Journals

I am still alive, contrary to popular belief and I do still visit you guys almost every day. I've been struggling to do any mapping, work makes me too tired and I end up playing one of the many games I have on my to-play list.

I've rebooted my blog again, focusing on journalism and games, the net and all that kind of thing. I like it better this way, it was serving as a crappy personal blog before. I'm managing to keep it updated, every Friday.

http://hlifehotdog.blogspot.com.au/

[EDIT] Wow, it's been almost a year since my last journal.

Just got back from a great weekend and the yearly pop culture expo Supanova. It was great, got to meet Verne Troyer who I believe has done so well for himself despite his hurdles and he was a really nice person to talk to.

I also saw Christopher Lloyd while I was there but I didn't get to meet him as the line was huge and I was exausted already.

A great weekend overall

EDIT 2: So the power went off yesterday, just tried it again and its working now. Hammer is worse than a spoiled child I tell you!

EDIT: The entire Source SDK, forgot to mention that. Also tried verifying ingegrity and it all checked out.

ORIGINAL POST: This probably isn't for a journal, but fuck it, I'm tired and I just wanna map something.

Hammer is no longer working for me, it gets stuck at the 'Hammer' on-screen logo. Is it broken or is it just me?

Aside from being sick, the next two weeks are gonna be great.

We've got Protoype 2 released on the 24th, I will say, the original was very good, it had its flaws but it was enjoyable.

Avengers comes out on the 25th and I love the Avengers series on Cartoon Network so I really hope they live up the the series. Also, it has Iron Man and Hulk, I missed hulk but I'm disappointed it's not played by Edward Norton.

Then my birthday on the 27th is meh. I don't like my birthday much.

Then I finally managed to get time off to head the 26 hour Red Flag lan in the city. It's bit of a drive but how I've missed it so. I'll have to brush up on my CoD and CS:S skills

And after that I get to drop round a friend's house who I havn't seen is a while since he left town for Uni. If I'm still awake we'll probably LAN Alien Swarm or Dead Island for the rest of the day. Good times

It's nice to have a week to look forward to sometimes.

Unbelievable. I actually found some of my really old maps on an old obscure CD lost in my cupboard. Playing through them and some are so awful but there's some goodness in there.

Who thinks I should bundle them up and post them in the vault? I reckon someone will have some fun with these and I'd like to see what people think about my old stuff.

I found maps I'd completely forgotten I'd made.

So I need to make a decision within less than 12 hours.

I recently got a kickass new grahpics card and PSU to back it up.

A sweet GEFORCE GTX 570 and a 1000W Cooler Master somehow crammed into my HP Pavilion. The whole bundle for $719 AUS with free installation because I suck at installing hardware.

My grahpics are now so shiny. I've been playing Civilisation 5 AND I HAVE SHINY WATER!!! OMG IT'S SHINY WATER!!! /spaz

Anyway, the geforce gtx 570 supports 3D for non-3D games. I can currently play any game with the good old Anaglyph (red/blue) glasses but these things ruin colours and I would much prefer sterioscopic 3D. However, this is mach more powerful and requires some further purchases which I can't decide.

Nvidia 3D Vision requires:
1) A 3D-ready monitor that has 120hz refresh rate. I am currently looking at the Samsung 2233RZ, which is basically the exact model I already have but 3D ready. (I would also love to have dual monitors again). This monitor goes for around $500-$700

2) A Nvidia 3D vision pack which includes an IR emitter and allows on the fly adjustments to 3D depth and wireless 'Shutter Glasses'. I really don't know how they work so don't ask me. This pack usually goes for about $75-$100.

Currently on eBay I can get a bundle pack of the monitor AND the 3D kit for only $340 including postage. It's the ONLY bundle I can find and it's actually one of the few monitors that I can get for less than $500 as most other supported monitors are over $500 on ebay let alone their retail value which can reach $1100.

I have less than 12 hours (ebay item ends) to decide and thanks to my car, money is really short. I can afford it but I don't really want to but this is an awesome deal.

Eeep!

So, as you may all know, Steam is having it's usual massive Christmas sale and there are lots of games, coupons and coal going around.

Now this is all well and good unless you're like me and have a habit of already owning lots of games that you are getting the said vouchers/coupons for.

So I want to get rid of them, but I thought why not take the opportunity to have a bit of fun and put them up for prizes for a mini-comp. Mini-comps have always been good in the past.

