How to Start Sound in Gmod Again
How a 'total accident' led to Garry's Modernistic'due south funniest feature and 15 years of twisted success
There'southward a fun vacation surprise over on the Garry'due south Mod website called the 12 Days of Garry's Modern. The folio displays some amazing Garry's Mod creations, like "Half-Life: Total Life Consequences"—a charmingly awful story written past a Fanfiction.net author named squirrelking and turned into a hilarious and unforgettable short film by YouTuber Djy1991.
You'll besides see Ross Scott's comedy series Civil Protection, moody sci-fi drama Shelf-Life Part i and Part 2, the gorgeously atmospheric 40-minute long picture Oasis, and several other notable machinima highlights, all fabricated with Garry's Mod, the physics sandbox created by Garry Newman and Facepunch Studios way back in 2004.
Information technology must have been difficult narrowing the selection downwards to just a dozen features, considering Garry'due south Mod has been around for 15 years now. Along the way from free sandbox mod for Half-Life 2 to standalone game on Steam, information technology's sold millions of copies, information technology's been used to make thousands of videos and webcomics, and has hundreds of popular mods and gamemodes created by users, like Prop Hunt, Jailbreak, Problem in Terrorist Boondocks, and more.
The 15 yr anniversary is the perfect time to chat about the foreign legacy of Garry'south Mod, so I fired over some questions via e-mail both to Garry's Modernistic creator Garry Newman and Valve'southward Erik Johnson. Here's what they had to say.
Origin stories
PC Gamer: How did you come upward with the name?
Garry Newman: You know, I think I kind of actually stole the name, it wasn't my idea to proper name stuff later myself. At the fourth dimension there was another modern called JBMod, made by a guy that went past "jb55." And then information technology fabricated sense that my take on that mod would be chosen Garry's Mod—because I went by the name "garry". I probably wouldn't take named it called Garry'due south Modern if I knew where it would end up.
Garry's Mod has been in the top x-xx games on Steam for as long as I can remember. Tens of thousands all the same play it every day, just how are sales present?
GN: It sells about ane.5m copies a yr, and it's sold merely over 15m copies total. Which is kind of pleasing since it's as well 15 years quondam. Plus y'all know, coin.
Do y'all retrieve when Valve offset became aware of Garry's Mod? What were your first thoughts about it?
Citizen 17
What's it like being a denizen nether the oppressive thumb of the Combine on a Garry'south Mod roleplaying server? We went undercover to find out.
Erik Johnson: The specific point in fourth dimension is a piffling tricky to pivot downward. I practise think there being a pretty pregnant, and somewhat underground, mod customs that was working off of the Half-Life ii source code leak from 2003. While having the code for One-half-Life two out in the wild earlier the game was finished wasn't a super positive experience for the team finishing the game, it'south pretty absurd to see what the modernistic customs could get working with that unfinished codebase. It felt similar Garry'due south Modernistic grew right out of that community after Half-Life 2 shipped.
Did anyone at Valve have whatsoever idea the Source engine could be used the mode it is in Garry's Modernistic? Are in that location any tools in GMod that surprised you to encounter?
EJ: A lot of the identity of the gameplay of One-half-Life 2 centered effectually physics. Even in the early days of evolution, most of the experiments that people were running had the physics engine at its core. Then, on one paw, information technology wasn't surprising that Garry started in a similar place that nosotros did. That said, it would have been pretty hard to predict the Garry'southward Mod of 2022 dorsum in 2004.
We've ever been impressed past Garry's ability to iterate on the game and ringlet feedback from his community into the game so well. It'due south a more difficult process than it sounds, because information technology really comes downwards to navigating a abiding stream of feedback, only being limited in the amount of time to get everything done. Garry has e'er been almost as good as it gets at picking the correct direction to accept his game.
What'south it similar to run across the beloved characters from One-half-Life and other Valve games beingness used with Garry'due south Modern for machinima and comics and videos?
