Forum posts

Posted 1 month ago2024-02-12 10:43:17 UTC
in Forum dead? Post #348571
monster_urby said:
TWHL is one of the oldest Half-Life modding communities and in recent times it certainly has been quieter around the main site and forums. The site itself is not as active as it once was, but remains a useful resource with the wiki, map vault and competition dashboard.
For me it's kind of amazing that TWHL still exists. It's one of the first communities that I've joined online, less than 6 months after having an internet connection (2006/2007) with 32 kb/s speed. It brings back a bit of nostalgia after those phpbb/vbulletin forums. There are still many communities left communicating through these forum types, but a lot of them died. In my country, there were big communities around hardware/software/gaming magazine forums. In the early 2010's most of the physical mediums died, and the communities slowly started to fade away. I'm guessing this is what happened in other countries too.
Then the forums slowly started being replaced with chat platforms, one of the most popular being Discord. Although highly practical in some sense, I believe it's just another symptom of the dopamine-hit-style environment the internet is today. Discussions fade into a black hole, unlike these forums where you can search, structure and have some statistics. Discord is a forum, irc and teamspeak/ventrilo server all in one. All-in-ones don't ever do one thing well.

People also grow up and there's very little time to devote to niche online communities if you have multiple interests.

Then the social media garbage started and really took off in the 2010's, sucking people's time. Nobody is immune from these trends, I myself joined Facebook because high school friends pushed me to do it. Then Instagram because a college girlfriend told me to. Now I reluctantly joined Threads because some people I know post there. I never joined TikTok and I hope I never will.
In the past decade phones have practically enslaved us. It is now impossible not to check your phone several times per day. People mindlessly scroll through stories, reels and other forms of short form media shit. I do it too, and I've done it against my better judgment until I had enough humility to recognize that I am addicted to my phone, not unlike others. What slowly got me into the addiction were a few tough mental months where social validation from online forms provided me the feel-good emotions I needed to push through the days. When I work, the only solution for focusing is to close the internet connection on my phone and put it away from my field of view.

I've been also following AI trends for a few years. The hot shit right now are LLMs and diffusion models (a.k.a chatgpt/llama/mistral, stable diffusion/ midjourney/dalle a.k.a generative ai models). The internet is slowly becoming now a cesspool of generated robot regurgitated data deluge and fake art. Where once the internet was a source of good information and radical sincerity, filled with mostly tech or trade-inclined people, it's now... I don't even know how to describe it anymore. My feeling about it is how Mark Hanna in Wolf of Wallstreet describes the stock market:
Fugayzi, fugazi. It's a whazy. It's a woozie. It's fairy dust. It doesn't exist. It's never landed. It is no matter. It's not on the elemental chart. It's not fucking real.
Whoever is able to still ignore all of this and focus on their or these little community gardens, they can consider themselves trully blessed.

Technology robs us more time than the government and other necessary human chores ever will.

So considering all of this - it's a damn miracle people still come to TWHL to discuss and create stuff around an engine that's 25 years old.
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Posted 4 months ago2023-11-05 11:57:23 UTC
in Mapping game of telephone Post #347992
I remember that map, it was quite fun. I've searched my Dropbox archive and didn't find it. I probably have it somewhere on an older HDD or backup.
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
This is one of those mod posts that are rare. Usually it's filled with one-day enthusiasm ideas, but I've saw your video and it looks like you're determined. I really hope you're able to organize your time and energy to get it to finish line.

There is something about Mars lately that gets high interest from all sorts of people. In my case, I like playing Terraforming Mars.

Will you make this mod action-themed or more suspense/horror-themed?
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Posted 8 months ago2023-07-09 19:38:17 UTC
in Is GoldSource still cool Post #347697
You're never late, it's just that the spotlight has moved elsewhere. Goldsrc mapping is a niche activity in the niche of DIY games and indie gaming development.
The early to late 2000's mapmakers have moved on with their lives, and this community's structured (or not), polite (or not), involved(or not) conversations, as with most forums, were sucked into the Discord black hole.
As with every niche interest, there are always going to be people around to discuss with. Luckily, this community is, I'd say, still thriving.

