Half-Life 2 - Orange Box, The
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Now We Are All Sons of Bitches
Now We Are All Sons of Bitches MICHAEL BONTATIBUS “Wake up, Mr. Freeman. Wake up and smell the ashes,” the enigmat- ic G-Man murmurs as he leers into the camera, finishing an eerie opening monologue—and so begins Half-Life 2, Valve Corporation’s flagship game. The last time we saw Gordon Freeman, the protagonist, the same rigid and mysterious (though more poorly animated, since the prequel was released six years earlier) G-Man was handing him a job offer after witnessing the former scientist transform into a warrior, bent on escaping from the besieged Black Mesa Research Facility alive. Now, suddenly, Freeman finds himself on a train. No context.1 Is it a prison train? The three other individuals on it wear uniforms like those the inmates wore in Cool Hand Luke. The train soon stops at its destination, and we realize that it is a prison train, in a way—Freeman has arrived at the Orwellian “City 17,” where the ironically named Civil Protection abuses and oppresses, where antagonist Dr. Breen preaches poet- ic propaganda from large monitors hung high above the town. In the years since scientists at the facility accidentally opened a gateway between dimen- sions and allowed a bevy of grotesque creatures to spill into our universe, Earth has been taken over by the Combine, an alien multiplanetary empire. Breen is merely Earth’s administrator—and we realize that the ashes the G- Man spoke of were the ashes of the prelapsarian world. It’s classic dystopia, complete with a Resistance, of which Freeman soon finds himself the “mes- sianic” leader (HL2). -
Shading in Valve's Source Engine
Advanced Real-Time Rendering in 3D Graphics and Games Course – SIGGRAPH 2006 Chapter 8 Shading in Valve’s Source Engine Jason Mitchell9, Gary McTaggart10 and Chris Green11 8.1 Introduction Starting with the release of Half-Life 2 in November 2004, Valve has been shipping games based upon its Source game engine. Other Valve titles using this engine include Counter-Strike: Source, Lost Coast, Day of Defeat: Source and the recent Half-Life 2: Episode 1. At the time that Half-Life 2 shipped, the key innovation of the Source engine’s rendering system was a novel world lighting system called Radiosity Normal Mapping. This technique uses a novel basis to economically combine the soft realistic 9 [email protected] 10 [email protected] 11 [email protected] 8 - 1 © 2007 Valve Corporation. All Rights Reserved Chapter 8: Shading in Valve’s Source Engine lighting of radiosity with the reusable high frequency detail provided by normal mapping. In order for our characters to integrate naturally with our radiosity normal mapped scenes, we used an irradiance volume to provide directional ambient illumination in addition to a small number of local lights for our characters. With Valve’s recent shift to episodic content development, we have focused on incremental technology updates to the Source engine. For example, in the fall of 2005, we shipped an additional free Half- Life 2 game level called Lost Coast and the multiplayer game Day of Defeat: Source. Both of these titles featured real-time High Dynamic Range (HDR) rendering and the latter also showcased the addition of real-time color correction to the engine. -
The House That Jack Built
University of New Orleans ScholarWorks@UNO University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations Dissertations and Theses 5-20-2005 The House that Jack Built William Loehfelm University of New Orleans Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td Recommended Citation Loehfelm, William, "The House that Jack Built" (2005). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 226. https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/226 This Thesis is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by ScholarWorks@UNO with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Thesis in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights- holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/or on the work itself. This Thesis has been accepted for inclusion in University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UNO. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the University of New Orleans in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in The Department of English by Bill Loehfelm B.A. University of Scranton, 1991 May, 2005 TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter One .........................................................................................................................1 Chapter Two.......................................................................................................................12 -
Portal Prima Official Mini Eguide.Pdf 2008-05-31 12:20 3.1 MB
