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Articles related to Source

Vic’s Thoughts On: Dear Esther, Or Why A Video Game Can Be Much, Much More Than Just Entertainment

Gaming Industry

At their core, video games are essentially entertainment – designed to be fun. They accomplish these two objectives through all sorts of ways, within the various genres of the gaming world. Most of the games we play are, ostensibly, mere entertainment – created to be fun, enthralling and, perhaps, little else beyond that. But recently, many have contemplated and whether or not video games truly are art. But this debate goes beyond gaming itself: for instance, can we classify the Roundhay Garden Scene as art? While we’re at that, can we classify the Mona Lisa as entertainment? Is all entertainment actually art, or is all art somehow entertainment? It’s a multifaceted argument that might be going on for a very long while. I, personally, am of the conviction that, video games are art. Of course, there are some games that simultaneously represent both entertainment and art (Portal 1, Half-Life 2). There are also some games that lead more towards the art side, but they still maintain the basic framework of a video game. If they didn’t, we’d have a tough time calling them video games.

But in comes something that might shake up the way we look at video games. That something is Dear Esther. Originally designed as a free HL2 mod in 2008, Dear Esther was a terrific, if flawed experiment regarding interactive, non-linear storytelling conveyed through a video game. Almost 4 years later, the same team, plus one master level designer, have returned to remake and reimagine Dear Esther, almost from the ground up, as a independent Source game. That which was primitive is now beautiful, and a whole new audience could be exposed to this interesting creation. But is it more than just an experiment, or, perhaps, is it more than just a video game? Well, read on to find out!

‘Half-Life: Dreamcast’ Mod Released – Emulating The Unreleased HL1 Dreamcast Port… On The PC

Half-Life

Gearbox’s infamous cancelled Dreamcast console port of Half-Life 1 (although it was also developed by Captivation Digital Labs) has been shrouded in mystery for many. Troubled by delays, it was originally slated for release in summer of 2000, then fall of 2000, then late 2000, then pushed back to early 2001 and eventually, mid-2001, then finally put out of its misery in a controversial cancellation. The ill-fated port was hilariously close to release – Prima strategy guides and other promotional materials were made available (and can still be found on online auction sites for various prices), and a near-complete beta build was leaked to the Internet. Concurrently, it seems that the only way to experience the port is to download this leaked build.

But, no longer! Dedicated modders have just released a mod port of the Dreamcast version for Half-Life 1, which means that right now, you can experience the unreleased Dreamcast port for yourself! Read on for more info on the release.

Incredible Blue Shift World Record Speedrun Performed by Quadrazid and Rayvex, And More Breathtaking Valve Speedruns

Half-Life

Here’s one for the history books: the world’s fastest HL: Blue Shift speedrun. And another one for the history books: this thing was released almost 3 months ago. So the only logical conclusion here is… quadrazid is fast, Vic is slow. It’s funny, you see, because I can’t strafejump for s**t. Hell, I can barely tell the difference between strafejumping and bhopping. But I still manage to dominate Portal 2’s Challenge Mode on my Friends list.

Vic’s Thoughts On: Nuclear Dawn

Gaming Industry

Ever since the birth of the atom bomb, man has been obsessed with his demise at its hands. From “On The Beach” to “Dr. Strangelove”, and from “DEFCON” to “Fallout”, we seem to have a hard-on for the nuclear holocaust. But something that many people seem to be ignoring is the idea of the post-nuclear society. Post-nuclear nation-states, and post-nuclear warfare. It’s a concept that has been neglected by many.

However, these visions are no longer confined to our dreams, or rather, our nightmares. No, now we have Nuclear Dawn. While it first began development long ago, in 2005, as an independent Source mod, its turbulent and troubled development soon led to it being lost in the depths of development hell. Luckily, InterWave Studios bravely journeyed into that sinister dimension, and after a couple more years in development later, it is now a full-fledged commercial Source game. But is it a fearsome bunker-buster, or is it a mere dud? Read on!

We Heart You Phillip Marlowe

Half-Life

Back on June 27, Phillip Marlowe wrote an article thanking William McMahon for all his work on Podcast 17 and in the Half-Life community. He spoke of his dedication and love for the game and the people who play it , and it was an extremely thoughtful thing for Phillip to do.

Phillip runs his own website, PlanetPhillip, where he reviews mods and maps for the Half-Life and Portal games along with providing download mirrors and forums. He doesn’t plaster his sites with ads nor demand attention to himself, something that we here at Lambda Generation love to do.

Very Early Blue Shift Trailer

Half-Life

This trailer, created as a teaser for the Dreamcast port of HL1, which would have featured Blue Shift as a small side mission, is very interesting.

Note the lack of any HD (or Medium Definition, as the Dreamcast models are called) models, the yellow HUD, the flashlight weapon, and most of the footage is taken from HL1 maps. Weird. Still, the later Blue Shift trailer is directly based off it. Check it out after the jump.

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