My Favourite Game Has Changed!

Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3

When did this happen? I created a Steam Community a little while ago and in the profile it asks for your favorite game. I took less than a second to choose Half-Life 2, and that’s when it dawned on me: My favorite game has changed!

Up until then if anybody had asked my I would have said Half-Life, but over the last few months I have been playing more HL2 mods than HL1. Perhaps it’s the graphics, I don’t think so. It’s certainly not he environments, because I love Black Mesa.

It must be the gameplay, which is of course linked to the graphics but not completely dictated by it.

So, has Half-Life 2 been you favorite since its release or did it happen over time?

BTW, I decide not to make this a poll question because it assumes HL2 is your favorite game and I don’t think that’s true for everybody.

About this entry

Published:: 5th January 2008 at 6:48 pm

Category:: Phillip's Blog

Responses:: 16 Comments (add)

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16 Comments for “My Favourite Game Has Changed!”

feckineejit 5th January 2008 at 19:00 1

I much prefer the HL2 mods. I have been playing them before and after ep2 came out. They do run the gamut from really bad to really professional but most of the time they are what I look forward to (other than my family) when I come home from work each day.
cubedude89 5th January 2008 at 19:01 2

If someone asks me what my favorite game is i just say The Half Life Series.

That includes hl1,2,ep1,ep2,blue shift and Opposing force

second favorite has to be portal.. will be linked better to the hl universe in ep3.
23-down 5th January 2008 at 20:11 3

If you ask me… If i have to choose to, i would still say half-life1 in my oppinion hl1 had still much more to offer than hl2, the mod scene in hl1 was so huge and fantastic, i miss this in hl2 total. I still like the story in hl1 more because it’s more based on humans of our present time.

hl2 is fantastic too, of course. But i miss the long time play factor in it. I can’t find any motivation to play it very long.

Mp mods howewer are 10 times more and better than to hl1 timeline.

There we have mods like eternal silence, zombie master, hidden source, zombie panic source, synergy (coop mod) and so on. Alot of fun in mp.

ps @Planetphillip: Please add this Opposing Force mod that i gave you some months ago to your database.
darkstranger 5th January 2008 at 20:37 4

Half Life Series is my favourite games!
P.S (BMS rule) !!!!
zeroth404 6th January 2008 at 02:49 5

My favorite FPS hasn’t changed since Unreal.
Ezequielhl 6th January 2008 at 04:32 6

Gameplay? But Half Life 1 and 2 play basically the same (in control scheme: there’s no leaning, iron sight, etc- don’t saying those things are needed). I know there’s vehicles and the G Gun, but That’s why I used the word BASICALLY.

Phillip, in your life, in which videogame you spended more time not only playing, also searching and creating content for it?

In your life, not for that lil’ stadistic in Steam. Mine: I’m sure it is Half Life: I even played the horrible map-packs when I had no more to play. I can recall names, but I don’t want to insult the creators.
Jim 6th January 2008 at 04:34 7

Half-Life 1 is definitely my favorite. HL2 has great graphics, but HL1 has personality and humor. The comments of the scientists made me laugh out loud the first time I played. It also really involved me in the game. There was a perfect balance of action and problem solving.

HL2 has great potential but the retail game didn’t really draw me in and I wasn’t disappointed when it was over. I just started playing HL2 mods, I’m hoping that some talented modder will give this engine the great gameplay it deserves.
Manual_Monaro 6th January 2008 at 09:44 8

cubedude89 Said:

If someone asks me what my favorite game is i just say The Half Life Series.

That includes hl1,2,ep1,ep2,blue shift and Opposing force

Ditto, all the way.

But if I was to be specific, I’d say Episode 2. If I was to choose between HL1 and HL2, I’d say Half-Life 2.

As I said in another post, except for the Uplink demo, I played through and finished HL2 before HL1, so it’s a firm favourite of mine due mainly to experiencing it first. (In this context, of course. There are many other reasons I like HL2)
GoddessAlyria 6th January 2008 at 11:26 9

Hmmm, I think I knew this whenever you didn’t want to play HL1 co-op but rather HL2 co-op!

BTW, if I had a better graphics card, I think my favorite would also change to HL2 because of the graphics and gameplay. Half-Life will always rule, but sometime in your life, you need to move forward.

When I first started the Half-Life series, 1 had already been out for years and 2 was due out any day. So, I played through HL1 so fast to get to HL2 that I didn’t remember a lot of it. After that, I just started playing all the maps that were out there for HL1 then the maps for HL2 started rolling out.

