I thought I read something that Valve mentioned at one point they even have higher resolutions masters. Something along the lines in the future they might release these to the community once the hardware catches up.
Also, on HalfLife Source. The reason I didn't go for it was because from what I understood. It does not include the Blueshift models and texture upgrades (as well as no Blueshift itself in the deluxe pack). Thats kinda of ridiculous not to include these higher resolutions if you are going to put it into a better engine anyways.
The only thing I can think of is maybe Valve has some kind of legality issue with those improvements. As wasn't Blueshift by a third party?
For my own bug/oversight.. Look what happens with the paint texture after the head crab falls off.
SPOILER EASTER EGGG
For an easter egg: You will find this guy after you take down the helicopter in the air boat. There are two canals behind the water gate. One of the canal gates is slightly open.. Use the airboat as a lift into the one thats ajar. Run/jump down a radioactive stream and go to the side at the end to find him 9and health to regain what you lost)
Haha, good find oXY! Aliens slumming it in the canals, that's attention to detail. I still don't quite get what's up with these vorlons or vogons or whatever the hell they are, but that works out alright since I don't understand much of anything that is going on in the game. Poor Gordon
I can understand what you're saying about the textures and the screen shots really helped. I think I came into this game knowing that it wasn't going to push the graphics like Doom3 so I didn't try to make the comparison. The guys at iD have always been the ones to push the technology and Valve became demi gods because of the immersiveness of HL so I think the two companies try to make groundbreaking games with two different ideologies in mind - I still tend to think that the story will always win out and that the visuals should support that.
I'm also really happy with the relative lack of bugs. A lot of games come out with game breaking glitches, Far Cry comes to mind, but I was able to play HL2 start to finish with no crashes, no graphics problems, and only a little bit of audio stuttering.
I just started playing the game a second time and I think I went to every NCP in the begining train station and talked to them. It's amazing that they all have a little speal for you.
I think under the circumstances Valve did a great job. I always thought the Source engine was pimping it's physics more then it's graphics, and ofcourse people will find things wrong with ever game because there hasn't been a perfect game since TIE Fighter (still trying to find a way to get the original disk to work in XP). I guess I've just never been one to be overly picky about other people's work especially when I know it's better then what I could have done.
Voodoo: I managed to get TIE fighter working in XP... can't remember how though! Took a lot of fiddling with compatibility modes. You could always get DOSBox or AbandonLoader to try it!
Oxy: good find on the vortigon also i noticed that if you shoot the zombies with the black headcrabs clinging to them, then the headcrabs fall off, the blood splats stay over the invisible shape of where the headcrab used to be...
DaZ: bloody good screenshot. I loved the look of those sections, and later on the buggy sections. the massive bridge really has a grand sense of scale that not many other games have managed.
I propose we find all the low-res textures in the game, re-paint them at double the resolution, and release it as a patch
You would think Source would support some form of texture overlay. Hell, I even remember Deus Ex supported "detailed" textures, which were exactly the same thing. I remember because it used to make my old card run quite slow when they were enabled.
Sure there are graphically some short comings, but I've been so involved in the game I haven't really noticed them all that much.
In regards to the HDR light blooms, I'm not sure if this entirely what you were talking about downsizer, but when you are in a dark room looking out a window, the window will be quite bright and you can't really see anything outside from the over exposure. As you walk closer to the window, looking outside the intensity of light will fade until its at normal levels. This effect was shown on one of their movies they released, set on some roof tops.
This effect is definately present in the game. Perhaps it is only featured in DX9, that is why you can't see it?
In regards to the DX problem you are having, the NVidia FX series don't handle DirectX 9 very well, especially in HL2. At some points they were scoring quite low, so valve made the decision to sacrifice some visual quality and default them to DX8 cards for better performance. I'm quite sure that you can change the DX level in the graphics settings, if not you can definately do it in the console. Same thing with Doom 3, NVidia cards easily out perform ATI cards.
On the subject of the game, I have just finished it and it was an absolute blast. I don't think I've had so much fun in an FPS since HL1 or Deus Ex 1.
Dog is quite possibly the coolest character I have seen in a game!
holy crap, this game is great! I'd have to nominate this game for the most disgusting corpses in a video game award.
