As you may know, ModDB is an excellent site for modders. Every year, the site hosts a competition where users vote for the mod which they consider the most outstanding.

You can vote for Swelter, but we'd also like to recommend a few Source mods we find deserving. Interestingly, ModDB allows you to nominate mods from any year. However, we will limit our recommendations to those released in 2023, including media, early access, and project updates.

https://steamproxy.net/steamstore/app/2224920/
https://www.moddb.com/mods/evacuation-demo

A full release featuring a short story mod with nice forest-themed visuals, dynamic gameplay, good music, and original content.
https://www.moddb.com/mods/portal-crumbs-of-truth/downloads

It features puzzles that are not overly complex, but rather concise. It has a decent balance of difficulty, and the playtime is reasonable. The level design is quite good, with a significant plus for Portal mods: the opportunity for the player to explore the backstage.
During the modding process for Portal 2, and through analyzing the game's universe, its future possibilities, and the core philosophy of its world, our affection for the second part gradually diminished. This experience also simultaneously reinforced our love for the original Portal. This shift in preference wasn't unique to just one member of the SDE Dev Team. Therefore, with much curiosity and hope, we are keenly focused on projects dedicated to the classic Portal from the Orange Box.
https://steamproxy.net/steamstore/app/1389950/Amalgam/
https://www.moddb.com/mods/amalgam

This mod, which initially released a couple of years ago, has recently received a substantial and expansive update this year — almost like a second release. The mod has indeed improved, becoming more diverse and polished. So, if you've played it before, a replay will still be engaging.
https://www.moddb.com/mods/entropy-zero-uprising

Although the mod was released in early access (only the first chapter is available), it can be seen as a complete product: the scope and quality of production of this first episode alone surpasses many projects.
The gameplay of the mod is interesting; the author has attempted to diversify the shooter with various activities such as transportation sections, puzzles, and exploration segments. We are waiting for the next chapter with anticipation! Script-wise and narratively Uprising is more satisfying than EZ2: the story is more serious and mature, there are more living characters, and the artistic component actively relies on real architectural forms instead of abstract corridors. EZ-Uprising episode 2 seems more promising than EZ3 at the moment.
https://www.moddb.com/mods/portal-ambition

The demo consists of six maps dedicated to the test chambers. The visual quality is comparable to the original game, and the puzzles are especially interesting due to geometrically unusual room designs.
https://www.moddb.com/mods/dark-interval

The mod stands out from other projects dedicated to pre-release concepts of Half-Life 2. This project can be perceived as a special, an author/director's version of HL: instead of mindlessly following the concepts from Raising the Bar pages, much attention is paid to the development of in-game philosophy and world rules, without strict and unnecessary attachments to the subjective and ephemeral, supposedly existing canon. Rather than "restoring" the beta, as many projects do, DI exactly evolves the beta's ideas.
Painstaking work with the HL2 universe, great artwork and non-corridor level design, excellent work with many new assets.
https://www.moddb.com/mods/opposing-force-2

The Half-Life community has seen many attempts to continue the fate of Adrian Shepard or involve him in a side story. Almost all of these projects failed to reach even an average level of quality. Urban Chaos was a pleasant exception, marking a significant breakthrough in quality compared to other Opposing Force sequel projects. This result is expected: the current team has all the necessary knowledge and skills, and the key members of the team are invested in a promising masterpiece with sincere inspiration and enviable dedication.
https://www.moddb.com/mods/blasted-lands-2

This is the sequel to an intriguing modification that was released about two years ago. Noteworthy features include well-staged scenes, gloomy locations, and engaging gameplay. So far, not much media has been published to ascertain the development status, but the author has proven himself with the first part, so we wish further success in the development of the project and wait for the next release with hope.
It should be emphasized that this selection is not the position of the entire team, it is primarily a personal recommendation of the SDE Dev Team leader - MyCbEH (Musien).


We appreciate your interest and look forward to your participation in the voting!

The challenge of localizing Swelter into languages reflective of the story's regional setting was identified prior to the release of the modification. Unfortunately, we were unable to address this issue independently.

Today, we celebrate a significant achievement: enthusiasts have created the most authentic Kazakh localization of Swelter! All in-game texts and textures have been translated:
The stunning local nature and unique regional architecture, which are rarely represented in video games to our dismay, served as the primary inspirations for the mod's design. We are thrilled to know that a significant portion of the local population will now be able to enjoy Swelter in a more immersive and comfortable way.
Regrettably, neither Steam nor Half-Life 2 currently support the Kazakh language. As a result, selecting Kazakh will be facilitated through the UI menu of startup options that appears in Steam when launching the application:

In that case, please read the recommendations from the first update: https://steamproxy.net/steamstore/news/app/1815330/view/3674423070131346593

Hello, dear fans of Half-Life 2 modifications!

We often see requests in the comments for translations of Swelter into different languages. We're especially frequently asked to add Turkish, Kazakh, and Dutch localizations. While we'd be thrilled to make the modification even more accessible and comfortable for diverse audiences, please understand that our resources are limited. We are a small team working on a voluntary, non-profit basis and unfortunately cannot afford to hire professional translators.

