Journals

You've probably noticed them.

We're slowly going to be adding more to feature our unique maps. If you have any recommendations, chuck 'em in the comments here.

We probably won't be doing too many so people aren't forever loading new ones, but what would you say are the must haves?

Edit:
Hard mode: no Mission McPoker

Trailer by dumptruck_ds.

21 new, bite-sized Quake maps for Christmas! Two of them are mine! Loads of really talented Quake mappers contributed to this, and I'm really proud to be a part of this thing, and to have even completed a map this year, let alone two.

If you like Quake, check 'em out! Slaying Shamblers is what Christmas is all about.

I had to put my cat down tonight. It's latest in a long line of shitty things happening in my life.

I wouldn't wish this misery on anyone, and I feel like a monster for signing the paperwork.

I might not be around for a while, not that I've been very active lately. Stay safe, TWHL.

This show. Watch it.

Since Dota 2's alpha tools landed I've been practicing with the editor thoroughly. I want to hit the ground running if/when we ever get a full Source 2 SDK (and a sequel to that game that made them famous, Half... something or other?).

I can't stress how much I love the mesh tools, and the raw power they give back to any level designer who suffered with brush tools 10 years past their use by date.

Anyway, there's a ton of new hotkeys and commands I've been drilling into my brain and I decided I need a cheat sheet I can throw up on my second monitor while practicing, so I made one:It's probably missing a couple of things, so I might add to it when I learn more, but I figure people here might find it useful enough. Share it around if you want, and let me know if I messed up somewhere!

Mint condition and only 13 years late to the party. Aw yeah.

Bond is back.

Sam Mendes. 'Nuff said.

Playing System Shock 2 for the first time (well, actually the second, I tried it once before and gave up after about half-an-hour). It is an amazing game. Survival horror on a personal scale I've never seen before, all thanks to Looking Glass and Irrationals immersive sim approach. It's not as scary as some horrors, but the tension and work involved in just looking after yourself is off the charts.

You are never safe in this game. There's always something out there roaming the halls looking for you, and if that wasn't bad enough you have to worry about your own affairs. Health, energy, toxic and radiation poisoning. Nanites (cash), weapon degradation, complex skill branches, carry space... the list goes on.

They don't make games like this anymore. Thief, Deus Ex and this might just be my holy trinity of games design, and nothing has come close since.

So Frictional Games and The Chinese Room (of Dear Esther fame) are working together on the next Amnesia game, "A Machine for Pigs".

They're shaking up the formula and getting some genuine writing talent backing them. If you've followed Frictionals dev-blogs you'll see they've done some major work on the HPL engine, too. Very exciting.

I just found a good Aussie eBay seller of home & laundry items and got excited looking at all the different laundry hampers I could buy myself.

WTF has happened to me.

Arrested Development is coming back for a 10 episode mini-season leading up to the movie.Futurama and AD returning from the dead? Is it too late for Firefly?

Irony sucks.

A massive lightning storm was coming my way last night, probably the craziest one I've ever seen. I powered down all my electronics and turned them off at the wall, you know the drill. Waited the storm out, turned them back on, and now my LCD TV appears to be fried. It's connected through a surge board, and wasn't even on at the time of the storm. It looks like the act of turning it back ON fried it (static build up?), and it didn't even trip the surge board or damage the other electronics hooked up to it.

That's what it looks like at this stage anyway. Gonna' test a few ideas I've found on the interwebs, but it looks like it's time to dig out my warranty forms, wherever the hell they are.

I loved this TV. :<

So I got my hands on "some shots" from an unfinished copy of X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The CGI is so incomplete it's hilarious, take a look:

Well, since Penguinboy mentioned new graphics for TWHL4 in his latest journal (and since I always find the need to prove I'm not an entirely lazy bastard), I'll show you some of the new goods.

First up, new avatars. The current default avatars have nothing to do with Half-Life, what's up with that? They'll still be available as "legacy avatars" in TWHL4 for those who like 'em, but will probably be hidden by default. These will be your new defaults:And that's not all of them, more Goldsource oriented ones will come (think Blue-Shift/Opposing Force artwork, monsters, etc). They're 256x256, but they'll go down to whatever the max avatar size is in TWHL4.

The game icons for the Map Vault are also being redone to suit more varied themes and to include more games, and you'll finally have flashy new trophies for competitions and Map of the Month. I'll post those 'soon'.

General graphics like sticky notifications, the control panel icons and the header will all obviously get a touch-up too, when the newest design(s) roll around.