Rig of the Month
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PRODUCED AND PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.120 MAXIMUMPC NOVEMBER 2004
Glass hinges and glue hold the many individual pieces of Plexiglas
together. Two of the Pyramid’s sides open for access to the parts.
Internal clutter is managed with metallic-blue wire wraps.THIS MONTH: Piloux’s Half-Life 2 PC
Piloux gave the case a corrosive finish by
using several layers of paint. He started
with a flat gray, then added a rust-colored
layer, and finished with orange highlights
as part of an overall motif.Dremeled bullet holes and hand-cut
Plexiglas shards throughout the case
show impressive attention to detail.M
aking a case mod that
manages to capture the
essence of the year’s
most anticipated game—pssssst,
it’s Half-Life 2 —isn’t a task for a
novice modder. And were Piloux a
novice, it’s unlikely he would have
been contacted by Valve founder
Gabe Newell—Mr. Half-Life him-
self—to custom-create a tribute
to the upcoming game for Valve’s
HQ. That’s quite a compliment,
and clearly, Piloux was the right
man for the job.
The resulting rig perfectly
mimics the game’s derelict
industrial areas, where signs
of decay from rampant corro-
sion and rust are everywhere.
However, Piloux’s biggest chal-
lenge was making the Valve-
commissioned mod different
from his earlier Half-Life -themed
Black Mesa mod, which earned
him Newell’s attention in the
first place. “I didn’t want to build
the same mod, I wanted to make
it in the same spirit but different
enough to give Valve something
unique.”THIS MONTH:Piloux’s Half-Life 2 PC
Piloux gave the case a corrosive finish by
using several layers of paint. He started
with a flat gray, then added a rust-colored
layer, and finished with orange highlights
as part of an overall motif.Dremeled bullet holes and hand-cut
Plexiglas shards throughout the case
show impressive attention to detail.A common coffee
can and a trip to
the hardware store
provided Piloux
with everything he
needed to create
Valve’s trademark,
um, valve.Being tight with
Valve, Piloux
had access to
the as-yet-to-be-
released game.
“I wanted to
include in the
case something
that comes
directly from
[ Half-Life 2 ].”
The jagged,
craggy surface
creeping up the
front and side
of the case is
a replica of the
combine wall
that slowly
destroys the
game’s city.Piloux fitted the heavily
modified Antec SX1040
case with a custom
cooling rig,
including the
Black Ice II
Xtreme
Radiator
mounted
on the
case’s top.