<s>
Sven	B-Application
Co-op	I-Application
is	O
a	O
co-op	O
variation	O
of	O
the	O
1998	O
first-person	O
shooter	O
Half-Life	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
,	O
initially	O
released	O
as	O
a	O
mod	O
in	O
January	O
1999	O
,	O
and	O
created	O
by	O
Daniel	O
"	O
Sven	O
Viking	O
"	O
Fearon	O
,	O
enables	O
players	O
to	O
play	O
together	O
on	O
online	O
servers	O
to	O
complete	O
levels	O
,	O
many	O
of	O
which	O
are	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
Half-Life	B-Application
universe	O
but	O
include	O
other	O
genres	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
to	O
the	O
cooperative	O
gameplay	O
,	O
Sven	B-Application
Co-op	I-Application
includes	O
improvements	O
from	O
the	O
original	O
Half-Life	B-Application
,	O
including	O
improved	O
artificial	B-Application
intelligence	I-Application
for	O
both	O
enemy	O
and	O
allied	O
non-player	O
characters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2013	O
,	O
Valve	O
,	O
which	O
owns	O
the	O
rights	O
to	O
the	O
Half-Life	B-Application
series	O
,	O
gave	O
the	O
development	O
team	O
the	O
rights	O
to	O
publish	O
the	O
modification	O
as	O
a	O
standalone	O
title	O
on	O
Steam	B-Application
,	O
and	O
further	O
allowed	O
them	O
to	O
distribute	O
the	O
maps	O
and	O
assets	O
of	O
Half-Life	B-Application
to	O
support	O
its	O
release	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Sven	B-Application
Co-op	I-Application
is	O
a	O
first-person	O
shooter	O
based	O
on	O
Half-Life	B-Application
,	O
using	O
its	O
GoldSrc	B-Application
game	O
engine	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
modification	O
was	O
initially	O
based	O
around	O
the	O
levels	O
from	O
Half-Life	B-Application
,	O
but	O
since	O
have	O
expanded	O
to	O
include	O
the	O
other	O
Half-Life	B-Application
games	O
and	O
user-made	O
levels	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
can	O
also	O
be	O
played	O
in	O
single-player	O
mode	O
,	O
taking	O
advantage	O
of	O
improvements	O
over	O
the	O
original	O
Half-Life	B-Application
that	O
were	O
made	O
by	O
the	O
modifications	O
,	O
particularly	O
the	O
artificial	B-Application
intelligence	I-Application
used	O
by	O
non-player	O
characters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
time	O
,	O
Fearon	O
was	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
maintainers	O
of	O
the	O
Half-Life	B-Application
fan	O
website	O
Atomic	O
Half-Life	B-Application
,	O
created	O
in	O
anticipation	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
's	O
release	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Fearon	O
was	O
sent	O
a	O
copy	O
of	O
Half-Life	B-Application
by	O
Valve	O
prior	O
to	O
its	O
official	O
release	O
,	O
and	O
while	O
playing	O
it	O
,	O
he	O
toyed	O
with	O
the	O
game	O
's	O
code	O
,	O
figuring	O
out	O
how	O
to	O
spawn	O
enemy	O
creatures	O
in	O
multiplayer	O
maps	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Fearon	O
's	O
work	O
had	O
initially	O
been	O
done	O
before	O
Valve	O
released	O
the	O
software	B-Application
development	I-Application
kit	I-Application
for	O
Half-Life	B-Application
,	O
requiring	O
him	O
to	O
craft	O
the	O
modification	O
atop	O
the	O
existing	O
Half-Life	B-Application
distribution	O
and	O
to	O
work	O
with	O
multiplayer	O
over	O
slower	O
internet	O
connections	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
phone-line	O
modems	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
public	O
version	O
of	O
Sven	B-Application
Co-op	I-Application
was	O
released	O
on	O
January	O
19	O
,	O
1999	O
,	O
about	O
3	O
months	O
after	O
the	O
release	O
of	O
Half-Life	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
He	O
used	O
the	O
name	O
Sven	B-Application
Co-op	I-Application
to	O
reflect	O
his	O
online	O
handle	O
,	O
"	O
Sven	O
Viking	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Contrary	O
to	O
the	O
common	O
belief	O
that	O
Sven	B-Application
Co-op	I-Application
was	O
developed	O
to	O
play	O
through	O
Half-Life	B-Application
cooperatively	O
,	O
Fearon	O
had	O
wanted	O
to	O
create	O
a	O
means	O
for	O
players	O
