We had an incredible October here in the Basque Country (Euskadi) and the weather has been better than August. I’m not joking.

Work on the new theme is progressing nicely and I am currently adding the special pages and putting the finishing touches to the “table” page and something new called the “timeline”. Integration with the Recommendation System is proving harder than expected. I’ll be calling for beta testers in a few weeks.

Whilst the great Gordon Freeman is causing havoc in Nova Prospekt, the Resistance is building.

In an effort to limit the amount of new resistance groups from forming, the Combine have been destroying bridges and tunnels.

Just after entering one such tunnel, you hear an explosion and then the real journey begins.

Can you reach the other rebels? Let’s find out.

There’s one enemy and it’s the headcrab.

There’s one weapon and it’s the crowbar.

Put them together and what have you got?

HEADCRAB FRENZY!, that’s what.

Although you can play this online in MP mode, you can also play it locally, aiming to stay alive as long as possible and beat your personal high score.

I recently tweeted “I nearly jumped over the balcony of the last flight of stairs I was working down this morning. Definitely been playing too much HL lately!” I lied. I actually haven’t been playing that much lately.

In fact, I probably play less video games than all my visitors. I’m too obsessed with the site! I DID think about jumping over the balcony, but not because of the amount I had been playing, but because I can’t get HL out of my head.

The whole episode got me thinking about how much time we spend playing games.

You find yourself in what seems to be a test facility.

The problem is that YOU are being tested.

Being fast might not be enough, you’ll also need to be smart.

Especially in the final test.

Good luck, or should I say Goodbye!

There’s only one Gordon Freeman. Nobody else can be trusted to retrieve the data.

You’ve been sent to a courtyard that contains 3 separate data storage points.

Reach each one, enter your USB and wait for the data to be transferred.

Once all three have been completed, look for the subway entrance and get ready for the ride of your life!

The Underground can be a dangerous place.

All kinds of zombies wandering around, waiting for something to eat.

If you are not careful, you’ll be sitting down to lunch with them, and not as their guest!

HI All,

Just to let you know that I will be announcing the next Mapping Challenge at 12:01Am Friday 17th October.

It will be another 10 day challenge and standard rules will apply.

The theme and any other details will be described in the post.

Let me know if you have any questions not related to the theme.

One location, two ways of escaping.

Use your stealth ability or your run and gun tactics to escape the prison.

Which ever you use, think carefully before risking all.

Only the smartest will survive.