X-mas Mod feature - Xmas Mod for Half-Life

[page=About X-mas]
Taken from the X-mas about Page

Everyone likes christmas no?
Yeah... the gifts.. the big tree.. the roaring fire!

Then again, there are the parents... the hugs... the crappy gifts, the "sure to be radioactive" fruitcake, the old arguments coming back over and over again!

AAAAAAAAAAAAARGH! I can't stand it!

Thus, the use for this mod.
Xmas is a way to bring christmas... into Half-Life!

Everything in HL is replaced with christmas themed stuff. The 2d art, the models, the sounds, everything is changed!

So now, when your mad because of your ol' grandma coming to hug you and kiss your face, you can relax!... by shooting off a few grenades and blowing the crap out of your enemies!

Xmas: "Santa's coming to town!... and he's packin' heat!"

[page=The Interview with BlackPanther]
Well here is an interview I did with BlackPanther, the one man dev team who is the creator of Xmas mod! Enjoy!

moddatabase: Hi. Firstly, tell us a bit about yourself. Like where you come from, your name, what you do for a living and maybe even your age.

BlackPanther: Well My real name is Michael Mallet, im 20 years old from Quebec City, Canada and im currently in college in computer networking.

moddatabase: How did you come about to create X-mas mod? How long have you been doing it?

BlackPanther: The idea really came to me after the holidays had gone. I was looking for a mod i could do that wouldn't require new coding. Because over my 4 years of editing HL, i had learned to edit everything (models, skins, maps, sprites) except c++ which i know nothing about. So i though about changing everything in HL to a certain theme and Christmas seemed as good as any seeing as that everything in HL could be edited to fit it. I been workin on it for about a year now, on and off. I work on my own because I found team members were unreliable. I've worked on several HL mods over the years and i found communication to be severely lacking. Thats why I do it on my own, so I can be sure of the quality of the mod.

moddatabase: What are the general ideas and concepts? How will it all work? Game-plays, ect.

BlackPanther: This is something that may turn some people off from Xmas. The whole mod (For it's first version anyway) is like a huge replacement pack for HL deathmatch. Essentially, it's new skins, new models, new sprites and new sounds for HL deathmatch. But this was my goal for version 1. The next version will also convert every aspect of the single player part of HL to the Xmas theme.

moddatabase: What about the maps? Will they be different at all? Like with some special Features maybe?

BlackPanther: I've only planned 1 map for release with Xmas. It's called Castle morel and it's set in a castle (duh!) being renovated to become an hotel. A snow storm stops the renovations, and a family is called in to take care of the castle for the winter (The shining anyone?). Neing a 1 man team, the maps were a bit let down for the simple fact that every HL DM map currently available will be compatible with Xmas. Off course, later versions will have new maps made especially for Xmas.

moddatabase: Sounds fun! What about weapon replacements? What excatly will you be able to use? I've seen in the moddb profile the Grenades shaped like christmas tree hangings but will you be able to bash people with candy canes or something like that? Oh and whats with that RC car? What does that do?

BlackPanther: Exactly that. Every single weapon in HL has been replaced with something new and to fit the theme. Thats one of the most important aspects of the mod. The RC car is just the replacement for the satchel. Drop it down, and let her blow! In later versions, you can expect the car to be drivable! So you can steer the car and explode your enemies!

moddatabase: Ahhhh Excellent! Well I cant wait for this mod! Any final thoughts or special thanks you'd like to say?

BlackPanther: I'd like to thank RandomNine, the creator of the Turbo mod for being inspiration over the years. He too created his mod on his own. Also, thanks to every person on the Hostile Intent Forums for being good buddies and thanks to moddatabase for making Xmas mod of the month! And Finaly, to every person who will download the mod which took so much time, but as given me so much pleasure to make! Thank you.

Well thanks BlackPanther for taking the time out to do this interview and we hope to see you on December 24th, for the release of Xmas!

You people can check out more info at the Xmas moddb profile and view their latest images in the gallery!