I really enjoy how the Vortigons are always willing to sing the praise of "the one true free man" whenever you talk to them. I get some stuttering problems now and then but I've read that a defrag will fix that.
only bugs i've noticed are... the water effect act's oddly if you float with it in the middle of the screen, and for the first few chapters, all character dialogue doesn't sync right between front two speakers on my 4.1 speakers, it works fine on later levels.
wooden planks rock, you can split them down the middle, not just in two
shame you can't get the super gravitygun earlier in the game, even with cheats that thing rocks
Does HL2 have dynamic cloth and hair? I have checked some screens and havnt really seen any indications yet Bloodlines (uses Source engine) has dynamic cloth/hair/boobs.
I would like to toy around with these features and see what i could make but i dont want to gamble and buy HL2 to find out it cant support this kind of stuff.
I believe gauss can go suck an egg, I dont remember saying anything that would warrent your reply. I stated many times I like the game, and the forum was created to gather first impressions. I bought the game, so the developers already have my money. Thats the biggest compliment I can give to them.
My fiance' is a professional photographer, and even she commented about how undetailed the texture rezslution was, and she noticed that everything was just photosourced. It does'nt take much skill to photograph a building surface and paste it in game. BUT they made it look great. Which is why I credit the art direction or processes involved. Anyone can take a picture, not everyone can direct 10-15 artists to keep the art looking consistant. They pull it off beautifully.
As for the engines I've been impressed with. Painkiller for lightblooms and pulling off weapon physics first. CryEngine for the expansive environments, impressive AI, and constant visual improvements via patching. They even have realtime HDR implimented I beleive. And a few engines that dont have games published yet.
The point is that they claimed it would have this and that. I don't see the impressive AI, the real-time HDR, or shader implimentation they claimed it would have. I even have videos of early demonstrations specifically made to show off those features. And on top of that, I have to wait for a patch to be able to play it in Directx 9 on a card that specifically supports it. We got HL1 with a better lightmapper, physics and shaders. It even supports features that were not used, such as object/world normal mapping. Not too shabby, but not "revolutionary".
Yes I think it's an excellent game, yes the more I play it the better it gets, yes I'm having fun, yes I enjoy the new counter strike, and yes it brings a few new gameplay elements to the table. The engine is extremely easy to mod, and I think you can define your own shaders, though it is not yet documented. I love the game 100%. I was just giving impressions.
*On side note, I can make a pretty bitchin' system for $600.
You know, the game industry has never suffered writers well. The thing about it though is Story does not equal writing. This game is telling a story, and doing it well as a series of events you experience, or listen to as others talk. It's like a movie, except you are 'inside" and directing the main character. But also like a movie it changes pacing and mood to fit that situation, and by Contrast, heightens the mood of the pieces in context. What brought this home for me was after the rather frenetic James Bond like water chase with the airboat, you can experience the simple joy of playing catch. Granted its with a gient friendly robot, and you are using a high tech "Zero Point emitter". but still playing catch at twilight was a joy. and an excellent example of mood. Because what came next in Ravenholm by contrast was a disgusting, feearfull place that gave me the crawlies, and more horror than Doom III ever could. So then I guess storytelling is now going to be fairly important for first person games.
Haha - I was just at that scene, Adam, and spent five or so minutes stacking junk to get on the roof of that shed and access the shack up above it. Not a damn thing worth the effort, but it was fun al lthe same
[ QUOTE ]
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Here's a silly attempt at trying to make a ramp for me to run up, jump off, and clear that gap with.
Ended up workin' just fine too
[/ QUOTE ]
iam to lazy to do any of that, i just go to console sv_gravity 100 and i clear the gap with no effort
[/ QUOTE ]
There's no damn way I'd do that shit my first time through this game.
downsizer: personally i thought you came off sounding like a dick. but then looking at my own reply now, i'm guiltier by far, so i'm sorry. but hey, i got some eggs in the fridge, after that i'm calling it fair.
brome: earlier in that sequence there's a reaaaally long plank board that makes just about every subsequent gap really easy to cross with the gravity gun. but i think that's one of my favorite things about the game is how much latitude it allows for creative problem solving--that's a nice looking ramp you've got there
i would love to make or see a more involved 'hole-up' style map where you've got a 'preparation' period where you can barricade doors/windows/stairs with chairs, cabinets, etc., and then have to fend off a really nasty zombie or combine attack afterwards. it'd make brilliant co-op as well, come to think of it.
I wonder if stuff, Maxim, or FHM is going to run a story about alex like they did with marge simpson. I can see Valve dolling her all up and lots of lonely gamers running out to buy the issue.
Finally out of Ravnholm, made great time, until the antlions...
Bleh. You know, the Combine army is tough,and over armed. bt i seem to be able to engage them and come out of fre fights with 70 -80 health. But monsters.. monster seem to chew me up, that any anything that isa jumping puzzle.
