TWHL's death? Created 15 years ago2009-04-29 20:37:11 UTC by Notewell

I think TWHL is dying... All of our admins (Ant, Atom, Seventh-monkey ect.) are gone, half of the regulars are no longer showing up, And those who do show up only show up once every few months. What happened to Rowleybob, Spag, Zeeba-G, Daubster, TheGrimReafer, and Rabidmonkey, just to name a few?
(yes, I know Rabidmonkey is working on Black Mesa, but he could stop by once in a while, he's a moderator.) We may have a lot of new members, but not many of them actually contribute, or even ask a question/post a map. TWHL is losing power I'm afraid... Discuss, And remember, the more members post, the more you've proven me wrong. Please please, OH PLEASE, PROVE ME WRONG!

I check in quite a lot, I just dont talk too much. I disagree with you though.. TWHL's not really dieing, its just not going in any particular direction.

Call me boring, but I just dont have that much to talk about ;o

I think my golden days of TWHL were back when we had douche'-tards for me to argue with, hehe.

On a 'redemptive' note: I think TWHL will kick off again if we start gearing the site towards source mapping a bit more. This means we need modeling and texturing tutorials (hint hint). If you propose em, ill probably tell you yes, hehe.

I disagree, but am too tired right now to point anything out.

Disagree with whom? Jeff or Grim?

With Jeff. You see how much I don't want to use my brain right now?

I don't really think it's dying. It's just not as active as it might have been. Now, there's another forum I'm in, now that is almost dead. You may not see any new posts in weeks. And it used to be a terribly active forum, with new posts coming in so fast you couldn't catch up. TWHL... isn't dead, it's just less active.

Not all communities need to be like facepunch to be "alive".

Furthermore, you've been here less than a year. How are you qualified to say if TWHL is "dying" or not? It's always been a small community, and as Grim said, the focus on Goldsource means that we're getting less and less interested people. IMO, TWHL will be alive as long as the webspace remains, and if it goes down, I'd try to find a way to get it running again.

All of our admins (Ant, Atom, Seventh-monkey ect.) are gone

All?

Rowleybob, Spag, Zeeba-G, Daubster, TheGrimReafer, and Rabidmonkey

In order: ragequit, is on IRC 24/7 and logs in sometimes, is still active, also still active and is on IRC a fair bit, same as Daub, and randomly joins IRC but should be considered inactive.

Furthermore, you've been here less than a year.

I've been here i think it was a year and a half?

Anyways, like penguin said, twhl ain't dying, it's almost always been like this, i check in the morning and there's a new couple of posts i can't be assed to read, then that's pretty much it, if i find some posts that I'd like to reply to, i will.

I haven't seen any more activity then usual since the describe the person above you topic, which eventually died out.

What Penguinboy said.

Rabid moved on from TWHL a long time ago, though we still see him in #twhl3 occasionally. Ant doesn't hang around TWHL anymore, but you'll still see him in #twhl3 a lot. And yeah, Grim and Daubster still kick around, and Penguinboy and I aren't leaving anytime soon.

#twhl3 is an extension of this site, more people should check up on it every once in a while. As ZombieLoffe pointed out recently, it's mostly just us aussies in there.

Otherwise there's still plenty of regulars, Source and Goldsource users, too. TWHL is active enough. Like any site though, older regulars will sometimes move on and new regulars will come in.

I've been here long enough to say that the mapping part of TWHL is dying, not so much the members' part.

The Rooms compilation is the best thing to have ever happened in a long while. I say lets get a nice new compo going, an easy one to promote mapping and fun rather than thinking and strenuous mapping hours and tweaking.

mmm... when mapping was simple, it was fun. Whatever happened to those days?

I dont think TWHL is dying.

I've been here for years. Admittedly, for a long period of time I disappeared and no-one gave a rats ass. But I had been here back when what "certain people" would call the "good ol' days" at TWHL. Really, it hasn't changed that much.
Newbie (and veteran) mappers still ask questions (and usually get answers), anybody and everybody throws a map into the vault every now and then. The only real difference from back then that I see (apart from the evolution into TWHL3) is that quite a few regulars from back then have left (or don't show up often, at least) , and new ones have stepped up to the plate. (EG: Elon Yariv, Unbreakable, Tosse and Madcow dont show up often/ever anymore)

Although its an undenyable fact that HL is starting to age. It could be making less people want to map for it, thus less people come to this site. Athough Source is still decently fresh, so TheGrimReafer has a bit of point in his last paragraph there. And don't hit me PB, I know the focus is on GS. A SMALL nudge in the direction of source could help if anyones worried though.

