Journals

HLGenius16 years ago2008-02-08 08:05:52 UTC 1 comment
Yo!! building my map........ :cool: :cool: :cool: so........how's yours?? :lol:
Penguinboy16 years ago2008-02-05 18:43:02 UTC 1 comment
TWHL3 Development Diary Thingie #2

Hello again, and welcome to the second instalment of the TWHL3 development diary! This time, I will be discussing future upgrades to TWHL after the release of TWHL3, but first, a small correction to last post:

I said that PM's are now like mini-forums, but I had to change it back. The practicality of it died. Who deletes the thread? If it's deleted, that forces every user to lose it. What if they want to keep it, reply, archive it? It messes with the system, so I scratched it. PM's are the same as they are now.

Now, on to future upgrades:

The first major upgrade is, as I've already discussed, a wiki system for entity guides and the glossary. The wiki system works like this:

The user must be logged in to edit. Once an edit is made, the entry is then locked off to any further edits until a moderator approves it/rejects it. I'll give wiki users a little "approval rating" that is a ratio of approvals to rejections. users with a low approval rate may have to plead their case to not have their wiki edit privileges removed.

History of all edits to the wiki are retained and can be reverted by an admin or moderator at any time. Moderators are alerted to any edits that need checking, so edits will be processed quickly. There may be new positions available for wiki moderators if need be.

Using the same wiki system, an error guide will be added. Most of the information will have been......borrowed from other sources such as tommy14. There is also a HL2/CS:S/DOD:S entity guide in the works.

Moving on to the next upgrade, which is something new and exciting. Projects! A project is a mod, a program, a map if you want, a drawing, anything you want! But, projects are generally limited to mods and programs such as my Twister or muzz's Compilator.

Each Project gets its own private forum for team members, their own news reel, and maybe even their own shoutbox (replaces current one), or a public forum. But I want to keep public forums out if I possibly can. Projects will get limited (if any) storage space to upload screenshots (probably will just link to imageshack).

There will be a 'Project quick news' news update on the right of the main page, and a bigger version on the main project page. This is much like the news feed thingie on sites such as Facebook ("Twister has uploaded 3 screenshots","Half-Life: Hostage Situation has posted 1 news update","6D has provided 2 new downloads", etc).

For the moment I can't get very detailed with Projects for the moment as no planning has gone into it yet.

The next new thing to hit TWHL will be reviews. A user can review a map, mod, film, game, book, anything. They write their review, give it a rating out of 10(? 100?), and then they can list pros and cons, and a (possibly humorous) "better than" and "worse than" scenario. Reviews will also be included in an update module ("Penguinboy has reviewed Far Cry","Ant has reviewed Batman Begins",etc) and so on.

Both Projects and Reviews will be included in the user profile.

Well, those are a few things that are planned for TWHL in the future. If you have any other suggestions (not a texture vault, please) don't hesitate to PM me with your suggestions. Just to note: the order of release for these is: Source Entity Guide, Wiki, Error Guide, Projects, Reviews.

Oh, and I almost forgot, TWHL3 passed 95% yesterday, and is currently sitting at 95.1%. PM's are complete. Next time, since I'm running out of things to talk about, I will run though the upgrades to design and graphics.
m0p16 years ago2008-02-05 08:35:35 UTC 0 comments
User posted image
Unbreakable16 years ago2008-02-05 05:13:57 UTC 0 comments
Well guys, as of yesturday I have started college, in a newly introduced course named "Introduction to Video Game Art and Design."
which covers Storyboards, concept art, and covers 3DS Studio Max.

It's a 20 week course and once complete, you are accepted into the new 2-year course starting in september. I'm very excited about this opportunity. I really hope my student loan goes through.
If not I have to find another way to pay it. :(

Perhaps I'll have to move back in with my parents.. ... ...on second thought... I'll survive. :biggrin:
Penguinboy16 years ago2008-02-04 06:19:51 UTC 0 comments
TWHL3 Development Diary Thingie #1

Well hey there! It's been a while since I've personally indicated any form of TWHL3 progress, so I thought that in the weeks until release I'll do a little development diary updated every few days.

TWHL3 is currently going very well, and right now it is 92.9% complete. Note that this percentage only includes the "modules", if you will, of TWHL3 that include database entries, so there are bits and pieces that still have to be done that aren't included in that total.

Most of the "big" modules are done - forums, vault, shoutbox, entity guide, glossary, news, users, journals - and the only priorities are PM's, Competitions, and Tutorials. For all three, most of the visual parts are complete, its just the background bits that need coding - the tutorial edit system, competition judging and creating, sending PM, etc.

TWHL includes a select number of improvements on the user end (the meat of the upgrades are in the admin system), but regular users get a thread tracking system, "alerts" that admins can send out to users, MOTM (not coded yet at all) much more integrated than it is now (think voting from the map in the vault), and small upgrades to existing operations as well.

It is important to realise that TWHL3 contains absolutely nothing from atom's (modified by seventh) current TWHL code. The functionality is similar, but the code is much more efficient and easier to upgrade. The current layout (all with tables) has been scrapped for a nice CSS approach that I'm told is Web 2.0 and all that (table layouts are so 1998).

Forums have been modified just a tiny bit: old threads cannot be bumped, but a user can easily request to have it bumped by an admin if the post is considered worthy of the bump. Also, a thread can be bumped by an edit of the last post.

The vault is much the same, but it has a nice advanced filter option as well as support for RAR files to be uploaded. The 2mb limit remains.

Entity guide and Glossary are nearly exactly the same, but soon after release I'm going to be implementing a wiki system for them, and for a new error guide as well. Source entities are in the works and will be added around the same time.