Bleh. You know, the Combine army is tough,and over armed. bt i seem to be able to engage them and come out of fre fights with 70 -80 health. But monsters.. monster seem to chew me up, that any anything that isa jumping puzzle.
Scott
[/ QUOTE ]
it's your training, Scott. you can handle those combine soldiers no problem, because you understand what you're dealing with. but due to cutbacks, unfortunately the Army has not had any monster/zombie training since the late 50's
in ravenholm, i just kept one of those wonderful rusty engine blocks always handy so i could the gravity gun early and often
Just finished... OMG.. I am just stunned. Incredible game. One of the best games I have ever played, and absolutely the best FPS single player ever.
It totally drew me in.
The only thing is (SPOILERS) the ending was a little too bit of a cliffhanger. I liked HL better because of the ending was more "finished" with a boss.
Also, you guys see those creatures in the citadel that one never encountered? Hmm.. Im seeing Opposing Forces 2 sometime in the future.
I personally feel the art, animation everything related to the game is amazing. Dog so kicks ass.
The bitches I have about the game is how the shadows are all controlled by the master light in a level (aka basically the sun in the outdoor levels). sorta irritating when they're standing next a fire (ie that screenshot by oXYnary). Then there's the fact you can't set water to reflect everything even on a directx 8 system. (I know it'd kill the framerates). Then there's the normal mapping on characters (seems they used zbrush there according to the little booklet that comes with the collectors edition) and the shadows casting onto the weapon models and self shadowing. Oh and also various models don't seem to be able to cast shadows upon other models, but that'd be the self shadowing issue also. Why do I bitch about these? because I know they are all possible as playing through Far Cry.
These are only little minor bitches. apparently there's shadowing for those lucky enough to have a dx9 card setup. Then there's hope someone will be able to mod these features into the game once the sdk is out. all minor issues. I did love the game immensely
Meh, Gauss was right. I'm going to complain again. Just one more time. Must all Zombies have white shirts and jeans?
And was anyone in the retail packaging? $55 for no manual and no case. Just 5 cd's in slip covers and a keyboard layout card.
I did get a bew Dx9 card, and have found most of the texture sharpness issue is with some normal mapping thing they use for detail maps. I've noticed sometimes on the Dx8 card that it looked like all the textures had the plastic wrap photoshop filter on them. Aparently it was from the normal maps. Dx9 normals are much sharper for some reason.
That aside. I'm going to have to rate this as bestest game EvaR.
Just beat the game. I dont have any quarrels with the way things turned out. The game gets an A!
Here I am done with the game, and all I can think about was playing it, and cool moments, and what the characters are up to. I wanna go chill with Dr. Kleiner and help him find lamar.
HL2 felt like a movie to me. I certainly will play it again someday.
Caved in, surrendered my soul and bought HL2. Steam attempted to add itself to my startup list, WTF? It's not supposed to run when the game doesn't run!
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Caved in, surrendered my soul and bought HL2. Steam attempted to add itself to my startup list, WTF? It's not supposed to run when the game doesn't run!
[/ QUOTE ]
Weakling
I still haven't got it, and to be honest I think the graphics kinda suck (Yes I have played it at on a friends computer), and the lack of any decent multiplayer sucks even more, hell even Doom3 has better multiplayer, and the graphics where sure a lot nicer.
That and the steam issue is the reason I am not going to get the game until it gets a lot cheaper, and there are some nice multiplayer mods.
It is a bit of a pity since I loved the first part, but valve has gone a bit too far.
Finished it Sat. night after 2 marathon sessions. The wife took off for Victoria BC so it was me alone with HL2.
***Some spoilers***
Very Good! A bit easy, only had to reload due to death a few times, and that was on the reg. setting.
Good stuff:
Overall look- I loved it. Had the look of a E.europe town that had gone to dust. I had no problem with the photo-sourced textures. Usually I don't like source textures in games because they look a blatant photo and don't fit with the rest of the assets(also generally crappy) but I believe HL2 pulled it off. ( Hey! Downsizer go out and take a picture of a wall, then try to make work in a game engine. Then get back to me on how easy it was.) The high-tech of the combine mixed well with the oldness of the world. Like something alien grafted onto something familiar.
Physics- Again very good. always smooth, no glitches or frame drop. And playing with the Dog and the advanced Gravity gun was just too much fun.
I don't know if was scripted or just luck but the one part where you are fighting the gunship in the airboat at the damn. I killed the gunship and the burning hulk came cartwheeling right at me -fucking brilliant!
