Comments

Been there. It is the utter worst.

Huge condolences and bro hugs.

I think the fullbright screenshots are the thing putting a damper on the DLs
Just add lights! The could be really cool maps

They look like they could be really good, but I don't think anybody is going to play a fullbright map. It really ruins it

Why no lights?

Rimmy! <3

Everyone gets off to their own weird shit. Don't freak out and repress yourself, but also don't feel you need to make it part of your public identity.

I went through a phase of being into ecchi art in my early teens; it was a phase that, while I don't regret, I'm very glad I didn't allow to seep into reality. That road leads to bronies

There's an argument to be made for always feeling comfortable expressing who you are inside to the world, but I prefer to maintain a sense of societal normality. It just makes life easier. Plus it's way more taboo and exciting if it's your dirty secret.

Excellent points, well argued.

I can't help but feel a lot of your points would be non-existent if religion was dead and buried where it belongs, but that's a pipe dream for now.

She's much better than Trump, you're right, but they both come from the same crop and the same core values. I understand it's not fair to judge someone on their fathers' actions, but it's also really difficult to ignore the early days of the party under his leadership. There are still plenty within her party who have that mindset, and that is scary, even if she is personally trying to distance herself from it. While you're voting for a person, they do come with the whole party.

As we saw with the aftermath of Trump's election and Brexit's referendum, a lot of extremists (particularly white nationalist extremists) use these isolationist victories as permission to be overtly racist and violent. They're just thugs and morons, and I'm not for a moment suggesting that everyone who voted for Trump and Brexit are morons¹, but they have been given rationalisation to incite hatred.

I'm not against sensible border control and realistic immigration policies - but they should be presented in the terms that you're using, Loulimi. What these far-right parties often promote is the sort of language that Trump² uses; an ideology where there is a definite 'them' and 'us' which is just disgusting. Where you were born doesn't entitle you to more rights than any other human. You just got lucky.

I guess at the end of the day I'm much more concerned about legacy than any current problems. I'd rather do the hard work now so that my kids are left with a better world than I was. The Baby Boomers fucked it for Gen X, Gen X fucked it for us and now we're well on our way to fuck it for the next generation. And it's all because the leaders we elect are campaigning on short-term populist problems and the ones who could actually make a difference are dismissed because their plan would probably require effort.

I dunno. I'm just despondent at the state of the world. Globalism is somehow becoming a dirty word, as are liberalism and humanism. Bright kids are getting swept up into the Hitler Youth by the overtly right-wing establishment under the guise of a rebellion against that exact same establishment. The class divide was pointed out to mass outrage and then we proceeded to... continue to vote for bankers and the rich elite. Putin is pulling strings on a conspiracy-theory-level scale and we're all just waiting for something to escalate to the point of no return.

Here's a little aside to give a smidgen of hope:

Scotland just beat its 2020 target by 3 years of creating enough wind and solar energy to power the entire country. We're a progressive, socialist, atheist country and we're fucking nailing it despite being constantly shackled by Westminster. Imagine if more countries prioritised renewable energy, quality of life and science. Elect the right people - the ones who are looking beyond today.

Also we can be thankful that Pebs finally got unicode support working on TWHL.³

¹ Although it is fucking tempting.
² And therefore Dimbark
³ Pebs for President 2020

I'm not sure what point you're making at the top there. It's not wild conspiracy - the class divide & global elite are far more of a problem than international terrorism. Objectively¹. They succeed because we let them. We let them because we buy their bullshit that immigrants are the source of all our problems. This is not a new thing.

Two of the three terror attacks you listed were perpetrated by U.S. born citizens. All three were perpetrated by U.S. citizens. Closed borders and isolationism wouldn't have prevented any of them. Gun control would have prevented two of them.

Your 'majority of the population = majority of the crime' is a completely moot point. I'm pointing out that you have far more imminent and present threat to your life than radical islam, yet you're promoting isolationism instead of gun control. Only one of those things is going to save lives.