But - to respond to your title question:

Is GoldSource still cool?
It depends. For us? Yes.

For 99% of the other people?

No. It's an anecdote most people will never care about.

If you want to be cool, follow the trends :).
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Posted 1 year ago2022-07-23 08:59:43 UTC
in Here, have a Minecraft server Post #346745
Oh if I had the time to play some minecraft again... seems like there are so many things sucking my time these days.
Haven't opened the Minecraft launcher in probably more than a year, and it tells me that I need to migrate my mojang account to a microsoft one.
But when I try to do that, it tells me that something went wrong and the only option is to contact support.
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Well, I gave this a like in the hopes I'll remember to watch it later. In the description it says it's coming later this month.
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Posted 2 years ago2021-04-21 19:06:43 UTC
in Ode to Lockdown [Map Jam] Post #345553
Sorry for the offtopic but I have a few burning questions:

1. How many km/h (m/h) can you get work done at with this chair?
2. Do you see any increase in fuel costs?
3. What helmet do you reccommend?

Thank you.
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Posted 2 years ago2021-04-08 11:31:04 UTC
in Post Your Photos Post #345520
Very nice landscapes Admer! Those hills littered with old limestone rocks and pine trees is a familiar sight, and I can almost feel the smell of the pine flowers. One of the reasons I keep getting back to my hometown myself, and did this quite a lot in the last year due to the pandemic - being 10 minutes from a bikeride in the forests and other trekking paths.

Unfortunately, living in the balkans too, yet another sight is familiar to me: abandoned old industrial buildings and ghettos. This has slowly changed over the years though, especially since we got in the EU.
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Posted 3 years ago2021-03-10 16:45:24 UTC
in Ode to Lockdown [Map Jam] Post #345417
In all seriousness I am working on mine, but I am both busy and slow
User posted image
In all seriousness, I'd love to participate but man.... My productivity skyrocketed in the wrong direction.
[EDIT] I also took a good look at my room.
Half-Life can't handle the wpolys.
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Posted 3 years ago2020-12-31 13:40:40 UTC
in Happy 2021! Post #345121
The third millennium is officially old enough to drink in almost all countries. Let's see what it has in store for its 21st birthday.
Also, did we progress enough with the years in this century that it is now allowed to say "well in 21' this and that happened" ? (instead of saying "two thousand twenty one")
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Posted 3 years ago2020-11-20 23:30:35 UTC
in Review everything! [2nd edition] Post #344913
Cottage cheese

Cottage cheese is such a versatile ingredient. I sometimes keep a can in my fridge and when I feel the need of a slightly sweet snack, I combine it with some canned blueberries (although I also like canned blueberries in combination with goat yogurt).
You can also make some really delicious cake with it, or sweet cheese pie with pastry sheets.
I wonder how other people eat this.

Asphalt
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Posted 3 years ago2020-11-15 18:43:58 UTC
in Review everything! [2nd edition] Post #344863
This thread comes to life thanks to inspiration from the one that was created 8 years ago, it in turn being inspired by some journal of Captain Terror.
UrbaNebula said:This is somewhat inspired by Captain Terrors journal. Basically, you name an object, person, animal whatever. It can be as precise as naming an item "pea" or you could cover a range of items "vegetables"

The next person then has to post what they think of that particular thing, giving it a wee review or summary, before naming their own item, person, animal, whatever. Pretty simple.
Example:

Quince
I don't regard this as my favorite fruit, but it occupies a kind of niche in my taste. Its pulp is usually too hard when raw, but if correctly picked it can offer a really interesting show to your tasting buds. One of the last fruits of the autumn season, you can pick this up up late October to early November when, at last, it will be of a brilliant yellow color. I'd say I eat at most 2-3 quinces/year.
It's probably more well known from its derivative products, such as jam/marmalade made from it. Its flavor is quite intense, so when making an apple pie you can throw a little bit of quince marmalade to boost its flavour.

