General Update and a new Map!

ss_allan0000_small

Hi everyone, it has been a long time since there was an update so it is time for some news:

First of all, Suicide Survival is not dead, its only resting (just like the parrot). And whenever I check the servers I always see a few people playing which really suprises me. I figured Suicide Survival would be hip for a few months and then dissappear into the great void of the internet. Alas I was wrong which really makes me happy.

Second of all and mostly being the reason why I layed down the development of Suicide Survival for a while are some personal matters: I finished my Bachelor in Game Design this summer and I’m still trying to get a job in the game industry. Second I’m working on my final project again in order to submit it to the IGF and Unity Awards. If you want to check it out you can visit the website at: www.doppelscope.com The website is only in German for now but there will be a playable and English version of it as well in the near future.In short this has my main priority followed by creating my portfolio and getting a job. However I will try to get a new version of Suicide Survival out before christmas this year.

Last but not least Michael Kuzel aka Eccentricity from the official forums has made a pretty awesome and well designed map. Its called SS_Allan and even features a new and unique game mode. Taken straight from the read me:

In certain intervals, a special shrub will spawn in a random location. This special shrub has no identifying features that separates it from normal shrubs or even Suiciders – except for one thing – it chirps. Every few seconds this unique shrub will emit a small chirp sound. This sound can be heard both by the Survivors as well as the Suiciders. Use your ears to locate this shrub, as it will give an advantage to the Survivor team if its found and used!

Check out the thread from Eccentricity in the forums or simply download the map (21 MB) and try it out.

Update, Twitter and GDC 09

gdc09Hey everyone, I’m way over due with some update as to what has been going on with Suicide Survival. So here are some important news:

I’m currently in my last semester of my BA in game design. So all my time is being focused on the diploma project which of course is a game (DUN! DUN!). I still haven’t decided if it will be a new version of Suicide Survival or something totally new. I’ll make an update once that has been solved.

On the ModDB.com “Mod of the Year Awards” Suicide Survival was voted into the “top 22 released Half-Life 2 mods of 2008” by you. Thank you very much for your votes.

Another important news is that I’m one of the few selected students to receive an GDC Student Scholarship sponsored by the IGDA. This means I’ll be at the Game Developers Conference in a couple of days. I’m super excited and feel very honored to have received this scholarship. This will not only be my first time visiting the US, but also my first time meeting so many big time game developers.

If you are visiting GDC as well or are from San Francisco and want to meet the guy behind Suicide Survival then drop me a mail.

Alternatively you can also follow my newly created Twitter page which I’ll keep updated about the trip, the GDC and my diploma project.

Thats about it with the current things going on. More news after the GDC.

Hacked & Down-Time

Some spamers hacked the domain Suicide-Survival.com is being hosted on. Thats why the site was down for the last two days. Sorry for the inconvenience. Its all back to normal now.

I’ll write some update on what’s been going on with Suicide Survival in a couple of days. So stay tuned ๐Ÿ˜‰

Vote for Suicide Survival on the ModDB “Mod of the Year Awards”!

moty_2008_125px“So I heard you like exploding pottery?”

If yes, then now its the time to show your support and vote for Suicide Survival on the ModDB.com Mod of the Year Awards. To do so simply go on the Suicide Survival page on ModDB.com and click on the “VOTE FOR MOD” button under “Nominate for Mod of the Year 2008″.

Currently the awards are in phase 1 which ends on January the 16th.ย  During this phase the thousand of contenders get narrowed down to the players choice top 100.

Suicide Survival Internet Linkage

Its time for some end of the year wrap up ofย  public responses to Suicide Survival. Here is a quite detailed link list of all the stuff I could find about Suicide Survival since its initial release in November 2008.

Oh, and happy new year!

