HL2 Anyone got it? First impressions?

[tpe]

Amazingly enough even here in Denmark Half Life 2 is comming out on time (ok years late but on the first official release date we had here). In fact it is even early, There is a copy in the post to me right now that should arrive in the morning, yupee /images/graemlins/smile.gif and it isnt even supposed to be released here till the 16th

This is the first time that a game has arrived retail (in my memory) that it hasnt been possible to download the pirate retail version well in advance, how come, esp concidering the problems along the way?

So I am guessing it is readily available in the states, c'mon so who has it and whats it like? And wasnt the US release date the 11th anyway? How is the activation, annoying or not? Or is everyone just too busy playing?

tpe

[oXYnary]

Its not being released here to the 14/15th.

[tpe]

/images/graemlins/frown.gif and having just looked through the posts on blues (where apparently there are quite a few who havi it in their hands already) it looks like it wont be possible to activate it untill then anyway, bummer. What could be worse than actually getting a game early let a lone on time and then finding out you cant play it... Suck Oh well amazing it got here on time, guess thats better than nothing, may have to resort to some kind of helper file untill activation date.

tpe

[frosty]

Hope you enjoy it Tim, I am looking for Q4 to get out.

Hope your recovered fine T.P.E.

[adam]

Bought my copy a month ago - picking it up on Monday.

[John Warner]

it's alright! i played the multiplayer on xbox live for a few hours at my friends place. not bad. i dont think it holds up to some of the best online pc shooters.. worth the hype? i'd say no, but still, it's good fun.

[adam]

Dude, you played it on X-Box. Base your opinion off the REAL version, the PC version /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[FatAssasin]

[ QUOTE ]
it's alright! i played the multiplayer on xbox live for a few hours at my friends place. not bad. i dont think it holds up to some of the best online pc shooters.. worth the hype? i'd say no, but still, it's good fun.

[/ QUOTE ]

Are you talking about Half Life or Halo? I didn't think Half Life 2 was coming out on Xbox, escpecially not this early.

[CheapAlert]

It's not to be activated until Nov 16. All the CD contains is the preloaded content, and the Steam installer.

[b1ll]

yup, u can get it early or whateverm but u need to activate with steam, so thats not until the 16 aHAHAHAH

[Mishra]

[ QUOTE ]
it's alright! i played the multiplayer on xbox live for a few hours at my friends place. not bad. i dont think it holds up to some of the best online pc shooters.. worth the hype? i'd say no, but still, it's good fun.

[/ QUOTE ]

eh, the thread is about half life 2, not halo 2.

no worries though, i always get them confused aswell.

[Jackablade]

Me thinks theres going to be an epidemic sweep through our studio on Tuesday. I reckon we'll have at least half the team on sick leave.

[eepberries]

Valve's strategy with Steam is fucking stupid.

[KMan]

eep- Can you explain that a bit more in detail?
I like that those that got the game early when they weren't supposed to still can't play.

[eepberries]

Ohh. It wasn't supposed to be released yet? Then that's totally different. I was completely out of the loop and thought it was just released early in some places, but wouldn't be playable until X date. I didn't know that the case was pre-released stuff.

Show's how little interest I really have for Half-Life 2 /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[KDR_11k]

I think it sucks that Valve can expect people to register online for a singleplayer game and people actually DO it.

[oXYnary]

Hmm which raises the point. What if they have no internet connection?

[KDR_11k]

They're fucked and can't give it back because the box is already open.

[thnom]

Make wonder people hack their stupid asses.. I hate shit like this..

internet connection, phwah!

[adam]

So what is it exactly thats the bad thing about registering online? I mean who's going to have a computer fast enough to play HL2 but not have the internet? Registering will just allow slow-down on cracked versions. Its just registering your copy.

And although I've never really used it, I'm a fan of the Stream system/idea.

[MoP]

I assume you can telephone to activate your copy, or a similar method. Internet isn't the be-all and end-all of communication methods.
thnom: English next time, please? o_O

[KDR_11k]

Mop: No. It requires a connection to the steam master server, period.

Adam: The point is that they require you to connect to the internet to use a piece of software that has zero use or need for the internet. The potential for abuse is there (information harvesting, switching to a pay-to-play model, etc) as is the probability that Valve will some time shut down the server (because they go out of business or get bought out a few years later) and HL 2 becomes unusable. Also, some people have temporarily no internet, say because they just moved or are on a vacation.

[gauss]

i'm really getting tired of people bitching about the internet connection requirement--to me it sounds very much like people bitching about CDROM-only versions of games when they're one of the very few people left around with no CDROM drives. you're bitching on an online forum, no less, which heightens the irony... but honestly, is this so difficult a requirement? is valve supposed to overhaul a perfectly good plan because somewhere out there there's someone with a high-powered enough computer to play HL2 who doesn't have an internet connection? yes, there are some disadvantages to the system, but they're far outweighed by the huge leaps forward represented by the steam technology.

if you made a mod that garners enough attention as to be promoted on steam, you're getting free, direct exposure to millions of homes in america and worldwide. shouldn't we as artists and developers be supportive of a concept like this? all the mods that never quite got the attention they deserved, episodic content, you name it--delivered straight to you. and this is a problem how?

[oXYnary]

Ok so is it only for the first start? Meaning I wont have to be connected everytime I want to play the game? (I can't-shared phone).

I think they will be getting a lot of calls to tech support complaining about this. There are pelnty of people out there with high end computers who are not connected to the internet for one reason or another.

Gauss, you make a good argument - for a multiplayer game. I for one am buying a single player gamer. Sure we could argue this for CS Source. But that for those who bought that portion. I didn't. Couldn't afford too, and I never liked CS all that much.

[acc]

"Ok so is it only for the first start? Meaning I wont have to be connected everytime I want to play the game? "

Yes. You only need to connect once, then you can switch Steam to an offline mode.

[gauss]

as i understand it, no a constant connection is not required. it's a one-time authorization and something about setting up steam in 'offline mode', and then no more online service is required.

i understand that there are still computers that are not hooked up to the internet that might well be used to play HL2, but i stand firm by the CDROM/ 3 1/2 inch disk drive parallel. or the hardware accelerated graphics vs. software graphics. 10 years ago, yeah, it would have been a ludicrous to require an internet connection for a single player game, but almost everyone who buys HL2 can swing a net connection, even for just a little bit.

and even single player games these days are constantly supplanted by/require an internet access for some amount of time. think about it this way--most of the single player FPS games out in the last few years have not absolutely required net access...

...or have they? most of them are playable ootb, but virtually all of them require or at least work much better supplanted by patches now and again, which means internet access. people are panicking about something that really isn't all that different from what we've been having to do with FPS games for years! we will have game patches for the foreseeable future, and most of HL2's target demographic is already on the internet. in addition to initial digital content delivery (the game), wouldn't you much rather have a system like steam in place for patches, instead of always hunting down the latest patch from, oh, fileplanet or whatever?

yes, i admit there are a few people that are going to absolutely be left behind by the online requirement, but exceedingly few. and certainly far less left behind than the inevitable change in system requirements or any other such technological change in computer gaming. is requiring the net connection any less alienating to gamers than coming out with a shit-blistering hot new graphics engine that needs a top of the line system to run in full glory, or what?

the positives and the future viability of this concept so far outstrip the problems that i can't see why some people are so resistant to change. something to think about i guess.


edit: and eepberries, i know the quick reply feature is handy, but please try and consider things before blurting out some one line knee-jerk opinion about things, ok?

[KDR_11k]

And I'm saying I'm not giving personal data to a company as untrustworthy as Valve. Hell, these guys cannot even keep their sourcecode safe, how am I supposed to trust them keep my personal data away from hackers?
With e.g. Doom 3 I can download the patches from any server I like and theoretically never connect to any server within the control of iD Software. With HL2 I have to tell Valve my email address and my IP even though it's not required to make the software itself work. Could I unregister my copy to sell it (EU law forbids Valve to tell me I can't do that)?
The only thing I'm glad about is that since it cannot be installed on more than one system and you cannot set up a LAN with one copy we'll never be able to play CSS here. I hope CSS STAYS that way, LAN parties must not be polluted by that game.

[Asherr]

can only be installed on one machine? thats sucks...

just wait until you have to provide finger print id, a retinal scan, and present 3 froms of id to install games /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[KDR_11k]

Well, okay, you could probably install it, authenticate it with your account and set it to offline, then install the next one but I'd expect Valve to put in something that prevents you from doing that. Else one person could supply their whole neighborhood with singleplayer copies.

[Jes]

But then, if you can only register it once, then you can't reinstall it a year, or two, later... That doesn't make much sense. :/

[MightyPea]

[ QUOTE ]
Make wonder people hack their stupid asses.. I hate shit like this..

internet connection, phwah!

[/ QUOTE ]
Apparantly, making much sence isn't your kind of thing either, or am i wrong there?
Anyway, i think it's a pretty good system, but i DO wonder how people without an internet connection would do it, allthough i'm fairly certain Valve has found a solution for that, because they've never been one to fuck customers over, in my experience.
Also, with what happened to them, doesn't it seem logical they'd be a bit careful?

Edit: you CAN reinstall it, the information is kept in your steam account, and you only need to login to that to be able to play the game on a different pc.
At least, this is the way it is with every other steam game

[ElysiumGX]

[ QUOTE ]
Valve's strategy with Steam is fucking stupid.

[/ QUOTE ]

I believe using a system of distributing content without the need of a publisher is brilliant, and could be a major benefit for small studios looking to move upward without the interference and limitations placed by publishers and corporate executives. If I were a developer, I would want to release my content to as many people as possible and receive every bit of money earned from its sales, instead of a small percentage. Maybe Steam isn't the best option, but it's a step in the right direction. But that's just me rambling like an idiot.

[KDR_11k]

Pea: The problem we see is that because HL2 can be played offline and the only authentication is at install time you could install it, auth it and set it to offline with as many computers as you like. That was also a problem with the WinXP auth because you cannot tell a legit request from a bad one. I have a feeling Valve or Vivendi will add something that makes this impossible.

[Mojo2k]

if you don't like the way it is, don't buy it, i'm sure they will weep softly for about 2 seconds for each of you and then they will go on to being the biggest selling pc game of all time (or damn close to it)

[KDR_11k]

Naah, I'm waiting, HL2 isn't worth 50$ to me, anyway. Lets see if something changed by the time the first interesting mods arrive.