Coffee
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Posted 3 years ago2020-11-09 20:26:05 UTC
in Now Playing: ... Post #344840
Kognitif - Yeah Yeah Yeah
One of those songs I use to create a warm, relaxing, albeit productive atmosphere.
In my mind, I'd put this in the same basket with RJD2 and FatboySlim.
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Once you've gone out of the metro and explored the surface area, maybe go the library and check some of those old dusty books in Metro 2033, you're cured forever of these feelings. I don't think I've ever experienced this feeling in the Source games, but I do experience more of general feeling of sadness and nostalgia that the source/gold source community is dying off/moving on.
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Posted 3 years ago2020-11-03 10:36:50 UTC
in Programming video tutorials Post #344818
A bit off topic, but for the folks who want to learn fast some language concepts without wasting time on configuring your local machine, repl.it is an excellent place to exercise your skills or test fast an idea.
REPL stand for read-eval-print-loop
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
This post was made on a thread that has been deleted.
Posted 3 years ago2020-10-21 07:22:55 UTC
in Programming video tutorials Post #344782
The video is really neatly put together. This would've been an awesome series for me 10 years ago :)), I was too lazy or stupid to teach myself programming to the point of actually modifying games, the best I did was some SFML/Allegro experimentation if I can remember back then.

The title doesn't lie, this really is an intro and you spend a lot of time talking about resources to learn, and only some interesting stuff about the hl programming itself (like the hierarchical nature of entities in HL vs entity composing in modern engines). Since the last time I've actually done something productive with Hammer six years ago, the landscape probably changed - I see "JACK Hammer" is being thrown around more and more lately. But I know for sure that even then the minimum for the coding IDE was Visual Studio 2010 by 2014 standards, I'm not sure why your brought Visual Studio 6.0 :D

Your accent is great, the sound was good, the editing is nice. Good luck with the series! If it gets interesting maybe I'll even experiment too at some point if I have free time.
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Posted 3 years ago2020-10-05 20:24:22 UTC
in cs_sarajevo map Post #344751
I've searched my old drives too, and unfortunately I don't have it :(.
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Posted 3 years ago2020-06-01 14:39:02 UTC
in Gaming For Your Sins Post #344350
Haha, you are entertaining to watch man.
The first video was weird, on the level of "Uriel's Machine" interpretations of historical facts. It establishes wild hypotheses and makes them feel real through elaborate arguments. That's just my impression, I never delved deep into the side stories beyond the original Half-Life series, so I'm not sure. This was kinda my reaction.

In the second video you strike me as a young Schwarzenegger lookalike.

I may be an old fart too, but I have to build on what you said about the community being on Discord nowadays. I think It's a shame that alternative platforms are siphoning the activity. The TWHL site slowly become just a shrine to which people come to remind themselves of the roots of the community.
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Posted 4 years ago2020-03-28 09:37:01 UTC
in Post Your Timeline Post #343976
Hah, I've disabled that t long time ago (although thinking how intrusive are apps these days they certainly have some history about my location somewhere).
Wow some of you guys are really prolific travelers. I can't imagine myself going to so far-away countries like Japan. I'm more of a stay at home do personal projects guy, and there's like an internal tension meter that goes up and up and I have to reset it by doing some sort of trip. Usually these come unplanned.

Last year I've visited Austria with a camper van (basically just pure luck to be invited by some friends and I'm grateful for that). The landscapes were stunning. We went with a steam train up to the top of Schafberg from where you can see multiple lakes. There are lots of bird nests on those cliffs so you always get to see flocks. We decided to go back on foot. While going down the mountain a storm caught us. I could hear thunders extremely close, some of them crackling. There were a few near strikes. There was nowhere to hide, the only thing you could do is continue. The wind was blowing furiously and you could sort of see that all this mist was actually clouds hitting on the side of the mountain. I've always had this weird fear of entering a cloud. In conclusion, I've never been so close to shitting my pants in my life.

This winter I've picked up a new "passion": snowboarding. I went to a one week snowboard camp. I've got almost all equipment besides boots and the board which I plan on buying next season (I said it's better to rent to try out different boards while learning). So this gives me the reason to go around in the country and visit different ski resorts, and once I have more experience I'll probably want to go to the Alps at some point.
But man, it was not easy. My butt and knees were killing me the first few times. And I still fall a lot. I'm afraid I'll forget everything by next season though :(.

