This is the Read category

A collection of text posts, including Poll Questions, Text Interviews with moddersand Phillip’s Blog. All posts are written to encourage friendly debate and discussion.

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Support me on Patreon

I have made a momentous decision…. I am going to try and turn RTSL into a job.

Patreon is a website service that allows artists and creators to receive regular donations from supporters.

In the past, I never believed it was possible to make a living from my site and I’ll be honest and say I don’t think full time is possible. Not because of the site itself but because of its incredibly niche content. However, I may be able to make running the site a part-time option and that is my realistic objective, with full-time as the ultimate dream.

I will continue to have donation drives, like the one for The Hammer Cup 2016 prizes etc because ALL of that money is used for buying prizes.

By spending more time on the site, I would be able to update the older mods more quickly, spend time creating new content, like Minute Mod videos for each and every mod, more video reviews and special videos like a round up of each category in the RTSL Awards. Not to mention more podcasts with in-development modders.

I have been inspired by Alex from LambdaGeneration who has some great ideas for running his site and reaching his objectives.

If this doesn’t work out, well at least I tried and I may also explore other gaming-related opportunities.

Who doesn’t want to turn their hobby and the thing they love doing into a full-time occupation?

So, please visit my Patreon page and if you decide to support me, thank you.

As always if you have any comments suggestions or feedback, just post a comment.

Here is the introduction video…

10th January 2016 9 Comments

RTSL on Facebook

Just in case you missed the tweet and mention in a post, RTSL is now on Facebook.

Along with Twitter and Tumblr, I will be posting short updates about the site.

Some longer things will be posted to Facebook and Tumblr, with a tweet linking to both of those.

I know that not all of you use Facebook, but it only takes seconds to copy and paste to create a new post, so iit’s not too much effort and I hope it will help readers stay engaged with the site.

I should mention that LiveStreams will for the time being only be announced on Twitter, partly because Twitch automatically tweets and partly because it seems more appropriate.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let me know.

10th January 2016 1 Comment

Awards 2015 – Stage Two

Okay, it’s time for some actual voting.

Below you will find polls for each category. This will last until next Saturday. Each poll allows a maximum of two or three votes, depending on the category.

The final stage will only allow one vote per category. Think of this stage as an elimination stage. At the end of this stage there will only be two entries left for each category.

9th January 2016 10 Comments

Poll Question 335 – Do you replay mods when they receive a visual update?

As a lover of Half-Life, graphics don’t “nab my headcrab” (float my boat) and I also play Source games and mods too, but I’ve never been really interested in updating the visual aspect of them.

Sure, I love great graphics and am sure that Source 2 games and mods will look fantastic. This comes at a cost of the time taken to create new content, but as player those things don’t affect me in the same way as they do a modder.

It seems that many modders want to update their work and one of the most common ways to do that is to make it look better.

The question is, do players actually want these updates and do they re-play the mods?

8th January 2016 16 Comments

The Hammer Cup 16: Challenge 1: ChasmVille

And so it begins…

Welcome to the very first mapping challenge as part of The Hammer cup 2016.

Theme Details

The main element of the map must be a chasm. Canyon, gorge, abyss, rift – whatever you want to call it, but it must be the key feature of the map.

This chasm can be inside or outside. Think the perilous pits in Black Mesa, the insane heights inside the Citadel, and the dark antlion caverns.

These are just Half-Life examples to get your brain started! Put a new spin on one of these, or come up with your own thrilling chasm!

The player is not required to cross it but it must form the main gameplay element of the map.

Bridges CAN be used but are NOT compulsory and they can be anything from huge solid metal bridges to loose, wonky wooden ones.

There CAN be puzzle elements involved in crossing the chasm or just combat.

The player could work their way to the bottom and up the other side or fly across!

7th January 2016 58 Comments

Awards 2015 – Stage One

Okay, so here we are Friday 1st January 2016, so time for the Awards 2015!

Just a reminder before we get started: These awards will consist of three separate stages, each a week long. Full deatils can be found here: Awards 2015 Format.

Stage One: Nominations.
Stage Two: Refine
Stage Three: Winners

There are 5 awards on offer: “Best Source Release”, “Best GoldSource Release”, “Best Ville Entry”, “Best Moment in a Release” and “Most Anticipated Release”.

What you need to do now, is look through the sections below and if you feel that I have missed a nomination, make a comment and if at least 3 people agree, it will be added to Stage Two, next week.

Now that I have written the post, I am wondering whether we should separate the *Villes into their own new category. It seems a little unfair on the mods create by one person to have them compete against mods created by multiple authors. What do you think?

1st January 2016 14 Comments

January 2016 – General Chat

My goodness, another year gone and a new one started.

How many New Years resolutions have you made and broken already? How many games did you buy in the Steam Winter Sale? Me, zero. But I was gifted a game, so thank you very much – you know who.

The weather here in Northern Spain has been fantastic this winter but I know some of you have had a terrible time and you have my sympathy.

So, let’s start the new year with some chat – off you go.

1st January 2016 37 Comments

Poll Question 334 – Digital distribution or bricks and mortar?

With recent hiccup regarding online security, it has brought to mind the problems with digital distribution. There was any actual security issue but due to a cache issue some users were being shown other users details – although nothing serious is my understanding.

I love Steam and being able to just install and uninstall at any time is so nice. I trust Valve but there is always a chance something bad could happen. In the old days, I could buy a game, install it on my system and that was that. IF my disc was stolen or broken, it was my fault. Now, getting your account hacked is possible.

Just before the hiccup mentioend above, LambdaGeneration reported that Valve is moving into the retail space. Good for them but I fear that eventually games and movies will only be available via digital distribution.

I hope for a time when boxes return and even more collector’s editions are released.

Anyway, I haven’t bought a game in a physical shop for over ten years.

What about you?

30th December 2015 8 Comments

New Year, New Logo and New Features

I love running RTSL. I must do because I spend 80% of my free time doing it. But I am never happy. I know that a lot of the downloads are not working and a lot of the older mods need updating and 2016 will be called “The Year of the Content”. That said, there are lots of things that I want to improve and create.

Below, you will find details of most of my plans. I do have one major idea up my sleeve, that I hope to reveal very soon.

29th December 2015 22 Comments

Poll Question 333 – How often do you buy game soundtracks?

I was recently looking at a Steam page for a game, can’t remember which,sorry, and I noticed that the soundtrack was available.

In general, I love soundtracks, both from movies and games.

The problem is that they can be expensive, at least when I used to buy them (no, that doesn’t mean I download them now, it means I don’t listen to music much any more).

This game was around 10 Euros and the sound track was 5 Euros.

To me, that’s quite expensive – 50% the cost of the game. I’m pretty sure people would buy more if they were cheaper, although that argument is used for almost everything.

So I began to wonder how many of you actually buy the soundtracks from games.

Which reminds, some mods have even released soundtracks and if I am not mistaken, some have even sold them.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this whole issue.

24th December 2015 26 Comments