[MoP]

I've got a brilliant idea for a HL2 mod, totally original, and NO it doesn't involve realistic army weapons and sneaking around in kevlar vests shouting "n00b" at everyone.
Hopefully I can find a coder good enough to pull it off (if it's even possible).
More details as and when I see fit to release them... /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[ElysiumGX]

[ QUOTE ]
I've got a brilliant idea for a HL2 mod, totally original, and NO it doesn't involve realistic army weapons and sneaking around in kevlar vests shouting "n00b" at everyone.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ditto. I'm very excited that Valve is releasing so many great FUNCTIONAL tools for the mod community, along with EXP and the XSI price drop. No longer will I have to repeatedly respond to mod team members asking "why haven't you downloaded a copy of Max?" I have a sweet game concept from a FarCry mod that died after recruiting me. HL2 may be the perfect engine for me to bring it back myself.

[Sett]

I can see people opting for hacked(pirated) copies of HL2 not becuse they can't afford it(or choose not to pay full price) but simply that they don't trust Steam with what information is downloaded from the computers.

If the above sounds paranoid then check this out-
http://news.com.com/Is+Microsoft+using+Halo+2+to+thwart+Xbox+hackers/2100-1043_3-5449160.html

Hey! this thread was suposed to be about HL2 first impressions. Has anyone played it yet?

[KDR_11k]

Has anyone played it yet?

Isn't this whole thread about WHY people cannot play it yet?

[John Warner]

ah! sory guys, in my tired stupour for some reason hl was Ha-lo to me hahaha.

[gauss]

for sett and everyone else just tuning in, nobody (whether an early retail copy or a steam copy) can play HL2 before it's activated this monday night at 12:00 am.

and for the people still hung up on either valve security or big brother paranoia, read the gamespot 'final hours' article. has an overview of the development but also tells the story of the code leak and the infamous september 30th release date.

http://www.gamespot.com/features/6112889/?q=1&tag=gs_hp_topslot_click

and have some sympathy. they're just guys trying to make the best games they can, and they know what kind of expectations HL2 has. they're not perfect and they're certainly not scary monsters out to get your secret information on your computer and take away your freedom.

[Bradfordart]

HL2 was some of the best single player I have ever experienced and I can't wait for this one. I heard Valve would allow the unlocking part but Vivendi is being anal about waiting until the 16th.

[MoP]

[ QUOTE ]
they're not perfect and they're certainly not scary monsters out to get your secret information on your computer and take away your freedom.

[/ QUOTE ]

Preach it, Gauss! Right on! /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[KDR_11k]

it sets a bad precedent, though. What if publishers see this as a successful attempt to control usage rights and decided that henceforth all of their games have to come equipped with some form of online auth system that runs in the background? I wouldn't expect them to use online distribution as well but they'd sure as hell love online authentication. And the next thing you know is you have ten different DRM processes running that somehow manage to create a conflict and destabilize your PC. Even if Valve gets their security right I doubt others will.
Or maybe they'll start pushing TCPA much more...

[tpe]

KDR makes some good points that dont seem to be properly adressed yet.

tpe

[frosty]

[ QUOTE ]
Mop: No. It requires a connection to the steam master server, period.
Also, some people have temporarily no internet, say because they just moved or are on a vacation.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is a real problem for me because my home connection is still in the cave man days. Hopefully when I move it will improve. You know some people do game, very few, but some do without the internet.

[adam]

Like I said before, most people with gaming rigs have an internet connection. I'm sure Valve isn't worried that 1% of its demographic isn't online. And if your net connection is still in the caveman days that'll suffice. Just register once and you're fine.

[MoP]

Tesco Extra, open 24/7! We went up there at 00:15, Tuesday 16th November, and demanded they remove the fake "Preorder" DVD boxes from the shelves and put the real ones on. They did!

FRESH!

It's installing now, although I think I won't be able to activate it until 8am (midnight PST). Well, I'll have 30 minutes of playing time before I have to go into University... I'll probably end up skipping the class... /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[malcolm]

A guy I know at work bought online 'cause he thought he would get to play the game before everyone else, then he found out they won't let you play until it hits the store selves, I did a preorder so I will be enjoying my cardboard box and instruction booklet while all you other suckers can accidentally delete your copy from your hard drives. I heard it was actually their distributor that made everyone wait for the game to hit store selves, Vivendi or some junk, I could be totally wrong.

[MoP]

ANSWERING THE TOPIC QUESTION:

Yes, I have played it! For 30 minutes before I had to come to this (dreadful boring) Flash class.
It's great fun so far.
Graphics are very nice, the characters are almost photo-real while still being fairly stylised, the models and textures are excellent, lighting is pretty good (although the shadows always cast in the same direction from characters, even indoors).
The facial expressions are great, the script and voice acting lends a lot to the atmosphere.
I was feeling paranoid 5 minutes into the game, it's very immersive.
Can't wait to get home and play more!

THEY'RE WAITING FOR ME, GORDON... IN THE TEST CHAMBER!

[gauss]

hey malcolm: get ready to enjoy a bunch of discs, in a box, with a steam installer on it, just like everyone that bought it on steam. except i've already played 3 hours of it, and i'll have a physical backup whenever i want. oh, and i can put it on a dvd, which is going to be one up on your retail copy. so suck it. /images/graemlins/smile.gif


also answering topic question:

played for 3 hours, and though i'm stopping for the night (morning, it's nearly 6:00 am here) and my computer needs a defrag (remember that, kids!) it's pretty damn awesome. the the suspension of disbelief is there, the characters are very very emotive. i've really enjoyed myself so far and will be diving right back into it first thing tomorrow.

[Marine]

mine arrived this morning, typed in the key, spent half a fucking hour waiting for it to unlock, then wheeee.
blocking gunfire with barrels is fun, the flying things are a pain in the ass until you remember your crowbar

[MoP]

Yeah the flying things do get a bit annoying.
Some of the physics set pieces are excellent.
The game world is one of the most immersive I've ever played, definitely for an FPS.
The art quality and consistency is extremely high. Everything looks like it "belongs", and pretty much all the materials (metal, wood, especially water) are accurately represented by weight, reflectiveness, bumpiness and sound.
The pumpin' soundtrack when you get into big fights is nice too.
I've just got past the "air-boat" part ... that part was great fun, and looked awesome too!

I'm taking a break so I don't forget to eat or something.

Marine: Heh, mine took about 10-15 minutes to unlock. All the time I was sitting there going "HURRY UP!!"

Anyone who tells you Halo 2 is better singleplayer- or graphics-wise is out of their mind. I haven't really tried CS:S yet so I can't comment on the multiplayer...

MoP

[Faucet]

Game play is pretty good.

Huge open areas are beautiful.

Characters are nothing short of amazing.

Shaders are so hot.

It runs very well on my (somewhat modest) GeForce 4200.

So far the only complaints are the shadows and the LOD popping... but considering the size and complexity of the maps, you really can't expect them to have DOOM3 lighting.

[lkraan]

I haven't heard anything about the system specs for it.
Can you compare it to Doom3?

[MoP]

lkraan: As an FPS, yeah. I can compare it to Doom3 and say it's a much better game.
It has just as much "atmosphere" as Doom3 (although the TYPE of atmosphere is very different usually), but it feels a lot more epic.
There are characters with much more prominent roles - something that brings you into the game far more than Doom3 ever managed with it's 1-dimensional "here for 2 minutes, never seen again" characters.
The graphics, while not as "technically" good, are brought together in such a way as to appear as seamless and well-crafted as any of Doom3's assets. The consistency of art is excellent (as it was in Doom3, also).

The story is where HL2 is way ahead of Doom3. It involves you in the game a lot more, makes you wonder about the world you're in, rather than just what monsters the next room will contain.

Personally I am enjoying this game a LOT more than Doom3. The last time I enjoyed a single-player game this much was probably the first time I played Deus Ex, or maybe Morrowind at a pinch.

Of course, these are all just my opinions! But I'm thinking that most people will agree...

[KDR_11k]

So, how's the gameplay? I know that I'm pretty much immune to atmosphere so that's what matters to me.

[MoP]

Well, I dunno what falls under the category of "gameplay", but...

The player movement is pretty good. Paces the game nicely, although sometimes jumps can be awkward. The vehicles are fun to drive, going to the arcade-y side of things (not exactly "realistic" vehicle physics, but definitely fun).

The weapons (all the ones I have encountered so far) are well balanced and good to use. It's not like some games where as soon as you get a "higher level" gun, you're just using that all the time - all the guns have their uses in different situations, so it doesn't get boring.

The enemies (i'm playing on Normal mode, not easy or hard) are not so easy to defeat that it makes it feel like no effort is involved, while also not being too ridiculous so you're near death all the time. Going up against the Combine soldiers and machines is very reminiscent of the Grunts in HL.

The physics have been used well in the game, they're not just "eye candy", there are often puzzles using physics objects to advance through levels, although not so many that it feels like a gimmick (yet).

There have been a few levels where I've spent a *bit* too long wandering around because it's not immediately obvious which way you have to go next, but maybe that's just me being dumb.

There are no "cinematics", all the plot unfolds while you're controlling Gordon, and interacting with the other main characters is good. They've put a fair bit of emotion into them, the facial expressions are neat, and the voice acting is pretty good, but not amazing.

It all adds up to be a good gameplay experience IMHO!
If you liked HL and/or Deus Ex, you will like this a lot.

[TomDunne]

[ QUOTE ]
I haven't heard anything about the system specs for it.
Can you compare it to Doom3?

[/ QUOTE ]

Tehcnically, I think Doom3 looks better. Normal maps on virtually everything and the 'ultra' high-res textures give a more detailed look. But Half-Life 2 definitely feels more cinematic, in the way that the story is presented. Very early on, in the part in which you get your HEV suit, there's an amusing bit with the scientist's pet headcrab. The way the characters act in that scene, particularly Barney, is so natural that it seemed nothing like a game, but like a movie. Very awesome.

[swampbug]

Half-life 2 is in HAND! Yesssssssss! /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[rawkstar]

OMG I don't have the game

[Downsizer]

I'll be glad to give you a first impression. When somone graciously sells me thier ATI voucher. Whats with games going up in price by $5 bucks lately? It's like the longer we wait for something to finish, the more expensive it is?

[adam]

My 2 cents: I just had to close the game half-way in to the airboat bit so I can go to work.

So far, the game rocks my god damn fucking socks. This game, this environment... its so immersive. Everything is "alive". The sound is awesome, when you get into fights the music kicks in and it rocks. The flying things with the blades on them are awesome - easy to take out with a crowbar. The pistol is my favourite weapon. I love killing a combine then hearing that "flat line" noise like from an EKG machine. Totally rocks!

Anyway, I have to go to work - but all I'm gonna be thinkin' about is City17.

[Mojo2k]

just stopped by best buy an picked up my collectors eddition and whee all on one neat dvd! can't play till i get off work i guess..

