In case you’ve never heard of it, Opposing Force 2 is a mod that serves as a fan made sequel to the very well received Half-Life expansion, Half-Life: Opposing Force (if that weren’t obvious enough). After several years of development, people have gone through a number of phases where they ask “is this mod dead?” Only to be quelled by the developers themselves who regularly reply to posts on their ModDb page – no one ever seems to read the comments, do they? Unfortunately, the team is no longer able to work regularly on the mod, due to another project that has taken up much of their spare time. But before the internet trolls take to ModDb and other forums, they should know that Opposing Force 2 is in fact far from dead. The team still wants it to see the light of day, so they are commissioning help from the community!

It’s finally here! Once again, PlanetPhillip has brought us relief from the mod drought, by releasing AssassinateVille, the latest in a long line of mapping competitions.

You ever notice how just as the community starts to drop down into the dumps, something comes completely out of left field and gives us something to talk about again? Funny how that happens with Valve…

Planetphillip is kicking off 2014 with a bang! The site is planning many mapping competitions over the course of the year and the first has just been announced : Assassinateville.

You have received a message from your “employer”. One particular person is proving “troublesome” and must be eliminated. You will not be told exactly who this is until you are sent to the area.

Use any method necessary to assassinate this person.

Specific instructions may given at the time of learning of the person.

The competition is running from today until 6am GMT on the 3rd of February so open that editor and start laying those brushes!

Full details about the competition including all the rules and regulations can be found over on PlanetPhillip.com

Well, the holidays are finally over! It’s a new year and it’s about time to get back to reporting news…from last month. Better late than never I suppose. – You may remember a mod announced a couple years back called City 17: Episode One. If you don’t, feel free to check out their ModDB page. Since you’re clearly a mole person who’s been living under a rock. The developers strove to make a number of enhancements to the Source engine to offer a more visually enticing experience to compliment the mod’s atmosphere and nicely crafted gameplay.

[UPDATE]: The mod is now available for download, containing three entries.

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.

Update: According to Deniz Sezen on the Black Mesa forums, the rumors about Black Mesa being ported to Source 2 are false: “Just to dispel a large rumor (and I know I’ll be viewed as the grinch that stole christmas): We are NOT on Source 2. It wouldn’t make sense for a company to license tech they haven’t proven yet with a released title to a mod team. Our [visual] however, WILL be improved. Don’t get me wrong though, we’d love a Source 2 license but our fans would be waiting another 9 years if we had to port again.”

Can’t say I didn’t warn ya.

Since I am sure many of you will have mixed feelings about the news mentioned in the title, I just want to make it clear right out of the gate that an updated Black Mesa will still be available for free and will be supported!!! Now, onto the details…

As many of you may be aware, PlanetPhillip.com recently held the first of three planned mapping competitions, which would require level designers to create a map in ten days and feature the player being ambushed by enemy forces as the main attraction. “Build a map in ten days? How hard can that really be?” I naively asked myself. As it turns out it’s pretty damn hard! Let me tell you a story…

Isn’t it always the way – you have no Half-Life 2 maps to play and then nine come along all at once!