Characters- Ya I gotta go with Dog as my fave. Breen was good because he wasn't over-the-top like most villains. I heard somewhere that the best way to write for a villain is to make them believe in what they are doing is right. They just have a difference of opinion. The guy in Ravenholm. The final part where he is standing in the crypt shooting burning zombies and laughing his ass off. It's things like that, make playing HL2 just so much better.
Vehicles- Just right. Not too hard to drive. Not too easy ether so as to be boring. I like the free look. Could have gone with a 3rd person. But that would have made it too easy. (Notice you never see yourself[Gordon] not even in a cutsceen, mirror or on a monitor)
Story- Good. not overly engaging. But not dull. After I finished the game I felt -'did I miss a big cutsceen somewhere?' Seems to be a hole in why city 17 is like this. I don't need to be spoonfed the small details. I figured out most. I think the game could have used one more speech from the monitors.
The Bad-
Not much. Set up (loading and auth.) took less than 40 min. Some would say that very good. But most games take 10~15 min of load time then I'm playing.
Steam- Not a problem. On comp. boot Zone Alarm would ask if Steam would be aloud access to the net. -Denied =offline mode HF2.exe -would ask -Denied. And that was it! The game ran fine.
I ran mine on a AMD 2100+ with a GeF5600 @ 1280x1024 with some stuttering at the load point. But that was it. Very smooth.
Movement -I find the HL way of moving a bit spastic. Hard to judge where you would land while jumping. That's just me.
AI-"GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY WAY!" bloody NPCs in way all the time. I found myself ordering them into far corners so they would keep out of my way.
'sorry Gordon'
'sorry Dr.Freeman'
aaah!
Combine AI- predicable, they shoot, duck, wait for it, return BANG dead.
One thing I can't believe is the comparison to Doom3. Not even close. D3 was a engine showoff borefest. Doesn't even hold a candle to HL2.
I'm a few steps past making friends with the antlions, and WOW, it's been a great game! Surely it's the slickest, most polished, best thought-out FPS ever. We who work on and love to play shooters should feel good that there is still so much possibility for immersion, story, and sheer coolness in our particular stretch of turf. My jadedness and yearning to not look like a fanboy be damned, I'm vastly impressed by this one.
Oh I'm a fanboy all over again.
I beat the game lastnight and right now my impression of the game is this: I want to kick Half-Life 2 in the balls, then give it a great big hug.
The game totally, 125% kicked ass in everyway possible. I can honestly say this is the best game I've *ever* played. Yup, I'm a fan boy. As for my comment above about kicking the game in the balls, finish the game and you'll know what I mean.
Well, finally finished tonight and what can I say but jesus fricking christ. Its the best single player experience I've ever had by far. I really do not get why its generally scoring lower than Halo2. Thats really bloody bizzare.
If you go back to the earlier movies and screens, notice theres a fair amount that seems to have been cut. Unless I missed it all! Par for the course in finalling I guess.
I notice Bay Raitt is credited. Anyone know what he did for them?
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If you go back to the earlier movies and screens, notice theres a fair amount that seems to have been cut. Unless I missed it all! Par for the course in finalling I guess.
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Actually, I don't think it was necessarily because stuff was just cut out, but rather (I believe) there were MAJOR changes to the story. I remember in an early video a giant creature (I think it was a mother antlion, or maybe a strider) busts through the wall of the lab and interrupts that little meeting early on in the game (the part where Alyx takes you to the secret lab and you get your HEV suit). In the final cut of the game, the action starts MUCH later.
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I actually find it a bit boring so far... o_O;
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How far along in the game are you? It's a bit slow to start off, but the action really picks up later on. In fact, on another forum I frequent (and possibly on the previous pages of this thread; I haven't read the whole thing) some people felt that there was almost too much action. Things start to speed up a little when you get to the hoverboat, and then get really intense after the whole hoverboat sequence.
KeyserSoze: Actually, that sequence you mentioned was part of a test the team had to do for Gabe while he was away at a convention. I read about it in the Gamespot article that was like 26 pages of behind the scenes info on the creation of the game as told by the interviewer and Mr. Newell himself.
So far it feels exactly like HL1. I'm glad I enabled subtitles, because of the scripted sequences I'm often too far away to understand much. The load times are REALLY bad. Doom 3 loads a bit faster but its seqments are like ten times as long, nothing interrupts your flow like sitting there for a minute waiting for the game to load. Damn, after Metroid Prime ANY load times are unacceptable! Maybe a few seconds between major segments but that should be all!
Somehow Barney was the only character so far that seemed "real" to me, Alyx looks like she came from a Pixar movie.