EJ: It'due south pretty cool. Part of the process for the states in shipping any of our games, only especially the single role player ones, is letting go of them once they are released, and letting the community take bits and pieces of them in whatsoever management they want to. Information technology will be fun to watch what people build with the editor we're releasing along with Half-Life: Alyx next yr.
Pay to play
Paid mods are (still) a great source of ire amidst (some) players. When did the idea to start selling GMod on Steam come forth? Was information technology Valve'southward idea or Garry's?
EJ: It was the early days of getting Steam congenital, and information technology was pretty clear that Garry'south Mod had a large (and growing) audience. Our philosophy back then was the same as it is today, which is that we wanted a platform that continued the people who created valuable content with the people that consumed it. It was clear that it was a perfect instance of a production that would benefit from this, and so nosotros reached out and asked him if he was interested.
Garry being able starting at building a production that he thought people would similar, to where he is today, is the kind of story we're always trying to make happen. Reducing the friction betwixt the creator of interesting content and the consumer of it has a number of really positive side furnishings. It'south been cool to come across it happen over the past xv years for Garry and his squad.
GN: It was near a year before we started selling information technology. I was emailing [Valve] to ask about something else and they mentioned that they call back it'd sell well. I was like, yeah correct, what a dumb idea, information technology's already gratis—why would anyone pay for it?
As time went past and it kept getting more than pop, I idea near things I'd similar to reprogram, stuff I'd like to ameliorate and innovate on. I couldn't justify spending a decent amount of time doing this stuff. Then information technology clicked that if we were going to sell the new version it could justify spending more time on it and justify people buying it rather than sticking with the gratis version. So then I had to get on my hands and knees and send an email to Valve where I explained that it wasn't a dumb idea and can we practise it please.
Was the negative reaction [to selling Garry's Mod] worse than you thought it might be, or not as bad?
And then I'm thinking, fuck, I've appear it's going to exist on Steam and now I've pissed off Valve.
Garry Newman
GN: I tin can't remember much of it—it was really one of the most embarrassing things that has ever happened to me. We'd been working on information technology in underground for a few months and the community were getting quite worried. They had got used to weekly updates before that. So we decided to announce that nosotros were going to be on Steam and everything was going to be okay. This wasn't like announcing that you're gonna exist on Steam present, this was when at that place were virtually three games on Steam. This was a big deal and blew upwards everywhere.
And then the next morning I woke upward to an e-mail from Valve, proverb something similar "It's customary to wait until the agreements are signed before announcing." And then I'm thinking, fuck, I've appear it'southward going to be on Steam and at present I've pissed off Valve—so it'southward non going to be on Steam. It took me a couple of weeks to recover from that. I couldn't enjoy any of the community happiness, I felt like a right knob head.
How did you lot settle on the $10 price? Afterwards xv years (sales bated) why is information technology still $ten?
GN: I don't think I ever contemplated charging more than. Information technology was gratis and now it'due south not, the price had to be depression enough to people that they'd just be like... yeah sure why not. It's important to recall that earlier Steam pretty much no-i bought games on the PC. Everything was pirated. And while Garry's Mod was a multiplayer game—which offered some protection from piracy—it could exist played single player too. It had to be inexpensive and easy enough to finish people pirating it.
Apart from having money from sales, how did selling GMod change its development?
GN: I call back Garry's Mod would take died xv years ago if we didn't sell it. It gave us a reason to continue development. Besides that Steam obviously immune u.s.a. to update the game much easier. Previously when information technology was free you'd download a zip file from my website with the new version in. This would limit the frequency of the updates.
Back and so, considering Steam was in its infancy, they didn't have an automated update system. I had to upload the new builds to an FTP and email Valve to brand them live. Because of the fourth dimension difference this could mean that a patch could leave at 4 am my time, while I was in bed. If there was a bug in it I'd be in a lot of trouble when I woke up. Merely once more considering of the fourth dimension difference I wouldn't be able to go a patch out until Valve were back at their desks the next twenty-four hour period.
Strike a pose
What do most players do in Garry'southward Mod these days? Do y'all know what the most pop style or mod for it is? When is the last time yous played it yourself?