Agreed with Pengy/Strider.

As for me, I've barely done anything HL-related for ~a month. Final year of highschool, final exams, studying like hell, etc.
I'll be back by summer.

ha ha. Rowlybob. read his last journal to find out why he, (and others) leave...

but really, it is getting on in the years.... twhl 2, wernt they the good ol days?

ah welp, nuthen like a good winge though.

I've been here for over 5 years.

and I don't care. >.>

I still remember Daubster as the guy with the yoda avatar.
And NineTnine was a very helpful fellow.

I was wrong... I'm so glad to have had so many logical replies from so many members. I see now that not all of you log in unless you really have something to say, but you're here. Thanks for proving me wrong, I really apreciate it! (on this subject)
And the more source tutorials, the more source maps people will make, IMO.

Swine Virus has killed TWHL. Continue? Y/N

/Y

and dont get me started on the bloody swine flu you swine!

TWHL has a low activity because a lot of people ( like me) bought Ati Radeon Video Cards

Well I just don't have the time to map for
Source... I just can't make a map and have random
Fun with of like I can in gold source. And I agree we need another compo. Nao

(EG: Elon Yariv, Unbreakable, Tosse and Madcow dont show up often/ever anymore)

Oom oom
Still here, it's just that I never have anything to talk about more than mapping and entity stuff, and since I've kinda gotten tired of the old vanilla HL2/ep1/ep2 I'm waiting for l4d SDK.
When it pops out I'll probably start making examples again, because I enjoy that alot. I love exploring entities, and I've already explored all of the old ones. Mjeh

Yeah, did'nt Valve say it'd be released by now? Then again, this is VALVE we're talking about... Nice to see you again, at any rate, Madcow.

I've been trying to kill TWHL for the past 5 years, and if someone is finally noticing progress than I have a point in life.

Anyways, dumb thread.

Luke. An hero. Now.

Luke. An hero. Now.

World Crafter. An double poster. Now.

Oh god how did that happen I'm not good with computer.

I'll an hero you.

Approaching 5 years for me too.

jings.

How do you people keep changing your title.

Huntey is a lie. Don't believe it.

Thread basically over with Penguin's post. Rabid and rowley stopped coming here ages before you even joined, Jeff, and as far as I can tell the level of activity has remained pretty much the same over the past few years. Stop caring about TWHL so much and go map or something.

And we definitely do need moar people on IRC. To be honest the channel is a shell of its former #twhl self at this point, but it's still so much better than the forums when it is active.

Also Jeff, not to be a grammar nazi or anything, but after seeing you do this like 10 different times across the forums: it's didn't, not did'nt. FFS.

TWHL has a low activity because a lot of people ( like me) bought Ati Radeon Video Cards

I have a Radeon and I still do work for GLDSRC. Ha!

Anyway, we don't have as many noobs spamming the map vault anymore, but this site is far from dead. It's more so that this site is going through a transition to becoming more Source-oriented.

Yeah. Its not dying. People just go through phases with their browsing. Aside from the Map/Mod of the Month Reviews there is very little I can contribute to the site at the moment. I still can't map for GoldSource and I'm still shunning Source's prefabricated prop model bullshit.

I'm around. I just don't have a great deal of time to myself. I've got a holiday coming up (first in 5/6 months) which should hopefully get me back on track.

Yeah, I don't really map any more, I just come here for the community and to goof off. It's never been a really busy site, although before the TWHL3 revision it got pretty damn crowded at times. There were a lot more interesting members back then in my opinion. I also think there may be too many new members that came here at once. Used to be there were a few new members at a time, but to even it out there were a LOT of people that knew their shit about mapping... not so much any more. I don't see the same kind of awesome creativity any more either.

Another thing, I'm not sure if anyone's noticed how few and far between help threads are anymore. I remember I used to help everyone out because that's all there was to do here, and I'd diagnose problems in minutes. Now I can't be of much help anyway, but even if I wanted to there's not as much opportunity between "describe the person above you" and threads like this.