PRIMA OFFICIAL GAME GUIDE DAVID SJ HODGSON STEPHEN STRATTON MIGUEL LOPEZ Prima Games David SJ Hodgson A Division of Random House, Inc. Originally hailing from the United Kingdom, David left his role as a writer of numerous 3000 Lava Ridge Court, Suite 100 British video game magazines (including Mean Machines, Computer & Video Games, Roseville, CA 95661 and the Offi cial Nintendo and Sega Saturn magazines) and a bohemian lifestyle on a dry-docked German fi shing trawler to work on the infamous GameFan magazine in www.primagames.com 1996. David helped to launch the fl edgling GameFan Books and helped form Gamers’ The Prima Games logo is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc., Republic in 1998, authoring many strategy guides for Millennium Publications, registered in the United States and other countries. Primagames.com is including The Offi cial Metal Gear Solid Mission Handbook. After launching the wildly a registered trademark of Random House, Inc., registered in the United unsuccessful incite Video Gaming and Gamers.com, David found his calling, and States. began authoring guides for Prima Games. He has written over 30 Prima strategy guides, including The Godfather: The Game, Knights of the Old Republic, Perfect Dark © 2007 by Prima Games. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be Zero, Half-Life 2, and Burnout Revenge. He lives in the Pacifi c Northwest with his reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, wife, Melanie, and an eight-foot statue of Great Cthulhu. including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system without written permission from Prima Games. -
Smod, Coolest HL2 Mod Ever! - Facepunch Studios 1/28/2015
Smod, Coolest HL2 Mod ever! - Facepunch Studios 1/28/2015 NOV DEC FEB http://forums.facepunchstudios.com/showthread.php?t=148509 Go Close 14 captures 25 22 Dec 06 - 28 Sep 11 2006 2007 2009 Help Facepunch Studios > Facepunch Studios > General Discussion Username: User Name Remember Smod, Coolest HL2 Mod ever! Password: Log in Rules IRC Log Custom Forums Archive Steam Group More.. Register Page 1 of 165 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 51 101 > Last » Thread Tools 11/09/05 Post #1 JoshuaC Courtesy of luigi1107 Feb 2005 5196 Smartness ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The old SMOD thread was losing steam, so I decided to create a brand new thread for this brilliant mod, containing everything you need to know from weapons to console commands. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - This section will contain eveything you need to know about SMOD itself, not the features. SMOD Site: - http://www.geocities.jp/faster_down/smod_bak/ Current Version: - 36b - This section will tell you what weapons are in the current version. - Crowbar - Gravity Gun - Physgun - Gordon's Magical Stick - Strider Cannon - Shovel - 9MM -
From Voodoo to Viruses: the Evolution of the Zombie in Twentieth Century Popular Culture
From Voodoo to Viruses: The Evolution of the Zombie in Twentieth Century Popular Culture By Margaret Twohy Adviser: Dr. Bernice Murphy A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the Degree of Master’s of Philosophy in Popular Literature Trinity College Dublin Dublin, Ireland October 2008 2 Abstract The purpose of this thesis is to explore the evolutionary path the zombie has followed in 20th Century popular culture. Additionally, this thesis will examine the defining characteristics of the zombie as they have changed through its history. Over the course of the last century and edging into the 21st Century, the zombie has grown in popularity in film, videogames, and more recently in novels. The zombie genre has become a self-inspiring force in pop culture media today. Films inspired a number of videogames, which in turn, supplied the film industry with a resurgence of inspirations and ideas. Combined, these media have brought the zombie to a position of greater prominence in popular literature. Additionally, within the growing zombie culture today there is an over-arcing viral theme associated with the zombie. In many films, games, and novels there is a viral cause for a zombie outbreak. Meanwhile, the growing popularity of zombies and its widening reach throughout popular culture makes the genre somewhat viral-like as well. Filmmakers, authors and game designers are all gathering ideas from one another causing the some amount of self- cannibalisation within the genre. 3 Table of Contents Introduction 4 Chapter One 7 Evolution of the Dead Chapter Two 21 Contaminants, Viruses, and Possessions—Oh my! Chapter Three 34 Dawn of the (Digital) Dead Chapter Four 45 Rise of the Literary Zombie Conclusion 58 Bibliography 61 4 Introduction There are perhaps few, if any fictional monsters that can rival the versatility of the humble zombie (or zombi)1. -
NIGHT of the LIVING DEAD Credit: Written by Author: GEORGE A