I too want to visit Scotland at some point. Preferably by motorcycle for which I don't have yet a permit, and the pandemic surely shit on my plans of getting one in the next few months.
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Posted 4 years ago2020-03-28 09:00:10 UTC
in Half-Life: Alyx Post #343974
This game is amazing, it's the best thing Valve made since Portal 1
I thought Portal 2 was the actual masterpiece.

Alright, so I've spoiled some scenes for myself. Oh my god does it look gorgeous. And I'd probably just have to wait until autumn or december to play this in VR. Perhaps equipments will drop down in price until then.
I wonder what other games will come out on Source 2 and if we'll have access to the tools (Hammer) soon.
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Posted 4 years ago2019-12-07 17:07:16 UTC
in Hidden gems / Underrated games? Post #343449
The Talos Principle. If you loved Portal, this will be an equally entertaining title. Moreover, it has an interesting philosophical context.
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Posted 4 years ago2019-11-26 14:31:23 UTC
in Half-Life: Alyx Post #343405
I don't have the space for VR
Do newer VR solutions still require those pillar positional sensors to be placed around in a room? I thought the new Oculus uses cameras mounted on the headset and a gyro or something?
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Posted 4 years ago2019-11-22 17:21:22 UTC
in Half-Life: Alyx Post #343391
I've been in the market for a new laptop for some while, but I'm quite fastidious about the technical specs and the only laptop that comes close to please me at the moment is the Lenovo Y740 - not that other laptops aren't good enough or have a better look&feel, but a lot of new laptops lack Thunderbolt 3 which I find outrageous.
Anyway, a mobile RTX2070 could run this right? But man, throwing in the extra 400 bucks for the Oculus would literally rape my pockets.

Otherwise, I thought that maybe buying one of those smarphone doodads that you strap to the eyes like the Oculus would enable one to watch 3D replays of somebody playing the game. I mean, who has time playing these days amirite?

:quizzical:
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Posted 4 years ago2019-09-19 19:39:33 UTC
in Now Gaming: ... Post #343142
Wow that looks extra-nice. Damn I wish I was 16 now. So much awesome stuff to play with.
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Posted 4 years ago2019-07-23 07:25:46 UTC
in Post Your Photos Post #342898
I understand the proclivity to try/do crazy stuff at that age... or at any age really if you have the inclination to do it (or if your're Colin Furze).
At about 16-17 I tried a hydrogen making experiment in a beer bottle and lit it up thinking it will burn with a steady flame. It nearly blew my face off.

My advice is not to back up from these kind of things, but to think beforehand exactly how much risk you're exposing yourself and others to and taking all the necessary measures to minimize those risks. If your gut is telling you this might not end well, then listen to that instinct. And of course, don't do anything so stupid that it ends up hurting not only you, but others (random example: flying a RC plane without any training in an area with people - that's stupid and there are probably legal consequences if someone gets hurt). Today's safety culture is both a blessing and a curse that just dumbs down children's curiosity to understand and be fascinated by the world.
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Posted 4 years ago2019-06-26 12:23:32 UTC
in Black Mesa Xen Post #342806
If this thing keeps getting delayed until autumn-winter it will be in perfect timing with me getting a new rig, so I can fully taste the eye-candy :biggrin:
Do you guys feel like they diverged from the overall theme style of the original Xen? I know it's a modern interpretation, but that's what I sense. I haven't played a in a long time but I remember more purplish surfaces.
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Posted 4 years ago2019-06-23 18:55:40 UTC
in Recent micro stutter in Goldsrc? Post #342787
Although the mistery has been solved, I'm leaving this for posterity. I also encountered stuttering in GoldSrc at some point in time and it took me a bit to figure what was happening. Turns out it was because the bluetooth speaker. But maybe this is hardware dependent, this is happening on an older laptop.
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Posted 5 years ago2019-03-06 17:01:04 UTC
in The Core Post #342174
"UrbaNebula-a.k.a-monster_urby" said:Truth.

It's getting to the point where I'm getting a load of new ideas for projects that I couldn't fit into The Core (not that I am looking to expand it any further, I'm all about finishing up what we have at this point.)

