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MisterAddy

MisterAddy

Articles by MisterAddy

Community Spotlight: Focalpoint

Half-Life

It has been over 15 years since Valve developed the GoldSrc engine. As a result of this, and the subsequent release of the Source Engine in 2004, there is an insane amount of community-created maps and mods out there, each showcasing amazing talent, ability and creativity.

We haven’t featured many modding projects yet on our weekly ‘Community Spotlight’ feature, so when it came to choosing a single project to feature, it was a difficult decision. However, even after completing so many different maps and mods over the years, there are always certain projects that stand out and Focalpoint by Dimitri Vujicic is certainly one of those.

Absolute Beginners’ Guide to Source Mapping

Source

Welcome to the first of our new Modding & Development Tutorials. In this installment we’ll help you take your first steps into creating a map in Valve’s Source SDK.

Creating levels can be challenging, fun and very rewarding (albeit sometimes frustrating) and you will be able to release your creations to thousands of players worldwide.

Parallel Universes: 15 Years of Half-Life Modding

Half-Life

The year is 1998. A previously unknown group of game developers known as Valve Software has just released Half-Life. Of course it becomes an instant hit, entertaining a generation of gamers worldwide. But beyond that, buried away on the CD-ROM inside that ridiculously big cardboard game box is a program called “Worldcraft”. According to a note at the back of the instruction manual (remember those?) this program would allow fans to “create a replica of their garage or a fantastic alien world”. And create they did. With this tool, now known as Hammer, at their disposal, the possibilities have been almost endless. From Counter-Strike to Ricochet, from Black Mesa to deep space to World War II France, the community created a tidal wave of new adventures, far beyond what anyone might have anticipated. Fifteen years later, we show no sign of stopping.

Ahoy Mates! Join the Crew of Pirates, Vikings and Knights!

Source

It’s no secret that I am terrible at multiplayer games. Whether it’s Counter-Strike or Team Fortress, I’m often that noob at the bottom of the scoreboard, so it should be no surprise that I stick to the single player side of modding. I occasionally make an exception to that rule though, and I’m glad I did for this mod – because Pirates, Vikings and Knights II is a lot of fun.

Under the Radar 01: Maps and Mods You Might Have Missed

Source

It can be hard to keep track of things in the modding community. Unlike the multi-million dollar marketing campaigns of triple-A releases, us mappers have to rely on word-of-mouth or places like ModDB to have our creations discovered.

A result of this is that a lot of brilliant releases slip “under the radar” and fade into obscurity. To help rectify this, here is the first of what (we hope) will be a series of articles highlighting smaller maps and mods released recently which we think you should download and try out for yourself. They’re free!

The Stanley Parable Demo Will Explode Your Brain

Source

What exactly is The Stanley Parable? It is an indie remake of a Half-Life 2 mod of the same name, but what was that? A story? A game? A serious commentary on the nature of free will, or just an amusing mod? Even the developers make a point of not explaining themselves, preferring to provide one whimsical contradiction after another. One thing that is certain about The Stanley Parable is that it is coming soon on Steam, and you can download a demo right now.

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