Archives for January 2012

• Please note that these are publication date on this site, NOT the actual release date of the maps and mods

This is a short but varied abstract map that challenges you to be observant.

Can you reach the the end without dying?

Only the careful will survive.

When did game making reach its profit vs acceptable graphics zenith?

Philip’s recent 2012 predictions got me thinking about the challenges that the games industry is facing.

I love running PP and can’t imagine not doing it. Unfortunately, it costs money to keep doing it and this is my yearly request for donations.

As the site gets bigger, so does its server requirements. Up until now I have been able to service on shared hosting but the time has come to upgrade. I certainly couldn’t imagine going for full dedicated hosting but I will probably need to use Virtual Private Server, plus even a CDN one day.

I’ll obviously do a lot more research before taking the plunge.

In addition, I want to run more mapping competitions with prize money. That and another site related project needs some software for it.

I would much prefer not to ask for donations but it’s not possible.

So, if you are able to donate, thank you. If not, don’t worry, keep enjoying the site!

Notice anything new? Well, maybe not, but I have updatred the theme the site runs on. It’s both a small update and a big one. Visually, it’s very similar but everything should align better. I have cleaned up the old code and commented the new one better.

Differences include background images top and bottom, depending on which category you are browsing. Link colour changes, again, depending on which category your are browsing. Bigger footer, with MapTap being highlighted.

Fancy new main menu, which will be improved over the new few months and I hope it will amaze you. Sidebar now only has text links for everything except Google Ads, Poll Question and Chip In donations.

I still can’t get the recommendation bar on the excerpts to be the correct width and I have no idea why!

So, there you have it.

Expect big changes in the menu and if you have any trouble navigating or using the site or questions and suggestions, please contact me.

Just launched my feed reader and saw that Valve has introduced a Steam Mobile service.

Here’s their blurb… ” gamers around the world may chat with Steam friends, browse community groups and user profiles, view screenshots and user-generated content for their favorite games, read the latest gaming news, stay up to date on unbeatable Steam sales, and more.”

I am having serious issues with WordPress at the moment. I am trying a few things and parts of the site may not work for a little while. Please accept my apologies. Any WordPress optimization experts out there prepared to offer their services free of charge, please email me ASAP.

Well, 2011 wasn’t exactly a fantastic year for SP Source modding but there were some interesting things that happened.

This isn’t a review of the year, just a look at some of the highlights.

Hands up if you want to win The Orange Box!

Some great games in the Orange Box, no doubt about it.

So, to win this game box all you need to do is comment on this post AND be a member of the PlanetPhillip group on Steam. One comment per person.

I will select the winner, sometime on Sunday 29th January 2012.

I will send the game via Steam gifts. Do NOT type your Steam name in the comments, but make sure you enter a working email address in the email field. Again, NOT in the comments themselves.

May the universe shine upon you.

Author’s Note: Three-Legged Terror occurs as a side story during the events of Half-Life 2:Episode 2. The player assumes the role of a basic Resistance member, hidden away in an isolated mountain base with a small team of soldiers. This base is discovered by the Combine, who send a Strider to destroy the base. Gameplay revolves weakening and damaging the Strider throughout the map as it ascends the mountain trail, giving your NPC allies time to fix weapons and provide aid. The idea was inspired by Capcom’s Monster Hunter series, in particular the Lao-Shan Lung and Shen Gaoren fights. All three maps, mine and Monster Hunter’s, feature a massive enemy that must be weakened and defeated before it destroys the player’s base.

Welcome To The Desert Of The Real…

Having read many reviews of the mods posted on PP I quite often see players commenting that a map didn’t feel “real” to them.

It’s always interesting to me that people should choose to use the word “real” to describe a place in a world that is distinctly fantastic.

In Half Life 2 we’re presented with a dark future filled with aliens, undead foes and giant bugs but still feel that somehow, one map is more “real” than another.

Having a good sound card and speaker set up can make a big difference to your experience of gaming, yet few of us can have a large speaker system dedicated to our PC.

Currently I just use my laptop speakers or some cheap headphones. I have had 7.1 headphones but my ears overheated, so I had to stop using them.

As much as I would love to have huge speakers to play with but my living arrangements and the fact I like portability, anything other than headphones is impossible.

Tell me more about your speaker set up. Got any recommendations regarding headphones?

I have been meaning to write this for a few weeks now, better late than never I suppose.

To be honest, it was only the title I thought about and not the actual predictions. These are all off the top of my balding head.

Don’t forget to add your own in the comments.

Most people my age fail to take New Year’s resolutions seriously.

I like to think of it as an opportunity to reflect on the previous year.

Where most peoples resolutions involve something life changing, e.g., quitting smoking, my resolutions almost exclusively involve video games.

Hands up if you want to win Half-Life 1 Anthology!

Good, because if you don’t own these games you are missing some fantastic shooter gaming.

So, to win this game all you need to do is comment on this post. One comment per person.

I will select the winner, sometime on Sunday 22nd January 2012.

I will send the game via Steam gifts. Do NOT type your Steam name in the comments, but make sure you enter a working email address in the email field. Again, NOT in the comments themselves.

May the universe shine upon you.

Time for a competition with a difference.

Firstly, there’s no prize, just the bragging rights that I chose your video over the hundreds of other entries!

About a year ago I made a little tribute called City17 Humane Society (mp3) to a video I saw on YouTube called WHS – Kitty Midnight Madness.

I included it in one of my podcasts, but would like to add it to my YouTube Channel, but it needs a video to go with it.

Black Death is a single-player Half-Life 2: Episode Two level that deviates from the original gameplay.

The new crossbow confuses enemies into attacking the victims rather than killing them. Outmanned, he must adapt to his new environment and find the balance between crowbar and crossbow.

How people behave in small groups and large groups is very different from how they behave when they are on their own.

Even if you think of yourself as an intelligent and independent person you can sometimes find yourself manipulated.

The story I am about to tell you really did happen to me.

You play as Corporal Daniel Fletcher and your mission is to recover data from the Anomalous Materials Laboratory.

Along the way you will encounter all sorts of enemies and eventually rejoin your unit.

Can you complete your objective?

Well, here it is. The entries from the CrossbowVille mapping Competition.

The objective was to create an interesting release that used the Crossbow as the main weapon.

The mod contains 3 entries, with varying styles.

I would like to thank the competition’s sponsors; SteamContests.Com and Tt Esports.com and of course, the modders who entered.

Enjoy!

I have a World Exclusive for you.

Ivan’s Secrets is jumping ship from Source and moving to Cry Engine. In addition, they may even go retail!

When Jamie told me I was angry but now I am resigned to the idea.

So there I was sitting at my desk, staring at the blank screen of my laptop wondering what this week’s poll question should be and then I remembered a comment s.anchev had made (He wasn’t the first and won’t be the last) …“If someone could use all the GuildHall ideas on a full mod, it could make one hell of a mod.”.

And then I had the question. Phew, they are getting harder and harder to write.

Anyway, back to the question.

I made a list of different types of mods that I thought might be fun to play.

I have gone into a little detail below in case readers aren’t sure what I mean by them.

The author of G-String has kindly agreed to a text interview. William, from Podcast 17, sent a couple of questions to me and I thought I would ask my readers if they had any questions.

No guarantee is made that she will answer your submitted questions, so please bear that in mind.

You can either email me directly or post them here as a comment.

I should mention that the questions won’t be answered here in this post but in a separate post in the near future.

Thanks.

You find yourself on a runaway train. Nothing left to do but work your way to the front – if you can!

Headcrabs and Combine soldiers try to stop you.

Follow the path in and on the train until you meet you final foe.

Play as a Combine soldier who has some “enhanced” abilities.

Follow your commanding officer and do as he tells you.

Then defend the position as long as you are instructed to.