It seems that VERC is down, and it is unknown whether this is permanent or not. Either way, we all know that all the tutorials images on the site went missing anyway, which was a damn shame because a lot of the tutorials on the site were extremely good.
I propose TWHL gets all the content (tutorials mostly - anything else?) that is (was?) on VERC and mirror it here, rewriting tutorials if they need it, as well as redoing any images that have disappeared.
This could be achieved through the Wayback Machine. If I get enough interest, I will start coding an interface for people to add content.
Anyone else think this is a good idea? I, for one, don't want the editing community to lose this information. Discuss with any thoughts or suggestions on the matter.
VERC Proposal
Created 16 years ago2008-06-09 01:04:16 UTC by
Penguinboy
Created 16 years ago2008-06-09 01:04:16 UTC by
Penguinboy
Posted 16 years ago2008-06-09 01:04:28 UTC
Post #251047
Posted 16 years ago2008-06-09 02:25:21 UTC
Post #251048
Hell yes.
VERC had some of the best coding tuts for HL, as well as tons of other neat stuff. Copypasta away. :>
VERC had some of the best coding tuts for HL, as well as tons of other neat stuff. Copypasta away. :>
Posted 16 years ago2008-06-09 03:12:12 UTC
Post #251049
I think this is a brilliant idea. I will gladly assist in remarking-up some of the tutorials, as I'm sure will the other mods.
Posted 16 years ago2008-06-09 03:32:54 UTC
Post #251050
Definitely do it. I personally need this content available ATM.
Posted 16 years ago2008-06-09 04:05:26 UTC
Post #251051
as I'm sure will the other mods.Grab us by the feet and pull us under, why don't you.
Posted 16 years ago2008-06-09 04:09:54 UTC
Post #251052
Good idea. VERC is/was a great source for HL information.
Posted 16 years ago2008-06-09 04:30:29 UTC
Post #251054
ME too please,
- raises and waves hand *
Posted 16 years ago2008-06-09 04:46:52 UTC
Post #251055
Hell yeah. This would be awesome. I could lend a hand too.
Posted 16 years ago2008-06-09 04:57:34 UTC
Post #251056
Might wanna get in contact with whoever owned the site to see if it's alright, because in a way this is stealing content outright... even if it's an absolutely victimless crime. Although it's about as likely as the world ending tomorrow, you could face legal troubles if anyone cared enough to pursue that.
Surprisingly enough, the forums are still up and active right here. There's a topic in there about its recent downtime, might want to check up on that. It appears the Spirit of Half-Life site is down as a result of this as well, so it's possible this really is just a temporary thing.
Surprisingly enough, the forums are still up and active right here. There's a topic in there about its recent downtime, might want to check up on that. It appears the Spirit of Half-Life site is down as a result of this as well, so it's possible this really is just a temporary thing.
Posted 16 years ago2008-06-09 05:02:30 UTC
Post #251057
Mmm. Well, we would obviously credit the source. VERC has been dead for well over a year now, so they may not mind if we combine the two sites together.
Posted 16 years ago2008-06-09 05:03:36 UTC
Post #251058
But it's hard to find the tutorial pages with the wayback machine :/ .... anyway , this is a great idea , on verc were a lot of misc tutorials , very useful tutorials .
Posted 16 years ago2008-06-09 05:12:47 UTC
Post #251059
Well, it's been "dead" so to speak, but someone is (or was) still paying for the hosting, and that someone might not be so enthusiastic about us copying all their content. After all, VERC would serve absolutely no purpose anymore if the only useful info it still had wound up on another site after being rewritten and improved upon. Page hits would probably hit rock bottom.
Posted 16 years ago2008-06-09 05:14:27 UTC
Post #251060
I doubt the VERC is actively seeking out page hits anymore. As I recall, they even posted links to the Valve Developer Wiki after saying the VERC wouldn't be active anymore.
Posted 16 years ago2008-06-09 05:20:17 UTC
Post #251061
Hmm, well as I said, all the images are missing on the VERC site, which kinda ruins the tutorials. As for who owned the site...isn't it Chris Bokitch, from Valve? He went by the name 'autolycus'. I seem to recall that he coded it from scratch.
The authors of the tutorials themselves are probably harder to contact. I don't think most of them have been active in the community any time recently. Of course any tutorials hosted here would give full credit to the original author from VERC.
The authors of the tutorials themselves are probably harder to contact. I don't think most of them have been active in the community any time recently. Of course any tutorials hosted here would give full credit to the original author from VERC.
Posted 16 years ago2008-06-09 06:26:54 UTC
Post #251062
So how are we going to distribute tutorials among ourselves? Who's going to be in charge here?
Posted 16 years ago2008-06-09 06:55:07 UTC
Post #251063
Members of TWHL won't "get" the tutorials. They'd be credited to the original author.
Posted 16 years ago2008-06-09 06:55:37 UTC
Post #251064
moderators maybe.
Posted 16 years ago2008-06-09 08:06:02 UTC
Post #251065
I didn't mean that we "get" them. I was asking how are we going to select which tutorials we are going to resurrect, so that there wouldn't be 2 different people working on the same tut.
