Recently, Neoseeker held it's first Annual Neoseeker PC Gaming Awards, an event which will hopefully be continuing beyond this event alone and come back in the coming years. The award sections were varied, ranging from awards based on genre, to ones on aspects of gaming, and ending up with the favourites being listed. All the awards were chosen by Neoseeker members (becoming a member is free) and the most popular presented after two weeks of voting.
Half-Life 2 was one of the more successful games in the awards, gaining itself a spot in all three categories. Not only did it win itself a spot in the Favourites list, but it also won Best Action/Adventure and Best Plot!
Mishtram, the person who organized the event this year, plans to bring it back next year.
Having already made a name for itself on PC, Half-Life 2 is now ready to earn its FPS stripes on next-generation consoles. Specifically, the PC release of HL2: Episode 2 will joined by versions for both Sony's PlayStation 3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360. The console ports will include content from previous HL2 releases including Episode 1. As rumored earlier, all versions of the game will include Counter-Strike: Source as well as the once-elusive Team Fortress 2 project as new multiplayer modes.
On top of that, Episode 2 will come bundled with a new, episodic shooter game called "Portal" which involves the use of, well, portals which players can create in environments as they see fit using special weapons.
Valve has released an update for Half-Life 2: Episode One. The changes, announced on the Steam website, are due to the result of statistics gathered as players made their way through the game.
Half-Life 2: Episode One update
Added some more health for players to pick up
Added more cinderblocks and barrels for physics ammunition
Added some extra shotgun shells at start of the fight
Slightly reduced the number of zombies attacking the player
Only 25% of Half-Life 2: Episode One gamers have managed to complete the game, despite taking on average, just five hours to complete! The anonymous data, was taken using Valve's Steam game service, spanning the fortnight of June 10th to 25th, and says that there were nearly 900,000 game sessions in total.
Other points of interest from a gameplay report released by Valve included the fact that less than 7% of gamers have played it on the hardest skill setting, the average total playtime was just under three hours, and 70 per cent of gamers played it with HDR enabled.
The August issue of PC Gamer will feature the world-exclusive first look on Half-Life 2 Episode 2 -- including screens, inside information, and everything about Half-Life 2's exciting new direction into episodic gaming and fiercest predator, the Hunter.
The August 2006 issue of PC Gamer is available in the US from June 27th.
Gamesradar are reporting that the next game of Half-Life 2's episodic trilogy will have a new a new multiplayer mode, according to a post on the official Steam forum. It is suggested that it will be a remix of the Half-Life teamplay mod Team Fortress and will be set during the Seven Hour War, which occurred before the events of Half-Life 2.
The post also lists a collection of new details for Half-Life 2: Episode Two, taken from the latest US edition of PC Gamer magazine, which include:
A new feature will beef up the Gravity Gun
We'll find out more about the mysterious G-Man
Gordon will wield a new 'Strider buster' weapon
There will be huge, battlefield clashes with loads of enemies and allies fighting at once
Bellevue, WA, June 1, 2006 - Valve®, developer of the blockbuster series Half-Life® and Counter-StrikeTM, announced Half-Life® 2: Episode One is now available via Steamgames.com for just $19.95 and at retail outlets around the world.
The first in a trilogy of episodic games, Episode One reveals the aftermath of Half-Life 2 and launches a journey beyond City 17. Episode One does not require Half-Life 2 to play and also includes a first look at Episode Two, which will ship by year's end.
In addition to the new single player experience, two multiplayer games are included. And those who purchase Episode One will have free access via Steam (www.steamgames.com) to Half-Life 2: Lost Coast, the interactive technology demo that introduces High Dynamic Range lighting to the SourceTM Engine, Valve's award-winning game technology.
As Episode One is now available, there are updates being released already. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The specific changes include: Fixed the game's difficulty defaulting to "Easy" instead of "Normal" when starting a new game. (If you've already played Episode One, you can change the setting manually by selecting "Options" from the game's main menu.)
