View source for They Hunger: Lost Souls (found builds of unreleased sequel to "Half-Life" game mod; 2005-2008)

{{InfoboxFound
|title=<center>They Hunger: Lost Souls</center>
|image=Logo th.gif
|imagecaption=The mod's logo.
|status=<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|datefound=03 Feb 2019
|foundby=''Unknown''
}}
'''''They Hunger''''' is a video game mod based on ''Half-Life''’s GoldSrc Engine developed by Black Widow Studios, with its first episode being released in 1999, followed by the second and third episodes, which were released in 2000 and 2001, respectively. Notable for its horror-themed atmosphere and gameplay, the mod received critical praise at the time and remains one of the most acclaimed single-player GoldSrc mods of all time.

With the release of ''Half-Life 2'', Black Widow Games started working on a sequel titled '''''They Hunger: Lost Souls''''', using the then-recent Source Engine.<ref>[https://store.steampowered.com/news/468 Steam news article about the announcement of the mod.] Retrieved 04 May '20</ref><ref>[https://ign.com/articles/2005/10/19/they-hunger-goes-source IGN article about the announcement of the mod.] Retrieved 04 May '20</ref> On April 6th, 2006, Black Widow Games announced that ''Lost Souls'' would soon get an alpha release, stating that its level design was almost complete at the time of the news posting. This, however, would be the only update from the development team.<ref>[https://moddb.com/games/they-hunger-lost-souls/news/they-hunger-lost-souls-goes-alpha Black Widow Games' update article on ModDB.] Retrieved 04 May '20</ref>

With the lack of updates throughout the years, many fans of the mod have speculated that the mod's development halted due to project leader Neil Manke being seriously ill or had passed away. However, those rumors were proven false by a former member of Black Widow Games, who on January 2015 went to the MapCore forums stating that he had spoken with Einar Saukas, the mod’s lead programmer. Einar confirmed that Manke was alive and well, though he has been unable to keep in touch with him. He had also stated that the mod was not cancelled, despite nearly a decade without updates.<ref>[https://mapcore.org/topic/12819-wheres-they-hunger-lost-souls-gone/page/5/ MapCore forums thread about ''They Hunger: Lost Souls'', where a former developer at Black Widow Games talks about the state of the mod and its lead developers.] Retrieved 04 May '20</ref>

==Resurface==
On February 3rd, 2019, an anonymous user uploaded two alpha builds of ''They Hunger: Lost Souls'' onto the Valve Archive repository.<ref>[https://valvearchive.com/archive/Other%20Files/Community%20Content/They%20Hunger%20Lost%20Souls/ Valve Archive's directory of the mod, which includes an empty folder titled "builds".] Retrieved 04 May '20</ref> The builds have since been removed, however they were uploaded on ModDB, later in May. The builds are dated November 30th, 2006 and April 2nd, 2008. As with several Source mods early in development, both builds make heavy use of assets borrowed from ''Half-Life 2'', though the 2008 build includes several original assets. 

==Gallery==
<gallery mode=packed heights=150px>
Thls screen 34.jpg|Screenshot depicting the train at the mod's opening.
Thls screen 36.jpg
Thls screen 37.jpg
Thls screen 41.jpg
Thls screen 43.jpg|Screenshot showing the mod's health system, displayed at the main character's wristwatch.
Thls screen 26.jpg
Thls screen 35.jpg
35993.jpg 
35997.jpg
</gallery>
===Videos===
{{Video|perrow  =2
  |service1     =youtube
  |id1          =GPAeBD8e4AQ
  |description1 =Walkthrough of the 2006 build.
  |service2     =youtube
  |id2          =diUUfAzeEdo
  |description2 =Gameplay video of the 2008 build.
}}

==See Also==
*[[Electric Playground "Team Fortress 2 Beta" (lost episode of online video game news show; 2007)]]
*[[Escape from Team Fortress (found cancelled web series; 2014-2015)]]
*[[Get Your Free TVs! (partially found "Half-Life 2" tech demo; 2000)]]
*[[Half-Life (found Dreamcast port of first-person shooter; 2000-2001)]]
*[[Left 4 Dead 2 "The Cabin in the Woods" (lost build of cancelled movie tie-in DLC campaign for first-person horror shooter sequel; 2009-2010)]]
*[[Team Fortress 2 (partially found original builds of PC multiplayer first-person shooter sequel; 1999-2006)]]
*[[Team Fortress 2 "Expiration Date" (partially found screenplay and extended cut of animated short; 2012-2014)]]
*[[Team Fortress Classic (lost build of cancelled Xbox port of PC multiplayer first-person shooter; existence unconfirmed; early 2000s)]]

==External Links==
*[https://moddb.com/downloads/they-hunger-lost-souls-alpha-and-beta-builds Link to the leaked builds of ''They Hunger: Lost Souls'' on ModDB.] Retrieved 04 May '20
*[https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/They_Hunger:_Lost_Souls Valve Developer Wiki's page about the mod.] Retrieved 04 May '20

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Found media]]
[[Category:Found video games]]