The ORION Project
www.orion-project.net

About ORION
ORION is an independently developed total conversion utilizing Valve Software’s Orange Box engine. ORION immerses the player in an intense online experience. Featuring fast-paced tactical gameplay on futuristic battlefields, ORION brings the fun into gameplay. Orion is currently in closed beta testing, nearing release.

The Story of ORION
It was Earth's last days. What was once a living, breathing, and very ambitious world is now on its last breath. The year is 2172. Earth has run its course with resources, leaving little to none.

There are three major powers in the world at this time. The NAF (North America Faction) which owns the majority of the lands, as well as the EUF (European United Faction) as well as the Government in the Far East. During these times the three major powers have formed treaties and agreements and act as one large world power. Resources have become so bare that the Government has taken it upon themselves to ration out the foods to the citizens. In order to do this they established the City of Cera located off the coast of Africa as the major city. Forcing major businesses and companies to re-located into Cera causing many of the workers to move there as well. They had also established reasonably priced housing in Cera in order to move the poor in. Doing so made it easier to ration out food, water, and clothing at a faster pace. But doing so also caused problems. People of Cera had formed rebel alliance groups. These groups became well-trained as well as very organized. Their families were dieing of starvation, dehydration as well as illnesses from malnutrition. The Rebels were only fighting to survive. Having all of the companies, businesses and government offices located in Cera made it very easy for the Rebel Alliances to do bombings as well as raids. This caused the Government to begin the Carrier Project as well as the more extreme, Phoenix Project.
Civil War lasted for 5 years on Earth. Many died, resources were lost. This put the Government in a terrible dilemma. In the year 2174 the Government began researching and searching for a suitable environment to "start over." After 10 years of looking they had found exactly what they were hoping for in the Dawn Galaxy. They code named the planet "ORION."  and in the next 5 years they began getting ready for a landing on ORION.

While scientists were studying ORION they saw signs of life. It had puzzled them as it was a very rare breed of life, beasts. In the year 2192 the first batch of scientists and military soldiers had landed on ORION and began setting up communication bases in order to contact Earth. They set up communication towers, bunkers, and bases in order to conduct their tests. Every week more scientists and marines arrived.

They studied the planet and began tests on the environment. Once realizing that the planet was suitable, and surprisingly nearly an exact copy of Earth, the Government had to make people aware of the situation. This had caused more rebel outbreaks since the poor would have a hard time affording living there, or even affording to get there.
Civil war continued for another 4 years.


The year is 2220. The Carrier Project has been completed and the Phoenix Project will be done within the next 10 years. The first batch of Carrier Marines were sent to Orion in order to preserve the safety of the Scientists.

The year is 2232. The Phoenix Project is being finalized and the first batches of Phoenix Warriors are sent throughout the City of Cera to maintain peace and order. Over the course of 2232 to 2240 only one Phoenix Warrior died in a war in Cera.

2240. The citizens of ORION notice strange marks in the sky over ORION. Blue streaks of light during the day time with loud sounds that would howl. They couldn’t figure out what they were, but a team of scientists were ordered to stop working on Orion and focus on the mysterious streaks of light.

2241. One of the Military Communication bases located in the Terra region in the snow covered mountains loses signal.

2242. The War starts.

Features of ORION
>> Free Total Conversion
Only Steam and a Orange-Box based game required to play!

>> Dynamic Combat:
Iron sights, reflex scopes, bullet penetration, bullet ricochet, melee attacks, weapon firemodes and more!

>> Aerial Combat:
Take the combat to the skies with the Assault player class. Equipped with Jetpacks, traverse the levels from a new perspective and rein fire from above.

>> Class-based Gameplay:
Featuring 3 classes per team on its first public release:
- Assault
- Support
- Sniper
(Each class features a different weapon load out and different areas of performance. Find the one that fits you best and unload on your enemies!)

>> Weapon and Medical Supply caches
Located all over the battlefield, re-arm and resupply your health with these caches.

>> Interactive HUD (Heads-Up-Display)
Teammate awareness, Objective markers, audio-based information, and weapon diagnostics all located on the screen at the right time!

>> Breathtaking environments
Duke it out on some of Source’s most elaborate and detailed environments. Ranging from grass covered valleys or underground in a complex cave system. All using custom created content and models! 7 maps will be featured in the first public release, including:
- Quagmire
- Catchment
- Geode
- Bare
- Shadow
- Depth
- Highrise

>> New Weaponry
Featuring 17 brand new weapons on its first release, with around double the amount to come through future Content Updates!

