Discuss screenshot

[obsidian]

i dont think the screen looks that bad, sure the leaves look crap, but the rest is fine. i would have a hard time believing that valve would choose the release a image not at full detail. maybe they are just saving the best till E3. u can pick any great game and find crap textures/models, its just odd that valve chose this especially when so few screens were released.

when u compare the new screens to the old ones most of the old are indoors/urban whereas these new ones are outside and in the open. i cant remember seeing any grass in 2003 E3 shots.

 

[obsidian]

Valve says it's 36-48. I'm going with their count.

so no HL2 in an hour

 

[wayne white]

then it must be 36-48 because we all know valve wouldnt lie,and i bet anyone that doom3 will get better ratings than hl2.

 

[Shuzer]

then it must be 36-48 because we all know valve wouldnt lie,and i bet anyone that doom3 will get better ratings than hl2.

You are an odd fellow. I'd love for you to point out when VALVe lied, other than September 30th (disregard Doug Lombardi, he lies on a daily basis lol)

 

[obsidian]

u cant really take release dates that arent met as lies, it happens all the time with software projects, especially if they are large.

 

[Jackal hit]

i bet the pics are medium settings, so that valve can wow us for e3. but then again, a still image can only tell so much. the scenes in the pics may be absolutely gorgeous in full motion.

as an aside... hmm i was hoping wayne knight ...wait.. wayne white or knight? NEWMAN! anyways, i was kinda hoping he was pseudonym/evilewok/etc/v2.0/etc come back but he seems less fanboyish

 

[FuNkYViNcE]

We can see throughout Valve's campaing for releasing HL2 that they are seeking to produce an effect of surprise. They announced HL2 last year just before E3 with a close release date to produce a "in your face" effect. It was too optimistic and they couldnt acheive it, screwing a bit the surprise and the reason why they kept it secret for years.

They then returned to silence up until recently, few weeks before E3, releasing "normal" (I don't find them so bad) shots. Maybe they just wanted to have an other chance to create a surprise this year, with the E3. That wouldn't be an easy task with all the hype and expectations ceated last year. So, that could explain why they didn't bother giving great screenshots.
This is just an hypothesis (we'll see in about 2 days anyway). But the point is that it's not a reason jump to conclusions just with a few screenshots, and spread despair among the comunity.

For me personally, i'm really satisfied with the graphics. I like the realistic feel, and I tend to forget about little shiny effects after playing few hours.

 

[Spiffae]

From PC Gamer, May 2003 - "...massive single-player linear storyline composed of 12 chapters, each with a rough estimated length of three to four hours, providing a minimum of 36 hours playtime"

 

[Gossoon]

I know it's half-way taboo to talk about the "beta" around here, but I bring it up only to allay all the fears that have people frothing at the mouth. Sure, for some reason valve has chosen not to add a lot of detail to the exterior of buildings, particularly walls, perhaps to save on horsepower because some of the outdoor scenes are massive. But most everything else is pretty detailed. The character models look great, water looks amazing, other non-building objects look very good. But people are focusing on buildings, which is too bad because they're just visual nonentities, except for significant ones. That's kind of like life. Most buildings are boring except for fine architecture.

In fact, I'm glad that the gfx aren't uber-shiny and in your face. Valve is going for immersion into an entire world. And from the little I've seen it works pretty well. I can't imagine that the finalized game would have worse graphics than the "beta". Finally, keep in mind that it is kind of unfair to compare HL2 to Stalker or some of the other upcoming games because of the insanely log development cycle of HL2. It's a shame, but HL2's graphics are not next-generation anymore. That window has passed. I would say it's current and that will only last until this winter. Anyway, don't worry.

 

[Mechagodzilla]

then it must be 36-48 because we all know valve wouldnt lie,and i bet anyone that doom3 will get better ratings than hl2.

This is actually very funny to me, since I was going to put in a sarcastic "but valve is teh liar" comment in that post.
I didn't expect you to be that blatant though, so I left it out.

I regret that now. I've obviously underestimated your resolve to be abrasive and ignorant.

Congrats!

 

[Rupertvdb]

pwned....teh jks on yoo

 

[gaintbeam]

I am rather displeased that you guys are all ganging up on sergio's comments without taking unbias stances. I myself is a major HL fan as i have bought this game the day it was released and I have been playing the game and its mod ever since. However, the latest screenshots are very disappointing. Anyone who have played farcry with max detail can very easily see that the newer ss of hl2's environmental graphics (ex, the trees, leaves, and other organic objects) are not on par. Things are just plainly textured instead of bumpmapped. Lighting is used very sparingly, and often look very dull compared to the other dx9 shooters that are on the market right now. Shadows in these new hl2 SS are quite often not positioned properly. Like the rest of the fans, I myself also hope that the final product / demo at e3 will show improvement graphically. But i hope some of you will be a little bit more unbiased towards a user regardless of whether or not you consider him a 'fan' or an 'anti-valve' personality. Sometimes the truth does not always sound sweet, but it is honest. I like valve just as much as the next guy, but I hope they are about to put source graphically as high as all the other new engines out there (d3, farcry, etc).