To create a localization in your language, we have to rely solely on the enthusiasm of volunteers from your community. Of course, we will provide assistance with the technical integration of the translation into the modification.

It's thanks to the efforts of individual members of the creative community, whom we deeply respect, that we've been able to offer localizations in English, Chinese, Korean, Swedish, French, Italian, Spanish, Ukrainian, Japanese, German, and Polish. All these translations were completed by volunteers on a pro bono basis. It is because of such enthusiasts that native speakers can enjoy playing Swelter in their own language.

- Angel_live for translating the mod's text into Polish;
- https://steamproxy.net/profiles/76561197970309264/ for translating all mod texts and textures into German.
We would like to bring to the attention of German-speaking HL2 mods lovers that https://steamproxy.net/profiles/76561197970309264/ has created localizations for an impressive number of Source Engine modifications. You can view the list here: https://steamproxy.net/groups/MrDukeGameTranslation

The more languages the community contributes to mod, the more challenging it becomes to adequately express our gratitude. As of August 2023, Polish and German are among the top ten most popular languages among Steam users, ranking in 9th and 6th place respectively. Now, even more players will be able to experience Swelter in a language they are comfortable with!


In that case, please read the recommendations from the first update: https://steamproxy.net/steamstore/news/app/1815330/view/3674423070131346593

- uncut(有給あり) for Japanese closed captions, UI and textures;
The mod is already translated into Chinese, Ukrainian, Korean, Japanese, Swedish, Spanish, Italian, and French, with more translations in the process! We remind you that all this is only possible thanks to you, thanks to the community! We thank you, dear volunteer translators, for making the mod more accessible and enjoyable for speakers of various languages!


In that case, please read the recommendations from the first update: https://steamproxy.net/steamstore/news/app/1815330/view/3674423070131346593

- Lavash_Lev1 for translating all the game texts (interface, closed captions, textures) into Ukrainian.
- infu[ko-fi.com] for the Italian closed captions and UI.
- kSHOU98 for the Spanish closed captions and UI.
- Mazdo[community.lambdageneration.com] for the French closed captions, UI and textures.

We would like to give special recognition to the team that provided the Chinese localization with dubbing! This was made possible thanks to:
We are amazed at speed and the quality of work! The voice acting is top-notch! We thank you for your dedicated effort!

The contributions from all these individuals towards localization will enable many more players to enjoy Swelter in their native language - a truly outstanding accomplishment!

Of course, we continue to work on bug fixes based on your reports.

1. Fixed some irritating issues (such as the yellow elevator getting stuck) on various maps;
2. Added Ukrainian, Spanish, French and Italian localizations;
3. Added dubbing to the Chinese localization.

In that case, please read the recommendations from the first update: https://steamproxy.net/steamstore/news/app/1815330/view/3674423070131346593

-Blend for Korean closed captions, UI and textures;
-Moka for Swedish closed captions and UI.

In addition, we continue to receive your bug reports and are actively working on bug fixes.

1. Some balance issues were resolved;
2. We are still polishing maps;
3. Аdded Korean and Swedish localization.

In that case, please read the recommendations from the first update: https://steamproxy.net/steamstore/news/app/1815330/view/3674423070131346593

Swelter is now available in Simplified Chinese: the in-game texts, textures, and interfaces have been fully translated!

- kill-falldown
- Insane Black Rock Shooter
- HelloTimber
- UI6NWT
- 夕云型风云

Swelter contains a large amount of text, including a huge number of textures with gameplay or story important text. But this was no obstacle for the guys above! We thank them from the bottom of our hearts for such a quick and high quality result!

Community enthusiasm is the foundation upon which all Source modding rests!

In addition to that, the work on fixing bugs did not stop. We continue to receive your bug reports and put patches on good old Source.

1. Rebalance of unjustifiably difficult unique moments;
2. Soft lock fixes (trapped in dead-end places, getting stuck);
3. Аdded Simplified Chinese localization.

In that case, please read the recommendations from the first update: https://steamproxy.net/steamstore/news/app/1815330/view/3674423070131346593

We've previously written about the unique features of the original soundtrack, created by our friend and composer, Paweł Perepelica (article can be found on ModDB). Since then, the modification has been released, receiving its first reactions. Naturally, your reviews haven't overlooked the soundtrack!

Many players have noticed our use of the original Half-Life soundtrack. The more perceptive among you also recognized that our original soundtrack pays homage in many ways to Kelly Bailey's compositions. This is no coincidence! The Swelter soundtrack, including the much-loved Nuclear Mission Jam remake, is our love letter to the original Half-Life soundtrack. Even years after the release of the first game in the series, we find ourselves returning to its soundtrack, filled with the warmest and most sincere emotions.

You can enjoy these songs on any platform you prefer:

• Steam
  
• Spotify[open.spotify.com]
  
• YouTube Music
  
• Apple Music[music.apple.com]
  
• Bandcamp[pawelperepelica.bandcamp.com]
  
• Deezer[www.deezer.com]
  
• Soundcloud[soundcloud.com]

Enjoy listening and see you soon!