Apparently, a clever "h4xx0r" has managed to extract the trailer for Half-Life 2: Episode Two from the recently released Half-Life 2: Episode One. View the trailer here!
Half-Life 2: Episode Two is due out for release later this year.
As reported earlier today on Neoseeker's homepage, Episode One has gone gold. Valve is also marketing a new teaser trailer which can be downloaded from here.
"Given the rapid changes in PC gaming, we expect episodic games will have thesame impact on single-player gaming that Counter-Strike had on multiplayer,"said Gabe Newell, president and co-founder of Valve. "The frequent releases ofupgraded technology and new content works better for both consumers anddevelopers, and is one of the key reasons Counter-Strike grew to be 80% of theonline action market. We decided that a follow-up to Half-Life 2 delivered in 18months with our first episode was more in tune with what our customers want thanwaiting 6 years for another monolithic product."
Episode One is designed to be four to six hours in length. Stepping into the hazard suit of Dr. Gordon Freeman, you face the immediate repercussions of your actions in City 17 and the Citadel. Alyx Vance and her robot, Dog, will accompany you in your efforts to aid in the human resistance against the totalitarian menace of the Combine.
The full press release from Valve can be found here.
Episode One is set to ship June 1st and it will also contain a sneak peek of Episode Two which is scheduled to be released before the end of the year. Stay tuned for a review from Neoseeker's very own Gabriel Vega sometime next week.
Episode One will be the first of many installments in the series following the events of Half-Life 2. The game will start right where you were left at the end of HL2 with the Citadel being destroyed. The G-Man will awaken you and Alyx and you both will be forced to escape the chaotic City 17. Episode One will be available on June 1st and Steam owners currently have the option of pre-loading the game onto their systems.
Earlier this week Valve launched the official Half-Life 2: Episode One website. The website features Episode One news, background information, screenshots, and even a brand new trailer that can be found in the media section of the site.
The website also confirms a June 1st release date for the upcoming title, as mentioned in the previous news posting.
Half-Life 2: Episode One slips from it's April 24th launch, and is now due out on June 1st. It'll still launch simultaneously on Steam and at retail, priced $19.99.
Users that catch word of this early will be able to probably make the most of this offer as they'll have their pre-loads setup and ready to roll. Starting Friday at 12:00PM PST Day of Defeat Source will go free for the weekend.
Valve invites players to jump in and join the ranks of the current members as Axis or Allies in the battlefields.
During a private exhibition in Tokyo last month, Japanese game machine maker Taito announced that a redesigned version of Valve's Half-Life 2 was under construction. Titled Half-Life 2 Survivor, the arcade game offers a variety of different game-types for players to choose from:
Battle Mode allows players to compete against one another in a scenario similar to a deathmatch game-type. Up to eight human players can play at once, and any open spots will be filled with multi-player bots.
Mission Mode also calls for up to eight players, but it features cooperation and teamwork among human players and encourages them to accomplish a certain goal instead of killing each other.
Story Mode is the last variant of play, but it takes place offline without outside human contact. This single-player mode allows players to take the role of the Half-Life hero Gordon Freeman and advance through the exciting storyline.
The game is currently scheduled for a March 2006 release date in Japan, but unfortunately, no plans exist to export the game to other countries.
For many the question has been "where are the 64-bit games?" today those users get a little bit of help with the addition of Half-Life 2: Lost Coast 64 and Half-Life 2 64. The catch being that users will also be required to have Windows XP 64-bit edition installed to make use of the updated games.
While Intel is not out in the dark here, AMD most likely seems to be the better performer, something that might not be all that much of a suprise to enthuiasts. Of course in the release Valve constantly refers back to the FX line by AMD, those still on 32-bit systems need not worry, as long as your upgrade is to a 64-bit 754 or 939 AMD you'll still be able to see the benefits.
The updates are available right now from Steam, users will most likely need to restart their client to be able to take notice of the change.