NEWS PAGES

  • http://www.krawall.de/web/Mod_der_Woche/news/id,34052/s,,
  • http://www.hlportal.de/?sec=&site=news&do=shownews&news_id=6495
  • http://planethalflife.gamespy.com/View.php?view=HL2Mods.Detail&id=214
  • http://planethalflife.gamespy.com/fullstory.php?id=155395
  • http://www.vossey.com/mod/Half-Life-2/Suicide-Survival–i1249.htm
  • http://www.half-life.hu/index.php?l=YToyOntzOjQ6Im1lbnUiO3M6NDoibmV3cyI7czoyOiJpZCI7czo1OiIyMzQzMCI7fQ==
  • http://www.halflifefusion.fr/mods.php?e=557&r=BYID
  • http://www.knc-clan.com/index.php?file=News&op=index_comment&news_id=9
  • http://www.tvfm.hu/story.php?title=let%F6lt%E9sek-suicide-survival-hl2-mod

BLOGS

  • http://sch8.bloggospace.de/61027/Modding-RockZZZzzz/
  • http://blogs.wefrag.com/Douceur/2008/12/25/suicide-survival/
  • http://clblprod.blogspot.com/2008/12/suicide-survival-is-out.html
  • http://www.game-damashi.com/mod/half-life2/suicidesurvivor.htm
  • http://allyourinternets.wordpress.com/2008/12/10/killer-plants-swedes-and-the-worst-video-clip-of-all-times/
  • http://blog.livedoor.jp/manual_bomb/archives/51567915.html
  • http://zabbixx.wordpress.com/2008/12/13/petit-mod-pour-la-route/
  • http://summer36.seesaa.net/article/111579004.html

REVIEWS

  • http://www.hlportal.de/?sec=mods&site=mods&do=showmod&mod_id=661

PODCASTS

  • http://www.moddb.com/mods/suicide-survival/features/modcast-s02-e03
  • http://www.moddb.com/mods/suicide-survival/features/modcast-s02-e05
  • http://www.podcast17.com/transmissions/c10119
  • http://www.podcast17.com/transmissions/c9961 (Interview)
  • http://www.podcast17.com/transmissions/c9803

FORUMS

  • http://www.halflife2.net/forums/showthread.php?t=149940
  • http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=76131
  • http://www.k-foren.de/showthread.php?p=1771671
  • http://www.ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?p=487873
  • http://forum.vgcats.com/showthread.php?t=24921
  • http://www.hlfallout.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=65047&st=0
  • http://forum.game-central.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&p=11847
  • http://board.opteria-gaming.net/index.php?page=Thread&threadID=247
  • http://www.hlportal.de/?sec=forum&site=thread&sec=forum&site=thread&thread_id=15995&page=1
  • http://www.pcpowerplay.com.au/forums/showthread.php?p=2579400
  • http://www.dreamviews.com/community/showthread.php?p=973989
  • http://forums.facepunchstudios.com/showthread.php?t=656626
  • http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=771864#post8714203
  • http://intoxgaming.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=5634
  • http://forum.canardpc.com/showthread.php?t=31417
  • http://www.mediavida.com/vertema.php?fid=39&tid=343537
  • http://www.hl2spain.com/foro/index.php?showtopic=40791
  • http://www.pcpowerplay.com.au/forums/showthread.php?t=112346
  • http://forums.gamer.co.il/gamer2/php/replieslist.php?TopicID=962159
  • http://games.on.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=109&t=158641&sid=80ba13ad49bdf7448d30f661e977373d
  • http://n-club.dk/fora/emner/196029/1/
  • http://gm.ucoz.ru/forum/27-293-1
  • http://forum.blockland.us/index.php?topic=51950.0
  • http://fanboy-forum.com/index.php?topic=3526.0
  • http://www.jact.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=16145

VIDEOS

  • http://www.wegame.com/watch/lol_suicide_survival_mod/
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1HyXSkTke4
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCa1l3uzau8
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeSA-7YYR7o
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJJysztdLNY
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FusW2PbCZ4A
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEEqV8VKuuU
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKl3oS-XlHE
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ADihWSWdUM
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3KdoCD5s1c
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7NAOUEyJQ4
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TJHUkq-0I8
  • http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7og7y_clickntest-suicide-survival_videogames
  • http://www.gametrailers.com/player/usermovies/298478.html
  • http://zoome.jp/systemshock/diary/46
  • http://www.moddb.com/groups/tv/features/mod-video-spotlight-december-2008

STEAM GROUPS

  • http://steamcommunity.com/groups/PAGreenhouse/
  • http://steamcommunity.com/groups/xshrubsx (Clan)
  • http://steamcommunity.com/groups/spoungebob-zc (Clan)
  • http://steamcommunity.com/groups/shrub (Clan)
  • http://steamcommunity.com/groups/shrubparty

