Like many of you, I bought HL in 1998 and got hooked right away in the quest to launch the rocket (I succeeded). In multi-player mode, I really got into Datacore mostly but played the other original multi-player maps as well. It didn't take long for the SDK guys to start mapping and skinning like crazy and the rest, as they say, is history.

Early on, I found some servers I liked and played them every chance I got. My early playername was "putrid". Some of you may remember me... Then one day I stumbled upon Killbox and was blown away by it's simplicity. I was completely floored by how it was just ONE HUGE BOX! I couldn't get enough. In January 2000, after procurring the proper bandwidth, I launched my first Half-Life Dedicated Server. The map, of course, was Killbox. The server name, of course, was GDawgg.

That Half-Life killbox server ran from January 2000 until March 2009 -- nine years.

A new day dawned in 2004 and brought with it HL2. I, for one, loved the graphics, the physics, the gadgetry, the realism and the imagination in HL2. Job well done to Gabe Newell and all the folks at Valve. Sure we had to wait and the wait wasn't fun, but HL2 was worth the wait.

Today GDawgg Clan has three HL2DM servers running.

Along with HL2DM came a multitude of maps. In January of 2005, I found a map-maker by the name of BlackHat Rob to make a killbox for GDawgg Clan: dm_killbox_gdwg. Rob did a superb job and his map ran on my servers for about 5 or 6 months. dm_killbox_gdwg is no longer in use by GDawgg Clan at this time.

In June of 2005, I met a "master" map-maker, Bullet Magnet from Scotland. He churned out eleven maps for GDawgg Clan and he taught me how to use Hammer to make maps of my own.

On August 30, 2005, I made my first HL2DM map -- dm_doors_5. Since then, I've created a total of 144 maps (66 HL2DM maps, 21 HLDM maps, one FEAR_DM map, ten Crysis Wars maps, 16 CoD4 maps, two HL2DMPRO maps, 28 UT3 maps):

001 -- 08.30.05 - dm_doors_5
002 -- 09.01.05 - dm_killbox_gdawgg_1d
003 -- 09.04.05 - dm_killbox_pushwall5b
004 -- 09.08.05 - dm_gd_pulse
005 -- 09.09.05 - dm_killbox_pulse_1b
006 -- 09.12.05 - dm_killbox_nine
007 -- 09.14.05 - buggyville_3
008 -- 09.20.05 - dm_killbox_push
009 -- 09.24.05 - dm_killbox_orb5
010 -- 10.02.05 - death_chase_v2
011 -- 10.05.05 - skulkbox
012 -- 10.18.05 - dm_killbox_platform_1b
013 -- 10.19.05 - dm_killbox_moosed_1b
014 -- 10.27.05 - gdawgg_house3
015 -- 11.01.05 - dm_killdome_pushwall
016 -- 11.04.05 - dm_killbox_doors_b
017 -- 11.08.05 - dm_killbox_12a
018 -- 01.09.06 - dm_killbox_shooter_1d
019 -- 02.03.06 - killbox_pushwall_b (HLDM)
020 -- 02.05.06 - killbox_2006b (HLDM)
021 -- 02.10.06 - killbox_platform (HLDM)
022 -- 02.15.06 - killbox_teh4 (HLDM)
023 -- 02.17.06 - killbox_taucity5 (HLDM)
024 -- 02.21.06 - killbox_g_metal5 (HLDM)
025 -- 02.23.06 - killbox_monster (HLDM)
026 -- 02.27.06 - killbox_shotty (HLDM)
027 -- 03.05.06 - killbox_doors_b (HLDM)
028 -- 03.31.06 - killbox_crusher1 (HLDM)
029 -- 04.09.06 - killbox_tower2 (HLDM)
030 -- 04.15.06 - killbox_ramp1 (HLDM)
031 -- 04.19.06 - controlbooth (HLDM)
032 -- 04.24.06 - 424 (HLDM)
033 -- 05.02.06 - wetbox (HLDM)
034 -- 05.09.06 - mesa (HLDM)
035 -- 05.17.06 - zoobox (HLDM)
036 -- 05.23.06 - dm_killbox_bunker_b & a
037 -- 05.28.06 - dm_killbox_driveby2
038 -- 06.09.06 - killbox_gdwg (FEAR_DM)
039 -- 07.10.06 - dm_killbox_moosed_9
040 -- 07.11.06 - dm_doors_9
041 -- 07.14.06 - dm_killbox_357
042 -- 07.19.06 - dm_killbox_40_D
043 -- 07.22.06 - dm_killbox_tower
044 -- 08.05.06 - dm_killbox_9A_Pushwall
045 -- 08.08.06 - dm_killbox_806
046 -- 08.15.06 - dm_killbox_B
047 -- 08.18.06 - dm_killbox_pushwall_D
048 -- 09.01.06 - dm_killbox_void5
049 -- 09.10.06 - dm_killbox_bounce1
050 -- 10.19.06 - bazooka3_Chaos2
051 -- 10.26.06 - dm_killbox_3Box_0
052 -- 11.15.06 - pyramid_06
053 -- 11.23.06 - killbox_hyper (HLDM)
054 -- 12.03.06 - tiers_0
055 -- 12.10.06 - lost_9
056 -- 01.23.07 - pushwall_pyramid_0
057 -- 01.25.07 - madness5
058 -- 05.02.07 - pulsebox_v6
059 -- 06.13.07 - killbox3
060 -- 07.01.07 - boatrace1
061 -- 08.12.07 - ultimate_9896a
062 -- 08.16.07 - rook_v3
063 -- 09.12.07 - wall_0
064 -- 09.17.07 - looney_5
065 -- 09.19.07 - tha_pit2
066 -- 09.28.07 - rpg_1a
067 -- 10.20.07 - cohiba_x
068 -- 10.23.07 - gdwg_z
069 -- 11.06.07 - killbox2b
070 -- 11.11.07 - dm_killbox_TO
071 -- 11.15.07 - dacribb
072 -- 11.21.07 - gbox2
073 -- 12.03.07 - killbox_nihilanth (HLDM)
074 -- 01.05.08 - moosebox3
075 -- 02.17.08 - bridge_b
076 -- 03.19.08 - killbox5b
077 -- 11.04.08 - shootery_v3
078 -- 11.17.08 - deathby_heli (Crysis Wars)
079 -- 11.18.08 - killbox (Crysis Wars)
080 -- 11.21.08 - swzbox (Crysis Wars)
081 -- 11.24.08 - shotty_gauss_scar (Crysis Wars)
082 -- 11.25.08 - killbox3 (Crysis Wars)
083 -- 12.03.08 - mp_killbox_d (CoD4)
084 -- 12.08.08 - mp_madness5 (CoD4)
085 -- 12.16.08 - dude_wtf3
086 -- 12.17.08 - pg_killbox3 (HL2DMPRO)
087 -- 12.18.08 - pg_twisted (HL2DMPRO)
089 -- 12.28.08 - grudge3
089 -- 12.30.08 - killbox5 (Crysis Wars)
090 -- 12.31.08 - mp_pushwall (CoD4)
091 -- 01.03.09 - dm_kill_tv2
092 -- 01.09.09 - dm_kr6
093 -- 01.10.09 - killbox_gdawgg (Crysis Wars)
094 -- 01.17.09 - killbox3_v2
095 -- 01.23.09 - flats3 (Crysis Wars)
096 -- 01.24.09 - flats5 (Crysis Wars)
097 -- 02.04.09 - mp_killbox2 (CoD4)
098 -- 02.08.09 - mp_killbox2
099 -- 02.13.09 - killbox1b (Crysis Wars)
100 -- 03.17.09 - xbow_flats
101 -- 04.05.09 - mp_moose_snot (CoD4)
102 -- 04.06.09 - mp_march (CoD4)
103 -- 04.08.09 - mp_nade_field (CoD4)
104 -- 04.09.09 - mp_frenzy (CoD4)
105 -- 04.10.09 - mp_killbox_tropic (CoD4)
107 -- 04.12.09 - mp_jump (CoD4)
107 -- 04.14.09 - mp_underground (CoD4)
108 -- 04.18.09 - mp_chaos (CoD4)
109 -- 05.01.09 - mp_grudge (CoD4)
110 -- 05.04.09 - mp_killbox5 (CoD4)
111 -- 05.21.09 - botbox
112 -- 06.19.09 - dm-gdawgg1 (UT3)
113 -- 06.20.09 - dm-killbox3 (UT3)
114 -- 06.27.09 - dm-tehbox_b (UT3)
115 -- 06.28.09 - dm-killbox_b (UT3)
116 -- 06.30.09 - dm-rocketwasteland2 (UT3)
117 -- 07.08.09 - dm-gdwg_frenzy (UT3)
118 -- 07.09.09 - dm-snipebox (UT3)
119 -- 07.13.09 - dm-nutso (UT3)
120 -- 07.22.09 - dm-zoshos_pushwall (UT3)
121 -- 07.25.09 - dm-bighouse (UT3)
122 -- 07.25.09 - throwthis
123 -- 07.30.09 - dm-bestmanwins (UT3)
124 -- 07.31.09 - dm-flats (UT3)
125 -- 08.16.09 - dm-rook (UT3)
126 -- 08.22.09 - dm-urbanz (UT3)
127 -- 09.09.09 - dm-chase (UT3)
128 -- 09.14.09 - dm-914 (UT3)
129 -- 09.18.09 - dm-stairs (UT3)
130 -- 09.27.09 - dm-survival (UT3)
131 -- 10.07.09 - dm-1007 (UT3)
132 -- 10.12.09 - dm-the_pit (UT3)
133 -- 10.18.09 - dm-towers (UT3)
134 -- 10.26.09 - dm-detour_v3 (UT3)
135 -- 10.30.09 - dm-glassdeath (UT3)
136 -- 11.08.09 - dm-traffic (UT3)
137 -- 11.12.09 - dm-stainlesssteel (UT3)
138 -- 11.15.09 - dm-tunnelsofthelost (UT3)
139 -- 11.21.09 - dm-low_g_v4 (UT3)
140 -- 02.27.10 - beastbox3 (HLDM)
141 -- 03.01.10 - mp_nowhere_v2 (HLDM)
142 -- 04.05.10 - mp_dawggyard2 (CoD4)
143 -- 04.05.10 - dm-dirtbox2 (UT3)
144 -- 04.12.10 - mp_snipe (CoD4)

On March 20, 2008 I installed Call of Duty 4 and went straight away to the multiplayer. I had heard much hype about this game and wasn't a believer until I started playing the game. I was totally impressed by what the folks at Activision created. I started running a CoD4 dedicated server a day later. Suffice to say I'm a believer now. I play CoD4 between 15 to 30 hours a week. yep, I'm addicted. It's nice to have a game to play that i like this much.

GDawgg Clan has seven CoD4 deathmatch servers running today. Combined, they total 251 available slots and stay packed with players night and day.

I made my first CoD4 maps on December 3rd and 8th of 2008: mp_killbox_d and mp_madness5.

As of September 29, 2008, GDawgg Clan has added two Crysis Wars servers as well. Great game!
On November 17th and 18th 2008, I made my first Crysis Wars maps: deathby_heli and killbox. Had some fun playing Crysis Wars. Was a blast, awesome imagery. Crytek has made great strides with its graphics, to be sure. GDawgg Clan is no longer running Crysis Wars servers as of May 2009.

One of my trusted clan-mates, -{gdwg}-Swiz, turned me onto Unreal Tournament 3 on June 12, 2009. I'm no stranger to UT. I played some the earlier games in the series but UT3 is totally cool. Some aspects of this game remind me of Half-Life (game-speed, players always run, no sprint/fatigue nonsense). As of 08.17.09, UT3 is by far my favorite game. Though I really like CoD4, UT3 is more what I'm looking for in an FPS. Mapping for UT3 is also a blast (made 27 UT3 maps to date). I'm having a lot of fun with this game. GDawgg Clan is running one UT3 server.

November 10, 2009 brought us CoD MW2. The game itself is awesome. Easily the best FPS ever made, however, Infinty Ward, the game's developer, has created a huge controversy by disabling MW2's developer's console, dedicated servers and compile tools. The compile tools are necessary in order to create custom content (maps, mods) for the game. IW created a console-gaming type "match-making" system called IWNet in place of dedicated servers. IWNet is the biggest piece of crap to come down the pipe in a long while. A complete piece of crap. The PC gaming world was repulsed and angered by what IW did but many of us acquired the game after console enablers showed up. With the console enabled, players are able to set up their own servers. Fortunately, CoD MW-2 is kickass but many of us are looking forward to the day when dedicated servers become the norm for this game and IWNet goes in the trash where it belongs.

On June 20th 2010 a friend, Nelsonator, told me about an IWNet emulator called alterIWNet (aIW). aIW is awesome. It has given us back the console that IW and IWNet took away. Now we can play MW2 in modded servers without any contact with Steam or VAC or IWNet. To all the folks responsible for creating aIW and to those responsible for keeping aIW running well everyday, i say a tremendous "THANK YOU!!!" for making MW2 worth playing.

I'd like to acknowledge some of the best gamers in the world, my -{gdwg}- Clan-mates: WRATH, Spam I Am, Swiz, MaiM, TOOOLD, Old Sarge, Zippy, ratbag_mf, Greekfreak, Metalimage, Azreal, Idle_Threat, Stinky Hangdown, BlackDeath, Crysis, Joseidon and Loblo.

Special thanks to:
slash
GULL
Spam
Sarge
WRATH
gorgon
sil3ntninja
W.L. Holes
Tarwn
Big Mac Attack
FIREFOX71
Desert Eagle
X a Qshuner
Swiz
Diablo Verde
Sidewinder
TOOOLD
Ashen-Shugar
stupid
Maim
Professor Frink
Old Sarge
Bullet Magnet
Destroyer
Keeper
BlackDeath
ratbag_mf
Greekfreak
Metalimage
Stinky Hangdown
LK-Behind-U
Crysis
Joseidon

for their support, inspiration, innovative ideas and a boat-load of frags.

I'd also like to thank the many awesome players in the pc gaming community for their continued support.