Oh, and #twhl3 is pathetic. Nothing ever happens there. The decision to abandon #twhl was one of the worst moves ever for this site as far as I'm concerned. It's dead every time I log on, and Nickelplate was like the only person who made #twhl interesting in the first place. Now he's on #failreactor, so I just go there like twice a month.

What if Goldsource will become opensource ?

although before the TWHL3 revision it got pretty damn crowded at times

Penguinboooyyyyyyy.........

Yeah, I don't really map any more, I just come here for the community and to goof off. It's never been a really busy site, although before the TWHL3 revision it got pretty damn crowded at times. There were a lot more interesting members back then in my opinion. I also think there may be too many new members that came here at once. Used to be there were a few new members at a time, but to even it out there were a LOT of people that knew their shit about mapping... not so much any more. I don't see the same kind of awesome creativity any more either.

Pretty much why we need much more Source support, and believe me it's coming. New members are less reluctant to pick up GoldSource when there's something newer and more opportunistic in it's place. Most people who still map for Half-Life are fans and modders from way back. Things age.

Oh, and #twhl3 is pathetic. Nothing ever happens there. The decision to abandon #twhl was one of the worst moves ever for this site as far as I'm concerned. It's dead every time I log on, and Nickelplate was like the only person who made #twhl interesting in the first place. Now he's on #failreactor, so I just go there like twice a month.

Hence, "more people should check up on it every once in a while"? And please don't mention Nickeplate, the guy's a dick.

And please don't mention Nickeplate, the guy's a dick.

I suppose that's why basically every single one of #twhl's old regulars moved into the other channel with the exception of you Penguinboy and Ant... you guys are the only ones who've ever had a problem with him. Anyway it's a tired argument, this happened what, a year and a half ago? People need to stop holding grudges over retarded shit.

He's just irrelevant. He has nothing to do with the decline of users. Shouldn't of even been brought up.

Calling #twhl3 pathetic because another channel has more activity is ridiculous. If more people tried to use it, it wouldn't just be us aussies frequenting it.

I try to check up on #twhl3 every once in a while but I'm always banned. That's a heck of a grudge, guys. Seriously, do you even remember what I allegedly did?

I'll tell you why #twhl3 is all Aussies: It's because you all banded together against everyone else. Pretty much, Strideh, Penguinboy and Ant along with their assman Trapt got pissed off at me so bad that they ragequit their own channel just to form a channel that I could not go in then got pissed at all the people who wanted to be in my channel, thus alienating them.

I liked the site AND the channel, but when they came under Aussie-posse authority, no one else had a chance because the mods were more like a clique than internet civil servants. I still lurk here, but the atmoshphere has changed somehow and while it may not be worse per se, I think it's just a change that people don't like.

People who love Goldsource generally don't like Source mapping. The props feel too much like "prefabs" from back in the day. People who are proud of advanced brushwork just don't like props, and cannot always do modeling.

Please let me back in #twhl3 I will be good.

Back 'n the day I would most certainly call myself a regular visiter of the TWHL IRC channel. Nowadays I don't bother anymore, not because the people in it aren't fun (Luv u Strideh) but more because all the people are Australians which are in a whole different timezone then myself. Hence, I'd have to join in at the morning to catch some chatter - which honestly, I can't be bothered at due obvious reasons of life. The only interesting dude in the channel at my times, is ZL.. who mostly just idles. So yeh, there isn't much reason for me to visit anymore.

....

Also, I would say this site is less active than before. Not so much in users, but more in activity itself. I told Strideh and Ant thousand times before, we need to focus on Source more - but they never come further than promises. And yes, I'm aware you guys have busy lives - but lots of people, including myself, have voluterend (spelling!?) to help anyways.

Most people who still map for Half-Life are fans and modders from way back. Things age.

Ho yeah ? I'm 16. I discovered mapping 3 years ago.

I'll tell you why #twhl3 is all Aussies: It's because you all banded together against everyone else. Pretty much, Strideh, Penguinboy and Ant along with their assman Trapt got pissed off at me so bad that they ragequit their own channel just to form a channel that I could not go in then got pissed at all the people who wanted to be in my channel, thus alienating them.

Then.....

Please let me back in #twhl3 I will be good.

Uhmm.....I think you might need to hire the services of a public relation firm, nickelplate. Anyway, let me know how that goes for you.

