Marphy Black

Good news, everyone! The artist has been identified! This piece was apparently commissioned a Half-Life fan out there and drawn by one "Karstens". web.archive.org/web/20020603...

But now this begs the question: Who was that fan?

After years of searching, I finally refound my favorite 90s Half-Life fan art of all time! Sadly, I lost the artist's name literal decades ago, but what mere name can do justice to a masterpiece?

Hey @valvesoftware.com, please cancel HLX and remake this picture. #halflife

Today is the 20th anniversary of the original “WTF BOOM” meme getting uploaded to the internet. Many may not know this, but the explosion and laughter comes from our “Cold Fear” video we did for Ubisoft back in 2005. Thank you for keeping the legacy alive.

YouTube video by MarphitimusBlackimus WTF Boom! - Official 20th Anniversary 4k Remaster

See the full quality WTF BOOM! 4k remaster on YouTube. Full credit to @mega64official.bsky.social and Steve Moustache for unwittingly becoming a part of this fad (as we called them back in the day). Also, I belatedly apologize for any blown out eardrums. #ytmnd #wtfboom #fad

youtu.be/wrZqUBSo6XI

20 years ago today, July 14, 2005, I created "Link finds a WTF" on YTMND, later becoming better known today on the Internet after it took on a life of its own as "WTF BOOM!".

To commemorate this 20th anniversary, I've remastered my original WTF BOOM! YTMND in 4k. #ytmnd #wtfboom

My treasured souvenirs from attending this WWF Raw are a couple ticket stubs, a Road Dogg bulldog plush, a Scotty Too Hotty foam hand, and a disposable camera's worth of blurry, overexposed photos from an 11-year-old me who was too short to hold the camera above the audience.

Spurred on by @wrestlingbios.bsky.social' latest Reliving the War, I reviewed the Sep 18, 2000 WWF Raw to try to find myself and my dad in the audience, and I think we're roughly among these blurry splotches. Thus, I can say I was on cable TV!

Does anyone have a satellite feed of this show?

Actual footage of my desktop on this day (and most days, to be fair). #doom #fireworks

This means we're also right on the verge of the 20th anniversary of my YTMND which became way more popular outside of the site, "Link finds a... what the hell is that?", better known now as "WTF Boom".

I 'spose I oughta do something special for its birthday. #ytmnd #wtfboom #fad

20 years ago today, June 28, 2005, I created "What is Half-Life?" on YTMND, becoming my most popular site there which spurred an interest in creating more HL stuff. whatishl.ytmnd.com

But it left one burning question: Hey @valvesoftware.com, what is Half-Life? #halflife #ytmnd

In this Duke Nukem D-Day build, the lockers in this science lab kind of look like the ones in Half-Life's Anomalous Materials Lab. It even has one labeled "Freeman" too! What are the odds?

Boy, what a coincidence this is, eh @valvesoftware.com @gearboxofficial.bsky.social? #halflife #dukelore

In this book's Garry Newman interview, this screenshot is identified as being the original 1998 Half-Life, yet it's clearly 2006's Half-Life: Deathmatch Source!

Boy I really hope somebody got fired for this blunder, @bitmapbooks.com! And why didn't you correct them, @garrynewman.bsky.social? #jbmod

In this newly-leaked Duke Nukem: D-Day build, the evil scientist's lab contains cloning tanks with Dukes from 1, 2, 3D, and even TTK. However, the fourth tank is empty! As if we're still waiting for that Duke! Maybe waiting... 'forever'!

I see what you did there, @dukenukemgame (not on Bluesky)!

You: Barney Calhoun in Blue Shift isn't Barney Calhoun because it doesn't call you Barney.
Me: The manual calls you Barney Calhoun. Multiple times, even!

Don't worry, @gearboxofficial.bsky.social, I'm a real fan who's got your back! #halflife #realfan (Scans by @segadreamcastinfo.bsky.social)

But despite this calamitous oversight in Radiaki lore, this still doesn't change the fact that Radiaki's "incredible" characters continue to remain "superior to those found in Doom™".

Pack it up, @doom.com! Your dark ages have just been illuminated!

The key art for the new release of The Fortress of Dr. Radiaki depicts Dr. Radiaki himself with two normal arms, yet his left arm (or right, if the shot's flipped) is canonically a laser cannon.

