Whoa, whoa, whoa! I'm supposed to be the Stalker, NOT YOU!

Hey, do you remember Freeman's Mind? That old machinima made in Half-Life 1 that followed an increasingly-unhinged 27 year old sociopath with a doctorate in theoretical physics through his journey in escaping the Black Mesa Research Facility? No? Just me?

Created by Ross Scott, now known as the founder and face of the Stop Killing Games movement, the original series ran from 2007 to 2014 (just barely squeezing the final episode out moments before New Years to win a bet). When it was finished, he did something very unique in the world of media and released all of the more-than 9.5 hours of raw vocal tracks. Since that time, at least a half dozen mods for various games have been made that attempt to bring the character into the respective worlds. You may have seen at least one if you've browsed the X-COM 2 Steam Workshop, for example. This is another one of those projects, but with the largest scope I'm aware of.

I started working on this mod on the 15th of February, 2026. In that time I've already produced hundreds of voice clips. My process consists of listening to an episode's vocal track, isolating the vocals from the noise (some of them have pretty harsh echo or even buzzing), normalizing the loudness to match Voiced Actor's default lines, and performing any other edits I may need. Then I name the file to match an existing voice file in VA. The process is identical for Toxic Air, BHS (or BHSRO), WPO, and any other mod that uses voice lines.

I will also be modifying Voiced Actor (specifically SaloEater's version of Voiced Actor Redux) to increase the amount of triggers for various situations. This includes expanded existing triggers with more detail specific to the situation as well as completely brand new triggers for situations that currently don't exist at all in that mod's code.

If this all sounds tedious, well there's a reason that nobody has ever gone to this amount of effort before.

Below are the versions of the mod I expect to release, in order of expected release.

Version A (Lite)

I HAVE TO BLOW EVERYTHING UP! IT'S THE ONLY WAY TO PROVE I'M NOT CRAZY!

This will be the version that I'll have out first. It will replace existing lines in Voiced Actor (or Voiced Actor Refined), Toxic Air, Better Health System / Better Health System Realistic Overhaul, Weapon Parts Overhaul, Ledge Grabbing, and possibly more. It won't touch any scripts. It will have the least line variation and won't cover any of the new triggers Salo and I are going to figure out, but it will be the smallest and have full compatibility with everything. If you're not using a mod that's supported, it won't mess anything up.

I'll be extra selective for the lines in this version so that they minimize repetitiveness.

Version B (Expanded)

Unlike my colleagues, I have a tendency to stay alive! Since this morning, I've been bitten, shot, bombed, electrocuted, almost drowned, almost fallen to my death, and strangled. Rasputin wasn't so lucky! But, here I am, exposing myself to radiation. Why not? Let's add to the list: maybe I can get burned, stabbed, and poisoned before the day is done.

This will include all of above as well as massively increased line variations. It will modify the base VAR script unless/until I learn if making a monkeypatch is possible for expanding the range of sound files a trigger will look for. I'm hoping to un-hardcode the ranges for various triggers so that future updates will be as simple as dropping in more sound files.

This will also include brand new reactions that don't exist in the current version of VAR. I can't promise what those will be yet for the most part, but I can say that my goal is to have at least individual monster/stalker reactions that are affected by health, firepower, equipment, faction, rank and other things of this level. All of these lines will be triggered using the existing two keybinds in VAR and will NOT trigger on their own, though I may included a toggle or a set of toggles (off by default) to have some things things be automatic like spotting an enemy from a distance.

A minimal version of this with only the expanded line variations may be able to release at the same/close to the same time as Lite, but no promises.

Version C (Lunatic)

I'm on your side, you fucking idiots! How many of you do I have to kill for you to understand that? God damn, you're stupid! You're like a bunch of lemmings with machine guns! Do I look like an alien?! Am I green?! Do I have tentacles coming out of me?! Give me this, and this! Hey, is that a chopper? HEY, HEY, HEY!! HELP!! HELP ME!!

This will be for crazy people/fans of the show who want to feel like they're playing Freeman's Mind. You DO NOT want to download this if you like mostly having control over when you speak. While the other versions still mostly rely on you pressing a button for reactions that aren't related to your status, this version will have automatic reactions.

This means for example that if you see an enemy then you'll react automatically(with cool-downs set up to avoid spam and repetition), if you're in a particular location / weather you'll comment or complain about it, or if you're taking a particular drug you'll have something specific to say about it. Anything that could be commented on by an unhinged 27 year old sociopath with a doctorate in theoretical physics, will be.

I have no promises this version will see the light of day, nor do I have any timetable as to when it would come out, but this is essentially wish-fulfillment of a childhood dream.

While I'm a hundred percent in favor of having a tomb this size devoted to me, I shouldn't be put into it until after I'm dead. You don't bury the Pharaoh alive—that's what the help is for!