Source: Half-Life Radio

Big show planned for GameSHOUT Radio's Wacky Wednesday this week...this will be the last of the 4-hour show specials starting at 7:00PM EST (12:00AM GMT)!

November 10, 2004 - Join your favorite Game-Talk Radio staff as we take you deep into the whole world of gaming. GameSHOUT Radio will be broadcasting the last in our series of special 4-hour shows tonight starting at 7:00PM EST.

Start out with the Wacky News From Around the World, Tunes From The Crypt, and your Fact of the Day...we might even have a surprise visit from one of our favorite friends! Partial to PC games? Then hang on for the PC Playground where you will learn what's new in the world of the PC. Tonight's games include reviews of Myst 4, Call Of Duty: United Offensive, and Tribes Vengeance, as well as a preview of a highly anticipated game, Earth 2160. Want to have some fun with us? Then download and try the Demo of the Week, Axis and Allies..you can download it HERE.

Are console games more your speed? Then join SexyJosh with the Gamepad Gamers console game reviews. Tonight we will be discussing two very big games...Mortal Combat: Deception, and Tony Hawk Underground 2. We will also take a closer look at the new Nintendo Gameboy Duel-Screen...and lots more. In the last hour, learn more about the Half-Life 2 Source engine with FatalX and his special guests, and then join Josh and Team Sexy as they report about the Halo2 opening day madness!!! It's a BIG show gang...tune in and for all this and MORE! Tonight...LIVE...starting at 7:00PM EST! Be there or be square! Aloha!

Source: Shrill from Forsaken via mail
Related: Forsaken

Shrill from Forsaken sends in word about update number 2 of the 3 updates running up to the release of Half-Life 2. Update number 2 brings us great small movies of each completed weapon, weapon model rotation movies, which very nicely show you all the detail that has been put into each and everyone of the weapons. Here the full update also including a help request for a texture artist:

Update 2 of 3 - A smaller update than planned to make way for an even larger update on part #3; but we've still added animated 'fly-arounds' for each of the completed weapons, and a new, separate section for all our media.

We are also very pleased to announce the addition of a new talented member to our team. James Clarke aka SnipeyX is our new Lead Animator!

* We are currently looking to fill a texture artist position, if you've got the skills and are interested in joining the Forsaken Development Team; please apply here.

For more, and for the weapon movies, head on over to the Forsaken site.

Source: Half-Life Fallout

No the Gold Package Extras have not yet arrived here, but several people over in America did get their's already and now photos of the extras care coming online. You can check out all the Gold Extras here in this thread at Half-Life Fallout. Do be warned, besides links to the photos the thread also contains links to other threads with information taken from the Strategy Guide, this could contain great spoilers from some.

Source: HalfLife2.net

A article about Steam has been put online at News.com. The article, called "Computer gaming's Steam-powered war" and written by John Borland, brings us a interesting read about Steam, the legal battle between Valve and Vivendi and more. Here some words:

The network, which has been used to a lesser extent over the past few years to distribute updates and less-anticipated games, is getting its toughest market test with "Half-Life 2." By selling the games directly over the Net, the company is experimenting with a model that could substantially transform the video game business, which now rivals Hollywood in annual revenue.

The full and interesting article can be found here.

Source: PlanetHalfLife

ToniH has released a great looking Counter-Strike: Source map, which you can also download as a Vampire Slayer version. CS_RHS22 is a hostage rescue map and here are some screens:

You can download the map from here and for just more on ToniH's maps go visit his site.

Source: PlanetHalfLife

Interlopers.net has put online several great mapping tutorials for the Source Engine. Everything you need to know to make your own map is covered, from basic room building to more detailed things like glass etc. Check it all out here at Interlopers.net.

Source: ModDB
Related: Crisis 51

The Crisis 51 team reports that mapping has begun:

With the basic SDK out now for HL2 and a few HL mappers on the team we are now at the point of experimentation. Some basic maps are being put together with what we have at the moment.

We are still in need of many more textures to be created, we have some basic textures up and running and ready to be put into HL2 maps.

