A brief history of Morbus
Morbus draws inspiration from various sources, including the WarCraft 3 map “Parasite 2.” In “Parasite 2,” players assume the roles of an alien, an AI, or humans on a deteriorating spaceship. Humans must repair the ship while the alien infects them, turning them into more aliens.
Around 2007, Ickylevel created a Garry’s Mod gamemode called “Parasite,” which was also influenced by “Parasite 2” and served as a foundational element for Morbus. Although “Parasite” was incomplete and lacked many features, it included several maps that spurred the development of Morbus.
Development of Morbus began around 2010 by Remscar, who admired the “Parasite” gamemode and aimed to create a more polished version. During this period, “Trouble in Terrorist Town,” another popular round-based Garry’s Mod gamemode, heavily influenced Morbus’s design. Some of its code, such as those for map arming and karma systems, was even adapted for Morbus.
Morbus officially launched to the public in May 2011, quickly gaining a small but dedicated following. Over the next few years, significant upgrades and changes were implemented, including limited lives for swarm aliens, Brood alien upgrade trees, a “Dead Space-like” HUD, and a variety of new weapons.
In late 2013, Morbus gained substantial popularity through videos by prominent YouTubers like Juicetra, SeaNanners, and PewDiePie. Their exposure significantly boosted the game’s player count for several months. However, Remscar’s college commitments during this period limited his ability to work on Morbus, leading to numerous bugs and unfinished features.
Around 2014, community member Demonkush was granted Steam Workshop access to continue updating Morbus. His contributions primarily focused on bug fixes, though he also introduced additional weapons.
From 2015 to the present, Morbus gradually declined in popularity. Demonkush eventually ceased updates, and the remaining Morbus server communities slowly dissolved.