PlanetPhillip 2008

About

I thought I’d tell you a little about my plans and objectives for 2008. In the past I have kept them secret, worrying that somebody will steal them but I think that’s unlikely. And if they do, so what! I still have a pretty good website and it’s only getting better.

New Theme

Firstly, there’s a new theme that is nearly finished. I was hoping for a 1st January 2008 release but it’s better to get it perfect rather than release it for a specific date. There will be a few changes to the way posts are displayed. Most notably it’s wider, so that should help with the comments. I happen to think it’s one of the best designs I’ve ever seen and can’t wait for you to see it.

Paying For Code

It’s become clear that to get exactly what I want I will need to pay somebody to write new code. I don’t have a problem with this but I don’t have any money either! I’ll be running mini-donation drives for specific functions.

A Better Rating System

The rating system I use now is excellent but I want to integrate it with my Recommendation images. As I mentioned above I will need to pay somebody to do that.

Better Navigation

It’s clear that PP readers want to be able to see a list of the highest rated mods for each game. Once the new theme is active this will be possible. However. it won’t be perfect because readers don’t rate every map or mod and some haven’t even been rated yet because I had to remove the rting system from ALL post and only have it for the maps and mods on an individual basis.

Tags

December 2007 saw the introduction of Tags. They need to be backdated to the older mods but I believe they add a very valuable feature to the site.

Organization

I have changed the categories of many posts to streamline things. I have removed many maps and mods for games I am no longer covering. The main difference is the addition of a new category called Phillip’s Blog…..

Phillip’s Blog

I have merged the old Commentary and Ideas categories into this one. I have also decided to post shorter, little commentaries about Valve and Steam. You may have noticed a few already. I will be writing about things I want to, they may not even be game related.

More Videos

I really want to create more gameplay videos but until my extra RAM comes I won’t try. They can take quite a while to make, that is until you get good at it.

A Few Mod Projects

I hope to release a few projects this year. They are still in the development stages and may or may not see the light of day. One is called HoloReality is will attempt to create the largest single player mod ever released. The other is called Rebel Runners, and will attempt to address story telling in SP mods. More on those when the time is right.

In Development Mods

Now that I only cover a few games it should be much easier to cover In Development mods and also keep updated with them. I’ve added a few recently, which you may have seen. I’ll try to only include ones that look like they will actually be released.

Some New Articles

I have a new article feature called Deconstruction where I and a well-known mapper take a detailed look at a highly respected mod and try to analyze why it is so good. This has been delayed a number of times but hopefully the first one will be published soon (Fingers crossed!)

Models and Skins

There is a small chance I will add models and skins for Half-Life 2. This really depends on how much time I have etc.

Other Projects

I have some other projects I would like to release this year (2008). One is about encouraging more new games to play mods. It’s working title is Adopt a Newbie and hopefully will combine a series of articles and a Live Support system using the Steam Chat system.

I’d also like to try and get the Beta Testing team off the ground. If necessary I will start on my own and see what happens.

Introduction Guides

I have drafted a number of new guides, written specifically for complete beginners and hope to finish the series and post them before the end of January.

Monthly Competitions

From January I will be running a monthly competition with a DVD of either HL or HL2 mods as the prize. The competition will be related to Single Player games and will definitely involve some writing comps. I’ll also try and raise some funds through donations to have Valve games as prizes.

More Interviews

I’d like to try and have one at least every month, maybe more. That really depends on the mapper and modders I can find.

End Of Year Review and Awards

I didn’t plan ahead enough to write an end of year review. Looking back on the all mods etc takes a while and even though I still have 5 days to do it, I just don’t think I can do it justice.

The same goes for an Award system. Unlike Moddb’s which is professional and practiced mine would seem amateurish. Therefore I have decided to leave it for next year and do it properly. I may even run a monthly award system for Half-Life and Half-Life 2 so that at the end of the year each game has 12 mods to chose as the best of year, with a few other awards thrown in.

More Reader Reviews

I would also like to encourage more readers to submit proper reviews. I’ve created a template but so far nobody has used it. I may consider providing a regular prize for the reader who posts the most reviews. What do you think?

I’d also like to improve my writing and have found a few free online course I will try and find time to complete. I then may write a short guide to writing reviews, to help other readers.

Is That It?

When I proof read the above, it doesn’t actually look like very much but hopefully they will make the site better.

If you have any ideas, please let me know.