I agree that radical Islam is horrendous. Radical versions of any religion are terrible², and like you say; I'm extremely thankful that I live in a country where we've mostly moved past it.
But then you go on to say that we succeed because we drop regressive ideas, but you still choose to target immigrants who are fleeing the exact conditions you're talking about. If they're not fleeing the bombs we're dropping then they're fleeing the regressive and unyielding extremism of parts of Islam.

The whole 'migrant crisis' phrase is part of the problem, and again, it's part of that deliberate, focused narrative perpetrated by the right. The actual humans involved in this are just families like yours or mine who have been dealt an absolutely shit hand and are doing whatever they can to try to find a better life.

We both live in nations that are greatly enriched by multiculturalism. We should be aiming for a world where immigration happens for the adventure and opportunity, not out of necessity and fear.

You talk about regression, but if we keep voting en masse to put isolationists in charge, you simply turn back the calendar and start the whole dirty process again.

¹ Citation needed.
² Of course, religion in general is terrible, but that's another discussion.

"And I think there is a decent argument to make that radical Islam is definitely trying to put a foothold in the west, and until we have a good system to ensure the safety of our own people, we should keep immigration on a tight hold."

So much of this is exactly what I was saying in my wall-of-text. You're buying into the narrative that the elite are spinning to distract you from their crimes. Trump is as much part of that elite as any banker.

What about the foothold that the west put in the east? The illegal wars, the civilian bombings, the occupations, the regime puppetry? The anti-west sentiment which leads to extremism is created by your right-wing buddies getting greedy.

How many domestic terror attacks happened in the U.S. under Obama and his immigration policies? Why do you feel they need to be tighter than that? You have mass murders on a weekly basis by your own citizens, yet you're still more scared of Islamic terrorism?

Islamophobia is deliberate and manufactured, and is a self-fulfilling prophecy. It's used as an excuse to bomb countries for their resources, and then we act all surprised when the kids of those who are blown-up grow up to hate the west.

Use. Your. Brain.
Please look at the big picture.

I stand by that, absolutely. Getting your information from proper sources, fact checking it and analysing it before spouting it is what's important.

When the Daily Mail start publishing anything resembling journalism I'll stop using them as the butt of jokes; it's not hypocritical to call them out for constantly publishing bullshit - I'd do the same for anything that's deliberately misleading people.

I've ordered a Daily Mail subscription in your name, Dim.

Macron is the same old shit, and I agree wholeheartedly with the idea of shaking up politics and preventing them from continuing to siphon off the wealth, health and well-being of some of the poorest, hardest working and vulnerable people...

The fact that so many people think going so right-wing you fall off the plane is a SHAKE-UP of the political elite, however, is just insanity. Somehow these evil clowns have convinced the working class that they're on their side, when they couldn't be further from it. The security issue seems to be your biggest motivator, and that's absolutely valid. Your country has taken the absolute brunt of terrorism in the last few years; your continent in the last decade. You know how personally invested I am in the situation - there's a good chance I'll one day call France my home.

But you have to stop thinking so short term. The reason these extremists exist is because of people like Le Pen. They are the cause of it, not the solution. Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

She can put soft fluffy bunny ears on all the bloodied pikes that her party hold aloft, but it doesn't stop them being dangerous, xenophobic monsters, and all those attitudes do is breed the next generation of terrorists.

I agree that Macron is a disappointing front-runner - actually I didn't really like any of the candidates. Mélenchon was probably the closest to being a good option, although his anti-EU views are problematic, but any of them would both do far, far less damage than Le Pen.

The UK is currently driving off a cliff with May at the wheel. In just a couple of years it's going to be a fucking disaster and the poorest are going to take the brunt of it. Her plan is to basically make the UK a tax haven for huge corporations to avoid them fleeing the country post-brexit. Her party wants to privatise healthcare like pre-Obamacare USA and basically sell off every single asset the country owns. The short term gains is that she and her party all get very rich and then in 10 years the market crashes again because it's completely unsustainable. This is the cycle of the right wing.

