July 2012 – General Chat

18th July 2012

Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3

So, what’s this post all about?

Well, there’s no where for readers to just “chew the fat” (“rag” if you are American), “shoot the breeze” or “Hurl the headcrab” (yes, I just made that up).

No where for them to chat about general topics.

I’ve had a forum, which I removed, I’ve tried sidebar chat systems but never been happy with any solution.

I thought I would try a regular post. Each month, I’ll create a new one, so it doesn’t become to large.

In the comments of this post, you can talk about anything you want, although I’d prefer to stick to gaming.

It’s probably best if we avoided sex, politics, religion and cheese.

All comments are retroactively moderated. It’s more or less a family site, so please bear that in mind.

You don’t even need to be a registered member to comment on this, or any other post!

Also remember, that every comment with a link has to be approved by me, please don’t try to bypass that control.

I’ll get us started every month with a topic, but don’t expect me to keep the conversation going – that’s up to all the readers. And don’t think it has to stay on that topic either – pretty much anything goes. We can even have multiple topics being discussed.

This month’s image is some concept art from Half-Life.

61 Comments

  1. What does everybody think of Valve’s new Greenlight?

    I like the idea of more interaction but wouldn’t you just want all games on Steam?

    1. zonbie

      I love the idea behind Greenlight. Furthermore, I would NOT want ALL games on Steam. Think of the Apple App Store, where there is a giant selection of apps…and only a few of them are gems.

      Who wants Steam to become a veritable trash heap full of half-tested games, where the gems can be lost and drowned out? I say we let Steam be the well-moderated haven for the gems and those other projects which show promise, while the games that cannot make the cut either improve themselves or find a different distributor or die off completely. Videogaming Darwinism.

    2. Wesp5

      Sorry, but I have the impression that Valve noticed the interest in Kickstarter and just wanted to offer something similar as fast as possible. After all there is Origin now and I also heard people speculate that with the current size of AAA games, distribution may well go back to more physical media again, so in the future small games are best for online services like Steam and others…

      1. Maybe I misunderstood the project’s objective then. I just thought it was a voting system.

    3. Herr_Alien

      I think it borrows quite a bit from both kickstarter and moddb/indiedb/desura. I think it’ll put a lot of pressure on them; after all, Steam has 40 million registered accounts. Having such a big customer base will make Greenlight more attractive than Desura.
      Dunno. I hope I’m wrong, Scott (head of Desura/ModDB) did quite a few things right when relying on community input and I would hate to see another site take advantage of what he managed to prove.

    4. Not sure if this is the right forum,but it is listed as general chat.Can anyone instruct me how to get poke 646 to work?Tryed the fix,dosent seem to take.One of only three mods in the hall of fame ive yet to play.Thanks

  2. Have you guys made any golden finds on the Steam Summer Sale yet? Personally, I have not found anything that catches my eye.

    1. I’m planning on buying a few copies of Opposing Force and giving them away before my next “event”. I wish Steam would allow me to buy more than one copy at one time, would make my life so much easier. I nearly bought QUBE for 2.49 a few days ago.

    2. DaZ

      Saints Row 3. Absolutely brilliant, hilarious, fun. Coop in it is also a blast. Steam says I have 28 hours played, yet I only got it 4-5 days ago, yikes!

      1. Greenman

        Not exactly a golden find but Call of Pripyat is a definite from me if anyones wondering what to buy, ’tis cheap.

        1. The interesting thing about that offer is the Loyalty Promo. If you already own Steam Version of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky or S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl.

          They also offer all 3 games for just under 9 euros, which is excellent value.

      2. 28 hours in 4/5 days, that’s amazing. That’s about 7 hours per day.

    3. I bought Bioshock 2 by u$3.74, Chrome Specforce by 1.24 and FEAR 3 by 4.99. Almost bought Rage for 9.99 but it slipped away from my hands when I was still doubtful (not that the game isnt worth it but I crossed my games budget limit this month already).

      1. Yes, I’ve done that a few times: been on the edge of buying something and then didn’t.

        I am sure there could be a case for Valve to finish a sale and then put it back on 24 hours later. I wonder what the take up would be.