[ScoobyDoofus]

This game is really amazing so far. Im still on the "Air-Boat" portion. I was up till 4:30am or so playing it after my just-after-midnight run to Walmart to pick it up.
Im counting the hours until I can get back home and fire it up again.

My only gripe so far is that I wish the textures were higher res. Im running at 1600x1200 with everything (AA, filtering, etc) at max, and I still get tearing, which means im getting some great framerates still. So with that type of performance, IM sure they could have upped the rez on many items a bit.

Is it just me or is there no "objective" screen? I forget where Im supposed to be going in games all the time, because Im staring at the scenery.

[adam]

I get that a lot too. Just remember... the game is pretty linear so you can only go the right way.

*SPOILER*
If you're on the airboat I think your overall mission is to get to Alyx and Dr. Vance (since the teleport went wrong).

EDIT: I wanted to mention how cool I think the Metro Cops are. When they community and get authorative.. push you around. Threaten you with prods.. fricken great!

[Steakhouse]

Ok, this is my official 2 Cents. It begins, Now.

I started my journey at exactly 12:03am. The install went ok, especially seeing as I had downloaded it all weeks before hand, but the "Unlock" took around seven to ten minutes. It was pure torture. I was talking to my buddy Nick while this happened and he was experiencing the same thing. The process will get to roughly 82% (it did for both of us) before jumping forward to virtually complete. Nick vanished before mine finished so I was left alone in my own private waiting room in the seventh layer of hell.

When it completed I tried to jump directly into the game which is when surprise #2 showed up. Steam decided my drivers were out of date but it provided me with a convenient link to just where I needed to go to update. I feel pretty good about this feature. You hardly ever know if you're going into a gaming experience with substandard shit. Valve tried to head me off at the pass on this just to make sure I got the best game possible. Thanks guys. Fast forward to me even getting to the game's goddamned menu and it's already 12:33.


The game. Sweet jesus it's pretty. On my system, with everything turned on, running at 640x480, I'm getting a bit of chop, but nothing that is a true detriment in my book, which likely means virtual unplayability for everyone else. While the shader tech is very nice and it's great to have highly interactive environments (actually thats bloody awesome after you start getting inventive), what really did it for me though were the emotions on the other character's faces. These guys are REAL! They EMOTE! It blows me away that I feel attachment to these characters, because after three seconds of watching them they stop being characters and start being people! Utterly amazing.


Gameplay wise the if you learn how to target for headshots you can take enemies down very quickly after minimal practice. The new enemies have all been pretty cool, and some of the old returns have been given some amazing make overs. Head Crab Zombies scare the shit out of me now. I would seriously do just about anything, fight almost anything else, to avoid even coming near one. You'll know why when you meet one of the ones I'm talking about, and you'll know it the second you meet it.

I started playing at roughly 12:30am last night and was going to play until 2am at the very, very latest. After all I had work the next morning and I was driving. Well I over shot that by about five and a half hours... I was trying to weigh out my overwhelming desire to play the game with my need to be awake for work the next day. My compromise was to simply not sleep. Yeah thats paying off like a wolverine petting zoo at the moment. But I've got some serious caffeine so I should be ok.

*Update* No I'm not ok. I'm closing in on a quarter century of life here, my body is beginning to say "Fuck this shit" with more and more frequency and I think last night's binge was the final nail in the coffin...


Final thoughts for last night's play session is there have been a lot of hints dropped about several thing but not a single explanation of anything. You have no idea how long it's been since HL1, though there are hints that it's been at least a decade. I really really need to know that answer and the answers several more sensitive questions that I wont divulge here for your benefit.

Bottom line? Valve kept their word; this game is redefining all sorts of shit minute by minute as the game goes on.

[lkraan]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I haven't heard anything about the system specs for it.
Can you compare it to Doom3?

[/ QUOTE ]

Tehcnically, I think Doom3 looks better. Normal maps on virtually everything and the 'ultra' high-res textures give a more detailed look. But Half-Life 2 definitely feels more cinematic, in the way that the story is presented. Very early on, in the part in which you get your HEV suit, there's an amusing bit with the scientist's pet headcrab. The way the characters act in that scene, particularly Barney, is so natural that it seemed nothing like a game, but like a movie. Very awesome.

[/ QUOTE ]

I meant more how HL2's the system demands compare to Doom3. For instance I can run Doom3 smooth with all the options on with my P4 2,4, 1gb DDR RAM and Ati 9700pro. Will HL2 run just as smooth with these kind of specs?

[Downsizer]

Eh. Valve lost my money. I wanted to play HL 1 to get up to speed, and installed it from my platinum pack. Thier patch updates it to a steam only version. That was fine until steam went down, like everyone said it would. So I have to log onto steam every time to play something I bought years ago. No thank you. I can't play HL 1 until the servers are back up, let alone register my HL 2.

I'm returning it for Vampire: Bloodlines in a few hours. Biggest flop in new release history. They just keep on dissapointing.

[Steakhouse]

We've been over this. Steam doesnt have to connect to the internet to run it's games. It has an offline mode that should kick in whenever it cant find a connection. You selecvt yes and then keep playing. Easy as eating pie.

[mr.toast]

damn i cant wait, iam about to buy the game right after i get out of class, looks like i wont be sleeping tonight, anyways iam wondering does the retail store version allow you to get hl source and cs source, or would you have to buy them as well, iam more interested in hl source since that will be technically the multiplayer version of hl2

[Steakhouse]

CS Source is the attached multiplayer for Half life 2. HL Source and Day of Defeat Source are ports of the original game and mod to the source engine. As far as I'm aware you can only get them through the silver package available over Steam.

[tpe]

Really enjoying it, shame about the load times and the looong registration, real gem of a game, lovely environments and bags of fun.

Spoiler/easter egg, a real melon of a spoiler at that, dont look if you dont want it spoiled, afraid i didnt take a pic before i shot it.

http://www.hairy-cockroach-fairy.co.uk/~tpe/hl2spoil.jpg

Where it is and what it is in that order

tpe

@mojo2k yes i totally agree...

[Mojo2k]

new first impression, Steam is a pile of crap, i was defending it until i actualy tried to use it, i'm not worried aobut my secret information being leaked, i'm just pissed about buying a game and not being able to play it do to shoddy servers or what the hell is going on, i can't create an account at all gives me this! rube in model design is having the same issue. I believe that if you buy a box in the store to keep away from having to download it, its retarded to make you create an account for an online service just to play.

[MoP]

Yes, Steam is pissing me off too. After having played the game for about 6 hours today, I got back from a band practise tonight to find it won't let me log in - the internet is working fine but Steam won't connect... that is mind-numbingly stupid, since all I want to do is play HL2, not online.

HAHAHA! You know, just as I typed that last line, it connected and logged on. Right now. Shame it took close to 20 minutes and several connection re-tries...

lkraan: you have NOTHING to worry about, specs wise. I ran Doom3 on "High", 800x600, and got about 30fps on average. I run HL2 at 1152x864, totally full settings (but no AA), and I get an average of about 80fps. Which is great!

Now that Steam has decided to work again, I'm going off to play some more into the wee small hours... my flatmates are waaaay ahead of me, I need to catch up!

MoP

[adam]

I honestly don't see what all the hassle is for Steam. It's been stated time and time again you don't have to be online to play. Just register once - which fine, takes a bit of time - and you're set. I've been having no problem logging on to Steam and have had to about 3 different times throughout the day today for my own reasons (not because I was having trouble with Steam or HL2). Anyway, I'm overly impressed with VALVE, HL2, and Steam. Great package all around IMO.

[Jeff Parrott]

This game is amazing. The facial animation is going to set a bar I think in the industry. It took me about an hour to install and get steam to let me in. Not real impressed with steam at all. I wish you could get it off steam or just load it off the CD/DVD without steam. Either way, small price to play for such a great game. Anyone had a chance to look at the Art of book at all? I heard there is one out for it.

[Mojo2k]

brome the hassle is i have had the game 7 hours, AND CAN"T EVEN MAKE A STEAM ACCOUNT! and you have to log in anytime you want to play. so if the server goes down you cant even play singleplayer its a load of cow brownies

[MoP]

Mojo, you don't have to connect to the server to play. Only to login and signup the first time, after that it should be ok if you're offline.

back to the game:
Just little touches like the wires on the telegraph poles blowing in the wind, the birds flying around that get scared at noises (and you can shoot them down!), plus if you throw paint cans at monsters, they get covered in white paint, which is very funny and very cool (although it takes about 4 throws to kill a headcrab zombie, but they die very white!) - little stuff like that all adds up, stuff you don't even notice but you expect to be there, is all there and would be conspicuous by it's absence.
the only thing I don't like is they seem to not have smoothing (ie just faceted shading) on some world objects that should be smooth, but they are few and far between.

[Mishra]

half-life? what on EARTH does that have to do with video games?

[Mojo2k]

well i finaly got the damn thing runing, played a bit, then stopped to get food, fixing to play again.. but when i clicked the Hl2 icon team decided to validate steam files..
which so far has taken over 5 minutes and its at 45% .. will it do this shit everytime i want to play?

[adam]

I haven't got that yet Mojo - yet. I'm sure I'll run in to something yet.

I do have one problem, but it has to do with my machine. When I start up HL2 my monitor clicks down to the proper resolution... and just sits there. I have to "alt-tab" into the game loading screen. Didn't know this the first time and rebooted my computer thinking it was an error of sorts. Anyway, glad I figured that out. (I'm running a Radeon 9200 for those with curiosity).

Mojo: What are your thought on the game, nevermind Steam?

MoP: Everything is done so well. I keep thinking of the game while I'm here @ work and its honestly making the day go by so much faster.

[MoP]

Hmm weird, Mojo - mine only validated (unlocked?) the files the first time I played it, and that took about 10 minutes. Since then it's just been a matter of clicking the Half Life 2 icon and the game loads up straight away.
I think they could have streamlined the main menu so you don't have to wait for it to load a backdrop if you're gonna press F9 and quick-load straight away, it basically makes the loading time double... they could just have a simple scene or an image instead of a full working level! Seems a bit silly, but eh. Maybe there's a way round it.

[Mojo2k]

so far I'm loving the game, tho i'm not really sure whats going on, i feel like i'm just thrown into a world with no background on it, like i just woke up there

[ElysiumGX]

So far I've posted my opinion of the benefit of Steam, and my gratitude towards Valve's attention to the mod community.

I don't have HL2, and even tho I've been waiting forever with big plans for it, I may not get it til after New Years. BUT...my first impression of most of the gamers trying to play HL2 is that they are a bunch of impatient f***cking cry babies.

