PlanetPhillip » Poll Questions http://www.planetphillip.com Finishing Half-Life is just the beginning! Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:35:48 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Copyright © PlanetPhillip 2011 planetphillip@gmail.com (Phillip Marlowe) planetphillip@gmail.com (Phillip Marlowe) podcasts 1440 http://www.planetphillip.com/wp-content/plugins/podpress/images/144-pp-podcasts-logo.jpg PlanetPhillip http://www.planetphillip.com 144 144 http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/category/articles/podcasts/feed/ PlanetPhillip.Com Podcasts Finishing Half-Life is just the beginning! Source, Mods, PlanetPhillip, Valve Phillip Marlowe Phillip Marlowe planetphillip@gmail.com no no Poll Question 260 – Would you choose an amazing gaming PC or $1000 worth of games? http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-260/ http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-260/#comments Sat, 04 Feb 2012 16:46:56 +0000 planetphillip http://www.planetphillip.com/?p=8819 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 So I was checking out a game on Steam and I noticed who had the game and one person I know has all the games on Steam. Yes, I do mean all. Some readers know him, but I won't explicitly say who he his. He has a special Steam account that gives him every single game released.]]> http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-260/feed/ 12 Poll Question 259 – Will you use the new Steam Mobile service? http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-259/ http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-259/#comments Fri, 27 Jan 2012 12:24:56 +0000 planetphillip http://www.planetphillip.com/?p=8634 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 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."]]> http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-259/feed/ 13 Poll Question 258 – What kind of speakers do you use? http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-258/ http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-258/#comments Sat, 21 Jan 2012 09:50:20 +0000 planetphillip http://www.planetphillip.com/?p=8479 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 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?]]> http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-258/feed/ 25 Poll Question 257 – What type of mod would you most like to play? http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-257/ http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-257/#comments Sat, 14 Jan 2012 09:09:48 +0000 planetphillip http://www.planetphillip.com/?p=8456 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 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.]]> http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-257/feed/ 7 Poll Question 256 – Will you make any gaming New Year’s resolutions? http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-256/ http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-256/#comments Fri, 30 Dec 2011 17:10:48 +0000 planetphillip http://www.planetphillip.com/?p=8436 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 I'm terrible. I make more NYRs than you can imagine. The inside of my wardrobe door is covered in photos and post it notes. In fact, as I get older, I get worse or more ambitious, depending on which way you look at it. And yes, I do achieve some of them! So, this year, I plan to make some gaming resolutions, not related to the website. At the risk of jinxing my chances of achieving these resolutions, here they are.]]> http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-256/feed/ 8 Poll Question 255 – How good has 2011 been for HL modding? http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-255/ http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-255/#comments Fri, 23 Dec 2011 11:28:40 +0000 planetphillip http://www.planetphillip.com/?p=8389 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 With only one week to go before the end of the year, I thought it might be nice to think back over the last year of HL modding. Now, when I say "HL" I mean all maps and mods related to Half-Life. Hl2 EP2, Portal 2 etc. This is not a proper retrospective of the year but just a general feel for it.]]> http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-255/feed/ 7 Poll Question 254 – A mod becomes truly great when… http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-254/ http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-254/#comments Fri, 16 Dec 2011 15:44:31 +0000 planetphillip http://www.planetphillip.com/?p=8375 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Stole this idea from ModDB (Thanks guys!). Of course, I adapted it slightly for you, but it's the theme that's the same. There's no doubt that defining a great mod is harder than just picking a few answers in my poll (BTW, you get to choose 3) and it can be hard to even recognize what it was exactly that made you think it was great in the first place. But that doesn't mean we should think about it! Personally, I am more interested in how something plays than it looks and new stuff is only good if it helps the gameplay. Same for doing something new. However, when a mod makes you think about life, than that's gotta be a great thing. Don't you think?]]> http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-254/feed/ 16 Poll Question 253 – Do you replay mods to get alternative endings? http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-253/ http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-253/#comments Fri, 09 Dec 2011 09:22:03 +0000 planetphillip http://www.planetphillip.com/?p=8364 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 The winning entry for HalloweenVille had an alternative ending. I kept meaning to go back and replay it, but never did. I realized that unless the part where the divergence is made very clear, as in The Citizen 2, then I never go back and play it.]]> http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-253/feed/ 11 Poll Question 252 – Are you excited by the idea of Steam Workshop? http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-252/ http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-252/#comments Fri, 02 Dec 2011 10:04:39 +0000 planetphillip http://www.planetphillip.com/?p=8356 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 I noticed that Valve announced today that they would be using Steam Workshop to distribute Skyrim mods. They had previously announced distribution of Portal 2 mods via the same method, and as I wrote on somewhere, that scared the heck out of me.]]> http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-252/feed/ 15 Poll Question 251 – If you see a Steam friend playing a game or mod you haven’t heard of, do you search for it? http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-251/ http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-251/#comments Fri, 25 Nov 2011 08:32:18 +0000 planetphillip http://www.planetphillip.com/?p=8348 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 I don't use Steam Friends as much as some, but that's true of Facebook, LinkedIn or Skype etc. For those that seem to spend their entire life online (I'm looking at you Au Heppa!) they may not pay much attention to their friends list. I do. I don't know why but I do.]]