Sleep paralysis journal
Not really significant but some of you seem to be interested enough, so...

A few weeks ago:
Spent another day at my parents' house and took another nap on the couch.
I woke up feeling the onset of SP. From where I was lying, I could look through the living room door into the kitchen, in which I could see the bar that runs through the middle of the kitchen. It was mid-day, but the light in the kitchen was off and little light shines through the windows due to where it's located in the house. Just enough light shines in to dimly light the whole kitchen. That's not really important, though.
There was a black cat with white eyes sitting on the bar, looking at me.
After staring the cat down for a while, knowing it was a hallucination, another cat appeared behind it, walked around the black cat, and began walking toward me. It disappeared when it reached the end of the bar.
Involuntarily, I came out of SP, and the black cat disappeared.

Fast forward a few weeks, since I didn't have SP for some time.

Two days ago I woke up an hour before I needed to and briefly went into SP while trying to fall back asleep. No hallucinations this time, but the whooshing sound was especially loud and I felt the entire upper half of my body being pulled away. Unfortunately I didn't try to run with it, because I felt pressed for time and was afraid that experimenting might cause me to wake up late or something.

That's all. I just wasted 3 minutes of your life.

Aight, lets do this shit, i know this is a website about Mapping for HL/2 and stuff, but I mean, not every aspect has to be about mapping, right? Anyways, yesterday i told a girl I thought was my friend, girl A, that I liked another girl, girl B, shes pretty and is awesome at computing like me, and today, aperantly girl A told B i liked her....WHAT THE FUCK. She even promised not to tell, i mean, just, REALLY?

OK, post comments mocking my shitty life right after the three dots..

.
Also, for Maximum Mudkipz, use this
http://www.twhl.co.za/journals.php?id=6753&leet=2

Just got Lyssa's MRI scan. {:<

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Its a 3cm AVM between the occipital and temporal lobe on the right side. This calls for an embelization and a craniotomy back to back.

Oh man...new computer. I can finally run Episode 2 completely maxed out without it looking like retarded. Crysis should be a breeze too...

While I could, in light of recent events, recommend the map "Experimental Problems" as the next in line for you to try out, I'm not going to. Instead, to celebrate the comeback or whatever you call it, I'll just list ten really, really good HL1 mods here for you all to try out.

Azure Sheep
Cthulhu
Heart of Evil
Night at the Office
Operation Black Thunder
Point of View
Poke646 and Poke646 Vendetta
Sweet Half-Life
They Hunger
Todesangst 2

And here's ten really long mods of varying caliber.

Black Death
Chemical Existence
Dark Territory
Hour-glass (yes the one with the inappropriate content)
Intolerable Threat (need OPFOR)
Invasion (the French one)
Residual Point
Survive in Catacombs series
Xen Assault
Zombie-X

Most of them are available on moddb, I think.
Tell me what you think of these.

I have added my first map to the map vault, and its the first alien swarm campaign, i am quite proud at this moment.

I've been thinking a bit about game AI recently. What makes an AI good opposed to bad. The answer
isn't how smart an AI is. It's how human it seems.

Look at HL2's Combine AI. They're smart (ish), they use tactics, throw grenades, flank, assess dangers, etc. But they don't seem human. Now, in HL2, that's okay; they're not human anymore, after all. But
that shouldn't be an excuse, not for any game. AI shouldn't be designed just for combat.
Now, look at Goldeneye's (the original, of course) AI. They patrol, they scratch themselves, they sneeze. If you shoot them, they don't just flinch from the impact of the bullet (like the combine do in
HL2) they flinch from pain. Shoot a soldier in the hand, he'll bend over in pain, maybe shake his hand. Shoot them in the neck, they might slowly fall to the ground, slowly dying from asphyxiation. For all
their blockiness and comparatively stupid AI, they seem more human than the combine in HL2 do.

Games need more AI that doesn't just stand around waiting for the player and then shoot. Look at the recent STALKER games; NPCs sleep, eat, wander around. The world doesn't revolve around the player, and that illusion of humanity and life is caused by the AI's idle behaviors. In video games,
Guards and Soldiers should guard things and patrol, chatting with any friendlies nearby, whether it's a passing guy on patrol, or the person the NPC is guarding a door with. Scientists should do science. Terrorists should patrol with varying degrees of unease, with a couple guys guarding the hostages, who huddle on the ground, or sleep, or eat their bread and water. Maybe talking quietly amongst themselves until a terrorist breaks it up. Dynamic or scripted, games need more NPC interaction, more idle behaviors.