If I remember correctly, Steam has been around for a while and has been advertised heavily by Valve. One of the little bed wetters on CGtalk asked "why didn't Valve expect this to happen?" Expect what? Why didn't Valve expect a bunch of bottle sucking toddlers to sign up for Steam BEFORE HL2's release date instead of all trying to login at once all over the world at the moment of its release?

[ QUOTE ]
Everything is working fine with my HL2 but that might be because i had steam for some time now

[/ QUOTE ]

I've read the most of the HL2 thread on CGtalk, and man is it hilarious. Gwot made an attempt to educate the masses. When I clicked on the last page, the site was down due to overload. OMG WTF mate , can you believe it?

And I know some of these curtain climbers crying over the Authentication system are the same brats who have downloaded several games off Kazaa. Those hypocitical bastards should hang themselves in a doorway. They'll be the ones who drive by you at 100mph on the street only to be stopped at the same light moments later shouting profanity. Honestly, I want to take a crowbar and bash it across their heads.

Don't hate Valve. Hate yourself. /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[Mojo2k]

grind, so using this logic if i want a cheeseburger on thrusday i shold go buy it on tuesday and let it sit around and wait till thursday to eat it? I wanted the game, i wanted it in a box instead of download so i've never bothered to mess with steam, I fugured that like with everyother game i've ever purchased, i would bring it home and install it and play, perhaps they should have put a little time machine in the box so people can travel back intime and get a steam account. I see the benifiet to steam to the people that wish to purchase the game online and download it, but It seems that forcing people who just want to go buy a game and play it to even look at steam is retarded. I know their servers were probably hammered today, but i'm sure not hammered any more than valve expected them to be.


"BUT...my first impression of most of the gamers trying to play HL2 is that they are a bunch of impatient f***cking cry babies.
" this is the first time in my life i've had to wait up to 8 hours after buying a game for it to install and authenticate. thats ridiculous. you shouldnt have to prepare yourself in advance before buying a game just so you can play it when you buy it.
Doom 3, was playing it in about 30 minutes, Halo2, was playing it in about 5 minutes, Half life 2 while being an excellant game.. took 8 hours.

[MoP]

Mojo, to make your analogy accurate, the burger I'd buy on Tuesday would NEVER CHANGE between Tuesday and Thursday. Therefore, it would still be hot and fresh even though I got it earlier. THAT would be an accurate analogy between burgers and HL2/Steam /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[edit] For a better analogy, see Vermilion's "cinema ticket" example below! That's the reality.

TBH though, it is a bit silly having "all or nothing" internet activation. I know a few people around here who have the machine capable of running HL2, and might like to play it, but cannot get an internet connection. What's Valve/VUG doing about them?

[TomDunne]

[ QUOTE ]
grind, so using this logic if i want a cheeseburger on thrusday i shold go buy it on tuesday and let it sit around and wait till thursday to eat it?

[/ QUOTE ]

Nah, you're not using logic there ;p A cheeseburger is perishable; a video game is not. Let me ask you a different question, Mojo. If/when you went to see the first showing of Star Wars: Episode 1 back in 1999, did you think it would be wiser to get your tickets in advance of the show instead of buying them fifteen minutes before the curtain went up? If you did opt to get them right before the show, did you expect you could walk right up to the counter and get them or did you think you might have to wait in a potentially long line?

I haven't really had any problems with Steam, but I'm not going to defend it in its present incarnation, either. It's a bit too invasive, requiring I go through it in some capacity every time I want to start HL2. It's also a bit too flaky for me to be comfortable with - buggy downloads and authentication and unlocking hiccups have been widely reported. However, while these things are true, I am very optimistic about what Steam represents. Sure, it's not perfect, but how many first steps into a new way of doing things are perfect? Steam, if successful, might be to content delivery what QuakeWorld and DWANGO were to online play. Obviously, internet gaming has caught on. Imagine if internet distribution *also* catches on! The idea that game development could be returned to gamers rather than remain subject to focus groups or garish movie tie-ins or corporate-studio buyouts seems almost idyllic to me. The days of one man studio and shareware glory are gone, but perhaps the days of indie developers and mod teams competing with established studios is right around the corner. I'm willing to suffer a few difficulties now in the hope that the present speedbumps are the precursor to a smoother road than we've ever known before...

[Pseudo]

[ QUOTE ]

When I start up HL2 my monitor clicks down to the proper resolution... and just sits there. I have to "alt-tab" into the game loading screen.


[/ QUOTE ]

I have the same issue Adam. I let it sit at this screen for a bit, maybe a minute or two, and it eventually switched over to the hl2 application as it should. I will have to try alt-tabbing instead and see if it loads any faster.

[ QUOTE ]

I think they could have streamlined the main menu so you don't have to wait for it to load a backdrop if you're gonna press F9 and quick-load straight away, it basically makes the loading time double... they could just have a simple scene or an image instead of a full working level!


[/ QUOTE ]

Add -console to the end of the path in the shortcut, that should disable the overly-intense menu.

[oXYnary]

In the first section there is a childs play area with a tic tac toe.. One of the blocks is missing. Inside the building you will find it. (Don''t go to the other wall of the second floor hallway and you can still go back to the last area with the missing block to the game.

The problem is now I cant figure out how to "use" it if its even possible.. But it does seem rather odd to put the missing block a load area away.

oh BTW

THIS GAME ROCKS!!!! Was worth the hassle waiting for al the unlocking and such. Game of the Year.. hands down.

[Daz]

Well, installation and running the game ( whilst a long winded process ) no real problems here. Maybe I was just lucky.

First impressions:

Gameplay/story: I am absolutely blown away. This is about the most immersive thing I've ever played. I mean damn, Ive just thrown a fricking TV out of a window in a videogame! How cool is that?! Its early days, but I am having an absolute blast. The sound, unravelling story ( love the parallels to Nazi occupied countries ) , atmosphere, its all just totally gripping and very well done.

Graphics/engine: Im gonna go out on a limb here and be controversial. Whilst I have no real complaints about the game visually ( indeed it looks stunning for the most part on my nVidia 6800 ), I dont *quite* see how Source is the second coming of engines that we were lead to believe.
Its still 'just' a lightmapped world ( often with the big jaggy pixels that come with them ) with a character and object lighting engine thats different than the world . i.e doesn't have the lighting engine unification of say, Doom3, which leads to stuff like trees glowing where theyre lit by the sun but planted in a darkly lightmapped ground. Age old videogame lighting problems that remain unsolved basically. Surfaces are not bump mapped and normal mapped like the E3 tech demo suggested. Characters are still 'just' texture mapped polys. There are some damn nice shaders, although for the most part some stuff seems a bit too shiny, and I dont like the floor reflection that follows you around as you walk. It just doesnt behave as reflections do. I guess its an environment map hack, but I dont get why If the water reflects properly ( and it looks amazing ) that the shiny floors cant too. I dont necessarily agree that the quality of Art is absolutely immaculate. It would be hard to use that word in conjunction with HL2 stylistically anyway. Pretty much everything is photosourced, which whilst gives a nice gritty realistic feel to the world, stuff tends to look a bit messy and there are lots of swimming and stretched UV's. ( particularly on characters ). Clearly they are leaps and bounds ahead of any competition with giving realistic characters emotion. The totally static sky texture is my biggest peeve artistically. It just kinda gives you that 'oh, thats a skybox' illusion breaking sensation.

All Im saying about source is that its not doing anything really groundbreaking here tech wise other than throwing a few more polys around than previous engines. ( Im talking about the renderer. The physics is awesome ).

Dont get me wrong, this game is truly amazing. These are tiny tiny nitpicks and the game artist in me talking. Just 'stuff' that popped into my head whilst playing it. Oh yeah, that stuff would be 'first impressions' ;-p

The bar has been raised so very very high. Back to play some more!

[Scott Ruggels]

A quick Note. Installed it an played it after hours at work. Only my work machine has the ponies to play the game. The install was intermiably long, even with the DVD> all the "Steam" thingies just slowed it to a crawl, during the install.
But the game itself....

Excellent Single Player. None of the feeling of walking through a "Haunted House", like Doom 3. This game you are dropped into a situation and told bits and pieces of the story as you go along. This is the most immersive game I have playe in years. The game engine protrays a convincingly run down Eastern European City in the bright light of day. The texture work, the global Illumination and the realistic water, all morege to give one a feel of a living environment. and the NPC'syou deal with are plausible to the point of that vague creepiness you may feel around realistic mannequins. I got a crick in the neck and a healthy amount of eyestrain from playing it 3 hours straight, with no hint of how much time passed. This is a Very immersive Game. More later, including screenshots and spoilers, but this feels and plays a LOT better than somewhat dissappointing DoomIII.

Scott

[oXYnary]

Oh, has anyone else suffered sound "popping"? Like when two many sound start at once there will be a delay/repeat/pop? Im using a nforce sound system if its related.

[KMan]

I only get the occasional sound stutters, when characters are talking. But that's probably because I've got settings turned to what they shouldn't be.

[adam]

Daz, the textures are bumpmapped for me. I just tried it out with my flashlight on some wooden textures - worked fine. *shrug*

[adam]

Welp, screenshot posting time!


Alyx: "Whaddya mean you won't take your top off?"
Doctor: "OH NO YOU DI'NT!!"
http://brome.toogeek.com/stuff/hl2ss/d1_eli_010003.jpg

Alyx: "Whoa whoa whoa... that wasn't me who farted. Now put that thing away we got business to take care of."
http://brome.toogeek.com/stuff/hl2ss/d1_eli_010004.jpg

[dur23]

sooooooooooooooooooo gooooooood......i think i just peed a lil.

[Pseudo]

[ QUOTE ]
Oh, has anyone else suffered sound "popping"? Like when two many sound start at once there will be a delay/repeat/pop? Im using a nforce sound system if its related.

[/ QUOTE ]

Someone from Valve said to try turning down your sound detail (which shouldn't have much noticeable affect on gameplay but may help stop the stuttering) or to turn down the texture detail (this will be immediately noticeable, of course). Another possible solution is to defrag your hard drive. I am still at work and haven't tried any of these yet, but I sure hope one of them works when I get home!

Oh and to note, I am not using the nforce sound system, so it shouldnt be related to that. I think they said it is most likely caused by access to the hard drive.

[Daz]

hah funny pics. Oh yeah, I guess I see it with the flashlight on, but only on some textures and not all. Mainly just floor. Still, hardly a problem. And now Im seeing it on characters for wrinkle maps which is pretty sweet. This game gets more amazing the more I play it. The combat feels awesome.

[gauss]

yeah, if you're getting any major stuttering, be sure to defrag your harddrive. even though this comp is only a couple of years old i needed a defrag pretty badly, and it cleared up any hesitation/stuttering the game had.


and the game continues to rock my face clean off.

[moose]

im fucking floored by it.

