Tuesday, May 19, 2009

May updates

Hey people, I wanted to let you know progress is still underway on the next CP episode. It's turning out well, but as usual, seemingly simple things are becoming much more complicated than they should be. I still haven't run into any show-stopping bugs, there's just a lot of little elements to take care of in this episode to make it feel more complete. I'd post screenshots or clips from it so far, but I really hate having things spoiled for me personally, so I try to do the same for the viewers.

The new website has been very close to launchable for a while now, but I want to have the look of some of the pages altered to be as easy as possible to navigate, plus the guy coding it has had a lot of behind the scenes revisions to make. Right now it's sort of a race between us as to which will happen first, the new website launching, or the next CP episode being released.

I've been reviewing some of the subtitles submitted to me and while I appreciate the effort of people who have submitted, some of the timing or spelling/grammar has been so erratic that it almost creates more work to correct it than it does to create them from scratch. If you're interested in contributing subtitles to Civil Protection or Freeman's Mind, please contact me at rosswscott@gmail.com. Also this is just for English copies at the moment. While I plan to fully support subtitles in other languages, I want to get the English copies done first so translators have the best source material to work from. Be sure to contact me before making them, just so no one ends up duplicating the work.  

Also I've posted the answer before and I plan to have it be on the FAQ of the new website, but since I keep getting these questions over and over again, I'd like to make a post about this. Many people have asked will I continue Freeman's Mind to completion, through Half-Life 2, and switch to the Black Mesa mod. The answer to all of these questions is maybe. If people decide they get tired of the format, I don't want to promise I'll continue something that no one wants, but for the time being I can't see a reason to stop it. 

EDIT:

I think I now have enough offers to transcribe subtitles, thanks to everyone who's shown interest.  I'll make another post when I'm ready for subtitles in other languages.

It's come to my attention that some of the downloadable copies of the Freeman's Mind episodes are disappearing.  I've notified the host, so hopefully this will be resolved before too long.

54 comments:

UsodStallion said...

Thanks a lot Ross.

This all sounds fantastic. Huge update ftw!

I'm excited to hear about CP and the website, and especially about Freeman's mind!

Hopefully it will continue through all of Half-Life haha. That would be quite the long journey, but it would be totally awesome and I KNOW there's a lot of material in there.

Thanks for all of your work- this all sounds incredible.
Btw- your fans are behind you no matter what.

OWNAGE!!! said...

To be honest i don't want you to change it to the black mesa mod, sure it will look nicer but I think sticking with the original will be better because everyone already knows the game, and you would change half way through which would be confusing.

unkas said...

hmf, ceep going on in half-life 2, would be nice, have you seen all the spin-off series on youtube?

Wolfii said...

w00t I'll love to see Freemann's Mind in Black-Mesa:Source =)

Anonymous said...

Seeing as the Black Mesa Mod is addressing all that was wrong with the original.. it wouldn't be possible to port the same audio from one to the other.. If that was what you meant.

Especially as a lot of the jokes are about the original architecture and how rediculous it is.. The Crate room being an example.

I really hope you do Half Life 2 though, the joke potential in that game is way better than the first Half Life.

Ross Scott said...

Anonymous guy: I'm sure as hell not going to REDO any to meet BM, it would just be a switchover if it did happen. And I agree, I think there's a lot more potential in HL2, I just though it made more sense to start with HL.

Anonymous said...

Hey everyone, i'm pretty ignorant so could someone tell me what the balck mesa mod is?

Anonymous said...

Black Mesa is a mod for HL2 that recreates the original HL1 game in the new engine. Just use google. Why can't people just type something into google? It's easier and faster than asking people on a comment board.

Unknown said...

hey just wondering what program do people use to add subtitles to the episodes, I'm about to have a lot of free time on my hands summer vacation coming up and all and this seems like a fun thing to do.

Anonymous said...

personally ill never be sick of freemans mind, and i hope it continues through the entire half life series, lol.

Katana said...

The more fun way to tell someone to google something:
http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=black+mesa+mod&l=1

Good to hear the episode coming along. For the subtitles, it might be helpful if you try to outline what the most common issues were so people can focus on that while creating them.

Serbdude said...

Personally I would stick to HL:S and not go over to BM. I hope the site comes up soon the CP episode too :)

G42 said...

Ross stick with HL if you end up wanting to use BMS or even want to switch to it if ever comes out you will be at Hl 2 EP 2 Freeman's mind by then

Otto said...

