“Gamma Energy” is a mod for Portal which revisits the troubles of Aperture Science.
Originally released in 2010 by Christopher Dollard, the mod contains almost 30 Test Chamber levels which each feature unique and intricate puzzles, complete with turrets, acid pools and lazers.
As a result of the recent public release of Steam Music, which also saw the release of the Half-Life and Portal soundtracks as free DLCs on the Steam Store, this week’s Community Spotlight features the work of DJ Anton Dubrovin (known online as “Thonidy”) who has created an awesome hour-long musical mix of the work of Kelly Bailey.
The Half-Life Saga Story Guide is an informative fansite dedicated to providing a simplified explanation of the events of the Half-Life and Portal series in chronological order.
The project was created by interface designer Chan Karunamuni (who currently works for Apple Inc.) between 2003 and 2007 with help from readers and contributors from other community sites such as the Steam Users’ Forums.
“Lego Portal 2” is a stop motion animation created by Alex Kobbs of Kooberz Studios.
The animated video depicts various events from Portal 2 and follows Chell, ATLAS and P-body on a fan-influenced adventure through Aperture Science, leading partially into a scene from Half-Life 2 alongside Dr. Freeman and the Combine.
Under the Radar is a series of articles on LambdaGeneration featuring maps and mods in the Valve Community that you might have missed.
Okay, so the last Under the Radar article was approximately forever ago, but work with me here! Under the Radar is back to bring you some obscure, under-appreciated or just downright weird maps and mods…
Many of us will have played through most of Valve’s titles and enjoyed them. When we’re wrapped up in the action or the story however, the rules of the game we’re playing are almost invisible to us.
As a level designer it often pays to take a step back and look at the purpose of the content of a level. Why things are placed where they are, what do they add to the gameplay and what can we learn from them.
My name is Jim Partridge and I’m a modder primarily for Half-Life 2. My previous work includes Half-Life 2: Deep Down, Half-Life 2: Daylight and numerous PlanetPhillip competition entries. I decided to join LambdaGeneration this year as a contributor for the site’s Modding & Development section. My primary interest is in level design with a focus on gameplay, I’m a gameplay nerd in fact… Join me in my nerdiness!
PlanetPhillip has updated his ‘MapTap’ software to make it even easier for you to install and run single-player maps for the Half-Life and Portal series.
The free application, now updated to version 2.5 (release candidate 1), allows anyone to download, install and run hundreds of maps made by the community.
Update 11th August: Thanks to everyone who emailed in!
If anyone is still interested, we are still looking for contributors to cover the following specific topics:
We are also appealing to anyone who is interested in producing video content, such as playthroughs, mod/map/gamemode reviews and video tutorials.
Also, if you are someone who is interested in producing very occasional articles for the site, we are always interested in publishing ‘guest articles’ as opposed to dedicating yourself as a contributor.
Many moons ago, you might remember an article we posted about how Valve had given the Black Mesa team (now known as the Crowbar Collective) the opportunity to sell their mod as a full retail product. Despite announcing that a Source SDK 2013 version of Black Mesa would also be available for free, the announcement was met with mixed criticism. There was an overwhelming amount of support for the team, but there were a number of people who were concerned with what ‘ethical’ implications this choice to go retail might have. Should community made content that has always been available for free suddenly be given the chance to be monetized?
