Not bad, not bad… more than 1600 downloads in 7 days. I was expecting to reach around 5000 downloads, but of course, in all the time. Maybe after 3 month it could be possible. So, i’m happy with the result and with people comments and opinions. Most of the people dissapointed by BlockStorm repeated the same complains: ball is moving badly and the bar is slower than the ball. For sure, is my fault if the ball moves faster than the ball, but I have repeated thousand times I cannot do anything with how Source Physics make the ball behaves… it’s a ball with physics! PHYSICS! That’s why is moving like that, because the ball tries to move in a realistic way, and I’m trying to make it move in the most unrealistic way possible. So, finally the ball beat me and now I have to listen hundreds of complains, because I understand lot of people don’t know what Hammer is able to do, and what not.

Anyway… most of the people liked the “final” release and that’s enough for me. Now I can continue with more projects and forget about balls, bricks and powerups… for a while. ^^

Now is time to think, to create, to try new things… Aerobatics is one idea I had a few weeks ago which I started in the last days of BlockStorm. A game where hability and beautiful enviroments, plus a relaxing arcade style (Not ready to see in the video yet) are mixed to create a nicely gameplay. New projects means new questions and new problems… and solving problems means new ways to surprise the people with features never seen before in a HL2 mod. This is just the first Alpha… you can leave your suggestions in this post. Comment!

No está nada mal… más de 1600 descargas en 7 días. Esperaba alcanzar alrededor de 5000 descargas, pero por supuesto, tras pasado un buen tiempo. Tal vez en 3 meses podría ser posible. De todas formas, esto muy contento con el resultado y con los comentarios y opiniones de la gente. La mayor parte de la gente decepcionada por BlockStorm han compartido las mismas quejas: la bola se mueve mal y la barra es más lenta que la bola. Está claro que es culpa mía que la bola se mueva más rápido que la barra, pero ya he repetido miles de veces que no puedo hacer por como la física del Source hace que la bola se comporte… ¡es una bola con física! ¡F-I-S-I-C-A! Por eso se mueve así, porque la bola intenta moverse de una manera realista y yo, por otro lado, pretendo todo lo contrario. Como veis, al final me ganó la bola y ahora me toca aguantar cientos de críticas, porque entiendo que mucha gente no comprenda las limitaciones del Hammer Editor.

De todas formas, la mayoría de la gente está encantada con la versión “final” y eso ya es suficiente para mi. Ahora puedo continuar con más proyectos y olvidarme de bolas, bloques, powerups… por un tiempo. ^^

Ahora es tiempo de pensar, crear e intentar nuevas cosas… Aerobatics es una idea que tuve hace unas semanas y que comencé en los últimos días del BlockStorm. Un juego en el que habilidad y bellos paisajes, junto con un relajante estilo arcade (Que no está presente aun en el video) se mezclan para crear un atrayente estilo de juego. Nuevos proyectos significan nuevas preguntas y nuevos problemas… y solucionar problemas significa tener nuevas formas de sorprender a la gente con caracteristicas nunca vistas antes en un mod para HL2. Es tan solo la primera Alpha. Puedes dejarme tus sugerencias en este post. ¡A comentar!

Music by V.L.CODE… (¡Ereh un cráh!)

Well, it has been a long and hard way but finally I did it. I’m proud to present the first mod made completely just using Valve Hammer Editor ever. This mod will be the first one of a number of mods made with the same style. I want to show what Hammer Editor is able to do with some hard work and not using any code at all. You can see the result with your own eyes: a completely NEW GAME made with the same entities and stuff that usually we use to do CSS, DOD or HL2 maps. In fact, if you take all the folders in this mod and you copy them to another’s mod folder, you would play there too, with some little changes due to differences in the script files, but will be almost the same experience. I know lot of people don’t believe BlockStorm is made just with Hammer and the Input/Output System… to check that this is true, try to look for the “bin” folder in BlockStorm’s folder… you see? There is no “bin” folder.

Here is a list of all features included in BLOCKSTORM FINAL:

- Two different challenges with 10 unique levels each one.
- Score counter & Combo system.
- 7 different powerups (Multiball, Destroyer, Shield…).
- PONG MODE for 1 or 2 players (In the same screen) with 4 different maps with the first functional menu made with a level editor.
- 5 music tracks.
- Instructions to create your own player for PONG MODE.
- Original VMF maps included (But you have to unlock them by playing )
- New Intro sequence.

Fixes:

- Blocks now don’t throw gibs when the ball breaks them.
- Ball and platform speed increased
- Now you can change music track by pressing forward and back while playing.
- Fixed a problem with the platform when the player tried to cover the right side in each level.
- Ball now respawns over the platform, not in the middle of each level.
- Combo Counter now counts until 36.
- Difficulty adjusted.

Possible bugs:

- Score counter sometimes gives 1000 extra points to the player when ball is breaking several blocks at the same time.
- There is a little probability to lose the ball if the platform push it when it’s stuck between the wall and the platform.
- Some possible minor bugs with overlays and sounds when changing the level or in credits screen.
- How the ball moves is not considered a bug… is just the way physics in Source Engine make the ball behave.

Downloads

- MODDB.

- Fileplanet

- FileFront

Thanks for your support and don’t forget to comment!

