Category: Half-Life 2

Dear Esther Hits 100,000 Sales

May 18th, 2012 · By Vic · 4 Comments

I have nothing but good things to say regarding thechineseroom’s “Dear Esther“. Which is why I’m so happy that, after just three months since its release (and following the very recent release of its Mac port), it has sold 100,000 copies over Steam. It may not sound like much, but for an alternative game (and a PC-exclusive to boot), it’s actually pretty impressive.

Next up, thechineseroom will be tackling two distinct game projects: Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs, a title that speaks for itself; and Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture, an open-world spiritual successor to Dear Esther built on CryEngine 3. They’ll be parting ways with Dear Esther’s lead level designer, Robert Briscoe, which is a huge shame, but I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot of his work in the foreseeable future. That said, I’m still keeping my fingers crossed for a remake of Korsakovia. Hey, maybe even Conscientious Objector.

Okay, maybe not.

Part 2 Of Rock, Paper, Shotgun’s Black Mesa: Source Interview Is Out

May 13th, 2012 · By Vic · 6 Comments

In more than slightly late news on our part, the fine folks at Rock, Paper, Shotgun have posted up part 2 of their interview with Carlos “cman2k” Montero of the Black Mesa: Source devteam. And, yes, there is a bit of new BM:S media – but just a little bit! Read on.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun Interviews Carlos Montero, Lead Developer of Black Mesa: Source

May 9th, 2012 · By Vic · 14 Comments

It seems like everything even remotely Half-Life related is ultimately doomed to spend some time in some manner of development hell, limbo or purgatory. No one knows this better than the modders still hard at work on Black Mesa: Source, a remake/reimagining of the original Half-Life, built on the modern-day Source engine, and in the works since late 2004. It’s a colossal endeavor for a team of maybe two dozen amateur developers. With no actual budget, their only resource is time, and they have had a lot of it.

Now, Rock, Paper, Shotgun have managed to ”crowbar the answers” out of Carlos “cman2k” Montero, project lead of BM:S, in an insightful and well-done two-part interview. Let’s take a look at part 1, after the jump.

The Failure of the Half-Life Episodes

May 5th, 2012 · By Mimaz · 44 Comments

This is an original editorial piece created by one of our new writers, Mimaz. It is the first in a series of editorials that we like to call “The Half-Life Dissertation”. which will aim to extensively cover a wide range of Half-Life related topics and issues.

Valve are looking down the rabbit hole.

Did Gabe Newell Shed Light On Half-Life’s Future… Through “Ricochet 2″? [UPDATED]

April 20th, 2012 · By Vic · 14 Comments

[UPDATE: Community member Hitiphany has posted up a YouTube mirror of the Ricochet 2 discussion.]

It’s ironic: one of the first times Gabe might have really spoken out about Half-Life, and it turns out that he might have used a codeword for it.

PlanetPhillip’s 6×10 Source Level Design Competition

April 17th, 2012 · By Vic · 0 Comments

Level design is, undoubtedly, a noble art. Sun Tzu might not have written a book about it, but he was probably afraid that David Sawyer (arguably the greatest level designer to ever set foot on this Earth, and supposedly, also plays a mean Sniper in TFC) would have written it better than him. But Sun Tzu got lucky, as David Sawyer, along with the rest of Valve, were too busy making cool games, to even consider kicking Sun Tzu’s ass back into the… well, whatever age he was born in.

And that brings us back to our main point – Source level design. It’s been a while since there was a nice little level design competition to test our skills in the mapping arena. But we need wait no longer, as PlanetPhillip has revealed one of the most intriguing and original mapping contests in a very long time!

Black Mesa’s Soundtrack Might Just Be Very Close To Release, Believe It Or Not

April 13th, 2012 · By Vic · 25 Comments

Black Mesa (or Black Mesa Source, if you prefer) has been stuck in development hell for a really, really long while. But for a free Source mod that aims to recreate one of the greatest games ever made with modern technology and modern sensibilities – time is the only commodity they have. All we know is that the mod will finally be released exactly two weeks after its soundtrack is released. So, of course, we’re all very interested in finding out when and where we can find the soundtrack online, as composed by Joel Nielsen.

But it seems the Black Mesa soundtrack’s launch might almost be upon us. What makes us think so? Read on to find out…

After Nearly 3 Years Of Total Silence, Black Mesa Source Is Showing Signs Of Life

April 7th, 2012 · By Vic · 10 Comments

After missing their 2009 deadline, the Black Mesa devteam “submerged”, so to speak. Their Twitter died, their YouTube pretty much died, and while they did do an interview with Steamcast back in the summer of 2011, what little interaction they had with the community remained within the confines of their forums and their Wiki. But it seems like they’ve finally decided to wake their community manager up from hypersleep (maybe missing a big release date was too much for him), because the old PR machine’s rolling again!

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