>> Interactive Game-Modes
The first to be featured in ORION will be a version of Capture The Flag. There are 6 planned game modes already, including one completely original. Others to be released via Content Updates (shortly after the first public release) include: deathmatch, team deathmatch, search and destroy, cooperative, and our unique game mode, Vital.

ORION Media
Screenshots
             

Gameplay Video
Gameplay footage a few patches back, song from the official ORION soundtrack: http://www.moddb.com/mods/orion1/videos/orion-gameplay-2009

Gameplay footage a few patches back, song from the official ORION soundtrack: http://www.moddb.com/mods/orion1/videos/orion-gameplay-2009-nov-10-2009

The complete soundtrack can be downloaded @ http://www.orion-project.net/Team/files/Orion_Soundtrack_Vol_01.rar

Worth listening through, for sure. Really quality production on it.

ooh t-rex. im sold.

but wait, do you mean having the full orange box, or will just the source engine/half-life2 suffice? coz i never got round to buying the orange box and its a rare find where i live.

Originally posted by haelikoth

ooh t-rex. im sold.

but wait, do you mean having the full orange box, or will just the source engine/half-life2 suffice? coz i never got round to buying the orange box and its a rare find where i live.

Any title that uses the Orange Box update to the Source engine is required.

There was a sale not too long ago where TF2 was extremely cheap, under $10. It's at $19.99 right now, but it'd allow you to play.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/440/

looks good, any release date?

Originally posted by decoy26517

looks good, any release date?

This month. Serious patching currently going on. Should be a decent sized launch, tho.

There's a gameplay video up @ http://www.moddb.com/mods/orion1/videos/orion-gameplay-2009. The footage is from a few patches ago, but it gives the general idea of the pace and stuff. Really reminds me of Tribes and similar games; really fast paced and requires team coordination.
 

Does "The Orion Project", have anything to do with "Orion prophecy" released waaaay back in the mid 90's?

Originally posted by denshing

Does "The Orion Project", have anything to do with "Orion prophecy" released waaaay back in the mid 90's?

Good question. I honestly couldn't tell you, tho. You'd be better off asking Praz. I can see how it could of influenced it, tho. 

Originally posted by Synthetick

Originally posted by haelikoth

ooh t-rex. im sold.

but wait, do you mean having the full orange box, or will just the source engine/half-life2 suffice? coz i never got round to buying the orange box and its a rare find where i live.

Any title that uses the Orange Box update to the Source engine is required.

There was a sale not too long ago where TF2 was extremely cheap, under $10. It's at $19.99 right now, but it'd allow you to play.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/440/

 

i bought portal as a separate game some time back, thats part of the orange box package right? would that have update the engine?

Sounds interesting. Might have to check it out...

Originally posted by haelikoth

Originally posted by Synthetick

Originally posted by haelikoth

ooh t-rex. im sold.

but wait, do you mean having the full orange box, or will just the source engine/half-life2 suffice? coz i never got round to buying the orange box and its a rare find where i live.

Any title that uses the Orange Box update to the Source engine is required.

There was a sale not too long ago where TF2 was extremely cheap, under $10. It's at $19.99 right now, but it'd allow you to play.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/440/

 

i bought portal as a separate game some time back, thats part of the orange box package right? would that have update the engine?

You should be good to go.

Release is drawing closer and closer; lots of big patches coming to place. Anyone who hasn't should go sign up on the beta forums, or at least just check out some of the media and what ORION is about. 

New Beta Screenshots

New Beta Gameplay Video

http://www.moddb.com/mods/orion1/videos/orion-gameplay-2009-nov-10-2009

 HiRez studios,  kill those modders. its global agenda with the half life engine -.-'

Originally posted by vladakov

 HiRez studios,  kill those modders. its global agenda with the half life engine -.-'

It's actually plays really similar to Tribes and looks more like Halo-esque. We have no mechs, none of that. Can you really even make that comparison? lol. And the fact ORION has been in development with the same core design for 10 years.

Originally posted by Synthetick

Originally posted by vladakov

 HiRez studios,  kill those modders. its global agenda with the half life engine -.-'

It's actually plays really similar to Tribes and looks more like Halo-esque. We have no mechs, none of that. Can you really even make that comparison? lol. And the fact ORION has been in development with the same core design for 10 years.

10 years in development and they have this? i won't even touch that game if i'd be getting paid to play it