Yeah, I have a few subtitles for Freeman's Mind which I wrote down on a Pad once, but I'm not sure how to transport it to a .VCD file to allow people to add it to their videos so I guess I'll leave it to the useful people. :)

Anonymous said...

"Dude! FM all the way through HL2 and beyond! Long live Freeman's Mind! Also glad to hear the website and the new CP episode will be coming out soon. Will there be new features on the new website?

Anonymous said...

Just one question. Are you gonna have some crazy looking, animated 3d page? Asking because is taking so freaking long to see it and you keep talking about guys coding on it. BTW the shows rock.

Anonymous said...

I dont see how you would just make it randomly make the graphics intense or whatever with black mesa but maybe you can find a "vision enhancer" Have A flash and boom. BLACK MESA FTW.

Qman358 said...

I promise, i will NEVER get tired of freeman's mind or cp. i love it. and i would love to see freeman's reation to the grunts and combine! (advisor and strider particularity)you don't have to but there's alot of people looking forward to gordon saying :"WTF IS THAT? it looks like a tripod from war of the worlds!" LOL. anyway, plox continue the series!

Silvio said...

Nice update! My vote goes to keeping Freeman's Mind on the original Half Life engine. Don't get me wrong, Black Mesa rocks almost as much as Freeman's Mind does, but I don't think they would mix so well. Dying to see a new episode of both FM and CP!

WinterFresh said...

I totally prefer Freeman's mind than Civil Protection. To be honest I think that it would be a good idea to stick to the original Half-Life 1. Nice series. :)

Ross Scott said...

phoenix: I use Subtitle Workshop, though I think we may have enough volunteers since I made that post.

Katana: Mainly stuff that depresses me. Spelling "because" "becuause", using multiple explanation points !!!! on a frequent basis, spelling "the" as "teh" (multiple times, not just as a typo), using periods instead of question marks or exclamation points, having some lines appear for half a second, making them difficult to follow, having some lines about 3 seconds too late, stuff like that.

Anonymous: I wasn't really planning anything that sophisticated, but apparently a lot more goes into the website than I understand. I can't really criticize the guy working on it, I mean look how long it takes me to make CP episodes.

Anonymous: Yes, the new website will have the ability to locate all versions of all videos easily, support subtitles, and have extras on it, like alternate takes from episodes, some audio outtakes, scripts, and some music tracks.

Alex/Acristoff said...

Any chance of a small "bonus" episode on release of the black mesa mod?

Sean said...

Ross, in this comment section people are able to ask you questions that they have about your production and so on. Will there be a place at the new website where people can ask you questions?

Muzt4nG said...

Haha,love the updates...

You should do some ''behind the scenes'' footage of FM and CP , saying you're alternativeideas for the monologue of FM,that would be awesome...


You know we're going to be always plasured to see your series

(Sorry about my poor crap english,im from Costa Rica and here we talk spanish,I understand english pretty good but I suck speaking to people...)

AntlionGuard12 said...

I wouldn't worry much about Civil Protection and Freeman's mind. There both two of the most popular HL machinimas out there. And you've got a huge fanbase that would kill to watch a new episode of CP or FM (guilty as charged) And you've got really good comedy writing skills. So I wouldn't be to worried.

Ed said...

Finally!!!
I can make Korean subtitles for CPs and FMs!
To Ross and people who make english subtitles: Thank you very much!!!

Anonymous said...

Well whatever you do im sure your fans will love it. Freeman's mind and CP are amazing you have talent.

Anonymous said...

people should like give you donations through all the work u do... like RvB... so you could make a living off of this stuff

Anonymous said...

i played half life and finished the game and that is F ing long game...by the way u do ur episodes it will probably be up to 100 episodes to finish the first game...keep up the awsome work couse i dont think people will get tired of this :D

Anonymous said...

I do not know whether you read those comments or not but I could write some subtitles to this machinima. English and Polish. But I need some word from you, just say: yes do it, because I don't want to waste my time, if you are not interested.

Oz said...

about the edit in language subtitles i can translate it into swedish but i guess the jokes would be lost in the translation

Anonymous said...

Hey Scott. Two guys are making a Barneys Mind (Blue Shift) and Shepards Mind (Opposing Force). Check em out on YT.

AntlionGuard12 said...

One quesion Ross. Do you think it'll be hard to survive the later chapters like On a rail or Interloper?

lolomatic101 said...

It's great to get an update! Good luck on that website and take all the time you need to do other episode because it is always better if it's all well organised!