Bueno, ha sido una larga y ardua tarea pero finalmente lo conseguí. Me siento orgulloso de presentar el primer mod creado completamente usando tan solo el Valve Hammer Editor. Este mod será el primero de una serie de mod realizados siguiendo los mismos patrones. Quiero demostrar de lo que Hammer Editor es capaz con un poco de duro esfuerzo y sin usar ni una línea de código. Puedes ver el resultado con tus propios ojos: un juego COMPLETAMENTE NUEVO creado a partir de las mismas entidades que se usan normalmente en mapas para CSS, DoD o Half-Life 2. De hecho, si copias todas las carpetas de este mod y las pegas en el directorio de otro mod, podrás jugarlo también ahí, con algunas diferencias debido a la discordancia de ciertos scripts, pero básicamente sería lo mismo. Sé que aun hay gente que no se cree que BlockStorm ha sido integramente realizado usando solo el Hammer Editor a través del sistema de Inputs/Outputs… para comprobar que esto es real, simplemente busca la carpeta “bin” en el directorio del BlockStorm… efectivamente, no hay ningún directorio “bin”.

Aquí tienes una lista de lo que podrás encontrar en BLOCKSTORM:

- 2 desafios diferentes con 10 niveles únicos cada uno.
- Contador de puntuación y sistema de combos.
- 7 powerups diferentes (Multiball, Destroyer, Shield…).
- MODO PONG para 1 o 2 jugadores (En la misma pantalla) con 4 mapas diferentes y el primer menu de opciones funcional jamás creado por un editor de niveles.
- 5 nuevas canciones.
- Instrucciones para crear tu propio jugador en el MODO PONG.
- Mapas VMF originales incluidos (Pero tienes que jugar para desbloquearlos ^^ )
- Nueva secuencia de introducción.

Arreglos:

- Ahora los bloques no generan “gibs” cuando la bola los rompe.
- Velocidad de la bola y de la plataforma aumentadas.
- Ahora puedes cambiar de canción mientras juegas tan solo pulsando delante y detrás.
- Arreglado un problema con la plataforma cuando el jugador trataba de cubrir la zona derecha de cualquier nivel.
- La bola ahora aparece sobre la plataforma, no en mitad de cada nivel.
- El contador de combo ahora cuenta hasta 36.
- Dificultad ajustada.

Posibles bugs:

- Es posible que el contador de puntuación de 1000 puntos extras si el jugador está rompiendo muchos bloques al mismo tiempo.
- Hay una pequeña probabilidad de perder la bola si la plataforma la empuja contra la pared cuando está atascada entre la pared y la plataforma.
- Algunos pequeños problemas con los overlays y los sonidos cuando se cambia de un nivel a otro o en la secuencia de los créditos
- La manera en la que la bola se mueve no se considera un bug… su comportamiento depende de como la física en el Source Engine la interpreta.
Downloads

- MODDB

- Fileplanet

- FileFront

¡Muchas gracias por vuestro apoyo y no olvideis comentar!

Finally, I decided to include powerups in BlockStorm. As I wanted, this release must be the final one or at least, the final BETA. I know lot of people were begging me to include powerups in BlockStorm, but I didn’t know how to include them. And I don’t mean HOW to do it, I mean where and how include it. Well, now, that problem is solved and the answer is this:

Every level, after a while, a special block will appear in the screen for a few moments (around 10 – 15 seconds). If player breaks it, a random powerup will be activated. Right now, I’m planning to do the following powerups:

- Multiball + Shield

- Shield

- 500 Extra points

- Extra life

- Slow motion (This can be considered good or bad)

- Fish eye screen (This is totally bad).

Is hard to find outputs which makes some change, good or bad, in the gameplay. For example, Hammer Editor has problems changing the speed of the moving platform, because when it changes and you stop it, it loses that speed and returns to the previous one. Or making the ball stronger makes the game lose too many FPS while breaking blocks, due to the glass gibs. Making the platform change the size would give some problems with path_tracks, etc, etc… so, if you don’t see that powerup you wish to have in BlockStorm, for sure is because was not easy to include. Maybe I’m good, but not a genious!

I hope the list of powerups become longer and better, but right now, this is what I want to include. This is the final countdown for BlockStorm!

By the way, I decided to include the original VMFs of every map used in BlockStorm, but in password protected RAR files. How to unlock them? Score more than 5000 points in BlockStorm Challenge 1 and 2 and they will be yours… . I like so much those arcade reward systems.

ENGLISH: Whoever reads this entry I would undertand he/she is interested in my projects and Hammer mods. Thanks for reading, first of all. I’m sorry to announce another delay, because I don’t want to release another non finished version of BlockStorm. I really want to release the FINAL VERSION, and that’s why i’m taking so much time… although, actually this mod, from the beggining until the end, it just take around 9 weeks. So, my intention is to release it in the second week of October, and do it with news about my next mod.

Why i’m taking so much time? Why another delay? Well, the reason is that i’m helping 24 hours everyday to a group of demosceners called TimeScratchers to release a demo for the DemoParty in Barcelona next 13th October. Is something new and amazing for me… I’ve never been in a Party like that, so I wish to enjoy this new experience. Of course, it makes me start with another project with one member of that team: we’re going to release the first Wild Compo based in Source Engine. We will see how looks the final result, but first impressions look awesome.

So, that’s all… see you soon!