Current events
4 New modding DVD movies are available
Valve have updated thier store with 4 new DVD movies about modding:
- ADVANCED CHARACTER ANIMATION WITH HALF-LIFE 2 DVD, $49.95
- CUSTOM PROPS & ANIMATION FOR SOURCE® POWERED GAMES, $49.95
- ADVANCED SOURCE® LEVEL DESIGN DVD, $49.95
- CHARACTER DESIGN & INTEGRATION WITH HALF-LIFE 2 and MAYA DVD, $39.95
Sign up now for the Deep 6 alpha
3 Apr, 2007: Deep 6 is a multiplayer-only 6DOF game built with the Source engine. Developers Leaping Lizard Software are currently looking for closed-alpha testers!
Taking a cue from the pulp comics of the 1940s and 50s, Deep 6 takes players into a world submerged under the sea, where the battle of World War II rages on. Players take command of a fighter-sub, caught up in the ongoing battle between the Axis and Allies for control of the lost city of Atlantis.
Focusing solely on multiplayer combat, Deep 6 contains four different gamemodes that will keep players coming back for more, including Deathmatch/Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, and two more never-before-seen gamemodes- "Rip Off" and "Blitzkrieg." Combat is fast-paced and frenetic... with full 360 degrees of movement, combat can come from any direction - at any time. A large arsenal of new, unique weapons makes sure combat is diverse and rewarding.
Sign up here. You'll need a Source SDK game to play, as the installation is currently in mod form.
Source and the Wiimote
31 Jan, 2007: The Half Life 2 Wiimote Mod has successfully integrated the Nintendo Wii's motion controller to the Source engine. There are plenty of demo videos to watch, with the nunchuck's use particularly interesting: flick it to precisely throw a grenade, rotate it to twist an object held by the gravity gun, and plenty more. The mod has full, 360 degree motion support, including Red Steel-style viewmodel movement and ironsights for extra accuracy!
Steam Winter Update
5 Jan, 2007: The Steam Winter Update is due for release next week. Valve send word of some highlights:
- New User Interface
- Steam's got a new coat of paint. We've stripped away all the non-essentials and created a new streamlined appearance, available in five different colors.
- Favorites
- Steam's catalog of games has grown quite a bit over the past year or so. The new Favorites feature in the My Games tab of Steam allows for quick access to your favorite Steam games and additional functionality for personalizing your Steam library of content.
- Background Client Updates
- Since the Steam client was first released, it has always kept itself up to date -- but now it'll do so without making you wait during startup. Instead, it will acquire new updates in the background and then (once they're downloaded) ask if you'd like to restart and apply them. Steam will also let you know what's new whenever a new update is ready to apply.
- Guest Passes
- Guest Passes allow owners of certain Steam games (purchased either via Steam or at retail) to let their friends play games for free, for a limited time trial. The first game to take advantage of this new feature will be Day of Defeat: Source.
Pirates, Vikings, and Knights II - Beta release
1 Jan, 2007: PVKII has hit the web, picking up the shards from it's HL1 predecessor, twisting and turning them to create leaner, meaner and prettier non-historically accurate action than ever before. Pitting nimble Pirates, powerful Knights and mighty Vikings against each other on the HL2 engine, PVKII features an innovative melee combat system, nearly 100% custom content and a complete lack of ninjas, designed to be all that its predecessor was, and more!
Poke646: Vendetta released
21 Dec: Five years on, the sequel to the acclaimed Poke646 single-player mod has been released - combining cryptic puzzles, fierce combat and stunning audio and visuals, all running on the ancient yet versatile engine from the original Half-Life game. If the original Poke646 could have been described as Half-Life's swan song, then Vendetta is a startlingly clear voice from beyond the grave - showing that good design and artistry can more than overcome any technological hurdles placed in their path!
Garry's Mod 10 Going on Sale Wed. Nov. 29
28 Nov: Garry has announced at his blog that Garry's Mod 10 will be released tommorow on Steam, Wednesday November 29. Community is in awe that he managed to pull a fast one like that. Valve has confirmed the cost at $9.99 in the store and it is assumed it will come out at 10AM PST like all major games are.
Multithreading the Source engine
2 Nov: Bit-Tech are hosting a preview of the Source engine's new multithreading technology. Valve's solution automatically scales to any number of cores and is backwards-compatible - but mods will need to recompile to take advantage of it, and of course restructure code to see the full benefit.
Multi-threading support is due out before the end of the year.
Source for Xbox 360 available now
16 Oct: Source is now officially available for licensing on the Xbox 360. Currently only Threewave Software and Valve themselves are known to be developing for Microsoft's new console with it.
Source360 is an 'official middleware solution', so it looks like MS thought it was pretty good too. :-)
Valve is pleased to announce the availability of the Source engine technology as an official middleware solution for developers on the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft.
Source, the technology that powered Valve's Half-Life 2, is already the benchmark game technology on Microsoft's Windows platform, offering state of the art performance in graphics, networking, artificial intelligence, physics simulation and more. The version of Source, available for Xbox 360, is optimized to utilize the platform's advance graphics hardware and offer full support for Xbox Live.
"The combination of Source and the Xbox 360 provides game designers throughout the industry the chance to create powerful entertainment experiences," said Gabe Newell, president and co-founder of Valve. "Whether they're pursuing a traditional FPS, RTS, RPG or delving into new genres, Source and the Xbox 360 are designed to offer the flexibility and tools to allow designers to pursue any design imaginable."
For more information about licensing Source or leveraging any of Valve's technologies, please email Jason Holtman.
The Ship SDK
03 Oct: A third-party version of The Ship SDK has been built and released for those inclined to make maps for The Ship.
Game Connect 2006
28 Sep: A few mod teams with an Aussie presence will be attending Game Connect conference on the 28th Nov - 1st Dec at the Brisbane Convention centre. Check out ModDB, ModHQ, and the mods own profiles for more info in coming weeks.
Bugzilla
06 Sep: Mike Durand has opened a Bugzilla, a bug-tracking tool, where everyone can report bugs related to the SDK.