And I'm tired of trying to sneak up on soldiers, while crouching and moving slowly, I might add, only to have them swivel around as soon as I get within a few feet of them. Unless you're making noise, or they can see you directly, NPCs should not detect you. If you're in a vent, directly above them, they shouldn't be able to always snap their heads up and start shooting. AI has always been too smart, perception-wise. If I want to use stealth for a change, instead of blasting everything, I should be able to
do so successfully, as long as I'm using the basic techniques from HL's hazard course! And hearing needs to be redone for 90% of AIs as well. Running/Walking around in a large military base, for example, shouldn't attract all the NPCs in the level, but a bit of unsilenced gunfire should attract some, with the amount of different shooters and the length of the combat being a key factor on how many come, and whether they run, walk, or tiptoe. The combat tree of
Idle > Alert > Combat > Search > Alert > Idle
Is no longer good enough, the way it's implemented, there need to be different levels of alertness, different levels of search, Search and Alert should go hand in hand if the player has triggered one of
them, and NPCs should start with varying levels of alertness. Maybe the map is set at night, and most of the guards in the building are tired and not expecting anything to happen. Maybe the map is set in a warzone, and there was just an attack on the outpost, so the guards on the outside are alert and waiting for more.

If we're capable of making NPCs with simulated emotions and dynamic AI, why the hell has no one implemented this stuff in full into a game? Even the AI that's heralded for being realistic doesn't have
all of these features implemented. You know what I think? Laziness. If the big companies can keep making mainstream games using no new tech that doesn't involve graphics, why would they spend the
effort on improving anything? The very notion of doing something that doesn't have an immediate personal payoff is lost on them.
Meanwhile, the few companies that might actually be both capable and willing to improve technology,
such as Valve, are too busy to do it. I think that as soon as Valve are finished Ep3, and are working on the 2011/2012 branch of the engine, they should pull a Valve, and implement AI like I've mentioned in the above 5-6 paragraphs, before anyone else is even near considering doing it. (Skeletal animation, facial animation and full, accurate physical gameplay anyone?)

tl/dr: JeffMOD rants about AI.

EDIT: And don't even get me started on flashlights and corpses in relation to NPC alertness.

I want to download the song these guys use;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLv6cKyzumQ

I thought it was Vanessa Maes but I was wrong. :(

Any Help?

I want this car.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJfSS0ZXYdo

Shame it's got no reverse gear.

Was driving around with Mum yesterday (I have my L's, FYI). Was going to turn right off of a road (indicators on for plenty of warning), and as I was turning the people in the car behind me decided to try and overtake.

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No one got hurt, which I suppose is the main thing. Not a great confidence booster for such a new driver, though.

I'm 18 today.

I've been visiting TWHL for five years now.

Which, if you think about it,

Actually makes me five years old.

I lost everything involving Left 4 Beer. I reinstalled Left 4 Dead and the tools because of a strange error that would let me run the game. Of course I did this as a last effort, but normally uninstalling games leaves your local files like saved game data and added stuff. Steam games, thoroughly do not and no one told me or I didn't notice any warnings. I lost everything, instances, trigger setups, not even the autosave file has anything in it. Probably my own stupid fucking fault too.

Rest in Peace, Left 4 Beer. May your reincarnate hopefully succeed you :*(

I tried to recreate the sounds I hear during sleep paralysis. It turned out very, very accurate. The throbs, specifically, are spot on.
Give a listen if you're curious-- best experienced with deep bass.
There's no frightening, loud sounds at any time -- nothing will jump out at you, it's all very calm.
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=PBSXO2QT
Length: 1 minute, 32 seconds.

I recieved the package from Tetsu0 today! YES, MY FREE 80 GB HARDDRIVE!

Now, I can finally play those games on steam that I haven't played yet! FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCC
CCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK YES!

Super super super thanks to Brett!

My girl saved this chat for me so I could read it later. Thought it was funny. My apologies to anyone in advance to all who were involved.