I honestly wasnt expecting much, but hot damn, i dont even feel like im playing a game. You can really empathize with everything. Even at the start when you talk to the gaurds, and before they strike, the raise their hand in warning, like you'd do to a dog or a child (if yer into that sorta thing). There is so much life and brilliance to it all. sssiiigh.

Only thing i could do without are the load times. There was one instance where the fog color was white over the ocean, thought it should have been blue, it looked a little janky. The sound stuttering is meh, but it gives me enough time to catch my breath before diving back into Gordon's head.

and the Dog is the coolest character ever.

Generally when ive started to get bored with something, it changes the gameplay and keeps moving forward.

just gotta finish it so i can start Metroid Prime 2. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[oXYnary]

I did defrag my HD.. In fact first thing I did.. I guesss my only choice is to turn down my res or my sound quality.

FIRST FLAME!

Same one I had with the original game. Sometimes you have to do things in a particular order which I end up not doing hence I have to go back like 5 levels.

Which just happened. I got the hydro vehicle. I get through a bunch of guys shooting at me. Get to the next load point. Then I decide to go back to shoot them and see if I can pick up some dropped goodies. LEave the hydro near the save point. Go back to this previous load point on foot. (I still see the vehicle sitting for me on the "other side" of the load point)

Shoot em up. Then go back to that new point.. As soon as it finishes loading. low and behold the vehicle disappears! So now I try to get through the rest of the canal system on foot. I get past the canal gate.. Hell, I even shot down two helicopters. Managed to squeeze past radioactive water areas by hugging the walls.

Only to come to a wide open area with no cover where a helicopter shoots me dead right away.

Soooo..... My only recourse at this point is to go back BEFORE I started the canal system.. Thats about 3 hours back. (I also found some weird texture errors on foot in the canal with objects that should be behind alpha maps showing in front of).

Either I have really wacky playing methods, or their beta testers think too much in the box.

[killingpeople]

frusterated yet undertanding, once i got around the progress bar and steam network oversaturation madness, i was not let down. half-life 2 is my kind of game! thanks to the people that made it possible! it's games like these that inspire me to be apart of this industry. a good year.

[Mojo2k]

verm, i don't agree with your analogy, because if i would have went to the game store and it was sold out i would have been "oh damn come back another day" to adjust your analogy, it would have been like going to star wars ep 1, on opening day, them selling you a ticket, then getting into your theater at the time of showing, and having to wait 8 hours for your movie to start.

I would have had no problem with the game being sold out. Arshleven came to work today and said it took him 9 hours to get thru the steam issues, and i know Rube was having the same issues last nite in #md

The game is incredibly fun so far, tho i thought it took to much runing around to actualy get to the actual game play part where you get a gun, they could have used this time to tell us exactly what is up with this city, and the combine

http://www.gucomics.com/archives/view.php?cdate=20041117 this is kinda how i feel about the thing

[avalean]

never been so excited while playing a game since Original Half Life

[rawkstar]

oh yeah. great game. it was a bit slow starting up, and the loading times are a bit over abundant, but other than that its really good, the engine and the art are just totally awesome. Now I want to check out Vampire Bloodlines...

[Mark Dygert]

"What about those people with out a internet connection"

If Atari was Valve the answer would be, tough tacos, we have your cash and you have an opened box. Work it out with the store.

At first I found the idea a bit extreme, but then after mulling it over. Really it is no different than having a CD key to play online. It gets checked by a server every time you play, not just once, every time. Once I realized that little fact, I figured I didn't have anything to freak out about. besides they are just making sure people pay for what they should be paying for. It's not OK to steal cars just because other people do it, and the same goes for software.

I support it this idea, besides it is hardly new. Just about anything that forces poeple to pay for what they play is ok in my book. I think of it this way, what if you built dog houses for a living. Every day you work hard to build 5 dog houses and at the end of the day you leave them out front of your house and go to bed. When you get up 4 of them are gone and you can now only sell one dog house. OF course this pisses you off so you build a razor wire fence, get a guard dog. The only people that should be worried about the fence and the dog are the dirty theiven bastards that steal the 4 dog houses each night.

Don't get mad when you go to buy a dog house that there is razor wire and a guard dog. If people didn't steal the dog houses it wouldn't be there.

As for Mojos woes, that really sucks man. If you bought it the only wait you should have is to download it and isntall. After that there should be no wait. If there is, it is a failure on thier part. Make all the excuses you want why it doesn't work, but they are just that excuses for a problem that should not exsist.

I hope you got in, and are playing...

[sledgy]

edit - whoops just saw Vig's post and he already made this point.
----------------------------------------------------------
IMO, if you don't like that you have to authenticate your copy of a game you purchased, why not try going after the root of the problem: people that steal it.

Here are the top excuses I've seen from people that steal games:

"It costs too much!" You damned game developers are just like the railroad barons out to get rich on the backs of us po' sick folk!

If you're in a store and you don't have enough money to buy something, should you just steal it anyway?


This game is too lame to be asking $49.99 for!

If you think something is not worth the full price asked, should you just steal it to teach them a lesson? If it's so lame then WTF are you stealing it?


"Because I Can."

Well, you're a dick then.

I see a whole lot of complaining about games being high priced and whining about CD keys/authentication/active piracy prevention but I sure don't see anyone going after the root problem. If you have a personal problem with authenticating your game or otherwise proving that you purchased it, don't get mad at the developers - I'm sure they don't like having to spend all that extra money on antitheft - blame the thieves.

When "/\/\u71l@t0r69" says "lol i just hax0rz3d3d HL2", instead of saying "hAw HaW!", say "You're a chode."

[adam]

I got caught trying to do "the matrix"...
http://brome.toogeek.com/stuff/hl2ss/de_piranesi0001.jpg

Pretty spec and bump!
http://brome.toogeek.com/stuff/hl2ss/de_chateau0000.jpg

[Ryno]

[ QUOTE ]
Either I have really wacky playing methods, or their beta testers think too much in the box.

[/ QUOTE ]

No Oxy! You have wacky playing methods?! How totally out of character!

I totally understand this point though, as I tend to go back into areas that I've already cleared so that I can safely investigate environments, and take a look at the art without worrying about bad guys. It's quite frustrating when stuff just disappears on you.

[oXYnary]

On the sound issue, it isnt video related. In fact its one of the biggest threads over at halflife2.net

http://www.halflife2.net/forums/showthread.php?t=51480&page=3&pp=15

[TomDunne]

Audigy2 cards are crap, in my opinion. I have one and it also caused problems with Doom3. The quantity of conflicts I've seen reported by gamers with this card are amazing. I have no idea what the hell Creative's done to make the card so difficult to build for, but the quality of audio I get hasn't been nearly worth what the card cost me.

[oXYnary]

If you look through that thread verm.. Its not only Audigy, It seems to be across the board.

Seems that a programer from Valve is even on a penny arcade forum trying to find the common link with all these systems.

[JBoskma]

I bought it today, played it today and just stopped playing for a while now. I love the waterspeedscooter part, and that's about where I quit. I love the parts where the techno music beat kicks in; you're alone with your loyal machine gun, nothing to do but to slaughter your enemies. This game kicks ass, back to city 17

[malcolm]

Gauss, maybe you can use your art skills to make an instruction booklet and cardboard box for yourself as well. I haven't picked up my copy yet I thought EB would phone when it came out but apparently they don't.

[gauss]

oxy, i'm sorry your boat disappeared on you, but you honestly should have known better. the second your boat disappeared in the middle of an obviously 'built for airboat' sequence, you should have reloaded and not try to play further on foot. it's beyond me why you'd want to continue on foot anyway /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[adam]

gauss/oxy: There was a moment on the airboat ride that I thought I had to get out. So I got out and continued on foot only to thing, "WTF am I doing? This is taking forever. I'm going back for the boat. Dammit!"

Also, oxy, you should check out some HL2 sites for console commands. I'm certain there's a command line to spawn an airboat so you could continue from where you left off.

[TomDunne]

*sigh*

Since entering the mine area, my computer locks up within five minutes of gameplay. Not just a crash, I have to reboot my computer. Every time, without fail. I don't have to tell you how much this really, really, really sucks. /images/graemlins/frown.gif

[adam]

I'm quite certain* VALVe will take notice to the plathora (sp?) of complaints towards the stability of Steam - and the game - and release an update to fix the issues.

*Certainly hoping, that is.

[TomDunne]

What worries me is that none of the tech forums I've read really mention anyone else with the same problem. And I can't imagine why it would have happened so infrequently before but happen almost automatically now. Screen locks, the audio starts stuttering and I sob quietly into my keyboard...

[TomDunne]

Well, I managed to get through the area by truning all the video settings down to the minimum. Must be a shader or reflection issue in the mines area that was killing my machine somehow. Back outside, everything is joy once again. Game on!

[moose]

i finished it tonight (wont give anything away), but there were a few sequences that were reeeaallly chuggy, but 98% of the game ran silky at 1900x1200, and full detail.

i got used to the sound hitches, although it was really annoying when it happened durring dialogue.

now, MGS3, Metriod Prime 2, and through HL2 on hard! wooha!

[gauss]

finished the game tonight as well, thankfully no trouble with hitching after i defragged--and who knew my fairly generic on-board 5.1 soundcard would end up being a plus (considering all the trouble i hear some audigy cards are having) ... anyhow, so here's this bar, right, the kind of experience you expect from games these days... and then after half life 2, consider the bar raised. that's all i'm gonna say about that. /images/graemlins/laugh.gif enjoy and as moose said, now it's time to replay it on hard, far too many great details and little things that i'm sure i missed the first playthrough /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Downsizer]

Hmm, i'm going to jump on the cynics wagon here. I managed to convince myself to keep my copy after that release trouble with steams servers. The game indeed took forever to install.

This is'nt the ground breaking engine I was hoping for. Nothing about it is new. It looks like they just slapped a Giles GI lightmapper into the program. The shader use is very minimal, and the detail of some shaders has been cut. For example, I specifically remember video demos of the first encounter with the main girl and scientist guy. The bubbling orange liquid looked 10 times better in the videos.

Everything is photosourced, even the characters faces. It add a cheap feel to the game. I have yet to see any revolutionary AI as well. There is also the issue with my FX 5900 only being recognised as a directx 8.1 hardware peice. I assume because they signed some devilish contract with ATI to fund the game. So my shader path is using Dx 8.1 instead of 9, which was the sole purpose of buying the card.

Complaining aside, it's a good game. The cinematics are excellent, as well as the voice acting. Hardly worth $55 though. I also find it hard to believe that this is 6 years of work.

[sledgy]

Just picked it up last night and WOW. The facial anims are pretty impressive as are the full body environment interaction. The textures are beautiful. It's rare to see something half-assed in-game. And it's Half Life! It's like putting on an old pair of shoes but instead of them being worn out, they're brand spanking new and glowing.

