The mod focuses on these things:
-New contentNew Maps*
New Monsters*
New Weapons
Making the mod feel like a new game, like you're not just playing good old Half-Life
-Customized games. When the map changes, the host or a random player gets to pick:*-Weapon sets
-Physical properties like gravity, speed, fall damage
-Health, shield strength, shield recharge speed (think Halo, except shields are disabled by default)
-Whether or not the map should contain monster events - random events created by the mapper where monsters appear
-Number of teams
-Gameplay mode: - Deathmatch, Survival, Capture the Flag, Oddball - and Battle Royale (when you spawn you get 1 weapon at random) versions of those.
-Mappers get to define default values and specify things like teams' names, models, health etc. and optionally player classes with different guns.
-Mappers get to create different variations of their maps for the different game modes. A mapper can choose to only support certain game modes.
-A low threshold for beginners - weapons and game mechanics should be as easy to learn as possible.-It shouldn't be like HLDM where a new player can't even touch an experienced one because they're bunny jumping at 100 km/h scoring headshots with their gauss.
-The stats and behaviours of every HL weapon have been tweaked. As an example, the crossbow now has a single fire mode - it fires a visible bolt affected by gravity
-There's a tiny bit of (optional) rubberbanding - a terrible player will take 10% less damage than someone really doing really well. I realize that rubberbanding is controversial, but when done in moderation I think it helps everyone have more fun - experienced players won't feel a need to hold back
-I actively avoid features like shooting through walls or being able to purchase weapons that make a game harder to learn
-Xbox 360 controller support. Because why not, it was easy to code
-Greater focus on movement and strategy, making it less about having good aim and more about quick thinking:-Rocket/grenade jumping
-Double jumping
-You slide on the ground when going from running to crouching, making you harder to hit
-The crosshair is now slightly below the center of the screen, which makes it easier to spot enemies above.
-You can blow up enemy explosives by firing at them with your gun
-The included maps will have explosives and other destructibles and features of the environment you can use to your advantage
-I might also include vehicles, but I haven't decided yet. I should be able to pull off the coding, but I'd need good models and animations and I'm not sure how well they'd work for high-ping players.
-Updated visuals. I won't pretend that the HL engine is modern, but a few things can be done to make its age less eye-soaringly obvious:-Hi-res textures, models, sprites and skyboxes and new maps to take advantage of these resources.
-Higher-quality sound effects.
-New visual effects. For example the weapons are no longer completely still when the player isn't moving and you can now see your own legs.
-A new GUI, designed to look crisp at any resolution.*
-Tripmines now deploy at an angle based on what direction the player is facing.
-The goal isn't to make it look like Crysis, just to make it feel a bit more early 21st century and stylistically pleasing
Most of the sprites, models and sounds will be borrowed from other people (I'll ask for permission before releasing anything), but all the maps, code and design and many of the textures will be made from scratch.