Keep up the wonderful work!

ultradude25 said...

Hey Ross.
I was wondering, are you going to take advantage of Youtube's HD feature?
If you don't know how to use it, just set your resolution to 1280X720. That will give you HD Wide-screen movies.

Cama Zots said...

Uh, it's been a while now. Seriously, the guy that does Unforgotten Realms works faster than you, then again he gets paid for his time... Anyway, how about an update, that way we know that you haven't completely botched the project altogether.

Ross Scott said...

translators: I'm not really ready for managing translated copies yet, I'll make an announcement when I am. I could maybe use one or two more people interested in doing English subtitles hhowever

ultradude25: All widescreen videos were submitted to YT before they supported HD or widescreen. New widescreen videos I make should hopefully support it.

Anonymous said...

I think u should stop making civil and make more freemans. fm > cp

Unknown said...

do NOT for the love of god stop the fremans mind thing the only thing i find funnyer than it is the yu gi oh abriged so keep it up dude and remember we are all here for you dude

Anonymous said...

Actually, J-Mo said...

I won't pretend to understand how to operate simple video editing software, sir, as even the complexities of some sound editing programs are beyond me...

However, I will say that I am perfectly willing to offer my meager talents as a script transcriber for any episodes of Freeman's Mind or Civil protection that aren't yet... or, rather, to come out with transcriptions (timed per sentence or half sentence to the best of my abilities, though I promise nothing of that) of episodes yet to be released.

I can be contacted at enemorei@hotmail.com if this offer is of any interest.

karanjhala guy said...

havent commented in a wile ross. but i have a daring question. will you make a freemans mind series throughout the hl2 franchise???
i watched every episode so far, also check out black mesa source, hl mod. it is beast, 1st trailer out.

cama Zots said...

Update soon please. Call me a whinny little fan all you want but it's good to know you haven't given up on the project.

Funnycat said...

How about a July update, Ross? ;)

goatfish said...

thats awesome dude. keep up the good work. from watching most of the films on Machinima for youtube.com, your the funniest, with Xanatos in second. If you go further with Freemans mind, and continue to Half-life 2 with it, please note, the gun that charges up (i forget what it is, the gun you get with the laser puzzle to blow through the wall) is placed on the buggy in HL2, so he should name it, then get REALLY excited to see it again in HL2. i can't wait to see more of your films, keep up the good work dude.

goatfish said...

thats awesome dude. out of all the machinima directors from youtube that i've seen, you and Xanatos are my favorite. if you continue on freemans mind series into HL2, please note that the charge up particle gun in HL, is also on the buggy in HL2. so maybe he could name it in HL, then get really excited to see it again on the buggy. i know its a long ways away, but i think it would help add to the connection. i'm sure this is mild compared to what you may have planned. keep up the good work dude. i'm looking forward to seeing any and all new creations.

Qman358 said...

i cant wait until Gordon meets the grunts! it will be like "YAY! A SOLDIER has come to save me."wait, why did you shoot that guy? "thats not cool and.... OW, WHAT THE HELL? wait, maybe its because ,y gun is ou, ok i will put this away and, oow!!!! OK, THATS IT. MILLITRY THIS AHOLE! LOL that would be funny, cant wait!

Anonymous said...

Hey I think your videos are amazing. Valve might be making a Half-Life movie and your so good with Freeman's Mind I think they should make you play Gordon Freeman. Any way I had a suggestion of if FM gets to hl2 have an episode were CP and FM meet. Like when during the beginning of hl2 when you have to get out of the city. You could leave two metro cops alive when making FM and say they were Mike and Dave and an episode of CP where they are sent to stop Freeman.

Otto said...

Karanjhala Guy: This question has been addressed in the very blog post you're commenting on, by the way. :)

cama Zots said...

Half-life fan:
I think that Doctor Gregory House would make a better Gordon Freeman

Anonymous said...

luk man, FM is teh best zing i sow bi nao. bat i agre wiz u............ kip up wiz CP 4 a wail

AntlionGuard12 said...

Why does everyone have to type like a retarded wannabe gangsta!?

ultradude25 said...

@AntlionGuard12:

This is the Internet, there's too many little kids who think it's 'ub3r 1337' to talk like that all the time.

AntlionGuard12 said...

@ultradude25: I know. It's just he typed like a mentally challenged rapper! I have never seen someone type like that!

Henry said...

Your work is awesome Ross....I don't think interest will wane if you proceed into HL-2.