Archive for September 2017

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!
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Total Downloads: 21,79521st 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

Epistle3Ville

for 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.

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Total Downloads: 6,31016th 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

$850 Prize Fund for The Hammer Cup 2017

I am very pleased to announce that the prize fund for The Hammer Cup 2017 will be a minimum of $850. Thanks go to my Patreon supporters and everybody who donated at various times including my livestream fund raisers.

I’d like to stress that it is possible that it could increase between now and the end of the year. If or when that happens, I will add extra prizes.

The prize structure is as follows:

  • First: $400
  • Second: $200
  • Third: $100
  • Fourth: $50
  • Fifth: $25
  • Special 1: $50
  • Special 2: $25

Details of the Special prizes will be released after the event has finished.

You will notice that the prizes double as you go up.

All prizes will be paid via PayPal and no substitution is possible. All amounts are in US Dollars.

Remaining Dates

Challenge 4: 20th September to 9th October (19 Days)
Challenge 5: 8th November to 4th December (26 days)

Full details are announced at 11am Central European (Summer) Time of the day the challenge starts.

Current Points

You can view the current points situatio on the Official Hammer Cup 2017 Points Sheet

Previously Released Mods in The Hammer Cup 2017
Final Thoughts

As always, if you have any questions, suggestions or comments, please don’t hesitate to ask or post them.

14th September 2017 3 Comments

50-Hour Mapping Challenge – Epistle3Ville

Hello and welcome to the third 50-Hour Mapping Challenge – Epistle3Ville.

Below are the details.

PLEASE READ THEM CAREFULLY.

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]

Theme Details

For this 50-hour challenge, we would like you to create a map that has been inspired by Marc Laidlaw’s recent Epistle 3 blog post, subsequent fan art based on that piece of writing or any other Episode 3 or Half-Life 3 fan art or concept art. If you use any art as direct inspiration, please link to it in your entry’s readme.txt file.

You only have 50 hours, so what we’re looking for is just a tiny slice of what you think Episode 3 could have included. Maybe there’s a setpiece that you’d love to see in-game, or a specific combat situation you imagined while reading Epistle 3. Did you see some fan art and say “wouldn’t it be cool if…”? This is your chance!

The main point is that what you make must be inspired by the Ep3/HL3 theme AND be recognisable as such. You can’t just say something inspired you but it’s not obvious how it connects to Episode 3.

This theme is perhaps open to interpretation more than other themes, so if you have ANY questions, doubts etc, do not hesitate to ask for clarification.

8th September 2017 33 Comments

Third 50-Hour Mapping Challenge Starts This Friday

Firstly, allow me to apologise for the late reminder. The dates were published weeks ago but I know that people don’t always pay attention and mark them in their diary or tell their secretary.

So, anyway, this Friday at 10pm Central European Summer Time, the third 50-Hour Mapping Challenge starts.

Full details will be announced in a post which will have all the details.

The judges and I are really excited about this theme and I would have loved to have a tease countdown but couldn’t think of a good way to do it.

Yes, the image is a clue and either it’s really obvious, in which case I apologise or it’s so obscure to be worthless and again, I apologise.

Here is the countdown timer for the start of the challenge.

Next 50-Hour Mapping Challenge starts in…Countdown

6th September 2017 16 Comments