    4. Herr_Alien

      The Penumbra games.

    5. Unq

      Grabbed Thief 1 & 2 for cheap, and then they got even cheaper yesterday (75% off). Same with Mirror’s Edge, it got even cheaper after I bought it.

      I got Walking Dead since I am a sucker for zombies. Someone stop me.

      1. Merril

        picked up Assassins Creed II for $4.99
        I don’t recommend, not the best PC port.

        Quantum Cunundrum for $17.99 with 2 future DLC packs
        It’s ok, was fun until it got to the hard parts.

  3. William

    Everyone should check out Anna over at desura, it’s getting some really good publicity and I’ll be doing a let’s play of it very shortly.

    http://www.desura.com/games/anna

  4. Greenman

    I would like to take this opportunity to ask what peoples favourite cheese is; for me it has to be cheddar.

    1. Yikes, does your post count as spam??

      1. Spam and cheese: a perfect combination?

    2. zonbie

      I enjoy cheese, but only judeo-christian republican cheese. I hope my wife doesnt find out im having an affair with a wheel of red republican cheese.

      also, zerg rush.

      1. I’ve just emailed your wife and she is cheesed off. It wasn’t the fact you had an affair it was that it was with a Republican that apparently angered her the most.

    3. I have this strange “issue” in that I can only eat cheese on pizzas. I can’t even think about eating it in any other way and I feel sick just writing about it.

      1. Me too, haha! I can’t remember I did eat cheese in a other way 🙂

      2. Herr_Alien

        Mushrooms (champignon), garlic, cheese and white wine.
        Clean the mushrooms. Remove the leg.
        In a glass bowl put a layer of mushrooms, turned up side down (the side where the leg was must be up). Place a bit of garlic in each mushroom. Grate cheese on top. Place a second layer of mushrooms and repeat.
        Put said bowl in oven. Let it cook for about an hour.
        Stuff face with said dish and clean it up with white wine.
        Be happy.

  5. 2muchvideogames

    Come check out this mod I’m currently developing for! (with some help, of course)

    http://www.moddb.com/mods/home-sweet-home

    1. Ade

      will you be needing the help of the BetaTestersCollective? 😀

  6. Blue Lightning (forgot to clock in)

    I posted a while ago that Mission Improbable 3 was coming, because the author posted the news on Steam. Phillip removed my post. Now I know why.

    MI 3 is not a 3rd chapter (that we are all awaiting). Rather it is just a graphics upgrade for the first 2 chapters. Booo.

    BTW, am I the only one that thinks Bioshock would of been better if it ended after Fort Frolic?

    1. Phillip removed my post. Now I know why.

      I think it was because it was off-topic.

      As far as I know, MI3 includes the third and last part of the levels AND a visual updating of the two previous releases.

      Can’t comment on the Bioshock point as I haven’t played it.

      1. Blue Lightning

        Now that is damn good news! In fact it looks as if (from the link you posted) that Mission Improbable will not only have a 3rd map, but a 4th one as well!

        I think I can speak for all of us when I say “this is the news of the year!” 🙂

    2. Ade

      what you can do is follow the moddb updates, when something new comes along, post on podcast17 agenda (that is, if someone else hasn’t posted in same week.. damn ninjas!) and they get discussed on the show 😛

  7. I know I said we shouldn’t talk religion but there’s an interesting article on the BBC website called The eurozone’s religious faultline.

    Anybody else read it? I admit I just had time to skim it.

    1. Ade

      the link links back here

  8. E.Y.E: Divine Cybermancy
    E.Y.E: Divine Cybermancy

    I have just received an email that this game has been updated. The update includes some tools, documentation and samples for modding.

    It’s currently on sale in Steam for what seems like a great price.

    Full details from their website: eye.streumon-studio.com

    I can’t remember seeing this game before. Has anybody played it?

    Gotta love the idea of modding for it.

  9. Unq

    So in playing Half-Life (1) recently, I am finding it very easy, even on “Hard”. Anyone else? Have I just played Half-Life too much?

