Wow. I have never been terrified of GLaDOS, but that human-looking version of her is quite creepy. I think it's the eyes.
Wheatley, on the other hand, is basically what I'd expect if he were a human.
You Monster [YouTube via not-quite-normal]
Black Mesa: Source, the long-in-development mod/remake of the original Half-Life, is now available to play. For free.
I'm really liking it. Much more than I was expecting to, in fact. It plays like a loving, alt-universe version of Half-Life, which is the best possible approach they could've taken. Rather than attempting to pull off a note-for-note remake, Carlos Montero and his crew of volunteers have made something that works much better: A true tribute, crafted with love.
The opening tram-ride is good stuff, but it's what came immediately after it that clued me in to what Black Mesa was all about. Some cheeky banter (I particularly liked the second security guard's dig at Gordon's hair) immediately demonstrates that this isn't your father's (or well, older brother's) Black Mesa.
The conversation above, overheard between three Black Mesa scientists (including a woman!) sealed it for me. It is, of course, a meta-conversation about Black Mesa: Source itself. Lovely.
If you want to watch the whole opening sequence, I recorded myself walking through for the first time:
What are you waiting for? Go download it!
In Pac-Man if you were trapped by two ghosts, all you could do was jiggle the joystick and hope the pattern backed one off at the last minute. In PacMan Portal, you can just fire at the wall, slip through, and get back to chompin'.
Created by Russian programmer Dj_smart, the game was updated about a month ago and is available for free at this link. It works only on Windows machines (sorry, Mac gamers), but testimonials say PacMan Portal pulls off the concept very well. Keyboard arrows move Pac, the mouse aims his portal gun, and the two mouse buttons select whether he fires red or blue.
Freeware Game Pick: PacMan Portal (Dj_smart) [IndieGames]
The mega-ambitious, long-in-development Half-Life remake/tribute Black Mesa is finished, and you can download it from Gamefront right now and give it a whirl.
You'll have to follow the instructions on the Gamefront page, as Black Mesa requires that you install the 2007 Source software development kit.
In the video above, you can see a comparison between the original Half-Life and the remake. Lookin' pretty good, Black Mesa. Let's see how you play.
Black Mesa is Live, Download it Here! [Gamefront]
Valve artist Realm Lovejoy tweeted this video earlier in the week, saying "Look at what I helped unbox today at work". Which is a lot calmer than how I would've said it.
"Oh my GOD look at this just LOOK AT THIS" is all I'd be able to manage, before ducking behind a couch for cover. Just in case.
Realm Lovejoy [Twitter, via Venus Patrol]
That is no lie. Sculptor Duncan Shirah uses wood and metal to create his stunning—and sometimes geeky—works of art.
"I think everyone has had that 'wouldn't it be cool if this existed' feeling," the 24 year-old Shirah recently told Kotaku. "I love being able to turn those ideas into actual objects."
While studying sculpting in 2008, Shirah began making his wood and metal works. Now working in art foundry, he creates at his home woodworking shop—or heads over to a mill or a furnace to cast his own bronze and iron parts.
Each piece takes between two to three weeks. However, Shirah says he spends months and months before that obsessively thinking about what he wants to make and how he wants to pull off his latest creation.
"Building something functional from scratch isn't a very straight forward process," says the artist, who adds that it's difficult to predict how the creative process will unfold. "There's lots of trying and failing." And by the looks of his art, lots of succeeding, too.
Check out more of Shirah's work on his official site.
Click each image's lower corner to expand to full size.
Believe it or not - and I'd forgive you for not believing it, given the mod's torturous history - but this is reportedly a shot of notorious Half-Life remake Black Mesa. Like, its gold master disc. Meaning the thing is actually done.
Well, mostly done; as we told you last week, the mod won't contain the entire original game. But what's being included is on that disc, meaning a public release isn't far away.
The project has been selected as one of the first ten games to be made available via Steam's Greenlight system.
[Facebook]
Open Source Filmmaker, a community bringing together some of Steam's best movie creators, recently held a themed event called "Turret Week". Members had to create short, original films about Portal's turrets.
While most Source Filmmaker clips are still rough, unoriginal affairs using Team Fortress 2 models, these are wonderful, capitalising on the short timeframe and source material to produce some great results.
You can watch all 22 in the playlist below, which you really should, as many contain running gags.
Turret Week [SFM]
What the hell did I just watch, you ask? Why, the most adorable squees of delight you've ever heard, I respond!
Look at that twinkle in the engineer's eyes. He's like a proud, excited parent, ready to embrace the possibilities of a new future and...
Oh. Oh, my.
The Calcium (Source Filmmaker) [YouTube via Reddit]