Version 4 is a beautifully-crafted, bug-free masterpiece. In addition to the original map dys_vaccine, two new additional maps, dys_fortress and dys_silo are included. Each of these maps has a very different layout, including different objectives and cyberspace design. However, while three maps sounds like a minimal amount, there are quite a few community-made maps that are pretty high-quality and provide for just as much fun as the official ones. One of the maps, entitled dys_well, is actually a remake of the Team Fortress map Well. Surprisingly enough it works very well as a Dystopia map.
During 2006's Games Developers Conference in March, Dystopia was announced as the Half-Life 2 mod of the year in the Independent Games Festival awards.
The first-ever Modding Competition also produced some extremely worthy winners, with cyberpunk title Dystopia winning out for best Half-Life 2 mod.
After 3 months of Dystopia's release it was named ModDB.com's Action Mod of the Year for 2005.
For so long we have been preaching uniqueness and the importance of making a mod that tries to do things differently, and evidently the community agree with us here. Dystopia, like all other top mods, listened to our pleas and have pumped out some awesome stuff and included some seriously cool, epileptic fit inducing ideas in their mod. It is futuristic team-based warfare at its best!
August 2005 saw Dystopia awarded ModDB.com's coveted originality award.
A unique and original mod, has been cranking out media, and most recently, a gameplay demo for the people at Free Play. The concept is based around cyberpunk lore, and the universe is compelling and the implementation excellent. This is cyberpunk.
Dystopia was announced as ModDB.com's mod of the month for October 2005.
Dystopia opens up a huge range of possibilities for those who join into it. But what makes this all work is the environments, which are open enough and full of enough little tricks and traps for each character-type to find a way to use things to their advantage. Hackers who prefer to work alone can duck into side hallways and work their magic, reversing turrets on people and opening up locked environments, while the snipers may stick to the rooftops and just prevent anyone from accessing the building with multiple headshots.
The Update 2 release of the Dystopia Demo was awarded PlanetHalfLife's mod of the week on September 29th, 2005.
As with many cyberpunk settings, computer networks are also part of the battlefield, and either team's success hinges on the use and protection of deckers; people who directly interface with the networks. Turrets, for example, are exceedingly dangerous and can't just be outgunned. Furthermore, while deckers are jacked in, their bodies are vulnerable, much like those using cameras in Half-Life 1. You must, therefore, be cognizant of what's going on in both realms; sometimes the way to victory is just watching the back of a decker... Or stopping one cold inside the network.