to	O
engage	O
in	O
cooperative	O
experiences	O
together	O
,	O
often	O
just	O
spawning	O
in	O
large	O
number	O
of	O
enemies	O
for	O
them	O
to	O
dispatch	O
together	O
on	O
a	O
single	O
map	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Such	O
designers	O
included	O
Dave	O
McDermott	O
,	O
who	O
initially	O
ran	O
the	O
Sven	B-Application
Co-op	I-Application
website	O
before	O
becoming	O
a	O
developer	O
of	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Fearon	O
had	O
planned	O
from	O
the	O
onset	O
to	O
include	O
support	O
for	O
cooperatively	O
playing	O
through	O
Half-Lifes	O
single-player	O
campaign	O
within	O
Sven	B-Application
Co-op	I-Application
,	O
but	O
this	O
was	O
hampered	O
initially	O
by	O
how	O
the	O
game	O
's	O
engine	O
transitions	O
from	O
map	O
to	O
map	O
,	O
and	O
made	O
it	O
difficult	O
to	O
keep	O
players	O
together	O
in	O
the	O
multiplayer	O
approach	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ultimately	O
,	O
the	O
team	O
was	O
able	O
to	O
work	O
this	O
out	O
,	O
and	O
later	O
added	O
support	O
for	O
Half-Lifes	O
two	O
expansions	O
,	O
Half-Life	B-Application
:	I-Application
Opposing	I-Application
Force	I-Application
,	O
and	O
Half-Life	B-Application
:	I-Application
Blue	I-Application
Shift	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Around	O
2004	O
,	O
prior	O
to	O
the	O
release	O
of	O
Half-Life	B-Application
2	I-Application
,	O
Fearon	O
had	O
been	O
planning	O
to	O
release	O
Sven	B-Application
Co-op	I-Application
on	O
Steam	B-Application
,	O
but	O
did	O
n't	O
due	O
to	O
confusion	O
between	O
the	O
Sven	B-Application
Co-op	I-Application
team	O
and	O
Valve	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Further	O
,	O
Fearon	O
and	O
the	O
team	O
had	O
started	O
work	O
on	O
a	O
Sven	B-Application
Co-op	I-Application
2	O
in	O
anticipation	O
of	O
using	O
the	O
Source	B-Application
engine	I-Application
from	O
Half-Life	B-Application
2	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Though	O
they	O
had	O
developed	O
a	O
large	O
number	O
of	O
assets	O
for	O
the	O
mod	O
,	O
they	O
were	O
hindered	O
by	O
the	O
lack	O
of	O
the	O
SDK	O
,	O
which	O
had	O
been	O
pushed	O
back	O
along	O
with	O
the	O
release	O
of	O
Half-Life	B-Application
2	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
McDermott	O
and	O
Polito	O
began	O
negotiations	O
with	O
Valve	O
to	O
gain	O
access	O
to	O
the	O
GoldSrc	B-Application
engine	I-Application
around	O
2010	O
and	O
to	O
have	O
Valve	O
change	O
some	O
of	O
the	O
numerical	O
limits	O
originally	O
imposed	O
in	O
the	O
engine	O
's	O
use	O
in	O
Half-Life	B-Application
that	O
would	O
enable	O
them	O
to	O
improve	O
Sven	B-Application
Co-op	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
two	O
got	O
official	O
approval	O
from	O
Valve	O
to	O
release	O
Sven	B-Application
Co-op	I-Application
on	O
Steam	B-Application
as	O
a	O
standalone	O
title	O
in	O
2012	O
,	O
though	O
opted	O
to	O
wait	O
nearly	O
a	O
year	O
to	O
announce	O
this	O
in	O
July	O
2013	O
to	O
give	O
their	O
team	O
time	O
to	O
develop	O
a	O
hotfix	O
for	O
the	O
current	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
mod	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
standalone	O
title	O
was	O
released	O
on	O
January	O
22	O
,	O
2016	O
,	O
and	O
includes	O
all	O
the	O
assets	O
for	O
Half-Life	B-Application
required	O
to	O
play	O
that	O
game	O
without	O
installing	O
the	O
original	O
game	O
;	O
players	O
are	O
still	O
required	O
to	O
have	O
purchased	O
and	O
installed	O
Opposing	O
Force	O
and	O
Blue	O
Shift	O
to	O
play	O
those	O
in	O
the	O
standalone	O
release	O
of	O
Sven	B-Application
Co-op	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
standalone	O
version	O
includes	O
updated	O
versions	O
of	O
the	O
Half-Life	B-Application
campaign	O
maps	O
,	O
improved	O
versions	O
of	O
popular	O
maps	O
developed	O
for	O
Sven	B-Application
Co-op	I-Application
,	O
and	O
additional	O
scripting	O
tools	O
that	O
will	O
allow	O
level	O
designers	O
to	O
further	O
customize	O
new	O
maps	O
beyond	O
the	O
default	O
GoldSrc	B-Application
.	O
</s>
