PlanetPhillip

Hi, I’m Phillip, welcome to my website.

Below is an 8 Point Guide to introduce you to the site. Each point contains a basic explanation and at least 1 link to more information.

I would also like to mention that I will be updating all the guides linked to in the post over the next few days.

Thanks for visiting and please don’t hesitate to contact me for any reason.

PlanetPhillip lists and reviews single player maps and mods for the Half-Life series of single player first person shooter games. Phew that’s quite a mouthful, but I describe it like that to ensure there are no misunderstandings. I don’t cover 3rd person shooter mods, or multiplayer mods or anything in between. I know what I like and I like what I know.

In addition there are interviews, both text and audio, weekly poll questions and my gaming blog, which contains hundreds of articles, ideas, industry observations and rants.

Since it’s my site, I also occasionally add content that is outside of the strict criteria of map and mod inclusion.

See: Content Guide and NewTo...

The site features a lot of content and when you first visit it can seem a little intimidating. Essentially, you can find content based on: date published on the site, the game it’s for, descriptive keywords (see below), a search for any criteria (see below) and my Hall Of Fame.

The frontpage lists the latest additions in chronological order, with the newest at the top.

See: Navigation Guide.

To get the best from a search you need to follow a few simple guidelines. Spending a few moments reading the guide will save you time and make your results more meaningful.

See: Search Guide.

No registration is required on the site and everybody can read and make comments. I retroactively moderate every single comment made on the site and I do not tolerate rudeness or abuse in any form. I do not hesitate to edit or even delete comments that I feel break my house rules. Currently there are over 18,000 comments, reviews, questions and answers, so don’t be shy, join in the discussions..

See: Comments Guide.

One of the unique features of the site is The Recommendation System. These are simply visual guides to your opinion. There are 5 basic levels with an additional Personal Favourite for those really good mods. They work similar to traffic lights, going from red for Avoid It! to green for Play It Now! They are both easy to use and very intuitive to understand.

See: The Recommendation System.

Tags are descriptive keywords. An example is the best way to explain. Imagine you love the Crossbow and want to find all the maps and mods where you can use it. Searching through the alphabetical or chronological lists won’t help, neither would search through the game categories. The answer is simple, click the dropdown list in the sidebar and select Crossbow. This will then display a list of maps an mods that have had that tag associated with them.

Sounds perfect doesn’t it? Well, it is, almost. The one problem is that these tags have to be added by me and not all the maps and mods have tags associated with them. I started the site a long time before they became available, so the result are really only partial results. I am currently backdating the tags, but it takes a long time – sorry.

See: Tags Guide

If you had a choice between visiting your favourite shops and looking for new items or having each shop visit you and show you what’s new, which would you choose? The shops visiting you of course! Well, that’s exactly what RSS is. The headlines (or full content) are sent to you. You choose who sends you what and you can stop at any time and you never have to share personal information. (Using RSS Feeds doesn’t mean you can’t visit your shops if you want to!)

Let me give you two examples.

Example 1
You are only interested in Half-LIfe 2: Episode Two maps and mods because that’s the only game you have. Everyday you visit my site in the hope of finding something you can play. It’s not a good use of your time. Well, with RSS you simply subscribe to the HL2: EP2 Feed and everytime I post a map for that game you get notified.

Example 2
You have all the Half-Life games but are only interested in maps and mods with new content. As in the example above you simply subscribe to the New Content feed and everytime I post something that is tagged with New Content you get notified.

Don’t worry if you don’t know how to use RSS Feeds because I explain everything you need to know in the guide.

See: RSS Feed Guide

The site has gone through a number of changes and host server moves over the last 5 years. This means some images are missing, some links no longer work and information is either outdated or wrong. I am sorry for this but please remember this website is just a hobby for me.

I am currently working to correct all the errors on the site, but with adding new content, other projects and Real Life, things don’t always improve as quickly as I would like.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me with reports of errors etc, I will do my best to correct things as soon as possible. Also don’t hesitate to remind me of things I promised to do!

I hope the above information has been helpful and useful.

Before I go I would like to tell you about two other things.

The first is the Twitter Site Updates page. This simple system allows me to spend very little time keeping you informed of the changes I make to the site. If you have a Twitter account you can easily follow me or if not use the RSS Feed instead. Not sure what Twitter is? Then read this great explanation: What the Heck is twitter (Don’t miss the video at the bottom).

This page was last updated on Sunday 03 January 2010.