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD Credit: Written by Author: GEORGE A. ROMERO and JOHN A. RUSSO Draft date: Copyright 1968 by George A. Romero and John A. Russo EXT. CEMETERY - DUSK It is an ordinary dusk of normal quiet and shadow. The gray sky contains a soft glow from the recent sun, so that trees and long blades of grass seem to shimmer in the gathering night. There is a rasp of crickets, and the rustle of leaves in an occasional whispering breeze. Transitions are easy and gradual, with relaxed studies of earth, grass and leafy branches on a high-mounded hill. Revelation of cemetery markers does nothing to disrupt the peacefulness of our established mood; when awareness comes, it is almost as though we have known where we were all along. We are in a typical rural cemetery, conceivably adjacent to a small church ... Although the presence of a church is felt rather than confirmed. The stones range from small identifying slates to monuments of careful design…an occasional Franciscan Crucifix, or a carved image of a defending angel. Over a hundred years of death indicated in stones syllabic with their year and the status of the families they represent. Over the other night sounds is added the gravel-rumble of a slow-moving car. A wider shot reveals the car and the mounded cemetery, as the car pulls into the gate and moves down one of the cemetery roads, the car passes in extreme foreground and moves away from the camera. In the breeze of its passing, the dead leaves that clutter the little road swirl and move. -
This Is Our Story…” OCTOBER 20, 7:55 A.M
Copyright © 2016 by Ashley Elston Cover design by Tanya Ross-Hughes and Maria Elias Cover art © 2016 Tanya Ross-Hughes Cover photograph of deer head © 2016 David Hughes Additional cover photographs © Shutterstock All rights reserved. Published by Hyperion, an imprint of Disney Book Group. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. For information address Hyperion, 125 West End Avenue, New York, New York 10023. ISBN 978-1-4847-3186-4 Visit www.hyperionteens.com Contents Title Page Copyright Dedication 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 Acknowledgments About the Author For my mom, Sally A ten-point buck and a dead body make the same sound when they hit the forest floor. It’s hard to believe a person could be mistaken for an animal, but it happens more than you know. We know these woods. We’ve spent as much time here as anywhere else. Every hill and valley, every place the deer forage for food and rest in the heat of the day, is mapped out in our heads. We know exactly where the shot comes from when we hear it. Stealth no longer necessary, we tear in from every direction, each wanting to see the kill first. But that excitement evaporates at the sight of Grant’s body twisted in odd angles over a downed tree. -
Machinima As Digital Agency and Growing Commercial Incorporation
A Binary Within the Binary: Machinima as Digital Agency and Growing Commercial Incorporation A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Fine Arts of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts Megan R. Brown December 2012 © 2012 Megan R. Brown. All Rights Reserved 2 This thesis titled A Binary Within the Binary: Machinima as Digital Agency and Growing Commercial Incorporation by MEGAN R. BROWN has been approved for the School of Film and the College of Fine Arts by Louis-Georges Schwartz Associate Professor of Film Studies Charles A. McWeeny Dean, College of Fine Arts 3 ABSTRACT BROWN, MEGAN R., M.A., December 2012, Film Studies A Binary Within the Binary: Machinima as Digital Agency and Growing Commercial Incorporation (128 pp.) Director of Thesis: Louis-Georges Schwartz. This thesis traces machinima, films created in real-time from videogame engines, from the exterior toward the interior, focusing on the manner in which the medium functions as a tool for marginalized expression in the face of commercial and corporate inclusion. I contextualize machinima in three distinct contexts: first, machinima as historiography, which allows its minority creators to articulate and distribute their interpretation of national and international events without mass media interference. Second, machinima as a form of fan fiction, in which filmmakers blur the line between consumers and producers, a feature which is slowly being warped as videogame studios begin to incorporate machinima into marketing techniques. Finally, the comparison between psychoanalytic film theory, which explains the psychological motivations behind cinema's appeal, applied to videogames and their resulting machinima, which knowingly disregard established theory and create agency through parody. -
Emotions in Play: on the Constitution of Emotion in Solitary Computer Game Play Olli Tapio Leino