I've got an idea for a new mod I'd like to make and I've had the lore in my head for a few months. A whole new universe to play with, rather than using Valve's. Thing is, it will definitely need custom coding which means I would either need to learn myself or take on a coder to help me get things set up. Not something I am willing to even look into until The Core is out the door.
I'm beginning to shift into my late twenties and I'm so sad I've only now began to fully be aware of the fact that we're excellent planning and idea-generating machines but shit executioners. There are a plethora of reasons on my side(probably just human nature) but also because having a job steals so much time from the day from you that you absolutely must plan ahead to do stuff if you ever want something to be done. I imagine in your case, having a family and whatnot, it makes things even more complicated. I've imagined several projects I wanted to start and even a few I'm actively "working" on, and the failure to see progress is one of the biggest generators of depression for me.
But then I've had another revelation, but this one I'm coming slower to terms with. Perhaps everybody has a rhythm, and no matter how much you want to accomplish, you just can't do more than... you can. Accepting that can probably ease the anxiety.

Perhaps you've got a different rhythm Urby. Doesn't mean you're not gonna finish this, but the fact that you didn't is totally understandable.

but yeah you should finish it
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
By using sophisticated cryptanalysis techniques I've determined that Half-Life will see its resurgence this year. Invest and HODL Half-Life, the
"Instant Mix" said:12 years
cycle might be at its end!
User posted image
On a more serious note, I do think that Half-Life or some story that is intertwined with the HL1/2 universe will make an appearance in the years to come. These things always happen. A lot of stuff is recycled in our world, or inspired from old stuff. First big example would be the renaissance. We can apply the same pattern to everything cultural. The HL games had such a big impact that there just needs to be more time left for it to be forgotten. I also think that economical reasons are at play. People who run Valve are also humans and probably the period 2007-2008 when the house-market crisis happened wasn't a particularly good time to play it risky with a game that could both bring little revenue and critical fury. I don't know if Valve has shares that can be bought on the stock-market or the shareholders situation but in such cases we know the drill: shareholders want max profit.

[EDIT] I'd really like to try Titanfall 2 myself someday, some holiday. I just checked it after Dimbeak mentioned and - holy cow - that is a Source engine game! - although, somehow bizarrely you can notice that specific "plastic" feeling of metal surfaces (I watched a gameplay) Source engine has, though the natural environment seemed lush and really not Source engine-y :\
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Posted 5 years ago2019-01-09 21:57:50 UTC
in TWHL4 Discussion / Bug Reports Post #341605
I was going to say maybe a map update should only show on the front page if the upload changes, but what would that do for externally hosted maps, and sorting in the map vault? Where does the "update" line get drawn, and how can it always be enforced?
I came here to say basically the same thing but since you guys are ok with it, no problem then. I'm just not particularly proud of some of my works and only intended to update the links for Jessie :crowbar:
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Posted 5 years ago2018-11-28 22:04:28 UTC
in Post Your Desktops Post #341343
"Archie" said:
Striker said:
That... looks cozy-er than my place. This is a shitty picture to sell yourself as an office worker.
Not sure I understand
I'm the one for dim lights too... sort of. I use a desk lamp oriented towards the wall most of the time at my place. I hate ceiling neon lights. I work in an open-office with lots of ceiling neon lights. It's a pain I can't complain about, it's probably seen as a trifle.
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Posted 5 years ago2018-10-13 10:12:26 UTC
in Post Your Photos Post #341030
@Urby: In those first few photos the landscapes look surprisingly familiar to what I'm used to around here. I think I could get used to living there quite painlessly.

Shot I took this summer in Buen Retiro park (Madrid):
Alfonso XII monumentAlfonso XII monument
Inspirational architecture.
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Posted 5 years ago2018-08-23 17:54:02 UTC
in (Release) Half-Life: Echoes Post #340644
This provided a nice couple of action packed evenings. I don't play a lot of HL these days but a friend of mine pointed me to this and then I saw this thread. I found myself staring at all that eye-candy (for HL standards, at least). Really loved some areas, like the metro station, that glass-tunnel area where some jets keep passing by etc. It made me realize, more than the original HL, just how massive is the Black Mesa complex.
The difficulty was well balanced I think, I did have some frustrating moments but eventually got through them. The attention to detail actually became annoying at some point, in the positive sense (made me shout "what the heck, did this guy really just spend all that time for this?). I think the amount of time that went into this is obscene by my standards, but with sacrifices comes good quality things.