> http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-251/feed/ 13 Poll Question 250 – Which is better Half-Life 1 or Half-Life 2? http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-250/ http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-250/#comments Sat, 19 Nov 2011 10:43:46 +0000 planetphillip http://www.planetphillip.com/?p=8345 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Following on from last week's poll question of Which is better: P1 or P2, I thought I would continue the theme. This time it's much hard to decide because like many great questions of prowess (Ali vs Tyson, Caruso vs Pavarotti etc) it often comes down to era. Just as importantly is which one you played first.]]> http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-250/feed/ 29 Poll Question 249 – Is Portal 1 better than Portal 2? http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-249/ http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-249/#comments Thu, 10 Nov 2011 06:08:41 +0000 planetphillip http://www.planetphillip.com/?p=8341 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 I'm not a huge Portal fan but I do enjoy the occasional map or mod. There's been more debate about which is better: Portal 1 or Portal 2 than for HL1 or HL2, mainly because they are both on the "same" engine and any comparison naturally gravitates towards visual aspects.]]> http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-249/feed/ 36 Poll Question 248 – Do you take a break after playing long mods or games? http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-248/ http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-248/#comments Sat, 05 Nov 2011 11:27:18 +0000 planetphillip http://www.planetphillip.com/?p=8316 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 I've just finished a really long and great book. I feel a little relieved that I have finished it, but also sad because the story has finished, at least for the time being. As much as I love reading I couldn't start a new book for a few days, even a short one - I need time to "digest" what I have just experienced. I need time to look for the plot holes and consider the actions of the protagonists.]]> http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-248/feed/ 8 Poll Question 247 – Do you talk to yourself during SP games and mods? http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-247/ http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-247/#comments Sat, 29 Oct 2011 09:45:31 +0000 planetphillip http://www.planetphillip.com/?p=8315 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 I move around a lot when I play video games. In fact, once or twice, I've nearly fallen off my chair as I twist and turn in an effort to avoid a rocket or some other projectile. I'm guessing that's pretty common, but the other day I noticed myself actually talking while playing.]]> http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-247/feed/ 17 Poll Question 246 – Should games and mods carry estimated play times? http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-246/ http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-246/#comments Sat, 22 Oct 2011 06:58:18 +0000 planetphillip http://www.planetphillip.com/?p=8310 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 I've been thinking more about the comparisons between games/mods and other entertainment media and one thing that struck me yesterday was that every film/TV show and every book (unless it's short stories) has it's length quite obvious to the viewer or reader.]]> http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-246/feed/ 9 Poll Question 245 – How do you choose a mod to play? http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-245/ http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-245/#comments Sat, 15 Oct 2011 10:11:54 +0000 planetphillip http://www.planetphillip.com/?p=8297 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Obviously, I play everything. I don't have to, but I feel it's required of me. My reviews don't carry any more weight than other reviewers, except in the sense that everything I add now, I review, so regular readers can get a sense of how their tastes fit against mine.]]> http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-245/feed/ 8 Poll Question 244 – If there was a ValveCon within 6 hours travel of you, would you go? http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-244/ http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-244/#comments Fri, 07 Oct 2011 12:31:06 +0000 planetphillip http://www.planetphillip.com/?p=8286 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Almost 4 and a half years ago, I wrote a piece called, Ten-Year Anniversary Half-Life Convention starting a tongue-in-cheek petition for a Valve convention (Which only got 84 signatures!). For some reason, I started thinking about it earlier this week again.]]> http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-244/feed/ 21 Poll Question 243 – Are you more excited by mods inside or outside the HL universe? http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-243/ http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-243/#comments Sat, 01 Oct 2011 07:52:53 +0000 planetphillip http://www.planetphillip.com/?p=8280 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Not sure what makes me think this, but It seems there are more and more "Non-HL" mods being made. I suppose most are TCs (Total Conversions), but not huge new universes, just little adaptations of new ideas. I am certainly not against these types of releases, but do admit to "Knowing what I like and liking what I know" mentality.]]> http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-243/feed/ 14 Poll Question 242 – Why do you play HL games and mods? http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-242/ http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-242/#comments Fri, 23 Sep 2011 08:39:03 +0000 planetphillip http://www.planetphillip.com/?p=8275 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Emanuel recently wrote one of his editorials called Grand Manager 2 where he whines like a little girl about some silly little headache. I managed to read past all the complaining and finally get to his point, which to be honest it's been said before, but what he slipped in earlier sparked my interest.]]> http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-242/feed/ 25 Poll Question 241 – Do you suffer from weapon sound fatigue? http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-241/ http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-241/#comments Fri, 09 Sep 2011 05:32:51 +0000 planetphillip http://www.planetphillip.com/?p=8270 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 There's an interesting article over on the FPS Level Design Blog about weapon fatigue. Aazell talks about how players get bored using only one weapon, specifically the sound. He goes on to say "I've learned that if you give the player at least two weapons at any one time their feeling about a map changes dramatically."]]