The forums will follow as I create a variation of the current space theme.

Hmm… It’s been a while since the last news hasn’t it.

First, after some work on the GMod server due to corrupted files, we have it back on-line and we have a more recent list of useful add-ons. http://www.bwldevelopment.com/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?f=80&t=1131

Second, I forgot to mention it here, but our “Realm of the Nine Fires” Minecraft server is in a pre-tooling stage at this time. Basically, we’re building ruins and hiding goodies for those interested in exploring once the server is ready to begin. Ultimately, this will be a combination RP, Exploration, and Creativity server. It should prove interesting but for now is still in the pre-game state. Only forum members with a “Server Pass” group membership can play on that server.

The same can be said of our vent server.

Third, our next plan is scheduled for some time after the 15th [pay day]. We will be setting up a 10 slot Synergy server. More details on that soon.

Finally, we are in the process of organizing our plans for various video projects including Let’s Play United in which a group of us will play through Coop games in an LP fashion. First up, Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2. Syrus and I are filling two slots, but we will be needing help filling the other two players. For details visit the forums.

We are also in the early stages of setting up for the Living With GMod and Team Play machinima shows. We will be needing voice talent, extras, and actors. For details on these and other projects, simply visit the forums and ask questions.

http://www.bwldevelopment.com/phpbb3/

To give you an idea though, Living With GMod will feature skits and segments twisted into a linking story-line. And Team Play will be more of an action show with characters such as The Smartest Vortigaunt who [thanks to add-ons] will dawn a hazard suit, Syrus Rayne who will begin as a slender weapons expert, Devil1 and his G-Team, and my own The Wildcat who will attempt to organize the battle against his pan-dimensional foe “The Master” in a plot to conquer the Multi-verse by ensuring the success of the Combine in one last world in which the HL2 plot has started to unfold.

It’s going to be an interesting undertaking and talented 3D artists and quality voice actors are certainly open positions.

The first episode of BWL’s Video update is finished.  It did, however, end up longer then I had anticipated originally and was thus divided into two parts.

In this episode we take a look at some project news including Cat-Life and our comics.  We also visit the steam chat room briefly with our “From the Chat Room” segments.  And our main topic of the day is machinima… what we see in other people’s works and what we hope to do with our three planned shows.

I suggest using the “Full Screen” option for watching this video.  You’ll get more out of it I think.

Part 1

Part 2

In the end, this episode was delayed for a few extra weeks due to schedule issues mainly.  And, given the subject matter’s resolutions, there is a fluctuation in the size of the letter boxing on most of the machinima topic.  Also, there are a few errors that I left in simply because it would have been more trouble then necessary to repair.

This episode ran longer then my intended 15 minute time limit with the “From the Chat Room” features cut down to a few short minutes each.  We had already realized that From the Chat Room could be a full audio program of its own and planned to release the full discussion separately.  So be sure to check out our full “From the Chat Room” mp3 as hosted by ModDB.

The mp3 has been edited to cut out our long dead air pauses and many “uhms” and “ughs” plus a few other less important or classified bits of the discussion.  The full session is around 35 minutes in length.

From The Chat Room: Episode 1 audio – BWL Development – Mod DB

In future episodes, I plan to focus more on the “From the Chat Room” segment and use that more for our main topic and news sections as it really turned into more interesting discussion.

Thanks again to Syrus Rayne, Radu Iceman, and BiGToM for helping with that.  As for why we chose to use steam instead of our Ventrilo server… well… the idea behind “From The Chat Room” is that members of our steam group can join in on the discussion at any time.  It’s not meant to be a “podcast” as much as it is a chat room segment for the show.

Of course, that does mean there are some buggy moments with the audio in the full mp3 and a somewhat lower quality to the sound as compared to something like skype or a shout-cast service of some sort.

We have had this site online since 2001 and seen marginal activity at best.  I’m tired of this lack of interest.  If we can’t be recognized as a classy, quality content site… then fine.  I’d rather churn out the “popular” content then continue to put so much effort into projects.

