What's been going on with Xmas?
Close to nothing.
Why?
Lack of interest.
Xmas has been my pet project for some time now and since the announce of HL 2, progress has slowed down to a crawl. Creating a whole mod by yourself like i did for Xmas is no small task mind you. There are a ton of things that need to be done in order for Xmas 1.0 to be finalized.
Here's the lowdown:
Coding mostly has been the last thing i started when it should of been the first really. A lot of effects and tweaks to the HL weapons needed to be done and i have just started it. My coding background has been in Java, so porting it over to C++ has not been easy and is still a problem. I have been looking all over the net for HL coding tutorials only to find info on how to do small things, but nothing concrete for a bigger project. It feels like the coding ressources never left the stages of the first HL mods which were small changes to HL DM. I want Xmas to have a lot of changes from HL DM but keep the same feel it's been renouned for.
Unless i can find someone willing to help me on coding.
On the modeling side, ideas are the things that are lacking, not the skills. Finding suitable replacements and making this is no small task. And the concept artist i hired (The only team member i ever hired for Xmas) has been MIA, thus reinforcing my disbeleif in managing a full team.
"When you want something done right, you have to do it yourself."
I won't lie to the fans of Xmas.
Unless i receive more help and a get more interest from the community to finish 1.0, it will never get finished.
If al else fails, Xmas may become open sourced.
The faith of the mod is in your hands.
-BP
The guys picking mod of the month oughta be focusing on something other than eye candy. This is the second mod that will probably bite the dust after getting a Mod of the Month award. Padmod is the other one.
The awards should only be given out to mods that actally complete or something.
Hell, I will draw up some cool looking pictures, get myself a mod of the month award and then go on vacation. It is not like I would have to finish the mod or even work on it. I already got the award for the pretty pictures.
The fact that i got motm means nothing in the current situation. the MOTM award is only there to showcase mods which are original.
Id help, gladly, but like you said, you have modellers, you just need creativity or whatever.
In the art department, i am not that good.
When you get in my position, only then will you realize how important a concept artist is when doing game design.