I'm sad to announce that discord is banned in the country for the programmer I was working with. Unfortunately, this means the goalpost of having a demo made in time for Half Life 2's 20th birthday is indefinitely pushed back. Until I can find another godot programmer to hop on board to be able to directly communicate with, I don't know when development will return.

In other news, the Half Life collaborations have been a go for about the last 2 weeks, surprisingly, zero participation on the edit collaboration, and I'm unaware of any new posts with #hl2bday for the other collaboration (but hey we got a judge!)

Nearly 20 years ago, the Half Life series received its first sequel, and then birthed the chaotic engine we all know and love today, Source. So, to celebrate this occasion, I'm hosting a few collaborations:

First of all, over on the Lospec Discord server on October 1st, we'll be having a fun edit collaboration with pixel art, just pop on over to #collaboration and check the post stream!

Update: Collab post has been made! First claim to be posted at 12:00 AM PST! Collab will last until November 16th, which will be when I polish up the final image, and post it to here!

Next over here, we'll be making art to help celebrate HL2's 20th. ATM no prizes, however I'm looking for sponsors and judges (required that you have been a member on here for at least 3 years to judge). Feel free to get started now and post what you make with the tag #HL2Bday (keep your eyes peeled on this post as the days go by, I'll update this when I have additional info)

I intend for this to last not only through all of October, but also all of November, so you all get plenty of time!

If anyone else wishes to host a Half Life (or even source) themed collaboration, be sure to notify me, and I'll highlight it here!

@tomfulp I hand this off to you to update the calendar accordingly!

In May of 2024, I worked with PixelDud to create Portal Re:/Flashed, a semi-demake of Portal The Flash Version, and since then, I had an idea, a desire to continue the pattern. Unfortunately, PixelDud is on break, so I cannot rely on him to help build this game, so I waited. Lospec Jam 3 happened (Join it btw, we need more programmers to help make games for it!), and unfortunately building a platformer shooter or a sequel to Portal Reflashed would not be worth it due to control restrictions.

So now, I am tired of holding this off and requesting you, the NG community for help! HLRF needs game nerds, specifically people who can make the BGM and code, to become a reality than a pipe dream sitting as a few promo assets in a folder.

The crew ATM:

Me - Project director, lead artist, level design

Nayzal* - BGM

*: May not be available to work on this

Who I need: Godot Programmers, Level designers, Composers

People I am willing to bring aboard: Artists, Voice Actors**, writers

**: May not be needed

Project Timeline: (Not solid, but more best-case scenario type stuff)

End of August - At least 1-2 programmers on board, Player Controls, various test maps

Nov 16-19 - 1st web demo release in time for Half Life 1 or 2's bday! A composer or 2 on board that has made some decent renditions of the BGM based on Black Mesa and HL1's BGM should also be featured in this demo.

End of 2024 - 1/4 of Half Life 1's campaign has been remade in the Reflashed style

Q2 2025 - Half of HL1 ported, request Valve to greenlight the project for potential monetization.

Timeline 1: Valve says yes!

Kickstarter is made, larger swaths of progress is made, community manager is brought on board

Timeline 2: Valve says no...

What has been made will be polished, the project is released as a web demo on Newgrounds, we part ways somewhat satisfied and I plan the next Reflashed title

TL 1, continued:

End of 2025/somewhere in 2026 - Kickstarter is successful, staff now gets salaries, game can be published to steam, demo is polished and reuploaded to here, and additionally Steam

Beyond - Multiplayer modes (like what we got in Deathmatch and Counter Strike), freely distributed server binaries are made, side-entry Half Life titles potentially get ported as DLC (BS, OF, Decay), and more! (Sequels? Workshop/mod support?)

Just keep in mind, this all hinges on volunteer devs joining in on this project! Don't be afraid to contact me if you have questions or wish to join aboard, the sooner development is started, the better!

Over the past few days, I was bored, and I noticed something I could do, recreate a series of cards from the original release of Microsoft Solitaire. I released it as a pack on itch you can download right now for free!

Please consider checking it out, and I might consider adding some more for its big anniversary next year, so if you find some other old card backs that look nice, shoot em over to me! (I'm especially looking for higher res renders of the GBC card backs)

Ah shoot, looks like I forgot to post about this for a whole month. Eh, it's fine I can still announce it since team-ups have opened up!

Lospec Jam 3 is happening in less than 3 days! Aug 1-31!

Lospec Jam 3 will be taking place on the official Lospec discord, with submissions being posted in the Lospec Jam Forum. The best project in each category will be awarded a currently ambiguous amount of Pizkels (the server's currency), however it is requested that teams evenly distribute their payouts rather than leave teammates empty handed for their effort.

You can read more about the jam on the itch.io page!

FAQ:

- Where should I upload my finished project for the jam?

If you're intended to have the game receive prizes, upload it to itch and submit it as an entry, otherwise, upload it here, on GitHub, your neo city, or someplace else! Just make sure it runs in a browser.