If you have Counter Strike: Source installed, restart Steam to get the following updates:
Added G.I.G.N and Guerilla player models
Sniper rifles that are in the process of zooming in don't get the zoomed-in accuracy bonus
Fixed crosshairs when running in a widescreen aspect ratio
Added a 'nextlevel' server side command to force intermission and a switch to the specified map after the current round
Fixed bug where players were able to throw grenades through thin walls
Added a server message for teammate attacks
Fixed buy menu not having mouse focus
Fixed buy menu re-opening when you try to close it.
Fixed centerprint panel and frames per second panel not resizing correctly after a resolution change.
'&' chars in player names show in the scoreboard and spectator UI
In-eye spectators see punch angles
Fixed bots thinking they are still on a higher nav area when they fall off
Added nav area ID to the bot debug prints
Extended the bot_add*, bot_kick, and bot_kill commands to accept skill (easy, normal, hard, expert) and/or weapon preference (sniper, shotgun, etc) arguments. For example, typing ‘bot_add_ct expert” will add a random bot of ‘expert’ difficulty to the CT team.
Added difficulty, weaponclass, and skill modifiers to the bot_prefix string
Navigation mesh editing - raising/lowering corners correctly snaps adjacent corners to the same height
Daily steam users will notice this right away but others may not, DoD: Source gets a new update with the introduction of dod_argentan, a fast paced map continuing the traditions of the series and also demonstrating some fine visual work.
Rag Doll Kung Fu on the otherhand gets some gameplay fixes, the main being the ability to play past the second level transition which stumped many of those who were playing.
The update completes half of the planned release so far by Valve, all that remains is the addition of a new CS map, the first of which that will include HDR lighting elements and improved physics brought about by the redevelopment of the source engine for Lost Coast and DoD: Source.
The highly-anticipated Half-Life 2 expansion pack, Half-Life 2: Aftermath, will not be meeting the tentative November release date Valve had earlier predicted.
Doug Lombardi, director of marketing at Valve Software, had this to say on the matter:
Just wanted to give you a quick update on Aftermath, specically its ETA. We're working very hard to finish this new episode for HL2, however, its going to take us a bit more time to get it into top shape. As such, the target release for this one is now Feb/March of next year.
"Half-Life 2: Lost Coast, a single-player level custom-created to showcase High-Dynamic Range lighting (HDR) in the Source engine, is available now to all owners of HL2. As a technology showcase, Half-Life 2: Lost Coast's system requirements are very high. During installation, Steam will prompt you if your system does not meet the recommended configuration. We hope you enjoy it."
There are some bugs from what I can tell with the requirement prompt, mainly for overclocking users so caution should be taken.
According to the latest announcement by Valve everything should still be set for a release of Half-Life 2: Lost Coast next week on Steam. For those that have been wondering Lost Coast is a technology demo to showcase HDR on the Source engine. The demo is based off an unreleased section of Highway 17 from HL2.
After the release occurs the team plans on getting new content out for CS: Source and DoD: Source as well as the long awaited update to the SDK. Although more info wont be available until next week.
Valve has taken a unique approach with their lithograph run. Buyers that were hoping to be the lucky buyer of the first or last will need to check out eBay for a chance to win one of the two or both if they wish. The proceeds will go straight to charity from the auctions. Numbers 2 - 99 will be publicly sold as well but these are the first to go up and probably the most wanted numbers as well.
"We wanted our limited art prints to be museum quality
lithographs. Reproduction of artwork is often done on uncoated stocks with traditional approaches. Common printing approaches have downfalls like screen angles and dot gain which lose detail and give a commercial look. We used stochastic lithographic printing for the limited reproductions, which minimizes those issues and reproduces beautifully. We also printed on heavy Pegasus Brill White stock, a beautiful, slightly textured paper. This process captures the original artwork right from the artist's "brush" in high definition. Unlike traditional print methods, the subtle details don't disappear and the artist's touch is revealed though the printing inks. In this case, even though the source file is digital, the print has much more life than traditional printing, really sitting and breathing on the paper."