Oddly enough, I’m on my 3rd go of playing HL1 all the way through and I still don’t remember some parts and that’s not including the two times I’ve played it in Sven Co-op with Jumbles.
Berrie 6th January 2008 at 13:01 10

I would have to say Half Life 2 when it came out. Mainly because of the things the source engine is capable of.
The facial animation and the physics, made it unique back then and still good right now.
Kyle 6th January 2008 at 21:57 11

I still like Half-Life much more than Half-Life 2.
SPY 7th January 2008 at 15:42 12

maybe i make some people mad now, (lol) but HL1 and or 2 is not my favorite game, (never even heart of HL1 before i bought and played HL2. and that when i started mapping/gaming long before i learned about HL2!

it’s very hard to say for me which game i like best, i gess it changes with the year, most of the times it’s the game where i map currently with, but after 30 sp-maps i can’t say that HL2 is my favorite anymore. what i can do is telling which games i liked best in the past and now, (and that is not a long list, although i play about anything that comes by). therefore is here my list of favorites;

-Medal of Honer (allied assault)
-soldiers of fortune2
-Cod1 (2 was pretty much the same, therefore
less)
-HL2 (when it was released)
-Fear (liked this game VERY much)
-Crysis (last but not least!)

although i have to say that GRAW2 also is looking and playing very NICE!

leon
(SPY-maps)
KingDaniel 7th January 2008 at 16:00 13

My favourite game of all-time is Super Mario 64. Lol all you want, but that’s the game i have the fondest memories of. No. 2 is the Half-Life series…which for me includes all the (good) fan made SP mods out there, like Sweet HL, Azure Sheep, Todesangst, Darkstar…i could go on all day.
Except for Metastasis and Mistake of Pythagoras, no HL2 mod is quite up there yet IMO.
Zockopa 8th January 2008 at 02:39 14

I go with leon. I simply cant tell what game i
like best. However i still think HL1 + the top
SP-Mods for it still rule over HL2. That aside
the first System Shock was a real eye-opener for
me and let me think of what can be done in ego-
view beside shooting all what moves. Nevertheless Unreal sucked me in perfectly and
Descent 3 was simply a great game for me.
I had great fun with Chaser,Far Cry and
Fear + Addons but also with Thron 2. In fact i guess im relativly easy to entertain but at the same time hard to fascinate. The weird thing is Fear did it but Crysis did not.
SPY 8th January 2008 at 11:05 15

Crysis did not Zockopa?
maybe you couldn’t play it on the High settings, because i have to agree that playing it on Low and some Normal grafical settings does make the game look like an old far cry, but with the highest settings it is simply amazing and never seen before.
but, like always, everyone has his personal taste, and that is a good thing!
(just needed to say this, because like you could read in my first comment am i a quit big Crysis fan now, and this has mainly to do with how the game looks and feels)

leon
(SPY-maps)
m82sniper 9th January 2008 at 22:27 16

Well, i have always loved half-life 1, and i have played it since the release. I do like hl2 a lot, but I just think that Hl1 has more enjoyable, and more well done mods.

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Read and discuss the poll questions in more detail...

Below are my main objectives for the site.

To list and document ALL single player maps and mods for each game in the Half-Life series, except Portal.
To provide a friendly and welcoming environment for players and developers to comment and discuss the maps and mods listed.
To provide download servers for all the files listed.
To continually improve the site through new features and focused, original content.

To everybody who has helped by providing advice and content.
To you, the reader, for visiting and interacting.
To FILEFRONT for hosting the site and all the files.
To FILECLOUD for being my original file server partner.
To ATOMIC GAMER for hosting the Half-Life 2 and HL2: EP1 and 2 files.
To VALVE for making such great games.
To LUKE LANCHESTER for designing the 2008 site.

Interact

Tags are descriptive words or phrases associated with Half-Life maps and mods. They allow players to quickly find exactly the type of game element they enjoy the most.

Every reader can add tags to maps and mods and I encourage you to do so.

Please visit the Tag Guide for detailed information.

Every map and mods has a rating. This is a number between 1 and 5. By adding a rating to each map or mod you have played you help identify the Best Releases for each game.

It takes less than a second to do and is very intuitive.

Commenting on maps and mods allows you to express your thoughts in a more personal way than by adding only a Recommendation image.

Please use the comments to ask and answer questions, write reviews, make observations and generally chat about mods.

Please visit the Commenting Guide for more information.

Centers

If you are new to PlanetPhillip.com the amount of content available, along with navigating the site can seem a little overwhelming.

Therefore I have written a number of guides to help orientate new visitors.

These guides also allow more seasoned visitors the opportunity to get the most out of their visits.

To start your exploration of the site please visit the Site Help Center, alternatively you can take the Introduction Tour.

A comprehensive series of guides that will allow completely new players a clear path to enlightenment regarding the Half-Life series of games.

The guides are currently being written and edited with an attention to detail to ensure they are valuable to all new players.

Draft versions will be available for comment in the Summer.

Some services available from the site

Beta Testing
Have an independent test of your mod.
Voice Acting
Find voice actors for your story-driven mod.
Mod Promotion
Learn how you can get maximum publicty for your mod.

SEEN THESE

Tweak Guides provides free guides for setting up you PC, applications and games to ensure they run as smoothly as possible. It is updated regularly, so you know you are getting the latest information. Pity the author doesn't reply to his emails! The image above links directly to the Half-Life 2 guide. Use it, it's well worth it.