- Why do I need to develop my project for browsers?

Browsers have the fastest compatibility across any platform, and it makes the job of judging every submission easier as well! Additionally, most modern game engines support developing games for browsers, such as Unity, Godot, and GMS.

- What can my project be for this jam?

Anything! If it is a game, a tool, an animation, or something else meant to fit the restrictions of the soon to be announced fantasy console, then it's fit to be a submission.

- Can I use premade assets in the jam?

Sorry, but you'll need to create brand new assets for your jam entry, with the only exception being code libraries. You may however commission people to make you new assets for the jam, or even do trades!

- I wanna do this, this, this, and THIS!

Firstly, that's not a question, second, it is recommended to keep a small scope for the jam, even if it is a month long jam, time flies easily!

Lospec Jam 2 has officially concluded as of 24+ hours ago! Judgment is underway and some good titles have been submitted!

Among this collection, Portal: The Flash Version has received a trimmed demake with Portal Re:/Flashed! Developed by ThePixelDud and I, we hope it is a great title for you all to play!

You can check out the art and animation entries on the Lospec Discord server and everything else on the Itch.io page.

THE JAM HAS ENDED! Thanks for participating, read up on the news post here!

It has been a couple years since the previous Lospec Jam, but it is back! From May 1st till May 30th, you will be able to develop a game for a soon to be announced fantasy console! Perhaps we'll see the next generation for the LTRO, or an entirely brand new console, whose to say!

Lospec Jam 2 will be taking place on the official Lospec discord, with submissions being posted in the Lospec Jam Forum. Unlike last time, there will be prizes too! The best project in each category will be awarded 1000 Pizkels (the server's currency), however it is requested that teams evenly distribute their payouts rather than leave teammates empty handed for their effort.

You can read more about the jam on the itch.io page!

FAQ:

- Where should I upload my finished project for the jam?

Here, itch, GitHub, your own personally hosted website, so long as it can be played in a browser, it's good!

- Why do I need to develop my project for browsers?

Browsers have the fastest compatibility across any platform, and it makes the job of judging every submission easier as well! Additionally, most modern game engines support developing games for browsers, such as Unity, Godot, and GMS.

- What can my project be for this jam?

Anything! If it is a game, a tool, an animation, or something else meant to fit the restrictions of the soon to be announced fantasy console, then it's fit to be a submission.

- Can I use premade assets in the jam?

Sorry, but you'll need to create brand new assets for your jam entry, with the only exception being code libraries. You may however commission people to make you new assets for the jam, or even do trades!

- I wanna do this, this, this, and THIS!

Firstly, that's not a question, second, it is recommended to keep a small scope for the jam, even if it is a month long jam, time flies easily!

So, I have just received tickets to FanExpo Portland as a belated Christmas present! Sadly, these kinds of events kinda require dough to burn, a lot of it, so discounted coms are a go! Check my BuyMeACoffee page to check com prices! I additionally still can do stuff beyond what I have listed, so seriously, if you don't know if I do something or not, do ask, I got a lot of wiggle room with my skills, including icons, small animations, and more, I got till near the 2nd week of Jan to get cash in.

Portfolio (or you can check my NG profile!)

Here's some milestones to sweeten the pot:

$50 - Free Commission giveaway!

$100 - Com giveaway upped to 2 winners

More milestones TBA!

Current pot:

$0.00 USD

Update:

So, I got covid, it's a bit nasty and as it turns out, food's getting close to running dry. I'm gonna have to give my pass to a family friend and spend my dough on food, but $20 isn't enough to feed multiple mouths, so still need that dough, especially since I have to skip in person grocery shopping and food pantries. Every dime matters!

If you like my stuff, and you want to support this almost starving pixel artist, welp, have I got news for you!

I finally actually got a place set up! It's the perfect place to start up quick commissions or simply toss over some dough!

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/jamestdg

At the moment, I have opened up commissions for the following:

32x32 characters | I'll draw your character as a full body based on the small canvas of 32x32 pixels. Additional tiers are provided! Start-up bonus: shading is free!

Pixel memes | I'll recreate a meme with your OC or multiple OCs in it (additional charges apply). Start -up bonus: New clients get a free basic-tier meme with purchase!

HD characters | Where pixel art jumps towards traditional styles of art. This stuff has extremely limited slots, mostly because this stuff eats a lot of time to make.

But wait! There's more! If none of these truly strike your fancy, you can always DM me via here, Discord, or Imgur, there's a chance I might make something I don't have listed just yet! (I am established on all platforms I use as JamesTDG)

That's it for now, hopefully potential clients come in before I gotta take that temp job as a sales associate...

Oh wow, I forgot about this site, its been AGES since I even used this place... (makes me think to see the status of my old kongregate account, lol). Over the next few months, I will be uploading pieces from the many, MANY years since I stopped using this place.