Tutorials are almost a wiki system, with the exception that only the tutorial author can edit it. All edits will be referred to a moderator before going live. The proposal system is much better too, and it pretty much guarantees a response from the mod team quickly. You can also write and save your draft on the site, and using special bbcode for the tutorials.

PM's are now like mini-forums, and a conversation can be held with only one PM "thread", so to speak, going to your inbox. Some users, as rewards, or prizes, will be allowed a custom title under their name for the forums.

There are lots of small things I've added, but the way I've written the code is a bit "all over the place", so on release expect a few inevitable bugs. When this time comes don't hesitate to use the PM system, the "contact us" system, or anything to make sure we get onto it quickly.

Well now that you have a reasonable idea of what to expect at the launch of TWHL3, PM me if you have any suggestions that you think should be added to TWHL3 before it goes live. Just small suggestions, because I'm struggling with the Tutorial system at the moment, and it's very fiddly work (checks and double checks all over the place, editing, constant database work, etc.)

As a final note, I apologise to everyone who wants to take a look at the Beta Site and found themselves staring at The Governator's ridiculous tie. Ant requested the site be completely blocked off after TWHL3 reached 90%, so you're all surprised or something (even though you've probably seen it before).

Next time I will indulge your minds with my plans for future additions to TWHL after TWHL3 has been released. This is where it gets really exciting people, so tune in next time!
IMUS16 years ago2008-01-31 15:50:01 UTC 0 comments
Six Feet Under has been updated with the second path. Since people seem to want outdoor environments I'll do something almost completely outside next. Maybe something mystical or abstract. Also the best Japanese rock band ever has just released their 6th MV.

http://www.veoh.com/videos/v3391726hSyd69FD?searchId=2098704741219362204&rank=0
The Mad Carrot16 years ago2008-01-31 05:40:05 UTC 0 comments
Journal time!

The Compilator is still going strong. Version 1.0.4 will soon be released with some new features and many fixes. Here are some of its newest feats:
  • Real batch compiling (compile multiple maps in a row)
  • Added HLFix as a default tool
  • Added abbility for adding additional third party compile tools
  • Something else that is still being worked on by our Daubster...
I also got me a 500 GB external hard drive for all my backups (think Mythbusters episodes).

As for gaming, im currently playing Serious Sam 2 again.
Im also playing with Space Shuttle Mission 2007, a Space Shuttle Simulator in wich you can fly real Shuttle mission, including the historical very first flight of the Shuttle (STS-1) on April 12, 1981, carried out by Orbiter Columbia (destroyed in Feb. 2003). Yesterday i finished mission STS-1 after trying to land the Shuttle for about 100 times.
My avatar shows the mission patch for STS-1.
Striker16 years ago2008-01-30 12:45:28 UTC 0 comments
536th login.
Crysis on twhl.
It's time to kick ass and chew bubble gum , and I'm all outta gum :cool:
Rimrook16 years ago2008-01-30 06:26:04 UTC 0 comments
Brushed death last night. It sucked... don't want to really talk about it... and yes I made an update on the 6D thread before this...

Dedication Bitches.

Anyway, I had a crazy headache and didn't get any medication, it was later at night and the store was closed. I could sleep so I stayed up all night working on homework, the next day I had class then I was at work all afternoon, and then put in an additional 2.5 hours 'cuz the guy that covers the next shift was late as hell. Near the end, a friend gave me some Ibuprofen, which normally does weird things with my chemistry for some reason, maybe allergic i dunno. Whatever I took it because I was little desperate at this point. I got home feeling only tired, my killer headache was gone, but I found out I had a ruptured vein... After a while i felt weird and weird went into some cliche as hell life flash before my eyes type mind lapse. Wasn't sure after that, all I knew was that I was going to die alone in my room.
NineTnine16 years ago2008-01-29 19:05:41 UTC 0 comments
"No" I said to the pumkin, as it tried to steal my shopping trollys out of its hat. It gave up when it saw me making bread sandwiches.

But thats another story...
xX1gr01Xx16 years ago2008-01-29 15:25:12 UTC 0 comments
i relased my first map and i have in mind some ideas to update it
-try fixing the yellow dot problem
-put other sky
-make it bigger
-MORE ENEMIES AND ITEMS
-and barneys too :roll:
Habboi16 years ago2008-01-29 07:23:14 UTC 0 comments
http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/prison-escape-working-title-half-life-2/

My friend from Uni has been working on this small mini mod. It's only 2 maps but he said it lasts about 40 mins which is quite impressive. I tested an early build and loved the new idea. The gameplay is HL2 in sense but it has a neat new idea which makes the maps unique.

Worth trying out I'm sure when he releases it sometime.
klobb16 years ago2008-01-28 22:43:07 UTC 0 comments
I just got back from surgery. I had a tumor removed from my rectum. Sounds funny but my ass really hurts. I wanted to map all this last week since i could not work, but it hurt too much to be at the computer. So i watched tv all week and visited these forums everyday.

I hope i get someone or a few people to help me port my condition zero map over to source. I have not mapped for source but i know this is a good place to get quality help. The map i made gets lots of play so hopefully its good enough for a port. Thats it for now i guess.
-Klobb
AJ16 years ago2008-01-25 01:31:49 UTC 0 comments
TWHL3 rolled over to 85% complete earlier today. I'm getting pretty excited at the prospect of releasing this puppy, as I'm hoping it'll really kickstart the community and bring new folks in. We're trying to launch with new content as well, and we shall also be refreshing as much of the old content as we can. In fact, most of the tutorials have been revised in one way or another, so yeah.
srry16 years ago2008-01-21 16:21:47 UTC 0 comments
I agree with Ghetto, Alien Vs. Predator: Requiem was fucking awesome! It really lived up to its high expectations. Definitely one of the best movies of 2007, if not all time. Here's some glowing reviews if you don't believe me. Or you can just ask my mom.