Emotions In Play: On the constitution of emotion in solitary computer game play olli tapio leino This dissertation is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) at IT University of Copenhagen. Title: Emotions in Play: On the constitution of emotion in solitary computer game play. Candidate: Olli Tapio Leino Ben Websters Vej 14-2-7 2450 Copenhagen SV Denmark +45 266 32705 [email protected] Supervisor: Espen Aarseth Abstract Computer games contribute to their players' emotions in diverse ways, ranging from sheer exhilaration to anger and disillusion. Our ability to enjoy computer game play that involves genuine intense emotions which in other contexts would be easily deemed as \negative" suggests that there is something in the ways in which we make sense of computer games that separates gameplay from other activities we engage in. Focusing on single-player computer games and situating within the emerging field of computer game studies, this dissertation starts from the assumption that emotions are always already intertwined with the experience of play and proceeds to describe, not any idiosyncratic emotional experience, but the means by which games can ensure their contents to be involved in players' emotions. Emotions are taken as intentional, as always about something. From this premise follows that to understand an emotion it is necessary to understand the reasons the subject has for relating to the object of the emotion in the particular way. Building on game studies, existential phenomenology, and philosophy of technology, this dissertation postulates a first-person perspective from which to describe solitary computer game play and the emotions it involves in terms of their experienced significance. -
In the Digital Games Medium
Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University Communication Theses Department of Communication 7-15-2009 L337 Soccer Moms: Conceptions of "Hardcore" and "Casual" in the Digital Games Medium Steven Andrew Boyer Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/communication_theses Recommended Citation Boyer, Steven Andrew, "L337 Soccer Moms: Conceptions of "Hardcore" and "Casual" in the Digital Games Medium." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2009. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/communication_theses/53 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Communication at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Communication Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. L337 SOCCER MOMS CONCEPTIONS OF “HARDCORE” AND “CASUAL” IN THE DIGITAL GAMES MEDIUM by STEVEN BOYER Under the Direction of Ted Friedman ABSTRACT As digital games have become increasingly significant in the entertainment media landscape, the terms “casual” and “hardcore” have become the primary ways to describe gaming audiences, genres, and gameplay. However, these terms are saturated with outdated stereotypes involving gender, age, and class. Focusing on industrial discourse, this thesis examines this dichotomy, emphasizing areas of discontinuity and overlap to question why these terms have become so ubiquitous in gaming discourse and what functions they fulfill for a variety of groups including the industry, advertisers, and audience members. Ultimately, I suggest that these terms need to be replaced in order to move beyond restrictive stereotypes, proposing a new framework for digital games that takes into consideration user motivation, personal investment, and historical specificity. -
After 12 Years in Charge, Superintendent to Retire June 30
The EST. 2009 JANUARY 2020 FIFTY CENTS STUDENT NEWSPAPER of BOONE COUNTY HIGHR SCHOOL EBELLION SPORTS B4 CHEER WINS STATE Cheerleaders dominating season continues with two regional titles and a state championship RRobertButler The Rebels Small Varsity Cheer team won the KHSAA State Championship, Dec. 14, at All Tech Arena in Lexington, KY. The Rebels posted a final score of 96.1 and beat second place Pikeville by more than six points. This win highlights the Rebels dominant run so far this season. Before winning state, they had al- ready won two regional tourna- ments and a state wide tournament. Head coach Michelle Schuster says that there is a lot of pressure being reigning national champs. She hopes that after their state champi- onship they can place top three at nationals later this season. “I am proud of how this team has handled the pressure. They con- tinue to be humble and persevere,” Schuster said. Seniors Ashtyn Fangman, Lanie Fangman, and Madi Monroe all recognize the pressure that comes with winning the national championship, but they say that their team possesses a unique drive and work ethic that allows them to outperform their opponents. MorganDaniels/REBELLIONSTAFF “The best part of being a part of the varsity team this year is that The Rebel small varsity squad emerges for their routine at the KHSAA Region 5 Championship at Boone County High School on Nov. 23. They we have a team that is willing to do eventually went on to win the regional championship that secured their spot in the state tournament.