Valve seems to be on a roll with news releases these past few weeks. Next up for release is Rag Doll Kung Fu which some may recall seeing news about in previous steam updates. For those unfamiliar here's a quick breakdown.
"Rag Doll Kung Fu, a wild new experience from designer Mark Healey, is available now for pre-load. This adventure features a wide collection of single and multiplayer games, plus outlandish cut scenes inspired by classic Kung Fu cinema."
Visit www.steampowered.com to get the steam client to preload or use this if you have Steam running.
Straight from Valve we have the latest on new retail releases.
"In addition to the latest version of the world's number 1 online action game, Counter-Strike: Source also includes Half-Life 2: Deathmatch and Day of Defeat®: Source, the latest version of the popular WWII online action game from Valve. Meanwhile, the Half-Life 1: Anthology includes the original game, which earned over 50 game of the year awards and launched a franchise with over 15 million retail units sold, plus Half-Life: Opposing Force®, Half-Life: Blueshift®, and Team Fortress® Classic. Both products will ship to territories worldwide in the coming weeks."
For multiplayer fans this breaks them free from having to purchase HL2 to get one or both titles especially since DoD: Source wasn't available to all buyers.
Day of Defeat: Source is available now via Steam for $19.95. If you already have Steam installed, you can get Day of Defeat now. If you don't have Steam installed, click here for the Steam installer.
About two months after taking over Vivendi Universal's job as the Half-Life publisher, Electronic Arts has published it's first Half-Life game: Half-Life 2: Game of the Year edition.
The Game of the Year edition features the ever-popular Half-Life 2, as well as popular spin-offs Counter-Strike: Source, Half-Life: Source, and Half-Life 2: Deathmatch.
The unlucky gamers who first got their hands on the game met a few problems while attempting to log into their Steam accounts and validate the CD, but these problems have since been fixed by Valve.
The game was shipped to North American retailers sometime earlier this month, and will reach other areas of the world in upcoming weeks.
Updates to the Half-Life 1: Engine have been released. The update will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The specific changes include:
Half-Life 1: Engine
Fixed MOTD crash when viewing HTML pages with iframes
The annual G-Phoria awards ceremony took place on July 27, hosted by Wilmer Valderrama, more commonly known for his role as the foreign exchange student "Fez" in That 70's Show.
Although Halo 2 stole the show, winning a total of seven awards, Half-Life 2 emerged victorious in the Best Graphics category, and Merle Dandridge, who supplied the voice for Alyx Vance, won the award for Best Female Voice Performance.
The awards ceremony is scheduled to air on G4 early next month, on the ninth of August.
Vivendi Universal agreed to cease the distribution of retail editions of Valve Software's games earlier this year, after their relationship soured thanks to Valve's insistence on delivering their software titles including Half-Life 2 over their "Steam" online gaming network.
Since then, Valve has been in charge of both distributing their own titles in the manner they see fit. That situation looks to change now that they have entered a new multi-year distribution agreement with a new publisher, who just happens to be industry mover-and-shaker Electronic Arts. Starting this Fall, EA will help publish Valve's latest games at retail level. The Xbox port of Half-Life 2 has been confirmed for release under EA's banner, as well as the Half-Life 2: Aftermath expansion pack and Counter-Strike: Source for PC.
'At EA Partners, our mandate is to seek out the world's top studios and game franchises, build partnerships, empower the development teams and help get these great games to more people in more countries than ever before. We consider Half-Life and Counter-Strike to be two of the best game franchises of all time,' said Tom Frisina, Vice President and General Manager, EA Partners. 'We could not be more excited to have the opportunity to help deliver these outstanding games to players around the globe.'
'EA is the worldwide leader in bringing best of breed games, for all platforms, to market,' said Gabe Newell, Valve's founder and president. 'Valve games have sold over 18 million units at retail since Half-Life shipped in November 1998. By combining EA's unparalleled operation structure and distribution channel with Valve's award-winning development teams and games community, we've established an awesome combination for delivering great products to console and PC gamers around the world.'
