What The Headcrab: Introduction

Today sees the announcement of a new podcast. I have been trying to create a new podcast for a while and have tried a few things.

Ideally, I would like to create the show with one other person, but it just seems impossible to find somebody available when I am and also who has the same “interests” as I do.

Therefore I have decided to try and simply create the podcast alone.

Unlike other podcasts which run to over an hour, this one will be around 20 minutes.

It will cover news, updates and general Half-Life stuff over the previous two weeks or so.

I won’t be going into depth about any particular item, just giving you an overview and hopfully drawing your attention to things you might have otherwise missed.

There is no set recording schedule, but I am aiming for every two weeks.

The show will be split into 5 sections: ModDB, GameBanana, Reddit, YouTube and Misc.

In future, I may add DeviantArt and or any other site that has HL content.

In each section, I’ll talk briefly about what has been updated or announced.

I will NOT be talking about anything I have published on RTSL.

I will be linking to each item in the podcast’s post.

The first show could be this afternoon or maybe next weekend.

I’ll be happy to cover any HL news items you have heard about, so please send me an email.

As always, thoughts, comments, ideas and suggestions are welcome.

4th October 2015 4 Comments

VerticalVilleTwo

for Half-Life 2: Episode Two

We have become very accustomed to playing maps and mods on one level.

That’s not to say that some maps don’t include more Z-axis gameplay, but in general it’s something that could be used to more and better effect.

This mapping challenge is all about having the player move up and down in a realistic way.

Of course, that doesn’t mean they can ONLY move up and down, but the idea of vertical gameplay or movement should be the central theme of each entry.

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Total Downloads: 4,2503rd October 2015
42 Comments and 14 recommendations, most say "Play It Now!"

Poll Question 323 – Do you think that the majority of mods for each respective game are harder than the games themselves?

This week’s poll question (a few days late – sorry) was inspired by Carolyn (a RTSL reader) talking about mods being hard.

One of the possibilities for mods is to ramp up the difficulty giving it a smaller “market” but I respect mods that aim for a particular type of player or focus their work in some way.

In general, I don’t think mods are harder than the respective games, although, and more experienced readers feel free to correct me, some early HL1 mods were pretty hardcore.

I’m working on a MapTap idea to allow users to have more control over the difficulty of mods, but I am torn between wanting to give players the choice and respecting what the modders have created.

If a mod is too hard early on, then it’s just too easy for players to cheat, don’t you think? Whereas, if a player has gone through most of the mod without cheating they are more likely to try to finish that way.

Anyway, back to the actual poll question.

All I am looking for in mods is new and interesting situations, not tougher fights.

What about you?

3rd October 2015 21 Comments

October 2015 General Chat

Here we are, Summer is over, nights drawing in and weather supposed to be getting colder – perfect excuse for more gaming – at least for me.

I expect to start updating the site with new mods soon and hopefully there will be some good ones.

Anyway, chat about anything you want (within reason) EXCEPT maps and mods already listed on the site – please comment on the respective posts.

1st October 2015 34 Comments

We Want Your Content

The change from PlanetPhillip.com to RunThinkShootLive.com was all about changing the idea that the site is about one person. Yes, I still run it and contribute 95% of the content, but I want that to change.

I would like the site to be seen as the centre or hub for Half-Life SP content and not just maps and mods.

The site could easily host much more content and a perfect example is Jason Gimba’s article The Real World Brands of Half-Life 2.

Original content would be posted on RTSL first and then after a month could be posted to the creator’s own website if he or she has one.

So this post is to encourage readers to submit content in either articles or videos. Article would be posted on the site under a new category and videos would be hosted on the RTSL YouTube channel (not simply linked to). I want the YouTube channel to start to contain much more content created by other people.

While I am talking about readers contributing, please feel free to suggest new live streaming events. In fact, I will be starting a new series soon, but I can’t say any more than that because it’s still at the planning stage.

The same goes for article or video ideas.

PP and RTSL have a history of helping new maps and mods be created via the Mapping Challenges and it’s time for some of the energy to be put into other types of content creation.

27th September 2015 21 Comments

Uncertainty Principle

for Half-Life 2: Episode Two

When the Combine raid your Resistance hideout, you are forced to flee into the depths of the Outlands.

But with Overwatch forces hunting you down, and the local fauna out to get you, danger is always just around the corner.

Play through four chapters of Half-Life gameplay, exploring new locations, meeting new characters and uncovering lost secrets.

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Total Downloads: 8,15526th September 2015
56 Comments and 20 recommendations, most really enjoyed it!

Poll Question 322 – If Valve announced they were not making HL3, do you think the modding community could finish the series?

Sorry for another HL3 question so soon after the last one (more to come though, I’m afraid) but I saw something on the Steam Greenlight page that starting me thinking about this.

Fans of other franchises, although I don’t know of any gaming ones, have continued the stories when the originators didn’t seem to be interested. Star Wars and Star Trek are the ones that come to mind, but there might be others.

It’s probably happened with fiction too and I don’t just mean fan-written stuff, I mean actual ends to series that were never finished or poorly finished.

24th September 2015 11 Comments

Nova Prospekt: Utility

for Half-Life 2: Episode Two

Finding yourself in a new and strange part of Nova Prospekt, you have no other choice but to starve to death or try to escape.

It will require thinking as well as fighting.

Overlook nothing, or your fate will be taken out of your hands – good luck.

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Total Downloads: 1,65520th September 2015
20 Comments and 16 recommendations, 8 say "Play It Later"

Poll Question 321 – Has it been more than half your life from HL1 to now?

A few days ago on the HalfLife SubReddit quimralho asked Why is the game called Half-Life? What is the relation of the title and the game?

It’s a question that is often asked, by new and seasoned players alike. Most often people talk about the decay of radioactivity etc but it doesn’t really address the question.

However, this time scriminamp got right to the heart of the issue with a very funny, and quite sad really, answer.

The game is called half-life because it takes half your f*%king life for a squeal to come out.

It was then suggested by Don that this would make a good poll question, so here it is.

17th September 2015 25 Comments

Storage

for Half-Life 2: Episode Two

The Combine have acquired some sensitive data.

It’s your job to enter the Combine facility where it is being stored and erase it.

Expect heavy resistance, especially in attempting to escape.

In fact, the data could be a ploy to capture you!

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Total Downloads: 2,04414th September 2015
25 Comments and 23 recommendations, most say "Play It Now!"