The US? Where do you even start? They're going to be on the brink of nuclear war for the next 4 years, minimum, and once again the poorest people are paying for decisions being made by a man who only wants to profit and see his friends profit.

This is proven time and time again by the right wing. If you give them power, they corrupt it to profit in the short term and leave their country on the brink of collapse by the end of their term. Yet they keep getting elected because they pretend the country's problems are caused by the scary brown-skinned people who want to murder you/rape your daughters/take your jobs/whatever else is the rightwing wank topic of the month.

The real terrorists are the ones who continue spouting that narrative.

Don't think short term. Elect someone who won't fuck your future. Make them deal with the security issue, absolutely, but don't vote for someone whose entire platform is xenophobia.

Meanwhile in Scotland all I can do is hope for indyref2 before Brexit does too much damage.

We live in a world of fear and hate. Le Pen is as evil as Trump, Putin and May, so of course she's going to win. This is their age.
In 40 years when we're climbing from the rubble, maybe humanism can have another shot.

Oh wow, Jessie; it's everywhere here.

Drugs can be amazing and drugs can be terrible. I was lucky(???) enough to have a mother who smoked 20 a day for my entire life, so I got a pretty big disincentive to start. I saw how unhealthy it was making her - how out of breath she was getting just climbing the stairs, etc.

That said, I'm no stranger to weed, a (very) rare pill or two and certainly no stranger to alcohol.

Whether it's seeking highs, escapism or comfort, I can completely understand how people get addicted.

What really shows character is knowing when you're addicted and doing something about it.

Crollo, I'm very impressed at how quickly you didn't allow yourself to be fooled that you were feeling better. That your replacement was a completely healthy alternative. You recognised that it was still harming you and you're taking steps to cut it out completely. That takes real balls. Proud of you, man.

I couldn't even get my mum to start vaping, let alone quit nicotine altogether. Don't smoke, kids.

Funny you mention that, CT. I saw the Stones in 2013...

It was... not good. Sometimes tired old rockers are just tired old rockers. Part of the reason I was so impressed at The Who.

Classic Jessie.

8pm EST is 1am BST for my UK homies.
Cya there, Tet.

That's incredible - great to hear he's recovering.
Have you been able to be with him? Your work schedule / being on call must make it difficult to get away.
Sending loads of love and well-wishes to you and your family!

Fantastic design. Lots of little interactive elements keep this extremely enjoyable even through a long 30 minute game. I prefer the gameplay of Suppression, but this was also really fun.

You've absolutely nailed HL's style - it feels like an expertly crafted Valve map.

This was amazing to play. So many lols!

Love the classic HL feel and love this map.

Finally got round to watching this - very interesting. Thanks for sharing!

The update is fantastic. Detailing, lighting, weapon placement, routing. All welcome, welcome improvements. Fantastic job!

That's a really nice review, Bruce! Thankyou! We've managed to get pretty regular 12-man meetups on the TWHL/SnC server, but that's probably because we're in the midst of a competition period.

As for Admer's gamma, it's taking all of the colours out of the highlights, neutralising the blacks and causing pretty extreme banding wherever the lighting blends. Here's a comparison against default gamma settings:Look at where the worklight blends, for example. That banding is really nasty

Cheers for the reviews, guys! Thankyou!

Admer, I really appreciate the in-depth review but you really gotta sort your gamma out. It makes the lighting look terrible! xD

Incidentally, the included .res file doesn't distribute the WAD file properly. No idea why. Perhaps do a -wadinclude version?

After several full-server games on this, I stand by my original review and rating. It's just fantastic.

Plays absolutely brilliantly, albeit a tad on the empty side.

My only niggles are weapon placement and lighting. Overall it just feels too dark for deathmatch. A couple of extra light sources + a couple extra bounce passes would do wonders.

Weapon placement is probably the biggest offender - far too much of a game on this map is spent pistol dueling. It gets tiring quite quickly. I think you just restricted yourself to the original map's weapon locations too much.

It's really great, though. So close to 5 stars. I only mention the niggles because I know you're capable of perfection in your mapping!