Valve of course is free to maintain their Steam operations and while the press release doesn't make any mention of this, we imagine they also retain the right to authorize which gaming cafes/centers receive permission to run their titles online for visitors who drop in and play.
Valve has recently opened a website called The Valve Developer Community, which allows all modders, modelers, mappers, and anyone else with an interest in playing with the Source code to come together as a community and gather information from each other. This allows and encourages everyone to share any tips they may have with fellow modders, as well as help those interested in learning about the art.
The website uses a wiki, which is an application that allows all users to add and make changes to each other's content.
UK hardware review site Bit-Tech, has some new screens from Half Life 2: Lost Coast up, and an interview with Doug Lombardi. You can check it out here.
Beginning on July 6, gamers will meet up at the Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine, Texas to complete the 5th round of the Cyberathlete Professional League World Tour.
The main focus on the Texas stop is first-person shooter Painkiller, but gamers will compete in a series of different games, inlcuding Counter Strike: Source, Day of Defeat, Warcraft III, and Halo 2.
Based on their performance in this competition, a select few gamers will qualify to compete in the CPL Finals held this November.
This mod is one of the better Resident Evil mods I've seen. Most don't capture Resident Evil's specific atmosphere but this one is definitely heading in the right direction.
Check out more great pictures in their media section.
Its official the Online-Beat´em´Up-mod Zensen will be developed further using the Source Engine. There are a lot of interesting news, within this month there will be a new Trailer until then there is a new Music-preview available for download.
www.zen-sen.com
An update for the Steam Client (and the HLDS Update Tool) has been released, along with some improvements to SourceTV. (SourceTV is for broadcasting Source games to large numbers of spectators.) The update will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The specific changes include:
Steam Client
Fixed backup wizard creating invalid backup files for Source games
Improved content server selection on WinXP SP2
HLDS Update Tool (Windows Version)
Improved content server selection on WinXP SP2
SourceTV (part of the Source Dedicated Server)
Added hostname to tv_status output
Changed the behavior of "tv_relay" command to automatically stop any running map
Added command "tv_clients" to list connected spectators/proxy
Added -tvmasteronly command line parameter to restrict tvmaxclients to 1 - for use when feeding a single proxy server (not broadcasting)
Fixed high CPU usage when running a non standard tick rate
Fixed Linux build not correctly initializing, and then not running properly
Fixed "tv_maxclients 0" working if SourceTV is used for recording demos only
Boxed copies of the game will still be available after Valve-Vivendi deal ends in August
Half-Life 2 will remain on shelves after 31 August, despite the fact that current publisher Vivendi has agreed to stop producing boxed copies by that date.
The somewhat improbable situation stems from a lawsuit filed by Valve in 2002. It was only recently resolved and, as part of an agreement between the two companies, Vivendi will stop distribution of retail packaged versions of all Valve's games from 31 August.
This had pointed to a scenario in which Half-Life 2 would only be available via Steam.
However, Valve has now said that boxed copies of its games will still be available after its deal with Vivendi ends and, although no further details have yet been revealed, they're expected to be announced shortly.
A new publisher for the Xbox version of Half-Life 2 - which will be playable for the first time at this year's E3 - is also expected to be revealed in the coming weeks.
Bellevue, WA and Los Angeles, CA - April 29, 2005 -- Valve and Vivendi Universal Games (VU Games) today announced the settlement of a pending federal court lawsuit filed by Valve in August 2002. The parties have resolved their differences, and the settlement provides for the dismissal of all claims and coaunterclaims. Under the settlement agreement, VU Games will cease distribution of retail packaged versions of Valve's games, including Half-Life®, Half-Life 2, Counter-Strike™, Counter-Strike: Condition Zero and Counter-Strike: Source, effective August 31, 2005.
A new 1 minute trailor is now available from the upcoming Half-Life 2: Lost Coast add-on which will add high-dynamic range rendering to the Source engine. It's a 166MB download, and you can download it here.