EDIT: And where is the "offline" setting supposed to be located in STEAM? I don't want it to waste 20 seconds for connecting to my account and five minutes for verifying the game files each start.
Oh my god that ending sucked. What a waste of a game. Hardly the 15 hours everyone is claiming. I beat in in about 9 hours. I spent 9 hours for that?
It seems every movie and game is out to make the next buck instead of closing a story. But this is just dumb. They could have at least closed the story, then afterwards do the whole ending bit. It's not even 15 seconds long.. It did'nt make any sense at all. There was nothing in the whole story that related to the ending, besides the 2 second intro. It makes no sense what so ever, and everything you learn and fight for in the game means absolutly nothing. BAH..
This game is 5% shy of being the greatest game ever. The money was spent well, I just hope they justify that ending with some grand and glorious HL3. But I would not like to wait another 5-6 years.
Sorry you're so disappointed with the ending Downsizer, although I really didn't expect you to say otherwise. I thought the ending was perfect - you only know in the game what Gordon would know. It's perfect, really. Very 'Valve' of them to do it seems.
KDR: The loading times are long, but its not like they happen in the middle of a gun fight. They were at least kind enough to pace them at slow periods. As for the offline option, it happens when you are actually offline - although I couldn't get mine to work. Oh well, doesn't take away from how great the game is.
Ya I kinda thought the game would contine after the end. When I saw the setup I though 'Ok I kill Breen and jump or get pulled into the portal, Then I'll fight in funkyland for while. Then back to finish things in City17. Maybe get to checkout those neat-looking drone/human things I saw flying through the combine HQ.
But no. Still not a bad ending.
::Spot the GMan::
-In the picture at the first rebel lab
-Saw him standing on a walkway drurning the airboat run.
-Then again at the damn walking away.
-Through the spy scope looking at the rebels talking to someone holding a briefcase. then walks away
you also can spot him at the end of the railroad after the mines with the snipers. If you go to where the way is blocked with trains and crouch in the lower left area, you can see him though it walk away.
;;
9 hours? You sir rushed through that game and most likely played it on normal. Its an experience, not a cheesy frag game.
;;
Offline mode doesnt work for me either. I think this is a foobar setting at this time. Shame on steam.
hey DAz, Bay raitt did a quick pass on an ant lion model with Z-brush for them in like 20 mins at a conference. It made valve stick with normal maps,( valve was decideing whether or not use normal maps at the time)
Source. The booklet that came with the Special edition.
Replies
Also, on HalfLife Source. The reason I didn't go for it was because from what I understood. It does not include the Blueshift models and texture upgrades (as well as no Blueshift itself in the deluxe pack). Thats kinda of ridiculous not to include these higher resolutions if you are going to put it into a better engine anyways.
The only thing I can think of is maybe Valve has some kind of legality issue with those improvements. As wasn't Blueshift by a third party?
For my own bug/oversight.. Look what happens with the paint texture after the head crab falls off.
SPOILER EASTER EGGG
For an easter egg: You will find this guy after you take down the helicopter in the air boat. There are two canals behind the water gate. One of the canal gates is slightly open.. Use the airboat as a lift into the one thats ajar. Run/jump down a radioactive stream and go to the side at the end to find him 9and health to regain what you lost)
and to end on a more positive note, I just love this shot. It's damn near photographic:
I'm also really happy with the relative lack of bugs. A lot of games come out with game breaking glitches, Far Cry comes to mind, but I was able to play HL2 start to finish with no crashes, no graphics problems, and only a little bit of audio stuttering.
I just started playing the game a second time and I think I went to every NCP in the begining train station and talked to them. It's amazing that they all have a little speal for you.
I think under the circumstances Valve did a great job. I always thought the Source engine was pimping it's physics more then it's graphics, and ofcourse people will find things wrong with ever game because there hasn't been a perfect game since TIE Fighter (still trying to find a way to get the original disk to work in XP). I guess I've just never been one to be overly picky about other people's work especially when I know it's better then what I could have done.
Oxy: good find on the vortigon
DaZ: bloody good screenshot. I loved the look of those sections, and later on the buggy sections. the massive bridge really has a grand sense of scale that not many other games have managed.
I propose we find all the low-res textures in the game, re-paint them at double the resolution, and release it as a patch
Sure there are graphically some short comings, but I've been so involved in the game I haven't really noticed them all that much.
In regards to the HDR light blooms, I'm not sure if this entirely what you were talking about downsizer, but when you are in a dark room looking out a window, the window will be quite bright and you can't really see anything outside from the over exposure. As you walk closer to the window, looking outside the intensity of light will fade until its at normal levels. This effect was shown on one of their movies they released, set on some roof tops.