My plan is basically to start putting just a little less effort into projects and get then out sooner.  Expect a considerable increase in activity over the next few weeks.

Hopefully, this will attract a little more interest.

And yes, This includes our mod projects.  As far as I am concerned the original CL is now finished.  We’re going to focus on CLS now and get that done quickly so we can start work on CL2 and the other mods I have planed.

Videos will also be ramped up a bit more quickly.  Expect one within the next few days… by the end of the day tomorrow if I can edit it that quickly.

UPDATE:

Ncevy Sbbyf!

However, I have also added commenting to the individual pages, so you can leave comments in a number of new places.  Also, I’ve changed a number of pages to a more uniform look and link structure.  And I’ve simplified some of the navigation factors.

Beyond that… I’ve basically extinguished the small changes.  So now, it’s time to start tearing down the current site theme in favor of something a little more professional and a little less HL-centric.

I’m also recruiting some team members in a thread in the Resource Depot forum.  Welcome Syrus Rayne as he has moved from just a member of the BWL Film Crew to the full Creativity Team as a news poster and Game Reviewer.

Expect some big things from BWL Development in the future.

But with that said, the appearance changes I am about to make on this site will affect some of the content for temporary periods of time.  Specifically, you may find the site looking drastically different for a few hours once in a while and you may also find links or features missing for those same periods of time.

Please, bare with us as this has been needed for a while and I want to really step up the site’s appearance.

The Left 4 Dead DLC including the new “Crash Course” campaign has landed today.

This new two map campaign fills in the gap between No Mercy’s helicopter rescue and Death Toll’s… standing in the middle of the road.

In addition to the new update, Valve is offering a discount on Left 4 Dead until the 2nd of October.  Get the game this week with a 50% discount.

Also, 10 more achievements.

http://www.l4d.com/crashcourse/

However, as has been stipulated before, this mod about a cat trapped and ownerless during the Black Mesa incident has plenty of lives left.  Earlier this week, BiGToM announced that an older piece of code from prior efforts had been successfully implemented.  The original code had been fraught with bugs such as monsters sinking into the floor.  Nevertheless, after a lengthy wait for a new coder [a wait that included a cash reward], the early code was modified and fixed.

Now, with corrected code in hand, Team Cat-Life is able to wrap up other portions of the mod.  With this news, the team has also announced a target date for the first stage of Open Beta testing.  Expect to be able to download and play the Cat-Life beta in November.

The beta will also include additional bonus content including maps that were cut from the project and some of the original concept.

To help celebrate, I’ve asked BiGToM for some new screen shots for the gallery.  We’ve now added four new images.  Also, be sure to keep an eye on PHL, TWHL’s Forums, HL2Files, and our FPS Banana Account for this press release.  I dispatched two “exclusive” screenshots to each of those sites with our news and those images will not be added to the gallery.

Also, and this is to clarify previous statements, the team does not intend to stop work on Cat-Life and switch over to the Source engine.  There is, however, an ongoing discussion regarding the possibility of either converting a finished Cat-Life to Source or… more likely… making a sequel using Source.

No matter the outcome of that discussion, Cat-Life will begin its open beta in November and we do want it finished before moving to the next project.

And if you are interested in working on a sequel in Source, and happen to know how to code… contact me at the_wildcat@bwldevelopment.com  I personally would like to have someone writing new source code long before the team is actually ready to work on a second mod and possibly accelerate the development process.

Check out the Pre-Show Video on the August Trifecta sub-page.  Update videos and the main presentation will be posted over the weekend and into next week.  Enjoy.

EDIT:

UPDATE #1 has been posted.

EDIT:

Update #2 is up.

EDIT:

Update #3 is up.  I think they’re getting shorter as I’m trying to save the better stuff for the v-log.  Also, I’ve noticed that as I become as tired as I am now, I seem to loose the ability to emote properly.  I become sluggish.

Anyway, I’ll be more rested when I make the full v-log and I won’t be talking… so It should be more interesting.

One more update to go.

EDIT:

Update #4.

Terrible sound, but I decided to keep it rather then trying to dub it and spending a great deal of time on a short update.  Sometimes, the subtitles are hard to see also… but I’ll be discussing my thoughts on the daily update idea in addition to other “lessons” I learned from this trip in a new forum topic.  I’m only posting this one to complete the set.

This one was not quite as short as I expected it to be, but it isn’t long.

I’m late with this one due to the fact that, after I arrived home in the early morning and finished unpacking, I started dozing off at the computer.

Day 1 features the addition of 18 new hats.

Additionally, another community map is on its way to official TF2 circles.  Arena Offblast.  This map is based on the oldest of Bond Villain base concepts.  A mountain, hollowed out and filled with nuclear missiles.

Check back later for more updates.

UPDATE:
Day 2 of the Classless update includes a look at the new King of the Hill game mode.  Teams must face off on one capture point and successfully capture and hold that point for 3 minutes.

Included with King of the Hill is a new KOTH map called Viaduct and a KOTH version of Nucleus and Sawmill.

Anyway, the Sniper update is closer then ever.  With it we are finding a new game mode, a new weapon for the sniper, a new defense for the sniper, and some new maps.

Here is, in a nut shell, day’s 1 through 3 of the pre-release press.

Day 1 featured a new weapon alternative for our snipers.  The Huntsman longbow.

Do you remember Half-Life 2… the crossbow.  Well… this is sort of similar.  The longbow is a weapon designed to decrease accuracy over distance.  But the arrows you fire will stick in your targets and pin their dead bodies to the wall.

It also has a shorter charge time [ 1 second ] and will probably look more interesting then the standard rifle.

Day 2 revealed two new arena maps and the new payload race game mode.  The new maps are both arena maps.

Sawmill is a hillside lumber camp with a spy base hidden beneath it.  Active saw blades are located around the cap point.  Rain makes its TF 2 debut in this map, adding a soggy theme to the new environ.  Sounds fun.

Nucleus is a modern day doomsday device.  Access points are thin catwalks above a chasm.  Surrounding the device and prevalent throughout the map, is a bottomless and/or radioactive pit.  Let the time run down and you’ll find the catwalks retracted.

The new game mode, payload race, is exactly what it sounds like.  The map is Pipeline.  The mission, to beat the other team to their payload target.  With an upload battle side by side, teams must work quickly to replenish pushers or the cart will quickly roll back down the hill.

Day 3 revealed a new defense for Snipers.  The Razorback is a “hand-carved tribal shield” equipped with a car battery.  It’s heavy, so you will move slower.  It also brakes after one use.  However, it also pumps 10,000 volts into the first spy that attempts to back-stab you.   And if they survive to try again, they’ll have to wait for their blade to cool down.

Expect the sniper update on the 19th.  I’ll update this post as more info becomes available in the next few days.

Update:

Day 4 brought us a pair of upgrades for spies rather then snipers.  This is sure to result in mixed opinions.

First, the dead ringer is a pocket watch which hopes to recreate the old feign death concept.  Basically, when your spy takes a non-lethal hit, your cloak instantly activates for 8 seconds.  A replica of your body is dropped on the ground.

Second, the cloak and dagger is a wristwatch that interfaces with your cloaking device.  With this device, your spy will be able to stay cloaked indefinitely, as long as they stop moving from time to time.  You must remain still to regenerate your cloak.

So… why do I say this may have mixed reception.  Well, on the one hand, the old feign death trick was better then a cloak as far as game-play is concerned.  And making this new dead ringer watch is probably going to be fun.  But I know a great many players who will likely dislike the cloak and dagger or both devices.

Why?  Because well-played spy characters can become a nuisance in any round without new advantages.

Simply put, the cloak is good for an experienced spy and bad for anybody else.  I don’t play the spy much myself because I have never successfully back-stabbed anyone… even when standing idly behind them… not ever.

A spy check can cut through any disguise, but a cloak has the effect of hiding the player entirely… as long as they know how to use it.  There are tutorials, but…

More often then not, a novice like myself will cloak and stand somewhere only to have someone invariably start shooting that corner for no reason and naturally realize I am present.  This is a fact that has been discouraging.  But experienced players tend to use their cloak with unparalleled accuracy.  In big games it’s not so bad, but in smaller games fewer spies make a better game.

Now, some are going to dislike the dead ringer because it makes killing a spy a harder task.  Getting back-stabbed by the player you just killed could feel like the game is cheating.

Personally, I think the dead ringer will be fun.  I remember the old feign death concept and it was useful… especially to a novice spy.

The cloak and dagger is a little different.  The biggest complaint from players that I hear is about how bad the cloak device makes the game.  An experienced player can use it and make trouble for an entire team if its small enough.  And a novice can’t use it worth spit.

Personally, I like the idea of the cloak and dagger as a novice.  It will make playing a spy more interesting for me.  It reminds me of AvP 2.   I love cloaking and staying cloaked for a long while only to emerge when ready to kill.  I could see this giving me my first back stab.

But… that’s part of the problem.  Some experienced players will say this makes the cloak too easy.  And many, many players will dislike the use of the cloak by novice players.  Even a complete newbie should be able use the cloak effectively.

Which means an 8-year-old with a fowl mouth, no self-control, and no skill will be stabbing you in the back even though you usually would see them coming.  And, of course, the more experienced players will simply find the spy a bit easier to hide.

As a result, I find myself of two minds on this subject.  I’ll be more able to learn the spy trade and certainly this will revive some old memories.  But at the same time, spies are going to be that much more annoying.  Especially if these new goodies are based on achievements.

I don’t achievement farm so I wouldn’t get the new goodies for a long time.  Meanwhile, a horde of llamas will farm away and walk into the game with all the latest goodies.  I guess I like these new spy ideas, so long as they aren’t achievement based.

UPDATE:

Okay, so Day 5 was pretty basic.

The meet the spy video, which you’ve all seen already because it was “leaked” and therefore a “must see” for each and every one of you.

Admit it!  You heard about it and had see the leaked video.  It couldn’t load fast enough on YouTube.  Maybe you saw it mentioned on PHL or on Chris Livingston’s blog or linked on some forum thread somewhere.  All you knew was it was leaked and you had to see it.

You’re a sad, sad person…

Anyway, there is also a list of spy achievements available plus the icon pack.  Achievement descriptions aren’t up yet… just corny puns based on Bond Movie Titles.  But they look pretty standard.  Which means you’ll either farm for them all or you won’t get more then a few of them.  Good luck anyway.  >:)

By the way, the release is now the 21st and not the 19th.

UPDATE:

Day 6 brings a replacement weapon for the spy.  The Ambassador.

This is a replacement for the old pistol… designed with a detailed skin featuring the likeness of your foe’s mother carved into the barrel.  This new gun is supposed to be as accurate as the sniper rifle at range and has the same revolver ammo count.

But,  it must “cool off” after each shot, meaning a longer delay between rounds.

UPDATE:

Day 7 confirmed a possibility shown in the Meet the Spy video.  It also affirmed the April Fool “joke” posted on the TF 2 blog.  Jarate… also known as “eeeeeewwww!”

Yep… Snipers now have jars they’ve… *sigh*… peed in.

This proves that snipers are the missing link.

Apes throw their on dung…

Snipers throw their own pee…

Humans throw their own…

I dunno…

let’s say…

no… that would be for a mature audiance…

You know what…

I can’t think of anything without it turning into a bad dirty joke…

so never mind.

Anyway, Jarate is a jar of pee that snipers will have in game.  Toss it on an alie that is burning… you’ll put them out.  Toss it on an enemy, they’ll take more damage.  Toss it on or near a cloaked spy and break their cloak.

Further, it splashes when it hits… so toss it into a crowd and make half a team 35 % more vulnerable, or something like that… I guess.  But they can jump into water to wash it off.

And finally, the sniper achievement icons and names were revealed.  Including one that apparently means hitting 5 people with pee… or something like that.  And I shudder to consider the “rain on their parade” achievement.

Anyway today’s the day… the new update should be coming soon.