What can I say. It's 2018 and I'm more impressed by a mod for a 20 year-old game than AAA titles - probably because I realize just how much effort went into this.
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Posted 5 years ago2018-08-23 17:39:31 UTC
in Post Your Desktops Post #340643
Archie said:Finally got my own office at work, so I've made some homely touches!
That... looks cozy-er than my place. This is a shitty picture to sell yourself as an office worker.
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Posted 5 years ago2018-08-14 16:24:53 UTC
in Competition 35: Vanilla Half-Life Post #340540
Oh my God.
Translation: Shit, once again I shall have to postpone progress of The Core.
  • might not be right, but the thought of that made me chuckle.
As for myself, I don't think I'll have time to participate :(. I'll play the entries though if I remember about this.
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Posted 5 years ago2018-07-01 20:19:02 UTC
in TWHL4 Discussion / Bug Reports Post #340039
Hello, I have a journal notification but there's no link to the content, and I'm not sure what this means.
User posted image
I checked my last journal entry and there's no new entry there.
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Posted 5 years ago2018-06-11 17:17:02 UTC
in E3 2018 Post #339890
Found this on reddit:
User posted image
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Posted 5 years ago2018-06-11 07:27:17 UTC
in E3 2018 Post #339887
I just saw the Cyberpunk 2077 trailer, it was uploaded last night. Although I'm more into natural landscapes and stuff, this game looks very pretty and brings me a strong vibe of Ghost in the Shell.
The car looks very cool User posted image, but if I'd be a hater I'd say:
  • >2077
  • >internal combustion engine
[EDIT] I think I accidentally the spoiler tag.
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Posted 5 years ago2018-06-10 07:23:37 UTC
in E3 2018 Post #339859
Cyberpunk 2077 could be relevant to my interests, despite the only CDPR game I've played being The Witcher 3 which I thought was seriously over-hyped.
First time I hear about this thing. Went to youtube only to discover that there's just a teaser, 5 years old. Now I have to read about Cyberpunk 2020. Has anyone from here played the boardgame this videogame is based on? (Cyberpunk 2020).
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Posted 5 years ago2018-05-12 16:59:39 UTC
in SharpLife - Dot Net Core based modding p Post #339561
Like... I'm struggling to learn and and apply a programming language (currently mainly using Java) to make a living, and many times I feel like an impostor.

But after seeing this...
User posted image
*goes out for a walk Escobar style
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Posted 5 years ago2018-05-12 16:45:07 UTC
in Illegal brushes? Post #339560
I can't believe that site is still up and running. Holy crap.
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Posted 6 years ago2018-03-06 17:49:18 UTC
in Now Gaming: ... Post #338957
I actually have pictures of me playing Duke Nukem on my Pentium 2 computer when I was about 8 or 9. I'm curious to try this one too :D.
I AM FULLY ERECT!!
Erect yourself somewhere else man, there are kids in here!
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Posted 6 years ago2018-01-19 10:00:44 UTC
in NPC voice acting in 2018 Post #338672
Hello guys! I'm currently at work but somehow I remembered I have an incomplete source project I'd like to work on this year, yet I know there's no chance I'll feel good about it without some character animation and voice acting for the NPCs. I haven't touched mapping in a lot of months, and I"m not eager to learn a new game engine, I'd sort of like to continue what I've started in Source.

Last thing I knew about NPC voice acting in Source is that it's kind of impossible. The phoeneme editor(or what's it called) didn't sync well with the spoken words. Is that working now? I know HL1 is much easier since the NPCs just sync their mouths to the sound, but I don't want to go to HL1 again...
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Posted 6 years ago2017-12-19 20:28:25 UTC
in What the Health? Post #338433
I'm highly skeptical about a documentary that has "vegan" in its title. I would like to try a vegan diet at some point just for the sake of the experiment, because I like doing experiments. But skipping through the video at some point a person says that the casein protein in the milk is responsible for autism and other childhood illnesses. What a load of bullshit. When I was a kid I was drinking milk every day, and some days I'd have sheep milk and I ate a lot of cheese made from sheep milk. I don't remember having any problems from it, albeit I recognize that I'm statistically insignificant in this case.