An update is available for Half-Life 2: Deathmatch and the Source Engine. The update will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The specific changes include:
Half-Life 2: Deathmatch
Added new map, dm_runoff
Source Engine
Moved default Steam port to 27009 (UDP) from 27030. Use -steamport to override this setting
It seems that MGM have decided to close down all Stargate Mods for Half-Life 2 that have been made or are being developed. The decision comes after they gave the licence of the Stargate name to Perception who are working on a new Stargate Game.
It seems that apparently MGM, the huge company, feels very threatened by a group of individuals spread throughout the world and the quality of the Mods which they are creating.
Resident Evil: Extermination, a very promising looking Half-Life 2 mod, looking to recreate the intense action of the acclaimed Resident Evil series, has just recently released some new media of their new map.
So far the maps look to capture that classic Resident Evil atmosphere which makes this mod look so enticing.
Firearms 3.0 has been finished, and is now on the way to mirrors and hosts. The Linux build will be released Monday evening EST (18/04/05), and the Windows build will come out the following Tuesday morning EST (19/04/05).
Changes/Additions:
* Fixed treating concussion crash
* Fixed healing ammobox crash
* Fixed 'ghosting' spectator bug
* Moved scoreboard to last on the VGUI stack (means its always on top of everything else)
* Installed Global FA ban for caught cheaters
* Lowered penetration distances on all rifles
* Turned on FA Hard Code ban list and added all FAL ban ID's and Verified Jolt ban ID's
* Reduced Sniper Rifles ability to shoot while unscoped (cannot effectively shotgun snipe anymore)
* Increased accuracy of all weapons roughly by 25%
* Changed Armor back to original 2.9 values: (Absorbtion Amount-- 80% Heavy, 70% Medium, 60% Light)
* Added AK74 nomenclature reload/animations
* Added MP5a5 nomenclature reload/animations
* Added Anaconda nomenclature reload/animations
* fixed treat reload bandage exploit
MAPS:
* Added new Texture Details for maps: OBJ_Vengeance, PS_Upham, SD_Durandal, SDTC_Balcome, TC_Basrah, TC_caen, TC_Iwojima.
* Added new map OBJ_Vengeance
* Added new version of TC_Caen
As promised, Valve has released a screenshot of the upcoming Half-Life 2: Aftermath.
We also promised a sneak peek into work on Half-Life 2: Aftermath. Here is a shot from that, the continuation of Gordon Freeman’s adventures that we'll be releasing as an episode later this summer.
Neoseeker now has an Official IRC Chat for the Half-Life Portal. A place to discuss anything related to the Half-Life gaming series!
For those of you who don't know, IRC is a chat medium used by millions across the world to talk about various topics. If you already have mIRC installed then please click here to be taken to the chat.
If you do not have mIRC installed and wish to join the chat please go to the website and download the latest version.
If you are having trouble or difficulty in using mIRC then please use our helpful IRC page.
Server irc.lod-squared.net Channel Name: #HALFLIFEportal Port: 6667
Three Half-Life 2: Deathmatch maps are now available via Steam. These maps were created by the three players who won our recent HL2:DM mapping contest. If you have HL2:DM installed in your Steam games list, you will receive the new maps automatically.
Is the Xbox version of Half-Life 2 set to be released for Summer 2005? According to the Official Xbox Magazine it is. So for those of you who have been holding out for the release, you won't have to wait much longer. Details are still filtering through of what is going to be present in the Xbox version in comparison to the PC game.
FilePlanet have a Half-Life 2 Deathmatch Map Pack featuring ten maps. You can download some of the maps you want, rather than all of them, if you wish.
On Tuesday we began running an updated version of our hardware survey. So far, we've had over 600,000 unique responses. You can see the current results here.
Running surveys like this are extremely useful for us as developers, as it helps us to understand what kinds of technology decisions we can make as we continue to invest in the Source engine. It should also be useful for MOD developers to get an idea of what their audience looks like.
Next week we'll be releasing the three HL2DM map contest winners on Steam. The winners of the contest along with some images of the maps were first mentioned here. Also next week, we'll have a small sneak peak for you of the upcoming Half-Life 2 episode "Aftermath".