I myself am looking into map scripting and using the camera system for cut-scenes, which will be seen frequently in C51.

I apologize for the lack of updates recently, but I have a few projects ongoing myself and with the lack of things to do, not everyone is the happiest. But with HL2 less than a week away the smiles are on our team’s faces and were ready to face what is going to be a long, but exciting modding road.

We look forward to seeing you on our community forums, or our site at: http://crisis51.hl2db.com

Check the Crisis 51 site for more information.

Source: The Insurgency Dev. Team via mail
Related: Insurgency

I just got a great e-mail from the team of the mod Insurgency informing me that they have released 2 great looking ingame screenshots. Here the mail with one of the screens:

Insurgency has been working hard with the Source SDK and has been able to get their own Player, Weapon, and Map Models in game. The Level Designers are also hard at work adapting to the new Hammer 4.0 and the new engine features and capabilities.

We have produced a quick in-game scene to display that we have been able to get our content in game. It features the T-72 Tank model/skin by Tolchok, Palm Tree model/skin by Pericolos0, set in a small environment created by Argyll. This displays our ability to get our content in game and also acts as a stage for displaying those fairly new models.

You can view the screenshot here:



We have also added an exclusive screenshot to our modDB Profile Gallery ( http://mods.moddb.com/gallery/3622/ ) of the same scene from a different angle.

Expect more media in the coming weeks from Insurgency as HL2 is released along with the rest of the SDK.

Thanks,
- Insurgency Development Team

Head on over to the Insurgency site for more on this great mod.

Source: Doug Lombardi from Valve via mail

With the release of Half-Life 2 nearby and with a lot of sites posting different things about which Half-Life 2 book is really included with the Collector's Edition of the game, I mailed Doug Lombardi from Valve with some questions about the books, the Gold version merchandising and today I got a great reply back. Here my mail:

Hello,

I'm Geert "Dark Raven" Huberts and I run the Half-Life and Half-Life 2 fan site Frontline Message Board (http://www.f-m-b.org/) and also help out at HalfLife-2.nl, Half-Life Gaming.com and HL2Files.com. I'm mailing to you with a question about the available books about and for Half-Life 2 (The Prima Strategy Guide, Raising the Bar and the Mod Makers Guide). I know that the Strategy guide comes with the Steam Gold version of Half-Life 2, and I also know that the Collector's Edition comes with a book. My question is which book? Several sites have posted that it's a sample version of the Strategy Guide, others post it's the full version and again other sites have posted a small description which could indicate either the Guide or Raising the Bar. Is it possible to give a indication as to which book will be shipped with the Collector's Edition?

Having preordered both the Gold version and the Collector's Edition (Is it true that the CE will be available from 2 December in Europe?) I was wondering when the merchandising of the Gold version will be shipped. This is because I'm planning to put online a review of all the books that will be available and I would love to start with the Strategy Guide and then move on to the two other books, which are also already ordered. Thank you for your time.

Best regards,
Dark Raven.

Founder/Owner of F-M-B.org (http://www.f-m-b.org/)
Co-Admin at HL2Files.com (http://www.hl2files.com/)
Newsposter/Article writer at HalfLife-2.nl (http://www.halflife-2.nl/)
Newsposter at Half-Life Gaming.com (http://www.hlgaming.com/)

And here the reply from Doug Lombardi:

Hi,

The strategy guide and Raising the Bar are due to arrive in stores by early next week.

The Steam Gold offer includes the full strategy guide, and the merchandise included with that offer is shipping now to those who have placed their orders.

The retail Collector's Edition contains a 112-page sampler publication that contains a few of the chapters from the strategy guide and one chapter from Raising the Bar.

Cheers

The Gold merchandising has been shipped and we will be getting it very soon. The Collector's Edition will contain a sample book and we can all look forward to buying the other Half-Life 2 books next week. Also stay tuned for the book reviews coming here as soon as the books arrive. Many thanks to Doug Lombardi for the information.

Source: Steam

A platform update is available and will be applied automatically when Steam is restarted. The changes include:

• Added backup game files feature (right click on game)


• Added purchase support for American Express, Discover and JCB credit cards