Never tell your password to anyone.
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: you should be happy
Mega Mole: how come
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: because i'm going to use one of your layouts again
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: for another map of mine
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: :)
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: then i'll use the second one for a DMC map
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: because DMC mapping is as easy as cake
Mega Mole: 3 things, 1st nobobody plays DMC....2nd why not just use your own layouts? and 3rd Rimrook is cooking donner right now, so this would be his GF talking
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: hmm
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: o
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: well
Mega Mole: I mean I am sure he doens't mind you using his layouts..but like maybe give someone else a chance to use em?
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: DMC is still epic
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: and my layouts suck
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: so there
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: is your answer
Mega Mole: so work harder on your layouts and get better..so there
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: i want to speak to rimrook
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: you make me sad
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: :(
Mega Mole: Rimrook is making dinner and can't come and talk right now, when he is done you can chat with him
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: hahaha
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: i was kidding
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: but ok
Mega Mole: yeah
Mega Mole: I told Rimrook that I had a techno remix of "Don't Fear the Reaper"...heard you kinda liked that song
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: haha
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: i was making a joke
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: telling him to throw it into left 4 beer
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: playing on the radio
Mega Mole: not what i heard..I heard you had a super hard on for him to put it in his Left for Beer map..
Mega Mole: rriigghhtt...
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: no
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: what i told him was
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: If he doesn't do it
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: I will!
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: >:D
Mega Mole: ah, using one of his layouts...classy
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: because i'm making a campaign for l4d myself
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: no
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: i'm going to try to use my own layouts for the campaign
Mega Mole: ah IC...well good luck with that. here be the link to that song..for your..."campaign" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxUPOizpLQ4
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: uh
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: no
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: for nostalgia reasons
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: i'm going to put the REAL song in there
Mega Mole: Didn't they already do that song in Prey?
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: fff
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: yeah he told me
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: but i'm going to do it anyway
Mega Mole: ah well..it's always good to be origional......>.>
Mega Mole: dude how old are you?
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: you don't like talking to me at all do you?
Mega Mole: if I didn't like talking to you, then I would have just said Rimrook is not here right now call back later...so to answer your question I do like talking to you
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: well you aren't particularly acting as nice as you did before
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: :o
Mega Mole: Hmm..I don't remember how I acted before TBH, but then again, Rimrook probably doens't tell you much about me..so one conversation may not be the "norm"
Mega Mole: and I am being nice..just sarcasticly...
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: exactly
Mega Mole: and i really am curious how old you are
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: sarcastic nice is not cool
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: :(
Mega Mole: no sarcastic mean is not cool...and I am not mean
Mega Mole: seriously, I am super curious how old you are, Rim talks about you a lot and it has piqued my interest..you can ask me a random question if you want
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: ahaha
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: that's funny
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: well
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: i'm 17
Mega Mole: what's funny?
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: there
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: that he talks about me a lot
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: i think it's funny
Mega Mole: ah IC..
Mega Mole: yeah he talks about you quite a lot
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: in what ways
Mega Mole: just about how he helps you with 3DS max stuff a lot, and mapping stuff, mostly just mapping stuff
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: oh
Mega Mole: what else would he be talking about o.O
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: yeah he helped me last weekend
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: i dunno
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: :o
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: soup miner is willing to give a blowjob to rimrook
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: and that is wierd
Mega Mole: I mean, unless you all are doing some funny business behind my back I would assume that would be all you two talk about
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: well, we are not
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: i live in a completely different state
Mega Mole: that's good, and who is soup miner and why would he want to suck Rim's cock
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: for his textures
Mega Mole: money works better then BJs...
Mega Mole: unless I am asking him for somethign in which case a BJ usualy does the trick
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: lol
Mega Mole: yeah....BJs are always fun...so is this guy soup miner cute or anything?
Mega Mole: cause if so..maybe we can work something out....
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: hahaha
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: wow
Mega Mole: Rim would never let anyone suck his cock but me..but as i said...maybe he could do me some sort of favor...
Mega Mole: you still there sparky?
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: hold on
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: i'm looking for where i found where he said he would suck rim's cock
Mega Mole: ah yes those logs would be most appreciated...
Mega Mole: I am finding it kind of odd that my BF's cock actually comes up in conversation on TWHL.....I mena it's nice and all, but damn..though you all had better things to talk about
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: nah only soup miner would bring it up
Mega Mole: has he seen Rim's cock? cause to even propose something like sucking it..quite an undertaking..trust me..I know....
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: lol
Mega Mole: ok well Rim is done cooking donner now, so I'm gonna go. He can chat a little later. Nice talking with you again :)
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: wait
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: http://twhl.co.za/forums.php?thread=14851&page=8
Mega Mole: o.O
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: there is where soup miner said the incriminating comment
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: right after what urby said
Mega Mole: "Rimroook deserves a blowjob for making those textures. I can't get enough of them D:" yup...he did say it...
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: well there yuo go
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: you
Joe "Joebama" Baslock: have fun eating dinner
Mega Mole: yeah and mmmm Hunty..he's such a hottie..rawr!
Mega Mole: ok ttyl!
Mega Mole: <3