Classic of the Month Stream – Bootleg Squadrog – March 2022

Right, sorry for missing last month. Things have been too hectic here! But I’m back for March with a new Classic of the Month for you – Bootleg Squadrog by Brendon Chung.

The stream will be this weekend on Saturday March 26th, about 12pm (noon) Eastern US Time (4pm in the UK, 5pm Central Europe). Note that the US is on daylight time already so double check your local time!

As usual, the stream will be on the RunThinkShootLive Twitch Channel, and the recording will later be uploaded to the Classic of the Month playlist on the RTSL YouTube channel.

Check the Time & Date.Com website for your local time. See you there!

23rd March 2022 1 Comment

CrossoverVille 2 – Hammer Cup 2022 Challenge 2 Announcement (w/ Map Labs)

CrossoverVille 2 is the theme of the second challenge in the Hammer Cup 2022 – again in collaboration with Map Labs!

The original CrossoverVille asked mappers to combine Half-Life with another game. But CrossoverVille 2 is broader – combine Half-Life with any other piece of media. Movies, games, music, art, opera – it’s all on the table. I suppose things like billboards and podcasts are too, knock yourselves out. So this new challenge kind of serves as a sequel to MovieVille as well!

This challenge runs for a full 3 weeks, with entries due on Sunday, March 27th. Get mapping! (But at least you have a bit more time for this challenge!)

Bonus maps (which can’t win but are judged and scored) are accepted for 4 days after the normal due date. Note that bonus map entries are not eligible for The Hammer Cup prizes!

Theme Details

Mix Half-Life and another piece of media – movie, game, etc. The crossover is totally up to your interpretation – location, art style, gameplay – anything, really.

Here’s the official announcement (click for full version):

CrossoverVille 2 Announcement

And if you’re not already there, join the Map Labs Discord for good discussion & a great mapping community.

Deadline

The deadline for submission is Sunday 27th March 2022. Bonus maps are accepted for another 4 days after that.

Submission Details

Submit maps using the Submission Form.

5th March 2022 1 Comment

DeceptionVille – Hammer Cup 2022 Challenge 1 Announcement (w/ Map Labs)

The Hammer Cup 2022 kicks off now with another brand new Ville theme!

DeceptionVille was another never-used idea back in the original Hammer Cup days. I’m happy to start The Hammer Cup 2022 with this theme and partner with the Map Labs crew yet again, so let’s see what you mappers can do with it!

This challenge is a Test Tube, so it only runs for 10 days. Get mapping!

Bonus maps (which can’t win but are judged and scored) are accepted for 4 days after the normal due date. Note that bonus map entries are not eligible for The Hammer Cup prizes!

Theme Details

Simple: something in the map isn’t what it seems. Clever deceptions encouraged.

Here’s the official announcement (click for full version):

DeceptionVille Announcement

And if you’re not already there, join the Map Labs Discord for good discussion & a great mapping community.

Deadline

The deadline for submission is Sunday 20th February 2022. Bonus maps are accepted for another 4 days after that.

10th February 2022 12 Comments

The Hammer Cup 2022

The Hammer Cup is back! In mini form!

I’m pleased to announce The Hammer Cup 2022 in collaboration with Map Labs! Of course, RTSL and Map Labs have partnered on a couple of Ville challenges in the last few years – but this is the all-new (mini) Hammer Cup!

Overview

Three consecutive Map Labs challenges make up The Hammer Cup 2022 – one each in February, March, and April. Note that the first and third are Test Tubes (shorter challenges of 1-2 weeks). The themes and details for each challenge will be announced on the start date as usual – and dates are subject to change.

Start End
DeceptionVille (Test Tube) Friday 11th February Sunday 20th February
CrossoverVille 2 Sunday 6th March Sunday 27th March
EscapeVille (Test Tube) Friday 13th May Monday 23rd May
Winners & Prizes

Entrants will receive points for each challenge they enter – each of the challenges will be judged and scored as usual for all the Map Labs challenges. At the end of the event, the best 2 scores from each entrant will be totaled, and the 3 entrants with the top total scores will win the grand prizes listed below. Note that this means you don’t have to enter all 3 challenges, since only your best 2 will contribute toward the combined event score. Note that bonus map entries are not eligible for The Hammer Cup prizes!