    1. Ade

      Me too! although I mostly play on Normal. I replayed “Surface Tension” today, as I promised myself I will before moving on, and as I rushed through and dropped my health under 15, I was back up to 100 in no time 😛
      Good news is you can help Phillip gather saves on Hard mode 😉

      1. 2muchvideogames

        It’s easy prolly because we all know where the health and powerups are. Imagine playing HL for the first time on hard, then it will prolly be really hard!

    2. CoRuJa

      I’ve put 69 hours on HL2, plus 32 hours on EP1 and 21 hours on EP2 and did not find them challenging for the first time i’ve played them on Normal, did not bothered finishing them on Hard because most of your enemies, especially the Combine are dumbed-down and the high damage is just to compensate their weakness, especially the Combine Soldier.

  10. Where the Unbeholden’s behaviour thread went? I was looking forward to keep reading about that pasionate discussion. 🙁

    1. I removed the post. I am now dealing directly with ModDB and felt it was a little unprofessional on my part to publish it in the first place. There might be some good news to announce soon in relation to this though.

      1. Interesting.. what sort of collaboration, just info sharing – or something more? Intriguing possibilities..

  11. CoRuJa

    Don’t you guys really think that playing as a Resistance fighter/fighting for freedom/taking the fight against the Combine oppressors in most of HL2 mods out there has becomed generic/boring and a clich?

    1. Dias

      Maybe, but it’s the easiest to do giving the game’s assets.

    2. I don’t think the idea itself is boring, just the implementation.

      Most stories revolve around Good versus Evil.

  12. Dias

    I’m American & I’ve never heard anybody say “chew the rag” before. I didn’t even know that was an alternative to “chew the fat”.

    1. To be honest neither had I, but when I searched for other phrases to use, and found this one, so I mentioned it to to make you feel at home.

      1. Dias

        I appreciate the sentiment.

    2. Unq

      Yeah I’ve never heard “chew the rag” either. I do know “chew the fat’. It’s not that common but I didn’t know it was British English.

  13. Since the PP rage-outage scare, is anyone else finding themselves now rummaging through all the various links & older/less obvious content that they had previously ignored? Are we all guilty of taking PP for granted?

    I’m discovering all sorts of gems (unplayed maps, interviews with significant people, interesting podcasts, lost mods) that I’d previously missed, it’s like a huge attic jammed full of stuff – although a bit daunting, dig hard enough & you’ll unearth goodies!

    Some of the ancient maps are actually really good, even though they’re HL1, and there’s a wealth of old but good HL2 stuff (yes, and some dross too).

    The only regular problem I hit is the Valve update damage – does anyone know of a generic fix for the “[scene].vcd missing” error that stops scenes from playing, thereby halting progress? Even after the gameinfo edit & .gcf/scenes copying fixes. Ta!

    1. Ade

      is anyone else finding themselves now rummaging through all the various links & older/less obvious content that they had previously ignored?

      I’m sure old timers don’t have that “issue” hehe
      My suggestion is the Guildhall maps and mods, they’re short and sweet, as almost every one of them is a half an hour long playthrough of a new mechanic.

  14. I had another story rejected yesterday, so I uploaded to my DeviantArt page: http://planetphillip.deviantart.com/art/Don-t-mention-the-third-conditional-316439277

    Let me know what you think. Please be honest, but polite.

    You can see my other ones here: http://planetphillip.deviantart.com/

    1. Ade

      I only skimmed through til I got to the grammar and super powers incentive then went back and read it all haha so you should start with that as a subtitle 😛

  15. I’ve decided to get a ball to sit on:
    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gym-Fit-Exercise-Ball-Green/dp/B006QWB4YC/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

    Didn’t think about it, but I remember seeing Gabe on one in a photograph.

    This guy convinced me:

  16. Nice article on the BBC about Gunther Holtorf’s 23-year road trip.

    There’s also this one about the coming Mars Landing, which I had no idea about. The video is pretty cool.

    Seen anything interesting on a news website recently?

  17. I’m sure you have all read that Gabe called Windows 8 a “catastrophe”.

    Curious to see what happens over this. Almost as surprisingly was that it was on the BBC frontpage in the Most Popular section.

    1. I was planning on starting August’s chat with that!

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