Hello again everyone.
This has all been so overwhelming, the reaction to my work has much more incredible than I could ever have anticipated.
My intention was to make something that would reflect what Half-Life meant to me - the horror, the comedy, the action, and the realism of the world around you. Half-Life and it's many community made mods have stuck with me my entire life since I was young and changed the way I looked at games. A lot of the feedback from you all so far seems to show that I might have made some other people remember the same feelings Half-Life brought us when it was first released.
You are all brilliant. All the feedback, videos, reviews, comments have all meant the world to me. Thank you. I dabbled in Half-Life level editing when I was a teenager (sometime around 2000/2001), and never went back to it, but I decided to try my hand at making something worthwhile to release, around five years ago - perhaps spurred on by a lack of Episode 3. A lot has happened in this time - and releasing this marks the end of a long journey for me. The reception I have received has definitely made it all worth while.
I have just released v1.2 - which I hope should fix the last few crashes. A couple of minor bugs may remain, but I no longer have any real time to spend on this aside from fixing issues that prevent it from working - but please do not hesitate to send any issues to me.
On a personal note - I have something to ask. A few months ago, I became a father to the most wonderful little boy in the world. However, when he was born, we found out moments later he had an un-diagnosed heart condition which meant he would not live without immediate open heart surgery. For my wife and I, this was the hardest and most difficult time of our lives, but thanks to the incredible team at the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow - he has made a full recovery after surgery and is expected to lead a normal healthy life. There is nothing that can prepare you for this kind of situation, and not everyone is as fortunate as we were.
I would like to ask - if you enjoyed my work and have the means or the inclination - please make a donation to the Glasgow Children's Hospital Charity to support these wonderful people who saved my son's life. Donations will help save, help and enrich the lives of other children.
Glasgowchildrenshospitalcharity.org
Justgiving.com
Thank you, James
Dude, your mod is MOTY for sure!!!
good luck with your son!!!
Thank YOU for this mod. You set a quality bar that only the Core can beat...probably. P.S.: good health to the son.
Thank you for your hard work with this mod, it was amazing. I wish all the best to your son and the whole family, I know how quickly life can change from joy to sorrow, and how heavy the burden of worrying is. Many aren't as lucky as you.
You're the best! God bless you good sir.
You're very welcome, Mr. Gnang. God bless you and your son.
Man...I got freaking goosebumps playing trough your mod ! It's definitely one of the best I ever played ! Thanks again for making it, I wish the best to you and your family !
I'm so glad to hear that terminal diagnosis was dealt with, it very rarely goes that route. I was greatly concerned when you announced that early this year :c
I hope your son get's to enjoy playing Echoes one day c:
Unfortunately the terminal diagnosis was another member of family! This came not long after, it was a tough few months. The other persons condition has improved and things wont be so quick, so we are all managing as best we can - thank you for the concern and kind words :)
You rock!
Thank you again for sharing with us :) Your mod simply rocks.
YOUR MOD IS THE BEST BY FAR! And good luck with your son!
You did a work of +100 employees of a 'company' that couldn't do in years, my friend. You rock. You totally deserve all the spots in the gaming community/marketing.
Especially, the MOTY first place. Good luck and thank YOU!
i just discovered this mod, very impressed so far :)
I hope you do get MOTY, you're a legend mate.
James! I had to take the time to comment on your work. What you've done is really incredible. It's not just because you created high quality content that carries the spirit of Half-Life and is a blast to play, and it's not just because you released content for a game series whose fans are losing hope of ever seeing the series continue, it's also that you REVIVED the discussion, activity and love that we all remember from the heyday of HL1 modding!
For the first time in years, everybody is back in hl.exe, everybody is talking about an HL mod, everybody is excited about the game again, about your work, and the legacy represented by it. That my friend is an absolute GIFT I was so happy to receive this month, and I was more stoked to play this than anything else released recently. Like you HL1 shaped how I see games in a lot of ways, and your mod plays great and is full of memorable moments. Thanks for your passion and this gift to the community.
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One of my two most anticipated HL1 mods released (this and RainFall)? Wow. I was away for far too long. I am not even sure if I am commenting on the right article, I had like a ton of updates from this mod! Congrats for releasing this masterpiece and congrats for your newborn son! I am extremely happy that he made it through without any problems or complications. And what a nice thing of you to try and help the wonderful people there at the hospital. Most people just say to the doctors a 'Thank you' and move on, without realizing what a miracle they just did.
I wish you and your family good health and I will play this bad boy as soon as I have the time. Congrats again and hopefully we will see something new and as exciting from you in the future ;)
Cheers!
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Watching all of you who was with Half-Life from the beginning and see your hard works with your mods for both HL1 & 2 and how you are trying to recreate what valve couldn't do it like Black Mesa, Op Black Mesa and Guard Duty, Project Borealis and Boreal Alyph, Peer Review, mods like Azure Sheep, Black Guard, Echoes, Nightmare House, MMod and too many others i played them and loved them ... It all make feel so sad and useless because i knew Half-Life back in 2008 but didn't enter it from the correct path until 2014 and how i have no talents in programming nor mapping or modding. I want to be able to make something and share it with my favorite and number 1# community:"The Half-Life Community", but i can't not yet and i don't want to be a guy who is playing other's mods while they took years in make it for us before to be for them. I really appreciate all of your wonderfull efforts and how you make time to give us what we don't deserve to this much. After valve been silent for years all of you now are our only hopes to keep the Half-Life series alive so, thanks for all of you, the hardcore Half-Life fans, you all deserve more then what you are giving to us. Again, thank you.
MrGnang,
Your mod is AWESOME! You did a phenomenal job on this puppy. Talk about attention to detail. I love how you subtly peppered the G-man here and there. I started playing it and didn't even realize that I was already about a third way through ... I was that immersed. Brilliant use of already canned voices and resources. Oh, it works well with Xash3D too, so I REALLY appreciate you providing the patch. Absolutely brilliant. Check out my mod, Brutal Ultimate Freedoom, if you gotta chance; however, it's Mickey Mouse compared to your masterpiece. Thank you big time!
OMG!!Look you are the best,thank you for the hard work cause this mod was awesome.I was looking for good mods and when i saw this,i was AMAZED!!.Good luck with you're son i wish the best life for him and whoever saved him.
Please. I just want to shoot something. Where are the weapons for this mod?? I have spent nearly 30 minutes running around, running away from Xen beasties I so desperately want to kill. And there are so many crates that need smashing! You didn't even give me a crowbar to swing until the 3rd or 4th chapter. And, it appears you have disabled the effectiveness of the developer's console so impulse 101 is useless. Have you gone mad?