who would have thought that simple curiousity would lead
to so much upheaval?
Certainly I didn't when I 'oh so innocently' went out and paid the royal sum of $49.95 for the 'Game of the Year' edition of HalfLife.
Sure, it looked harmless enough, it was after all, only a box, with a CD and a very small instruction manual.
And I was a n00b, with a lot of imagination and absolutely no gaming experience.
Little did I know, as I opened the box and removed my new desktop clutter, that I was on the verge of becoming so thoroughly addicted, that my entire world would revolve around this game.
That was Saturday morning, September 16, 2001.
By Saturday night I had drowned, broken my neck and legs and thrown myself joyously over railings while becoming familiar with the Hazard course. At the same time I was almost driven mad by the amount of information being pumped into me by the people you will meet in the [MIA] members page.
Sunday morning dawned and I was feeling confident that I could handle whatever was thrown my way and I began the mod download process.
Sure, the principle is simple, download, install and play.
By Sunday afternoon I was shattered.
I also had about 10 extra icons cluttering my desktop, that desperately needed to be taken care of and no time was available to take care of them. What happened to my habitual tidiness? Did I accidently drop that into the box as I removed the cd?
Words like spawn and frag became a part of my vocabulary, I had to change my hairstyle to accomodate my headset and I had to learn to drink coffee from the side of my mouth so as not to drown my mic.
By Monday night I was online and wondering where along this path, had I left my sanity.
What a baby I was. Fancy thinking I could go out and buy a game and be able to play it. I could just as easily have pulled a Jaguar motor apart and put it back together again. Not on your nellie!
But oh, what a rush!
I couldn't say when the addiction set in. Perhaps it was the moment I opened the box? Maybe it happened after my first successful run through the HL Hazard Course. Just as possibly it was the moment I clicked the connect button and went online. I just know it happened.
But wait, theres more. No sooner have I got a handle on this thing, (getting killed within the first 30 seconds of each game I might add...but that's ok, I get to watch the others and cheer and groan) anyway, as I say, no sooner have I got a handle on this thing, the rules change. CS 1.3 comes out.
More download, more install, more instructions, more stress, more fun.
This version has voice and luckily for me, mine works ok. Wow, I get to sit back and watch the old hands struggle now. What a buzz.
But all too soon they have it under control again and once more I am struggling at the bottom to keep up.
I notice something else though, the insidious knowledge that this is starting to rule my life is making itself known. My mouse doesn't seem to move properly anymore, I have to manually scroll the buttons to move around while surfing and I find myself scanning the countryside when driving to work.
In the three weeks I have been playing this game I have discovered there is no stability. No sooner do you think you have it under control, you find more downloads or another tweak, or even -bots- to locate and install to assist the training process. I have also discovered I can survive on very little sleep.
I have started to score kills now. More by miracle than good playing but it is heartening to know that I am improving, ever so gradually I admit.
Maybe one day I will be able to call myself proficient. Hell, at this point in time I will settle for adequate.
I have a great support team. Without the patient assistance of the members of [MIA], I would still be struggling to find the right copy of HL to purchase or the appropriate downloads needed to install this cursed game.
I would be strugging on the Wireplay servers without the ability of my team members to halt the game and talk me through it. (Hell, lets be honest here, I wouldn't have even found the Wireplay servers!)
here follows my Thank You:
To Greystorm for pointing me in the direction of the game and files I needed. For patiently putting up with all the piddly little questions I have thrown his way and for instruction on the maps.
To |Tayser| for taking the time to meet me on the maps and instruct me in the use of each of the weapons and the keypress sequences. And for not complaining when I join his team and use him for cover.
To Gester, crudman and Party Boy! for instruction and assistance.
To Demon for not saying no to my joining.
And to everyone for making me feel welcome in the clan, for not complaining too loudly about my lack of ability and for putting up with my dummy spits.
| Wrasse | ||