Wally

As enticing as many video games can end up being, developers oftentimes need to make the difficult decision to drop support for the title in question and focus on the next installment in the series or start working on a different genre altogether, depending on the road-map.

Since this usually leads to a lack of content for many retro gems, some companies want to ensure their work lives on by publishing the development kits and necessary programs that allow passionate and tech-savvy members of the community to work on custom projects, which can be enhanced with utilities such as Wally.

While the main story may be finished, the world-building process done in games of Half-Life’s caliber provides modders with enough leeway to address alternate story-lines, focus on other characters’ point of view or simply take the game’s engine and create brand-new experiences.

In an attempt to make the process of texture editing more palatable for both experienced and beginner modders, the app at hand includes a variety of tools that range from cloning brushes meant to repair blemishes and smooth out rough edges to dedicated color replacement capabilities.

When it comes to skyboxes, the entire texture can be either darkened or brightened to match the lighting settings of the level you are currently working on. Apart from the inclusion of the quintessential bits of functionality such as color selection, erasing and cutting, battle-scarred items can be adorned with bullet holes and knife cuts to fit in with the theme of the map you are developing.

Whether you want to make small adjustments to pre-existing textures without relying on more complex programs such as GIMP, or you simply wish to ensure the models used in your custom level are up to your standards, Wally may be the right choice, given its ease of use alongside its portable and rather compact form factor.