Eurogamer discovers from browsing their copies of UK print magazine PC Gamer UK that Valve Software is readying the inevitable expansion pack to their critically acclaimed FPS, Half-Life 2. Currently titled "Aftermath", the expansion pack brings you back to the crazy mixed up world of City 17, as it's on the verge of self-destructing that is. Unfortunately Valve's Robin Harper and Marc Laidlaw suggest that series newcomer Alyx will likely remain a non-playable character despite promises of increased involvement on her part storywise this time around. In the spirit of the expansion packs for the first game however, "Aftermath" could cast you as a character other than series protagonist Gordon Freeman. Naturally nothing has been set in stone as of yet.
The focus for Aftermath appears to break with the Half-Life tradition of presenting the storyline from the viewpoint of other key characters in the game, with the mooted Alyx-based episode apparently not happening as many of us imagined it might. Instead, it would appear that as a compromise, Alyx figures as a much more active partner of Gordon Freeman's adventures.
As for where Aftermath is set, and the timeline, it's very much a logical continuation from where Half-Life 2 left off, as Laidlaw goes on to explain in the PC Gamer feature: '[Aftermath] deals with the events and issues set in motion during Half-Life 2. You've done critical damage to the Citadel. The whole place is going to go up, taking out City 17 and what's in its immediate radius. You and Alyx are leading the flight from the city getting up close and personal with some of the creatures and sights from the end of the game.' Interestingly, the assumption that you continue to play as Gordon isn't justified anywhere in the text; it's possible - and perhaps more likely given the game's ending - that you play as someone else instead.
The article also hints at a Steam release for the expansion in spite of Valve's... checkered relationship with publisher Sierra/VU Games. In addition, more expansions may be on the way in the future, lending themselves to "episodic" releases for the new Half-Life story arc. Sadly, details of any gameplay enhancements and release information were nil so it appears Valve is still much too early in the expansion's development stages to have anything concrete. We should definitely be hearing more of Aftermath in the near future though!
The Calibre Mod have graced us with some new screenshots on their website during the early stages of development for their mod.
We have start to begin working really in depth with our maps and the setting for Caliber. Here are some images of a map work in progress so you can get a general idea where we are coming from:
An update is available for Counter-Strike: Source and the Source Engine. The update will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The specific changes include:
Counter-Strike: Source
Enabled support for SourceTV
Fixed a rare bug that caused some bullet impacts to be counted twice
Improved map overview support
The message of the day file is now required to be in the main game directory
Fixed an issue with player names being out of sync with the server
Fixed "purple checkerboard" problem for Message of the Day scrollbars
Fixed some localization issues related to player chat
Death notices are no longer displayed while blind
Death notices retain the correct team color even if the player quickly changes teams
Bots immediately change their names to match the bot_prefix when it changes
Bots join dedicated servers immediately if the bot_quota is nonzero
Fixed bug where bots would repeatedly fail to join with an invalid Steam ID
Added mp_logdetail at the request of server administrators
Source Engine
Player sprays now persist through round restarts. The number of rounds a spray survives is determined by r_spray_lifetime
Fixed a bug causing the first message from a plug-in message to be colored incorrectly
Consistency checking is now skipped during demo playback
Added sv_visiblemaxplayers
Fixed timing precision error causing slower framerates on servers running continuously for more than a few days
A new mod titled "Resident Evil: The Evil Begins" is looking for help. The mod foll They've posted in our forums and they're interested in the following:
Need:
Coders
Modelers
Animators
Open:
Mappers
Concept Artists
Anyone interested in helping and getting involved should email tomalajr@hotmail.com and let him know.
Interested in Mods for Half-Life 2? Are you part of a team working on what you think could be the next best thing? Submit a Game Mod here for Half-Life 2 and add to the ever expanding database.
Automatically receive your own dedicated profile and forum with the ability to contribute information such as reviews, features, screenshots, gameplay, mini pics and more!