Do you have something you want to share with other PP readers? Well, this new feature could be your chance.

From August I will be accepting articles, rants, etc I will publish via a new category. More information will be published in the last week of July. Stay Tuned.

So Much For Freeman is a Half-Life 2 map that hasn't recived enough attention. It's not very long but it packs some great design and even a story. With plenty of Play It Now! recommendation images it really deserves to be played by everyone.

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Welcome to the PlanetPhillip Introduction Tour

This brief tour will highlight some of the main areas of the site and how you can get the most from your visit.

The Index Page
Firstly let's look at the index page. At the top of the page is the menu. It lists the most important pages on the site. Most of these are discussed in the tour.

You will also notice the search bar. Simply type in your search term and press return/enter. The results will be displayed on a new page.

Under this is the Daily Half-Life 2 Image. Each day I change the image to a new screenshot. The images follow the player from the very first moment the game starts to the end. By clicking the image you will visit the full size image.

Under that is a set of links to view maps and mods for each of the main games covered by the site.

Let us now look at the main post area. Here you will see the 6 most recent posts. If it is a map or mod you will notice the relevant game logo on the left. It will also display a short introduction about the map or mod.

Below this is the navigation footer, which is discussed on the next page of the tour.

The Footer
This is the navigation footer and contains plenty of links to various pages of the site. The footer is in constant development and as such I will only discuss the main sections.

Currently
This section displays the current weekly poll, an information graphic and some other topical information notice.

Activity
This section displays the latest posts, comments and forum threads.

Categories
This section displays the various categories that posts are categorized in.

Interact
This section displays details about Tagging, Rating and Commenting on the site.

Tags
This section displays the current list of tags used on the site. Perfect for finding mods with elements you like.

Official
This section displays links to important areas and shows other details about the site.

The next page of the tour discusses the Highest Rated page.

The Highest Rated
This page displays the highest rated maps and mods for Half-Life 1 and Half-Life 2. Each map and mod requires a minimum of 5 votes before it is displayed.

Please Rate!
This page will only be useful when hundreds of readers have rated the maps and mods. I therefore urge you to rate the mods, even the older ones!

Only HL1 and HL2?
Due to the lack of maps and mods for Episodes 1 and 2 they are not listed here but if enough of them are released I will add them.

No Other Games?
Correct! I am only accepting ratings for the games listed on this page.

The next page of the tour discusses the Dated Archives.

The Dated Archives
This page displays every single post in chronological order, starting from the most recent. Only the title is displayed, which is a link to the full article.

Monthly Header
By clicking on the monthly title you will be taken to a page that displays the excerpts of each post for the entire month.

Released or Published?
The dates relate to the date the map or mod was published on the site NOT the date it was actually released.

Wrong!
Due to the large amount of maps and mods that still require updating, many are dated earlier than their actual release. This will eventually be corrected.

The next page of the tour discusses a mod page in detail.

A Mod in Detail
This part of the tour looks at a mod page in detail. Not all mod or map pages have same layout but all are being updated to match this layout.

About or Story
At the top is a graphic taken from one of the screenshots, underneath this is either the basic story or some information about the mod.

Basic Details
The section lists the basic details of the mod, including Name, Filename, Author and original Release Date.

Files
The file mirrors follow the basic file details, with the recommended FileFront server displayed first, with any subsequent mirrors listed afterwards.

Screenshots
The last section is the collection of screenshots which open with some clever javascript to overlay the open page.

Other Sections?
Occasionally there are other sections, including Features List, Installation Instructions, International Coverage, Videos, Panoramic Screenshots and Resource Links.

The next page of the tour discusses the forum.

The Forum
Like most websites nowadays PlanetPhillip has a forum. It generally has one or two new threads per day, each created by PP readers.

Sections
The forum is separated into various sections to allow better organization and ease of use.

Strict Control
As with the main site, the language allowed is quite strict compared to other sites. Swearing is discouraged and no links to inappropriate sites are allowed.

You Create The Topics
The big difference between the main site and the forum is that YOU can create the threads on the forum. You can chat about anything you want, be it game related or the weather.

No Maps and Mods
One rule I am quite strict about is that of not discussing maps and mods on the forum if they have an entry on the main site. I do this because I don't want to split information for other readers.

This Concludes the PlanetPhillip Tour
Thank you for taking the tour and I hope you found it useful.

Site Help Center
Much more information can be found about the site and how to use it on this page. Just click CLOSE to view the page and continue your exploration of the site.

New to PlanetPhillip?
If you are new to the site please consider taking the New Visitors' Survey 2008.

Remember....
Finishing a game is just the beginning!

My Favourite Game Has Changed!

About this entry

16 Comments for “My Favourite Game Has Changed!”

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Activity

Categories

Interact

Tags

Centers

SEEN THESE

Misc

Official