The biggest literary influence on my approach to game design, however, was one of the writers I worshipped as a teenager: Alice Sheldon, aka James Tiptree, Jr. Tiptree had one particular recommendation for starting a story: “Start from the end and preferably 5,000 feet underground on a dark day and then don’t tell them.” This is precisely how we begin Half-Life. It was a deliberate antidote to the many game openings that involved pages and pages of backstory presented in scrolling text. - An interview with Marc Laidlaw, writer for the Half Life series.
posted by Artw on Oct 13, 2010 - 65 comments

Apparently, a lot of the custom maps for the Half-Life 1 mod Action Half-Life (download links here), especially those done by enigmatic mapper Hondo, had enormous hidden areas that in some cases dwarfed the actual level. Rock Paper Shotgun has a NGJ-style account of an effort by a group of people to unlock the secrets of one of Hondo's most infamous maps: AHL_5AM.
posted by Pope Guilty on Mar 31, 2010 - 48 comments

Robert Yang on the homophobic response to his Half-Life 2 mod Handle With Care.
posted by Artw on Oct 6, 2009 - 145 comments

Escape from City 17 - Live action short film (episode 1) Here's episode 1 of "Escape from City 17", a live action series set in the Half Life universe. Phenomenally well done, and completely worth the dreaded SLYT.
posted by datter on Feb 13, 2009 - 48 comments

Ten years ago Valve released Half Life, to the delight of gamers, modders, critics and people who hate cut scenes. Marc Laidlaw, writer for Valve, talks about the genesis of scientist turned crowbar wielding survivor, Gordon Freeman. Somehow avoided playing it in all these years? You can buy it on Steam for less than a dollar until midnight November 21st.
posted by Artw on Nov 20, 2008 - 86 comments

Team Fortress 2 Griefing and More Team Forturess 2 Griefing.
posted by empath on Dec 22, 2007 - 58 comments

Speed Demo Archives is the Guinness Book of Records for Quake speed runs, but they also have speed demos for other games, including a 2:57:35 Half-Life 2 run (torrent to video here). [Via FileRush]
posted by turbodog on Dec 8, 2004 - 7 comments

Half Life 2 may be postponed , but there's something here to keep you going - Natural Selection. The site is currently sporting a spartan look because they just released a new version of this essential Half Life mod, which combines games such as Command and Conquer with that of action shooters. Visit The Ready Room for more info.
posted by Orange Goblin on Jul 31, 2003 - 17 comments