Boy, I really hope somebody got fired for this blunder, @zoom-platform.com! #radiakilore

Whoever just won this shirt at auction has officially laid claim to the being the coolest cat in all of the Doom-dom.

You can go ahead and cancel the game release now, @doom.com; the dark ages of Doom are no more! #doom #doomer #doomersdoit

The RIOTTANK.3DS model found in the recent 3D Realms discs in the late Stephen Hornback's data archive sure looks like it could be 'the' original model used for the Pig Cop Tank sprites in Duke Nukem 3D.

Hey @dukenukemgame (not on Bluesky), can you confirm or disconfirm this suspicion? #dukelore

Good news, my fellow PO'ed-ians! My PC physical edition of PO'ed: Definitive Edition has arrived, now joining The World's Largest (known) PO'ed Collection™!

This may also inadvertently document the woeful decline of PC "big" box releases. #poed #RIPboxesthatRtoobig #3do4life

To assuage the public's fears, I wanted to assure everyone that, after several harrowing months in shipping, my Barney on Miami Beach mug has arrived safe and sound. It now sits on my desk where it will serve out its days as a container for bits and bobs. #halflife #barney #miami

Speaking of Painkiller, I'll be on the lookout in the reboot for my favorite iconic foes of the series, those being stagehands, robots, vikings, Japan, and pirate skeletons.

What did you mean by the theological implications of robots ending up in Purgatory, @painkillergame.bsky.social?

I've received multiple reports suggesting this new Hexen game is "not a real game". But how can you tell? Is this shopped? Can you tell by the pixels? 🤔

Would you really do a thing like that, @ravensoftware.com? Just go on the Internet and lie to us Hexen fans about a new Hexen? #aifraudery

Hey Activision, in your new Hexen Reborn mobile game app, the store page shows an ESRB rating of M but captioned as 13, but the event page about the ongoing raid event clearly shows PEGI 7 (and 3)!

Boy, I really hope somebody got fired for this blunder, @ravensoftware.com! #hexen

According to video rental store chain Hollywood Video, Halo has more "family appeal" than Half-Life.

While I can't find Hollywood Video's social media account, let me tell you, @playhalo.bsky.social (not real?), that the daily life of an MIT graduate can be perfectly enjoyed by the whole family!

ButtNuts - The first custom PO'ed map release! :: PO'ed: Definitive Edition General Discussions Greetings, my fellow PO'ed-dees! I come to you today with an exciting new development in the PO'ed world: The release of the first custom map! Inspired by the classics (a bit "Nuts", you might say!), ...

I was initially aiming for something in the range of 200,000 to 300,000 Butts, but the engine has a maximum monster limit of 224. Download link in the Steam release thread here! steamcommunity.com/app/2697470/...

In the grand tradition of putting too many enemies than wot belongs in one space, I've created the first custom map for PO'ed: Definitive Edition that pits you against hundreds and hundreds of Butts in a level inspired by the classics that I dub... BUTTNUTS. #poed #nuts #buttnuts

Happy 30 years of Rise of the Triad! To celebrate, I went and fixed those fullbright yellow pixels that appeared on foggy enemies that really bugged me the past few decades.

I mean, what are we to believe, that these are some sort of magic sparkly Enforcers or something? #rott30

And at least one of these TFC Map Contest winners didn't receive his prize money: www.filefactory.org/tfc/file/913

You should now pay these guys their due $1,000, @valvesoftware.com @gearboxofficial.bsky.social, which, by my calculations after 25 years of inflation, amounts to ~$25k (or so).

Look! It's Alpine (alpine.bsp) by Mackey McCandlish aka Avatar!

Look! It's The Blood Tube (btube.bsp) by Erik Doescher aka AoW|McCoy!

Look! It's Open Fire (openfire.bsp) by Preston Glenn aka Hexadecimal!

The 1999 Team Fortress Classic Mapping Contest winners were included on the Opposing Force install disc. However, they were never added to TFC proper, leaving them forgotten to time.

What sin must a TFC map commit for you to banish it to obscurity, @valvesoftware.com?

44 total sprays were plainly added in the HL1 25th Anniversary Update, but the official update site only depicts 43 sprays, willfully omitting the new gorilla spray to throw us off the scent.

This was a carefully crafted deception, my friends. #halflife #gorilla #bringbacksprays