 

[gaintbeam]

Btw, one of the poster said that some of the hl2 screens makes him think that its just hl1 with shadows, better psyhics, and high res texture. I couldnt agree more.

I hope those screens are scaled down for w/e reason valve has. :\

 

[Apos]

I am rather displeased that you guys are all ganging up on sergio's comments without taking unbias stances.

Oh, is that right.... sergio? Did you really think all the "I myself as a major HL fan" boilerplate would fool us when the mods can see where you are posting from and we have had 10 months of your sockpuppet behavior to get to know your MO? Did you really think that creating accounts to come agree with yourself was going to suddenly make you less obvious?

 

[PvtRyan]

Oh, is that right.... sergio? Did you really think all the "I myself as a major HL fan" boilerplate would fool us when the mods can see where you are posting from and we have had 10 months of your sockpuppet behavior to get to know your MO? Did you really think that creating accounts to come agree with yourself was going to suddenly make you less obvious?

Is he another EvilEwok clone?

 

[iamaelephant]

Who cares who he is or who he is pretending to be? He's dead right, now shut the hell up all of you. Honestly, there's no denying that the recent screenshots look fairly sub-par, and, as has been pointed out way too many ****ing times we cant be 100% sure why this is, so let's just wait and see at E3.

And I swear to God, if the graphics at E3 look the same as they do in these recent screens, and some dumbass fanboy starts whining about "There's no evidence these are recent blah blah ****ing blah" I'm gonna start smashing things with my trusty 10 pound hammer.

Now SHUT UP you whining kids.

 

[Mr-Fusion]

And I swear to God, if the graphics at E3 look the same as they do in these recent screens, and some dumbass fanboy starts whining about "There's no evidence these are recent blah blah ****ing blah" I'm gonna start smashing things with my trusty 10 pound hammer.

:cheese:

 

[Apos]

Who cares who he is or who he is pretending to be?

Because he's annoying. And I think he may be hurting himself emotionally by doing this more than he's hurting anything else. It's for his own good that he needs to take a break, find something else to do with his life than play hide-n-seek with the in-ter-net.

He's dead right, now shut the hell up all of you.

Which is why we have people like you on the boards: people who can be appropriately critical without trolling, creating sockpuppets, and repeatedly flaunting repeated bans.

 

[Mechagodzilla]

Is he another EvilEwok clone?

Undoubtedly.
Can't the mods ban his IP address?


And, elephant, I'm mostly just pissed at the people who come here asking for trouble. It's obvious that these screens don't represent anything final, but that ewok bitch is just using it as a source of material for his Doom 3/humiliation fetish.
He's come here with the pure intention of causing shit, and I'm just waiting for his next ban.

I mean, look at his track record. Either he's far too stupid to be allowed to use the internet, or he gets off on being insulted and rejected.

 

[ferd]

awesome gun, njammy smoke fx... the tree looks intoxicated

 

[Mr-Fusion]

Undoubtedly.
Can't the mods ban his IP address? .

It's too easy to get a new ip address.

Instead, you ban his entire ISP's IP range. I just hope he's not with the ISP i'm with....

 

[Apos]

I think the tree sprites are the most glaringly "wrong" things in those screens, which is too bad, because the tree models themselves look utterly awesome. In fact, they are so bad that they almost look out of place: pixelated jaggies with very little detail. But, in other words, it is precisely the sort of thing that devs might leave till last to finish up in the polishing stage, and it's a pretty easy fix: just sub in some higher quality sprites, and you're done. Same thing with low detail textures like the "leaves."

 

[Rupertvdb]

I hate to repeat myself but i will.....they wont release a game that is substandard because they shall get ripped apart by the ress and the community, if they have little errors like that everywhere they shall be torn apart, lets just wait until ... tomorrow...drool

 

[Mechagodzilla]

I think the tree sprites are the most glaringly "wrong" things in those screens, which is too bad, because the tree models themselves look utterly awesome. In fact, they are so bad that they almost look out of place: pixelated jaggies with very little detail. But, in other words, it is precisely the sort of thing that devs might leave till last to finish up in the polishing stage, and it's a pretty easy fix: just sub in some higher quality sprites, and you're done. Same thing with low detail textures like the "leaves."

