It is with some trepidation that I announce the 50 Sourcey Days of Summer!

For the next 50 consecutive days, I will be adding new maps or updating older maps. All will be Source based, mostly Half-Life 2.

I have created a special page for the event, prosaically and rather obviously called 50 Sourcey Days of Summer and it is similar to the 100 Summer Days of Nostalgia event, which believe it or not I ran 7, yes, SEVEN!!! years ago.

It’s linked to on the second menu, under the header images.

I hope to post screenshots etc and even my review, for each map or mod I post or update. I plan to update quite old maps, so don’t get too excited. There will be new releases added too though.

I should tress that I will do my utmost to not miss a day but I seem to be much busier than 7 years ago, so I won’t make any promises.

I have already posted NostalgiaVille for today’s release.

Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions regarding the event.

Half-Life 2 has been around for longer than 13 years, but many will agree that the game has still not lost its charm. However, as Episode 1 and 2 came out, people switched their focus to the new environments and gameplay that were introduced.

NostalgiaVille seeks to balance out the scale by re-introducing the classic environments of Half-Life 2 in the modern day.

Play through 8 official entries and 1 bonus map in this special 2018 mapping challenge.

This is an Idea Challenge. The first of its kind for RTSL. Suggested by Mr. Mazur.

Earlier today, I tweeted this:

I think it's important to acknowledge ignorance. Today was the day I realised that fast zombies are created from fast headcrabs!

Yes, I know that's pretty obvious but I am not the smartest crowbar in the toolset.

I really need to pay more attention. pic.twitter.com/gww5r0fLnD

— RUN THINK SHOOT LIVE (@PlanetPhillip) July 7, 2018

The upshot was that I realised we should be creating a new zombie class that uses the MechaCrab zombie. If you don’t know what the MeachCrab zombie is, please visit the RTSl Mod Template page.

We feel that the MechaCrab should be attached to the Rebel model, as that model doesn’t have an official zombie type. But that is not set in stone, we could change that.

Therefore, I would like to hear your suggestions for a zombie based on the MechaCrab. We need sensible ideas that can be coded and modelled. Ideas that fit into the HL Universe, so don’t suggest things like the MechaCrab on the G-Man, for instance.

We require some unique features for its attack. Something that makes it feel fresh, different AND fun to play against.

Of course, we will have to beta test things but this challenge is just about the ideas.

I know that there are probably lots of new types of zombies on Steam Community and Game Banana, but I don’t want to use soemthign that has already been created.

I will give some games away to the best ideas.

There’s only three rules:
1. By submitting you idea, you grant RTSL the right to create and release the concept as part of the RTSL Mod Template.
2. You are the creator of the idea.
3. It’s family friendly, within the confines of the Half-Life 2 setting.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Hello July. Why is it raining? Where is the sun?

Here we are. Over halfway through 2018. Where has the decade gone?!

I AM GOING TO FINISH WOLFENSTEIN: THE NEW ORDER THIS MONTH! yes, I know I have said that for the last 12 months but I really mean it this time.

On a serious note, I would like to apologise for the lack of updates recently. the site has essentially become the Mapping Challenges and that is not right. I promise to begin to add new maps and mods very, very soon.

How was your Steam Sale? Did you spend too much money? I did a stream, where I spent just over $25, with $15 of that donated. It was fun.

A little while ago, I started a new project on the site called Reference Galleries. I plan to put images I see from GoldSource maps and mods that will inspire me and can be used for reference.

Obviously, Half-Life will contain a lot of things that both inspire and can be used for reference. Unlike many readers, I’ve only played half-life a couple of times and the last time was part of what I called The Replay Experience Experiment AKA TREE and that was a few years ago, so I have decided to replay it, as well as the other games, over the next few months.

I started 10 minutes ago and when I got to the doorway where a Barney says that he can’t let me through and I looked up. I believe it was the first time I had done that and this post suddenly appeared in my head.

There are sure to be things I haven’t noticed and I thought I would document them here. Don’t expect any “Never-before-seen” things, they are just things that I have never noticed or forgotten I have.

The images and thoughts will be posted on the RTSL Twitter account and then embedded as comments on this post. The hashtag is #thinnihl.

By the way, if you are looking for a chapter-by-chapter review of each of the games, then visit the Games section of the site.

Anyway, I’ll hope you’ll follow along with me and add you own observations.

The Posters have been added to the bottom of the post.

A while ago, Maki suggested running an art challenge. He said it because, as you may know, I try to post a Half-Life art image every day on the RTSL Twitter account.

So, here is the first of hopefully many Fan Art Events.

Now, let me clarify. Just like the Fan Fiction Events, they are not exactly challenges. Certainly not in the same way that the mapping challenges are challenges. There are no winners. There are just favourites. I give random Steam games to my favourite and to the readers’ favourite. The games tend to be quite old and not very expensive. I want people to enter the events for the fun and experience, not because they think they will win a AAA modern game.

Right, so with all that said, let’s talk about the event itself.

As the name suggests, I would like you to create a poster. The poster can be about one of the Half-Life games, one of the characters, weapons, locations, events or even a mod.
The style is up to you. It could look like a movie poster, an art-form (water-colour, oil, abstract etc), photoshop screenshot – the choice is yours.
The style can be serious or joking.
Text should be kept to a minimum unless the style demands it. If text is used, it should be in English (sorry).

A quick look on Deviant Art shows some possibilities.

Please send your entry, via email, either as a jpg or png attachment, to [email protected], no later than 11:59pm UTC Sunday 8^th July 2018

“Localized on the other side of the Coast, the Combine used to run one among other abandoned sections of the block cells as an area to detain citizens who were determined to be a threat to the Combine action. Later on, these cell blocks were left behind, including countless prisoners and citizens who tried to escape by their own through vents, old offices, maintenance facilities and sewers.

After a successful escape from the cell blocks in sector A5, you’ll find yourself still wandering in the sewers on another side at Nova Prospekt looking for an exit. Continuing your journey as a leftover prisoner attempting to stay alive at all cost. Keep low and dark. The Combine is still in alert of your escape.”

Be sure to check out Quiet Rehabilitation too.

Right, sit down, I’ve got something amazing to tell you…..I actually played some Wolfenstein: The New Order this week. SHOCK!! HORROR!!

I have been saying I would play for months and finally did. I WILL finish it this month. Maybe even this weekend. I struggled for the first 15 minutes while I tried to get used to the new (standard for you) keybindings and also trying to remember how to do the crouching slide, but eventually had a bit of fun.

So, the new Collections feature is online and working. Looks like we need to address multiple lines in the description but the rest seems to work. I hope you take a moment to have a look.

This weekend, I will be posting the PDF of the fan fiction event called Untold Stories and at the time of writing this, it looks like we have 9 or 10 submissions.

I plan to keep working on my mapping and probably stream a bit too.

What about you? What do you have planned?

BTW, can you guess the name of the mod that the featured image is taken from?

Right, so I suspect you are A: pretty excited and B: a little confused by the title. Hopefully, after you have finished reading this post you will still be excited but not confused.

I will explain as much as I can, but please bear in mind, that some things will remain secret for various reasons.

Essentially, near the end of this year or the beginning of next year, we will be releasing a compilation of the best maps entered for the mapping challenges over the last few years.

Let me address the use of the word “Game”, it seems that currently the release will be a game in the sense that it will not require the purchase or installation of ANY other Half-Life game.