“A few days ago, you received a letter from the Civil Protection : you’ll be relocated.
Today is the day. You’re at the trainstation to move on City 17.
However, there’s something wrong with this place…”
New Game Giveaway Page
I have just created a new page about the game giveaways I will be doing.
All “events” that RTSL users can win games are designed to increase participation on the site.
This post is just to let you know about the new page.
I will add an overview to the ABOUT this weekend.
Full details of the events are on the page, so go check it out!
6th October 2017 No Comments
October 2017 – General Chat
Have I mentioned it’s my birthday this month? Well, it is. One year older, one revolution around the Sun. Another 365 days gone. Used. Wasted? Experienced? Valued? Who knows.
What I can tell you is that since I heard Maggot Brain on House, M.D., there hasn’t been many days go by where I haven’t listened to it at least once.
For those that like Psychedelic Rock, here it is:
As you probably know, the site is now running on its own dedicated server. The site should be faster, at least it is for me. It’s also more expensive but I feel it’s worth it. A HUGE thanks to Mazur for setting it all up and continued help in configuring it. There is absolutely NO WAY I could have done it myself. Now that the move has been completed, I have begun updating some of the pages. You probably won’t notice anything big, but it makes the site better.
The Contact page is back and I have already begun getting spam, but okay, that’s the price you pay for making it easier to contact me. The submit page may also return.
I’ve also decided that I probably won’t be adding many videos. I feel the time is better spent elsewhere on the site. I will still do the occasional livestream but not many.
Right, that’s it for now.
What plans do you have for October?
Oh, did I mention it’s my birthday this month?
Featured image is from RoboEngineer over on Deviant Art and is today’s Half-Life Art in my Twitter series
1st October 2017 31 Comments
Now Running on a Dedicated Server
I am very pleased to announce that RTSL is now running on a dedicated server. That means, for those that don’t know, I pay to rent a whole computer in a server farm and that whole machine is mine. This should mean the site is very fast.
I have only really done 5% of the work and would like to thank Mazur for the other 95%!
Over the coming weeks, I’ll be improving the site, fixing, 404s, reinstalling the Contact and Submit pages, along with lots of small changes to layout and pages.
Registration emails should arrive much sooner as well.
If you see any issues with the site, please don’t hesitate to let me know.
It’s more expensive to run the site this way but I believe it’s worth it.
I’ll be starting a donation drive to cover the hosting costs from November.
So, that’s it. Enjoy the site and remember: FINISHING HALF-LIFE IS JUST THE BEGINNING!
24th September 2017 6 Comments
Half-Life: C.A.G.E.D.for Half-Life
Future Games Select and Cayle George bring you a prison escape like no other!
Featuring explosive action and a soundtrack from outrun music legend Lazerhawk, Half-Life: C.A.G.E.D. is a return to the golden age of First Person Shooters.
Break from captivity, conquer the facility and discover the secrets of Half-Life: C.A.G.E.D.!
Featuring:
- Full single player campaign.
- Unlock-able bonus content.
- Music from artist Lazerhawk.
- Developer commentary mode.
- …And more!
Total Downloads: 21,79721st September 2017
43 Comments
and 28 recommendations, most say "Play It Now!"
The Hammer Cup 2017 – Challenge 4 – TeleportVille
Hello and welcome to the fourth challenge for The Hammer Cup 2017.
Below are the details.
PLEASE READ THEM CAREFULLY.
FAILURE TO FOLLOW THE RULES WILL RESULT IN DISQUALIFICATION!
As always, if you have any questions, you can either post a comment or if you require a private reply, send Phillip an email: [email protected]
20th September 2017 10 Comments
Mapping Challenges 2018
“OMG, why is Phillip talking about the mapping challenges of 2018 already?”
Because the better planned they are the better prepared I am.
Anyway, the mapping challenges have proved quite successful for RTSL and it would be downright negligent if I didn’t start planning for next year.
I have been working on a calendar for the 2018 mapping challenges and wanted to share the first DRAFT with you to get feedback.
Please take a moment to read my thought process under the dates.
This post is mainly aimed at modders and mappers. I feel that the players have to fit in with the mappers in this case.
17th September 2017 9 Comments
Epistle3Villefor Half-Life 2: Episode Two
Epistle3Ville is the third 50-hour mapping challenge.
It contains 10 official entries and one bonus map.
The focus of this theme was to create a map inspired in some way by Marc Laidlaw’s Epistle 3 blog post as well as any Ep3 details.
Total Downloads: 6,31616th September 2017
43 Comments
and 15 recommendations with no significant bias
September 2017 Classic of the Month Livestream
Well, for last month’s Classic of the Month I took a break from the usual and played a Half-Life 2 mod: the excellent Research and Development. This month, I can’t really say it’s back to the “usual” – but it will be a Half-Life mod.
This weekend it’s the polarizing Halfquake Amen. Love it or hate it (which I tend toward), but I would definitely call it a classic. But to ease our collective pain, I’ll be doing a surprise game giveaway to a viewer during the ‘patience’ chapter (which requires a 20-minute wait…).
I’ll be streaming Sunday at 9am Eastern US Time (2pm in the UK, 3pm Central Europe). Come watch me suffer.
You should double check the Time & Date.Com website for your local time.
As usual the stream will be on the RunThinkShootLive YouTube Channel. See you there!
15th September 2017 2 Comments
The RTSL Twitter Series
Some readers may have noticed that I have started to tweet a lot more than I used to. It doesn’t take that long and I feel it always helped to promote the site via social media. Different platforms work well for different projects. For example, I spend more time posting on Facebook for my squash persona than Twitter. In the case of RTSL, Twitter seems the best choice.
Now, I know not all of you use Twitter but it is possible to view the tweets (the name of each message posted) even if you don’t have an account – so I don’t feel as though I am limiting access.
The more follows a project can get across various platforms, the more potential visitors to the site and therefore potential usage, including downloads and reviews of maps and mods.
For those interested, there is a screenshot of my analytics page at the bottom of this post, showing the increase in statistics. You will see that at the time of posting the account has achieved 380.3K impressions over this 28 day period and on average earned 13.6K impressions per day (An impression is counted as each time a tweet was viewed).
Of course that trend might not continue but I have certainly picked up quite a few new followers.
In addition to the normal posting of updates, message and general items, I have started 6 daily (although, if I get really busy that may change) tweet series. Each has its own hashtag, meaning it’s easy to find all the tweets related to that series. There is also a weekly series and an occasional one.
Here are the details of each series.
15th September 2017 1 Comment
Total Downloads: 2,4287th October 2017
27 Comments and 9 recommendations, 3 say "Play It Later"