Yeah, it was really just smaller touches like that that set off the poor reception, IMO.

Whenever these screens were taken (I assume in March), they were apparently in the process of modifying the shadows, and adding leaves into the trees. I don't remember the trees having leaves before now when they were seen in the barricade an other levels. If the shadows were properly alligned, it would add a ton of improvement.

I'm sure E3 will present a view more indicative of the final product. Until then, these screens are only disappointing because they don't make good desktops. They only seem to indicate to me that valve has actually been changing things in the past year.

Edit: That ISP Ban sounds like a good idea. Even if it was the same as mine, I'd take a hit for the team to get rid of that social wreck.

 

[CheapAssStrat]

Back in the first couple of pages (you know, when it was still on topic) some people were saying that the weapon was firing a missle. Well, actually, the "missle" is a shot from the gunship.

Just thought I'd clear that up.

 

[vetebulle]

http://media.pc.gamespy.com/media/492/492830/img_2119655.html


I think the reason for the gun to look all glary and shiny and plastic is because.. ta da, it's firing bleedin' ICBMs.


You'd be pretty lit up too if you had a bloody broom of fire sticking out in front of you.

 

[Brian Damage]

Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles?

Wow. They sure got really small in a hurry...

 

[SD1]

just my 2cents... how do you know they werent running in dx7-8 mode (i arent seeing any bumpmapping or shader usage.. i think this is quite possible)?

I find it pretty belivable that they are to release some crappy screen shots now simply to make sure our jaws drop at the release of the new media.

SD

 

[wayne white]

compare the trees in those ss to the trees in morrowind,enough said.

 

[torso boy]

OMG! tEH SCanneR is teH BiG!
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/halflife2/screens.html?page=74
i didn't realise they were going to be that big....

 

[Brian Damage]

Actually, I think teh SCanneR is merely rather close to teh "camera". Note that it is in front of teh wallz0r. Looks to be just a little beside and behind teh Combine's head...

 

[Dagobert]

That section of the beta is awesome.

 

[Apos]

compare the trees in those ss to the trees in morrowind,enough said.

What, you mean THIS:
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/elderscrolls3morrowind/screens.html?page=217
or THIS:
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/elderscrolls3morrowind/screens.html?page=160

The HL2 trees are way better: much more complex and twisted, without the goofiness of huge layered sprites. All the trees in those SSs need to look cool is for the tiny branch/leaf sprites to be a higher resolution.

 

[adityavm]

i don't have patients enuff to read all the posts so im just posting my opinion.

This is the famous gun that was called the laser rifle by hl2.net on the previous server. Its been called a flare gun. a missile launcher and a RPG. Personally, i don't think its gonna be used for that long since it lights up the whole place. Will be a combine-beacon (i.e it will immediately alert all combines in the area) so its not such a good idea.

for aircrafts and all, use the bazooka!!

 

[aku ankka]

I really don´t have the energy right now to scan the whole thread for someone already pointing this out but... maybe it´s just the infamous Valve marketing playing with our heads. You know, show some lower detailed screenshots before the E3 so we will be even more amazed when they show us the new beautiful videos.

*edit*
And I´m referring to the screenshot of the two combine soldiers and a helicopter.

 

[gaintbeam]

Apos: "Oh, is that right.... sergio? Did you really think all the "I myself as a major HL fan" boilerplate would fool us when the mods can see where you are posting from and we have had 10 months of your sockpuppet behavior to get to know your MO? Did you really think that creating accounts to come agree with yourself was going to suddenly make you less obvious?"

Jesus christ buddy. First off, i have only been visiting this forum for about 2 weeks. 2nd, i dont even know much about sergio. I dont have the same 'MO' for god sake. Just because someone agress with him does not mean that they are the same person. Cant you get that out of your head?

I'm a college student from Vancouver Canada, and i find it offensive that you accuse me of being another person.

Please dude, apos, grow up, i not not the same guy. Check my ip or whatever man. You need to stop thinking that every other person who doesnt agree with the majority of the posters here is somehow the same person. Thanks for being such an ass and ruining my time here on the forum. :|

 

[gaintbeam]

Heh, after reading your other comments (apos), i dunno why you think im someone whose playing 'hide n seek'. I'm just a new user here, and i posted my thought, and now your bashing me for it because you think im someone else. Not very nice of you .

 

[The Dark Elf]

*locked*

can't you people discuss things without fighting, giantbeam, don't care who you are, quit trying to cause trouble. Also its a bad idea sticking up for evilewok in whatever disguise he's using today. Do a search if you want to find out who he is.