the original Op4 SDK.
As far as Monsters go possibly this:
-Hecu Minigunner, seeing how you're gonna add the minigun at some point.
-rpg hecu and blackop rpg variant- also being able to take on choppers.
-Robo Grunt of the censored German Version?
-Decay: npc Keller. Rosenberg is already in it if I remember correctly.
-Eventually a port of the Sweet Half-Life Hev Suit npcs & the Grey Aliens?
-Would be cool to get the Todesangst 2 Loader Enemies in as well. That was a one timer. Haven't seen anything like it any other Half-Life mod since.
-Eventually female Scientists
https://gamebanana.com/mods/393927 (I've got a full sound set ready, based upon their male counterparts.)
But it's not yet released. Let me know if you're interested in obtaining that.
-Female Azure Sheep Security Guards.
While these can get added in by the mapper themselves it might save time and would serve as full package for any upcoming mappers to have everything available from start.
Last but not least a minor and more fun like request:
-If permission given add the brown shocktrooper variant of this SDK project onto your project:
https://www.moddb.com/mods/opposing-force-enlightened It uses the former Alpha model but enhanced to the default op4 standards and uses the spore launcher instead the shock roach. Of course it's just a simple weapon and model swap within the entities in the editor but still kinda cool to have. Maybe eventually as 2nd skin within the model itself? Might be even cool to have for Field Intensity. That combined with a slight different pitch within the monster entities and you get a female version of said Alien.
As far as the Archer is concerned: I love how it got handled back in Azure Sheep, game play wise.
Although an additional distance attack might not be wrong especially if the player is hiding behind something in the water.
It could have 3 attacks.
1. When it comes under close range attack from the player with a crowbar it will release a minor electrical charge which stuns the player and their vision, swims off before charging or long range attacking the player again. Similar like you did with the Alien Slaves.
2. the regular bite animation that azure sheep portrayed
3. and your suggested pit drone like attack.
I'd love to get the sounds from the Azure Sheep version for it. It had the best sounds for the Archer and the most memorable.
Stukabat - Hl: Point of View - hanging as ammo or idling around in the air and attacking any humans once it sees them.
Panthereye - Hl: Invasion, yes.
Charger - Hl: Invasion, yes.
Alienflyer aka Aflock - Love to see a dynamic flight script like you did for the boid.
chumtoad - Idle walking and hopping logic like for the boids. If approached to closely they explode on you.