So i came to conclusion that someone should coordinate all this.
So i came to conclusion that someone should coordinate all this.
Posted 16 years ago2008-06-09 08:19:31 UTC
Post #251066
Erm, that's our job?
Posted 16 years ago2008-06-09 08:22:42 UTC
Post #251067
So when do we take off, boss?
Posted 16 years ago2008-06-09 08:28:36 UTC
Post #251068
after the compo results are posted. if you want to start early just do it in a text file with regular bbcode, as seen in the "how to write a tutorial" tutorial.
Posted 16 years ago2008-06-09 08:42:46 UTC
Post #251069
I believe we should contact them first.
Posted 16 years ago2008-06-09 09:29:18 UTC
Post #251070
I believe VERC (Valve ERC) was owned by Chris 'Autolycus' Bokitch, who now works for Valve. Someone should try to contact him.
And maybe the tutorial images on the site are still there, but the urls to those images got borked during the creation of the Valve Developer Wiki which led in shutdown of VERC.
And maybe the tutorial images on the site are still there, but the urls to those images got borked during the creation of the Valve Developer Wiki which led in shutdown of VERC.
Posted 16 years ago2008-06-09 16:36:21 UTC
Post #251078
Contacting Bokitch would be a great idea if only there was a working email of his available. He doesn't seem to be in Valve's employee list anymore, probably meaning he quit the company.
I suppose contacting his ex-colleagues from Valve asking if anyone knew his current email would be a good(hard) start?
I suppose contacting his ex-colleagues from Valve asking if anyone knew his current email would be a good(hard) start?
Posted 16 years ago2008-06-09 20:08:04 UTC
Post #251086
I don't think he was ever on that list...not according to the wayback machine.
According to his profile on the VDC (which was last updated in 2006), he works at Valve.
He is also in the credits list for EP2 and Portal.
(episode two content.gcf:ep2\scripts\credits.txt)
On his VDC talk page, someone suggested that the VERC tutorials be converted to the VDC, and Chris said that would be a good idea. So no concerns about page hits on VERC or the content staying in one place. But the VERC tutorials were never moved, and that was almost 3 years ago, so I think it's safe to assume that they won't be transferred to the VDC.
According to his profile on the VDC (which was last updated in 2006), he works at Valve.
He is also in the credits list for EP2 and Portal.
(episode two content.gcf:ep2\scripts\credits.txt)
On his VDC talk page, someone suggested that the VERC tutorials be converted to the VDC, and Chris said that would be a good idea. So no concerns about page hits on VERC or the content staying in one place. But the VERC tutorials were never moved, and that was almost 3 years ago, so I think it's safe to assume that they won't be transferred to the VDC.
Posted 16 years ago2008-06-10 04:23:00 UTC
Post #251089
I'm not about to send emails to addresses that may or may not exist. 
Posted 16 years ago2008-06-10 06:26:36 UTC
Post #251091
Nah, leave it to us. Ant is trying your suggested email now 
Posted 16 years ago2008-06-10 06:37:32 UTC
Post #251092
I just sent an email, so don't bother.
Posted 16 years ago2008-06-10 08:40:33 UTC
Post #251093
I actually have every (I think) HL1 coding tutorial from VERC saved on a disk somewhere, lemme see if I can find it.
Posted 16 years ago2008-06-10 10:09:21 UTC
Post #251095
Caboose: go find them! 
Posted 16 years ago2008-06-10 16:27:29 UTC
Post #251102
Some people are efficient to the extent of it being scary.
Posted 16 years ago2008-06-10 20:22:11 UTC
Post #251110
If Caboose can't find them i also have those tutorials. Such a shame for it to die like this, it seems we are all taking it pretty hard !!
Posted 16 years ago2008-06-10 23:25:58 UTC
Post #251112
Haven't had a reply yet. I'll give it another day or so, then I'll email Gabe Newell.
Posted 16 years ago2008-06-11 01:27:32 UTC
Post #251115
May as well email Bill Gates and George Bush about it too, while you're at it.
Posted 16 years ago2008-06-11 02:27:09 UTC
Post #251117
And the guy writing your sass. He needs a career change.
Posted 16 years ago2008-06-11 03:32:35 UTC
Post #251119
What? No Zooms or Zings? 
Posted 16 years ago2008-06-11 05:56:07 UTC
Post #251122
Maybe they just don't reply to their emails. I assume they must get a lot of them.
Posted 16 years ago2008-06-11 06:59:52 UTC
Post #251123
I emailed a person who shut down it's site ( can't talk about it here) and I got a reply after 2 weeks .
Posted 16 years ago2008-06-11 16:19:31 UTC
Post #251144
Posted 16 years ago2008-06-12 03:48:39 UTC
Post #251159
Yes please, that'd be great.
Posted 16 years ago2008-06-12 04:33:51 UTC
Post #251160
.. am I the only one who doesn't have VERC content saved on a disc/arhived somewhere?
Posted 16 years ago2008-06-12 04:47:31 UTC
Post #251161
I have the whole Internet up until 1999 saved to a floppy disk somewhere around here. It's true.
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