Category Archives: 7 Series

• A collection of articles, listing 7 “things”, related to gaming and Half-Life.

• Subscribe to the RSS feed for this category and recieve updates on new posts as soon as they are published.

I love Steam. Really, even from the beginning and Valve are always updating and improving it but I just wish I could sit down with the guy/gal or team behind the user experience and chat with them.

I am sure they know how much more it could be and they have a planned improvement programme but I just want to have a few things now.

So, here are 7 Things I wish Steam would allow me to do.

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

In this article, I am going to describe MY 7 stages to perfect gaming.

Please bear with me while I explain how I got there!

I carry my new netbook with me everywhere. I bought it for my work but because I always have stuff to do on the site, it’s useful for me to be able to whip it out and do a bit of admin or even writing if there’s no Net connection.

As a level designer I often take a keen interest in the puzzles that others include in their maps. Half Life 2 offers a huge wealth of puzzle possibilities due to the physics engine and the gravity gun. If you ask a player what their favourite puzzle in a game was they could probably tell you immediately (I’d like to know yours by the way) but they may not be able to tell you why.

Equally they may struggle to explain why a bad puzzle doesn’t work, but in reality there are rules to a good game based puzzle and if you follow them, as a mapper you can’t go wrong.

Here’s my rules that I’ve learnt through creating maps and playtesting on how to create a good puzzle.

I’ve owned X-Boxes, Playstations, and even have a Wii collecting dust at home. They’re fun but none of them come close to the PC gaming experience.

Here are my 7 reasons why….

Playing a mod the other day (I’m naming no mods in this post) I discovered something that really annoys me, so much so that I quit out of the mod and haven’t been back to it since.

I’ve had a think and come up with my top seven things that make me want to ditch a mod almost instantly..

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

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.

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.

Okay, so here I am, sitting in an airport lounge, waiting for my flight and Gabe sits down next to me.

Me: “Hey, how you doing?”

Gabe “Good thanks, you?”

Me: “Yeah, not bad. Don’t you just hate it when one minute you are delayed and the next cancelled?”

Gabe: “Don’t get me started!”

Now, as you should have guessed, this didn’t actually happen, but I prefer to imagine it like rather than some formal situation. Who wants to chat to people behind desks and in offices?

So, if I ever do meet Gabe in an airport lounge and it seems suitable, here are the questions I would ask him.

Below each main question are some follow up ones and maybe some explanation.

Now, I know that not that long ago podcast17 interviewed him, and some or all of these questions might have been asked already. If so, oh well.

And before you ask, no I wouldn’t ask when Episode Three is coming. It’s clear that they don’t want to talk about it, and I am cool with that. When they are ready, they will tell us

Think using the Console is only for developers? Think again. I contacted a few developers I know and asked for some suggestions that may be fun for players to try out.

I used A Walk in the Park for testing, which is where the screenshots come from. Of course, you can use any Source game or mod you want.

The title of this post has got to have shocked you.

“Phillip must want the Half-Life games to keep coming.”

Yes, I do, but on a fixed schedule. Every 3 years is about right for me. Fixed engine too – no updates to break mods or any of those shenanigans.

But the world and Valve don’t revolve around what I want – quite right too!

So, here are 7 reasons I hope Ep3 is the last Half-Life game.

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

I like a certain level of realism in my gaming but more related to abstract things rather than weapon recoil or other details like that.

For me, it’s more about never having crates in room whose doors are obviously too small to allow a crate to fit through – stuff like that.

I was watching NCIS just now and they were talking about Gibbs’ rules. It got me thinking about what “rules” I would give to new players and suddenly I had another 7 Series article!

Some of these rules are probably good for all players, but if I had read this sort of thing when I first started playing I might have enjoyed it more and used less lives and saves!

We all can be pidgeon-holed. The key is getting the holes accurate.

In this 7 Series article, I present 7 possible types of Half-Life player.

Of course, we often fall into multiple categories at different times of our playing career and depending on the game or mod we are playing and the mood we are in.

That said, I feel that deep down we come closest to one, but often we don’t want to admit it.

After reading the types below, if you think I have the wrong types just add your own titles and descriptions.

Which one are you?