I try to check up on #twhl3 every once in a while but I'm always banned. That's a heck of a grudge, guys.

You weren't wanted and we've since just given up. We simply don't care enough to bother with you, move on. Srry had literally just reminded me of you in this thread.

I'll tell you why #twhl3 is all Aussies: It's because you all banded together against everyone else. Pretty much, Strideh, Penguinboy and Ant along with their assman Trapt got pissed off at me so bad that they ragequit their own channel just to form a channel that I could not go in then got pissed at all the people who wanted to be in my channel, thus alienating them.

Wrong. We'd had it with you and only you. We never went against anyone else. We wanted a new room for the new TWHL and it was a pretty fitting reason to be done with you, too. People were free at the time to go wherever they wanted.

I liked the site AND the channel, but when they came under Aussie-posse authority, no one else had a chance because the mods were more like a clique than internet civil servants.

Had no chance to do what? Join our new site? Our new channel? What did we come down on (besides you)? We've actually learned to be LESS LENIENT since the unveiling of TWHL3 because of an influx of abusive trolls from not actually enforcing our updated rules.

Maybe we are a clique. Pb, Ant and I shared an interest in trying to bring in a newer TWHL focused on a tighter, friendlier community. But no, according to you, god forbid community leaders try to roll in any kind of guidelines.

Please let me back in #twhl3 I will be good.

See my first reply.

Also, I would say this site is less active than before. Not so much in users, but more in activity itself. I told Strideh and Ant thousand times before, we need to focus on Source more - but they never come further than promises. And yes, I'm aware you guys have busy lives - but lots of people, including myself, have voluterend (spelling!?) to help anyways.

Yes, well we're trying again and hoping to do it better. For a first site I think Pb and Ant did pretty darn well, even if it was incomplete during it's release.

I'm basically only online to check and moderate TWHL, I don't do much in the way of looking for news beyond core Valve products, and it's hard to promote Source on a site so central to GoldSource. Maybe it's time we got more people to take care of that?

Here's an idea that may spice things us.

A mini compo where you make 1 map only using absolutely nothing except the default provided assets. Pure Vanilla. Objective: Make the most authentic looking/playing map as if Valve made it themselves.

Whenever anything is dying, look back unto the roots.

not many of them actually contribute, or even ask a question/post a map.

I do ask a question every now and then and I really appreciate all the help I get from you guys as this is the only site I know of where I can ask more advanced questions and expect to get an answer. But currently I'm modelling a Eurocopter Tiger and there's not much I could ask about that, it just takes a holy shit lot of a time... Although I'm almost done, I just need to texture and test it.
Otherwise I'm working on my first real map, which I hope will actually be playable (I've only made a couple of fy_ maps and while they're fun to play with bots, they're not exactly great maps). I just hope it won't be too big for the engine to handle.
It will take quite some time (I'm guessing I'll be done sometime in the Summer as I won't have a lot of time in May - a lot of schoolwork), but when I'm done, I'll be expecting comments and critics from you guys.

What I would appreciate a lot would be if someone was to make a 3rd part of the modelling tutorial, showing how to make and compile animations, how to texture more complex geometry (which I think is promised at the end of the pipe tutorial) etc.

In short, if this site dies, so do I. Kind of.

I think that many internet communities die or at least shrink over time. Certainly the ones that are based on an aging subject such as Half-Life mapping. From what I can tell, TWHL's main reason of existence has shifted from being a Half-Life level sharing place to, well, a chatter-box for the regulars. Of course, that's exaggerated, but there aren't that many really active mappers around anymore, right?

And then, to keep things alive, the site gets revamped, much like what happened at Snarkpit. But the core activity has shrunk already, and a facelift doesn't change that. People didn't come to this site because it looked so pretty, they came to share their maps. They still do, but it's less than a few years ago. You can encourage that (competitions?), but you can't enforce it.

In other words, it's been a great time, but life goes on. On to new things to explore.

I still map for HL, It's just that my current project is'nt done yet, or even ready for a trailer. My next project I'm planning is gonna be episodic, so I'll be releasing a lot more content.

Well you know me. I stopped mapping a while back and went on to modelling. I am however tempted to go back to it and "attempt" to finish my mod now that 2 years have passed since I last touched it.

TWHL is fine. I still go on everyday to check comments in shoutbox.

I like rimrook's idea