I am incredibly excited to announce a new initiative from RTSL called “The Hammer Cup”.
I hope this will be an annual event, but let’s see what happens with the first year!
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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Poll Question 332 – Does a modder have the moral right to block videos and screenshots of their work?
Earlier this year, a modder asked me not to livestream his release on the weekend of release. I wasn’t happy about it because once I had released it anybody could stream it and RTSL would have lost a small opportunity to gain some coverage. However, I agreed and that was that.
I did get me thinking about whether a modder has the right, either legally or morally to block people from posting videos and screenshots.
I know that Twitch carefully monitors the game people stream because some games prohibit broadcast of their games. I’m not sure how I feel about that, but it seems only fair. Just like I can’t read a book aloud in a public place or show movies to the public.
But modding is more of a grey area.
17th December 2015 32 Comments
Week 51 – Weekend Livestream Schedule
Hi All,
This weekend sees Don continue his Classic of the Month event by playing The Long Night for Half-Life. The stream will be at 9am EST / 2pm GMT on Saturday. He is expecting it to last around 45 minutes.
Phillip will also be streaming, probably CrossoverVille and Strider Mountain.
There is also a good chance that Don and Phillip will stream the final few chapters of Decay.
On all streams we will be giving away a few copies of Decent: Underground as well as at least one copy of Circuits, all courtesy of SteamContests.com AKA Aaron’s Giveaways, so a HUGE thanks to Aaron.
All streams will be on the RTSL Twitch Channel and announced on the RTSL TWitter Feed.
If you have any questions about the streams, just ask.
15th December 2015 8 Comments
Discussion Topic 003
In the recent Half_life sub-reddit thread Shocking how many people haven’t played the whole series, or even ANY of it. There was an interesting comment: The_Dook said In my opinion, you’re not a pc gamer until you’ve at least beaten one of the main Half-Life games. and it got me wondering…
If we had to recommend 10 PC games that a person must play in their life, what would they be?
I am not qualified to answer this because my gaming experience is pretty limited but there are plenty of RTSL readers who have played a LOT of PC games.
I’d like you to list each game and say why each game should be played. Please don’t put “Because it’s Awesome” because that doesn’t help anybody.
We see enough of these sorts of lists for movies and books, and I know they are available for PC gamers too but I have never really read or looked for them.
Looking for to seeing your suggestions.
14th December 2015 33 Comments
Awards 2015 Format
This years awards will try a new format. It will be split into 3 one-week voting stages. I’ don’t like the idea of complicating things but I want to make sure it’s fair and open.
This year there will be FOUR awards: Best Source Release, Best GoldSource Release, Best Ville Entry and Best Moment in a Release. Last year there was best overall release, but that didn’t seem fair as the engines for Source and GoldSource are so different.
Voting will be like the standard Poll Questions systems. I like the idea of limiting it to members who have used at least 25 recommendations during the year, but for now it will be public.
In additions, there are new icons for each award, courtesy of Jeff Muñoz (Homepage, Twitter, YouTube, Tumblr & LG). HUGE thanks to him for his hard work.
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, now is the time to make them as once the voting starts it is highly unlikely I will change anything.
12th December 2015 8 Comments
Poll Question 331- Can you tell the quality of a mod from a screenshot of its final release?
As I was preparing an image for the RTSL Tumblr account, I realized that for so many mods, just a screenshot is enough to see how good the mod is or was.
Now, this could be because I associate the screenshot from a particular mod I have played and I wondered whether just from looking at a screenshot if it was possible to judge the quality.
My thinking goes like this…If a modder spends time making the mod look great, then the chances are the gameplay is good too. Yes, I know that’s a stretch, but attention to detail is not always skill specific. There are definitely some mods that are fun to play but don’t look very good and vice versa, but not very often.
What do you think?
3rd December 2015 12 Comments
Week 49 – Weekend Livestream Schedule
Hi Everybody.
This weekend, Darren will probably be streaming Chaseville on Saturday at 1pm GMT.
Phillip will be starting his Strider Mountain adventure. He will be streaming on Saturday Morning, Sunday morning and maybe in the afternoons too. You will need to check the RTSL Twitter feed for announcements.
On both streams we will be giving away a few copies of Decent: Underground as well as at least one copy of Circuits, all courtesy of SteamContests.com AKA Aaron’s Giveaways, so a HUGE thanks to Aaron.
2nd December 2015 3 Comments
December 2015 General Chat
December is here and it’s time for Olentzero, he is like the local Father Christmas over here. The real legend is quite dark but has been cleaned up for kids.
Anyway, done your shopping yet? I’m going tomorrow. That said, I just bought a new webcam and my mother is supposed to be bringing it over with her when she visits, but it might arrive after she has left, so fingers crossed. If it does arrive, you’ll be able to see all my beauty spots in the livestreams. In fact, I might have to start wearing makeup!
But seriously, are you hoping to get a lot of gaming in over the Christmas and New Year period? I am.
1st December 2015 47 Comments
Discussion Topic 002
A couple of weeks ago Scott Warner, Game Director for the Star Wars Project at Visceral posted a tweet and a image saying “Don’t do this in level design: prize behind counter is gated by locked door but counter could be scaled by anyone.”.
You can follow the thread if you click the link above but as with many Twitter threads it gets mixed up in other tweets.
Essentially, he said that it was an immersion issue and I disagreed.
I tried to organize a podcast with him about it but it never happened.
29th November 2015 21 Comments
Poll Question 330 – Is a review a product of its time?
Recently, Steve has been reviewing some older mods (and I thank him for that). Often times, he hasn’t liked them (It’s on the list of code tasks, to make it easy to find comments and reviews by users – for now, you will have to check the 100 Most Recent Comments).
When he hasn’t liked something, he has been apologetic because his review often goes against the general feeling. Please don’t think I am criticizing him for this, because I am not. Everybody has a right to their opinion.
What is interesting is that fact that like a lot of other reviewers before him, when you review something from a few years ago, it never seems to live up to the original reviews and by “original reviews” I mean the ones made when the mod was released.
Clearly, this isn’t the case for every mod as some are absolute classics, but the ones that received good reviews don’t seem to stand the test of time, which is where this week’s poll questions comes in.
Is a review a product of its time?
What do you think?
26th November 2015 21 Comments
20th December 2015 5 Comments