Recently watched some speech by Neil Tyson where he used as an example a spelling competition where one kid says "Cat"(right), another says Kat(wrong), and another XGB or what(wrong). The thing is that Kat and XGB are both equally judged wrong, even if Kat is, well, less wrong. Such is with the way of most of our thinking, since we're human beings and it just gets over our heads to integrate a lot of information. My point is that one needs to inform oneself from lots of sources, without completely accepting the information as the ultimate truth and have a holistic approach on things like how to live healthy. What if I say go on and have an eskimo diet because they have low probability of having heart problems due to their omega 3&6 intake - and this by eating mostly only meat and animal fat. But there's a catch: their genetic code is different and have adapted their bodies to this diet.

In my opinion, our western lifestyle problem lies in the high doses of highly refined carbohydrates(and the worst - added sugar) combined with a sedentary lifestyle. If we're able to solve just this problem, I think we can eradicate a lot of illnesses.

Veganism is a non-satisfactory alternative for now. We don't understand enough of how our bodies work to say that veganism is the answer. I'm actually interested if we have any data about veganism over sufficient long periods at all to draw some conclusions - as is with the eskimo diet, mediteranean diet etc.
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Posted 6 years ago2017-12-02 15:55:08 UTC
in Post Your Desktops Post #338278
That wallpaper is mouthwatering for some reason TJB! Do you have a collection of these, from some sort of place? My go-to place right now is alpha wallhaven but I rarely stumble upon pieces of art like yours.
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Posted 6 years ago2017-11-24 23:32:45 UTC
in Post Your Desktops Post #338203
Man you're in London too! I've got to schedule a visit there at some point to have a beer with you and Skals :D.

The situation is similar with me too. I've been using a laptop for the past 4 years where I stay now, having a dual-monitor PC at work. My computer is at home, though it's getting very old at this point (the last game I played on it was The Talos Principle and was at the limit of playability with 20-30 FPS).

I've contemplated getting a new PC, but I usually like investing in a top-of-the-line or at least medium-high spec so it retains its value for years to come (like my laptop, which only at this point I'm starting to think it might need replacement). Lately I've studied the possibility of using the computer as a way of passive income, using it for mining. Unfortunately the profit isn't significant when using one card. Buying a Vega64 or GTX1080 for example would pay itself in Ethereum in about a year, at this point at least (but value and difficulty of mining vary so it might be longer or shorter).

If I ever get serious with machine learning, then I might consider such a configuration. It's a bit of a budget killer, an i7/Ryzen7 + GTX1080/Vega64 + 16GBRAM + 500GB SSD + 1TB HDD + the rest of the stuff needed and a dual monitor setup breaks my arse at about ~2500$. I simply can't justify buying such a monster at this point - mainly because - holy shit that's a lot of money - and if I ever get a desktop, my "desktop-replacement" laptop would make no sense and I'd need a 13-15 incher for just getting around, good enough to code and stuff.

Woops, wall of text.
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Posted 6 years ago2017-08-25 07:25:26 UTC
in HL2: Episode 3 Post #337015
You just ninja'd me. I was rushing to TWHL to post the same links before I even started reading.

[EDIT] Read it. Although I can't explain, I kind of understand why Valve didn't pursue the release anymore. The whole thing feels... depressing. It barely leaves a note of hope.
Adding to that, non-linear time events described in the story would make players confused, and game designers even more confused as to how to transpose this into gameplay.

The story also screams a lot the Philadelphia Experiment. Not a bad thing, but I guess they focused too much on that Borealis ship and in the end it probably didn't offer a good enough climax for the series.

But I bet this story will be picked up by the community, and what Valve didn't want to do, the community will.
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Posted 6 years ago2017-05-23 19:52:04 UTC
in HLDM Server! Post #335020
He was ass-testing the floor?

[EDIT] I'm never able to find someone on the server :(.
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Posted 6 years ago2017-05-23 06:01:12 UTC
in Now Gaming: ... Post #335014
Get your hands off
User posted image
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure