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  • Human Error Released

    Congratulations to Au-Heppa and team, for their mod Human Error is finally made available to the masses.

    You play as Anders, an ordinary man who must deal with the moral conflict of joining Civil Protection... but on the bright side, you get to play with manhacks, drive APCs, and kill Alien Grunts, Vortigaunts, Manta Rays, and Controllers!

    news post image news post image



    Visit the Human Error website or their Moddb page to download the mod. Let us know what you think in the forums!

  • Scheduled Steam Maintenance Downtime Underway

    Valve is up to something. They're going to shut down their servers in order to update/change something. So far there isn't any more info about what they are going to do, but stay tuned.

    "The schedule maintenance for Steam is now underway and will last three hours at most ending at 9:00 PM Pacific time.

    Some Steam services are now offline during this time including the Steam Community, in-game matchmaking or lobbies, downloading games from Steam content servers, and making purchases from the Steam store. Games that do not rely on Steam matchmaking services should remain playable.

    News updates and any further information will be posted in this space.

    We will work to make this downtime as short as possible. Thank you for your patience!"


    The official article.

  • Left 4 Dead 2 Article @ CGSociety

    Digital Artist Community CGSociety has published an excellent article detailing the development of Left 4 Dead 2, showcasing design obstacles and objectives, as well as interesting media.

    ""For each suggested character, we would evaluate the designs with some key questions like 'Why would that particular person have survived?' "What is it about their background, career choices etc. that has left them to mop up?' If the character in question was a feisty barmaid or used car salesman, 'why would they still be knee deep in gore and reaching for the ammo?'
    Of the many suggested characters, we settled on a group of four who seemed the most interesting to us individually and as a group.""


    news post image



    Check out the article for the full scoop, well worth a read!

  • Some Steam Statistics

    Whilst I congratulate myself for such a wondrous news post title, I'll let you digest some general Steam back-slapping from Valve's latest news release:

    "Valve today announced extraordinary 2009 growth data for Steam, a leading platform for PC games and digital entertainment, with major increases in accounts, concurrent players, unit sales and more. The year also marked tremendous adoption of the Steamworks suite of publishing services in the tangible and electronic versions of many of the year's biggest releases.

    During the last calendar year the platform surpassed 25 million active accounts, up 25% from the prior year. Of the 25 million accounts, over 10 million of those have profiles in the Steam Community.

    In addition to the millions of new accounts created during the year, the peak number of concurrent users eclipsed the 2.5 million mark during the month of December, pushing Steam's average monthly player minutes to more than 13 billion.

    Meanwhile, Steam now offers over 1,000 games from over 100 developers and publishers around the world. Unit sales for 2009 increased by more than 205%, marking the fifth straight year the platform has realized over 100% year-over-year growth in unit sales.

    2009 also delivered a wave of titles supported by Steamworks, in tangible and electronic versions, including Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Dawn of War II, and Empire: Total War. Empire also used Steamworks for the delivery and management of its paid downloadable content releases.

    "Steam turned five years old in March 2009," said Gabe Newell, president of Valve. "With the introduction of each new platform feature released over the years -- such as the Steam Community, Steam Cloud, and Steamworks -- we've seen corresponding growth in account numbers, concurrent player numbers and developer support for the platform. As such, we plan to continue to expand and grow the platform to better serve the developers supporting the open platform and millions of gamers logging in each day.""


    Just imagine the bandwidth bill...

  • Fort Noesis L4D Campaign

    Noesis Interactive have recently released their three map campaign for Left 4 Dead. If you still enjoy the first game and fancy some zombie killing in new environments then you may just want to check this one out:

    "A business center turned military evacuation outpost sits abandoned atop a heavily wooded mountain. Four survivors arrive at the gates of Fort Noesis with hopes of being rescued but are instead greeted by countless infected and barricades blocking their way. They begin to fight their way through the hordes of zombies in an attempt to contact and meet up with some sort of rescue. Will they survive Fort Noesis and make their escape? The outcome is up to you!"

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    Get more media and a download link over at the map release page.

  • Jailbreak: Source 0.6 - Released!

    The Jailbreak: Source team have literally just released the latest version of their mod. In development for the last year and a half, the mod is now a total conversion for the Orange Box engine.

    news post image



    Download Jailbreak: Source from one of the mirrors below!

    ConvictGaming.co.uk (399mb)
    Dedifrag.com (399mb)
    MegaUpload.com (399mb)

    Or head over to their website to get the full list of mirrors!

  • Valve Wants You To Make Items In TF2

    Valve announced yesterday that they're introducing a submission-based community inclusion system for Team Fortress 2. You can now send them your attempts at creating TF2 items and avatars, and have them included in the game proper:

    "Today we're unveiling the TF2 Contribution site. This nifty site will allow anyone who's made a custom piece of TF2 content to submit it to us, with a view to it appearing in-game. Many of you have been building fantastic TF2 work for a while now, and we wanted a way for you to get it in front of all TF2 players, and for everyone to see that you were the one that built it."

    You can read more about the requirements for the items on the Tips + Tricks page, or read more about the system in general at the TF2 Blog.

  • Jailbreak: Source 0.6 - Official Trailer

    The Jailbreak: Source team have announced that their latest version, 0.6, is now complete and they've just released the Official Trailer to celebrate.



    The new version is described as being "Out VERY soon". So keep your eyes peeled for when it surfaces!

  • Merry Christmas!

    As mad as it sounds, this is the sixth time I've posted Merry Christmas on Interlopers, how the hell have we made it that far?

    Anyhow, have a great one and make sure you have the internet nearby to get you through all that boring family stuff!

  • All I Want For Christmas Is An SDK

    Valve seems to have decided to play Santa, and have announced that they are releasing the Left 4 Dead 2 SDK and Add-On support today:

    "PLAYERS: If you are not looking to design but play custom campaigns all you need to do is install the add-on support package. Just go into steam and open up the Tools tab. Look for the entry labeled Left 4 Dead 2 - Add-on Support click and install it. This download is sizable, but will update your L4D2 installation to allow running ANY map, including custom maps made for the original Left 4 Dead. Once installed, you do not need to run this application, it will always be active.

    We will be updating the Left 4 Dead 2 game UI to include links to this package when applicable but for now please just download it directly. If you see any missing textures or models from your favorite map let us know in the forums.

    DESIGNERS: Besides also downloading the above file you will need to download the Left 4 Dead 2 - Authoring Tools. Downloading it will add applications, utilities, and example files that are useful for building L4D2 game add-ons. These are similar to the tools released for Left 4 Dead, but include many updates and new features."


    You can read more about how to get the SDK up and running at the official L4D2 Blog.

  • New mod release: Flesh

    Another zombie style mod? You may think that but the unique twist with Flesh is the fact it has no weapons, is third person and entirely puzzle based:

    news post image news post image news post image



    Grab a download over at Moddb.

  • Kreedz Climbing 4.2 Updates

    The guys working on Kreedz Climbing have recently released version 4.2 of their mod:

    "Kreedz Climbing (aka KZMOD) is a Half-Life 2 modification for the Source engine. The whole premise of the game revolves around getting from point A to point B in the shortest time possible, in a linear route that can include any of the mod's 15 game modes from jumping on blocks to a death trap race, or a mix of disciplines in a single course"

    Some highlights of their latest version:

    "o CS 1.6 original duck/crouch feeling, double-ducks, ladders and CSS Knife added
    o Smoothed demos for World Record viewing and movie making
    o A new Female Climber player model
    o 9 brand new maps which are mostly easy difficulty
    o Over 100 map bug fixes of older maps
    o 5 new awards to buy with your earned medals including Stats Readout and Slow-Motion"


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    For more info and download links check out this press release.

  • ModDB 2009 Mod Of The Year Nominations Have Begun

    ModDB, the central hub for all things mod-based, has announced its annual Mod Of The Year Awards and is now taking nominations for any mod. To vote for your favourite mod, all you have to do is visit the mod's profile on ModDB and click the 'Vote For Mod' button on the page. You have until 5th January to get your nominations in, before the next phase of voting begins.