This effect is definately present in the game. Perhaps it is only featured in DX9, that is why you can't see it?
In regards to the DX problem you are having, the NVidia FX series don't handle DirectX 9 very well, especially in HL2. At some points they were scoring quite low, so valve made the decision to sacrifice some visual quality and default them to DX8 cards for better performance. I'm quite sure that you can change the DX level in the graphics settings, if not you can definately do it in the console. Same thing with Doom 3, NVidia cards easily out perform ATI cards.
On the subject of the game, I have just finished it and it was an absolute blast. I don't think I've had so much fun in an FPS since HL1 or Deus Ex 1.
Dog is quite possibly the coolest character I have seen in a game!
I really enjoy how the Vortigons are always willing to sing the praise of "the one true free man" whenever you talk to them. I get some stuttering problems now and then but I've read that a defrag will fix that.
wooden planks rock, you can split them down the middle, not just in two
shame you can't get the super gravitygun earlier in the game, even with cheats
I would like to toy around with these features and see what i could make but i dont want to gamble and buy HL2 to find out it cant support this kind of stuff.
My fiance' is a professional photographer, and even she commented about how undetailed the texture rezslution was, and she noticed that everything was just photosourced. It does'nt take much skill to photograph a building surface and paste it in game. BUT they made it look great. Which is why I credit the art direction or processes involved. Anyone can take a picture, not everyone can direct 10-15 artists to keep the art looking consistant. They pull it off beautifully.
As for the engines I've been impressed with. Painkiller for lightblooms and pulling off weapon physics first. CryEngine for the expansive environments, impressive AI, and constant visual improvements via patching. They even have realtime HDR implimented I beleive. And a few engines that dont have games published yet.
The point is that they claimed it would have this and that. I don't see the impressive AI, the real-time HDR, or shader implimentation they claimed it would have. I even have videos of early demonstrations specifically made to show off those features. And on top of that, I have to wait for a patch to be able to play it in Directx 9 on a card that specifically supports it. We got HL1 with a better lightmapper, physics and shaders. It even supports features that were not used, such as object/world normal mapping. Not too shabby, but not "revolutionary".
Yes I think it's an excellent game, yes the more I play it the better it gets, yes I'm having fun, yes I enjoy the new counter strike, and yes it brings a few new gameplay elements to the table. The engine is extremely easy to mod, and I think you can define your own shaders, though it is not yet documented. I love the game 100%. I was just giving impressions.
*On side note, I can make a pretty bitchin' system for $600.
Scott
http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NjkxLDI=
Ended up workin' just fine too
Here's a silly attempt at trying to make a ramp for me to run up, jump off, and clear that gap with.
Ended up workin' just fine too
[/ QUOTE ]
iam to lazy to do any of that, i just go to console sv_gravity 100 and i clear the gap with no effort
[ QUOTE ]
Here's a silly attempt at trying to make a ramp for me to run up, jump off, and clear that gap with.
Ended up workin' just fine too
[/ QUOTE ]
iam to lazy to do any of that, i just go to console sv_gravity 100 and i clear the gap with no effort
[/ QUOTE ]
There's no damn way I'd do that shit my first time through this game.
brome: earlier in that sequence there's a reaaaally long plank board that makes just about every subsequent gap really easy to cross with the gravity gun. but i think that's one of my favorite things about the game is how much latitude it allows for creative problem solving--that's a nice looking ramp you've got there
i would love to make or see a more involved 'hole-up' style map where you've got a 'preparation' period where you can barricade doors/windows/stairs with chairs, cabinets, etc., and then have to fend off a really nasty zombie or combine attack afterwards. it'd make brilliant co-op as well, come to think of it.
Finally out of Ravnholm, made great time, until the antlions...
Bleh. You know, the Combine army is tough,and over armed. bt i seem to be able to engage them and come out of fre fights with 70 -80 health. But monsters.. monster seem to chew me up, that any anything that isa jumping puzzle.
Scott
Bleh. You know, the Combine army is tough,and over armed. bt i seem to be able to engage them and come out of fre fights with 70 -80 health. But monsters.. monster seem to chew me up, that any anything that isa jumping puzzle.
Scott
[/ QUOTE ]
it's your training, Scott. you can handle those combine soldiers no problem, because you understand what you're dealing with. but due to cutbacks, unfortunately the Army has not had any monster/zombie training since the late 50's
in ravenholm, i just kept one of those wonderful rusty engine blocks always handy so i could the gravity gun early and often
It totally drew me in.