[MoP]

DownSizer: Hmm, IMHO the shaders are just as good as the videos they released a while back, I ran the CS:Source "Video Stress Test" which is a variation on one of the shader videos they released, and I have compared it to the video, it looks identical, if not better.
True, the lighting engine isn't unified like Doom3's, and it does result in some weird lighting from time to time, but on the whole it works very well, and I'd much rather have a game that looks "very good" and runs at 80fps over a game that looks "very good" and runs at under 30fps on the same PC...
I don't see how you can say the shader use is "minimal", since almost every single surface and object in the game has bump/normal/reflection and spec maps, and the use of subtle reflection and spec maps make materials ACTUALLY look like the real-world materials.
Take a look at the mahogany chests of drawers you see from time to time, or the dark blue/black metal that the Combine outposts are made out of - they are an almost perfect representation of what metal in the real world would look like. It's definitely the best game to date for getting that hyper-real look "just right", IMHO.
My only gripe is that the textures are often lower-resolution than they could have been, and the flame/fire effects are often poor.
However, the shader use on glass doors, heat haze, gas leaks and other frame buffer distortion effects is used extremely well, and looks excellent.
The water effects are without doubt the best and nicest I've ever seen in any PC (or console) game, and I'm sure many would agree with me.
I'm thinking that you may be getting reduced shader effects because it thinks your GFX card is only DX8.1 instead of DX9 - you might find that if they patch it or some new drivers come out, then it will look more like it was supposed to seem.

"Everything is photosourced" - yes, they went out and took some photos of Vortigons and Ant-Lions to create the textures for those aliens and creatures... /images/graemlins/cool.gif
I think this is an example of a game that uses photosourcing very well. They combine it with painted textures and texture overlays to create a very nice look, IMHO. Max Payne 2 was entirely photosourced, and still looked very good. I guess it's just a matter of taste - it certainly doesn't make the game feel "cheap".

The AI doesn't seem revolutionary, but it is pretty cool how the guys will go and hide and wait for backup rather than blindly running in to get mown down.

So yeah, see if there's a fix or something you're missing to sort out the graphics card issues, and then take another look at the shaders ... the orange bubbling liquid in the tanks in the background of the Dr Kleiner/Alyx meeting scene looks identical to the videos, for me. I am running an ATI Radeon 9800 Pro on DirectX 9, though, so that's probably the difference there... Shame they didn't make it so that all cards are equal.
NVidia pissed me off when they released the Cg shader language but wrote out support for ATI cards, so I know where you're coming from.

MoP

[Scott Ruggels]

Last night, I showed it to the Wednesday Night Art Boys. They were impressed. We launched HL! in Steam. It plays a lot smoother, but the assets have not been that much updated. It still played well. Counterstrike, when playing with a 1200 x 1700 at 97 FPS is really hard. Really really hard. You would see the head and shoulders of a guy over a wall, and >PAF!< you would go over backward..dead. Hi res, really makes aming really important. Looking forward to "Day of Defeat". All the guys were impressed with HL2, and the Graphic quality of the Counterstrike Upgrade (though after playing UT2K4, Counterstrike Arenas seem really small). Still enjoying it. Those that have completed it, how many hours, roughly did it take?

Scott

[moose]

scott, id say about 15-16 hours on normal. basically 2 nights of hardcore playing, and being unable to stop until you realize 'oh, i need to get up for work tomorrow. Im not actually Gordon Freeman.'

I quickloaded and died... a lot though. I had to force load back 2 check points in the first strider fight.... they were royally kicking my ass and it auto saved over my 'safe spot.' Other than that i found most of the puzzles very intuitive, and challenging enough to be rewarding when you get past them.

i still stand by Dog being the coolest character ever.

[Downsizer]

Don't get me wrong, it looks very good for what it is. It has an excellent story, and the gameplay experience is thrilling. I credit the art production more then the artists though. I'm not far into the game yet, but it seems like they only made 10 character models for the whole game, and reused them everywhere. Takes you out of the immersion a bit.

Yes my video card is running in 8.1 due to the "graphics bug" in Nvidias FX chipsets, but it barely changes a thing from the looks of screenshot comparisons.

The comment on the minimal shader use still stands. Every surface may have specular and bump, but whoopty do, it's nothing impressive. I expected new surface types. The glass is impressive as is the water, but it's nothing new for games. I was hoping to see some hair shaders, better fire shaders, real-time hdr like effects. Nope. HDR was advertised if I remember correctly, but was scrapped at the end. Even painkiller has more impressive light blooms. This scene is what I was specifically refering to. They removed the effect completely:

http://media.pc.ign.com/media/492/492830/img_1715373.html

The textures for the aliens I've seen look awfull. They look sourced from bug shells. The texture resalution bothers me the most. It's half what I would expect from this generation of game.

I'll stop complaining, but it's no where near what valve credited it as. I just dont see how this would take 5-6 years.

[gauss]

[ QUOTE ]

I'll stop complaining, but it's no where near what valve credited it as. I just dont see how this would take 5-6 years.

[/ QUOTE ]

actually, i don't think you will stop complaining. and if you can't see what took 5-6 years of careful polish to make, you're perfectly welcome to go back to playing painkiller or whatever lightbloom simulator does more for you.

[adam]

Now now gauss.

I'm with you (gauss) in hoping Downsizer will "see" the game for what it is, and how you CAN tell 5 years is what was needed to make the game. If he needs more convincing, I suggest going to Gamespot.com and checking the "Final Hours" article so he can have it put right in front of his as to why the game had taken as long as it was.

And moose, DOG is definitly the greatest character ever.

[Voodoo]

Anybody else think it would have been funny if Valve had let you slap the girls ass? I know why they didn't but I think it'd be hilarious.

Anyway HL2 is everything I hoped it'd be. I'm much more found of this game then Doom3 which in my opinion was just a tech demo for ID.

I cant sympathize with you at all Downsizer since Doom3 and Painkiller dont use many more character models then HL2 and neither of them have half the story. Just seems like you've done nothing but complain in this whole thread. The price of the game, steam, graphics, ect. What's with the vendetta against valve?

The ending both frustrated and enticed me. Makes me wonder if we'll be seeing HL3 sometime. The puzzles were great imo. They offered a relief from combat but weren't so hard as to be detracting from the game. I also think they used the physics and interaction with world objects to accomplish missions responsibly and I agree there was a sense of accomplishment when you figured it out.

The games ability to draw you in was great. I actually hated having a squad with me because I knew I was going to get them all killed and I actually felt bad about it. The vehicle mini games were a lot of fun and playing catch with dog was great when you just chucked what he threw on a ledge so he'd have to find something else to throw (yes I am a bastard).

While technically the graphics aren't as advanced as Doom3 I think it doesn't really matter. Graphics absolutely do not make a game and I dont think that is what we should push for. I think we need more immersive story telling games with great artistry rather then games that are great artistic demos but lack any depth or intrigue.

My only wish is that I could get a huge sniper rifle to have some fun from afar since some of the city enviornments really lent themselves to sniping.

[Daz]

Chill out peoples. Isn't criticism allowed in here or something? He is also adding with his criticism that the game is 'thrilling' and that overall it looks 'very good'.

I tend to agree with Downsizers general sentiment that the Source engine isn't *quite* the revolutionary engine we ( i at least ) was expecting. But then heck, I dont know what I was expecting. It was still gonna be made of the same 'stuff' of games before it. There is some sloppy Art in places and some surprisingly low res maps at times when it seems inappropriate too. The shader system I think is awesome now Ive seen more of it Im just a tincy wincy bit dissapointed with some of the lighting problems that come with having a different lighting engine for brush geometry than characters and objects. i.e its not a truly unified lighting engine.

HOWEVER, theres still plenty of tech there to make a stunning looking game, and the more I get into it, the more Impressed I am by it graphically. The lighting is really nicely done and some of the baked radiosity/G.I stuff looks really fantastic ( but could have benefited from high res lightmaps at times ).

But anyway, I whole heartedly agree Voodoo that the up to a point graphics dont maketh the game. After playing HL2, go back to playing Doom3 and it just feels like an absolutely lifeless unimmersive world in comparison.

This game gets better and better. Playing with dog is one of those truly memorable videogame moments. After all, what are games for If they're not about doing cool shit that you cant do in real life?!

[oXYnary]

I think Downsizer is entitiled to his view. Though Im wondering Downsizer. Are there any games recently that have impressed you in the areas you mention overall? You mention painkiller, but only for light blooms.

About the 15-16 hours.. Aww man. I was hoping with the time they had we would still see a 30 hour game. Though luckily I >always< play on the hardest setting. Versus wimping out with normal setting. /images/graemlins/wink.gif

Well. at least it isnt 8 hours like Halo 2.. What a bunch of suckers..

[Mishra]

hey, at least halo 2 had multiplayer.

[adam]

I was expecting something pretty, so I got what I was expecting.

Anyway, I think a general rule of thumb for thing studios should strive for are good graphics AND in-depth story. This in turn will create atmosphere - which, in my opinion, I believe can make or break a game. As far as I can tell with how far I am in the game, Valve has achieved this. It's a perfect blend of those elements creating the perfect game.

In my opinion, of course.

[adam]

[ QUOTE ]
hey, at least halo 2 had multiplayer.

[/ QUOTE ]
And no chance of mods. And limited to smaller servers. And inferior graphics.

Or you can get HL2 which does have multi-player, was released w/ a mod, includes extra material like a side game and was released with the developer tools.

Snap. /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[Mishra]

oh snap i just got served. /images/graemlins/frown.gif

oh well, inferior graphics on a console, meh. i'll take it. the mods for half life, the good ones i mean, will start to come out in a few months. i hate counterstrike, so i really am not in a hurry to play that. i'll still play half life 2, just not now. maybe in a month or so.

[TomDunne]

I agree that I'm not entirelly thrilled with the visual quality - as I mentioned earlier, I'm personally disappointed in the texture resolution being so low. Looking at a similar game in terms of style, I think Max Payne 2 had crisper 2D work. However...

I don't assume this is necessarily a flaw of the Source engine, or that this is all it's capable of. I mean, there's nothing about the engine that would require it to use some of the obviously lowpoly items in the game, like HL2's extremely primative trees or necessitate the blurred textures found in many places, etc. One, the game was in development forever and I expect that the assets have been revised over that time, but not everything got updated - it was 13 months late as it is. Two, I think Valve wouldn't have sought to push the envelope too far in terms of hardware requirements to play the game. Much of the original game's success was in its accessibility, and the fact that everyone and his brother could play mods for it in 1999 as well as 2004 made Valve a ton of money. My machine annihilates the CS 'stress test' at something like 133fps; no awesome shaders in there, but that's more than twice as fast as need be.