This will probably happen on January the 2nd after the christmas sale. I've got a few ideas in the mix but if your interested or have an idea, make a comment here.

So I've been playing Dead Space 2 and was thoughly enjoying it. Some of the scenes were pretty intense but equally awesome while some other places are a bit weak, as with all games, until now.

I've hit a game-breaking bug that seems alot of people have encountered. During a sequence, I get attacked by this guy who's gone mad and is trying to stab my eyes out with a screwdriver. I have to button mash the use button (E) as with all grab sequences, scripted or not (ie, a monster grapples you and tries to tear you apart if you let them get too close). Anyway, for some reason, this sequence in particular has an error where it doesn't register keyboard input. I've mashed E and ENTER even changed the button to three others just in case I'd broken my keyboard, with no avail.

Apparently, this problem is common amoungst players but not total. It's been going on for a while and apparently EA don't care. There has been no acknowlegment of this error as such with other errors and they haven't even bothered to release a patch for over 2 weeks since release. I think EA are really beginning to take their position of power a little to lightly. Their general lack of support for games and the diminishing quality of their games is becoming a serious issue. Anyone agree?

/rant

Hey, unfortunately my laptop's graphics card blew up, so I'll be without a computer for some time (about a month or two) while I save up for the desktop I've always wanted. So, i'm back to using the internet at the library or the cafe's.

It is done...

http://www.twhl.co.za/vault.php?map=5552

Hope it's as good as it should be. If it needs more, tell me.

Despite my obvious lack of recent maps, doesn't mean I haven't been mapping. I've been slowly working on my FINAL Goldsource map!

Resonance Error (HLDM)

I'll post some secret screenshots soon, but little to say, I've been working steadily on this map for almost a year, and hopefully, it will be the best map, build tenderly with love, slow and steadily adding each new part and putting it through optimizations for more beautiful stuff.

So see you soon

I'm going to see Paramore in Perth, our captial city, tomorrow! I have been looking forward to it for months and wasn't sure I was even going to go until last fortnight. It's a long drive, 200km along the new freeway thank goodness they built it. It will be my first time driving in a heavily populated city, and I have to drive home straight after. The concert starts at 7pm and goes to 11pm, then it's a 2 or 3 hour drive home. This is gonna be killer!

I'm sorry...

For neglecting my poor TWHLers for the last few months. I've just been so busy with starting my new life that some things I just didn't have time for. I still do articles on GAMEployment, I do still map (currently making a Source map) and I play an awful lot on Steam (especially Minecraft as of late)

If anyone here has Minecraft, we have a online server for it that has been running for a week now and has seen a fair bit of traffic. If you want to join log in to Minecraft and join 'gameployment.com'

I'm on there alot, so you might catch me if your lucky.

I also apologise for not entering the recent comp even though I voted for the theme. I had an idea, but couldn't get the resources I wanted/needed and the idea kinda fell through. I might pick it up later, but we'll see.

Anyway, I'll try to be more TWHL active from now on. I mean, how could I neglect you guys, you've all been there for me since the beginning.

Love, Hotdog

I haven't done a journal for a while, I've just been busy mapping and stuff. I'm much more active on deviantArt, Twitter, MySpace and GAMEployment, though, if you care.

I'm working a TF2 2 stage payload map, I plan to upload pics to myspace really soon as progress is coming along well.

Also, I'm considering opening free mapping commissions if anyone is interested. I think it's a good idea and allows me to direct my creativity towards individual ideas and create contraint for my environment. I also plan to build a portfolio now that I'm a Premium member of deviantArt. Anyway, if your interested in a commission, or just think it's a good idea, comment below, or go to my dA account where there is a poll on which engine people may want more.

http://hotdog-halflife.deviantart.com/
http://twitter.com/hlife_hotdog
http://www.myspace.com/540087358

Just got back from a weekend away. It was my and my fiancee's one year anniversary, so we went up to Perth (the capital for our state) to a pop culture expo and also the zoo.

It was totally the best weekend ever. Not only was the zoo awesome, but at the expo, I got to meet and get autographs from

Summer Gleu (from Terminator: Sarah Conner Chronicles and Serenity)Lou Ferrigno (The original TV series Hulk)My fiancee also got to meet and get a signed book from Vic Mignogna (voice actor in over 100 anime and games)I didn't get photographs because you had to pay for them and you weren't allowed to take your own, which sucks, but at least I got autographs!! ^^