The only thing is (SPOILERS) the ending was a little too bit of a cliffhanger. I liked HL better because of the ending was more "finished" with a boss.
Also, you guys see those creatures in the citadel that one never encountered? Hmm.. Im seeing Opposing Forces 2 sometime in the future.
You can also zap em with the grav gun and pretty much just plow your way through the "sand traps".
The bitches I have about the game is how the shadows are all controlled by the master light in a level (aka basically the sun in the outdoor levels). sorta irritating when they're standing next a fire (ie that screenshot by oXYnary). Then there's the fact you can't set water to reflect everything even on a directx 8 system. (I know it'd kill the framerates). Then there's the normal mapping on characters (seems they used zbrush there according to the little booklet that comes with the collectors edition) and the shadows casting onto the weapon models and self shadowing. Oh and also various models don't seem to be able to cast shadows upon other models, but that'd be the self shadowing issue also. Why do I bitch about these? because I know they are all possible as playing through Far Cry.
These are only little minor bitches. apparently there's shadowing for those lucky enough to have a dx9 card setup. Then there's hope someone will be able to mod these features into the game once the sdk is out. all minor issues. I did love the game immensely
And was anyone
I did get a bew Dx9 card, and have found most of the texture sharpness issue is with some normal mapping thing they use for detail maps. I've noticed sometimes on the Dx8 card that it looked like all the textures had the plastic wrap photoshop filter on them. Aparently it was from the normal maps. Dx9 normals are much sharper for some reason.
That aside. I'm going to have to rate this as bestest game EvaR.
Here I am done with the game, and all I can think about was playing it, and cool moments, and what the characters are up to. I wanna go chill with Dr. Kleiner and help him find lamar.
HL2 felt like a movie to me. I certainly will play it again someday.
Thanks a Billion Valve!
Caved in, surrendered my soul and bought HL2. Steam attempted to add itself to my startup list, WTF? It's not supposed to run when the game doesn't run!
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Weakling
I still haven't got it, and to be honest I think the graphics kinda suck (Yes I have played it at on a friends computer), and the lack of any decent multiplayer sucks even more, hell even Doom3 has better multiplayer, and the graphics where sure a lot nicer.
That and the steam issue is the reason I am not going to get the game until it gets a lot cheaper, and there are some nice multiplayer mods.
It is a bit of a pity since I loved the first part, but valve has gone a bit too far.
***Some spoilers***
Very Good! A bit easy, only had to reload due to death a few times, and that was on the reg. setting.
Good stuff:
Overall look- I loved it. Had the look of a E.europe town that had gone to dust. I had no problem with the photo-sourced textures. Usually I don't like source textures in games because they look a blatant photo and don't fit with the rest of the assets(also generally crappy) but I believe HL2 pulled it off. ( Hey! Downsizer go out and take a picture of a wall, then try to make work in a game engine. Then get back to me on how easy it was.) The high-tech of the combine mixed well with the oldness of the world. Like something alien grafted onto something familiar.
Physics- Again very good. always smooth, no glitches or frame drop. And playing with the Dog and the advanced Gravity gun was just too much fun.
I don't know if was scripted or just luck but the one part where you are fighting the gunship in the airboat at the damn. I killed the gunship and the burning hulk came cartwheeling right at me -fucking brilliant!
Characters- Ya I gotta go with Dog as my fave. Breen was good because he wasn't over-the-top like most villains. I heard somewhere that the best way to write for a villain is to make them believe in what they are doing is right. They just have a difference of opinion. The guy in Ravenholm. The final part where he is standing in the crypt shooting burning zombies and laughing his ass off. It's things like that, make playing HL2 just so much better.
Vehicles- Just right. Not too hard to drive. Not too easy ether so as to be boring. I like the free look. Could have gone with a 3rd person. But that would have made it too easy. (Notice you never see yourself[Gordon] not even in a cutsceen, mirror or on a monitor)
Story- Good. not overly engaging. But not dull. After I finished the game I felt -'did I miss a big cutsceen somewhere?' Seems to be a hole in why city 17 is like this. I don't need to be spoonfed the small details. I figured out most. I think the game could have used one more speech from the monitors.
The Bad-
Not much. Set up (loading and auth.) took less than 40 min. Some would say that very good. But most games take 10~15 min of load time then I'm playing.
Steam- Not a problem. On comp. boot Zone Alarm would ask if Steam would be aloud access to the net. -Denied =offline mode HF2.exe -would ask -Denied. And that was it! The game ran fine.