5th February 2022 1 Comment

Classic of the Month Stream – Transmissions: Element 120 – January 2022

New year, new month, new classic! Transmissions: Element 120 is the Classic of the Month.

The stream will be this weekend on Saturday January 15th, about 12pm (noon) Eastern US Time (5pm in the UK, 6pm Central Europe). Grab a hot chocolate, tea, or the hot beverage of your choice and tune in!

As usual, the stream will be on the RunThinkShootLive Twitch Channel, and the recording will later be uploaded to the Classic of the Month playlist on the RTSL YouTube channel.

Check the Time & Date.Com website for your local time. See you there!

11th January 2022 4 Comments

Atom Week – Map Labs Atoms #6 – #10 (featuring AscentVille and ElevatorVille 2)

for Half-Life 2: Episode Two

The Map Labs challenges come in a bunch of sizes – Atoms being the shortest challenges at 24 (or 48) hours. Back in March 2021, they ran a straight week composed of 5 Atom challenges.

We at RTSL collaborated with the Map Labs crew again for a couple of these Atoms – AscentVille and ElevatorVille 2. AscentVille was an unused idea back in the Hammer Cup days, and we thought ElevatorVille 2 would be an appropriate theme to interpret for such a short mapping challenge. Can’t Stop Won’t Stop, Gravity, and The Emoji Theme fill out the rest of the Atom Week themes – plus a handful of bonus maps as well.

Anyway, here is the full Atom Week release! Enjoy a whopping 57 short-form maps!

As always, if you’re interested in learning more about Map Labs and maybe even participate in their upcoming challenges, visit the Map Labs Discord.

2
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Total Downloads: 1,6084th January 2022
9 Comments and 3 recommendations, 1 say "Play It Later"

2022 General Chat

Well I skipped a year, but given that 2022 is now upon us, here’s a new General Chat! Let’s hope 2022 has better things in store for all of us!

What are you looking forward to? For my part, more Half-Life mods, of course! I’m keeping an eye on things like The Core, Dark Matter, Signal Lost, and THWL Tower Source.

And Operation: Black Mesa just got added to Steam, so hopefully that’s not too far away. Oh, and FMPONE’s addon for Alyx, Levitation is looking really sharp!

For my part, I hope to consume a little less and create a lot more in 2022. And post some more mods! What about you?

1st January 2022 48 Comments

Classic of the Month Stream – TWHL Tower 2 – December 2021

This month, TWHL Tower 2 won the vote in an absolute landslide! So December’s Classic of the Month is decided.

The stream will be this weekend on Saturday December 11th, about 12pm (noon) Eastern US Time (5pm in the UK, 6pm Central Europe).

And this time, it’ll be a very special stream – you’ll get behind-the-scenes tidbits from the majority of the maps, and full developer commentary for the two maps that I created for this collaboration.

As usual, the stream will be on the RunThinkShootLive Twitch Channel, and the recording will later be uploaded to the Classic of the Month playlist on the RTSL YouTube channel.

Check the Time & Date.Com website for your local time. See you there!

9th December 2021 2 Comments

Vote for the December Classic of the Month – The “Recent” Theme

Another vote for Classic of the Month! And rather than just recycle the mods that didn’t win the previous votes, I picked a handful of mods that are all relatively new (within the last year and a half). Thus the “recent” theme for December – pick which one I’ll stream!

Disclaimer: I was a participant in and ultimately co-lead of TWHL Tower 2 – if that wins the vote you’ll probably get a lot of complaining and occasionally accidental insight during the livestream – but on the other hand, I’ll 100% it.

The poll runs for a week until December 8th. Get your vote in!

1st December 2021 No Comments

Classic of the Month Stream – Half-Life: Visitors – November 2021

Half-Life: Visitors from 2004 was chosen (by you!) for the November Classic of the Month – another one I’ve not played since about when it first came out. So let’s see what it has in store and if it holds up!

The stream will be this weekend on Saturday November 20th, about 12pm (noon) Eastern US Time (5pm in the UK, 6pm Central Europe).

As usual, the stream will be on the RunThinkShootLive Twitch Channel, and the recording will later be uploaded to the Classic of the Month playlist on the RTSL YouTube channel.

Check the Time & Date.Com website for your local time. See you there!

17th November 2021 2 Comments