A Steam friend of mine messaged me yesterday about the announcement of Dear Esther going commercial.

He was disappointed with the community’s response – specifically the negative comments.

You wake up in a room. Adjoining it are other rooms and guess what? There are zombies in them. Keep going from room to room until you find the escape.

Serious readers of Iain M. Banks’ Culture universe will recall how strange many of the ship names are. There’s a number of forum post and even websites that have a list of potential names.

I thought it might be fun to run a little competition for the most interesting mod name.

This post contains strong and forceful language.

In addition, I hold nothing back concerning my deeply held beliefs about Half-Life.

If you are easily offended, I suggest you give this post a miss.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

UPDATE 2
I had forgotten to include Mel’s submission and I would like to apologize for my mistake. His story has now been included at the end. Sorry Mel.

UPDATE
Thanks to all those who entered.

I have created a PDF document with all the entries, along with an introduction, details of the winner and my comments about each story.

PlanetPhillip.Com Writing Competition January 2011

Right click and select your browser’s version of “Save As” to download it and view from your computer or click the link and depending on your system and set up it may open directly.

For those who just want to know the winner, it is….

I admit that this is a pretty tough question to choose one area from but I am unable to allow a few choices.

When I first thought of this question I had been thinking of mod music for a particular idea I am working on and it made me realize that some mod music is absolutely fantastic.

The Metrocops have gone into bank security and you have decided to rob a bank.

Getting in is obviously the easy part, can you get out alive?

Once outside, things really hot up.

They’ll be making a movie around your escapades soon!

So, here is the first official PlanetPhillip Discussion Podcast.

We chat for about 50 minutes about some older poll questions and discussion points.

Enjoy.

I’m one of the few players who don’t like really long mod. I lose interest too easily. I like something I can play within one or two sitting, say 3 hours maximum.

I understand why players like mods and if I didn’t run all my websites then maybe it would be different for me.

Years ago, a PP reader sent me an image of his desk setup and suggested I posted something about it. Well, guess what? I’ve finally got around to doing it!

Here’s how it will work….

You send me an image of your desk setup, any notes and your name (if you want it included) and I’ll post it. I’ll randomly select a photograph and give a $5 game (via Steam)to the person. There must be a minimum of 20 photos sent in though and PlanetPhillip.com must be visible on the screen.

This is the second in a short series of polls related to reviewing mods. Last week I asked How many times do you play a mod before reviewing it?, this week it’s about the delay between playing and writing.

Hello and welcome back to AtC. Apologies for the long gap between this and the last one – been really busy – I’ve decided to see if I can keep posting these weekly round-ups, since they seem popular.

So what’s happened this week? Read below to find out.

““Left for Dead in Ravenholm” is a two-level Campaign for Half-Life 2 that recreates gameplay from Left 4 Dead within the Half-Life 2 universe. Joined by Alyx, Barney, and Father Grigori, you must journey through the Zombie-invested town of Ravenholm in search of rescue. Together, you fight your way through a residential area in the first level, “The Neighborhood”.

“The entire apartment complex is a crime scene, and the player must make their way through three individually decorated apartments in order to survive the scenario. Rich in precise environmental detail, the apartments offer starkly contrasting visual motifs and puzzle-oriented challenges. It’s up to the participants in my study to infer their own stories about what happened in each space and to the individuals who inhabit them.”

This is the first in a shorts series of polls about how we review maps and mods.

Most of you know that I almost never replay maps and mods and I got to wondering about how that affected my reviews.

As I mentioned yesterday in the launch of the Single Player Hall Of Fame, the Haf-Life 1 mods section is unpopulated.

This is due to a lack of Recommendation Images used in reviews.

Starting in a corridor, make your way through the facility until you find your squad.

They seem pretty pleased to see you, so they are either really lonely or you are a hero for killing all those Combine soldiers and zombies!

Either way, don’t expect a quick run through the place without encountering some resistance. Good Luck!

By the time you read this it may be 2011. 2010 is just a memory, so when you look back on 2010 modwise, was it good?

For those that need a little help, please visit my Modwall 2010 to see all the mods published on this site. Of course, there were other SP mods released that weren’t covered here but it gives you are good idea of what is around.

Alyx Vance has been captured by the Combine and is being held on an off-shore oil rig.

Gordon Freeman, with the help of a pulse cannon and helicopter, must attack the rig and save Alyx with “brute force”!

A new Portal mod with new textures, models and even a new story.

It has a darker more serious look and feel to the original game.

Where would you be without Barney? That Beer Buddy just keeps coming to your rescue.

You start in a calm city square, but things turn a little more action packed within a few moments.

Listen to Barney, he knows what to do.

Tired of only being able to carry one item at a time? This mod could be a partial answer for you. You can carry up to 9 saw blades and 9 cannisters.

You can then “pick” them out of your “Holding Bag” to use them almost immediately.

Think of this as a demonstration of a new gameplay mechanic, rather than just a playable level.

You find yourself standing outside a desert Combine base.

You seemed to have been ambushed.

Can you get inside the base and wipe out all the Combine soldiers and air support.

Previously in The Citizen you had taken control of an important combine message relay, making the most of a failed mission to assassinate Dr Breen. It was located in a large conference building situated near a rebel safehouse – the Spare Time Cafe – from which your assault was originally launched.