GN: The roleplay gamemodes are still a huge affair, but that in itself can encompass a thousand other sub gamemodes. Between Facepunch, Rust, ii kids and trying to picket 10 hours of Television set every solar day—I don't have much time to play present. I used to experience bad about that, like a slap-up chair maker that doesn't like to sit on chairs. But I think it's just that I enjoy making them a whole lot more than playing them.
Being able to pose ragdolls made Garry's modern a nifty tool for comics, videos, and machinima. How did that function first come up about?
GN: A total blow. I was trying to pose ragdolls, but not by freezing their joints. I was trying to make it so they would motion similar the atmosphere was really thick, so they'd stay in identify. The physics in Source back then weren't as stable as they are at present. You lot could really hands cause a crash by giving it numbers that information technology wasn't expecting. I used the incorrect values and it locked one of their bones in place. I made a quick pose—I think it was Kleiner giving birth. I was really excited—I immediately knew the fun anybody was going to have with this.
I had a phone interview [with Valve] and I don't think it took them long to realise that I didn't know shit.
Garry Newman
What's the biggest requested feature you get from Garry'due south Mod players?
GN: The biggest matter, by about a 1000000 miles is the "Played with Garry" achievement. It's ane of the hardest achievements to get on Steam—for obvious reasons.
Valve has hired a number of people who modernistic their games. Am I remembering correctly that you tried to go a chore with Valve at one point?
GN: Yeah I applied for a job, I think it was before Garry's Modern went on sale. Or might take been only later. Around that time anyhow. I had a telephone interview and I don't call back it took them long to realise that I didn't know shit. I didn't get offered a position. In retrospect it'due south a good thing. Helk (Rust lead) had an interview with them likewise, he fabricated information technology all the mode to an in-function interview. They had him writing out code on a whiteboard. I can't even code without Google—and then I wouldn't stand up a hazard at that.
Have you hired any people at Facepunch based on mods they've made in Garry'south Mod?
GN: No, it wasn't something nosotros were prepared for, every bit a company, back then. It'southward something we should have been doing. I see the stuff the Belfry Unite guys have managed to do after their Gmod Tower gamemodes and kick myself. It's a great thing for them, to go out and make their own game simply in an ideal globe we could have made it skilful for all of us.
Future tense
Garry's Mod is still being updated, just how often do you personally yet work on Garry's Mod?
GN: I haven't personally worked on it for about 3 years. Rubat and Willox have washed a really skilful job of taking it off my plate. I plant that information technology got to a place where anything I tried to change I got yelled at by the community for breaking something else. So I felt like it's better to only maintain it, to keep it ticking over so the modders tin can do their thing. Or take chances breaking 15 years worth of content.
What's the Garry's mod mod that hasn't happened nonetheless, only you actually wanted to happen?
GN: In that location's actually a ton of things I want to exercise, but I don't similar to talk almost it too much. If you talk about stuff you want to practise you lot don't end upwards doing information technology, considering you feel like you lot already did information technology. You get all the positive feedback from information technology. Plus I don't want to pull a Peter Molyneux and talk about a bunch of stuff that gets people excited, just let them all down when the idea somewhen has to collide with reality.
What'due south the status of S&box, which sounds like a Garry's Mod for Unreal Engine 4. The final devblog was in 2018.
GN: We did a lot of experimentation with south&box on UE4. It'due south really quite far along just we decided to suspension it for now. We're hoping you'll hear more about information technology next year—if non information technology's probably dead forever.
Volition Garry's Mod still exist effectually in some other 15 years? What volition it look similar so?
GN: In xv years I'll be 52. An one-time human. We'll have the iPhone 35, Steam's friend list volition exist its own operating organization and my son will be the historic period I was when I first made GMod. Information technology's possible it might exist renamed Alex'due south Mod and is primarily used to scout exploited/spoilt american kids play with toys in their massive Youtube house. But who knows. We'll keep updating equally long as people keep playing. Perchance nosotros'll do a sequel.
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Source: https://www.pcgamer.com/garrys-mod-interview/
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