2016 Geek-A-Long: Half Life

09 Half Life 2

I have a confession. I haven’t actually played Half Life. I’ve played Portal like it’s my job, but I never got around to the game that inspired it. First person shooters aren’t really my cup of tea for the most part. When Jac and I put together the list of games for this year, I realized that I haven’t played a number of the games on it. I was surprised really by how many games that I would consider household names or iconic that I haven’t gotten around to. I wish that I could play every amazing game, but then when would I find the time to knit? So for a few of the games this year I’m bringing in a ringer. I haven’t played Half Life, but my husband loves it. So for the first time I’m welcoming Kevin to the L&L blog:

09 Half Life 5

Time to get into your HEV Suit and pick up your crowbar, because something has gone wrong at Black Mesa. Gordon Freeman never says anything and never needs to. In Half Life 2, they give you the best gun in the game and all it does is pick stuff up and throw it. While it is important to shoot the bad guys with bullets, it is more important that you figure out how to stack crates and dumpsters so you can get out of what looks like a dead end or place an exploding barrel to clear out a hallway full of alien headcrabs that turn people into zombies.

Half-Life and Half life 2 are some of the best games I have ever played. They are not as frantic as some other First Person Shooters. Instead they focused on creating a realistic atmosphere and clever puzzles powered by the groundbreaking Source physics engine. The Source Engine also gave rise to the Counter Strike games, Portal, Portal 2, and the sandbox game that my niece loves, Gary’s Mod. The creators wanted everyone to be able to make their own levels and use the tools to create new versions of the game and the fans have been having fun with it ever since. The most amazing thing is that all of this is based on Half Life 2 which was released 12 years ago.

09 Half Life 4

Half Life was nominated to the leaderboards by Sophicake, who said

It’s a great game even though I never played the first one. It’s more than just a wonderful fps, you have to be able to solve problems as well.

Between Kevin and Sophie, I’m convinced now that I have to play it. This week’s square is the Lambda logo from Half Life. I like this one a lot. I feel like I’m sort of getting away with something on this square, since to me it’s a science square. Sure, it’s the game’s logo, but it’s also the radioactive decay constant. Hooray science!

09 Half Life 1

Whether you’re knitting, crocheting, or cross stitching this square, you can download the Half Life pattern here. Instructions for both knit and crochet are listed in the pattern. When you’re finished making it, don’t forget to tweet or instagram your squares at me @Doctor_Llama and Jac @jac_attacking or with the hashtag #geekalong!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BCVh2l_Hy_S/?taken-by=jac_attacking

If you’re having trouble with double-sided knitting, we have a how-to video here and a tutorial on crochet here. Want to hang out with other people making the blanket? You can find moral support in the Geek-A-Long group on Ravelry here.

~ Megan-Anne
Ours is a nerdy nerdy house. 

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If you enjoyed this post, please consider making a donation to Child’s Play Charity. Here is a direct link to our donation page benefiting the charity. Please help us raise $1,000 this year! No contribution is too small. Wanna make your donation go even further? Louet Yarn is donating 50 cents for every skein of Louet Gems Worsted purchased this year to make a Geek-A-Long blanket. You can get Gems at your Local Yarn Store or through Louet’s website. Just remember to mention the GAL at check out.

15 thoughts on “2016 Geek-A-Long: Half Life

  1. Christina Garrett says:

    The link sends us to the Sonic pattern not the one for Half Life….But at least it give me a chance to finish up Golden eye first!!

  2. Wendy says:

    Hi! So the link for this week’s pattern is for Sonic, not for Half Life. Let me know when the Half Life link is ready! Thanks!

  3. Jeri Madsen or Gemo88 says:

    I believe you have duplicated square # 4 which is Sonic the Hedgehog. please make a new #9 as they are the same. # 4 & # 5. Please advise.

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