This is an editorial by Lilgreenman which analyses the recent development of the “We Want Half-Life 3” fan campaign from a retrospective standpoint. All views expressed in this article are his own.

This tutorial will show you how to create custom textures for use in creating maps for the Source engine. The process is also the same for creating textures for models, sprays, mods and essentially any image data within any Source game.

Thanks a new mod you can now play the original Half-Life with subtitles.

“Half-Life: Subtitles Mod” was only just released in July this year and enables you to play though the original Half-Life with subtitles, just like in Half-Life 2.

“One 4 Nine” is a community created Left 4 Dead campaign made by Kevin “keved” Edwards.

It was originally released for Left 4 Dead in 2010, however it received a significant update in July this year. Since One 4 Nine’s initial release, it has been subject to critical acclaim, receiving a hefty 9.6/10 on ModDB and being elected as a “Featured Campaign” by Valve for it’s outstanding quality.

Steam, Tracks, Trouble and Riddles is a mod that gives a very good first impression. After a well presented main menu, a slick comic-book introduction brings us forward to the year 2525, via an alternate history in which the failure to resolve the Cuba Missile Crisis leads to the extinction of humanity and the rise of the machines. It’s an intriguing backstory, and the promise of exploring a retro-futuristic world run by B-movie robots is definitely a compelling one.

Ignis Solus is a classic Team Fortress 2 machinima created by the (now inactive) Lit Fuse Films group. It is considered to be the first piece of fan-made TF2 machinima ever produced.

If you followed Part One of this guide, you should have some idea about the Source engine’s basic lighting capabilities. Now let’s go a step further to look at the more advanced techniques that the engine has to offer, including the extra capabilities of Portal 2, CS:GO and Dota 2.

Thanks to our previous Source tutorials you may have created an excellent map, but without lighting your players are going to feel left in the dark.

There are a range of different entities responsible for providing illumination in the Source engine, and the number and complexity of options open to you depends on which game you are mapping for. This guide will begin with basic lighting for Half-Life 2 and other Source 2007 games, before shedding some light on more complicated techniques.

Amateur video game filmmaking website Style-Productions.net has launched a competition offering a €300 prize pool for the winning submission.

If you followed our first Source SDK tutorial, you should have gotten to grips with the basic features of Hammer: you can use brushes to create rooms and corridors, change textures and place props. Your level is still mostly lifeless though, so it’s time to use Triggers to make things happen.