Half-Life Xen Flyer "Manta" Created 18 years ago2006-03-11 21:18:52 UTC by HeAdCrAb KILLA

Does anyone know where I could obtain one of those "Manta" things from Xen? They are those flying creature things (not a model aka Flyer Flock) that typically spawn the alien grunts. They also use the "shell" textures and are brown and blue. Has anyone made one that still has the .rmf for it? It would be greatly appreciated if I could get one from somebody.

NOTE: There seem to be two types of these "Manta" things. There is a smaller one with one tail and a larger one with two tails. Ideally, a larger one could be found.

I though it was an entity...

I don't know of anywhere that you can get them, but it isn't an entity, because there are textures for them in the xeno wad. Besides, I think they would be less blocky, if they were models.

They are def not models i kno that for sure.

In about 2 hours, I'll try to make a prefab and post it in the map vualt or somewhere else. Or, if you can't wait, you can try decompiling some xen maps.

Here are manta prefabs I made:

http://twhl.co.za/mapvault_map.php?id=3760

Hope It's what you're looking for. They aren't identical to the original, but enough so that most people wouldn't notice the minor differences.

They are def not models i kno that for sure.

there is a manta ray model but people prefer func_train more.

Really? I didn't notice it in the Half-Life .pak file last time I checked...

Edit: I just looked through the pak file again and didn't find anything

Im pretty sure they are brush entities, Make them as best you can.

Thanks for the prefabs. They look great! I've tried making a couple myself but I always seem to get the scale and the shape wrong. I have also tied decompiling the Xen maps to get one but long story short, It would have taken me longer to fix the original than to find a prefab or make my own. Thanks again!

Maybe the Manta was converted into a model after the release of HL. I didn't notice that any of them were models in the game and the .mdl file is nowhere to be found.

Oh yeah and I will make sure to give you (Srry) the credit for making the prefabs. I will add you to the list of people that have helped out.

Really? I didn't notice it in the Half-Life .pak file last time I checked...
Edit: I just looked through the pak file again and didn't find anything

Its not in the .pak file.Its a custom made, several people have it.It doesnt have many scripts/animation, so it sucks.I prefer func_train more.

lol It's a brush entity! It uses those POD textures, I think.

lol It's a brush entity!

We know

I have also tied decompiling the Xen maps to get one but long story short, It would have taken me longer to fix the original than to find a prefab or make my own

When you make prefabs from decompiled maps, it actually helps to not try and "fix" the original, but instead take a block and clip out the general shape of the object, using the decompiled one as a template, due to the many off-grid vertices that the original will have.

This usually works better for less complex objects, but just thought I'd share that with you in case you were wondering.

why dont u play through xen, take some refrence screenies and map your own?

thats what i would do... best way imo

I do that for some things (like texture alignment), but it's hard to get the scale and everything perfect (or nearly perfect), when you rely on screenshots alone.

Edit: it's also hard to catch up with some of the manta to get good screenshots of them, even with noclip on.

i think the 2 player co-op game on the PS2 version of HL has the manta ray thing as a boss on the last level.

Yes, actually the manta is a boss for the "Decay" Cooperative mode on the PS2 version of Half-Life. The console version of HL also kicks ass!!! The cooperative mission is actually pretty lengthy. I thought it was a lot of fun.

@ srry : Tru that

The Ps version also had a extra map pack where you play as a alien slave like in POV

Yeah I never played that tho, you had to get like all A ranks on all of the missions or something which is uber hard. Is there some kind of cheat code?

i have the ps2 version of HL1... i dont ever remember there being grades for the levels. Im playing it on hard mode and its actually hard.. i hate not being able to pinpoint look.. i favor a mouse over 2 analog sticks ANY day

Is there a way to play the PS version of HL1 on the pc? Maybe through emulating? This HL: Decay thing got me interested.

Erm, may I ask why the hell you'd bother?

Cuz it features unseen area's of Black Mesa.

Yeah the co-op mission Decay was actually pretty sick. Not sure if you could emulate the game. I think i might have tried that once with the USBs. If you cant just pick up the actual game. It goes for around like twenty bucks or something. I got mine off Amazon. You'll like it a lot if you play with a friend. There are parts that feel just like SVEN co-op where one person has to do something and one person another. It's a good addon to the story. You play as these two female HEV people in Decay and you are below the test chamber when gordon fucks everything up. You will also find out WHO called in the military and there is a strange dude in a wheelchair lol. Its got the HL HD pack so it looks better than the PC version and also features small DM maps. You will enjoy seeing different parts of Black Mesa as well.

Some other things I remember about the PS2 version are that in the singleplayer mode (Half-Life), VALVe completely changed some of the map layouts. This isn't a bad thing though, most of them were dramatically improved. The one map i can remember being changed the most is when you first arrive at the "Office Complex" chapter from the elevator. That first area has a completely different layout that fits is so much better. The other thing I remember is that there is this one really inpressive map in the Decay story. It is some kind of Xen species genetics lab where some of the creatures are being tested on. It was pretty sweet. The Heath and HEV stations were also changed. They look ten-times better than the PC ones. Overall, HL1PS2 is a must-buy if you liked the one on the PC. The only real bad thing is the use of the PS2 controller and not relying on your trusty mouse to aim and such but you will find that if you play it a lot you will get used to it.