If you showed up to this weeks' event, you will have heard myself and others discussing potential additions to the offerings we can have weekly. I've observed that people tend to enjoy the Half Life 2: Deathmatch games more and more, and whenever something like Team Fortress 2 gets voted for game of the week, people don't show up. This can come down to many reasons, though I tend to believe it is based on price. With the minimum amount of money to run HL2:DM (zero), and something like Team Fortress 2 or Counter-Strike: Source ($20 bought alone), it seems the cheaper, the better.
As such, we have been trying to decide what options would be as cheap as possible, while still offering a variety of great gameplay. As it currently stands, the options we are looking at for alternatives to the preexisting offered games meet all of our criteria, though they do require a minor commitment in the cost department. All modifications (mods) that people have made for the Half Life 2 engine require you to own any Half Life 2 game. Granted, Valve gives away HL2:DM and Lost Coast for free to most people, if your graphics card applies (Nvidia and ATI, which are the two most popular dedicated graphics card suppliers), but the free games do not count. You are required to purchase any HL2 based game in order to qualify to use the HL2 based mods.
Given these requirements, at maximum people would have to pay $10 on Steam in order to qualify for the ability to have the Source Engine SDK used for the mods. If you already own a purchased copy of The Orange Box, Half Life 2: Deathmatch, Day of Defeat, Counter-Strike: Source, Half Life 2 / episodes, or similar game, you won't need to buy anything to use any of the mods mentioned.
The games we have decided to look at include, but are not necessarily limited to;
Half Life 2: Capture The Flag -
http://www.hl2ctf.com/Similar to Half Life 2: Deathmatch, though based around the gametype of capture the flag. A few new weapons are added, as well as new maps.
FAQ / info from ModDBGoldenEye Source -
http://www.goldeneyesource.net/If you've played GoldenEye 007 for the Nintendo 64, you'll find this quite familiar. Uses the Source engine, so it's not nearly as blocky.
FAQ / info from ModDBInsurgency - Modern Infantry Combat -
http://www.insmod.org/A mix between Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and Day of Defeat Source, a modern combat style First Person Shooter.
FAQ / info from ModDBD.I.P.R.I.P. Warm Up -
http://www.diprip.com/news.php5A total rework of the First Person Shooter theme of the Half Life 2 game, you're a vehicle and so is everyone else. Drive around, blow people up. Can't get much simpler than that.
FAQ / info from ModDBPlease post opinions in the comments below. We'd like to have a final decision on one mod by the end of the weekend in order to have it up and running for next weeks' event.
Note - Though other games could be considered if you have others to suggest, be sure we would be able to host the servers locally, and that the price is low. Free, if at all possible.