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Far Cry 3 And The Stranger In A Strange Land “Is Black Mesa the ultimate Half Life mod?” That’s the question Atomic MPC asked after going hands-on with a near-final build of the eagerly anticipated Half Life Black Mesa mod. I’m so jealous.
Valve has released a new, still-in-beta version of the wildly popular online shooter Counter-Strike: Source, adding in new achievements, “domination and revenge” systems and other improvements that don’t muck with the game’s core experience.
Welcome to my third annual post on new media for the Half-Life fan-created remake Black Mesa (formerly known as Black Mesa: Source). It doesn’t appear to be any closer to release than it was when I wrote about it in 2006 and 2007, but the new screen shots, released on the original game’s ten year anniversary, are worth a peek.
Although you might expect music based games like Guitar Hero to appeal to visually impaired gamers, they do tend to rely on on-screen cues which makes following a tune difficult/impossible.
To celebrate the launch of MODs on Steam, Valve is giving away five “leading Source MODs” to anyone who owns a Source-based game. The publisher is also offering Half-Life 2: Episode One on steam for $5.
The free MOD pack comes with Age of Chivalry, D.I.P.R.I.P., Insurgency, Synergy, and Zombie Panic.
“Valve has been supporting the MOD community since the company’s inception, offering updates to the SDK, holding MOD Expos and being the first to bring a MOD to retail with Counter-Strike in November 2000,” said Doug Lombardi, vice president of marketing at Valve. “The debut of these MODs on Steam marks the beginning of a new level of support for the MOD community by putting the leading MODs at the finger tips of over 15 million targeted gamers.”
Once the MOD pack, available now, is installed it will appear in the Steam “My Games” list and the MODs will receive automatic updates just like other games on Steam. Also, the MODs support Steamworks, providing stat tracking and tighter integration with the Steam community.
The G-Man from Half-Life series has long been one of the spookiest figures in gaming for me. His mysterious motives and menacing disposition were the cause of many a nightmare while I was playing through the first game. Welcome to my new nightmare. Byron Mallett was screwing around with implementing some motion capture data in Source when something went horribly, horribly wrong. I’m not sure if this alleviates my fear of the G-Man or raises it to an all new level. Either way, thanks for sharing Byron!
In this week’s Steam update, Valve has revealed they have updated the Source SDK for games included in The Orange Box. This means modders will now be able to easily create new maps and content for their favourite games including Half-Life 2, Portal and Team Fortress 2. You can access the SDK through the “Tools” tab in your friendly neighbourhood Steam client. If they like your mod enough, you may even find it featured on the Steam site. Good luck and happy modding!
Aside from keeping tabs on the industry by refreshing Kotaku at least 150 times a day (or recommendation), there are other ways to prepare for the wide world of game design and break into a career promising endless hours for lesser pay. And Bethesda’s Matt Grandstaff is here to tell you how! Get your hands on the Source SDK, The Elder Scrolls Construction Set, the Neverwinter Nights toolset (either game, 1 or 2 or both!). Make lots of mods. When the time is right and you have a chance to interview for a design job, show them all your kick arse mods.
Of course, the same would apply for modding the software of pretty much any company you’d like to work for. But when you make it and publish your first title, we ask that you send us one of your two complimentary copies out of gratitude.
Breaking into Games: I want to be a Designer! [via gamingtoday]