This is really cool! There's a lot of detail here, and very cool entity work creates a living, breathing map.

Gameplay was a little weird, particularly with AR grenades being a little too plentiful, but overall it was pretty fun. I love the airlock in particular.

A lot of the screen and UI-style textures really felt like they should be additive, also the skybox was particularly boxy.

Being able to see the exterior of the ship through the windows and airlock is fantastic, so to is the little accessible fighter ship.

Lots and lots of really cool design concepts packed into a tight, neat arena. Very good!

This really is a staggeringly beautiful map. The clean and clever design hidden under gorgeous detailing is just awesome.
Textures are great, lighting is great.

The setting is also great - I love the big cargo containers and the feeling of it being part of a much larger world.

Just... gdamn. Annoyingly brilliant map.

We got a good 12-man match on the server last night. It played really well! Lots of crossbow sniping in amongst excellently fast-paced chaos. I always think the inclusion of the Egon is a mistake since it's such an anti-fun weapon, but that's more subjective.

I maybe found it a little difficult to get my bearings when I respawned; the texture set leaves all the interiors feeling a little visually indistinct.

Superb fun, though, and I love the theme.

4 stars, easily up to 5 with just a couple of changes to help make areas feel more distinct.

This is tagged for HL, but it looks like it's HLDM. Which is it? I'll add it to the TWHL server rotation if it's HLDM

The use of the word 'But' at the beginning of your post makes it seem like it's a bad thing that it's so close, that's all. Like you were disappointed you weren't going further.

Just because it's nearby doesn't mean it won't be good!
(although if I was going that distance from BiH, I'd pick Croatia)

Best way to get over a fear is to just confront it. I had convinced myself I was scared of flying - any time I went abroad it took forever because I had to take trains and ferries and more trains. It was really limiting.
Then when I was ~18 I got one of my first freelance jobs which required me to fly all over the UK. For around three months I was taking about four flights a week!

I was super nervous going into it because I had convinced myself I was scared of flying, but after that first flight? I just laughed because it was such a silly fear, and it went away instantly.

Visiting other parts of the world is one of the most important educations you can get - don't deny yourself that experience, you'll regret it.

Haha. Copy-pasting takes time?

I love how excited you were to see your friends playing your map. I remember the thrill of seeing that in-person for the first time myself, and it really stuck with me.

Why didn't you want to go on the school trip? They were the best days of school!

Keep doing what you're doing; It's good that your class are enjoying it. Try not to show off too much, make sure your teachers know it's a creative outlet, don't kiss your cousin and be proud of your work.

Rainbow Six never got better than this.

This is a masterpiece. I will do a more in-depth review after a proper game, but from running around earlier, this is wonderful.

I agree with Trempler's weapon/item placement issues. More numerous basic weapons + more spread out batteries would be a great starting point.

Otherwise, the only flaw I noticed was that the max viewable distance is short by around 256 units.

Also the turbine button should do something :>

Happy bday, old-timer! May this day bring much merriment and alcohol-inspired life choices.

Access denied error 403 on that image, mate.
Hope you get to go! Will you be taking Scott?

Edit: Who I just realised must be almost 10! I still remember you posting when he was born. TWHL will outlive us all.

I was consuming sooooo much porn at 14.

There have only been four or five permabans that I can remember (excluding spambots) and all were given many chances before a permaban was enforced.

iirc Crollo was permabanned back in 2009 for creating multiple spam accounts and generally being a nuisance. He's been a great member since his return, though.

English is already a second language to you, though, right? So Turkish & German would be a third and fourth? That's mighty impressive, young lad. Mighty impressive.

Cut a few inches off your fox, though. Tall girlfriends are the worst.

•?

It was, it was. Hope yours is good.
Could have sworn it was game_counter_set, rather than env_render, though.

Happy birthday, my amigo!

Welcome. Welcome to TWHL. It's safer here.

Happy!

Birthday!

Ha! Neat puzzle!

Happy bday, m'lad

Happy bday, mate!