Tuesday • December 09 • 2003

If you`re into Counter-Strike then this article should bring a chuckle or two.

www.somethingawful.com

	Saturday • October 18 • 2003

A very innovative member of Planet Half-life called "Scab Rust" has made a short music track completely from the sound effects of Counter-Strike. It really is very good and well worth the 190k download.

You will need Winamp or some kind of Mod Tracker to play it. Download it here.

And speaking of Counter-Strike, Counter-Strike: Condition Zero will be available in the shops or for download on Steam on November 18th 2003. I checked my local stores yesterday and they already have the displays set up so no delay for this one we hope!

For those who don't know, Counter-Strike: Condition Zero is a single player version of the popular online multiplayer Half-life Mod and should include some funky new AI bots, imroved graphics and more realistic skins.

	Wednesday • October 8 • 2003

And more HL2 delay news....

This latest article from the BBC, reports that Half-life 2 Wont make it to the shops this year!

	Tuesday • October 7 • 2003

More bad news about the Half-life 2 source code leak. CNN is reporting in an article today that more than just some of the source code was taken.

Yesterday Valve appeared to be of the opinion that only a small part of the code had been successfully copied and that none of the content (the sounds, images etc.) needed to actually make a playable game had been taken.

However, CNN report that a playable part of HL2 is available on the internet!

Click here to read the article.

Once again I remind you that Valve are asking that anyone who knows anything about the source leak, or finds any of the code or content on the internet, email Valve on helpvalve@valvesoftware.com.

	Saturday • October 4 • 2003

Some very bad news this week in the Land of Valve. Some reprobate(s) hacked into Valves network and managed to steal a copy of the Half-life 2 Source code!

I did not report this news here immediately because there have been so many rumours about HL2 lately its hard to know which are real and which arent, but this morning both MSNBC and the BBC News websites were reporting the story.

This story was first reported by Half-life2.net with a statement from Gabe Newell, Valves company director.

	Saturday • September 27 • 2003

Just a formality but I did say I would keep you all informed. Vivendi Universal, the publishers of Half-life 2, the long awaited sequel to Half-life, developed by Valve, have confirmed Valves announcement from last Tuesday that Half-life 2 will not make its planned 30th September 2003 release date. With Doom III (developed by ID Software) delayed until at least early in the first quater of next year the market is open for Half-life 2 to dominate this Christmas, lets just hope they do actually get it released by then!

At the moment most people are hoping November sometime but there is no official word on it.

	Wednesday • September 24 • 2003

What a surprise, NOT, it looks like Half-life 2 is delayed after all.

This quote is floating round the net, from Doug Lombardi, Valve's Director of Marketing:

"The previously announced September 30th release date for Half-Life 2 is being pushed back. We are currently targeting a holiday release, but do not have a specific "in-store" date to share at this time. We will release that information as soon as we have confirmed a new date."

If I get any further information or confirmation of this quote I'll post it here!

	Monday • September 22 • 2003

Well one week after it`s release and STEAM version 1.0 seems to be settling down nicely now. Most of the problems people were having were due to the initial demand for STEAM overloading the servers, but a few tweaks and problem fixes have also been released since.

As we draw closer to the September 30th deadline, still the official release date for Half-life 2, most peoples attention is gradually turning back to wondering if Valve are actually going to tell us anything soon!

Rumours of delay have been abound for months now but even with only 8 days to go, Valve are still staying silent on this issue!

	Saturday • September 13 • 2003

If you`re having trouble with the new release of Valves STEAM (and lets face it - who isnt) then its worth checking out VERC Collective, a Valve site primarily for developers but at the moment, the best source of information on Steam. The official STEAM site is all but unavailable due to overwhelming demand.

At present all these problems are frustrating a great many people but it does seem that they are all due to Valve simple underestimating (severly) the demand that there would be for the new release. With time and some patience things should settle down.

In the meantime have a look at VERC Collective for the latest most reliable info.

BECOME PART OF THE STEAM COMMUNITY Play the latest Valve games (like Counter-Strike 1.6 beta!) Get automatic updates (no more patching!) Chat with friends, even while you play Find the best servers & find your friends` games Receive Steam-Only special offers

Anyone who regularly plays Half-life or any of the related Mods should check out a new service from Valve. Its a file distribution system called Steam and quite simply if you run it in your task bar it will keep all your Half-life related games up to date, no messing, no searching for updates, its all automatic. Steam also gives you access to the latest news from Valve and the very latest previews and media files. Theres a related discussion board, an instant messenger/chat service, and you can search for gaming servers running your favorite mod of Half-life, to name just a few of the more useful features. For more info, to sign up to the forums, or to download Steam visit www.steampowered.com

	Tuesday • August 12 • 2003

OK, for all the Doom 3 fans, check out Planet Doom, I guess this is the sister site of Planet Half-life because its exactly the same.

A very good site though

The latest info available is that Half-life 2 should be released 30th September 2003 and that Doom 3 should be in the shops in early 2004. But then no one really knows until its on the shelf!

	Tuesday • August 5 • 2003

	Monday • August 4 • 2003

Isnt the internet a wonderful place? A few days ago there was a rumour going around that the release of Half-Life² was going to be delayed from its planned release date of September 30 2003.

The latest now, in a statement from Vivendi Universal Games, is that they are still planning on the original release date and that the delay rumour started due to a "miscommunication".

I will, of course, keep you informed of anything else I hear.

	Sunday • August 2 • 2003

This is an old favorite and most fans of Half-Life will know this site well, so I thought I'd better add it here!

	July 30 2003

Yet another Half-Life 2 website. This one has some useful information about Valves new file distribution system known as STEAM.

	July 28 2003

I definitely recommend this site as a source of Half-Life 2 preview material. If you click through to the download section you will find several very high quality videos in the form of exe files.

	July 22 2003

Check out this Half-life site, lots of information about the much anticipated Half-Life 2, out soon!

For other gaming and Half-Life related sites, check out the Games menu on the right hand side of this page.