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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Even though I’m not a student I get a lot of free time in the summer. I suppose I spend more time gaming in the summer than in the winter.
I actually prefer playing in the winter, I’ve said this before, but I feel less guilty staying inside when it’s raining than when it’s sunny.
What about you?
I am disappointed that I don’t have time to update the Around the Community posts.
It’s always nice to have a round up of the latest news about mods that interest you, especially if there is intelligent discussion associated with it.
I am thinking about various ways I could do something like this and I keep coming back to the idea of a monthly video round up.
2nd June 2012 13 Comments
This competition is being kindly sponsored by SteamContests.Com.
The prize, in addition to the points, is $25 US Dollars (paid via PayPal) plus two random Steam games.
For this competition I want you to create puzzles to allow an elevator to work or open.
To enter, you need a minimum of 3 floors. The objective is to create some sort of puzzle to get the elevator up or down to the next floor.
You can have “press the right buttons”, combat, power supply issues, shoot something; anything to get the elevator working.
Each floor can be completely different from the others. They don’t have to have any visual connection with each other. They can be abstract, funky, Combine-esque, Ravenholm, Sixties London (if you wanna make the textures and models); the choice is yours.
The winner will be the map that was most fun to play and looked good.
As usual, if you have any questions, please use the comments system below or email me directly: [email protected].
There are NO additional rules that apply to this competition – but make sure you READ the main rules!
Visit the 6×10 Mapping Competition Series homepage for full details of the event and the rules.
1st June 2012 19 Comments
I have started replaying Half-Life and Half-Life 2 a couple of times since I first completed them.
I got a few chapters in and suddenly something shiny would come along and the next thing I knew it was a few weeks since I last played and then I just couldn’t be bothered to continue from where I finished.
After the relative success of 100 Days of Summer Nostalgia last year, I decided that I wanted to run some sort of event this year.
I didn’t want the commitment of having to post something every day all through the summer and this seemed like the perfect time to replay the games at my own speed, but with the added motivation of being part of an event.
Starting 1st June, I will post details of each distinct chapter of the games in order. Each post will be similar to a map or mod post: a thumbnail, a factual description and some screenshots. In addition, I may include some trivia and other interesting information.
Then I will post my thoughts and feelings as a comment. There is no posting schedule but I estimate I will add a new post every 3 or 4 days.
I am hoping that the event will generate some serious and interesting discussion about how games have changed, how well the games stand up to our memories and how our experiences since finishing those games affect our replay impressions.
Once I have made the post and added my comment, all readers will be able to do the same.
To include screenshots to illustrate your points, please use a hosting service like imgur.com and link to the image in your comment.
I will then download the image, create a thumbnail and approve your comment.
If you have any questions, suggestions or comments, please use the commenting system below or email me directly: [email protected].
29th May 2012 24 Comments
This is a question from James Partridge AKA Aazell.
He wrote to me and asked “In my experience the majority of the time it takes to put together a good map pack is spent making the maps look pretty and getting the detailing to an acceptable standard.
Given there are only so many mappers out there and most work alone, their time is finite. As a result this level of detailing leads to less maps being released as mappers feel the pressure to create high quality visuals.
So it comes down to a simple choice, the community can have lots of playable, fun, low detailed maps with basic visuals or few and far between highly detailed projects… which would you prefer?”
25th May 2012 14 Comments
Lots of people think they can beta test, most can’t.
Simply playing a level without forethought is only really useful for making sure it works on your system.
That in itself is important if enough people do it, but there’s so much more to beta testing than that.
Ideally, a beta testers not only highlights issues but, if possible, offer solutions. Of course, this depends on the issues involved and the testers.
Below are the ways I test some levels sent to me. I don’t have time to do all of them for all levels I am asked to test, but I try.
I am posting this article simply to stimulate discussion about testing techniques NOT to offer my services as a tester.
So, here are 7 ways I beta test a map.
Don’t forget to add your own in the comments.
25th May 2012 10 Comments
None of my “real” friends, and by real I mean people I see in real life, play video games. We do other stuff together; we play Frontenis, walk up Anboto or just relax at the beach.
But what I would really like to do is have some friends over and play some SP mods or games and experience the interaction of others who love it as much as I do.
18th May 2012 18 Comments
Back in October 2011, I read this article called How Valve experiments with the economics of video games posted on GeekWire.
I wanted to write something about it but one thing got on top of another and I completely forgot about it, that was until two other articles appeared, one of which I currently can’t find link to, about Valve pricing policies.
11th May 2012 9 Comments
Five years ago I wrote an article called Hammer Made Easy, asking for more or less what Valve are releasing in a few days.
I don’t claim to have been the first to ask for it, and definitely not the last, but it’s pretty damn cool to see it finally arrive.
The biggest problem will be finding the good ones to play and I am sure some gems will be overlooked.
5th May 2012 8 Comments
The Maunsell Forts were built during the Second World War to help protect the UK from air and sea attack.
They were small fortified towers built in the Thames and Mersey estuaries.
As much as they are very interesting, visually, architecturally and historically, I don’ think you should rushing to copy them. For me, the most useful aspect is one of inspiration.
1st May 2012 5 Comments
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9th June 2012 8 Comments