I would not be surprised at all to see mods appear in late 2005 and through 2006 that are graphically more impressive than Half-Life 2 itself is, once the majority of users have the hardware to really tap the engine's potential.

[Shawner]

I would play this bad boy, in the lowest settings, just to play( I don't have to of course ). The gameplay is just incredible...The interection with the enviroments outstanding. Very happy with this game. Half Life 2 is to gaming, what Star War ( original ) was to Sci-Fi. To me anyways..

Cheers

[mr.toast]

just beat the zombie city part, so fun using the obstacles like the chopper thing, the flaming hall, or the falling cars, i had to redo that level twice to enjoy the experiance all over agian, my fav weapon by far is the gravity gun using the round saw blade to shoot at my enemies, the cinderblock was pretty fun to chuck around too at zombies, btw hl2world.com found a way to play multiplayer with hl2 with custom maps

[ElysiumGX]

It sounds like so many of you were expecting a realistic high rez cinematic experience, and instead received a computer game. That is so disappointing.

Just a reminder: Most computer users do not have $400 video cards in their $600 systems. Companies such as Valve would need to optimize their assets in order to please larger audiences that still use old hardware. Most gamers are children who live off allowance and Christmas presents, not a $50,000+ salary from EA.

Ironic how "Downsizer" complains about the lack of quality in the game.

[gauss]

Daz: criticism is of course allowed and always encouraged in this community of artists. i simply reserve the right to respond in kind. downsizer has valid points but also some comments that i felt like responding to, perhaps a bit too curtly.
i just don't think it's fair to compare a game to either what you imagined it would be or by features from a work in progress, everyone here who has been worked on a title knows that nothing gets set in stone.

i ordered the 'raising the bar' book earlier today and am really looking forward to checking it out, now that i am safe from ruining anything after beating it /images/graemlins/smile.gif the consistency of visual direction with the combine, particularly repetition of forms in things like the trains, the automatic turrets, the weapons, the citadel itself, all really impressed me.

also i remember not thinking much of DOG when i saw a screenshot with him some time back--and i think that's because he has to be seen moving to be appreciated. wonderful characters all around.

[Daz]

[ QUOTE ]
Most gamers are children who live off allowance and Christmas presents, not a $50,000+ salary from EA.

[/ QUOTE ]

Woah there Grind, what is that meant to imply exactly? If that comment is directed at me, I'll be unbelievably angry that youre turning a discussion about a game into something quite so personal. If it isn't I apologize profusely for getting the wrong end of the stick, but Ive no idea what your EA and salary comment has to do with a conversation about HL2 texture mapping.

People here are simply pointing out some shortcomings, thats all. How many times do I have to say that the game is absolutely amazing? Besides, Im talking about Source really and not HL2. Why people are getting their knickers in a twist over a couple of minor niggles being pointed out in an otherwise astounding game is totally beyond me. Clearly people feel passionately that this is a stunning game. As I do.

Let me explain in more detail my niggle with the texture mapping system: texel density consistency. Let me also re-iterate that this game is un-fricking believably awesome.

The overall experience of HL2 is so compelling, so visceral, so immersive, it's just like nothing else before it. So when you come across these random moments with huge pixels in front of you, it sort of ( for me at least ) jumps you back to the reality of 'oh, this is just a game, made from polys and pixels' a bit. Heres an absolutely stunning screenshot, only slightly marred by an object that youre forced to interact with close up that has these massive pixels that are rather sloppily UV'd:

http://home.comcast.net/~dpattenden/images/d1_canals.jpg

It's got little to do with what videocard its being run on. Look at textures in other cutting edge engines: Halo, Halo2 ( xbox ) , Battlefield 'Nam, Far Cry, and many more: you dont *see* pixels for the most part, because they employ a texture overlay system so that no matter how close you get to the rock, it just wont get pixellated. Check out this tree in this shot of Far Cry:

http://home.comcast.net/~dpattenden/images/fc5.jpg

The texel density throughout the image is constant, in the HL2 shot its all over the place. Im just suprised that this isnt something that was considered for Source thats all. Perhaps it comes later I dont know. Perhaps as Verm says that we'll start to see games that push Source more than HL2. It's just a tiny gripe thats all. Im a perfectionist. Im nitpicking. ( thats my job ) HL2 is a stunning achievement.

[gauss]

daz: great post. i know what you're talking about--and it's odd, because with HL:Source they appear to use some form of texture overlay system blanketed over all the old textures... it's not the best but it does help to stem the blurriness of the textures a little. i don't think i ever saw the same thing in HL2 proper, though, which really is kinda odd. there definitely are some objects in the game that are at odds with the other objects, texel density-wise.
again, good post.

[TomDunne]

Daz's screenshots saved me the trouble of getting my own, as this is exactly my point. In the Half-Life 2 shot, the texture work on the wheel and assembly it's mounted on... it isn't that these textures aren't merely as high fidelity as we've seen this year in Doom3 or Far Cry, it's that they almost look like they were pulled from some leftover Half-Life 1 assets. I can't believe this is an inherent engine limitation, as there are plenty of examples of good texture work throughout the game as well. That screenshot does have a ton of shader usage from the water, but I just can't imagine that necessitates such low-end texture work.

Frankly, I think the fact that most of us who notice it are more or less shrugging it off is a testament to how goddamn amazing the game is. It's so good that relatively shoddy work like this doesn't bother me too much. In a lesser game, I'd probably be more critical, but HL2's gameplay is so superior to anything I can remember playing that I don't mind as much. Still, look at this game and imagine if the crispness of the 2D work was up to the level of that Far Cry shot...

[Daz]

Well thats good to know that the engine is capable of it thanks gauss. Honestly I think they just ran out of time then. And heck, I dont really mind. Im buggered If Im prepared to wait around for the game for another few months just so they fix their texel ratios cos it niggles away at me a little bit /images/graemlins/smile.gif

Should check out HL-Source but stupidly I only bought the regular and not the special edition. Anyone know If I can upgrade to include HL: source via steam even If I bought the game in a box? Is there much to report on HL: source over HL?

[Daz]

yeah Verm thats absolutely it. Not only is the game so awesome that these moments of sloppiness tend to stand out, but for most of us here, 3D Art is either our trade, or study, or hobby, or some or all of the above. So its in our very nature to look for this stuff.

[cep]

I'am in love. really.
No disappointments.

I like the fact that this game isn't as polished visualy as Doom 3, wich it's constantly compared to. It means valve put alot of time into the story, making the game enjoyable itself. I'am glad we didn't have to wait another half a year, or more, just because valve wanted to clean everything up. They obviously put time into what needed to be more visualy apealing, the average gamer doesn't notice low resolution textures.

I think valve devided there time wisely, I'am glad they didn't compromise fixing up these textures for any part of the immersive story.

Also remember this game is only $55.

PS. I haven't read any posts until Daz's right above, so please ignore me if this has been said.

[Daz]

I would hope that the people writing the story and working on gameplay wouldn't be the same people that made textures cep

;-)

6 years is a long time to think about texel density. But I totally agree with your sentiment. More delays would have been hell!

[cep]

Well uhhh. you got me there... /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[oXYnary]

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. http://www.oxynary.com/downloads/hl2_temp1.jpg

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)

http://www.oxynary.com/downloads/hl2_temp2.jpg

[TomDunne]

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 /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[Daz]

hah I found an even more obvious bug, but not a biggie. Spot the difference in the view underwater and above it:

http://home.comcast.net/~dpattenden/images/spot.jpg

and to end on a more positive note, I just love this shot. It's damn near photographic:

http://home.comcast.net/~dpattenden/images/hl.jpg

[Voodoo]

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.

[MoP]

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 /images/graemlins/smile.gif 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 /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Major Clod]

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!

[Justin Meisse]

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.

[Marine]

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 /images/graemlins/laugh.gif
shame you can't get the super gravitygun earlier in the game, even with cheats :/ that thing rocks

[Toomas]

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.

[Downsizer]

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.

[Scott Ruggels]

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.

Scott

[oXYnary]

Well, here is a very damning article on CS:S and Valves recent decisions on general.

http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NjkxLDI=

[adam]

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 /images/graemlins/wink.gif

http://brome.toogeek.com/stuff/hl2ss/d2_coast_110003.jpg

[TomDunne]

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 /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[mr.toast]

[ 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 /images/graemlins/wink.gif


[/ 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

[Justin Meisse]

ack, I gotta get out of Ravenholm, It's too scary!

[adam]

[ QUOTE ]
[ 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 /images/graemlins/wink.gif


[/ 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.

[gauss]

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. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

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 /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

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.

[adam]

Just wanted to show 2 great shots showing the expressions these models can display:
http://brome.toogeek.com/stuff/hl2ss/d2_prison_060012.jpg
http://brome.toogeek.com/stuff/hl2ss/d2_prison_060013.jpg

[Voodoo]

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.

[Scott Ruggels]

Poor Alix...That would be a not nice thing to do.

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

[gauss]

[ QUOTE ]

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 /images/graemlins/grin.gif

in ravenholm, i just kept one of those wonderful rusty engine blocks always handy so i could the gravity gun early and often /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[oXYnary]

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. /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[James Edwards]

Scott: shotgun makes short work of the antlions, as does the .357. Waste of ammo, if you like to conserve though (I don't =] ).

You can also zap em with the grav gun and pretty much just plow your way through the "sand traps".

[iMag]

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

[Downsizer]

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 dissapointed 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.

[swampbug]

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. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

HL2 felt like a movie to me. I certainly will play it again someday.

Thanks a Billion Valve!

[KDR_11k]

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!

[JKMakowka]

[ QUOTE ]
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 http://boards.polycount.net/images/icons/poly131.gif

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.

[iMag]

by default it's set to auto-load with windows. just go into the steam options and turn it off.

[Sett]

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.

[TomDunne]

[ QUOTE ]
Doesn't even hold a candle to HL2.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's hardly a fair thing to say - Doom3 can't hold a candle at all without first hosltering its weapons /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[Scott Ruggels]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Doesn't even hold a candle to HL2.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's hardly a fair thing to say - Doom3 can't hold a candle at all without first hosltering its weapons /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Meee-Owww!, but well played.

Scott

[JBoskma]

2 thumbs up for the shotgun!

[Malekyth]

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.

[gauss]

mal: yeah, it's going to be pretty hard for valve not to come out of this making fanboys of us all. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[adam]

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.

[James Edwards]

Wonder how many reels they get a day now... After all, it's stuff like this that sucked many of us into the biz in the first place. =]

This game has truly been a pleasure and an inspiration.

