You know, I grew up on Half-Life. I had always been into games, but that one in particular changed my life, and many others' lives verily. I remember first seeing it in the Target electronics section and thinking, "This looks neat!" I was in the 3rd grade. While my mother was shopping, I made a habit of going to the magazine section and picking up PC Gamer - flipping through, I'd always see advertisements and articles regarding it. It grew on me more and more and I had to get it! As fate would have it, we were out doing our annual Christmas shopping in '99 and I chanced upon the Game of the Year Edition. I had seen it on sale for very cheap a few days prior while out shopping with my father, (Yes, much shopping was done in my youth) and from what I could remember, I had seen it listed as a mere $27.99 - I didn't want to ask him for it for some unknown reason - probably because he wouldn't have bought it, even after the rather large reduction. Funny thing is, I didn't know that that was for a different game and I was reading the wrong tag at the time! Anyway, I told my mom about it, told her they had lowered the price since its release. She agreed to buy it under those circumstances and I threw it in the cart. Turns out the damned thing was $49.99. She only found out about it after the fact when she looked at the receipt and was...pissed. But I had it! An early Christmas present.
I took it home and installed it forthwith! Played the living shit out of it and forced my dad to play LAN games with me. It became the basis of inspiration for my pretend play and a model for my artworks. (I was and avid drawer) Every year after that, it seemed every holiday season featured a release of some incarnation of the Half-Life universe and more games for me to force my dad to play. I remember my dad buying me opposing force for Christmas and me wrapping it that very night, placing a tag on it that read: "To: Kurt, From: Adrian Shepherd". Needless to say I loved all of those releases and even took up making maps on Worldcraft 2.7 at the tender age of 10 - though, at the time I did not understand what mods were and thought Valve had made both Wanted! and Firearms. After that, Gunman Chronicles came out and I was blown away. Once again, not putting two and two together. Now, all this while I was pursuing music. Games and music, that is what I had! I'd come home from elementary school on Fridays, practice my drums and finish my farm chores - then it was off for a night of gaming and gallons of Pepsi!
This went on for years. It was much later that, in waiting for HL2 to come out (It was all speculation and rumors, relegated to forums back then) I learned what mods were! I found out there WAS indeed a full version of Wanted!, which had given me hours of entertainment, seeing thousands of people die over a...chicken and I became re-aquianted with They Hunger. My dial-up was too slow to download, so my father downloaded them from work. I finally played them, and from then on, I was hooked on mods! I played every single one, from Sven Coop, to Nuclear Winter, to Heart of Evil to, of course, They Hunger, and many, many others I cannot remember the names to. Hangar 16 and a reviewer named "Silver Sorrow" (If you're still out there and happen to chance upon this - thank you! I'll raise my beer to you now and drink to your health! I hope you found peace, you crazy sonovabitch!) were my means of figuring out which mods were worth it. Finally, Half-Life 2 came out just in time for Christmas! And it started ALL OVER AGAIN! I was blown away once more, and after the initial HL2 experience had diminished, there was another generation of mods that came with it!
Only a short time after that, Orange box came out and I received THAT for Christmas as well! Now, every year I play a Half-life related game as part of my holiday experience. I had stated above that I grew up with Half-life, but, I can also say with the same confidence that Half-life, in turn, grew up with me. Now, as I played more mods and my musical experience increased, I longed to be able to give back to one of my defining factors. That is why I joined Moddb and decided to pursue sound design and composition. I'm older now, have a few mods under my belt and I can say in earnest that it is a surreal feeling, being able to contribute to the experience of gamers the world round, from my lonely, remote outpost in rural Michigan. And I thank you for granting to concession to that. The magic never died, you see, because on those cold December nights I still look out the window, with the area lights casting dim light upon the fresh snow and remember the protagonists you set forth and how their exploits changed their world and, subsequently mine. Though I've had my bitter, angry moments being teased while waiting for HL3 to come out , I'm still looking forward to another life change brought to you by Valve - don't disappoint me. You make dreams come true for a living, not just games.
