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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Possible next mapping challenge: TransmissionsVille?

I am looking to start the next mapping challenge this Wednesday or Thursday but would like modder feedback before I make a final decision.

As you can see from the title, I am seriously considering running a TransmissionsVille mapping challenge.

Now, I am sure that many players would like to play this but I really need to hear only from modders.

The theme would be to create a map that uses the new Concussion Gun and textures in interesting ways.

There would be no obligation to use the textures, although clever inclusion with standard EP2 textures might be fun.

However, there are some technical issues that need to be addressed before the challenge is agreed.

11th May 2015 9 Comments

Poll Question 313 – What is your Black Mesa purchase plan?

Unless you have been hiding away, you will no doubt have heard about the release of Black Mesa on Steam. It has received a lot of in-community attention and probably deservedly so.

I don’t have any problem with the team behind it selling their work and as a side note it would be interesting to know how many of the people who said that they wouldn’t buy mods have purchased it. It started as a mod but I digress.

Like some other RTSL readers I was a little disappointed by the price of 19.99 Euros but as Jason Gimba has said if releases like Stanley Parable sell for 11.99 Euros then it doesn’t seem too unjust. However, compared to Episode Two it doesn’t seem such good value.

I haven’t bought it yet for a variety of reasons but the main one is the lack of Xen. I won’t play it until I can play the whole game through and there’s no reason to buy it now. What are your thoughts on the pricing and your purchasing plan?

9th May 2015 34 Comments

The Real World Brands of Half-Life 2 by Jason Gimba

Half-Life 2 has a lot of props, from benches in the train station to Chinese take-out boxes. As a mapper, you become familiar with them over time and develop a mental index of the different models, names, sizes and your own practices for how and when you use them.

One thing I’ve noticed is that some of the textures on these props are based on real world brands. Sometimes Valve altered them, such as the detergent bottles of “606” (instead of Formula 409), but some escaped that treatment or may have been left intentionally. Because we can zoom so closely to the props in Hammer Editor, we can view some of these details that are difficult to see in-game.

Let’s take a look at some of them!

4th May 2015 11 Comments

Reminder about length of text review and recommendation image use

I want to remind registered members that in order to sue a recommendation image your review must be of proper length.

If the map lasted 15 minutes and you write a short paragraph and use a recommendation image, that’s fine.

However, if the mod last over two hours and you write a short paragraph and add a recommendation image, that image is removed.

I don’t expect everybody to write detailed, in-depth and insightful reviews but if the best you can say after playing something for a few hours is “great mod, loved it”, that’s not enough to warrant a recommendation image.

The image is supposed to be a visual representation of a proper review, not a replacement for it.

If all this seems a little harsh, it’s because I want to avoid situations like ModDB where people can come along and rate something a 10 or 1 with no justification. That makes my faith in their system zero.

I want people to really trust the system here. Yes, you might disagree with my “soft (I say passionate) reviews, but at least I try to justify that recommendation.

I have emailed a few people over the years, but haven’t received a reply.

If you have posted short reviews recently with recommendation images, you should check to see if I have removed it, because I probably have.

If anybody has a problem with that, it’s pistols at dawn!

4th May 2015 8 Comments

Poll Question 312 – How do you feel about the concept of paid mods?

WOW, what an interesting time we live in.

I’m not going to go into all the detail of the recent “paid Mods” event because I am sure you have been following it and probably know more about it than I do. However, I am going to talk about how it could affect me and this site.

If it is new for you, then I would suggest LambdaGenerations three excellent articles: 1, 2 & 3 and INtense!’s ModDB post as good summaries of different points of view.

1st May 2015 35 Comments

May 2015 General Chat

As I sit here in from of my PC it’s raining. Great way to start May, don’t you think?

I’ll be creating a Poll Question about the recent paid mods fiasco, so please avoid that topic for now.

Besides that the rest is up to you.

Let’s talk about what you have been reading. I’ve restarted Rudy Rucker’s ‘Ware Series (no spoilers please) and I’m not sure I ever finished the first one even because about a quarter the way in and I don’t remember anything.

This Month’s Sci-Fi Movie

In June 2014, I started to use a poster from a classic Sci-Fi move as the background for the post image.

This month it is from The Space Children (1958). An alien intelligence aborts the launching of a rocket with the help of a bunch of children.

1st May 2015 25 Comments

The Ville Retrospective: RoofTopVille. This Saturday

Just a reminder that this Saturday, Darren Weekes aka CustomGamer will be livestreaming his analysis of RoofTopVille.

As always, it will be on the RTSL Twitch Channel and can be watched free of charge and without an account.

The stream will start at 12pm GMT, so check your local time. Plenty of chat in the adjacent chatroom is welcomed.

If you have any questions about the stream or event, please let us know by posting a comment.

See you Saturday!

PLEASE NOTE: THIS WAS ORIGINALLY ANNOUNCED AS CROSSBOWVILLE

30th April 2015 17 Comments