    "Picking a winner from 6,100 mods and 740 indie games all of which are built on different game engines, platforms, genres and themes is no easy feat. We know everyones tastes differ and we can only recognize the efforts of so many. So if you want your favorite to win remember EVERY VOTE COUNTS (last years results were incredibly tight)."

    You can read more about the awards on the ModDB page.

  • Left 4 Dead 2 DLC Announced - 'The Passing'

    Remember the mysterious Midnight Riders website that Valve set up? Well, looks like it was all a ruse for an even bigger surprise - the return of the original Left 4 Dead survivors:

    "Dubbed “The Passing,” the first game add-on for L4D2 brings the original Left 4 Dead (L4D1) Survivors down south for a meeting with the L4D2 cast, while delivering new single-player, multiplayer and co-operative gameplay for the PC and Xbox 360.

    Targeted for release in early spring, “The Passing” takes place just after the Dead Center campaign of L4D2. Set in a small town in rural Georgia, players assume the role of the L4D2 Survivors as they meet with the L4D1 characters.

    In addition to the new co-operative campaign and associated narrative, “The Passing” will include new arenas for Survival, Versus and Scavenge mode and introduce a new co-operative challenge mode of play. The Passing will also include a new “uncommon common” zombie class, melee weapon, and firearm.

    “The Passing will become the most important campaign in the Left 4 Dead story, as all the Survivors are being called together in one campaign,” said Doug Lombardi, VP of marketing at Valve. “It will also be a huge offering of new gameplay content, with something new for every game mode plus a new uncommon common and weaponry.”"


    It currently has a release date in Early 2010, and you can head to Rock, Paper, Shotgun for more information.

    [Edit] Now with official source!

  • TF2 War Update

    The Administrator's evil scheme has been revealed - war has been waged between demoman and soldier!

    Both classes are getting a traditional 3-weapon update... but whichever class kills more of the other throughout the week will win an exclusive fourth unlock!

    Head to the War page to track kills and wait for each unlock to be revealed.

    Revealed so far:

    General Updates
    Weapon Crafting

    Demoman
    The Eyelander (Decapitating Sword)
    The Chargin' Targe (Shield)
    The Scottish Resistance (Fast Sticky Bomb Launcher)

    Soldier
    The Direct Hit (Precision Rocket Launcher)
    The Equalizer (Pickaxe with varying damage depending on player's health.)
    The Buff Banner (Bugle which guarantees mini-crits to players nearby)
    *Bonus* The Gunboats (Rocket Jump-resistant Boots)

  • City 17 Episode One December Update

    Just in time for Christmas, mod team Gear have released a bevvy of media and information about their SP Mod, City 17: Episode One.

    The December Update includes screens and info regarding new engine features, particle systems, weapons, music and achievements.

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    The team have also committed to releasing in the first half of 2010.

    Check out their moddb profile for the full update and also planet phillip has an audio interview with some team members which goes into more detail about the mod.

  • Orion SDK Released

    The promising looking Source multiplayer mod Orion has just released it's Developer SDK to the public. Good news for anyone interested in mapping for the upcoming game, or just wanting to get to grips with the mechanics before the full mod is released.

    "We are releasing the Orion Developer SDK - Release 1 early! This is a compilation of assets and references of Orion. Level Designers can get their hands on it and start messing around and making community Orion maps! We will be announcing a Level Design Competition shortly after the Public release of the game.

    The Release 1 of the SDK includes a handful of level textures, world objects, vehicles, trees, our detail objects and foliage, as well as .vmf references to show how we went about and created things for our levels.

    These references include:
    A.) Capture the Flag demonstration ( entities and more ).
    B.) Door functionality.
    C.) Keypad functionality.
    D.) Structure design."


    You can read more about the SDK, and the mod in general, at their ModDB page, or you can download the SDK directly.

  • Srred's Christmas Mapping Competition III

    Resident Scrooge Srred has announced the third of his yearly Christmas Mapping Competitions!

    This years theme is Side Scroller, and there's a prize of a game of your choice straight out of Srred's steam account for the winner! So dust off your SDKs and get cracking.

    The provisional closing date is the 26th December. Check out the main competition thread to read all of Srred's ramblings, and the rest of the rules.

    Good luck to all those who enter!