> http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-241/feed/ 15 Poll Question 240 – Do you snack when playing? http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-240/ http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-240/#comments Fri, 02 Sep 2011 07:34:08 +0000 planetphillip http://www.planetphillip.com/?p=8263 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 I used to be snacking all the time, I was an eating machine. But one thing I never did was snack when I was playing video games. I was too immersed in the game itself and I wanted to keep my fingers clean too, so that I wouldn't have to clean my keyboard! But if I were to play something like Nintendo's Wii with friends then a bowl of chips or similar would all be part of the ritual and fun. Of course, my gaming sessions don't last for many hours or into the witching hour, but I suppose you young'uns need all the sugar you can get! One thing I do always have on my desk is a bottle of water though, certainly couldn't live without that when playing.]]> http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-240/feed/ 15 Poll Question 239 – Which DOMESTICATED animal from Half-Life would you have as a pet? http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-239/ http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-239/#comments Fri, 26 Aug 2011 07:40:33 +0000 planetphillip http://www.planetphillip.com/?p=8256 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Two things got me thinking about this week's poll question. The first has completely slipped my mind but the second was a news item on the BBC reporting that dogs kidnaps (or should that be dognaps?) have treble in the last year in the United States of America.]]> http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-239/feed/ 21 Poll Question 238 – What do you do when a mod gets hard? http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-238/ http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-238/#comments Fri, 19 Aug 2011 16:39:56 +0000 planetphillip http://www.planetphillip.com/?p=8242 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Most poll questions can be answered with "It depends" but as with all my poll question they are asking about generalized situations. The reason this question is in my mind is that because I have had to cheat a lot recently, but only because I am on a deadline to finish each and every mod. This changes the way I play and if you are one of the players trying to play all the 100SDoN maps and mods, then you might feel that pressure too.]]> http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-238/feed/ 18 Poll Question 237 – How important is it to you to finish a game or mod? http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-237/ http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-237/#comments Fri, 12 Aug 2011 06:17:56 +0000 planetphillip http://www.planetphillip.com/?p=8234 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 This week's question comes from Jason Gimba, who feels he has wasted his time if he doesn't finish a game. I can see his point of view but the phrase "So many women, so little time" seems apt here.]]> http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-237/feed/ 11 Poll Question 236 – How does the weather affect your gaming? http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-236/ http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-236/#comments Fri, 05 Aug 2011 18:53:57 +0000 planetphillip http://www.planetphillip.com/?p=8229 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Maybe the questions isn't as clear as it should be, but what I am asking about is the frequency rather than any reference to "style". That could be a whole other topic! To be honest, I play as much as I want as often as I want, in fact, I generally prefer it when it rains, so I don't feel guilty sitting in front of my PC when the sun is shining.]]> http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-236/feed/ 11 Poll Question 235 – Which HL gaming location would you most like to visit in real life? http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-235/ http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-235/#comments Sat, 30 Jul 2011 08:47:53 +0000 planetphillip http://www.planetphillip.com/?p=8211 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 We all have our favourite locations in Half-Life games, but I wonder if the place you enjoyed playing in the most would be the place you would like to visit. For example, I quite enjoyed Nova Prospekt but I wouldn't want to visit it. Same for Ravenholm.]]> http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-235/feed/ 11 Poll Question 234 – Which part of the tram do you ride? http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-234/ http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-234/#comments Fri, 22 Jul 2011 08:33:14 +0000 planetphillip http://www.planetphillip.com/?p=8205 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Since I have been playing all these HL1 mods for the 100SDoN event I have ridden quite a few tram rides. It got me thinking about roller-coasters and how some people like sitting in different positions (an acquaintance travels the world riding them and explained all about it).]]> http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-234/feed/ 13 Poll Question 233 – Where do you go first, up or down? http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-233/ http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-233/#comments Fri, 15 Jul 2011 17:16:55 +0000 planetphillip http://www.planetphillip.com/?p=8195 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 So, as I was playing The Xeno Project and I reach a point where I had two routes; up and down. Since the mod was just starting and I hadn't been conditioned to believe one way was better than the other I was "free" to choose.]]> http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-233/feed/ 14 Poll Question 232 – How do you reload? http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-232/ http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-232/#comments Sat, 09 Jul 2011 13:15:26 +0000 planetphillip http://www.planetphillip.com/?p=8190 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Sometimes the little techniques you use to play can make big difference. Too often I don't manage my ammo very well and I regularly find myself staring into the eyes of some army grunt and running out of ammo!]]> http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-232/feed/ 16 Poll Question 231 – Would you buy an SP game if it had advertising? http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-231/ http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-231/#comments Fri, 01 Jul 2011 04:25:06 +0000 planetphillip http://www.planetphillip.com/?p=8179 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 A week or so ago I saw a news report about some server company advertising products in Counter-Strike: Source. I can't find the article now but it said that Valve were not too happy about it, as the agreement specifically disallows it.]]> http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/poll-question-231/feed/ 14