I ran mine on a AMD 2100+ with a GeF5600 @ 1280x1024 with some stuttering at the load point. But that was it. Very smooth.
Movement -I find the HL way of moving a bit spastic. Hard to judge where you would land while jumping. That's just me.
AI-"GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY WAY!" bloody NPCs in way all the time. I found myself ordering them into far corners so they would keep out of my way.
'sorry Gordon'
'sorry Dr.Freeman'
aaah!
Combine AI- predicable, they shoot, duck, wait for it, return BANG dead.
One thing I can't believe is the comparison to Doom3. Not even close. D3 was a engine showoff borefest. Doesn't even hold a candle to HL2.
Doesn't even hold a candle to HL2.
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That's hardly a fair thing to say - Doom3 can't hold a candle at all without first hosltering its weapons
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Doesn't even hold a candle to HL2.
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That's hardly a fair thing to say - Doom3 can't hold a candle at all without first hosltering its weapons
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Meee-Owww!, but well played.
Scott
I beat the game lastnight and right now my impression of the game is this: I want to kick Half-Life 2 in the balls, then give it a great big hug.
The game totally, 125% kicked ass in everyway possible. I can honestly say this is the best game I've *ever* played. Yup, I'm a fan boy. As for my comment above about kicking the game in the balls, finish the game and you'll know what I mean.
This game has truly been a pleasure and an inspiration.
If you go back to the earlier movies and screens, notice theres a fair amount that seems to have been cut. Unless I missed it all! Par for the course in finalling I guess.
I notice Bay Raitt is credited. Anyone know what he did for them?
If you go back to the earlier movies and screens, notice theres a fair amount that seems to have been cut. Unless I missed it all! Par for the course in finalling I guess.
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Actually, I don't think it was necessarily because stuff was just cut out, but rather (I believe) there were MAJOR changes to the story. I remember in an early video a giant creature (I think it was a mother antlion, or maybe a strider) busts through the wall of the lab and interrupts that little meeting early on in the game (the part where Alyx takes you to the secret lab and you get your HEV suit). In the final cut of the game, the action starts MUCH later.
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I actually find it a bit boring so far... o_O;
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How far along in the game are you? It's a bit slow to start off, but the action really picks up later on. In fact, on another forum I frequent (and possibly on the previous pages of this thread; I haven't read the whole thing) some people felt that there was almost too much action. Things start to speed up a little when you get to the hoverboat, and then get really intense after the whole hoverboat sequence.
Also, the whole boat-trip was far too repetitive for my taste...
Somehow Barney was the only character so far that seemed "real" to me, Alyx looks like she came from a Pixar movie.
EDIT: And where is the "offline" setting supposed to be located in STEAM? I don't want it to waste 20 seconds for connecting to my account and five minutes for verifying the game files each start.
Oh my god that ending sucked. What a waste of a game. Hardly the 15 hours everyone is claiming. I beat in in about 9 hours. I spent 9 hours for that?
It seems every movie and game is out to make the next buck instead of closing a story. But this is just dumb. They could have at least closed the story, then afterwards do the whole ending bit. It's not even 15 seconds long.. It did'nt make any sense at all. There was nothing in the whole story that related to the ending, besides the 2 second intro. It makes no sense what so ever, and everything you learn and fight for in the game means absolutly nothing. BAH..
This game is 5% shy of being the greatest game ever. The money was spent well, I just hope they justify that ending with some grand and glorious HL3. But I would not like to wait another 5-6 years.
KDR: The loading times are long, but its not like they happen in the middle of a gun fight. They were at least kind enough to pace them at slow periods. As for the offline option, it happens when you are actually offline - although I couldn't get mine to work. Oh well, doesn't take away from how great the game is.
Ya I kinda thought the game would contine after the end. When I saw the setup I though 'Ok I kill Breen and jump or get pulled into the portal, Then I'll fight in funkyland for while. Then back to finish things in City17. Maybe get to checkout those neat-looking drone/human things I saw flying through the combine HQ.
But no. Still not a bad ending.
::Spot the GMan::
-In the picture at the first rebel lab
-Saw him standing on a walkway drurning the airboat run.
-Then again at the damn walking away.
-Through the spy scope looking at the rebels talking to someone holding a briefcase. then walks away
;;
9 hours? You sir rushed through that game and most likely played it on normal. Its an experience, not a cheesy frag game.
;;
Offline mode doesnt work for me either. I think this is a foobar setting at this time. Shame on steam.
Source. The booklet that came with the Special edition.