[Daz]

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?

[Jes]

I actually find it a bit boring so far... o_O;

[KeyserSoze]

[ QUOTE ]
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.

[/ QUOTE ]

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.

[ QUOTE ]
I actually find it a bit boring so far... o_O;

[/ QUOTE ]

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.

[Jes]

I'm at Ravensholm atm, which I find more or less a drag. :/

Also, the whole boat-trip was far too repetitive for my taste...

[adam]

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.

[KDR_11k]

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.

[Downsizer]

*Spoilers Perhaps*

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.

[adam]

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.

[Sett]

***Spoilers****

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

[MoP]

Fun with the crossbow... (http://www.spearmint.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/touchmyself.jpg)

[oXYnary]

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.

[swampbug]

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.

[KeyserSoze]

I had a sighting of Gman that I don't think has been mentioned yet. At the beginning of "Anticitizen One," when you return to the apartment buildings from earlier in the game, he appears on a television set in an abandoned room. When you first walk in the hall you can hear creepy, horror-movie music playing; when you turn the corner and look at the TV, you can see Gman for no more than a second, then the TV turns itself off and the creepy music stops playing. It was pretty cool, and my favorite GMan sighting so far (still haven?t finished the game).

[Daz]

Ah cool thanks swampbug.

I never saw the Gman in the game at all! /images/graemlins/frown.gif

[Daz]

Hey so this is weird and really a pretty major issue.

Anyone had problems with their save games?

I may be being a total idiot here, but it seems theres some kind of weird limit to how many save games I can have. I noticed it the other night but didnt think too much of it. Ive quicksaved gazillions of times throughout the game, with the exact purpose of wanting to replay various epic moments, but Ive only got like 10 save games showing If that. It's really weird. Its like the later ones are overwriting the previous. Ive looked tonight and Ive got about 4 from the Citadel, leaving me with only a handful spread over the entire rest of the game!

Anyone hear anything about a problem? Am i missing something obvious here?

[Sett]

I think that the QuickSave(F6,F9) gets it's own slot. So if you Quicksave it will over write anything in the Qs slot.

What you should have done is Save. Saving adds a new slot.(Guessing here)
Also the game auto saves a load points.

[mr.toast]

anyone know a way to start the game with the blue grav gun, that was the funnest weapon i ever used

[KDR_11k]

Quicksaves get deleted because most people quicksave often and don't want to clutter up their harddrive with that. Most games limit you to one quicksave, HL2 is relatively generous.

[iMag]

The videos shown at e3 were for the most part proof of concept demo's and never made the game for various reasons.

[Daz]

This game is teh gay!

http://home.comcast.net/~dpattenden/images/gay.jpg

[oXYnary]

nah. more lord of the dance.

[adam]

hahaha oh man that picture just made my day!

[Redlemons]

I haven't been this engrossed in a game since Deus Ex! That was many years ago too.

Unfortunately Half Life 2 looks like Half Life 1 to me. I have every single detail turned down lowest, and I've got a 2.4Ghz processor, DirectX 9, a Radeon 9600 Pro with the latest drivers, but only 256MB of DDR RAM. I'm getting frame rates of around 5-10 in empty hallways and almost unplayably choppy whenever any action happens. The video card isn't the greatest in the world but surely my system should be doing better than this? I assume it's the lack of RAM that's slowing it down, but this really is like I'm playing on a 486 here. The time between double clicking the .exe to get into HL2 and getting to the game menu is 13 minutes, I don't understand why. Defragged, no programs running in the background, latest drivers, etc. etc.

--- Might be spolers ---





Anyway, apart from pissing and moaning about the framerates, I love the game. Right now I've just met Alex's dad again in the prison thing, tied up like Hannabal Lecter, and discovered the secret about that other female scientiest, whatshername.

-Good-
- Ravenholm was scary as all hell, lots of places reminded me of Dawn of the Dead, and a later tunnel run in the dune buggy was like some scenes in 28 Days Later.
- Gravity gun turns out not to be a gimmick, is actually an awesome idea
- Getting across the sand without disturbing the ant lions was an awesome puzzle, a little obvious but still cool
- The shotgun feels powerful, especially when the soldiers turn to jelly and slam into a wall ten feet away
- The bug bait seemed like a bit of a gimmick, but was helpful
- Facial animation is great from what I can see
- All the sounds are top-notch, especially the crying zombies
- The really fast running zombies that climb up the drain pipes, they scare the shit out of me! Best. Enemy. Ever.
- Water effects, shaders, all that stuff rocks


-Bad-
- Hoverboat sequence was way, way too long, too predictable (ramp, jump, helicopter, ramp, jump, helicopter...)
- Headcrabs are cool, spiders not so cool
- Sewer and warehouse levels always suck ass, no exception here

That's about all I can think of off the top of my head, I've had it for a week now (since the 18th) so it looks like I've got another week or so to go.

[bearkub]

HAHAHAHA. How the hell did you capture that image, Daz?

[b1ll]

HAHAH best pic ever daz. ROFL

I was checking Steam news yesterday and OMG
"Next week we will be releasing the Source SDK, along with a surprise for the community."

So yeah surprise next week? What will it be ya think?
DOD source release?
HL 2 DM ?
TFC source ?

Hl 2,5 or 3 Release date?

TF2 !

CS source map early release?

Or something poopish like Ricochet or DMC source Lol

I hope its something interesting hey?
AHHA

[gauss]

i think we're best off not hoping for too much. if i had a guess it'd be either the rest of the C-Strike maps/models, maybe a couple of example maps to go with the SDK... something along those lines, though it possibly could be DoD.

[adam]

It's TeamFortress 2 you twits.
/end dream.exe

[FatAssasin]

[ QUOTE ]
Officials from Half-Life 2 developer Valve have announced that they have suspended almost 20,000 accounts on its online distribution system Steam. The move was related to gamers trying to register pirated copies of Half-Life 2, all of whom apparently tried to use the same CD key.

The accounts for all those concerned have been suspended indefinitely, although the company has given no indication that they will try to take legal proceedings against any users concerned.

Valve have also moved to deny rumors that the company purposefully released a doctored version of the game online in order to trap gamers trying to using it.

"The method used was extremely easy for Valve to trace and confirm and so there is no question that the accounts disabled were used to try and illegally obtain Half-Life 2," said a spokesperson. "Valve did not put out any kind of fake key or fake warez or hack instructions to trap people. The hack came from the 'community' as do they all."

[/ QUOTE ]

Suckers.

[b1ll]

well yeah, but thats not the surprise FatAssassin Lol

[mr.toast]

well iam happy to know that at least my account is suspended and not banned for good

[Scott Ruggels]

Finally finished it last night. I completed it. I have to say that for me, it was the best single player experience I have had. Such a broad range of styles in the game. The ending was abrupt, but I amnot disatisfied with it. It ended like it begun. Looking forward not to good Multiplayer Mods. HLS Deathmatch is amusing, but not quite up to what I like about UT2K4. COngrats to the folks from Valve.

Scott

[KeyserSoze]

[ QUOTE ]
I have every single detail turned down lowest, and I've got a 2.4Ghz processor, DirectX 9, a Radeon 9600 Pro with the latest drivers, but only 256MB of DDR RAM. I'm getting frame rates of around 5-10 in empty hallways and almost unplayably choppy whenever any action happens.

[/ QUOTE ]

Damn, that's bad. I have an Athlon XP 1900+ (1.6GHz), GeForce 3 Ti200, and 512MB of PC2600 and I get frame rates between 20-25 even in heavy action (this is an estimation... I haven't actually checked my FPS). I run it with all details on high (except reflections, which I have on "reflect world" rather than "reflect all"), 1024x768 with no FSAA, and of course in DX8 since my card isn't capable of DX9. The RAM might be what's hurting you.

I'm actually surprised how well it ran on this aging machine. This thing has held up pretty well considering I built it on a small budget almost 3 years ago, but it's really starting to struggle with most current games /images/graemlins/frown.gif.

[Daz]

Yeah Im with ya Scott.

Hey on the subject of the games performance.....I would much appreciate anyones input here but I have a totally bizzare problem. I have by all accounts a pretty decent spec machine ( P4, nvidia 9800 Ultra, 1.5 gig ram ) cable internet ( although it is those fuckers comcast ) and heres the thing: Since it came out Ive not had one moment of remotely playable experience with HL2 DM. I'll connect to a game that lists a ping of <20, only to join and my ping is up and down like a whores drawers, and usually between 200 and 300. I am truly stumped. I have run some tests on my cable and the connection reads as good, I play other online games with a really low ping ( <30 ). I played earlier tonight with a friend in Utah on a server in CA: He had a ping of <50 and mine was 250 ( and Im in CA ).Anyone heard of anything like this? Its pretty weird.

As for frame rates and HL2, turns out that 'cos of the physics, the game is way more dependent on CPU power than grafx card. Check the Gamespot HL2 performance guide. Its pretty revealing.

[Daz]

I mean yeah. The 764 ping aint really doin' my game any favours here ;-p

What the hell could cause this when other games play fine online?!

http://home.comcast.net/~dpattenden/images/ping.jpg

[tpe]

There are a bunch of players having the same prob, try this search from the halflife2.net forums http://www.halflife2.net/forums/search.php?searchid=235993

one is possible solution is Ctrl+Alt+Del
Processes
Right Click on Steam.exe (or HL2.exe)
Set Priority to Low

But there are also a couple of other things you can do, have a look at the first 5 results or so and you should get most of the possible solutions.

tpe

[Daz]

Hey thanks tpe. I found the threads above and tried a few things suggested, but alas no joy. Whats hilarious is that my CS: Source pings are consistently <30. How bizzarre is that when its the same game engine?! Oh well, I'll do a bit more digging around I guess.

[KDR_11k]

tpe: I'd recommend using CTRL-SHIFT-ESC because that triggers the task manager in both XP and 2k. I think it works in some Linux desktop environments, too.

[swampbug]

Saw this posted on another mesageboard//
The pic simply speaks for itself. /images/graemlins/laugh.gif
http://www.planethalflife.com/images/photo/big/120604_full.jpg

[MoP]

rofl swampbug /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

however i'd like to know how that cheating bastard got the ultra-grav-gun on the first level... the console command "give item_physcannon" should work, but it doesn't... bah!

[KeyserSoze]

HA! That's awesome. That guy already got his comeuppance when I played; instead of putting the can in the trash, I threw it in his face and ran around him when he started to chace after me /images/graemlins/laugh.gif.

[Redlemons]

Edit: god damn this non-HTML business!

Mop, in the console, type
sv_cheats 1
map d3_citadel_04
changelevel mapname (whatever map you want)
give weapon_physcannon

Ta-da!