For those who ever paid attention to Silver Studios (or those who didn't even), Silver Studios is effectively no more. I'll still keep it up for the hell of it. But all my attention for Machinima, gameplay videos, and projects in general will be in my OTHER steam Group, E-Vac Station.

(which you should look up and join RIGHT NOW)

Also, this page will serve as another way to link to the website. Please join and spread the word of a new gaming-news website hitting cyberspace this summer! That's all I have to say. For those who have been around a lot, you guys have been awesome. For those who have just been members and really not done a thing... well... good to know ya, I guess.

So we only have 12 people in this group. That's impressive because I didn't think I'd get to know 12 people well enough to want to play with the on a regular basis.

But, unfortunately, 12 is still a small number. Hell, that's not even a Baker's Dozen! Pastry chefs everywhere would be ashamed by such a pitiful number. So anyone who is a member, I ask you to do something.

Whenever you meet good players, like good enough to play with them on a regular basis for a fun game, invite them to join the group. The more people we have, the better the group is. If we have lots of good players, we can organize fun games of scavenge or versus without having to go public and play with a bunch of pricks. And if we're all in a group, this allows us to pick people outside of the usual friend's list.

So, no brainer, invite people to join the group. If you have to, threaten to kill them in some horrific fashion, but only do that as a last resort. Um... that's all. Happy gaming and I look forward to killing zombies with you soon!

EDIT: I forgot that the head count has two of my accounts. So we technically only have eleven members. That's really bad! So, it goes without saying, send those invites to those good players when you meet them or if you know them!

Um... yeah. First off, this is Silver in Account #2. I'll switch back and forth whenever. For now, I'm just too lazy to sign out and sign in. Maybe later.

One more thing! I have been doing research on Mutations. Thanks to Left-4-Dead-Wiki, I've discovered a way to play any mutation you want, any time you want. For example, have you ever gotten bored of Bots and other players and wanted to just go through the stages, learning the layout better while practicing killing special infected? You can now use "Last Man On Earth" any time you like.

Ever wanted to do Chainsaw Massacre but missed it the first time it came out (and only time on PC)? Not a problem. Want to do some Scavenge-Mutation: Follow the Liter? Easy as pie.

So how to? That's simple.

First, start your game. Then, on the MAIN MENU, enter the Developer's Console. In the console, type "map [insertfilename] mutation#"

One more thing! For those unfamiliar with filenames, they should appear automatically as you type them in console. For those who don't understand them, C1 maps are Dead Center maps. C2 are for Dark Carnival. C3 - Swamp Fever. C4 - Hard Rain. C5 - Parish. C6 - Passing. C7 - Sacrifice. C8 - No Mercy. This should also work for custom maps, but more research is needed to figure that out.

One more thing! Mutation Numers are subject to change, as not all the mutations have been revealed. But there are currently 15 known (and not entirely in order either). Here is a list of Mutations you can experiement with:

1 - Last Man on Earth
2 - HeadShot
3 - Bleed Out (on of my favs)
4 - Hard Eight
5 - Four Swordsmen
6 - N/A
7 - Chainsaw Massacre
8 - Iron Man
9 - Last Gnome on Earth
10 - Room For One
11 - Healthpackalyse
12 - Realism Versus (not really needed anymore)
13 - Follow the Liter
14 - Gib Fest
15 - Versus Survival
16 - Hunting Party
19 - TAAAANK!

To play a certain mutation, just replace the "#" symbol with the coorosponding number of the mutation you wish to play.

One MORE thing! You can also create Friend-Only Lobbies for these mutations as well. All you need to do is enter the above command as instructed. Copy the IP of the server you are going to access for the Mutation (however, you do NOT have to own or rent the server in question). After that, load your game. Once in game, open the in-game console and type "Connect IP-of-Server". Once you do this, you can return to lobby and then invite friends and choose characters, etc. I have yet to do this successfully, but my research indicates it is possible.

That is all. Hopefully the next mutation is good. I'll be sure to update this number list whenever information becomes available. Wouldn't it be nice if Valve just allowed us to use Mutations freely whenever we wanted? Whatever. See ya later!

Alright, so I let loose the idea of a new server coming out for our group. I don't know all the technical mechanics of running a server. But I'm reading and figuring it all out.

I hit a technical issue today, infact. The files I supposedly needed were all there. But the server wouldn't start. So I deleted all the files I had been using and I'm starting from scratch with a new set of directions and, so far, things seem to be going just fine.

As for plugins, yes, if the server is up, I will be updating each special infected one at a time over the course of several days to get them as terrifying and sadistic as possible. I already told you all there was about the witch. Rather than give away all the details, here are some changes for Versus mode games:

1 - Infected Players get to vote who plays the tank (I think we can all agree that's a good idea).

2 - Infected players can swap out of being a Tank should they find they don't want it.

3 - Infected players can choose their infected (within limitations, I believe).

That's all I have for now in that regard (I think). And, again, I am not going to completely guarantee all of this. Some of these plugins, as I've read them, are for L4D2. Some are for both games. And some are just L4D1. I'll have to sort through the ones that caught my attention and see which ones I really can and can't use...


....


.... assuming I can get the damn server working. Wish me luck that we get it up by tomorrow. Yay!

Yeah, that's a mouthful.

Anyway, I'm currently working on a server for L4D2. It will have many a plug-ins to make the game WAY more intense. How? Here is a small example of some of the changes I will try to be implementing. You know the witch? She will be easier to startle. When she incaps you, you will be black & white upon revival (or die if you're on expert or realism). If you kill her, she'll summon a horde upon death and the one who killed her will be somewhat blinded from doing so. Yeah. I just made that ♥♥♥♥♥ way scarier didn't I?

Every special infected will have some adjustments (some more than others). Again, this is all in the planning stages. I have to see if all the plug-ins will work first.


L4D2 Tourney
The other moderators of this group (Lola and Belvidon) are planning to enter an upcoming L4D2 tournament as mentioned in the latest L4D Blog post. Will we win? That's what we're hoping for but its all for fun, right? Anyway, we need a fourth person to join in our ranks. I've got some people in mind for the spot. If interested, get a hold of me or something. E-mail is uchihamax@aol.com. I will be sending those on the team messages about what they need to do to get ready (Aside from practicing) before Wednesday. I just want to get our special little server from hell up first. :D

See ya later. - Silver