About Last Hope

The Vision

Last Hope was born from a simple but ambitious idea: what if you could experience the tactical alien defense gameplay of X-COM from a first-person perspective? Using Valve's Half-Life engine, the team set out to create a modification that would capture the spirit and atmosphere of the X-COM universe.

The mod aimed to recreate the tension and tactical depth of X-COM missions, where every corner could hide an alien threat and every shot could mean the difference between mission success and catastrophic failure.

Project Timeline

June 14, 2002: The Last Hope forums launched at lasthopemod.com. Founding members Salvi (Project Lead), ApOcaLyPSe_1985 (Lead Modeller), and Psyguy (Forum Moderator) registered on this day, marking the official start of the project.

Summer 2002: The community grew rapidly. By August, forums had 45+ topics and 500+ posts in General Discussion alone. Contributors like Cyalume, Futant, XPlicit, and Nod joined the team.

November 2002: Salvi completed the website backend. The community celebrated watching the site update "right before their eyes."

2002-2003: Active development continued with weapon models, maps, and assets. Pendra37 asked about alpha/beta release dates. The forum grew to 50+ registered members.

2004-2006: Development slowed. By late 2004, the domain was briefly parked before eventually transitioning to a new team and a new project - the Crysis-era Last Hope.

X-COM Heritage

X-COM: UFO Defense (also known as UFO: Enemy Unknown) captivated players worldwide with its blend of strategic base management and tactical turn-based combat. The series became a cult classic, inspiring countless fans and game developers.

Last Hope drew from this rich heritage, incorporating:

• X-COM styled weapon designs and equipment
• The tense atmosphere of alien encounters
• Mission-based gameplay scenarios
• The iconic visual style of X-COM environments
• The soldier vs. alien combat dynamic

Development Approach

Development was community-driven from the start. The phpBB 2.0 forums at lasthopemod.com/dboard/ served as the central hub where contributors could share their work, receive feedback, and collaborate with other modders. Using the classic subSilver theme, the forums provided a familiar environment for the modding community.

The community was truly international - members from the USA, Netherlands, UK, Canada, Hungary, Russia, Australia, Egypt, and beyond came together united by their love of X-COM. Conversations ranged from technical modelling discussions to holiday greetings posted in multiple languages.

The website featured dedicated sections for showcasing different types of content:

• Models: Character and object models (Nod from Russia was particularly prolific)
• Weapons: Custom weapon models based on X-COM arsenal (ApOcaLyPSe_1985's specialty)
• Items: Equipment and pickup items
• In-Game: Screenshots showing actual gameplay and maps (XPlicit's Farm map, etc.)

Technical Foundation

Built on the GoldSrc engine (Half-Life 1), Last Hope leveraged the mature modding ecosystem that had grown around Valve's flagship shooter. This gave the team access to established tools and a wealth of community knowledge.

The original website used server-side includes (.shtml files) and was styled with the dark color scheme that became iconic to the project - featuring the distinctive orange (#DD8300) accent color that we've preserved in this memorial.