DOWNLOAD SITES

  • http://browse.files.filefront.com/Half+Life+2/;2332294;/browsefiles.html
  • http://www.fileplanet.com/109910/0/0/0/1/section/Mod_Files_and_Patches
  • http://www.fileplay.net/files/fps/hl2/mods/ss
  • http://www.strategyinformer.com/pc/halflife2/mod/28372.html
  • http://www.paradisesgarage.com/mcweb2/files/folders/hl2_mods/entry2521.aspx
  • http://www.pcguru.hu/pcguru/letoltes.php?letoltid=3413&nev=Suicide_Survival_[HL2_mod]
  • http://www.vossey.com/telechargement/Suicide-Survival–Suicide-Survival-1-1–i1629.htm
  • http://games.rapidshare.com/gamesnew/detail.html?datei=_2008_12_mod_survivalsui_.xml&rubrik=client

SOCIAL BOOKMARKING

  • http://digg.com/pc_games/The_Most_Ridiculous_Half_Life_2_Mod_You_ve_Ever_Seen

Merry bloody X-Mas!

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Merry X-Mas from the developer of Suicide Survival!
Thanks for all the support,
and move into 2009 with a blast! ๐Ÿ™‚

Tobias Baumann


Thanks to Knoxerboy101 for this most hilarious video.

Suicide Survival is recruiting!

I have decided to create a small and close team of people to work on the next release of Suicide Survival. Now is your opportunity to work on a quality, successful and uprising mod. A mod unlike any other.

In particular I’m looking for the following people:

One coder

Requirements:

  • Familiar with c++ language
  • Previous experience coding forย  the Source Engine
  • Ability to work in a close team and take directions
  • Enough free time on your hands for the project

What he will work on Suicide Survival:

  • Coding and testing new gameplay features

One modeler

Requirements:

  • Previous experience making low-poly models for games
  • Familiar with exporting models to the Source Engine
  • Ability to texture his own models
  • A basic understanding of color theory
  • Ability to work in a close team and take directions
  • Enough free time on your hands for the project

What he will work on Suicide Survival:

  • Creating new wacky prop models
  • Creating a new player model
  • Re-texturing old and new stuff

Two mappers

Requirements:

  • Previous experience making maps for the Source Engine
  • Familiar with play testing and optimizing maps
  • A fair understanding of the gameplay mechanics of Suicide Survival
  • Previous experience with making textures for the Source Engine
  • A basic understanding of color theory
  • Ability to work in a close team and take directions
  • Enough free time on your hands for the project

What he will work on Suicide Survival:

  • Creating new maps
  • Creating textures
  • Play testing new maps

How to apply

Now if you are interested in any of these jobs and fullfill the requirements here is how you apply. Send an e-mail to: tobias dot baumann at zhdk dot ch containing the following informations:

  • Why do you want to work on Suicide Survival?
  • Best part of Suicide Survival?
  • Worst part of Suicide Survival?
  • Whats your previous experiences with working on mods?
  • Are you working on any other mod team or project at the moment?
  • A/S/L?
  • What do you do for a living?
  • Include links to your portfolio or samples of your work.
  • Please note that applications without samples of your previous work will not be accepted.
  • What is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?

What will be in Suicide Survival 1.2

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As promised on the release day of Suicide Survival 1.1 I will now write about what I want to have done before releasing the next version of Suicide Survival. In other words: what will be in 1.2 ?

One of the major problem right now with Suicide Survival is a motivation for longer play sessions. Thats why 1.2 will have a new gamemode. In this mode the game will be turned into round-based gameplay. Each round starts with one player starting as a Suicider and everyone else is a Survivor. If you die as a Survivor you will respawn as a Suicider and will stay Suicider until the round is over. This gamemode has two winning conditions:

  1. Survivors win if the timelimit is reached with one or more Survivors alive.
  2. Suiciders win if no Survivor is left alive before the timelimit is reached.

If the winning condition is met the winning team gets points and the round restarts over.

Another thing I want to have in 1.2 is the feature to allow mappers to replace the props Suiciders control. However this generates some more issues as mappers would also have to replace movement sounds and other stuff. But the idea is to give mappers full control of how the player models look and sound like.

Additional features are:

  • General game balancing in coherence with feedback from 1.1
  • A couple of new maps (of course!)
  • Bugfixes
  • additional crazy and totally senseless stuff

So thats about the general roadmap for the next release. Can’t wait to play it? me too! ๐Ÿ˜‰