Half Life 2 - Virgin Playthough

[Colonel Kernel]

Not at all : ) I play diablo II and I find it awesome even after all these years - tis just that I want the hl2 experience to be a memorable one and I find that happens better when you have BOTH good graphics and good gameplay. Hl2 graphics aren't upgly but they aint got nothing on today's games - I would like to remedy that if possible.

Ok, so how did you even play the first game? Because If you call Half-Life 2 outdated - which is from 2004, then I have no idea how you passed through Half-Life - from 1998! I can see you play Diablo II, good. Now just take yourself back to 2004.
Imagine what the days were back then - imagine the current games for that time, the upcoming games and so on. You would have no idea what Valve had in store for the gaming masses.
And here it comes - Half-Life 2. You would be blown away by the Source engine's capacities - displacement surfaces, dynamic lighting and shadows, awesome artwork both as textures, and as level setup. At that time, you would have no other example to base off your claims that the game was outdated.

This is what I did for Half-Life 1 - I guarantee you, it works as a charm. And by the way, I didn't find HL2 that bad, either - I played it roughly a year or two back. After that Istarted playing the Episodes and the rest, as they say, is history.

 

[Reflex]

This looks better.

This doesn't.

So I would say no for first playthrough.

 

[Naph]

The subtle changes can really ruin an experience. I haven't played the CM10 mod, but I've 'enhanced' different games to mimicly match what is standard today. What I've come across is that textural changes can really **** up a game, in regards to the programmer just going to through the textures files and replacing them with other textures, or worse, changing the colour to match his preference. With CM, it seems to me that the programmer and designers have taken certain areas of the game and revamped them. This could in fact cause huge atmospheric changes that skew what you've experienced because of what you're about to experience doesn't match. To drive along a countryside to be hit by a ghostly town invaded by combine, to hoping over sanddunes, rock to rock, in the setting sun. This is a transition that would not work.

Plus the whole 'Whiteforest' moteef right next the beach? Yeah **** you, this is not a great mod.

 

[Colonel Kernel]

Just play the original! We speak the truth, no more, no less.

 

[IronicBob]

It sounds like a laugh for a later date, and if you want scantily clad Alyx I won't judge you. However, I'd get the feel of the game before messing around with mods.

 

[Prothean]

If you want improved graphics without killing the original's atmosphere, bump up some of these cvars(3 pages of 'em):
http://www.tweakguides.com/HL2_8.html
Mostly for higher draw distances/decal/other limits

Also, some modern graphics cards allow Supersampling AA to be enabled in the driver, be sure to enable it if you can. Should run smooth with 4xSSAA on most modern cards.(fairly constant 60FPS on my 5850 iirc)

Thanks mate - I will try this,

@Vegeta897 We're going in circles now, half-life 2 looks good but not as good as modern games. I am trying to close that gap (if possible) so that it feels like I'm playing a current gen titan of a game like it should be

@Colonel Kernel Lol, I'm a little embarrassed to admit I've never played the first. Is it crucial to understanding the 2nd one? If so I might read up on the story line but as for playing it...well time is so sparse nowadays I need to prioritize the games I play and many rank further up the list than the first HL.

@Reflex Mate, I spent about 4 minutes pondering your post. The bridge looks awful O_O yet you've said "it looks better"? - Did you get your screenshots the wrong way around?

@Naph "Yeah **** you" <--- Not very nice.

@Colonel Kernel Haha I never suspected any of you of falsehood Thanks for your input

It is amusing to see so many passionate Original HL2 advocates. Thanks for your time guys, I think I've gotten all I need : ) Will be back to let you know of my first HL2 impressions.

 

[kineaesth]

After all of this, if you end up playing with the Cinematic Mod, I will personally hunt you down and call you a moron.

 

[Wanted Bob]

It's not vital to play the original Half Life first, though it would help you understand bits and pieces of the story better. That said, you should play the first Half Life anyways, as its still an incredibly good game.

Me personally, I played HL2 before HL1 as well.

 

[Colonel Kernel]

Well yeah, I don't think it's crucial if you don't play it first, but as Wanted Bob stated, it'll help and it'll save you some 'wtf' moments. Play it, nevertheless.

 

[Destructo-Bot]

Didn't Valve recently updated HL2 with a newer revision of the engine or improved textures or somesuch? They did something that busted a lot of mods...

 

[Acepilotf14]

Thanks mate - I will try this,

@Vegeta897 We're going in circles now, half-life 2 looks good but not as good as modern games. I am trying to close that gap (if possible) so that it feels like I'm playing a current gen titan of a game like it should be

But current gen games suck.

 

[hipnotyq]

Does anyone know of any texture packs for hl2 that just replace the texture in higher res? Same texture and all, just higher res?

 

[A2597]

I'm just going to echo many of the comments here. The Cinematic mod has too many changes to the overall feel and ambiance of the game for me to recommend it. I've attempted to play the game several times with it, and always wind up deleting it. The music, visual style, and overall tonality of the game is too greatly changed from the original. Certain aspects of it are excellent, but the negatives outweigh the positives by a wide margin, and I highly recommend playing the stock game first.

A consistent visual style, backed by solid game play and supporting audio elements and engaging plotline are what make a great game, and Valve has perfected this balence over the years. Unfortunately, the Cinematic mod breaks many visual, audio, and in some instances, the gameplay as well.

 

[ríomhaire]

I'm just going to echo many of the comments here. The Cinematic mod has too many changes to the overall feel and ambiance of the game for me to recommend it. I've attempted to play the game several times with it, and always wind up deleting it. The music, visual style, and overall tonality of the game is too greatly changed from the original. Certain aspects of it are excellent, but the negatives outweigh the positives by a wide margin, and I highly recommend playing the stock game first.

A consistent visual style, backed by solid game play and supporting audio elements and engaging plotline are what make a great game, and Valve has perfected this balence over the years. Unfortunately, the Cinematic mod breaks many visual, audio, and in some instances, the gameplay as well.

This. Also the character models are dreadful.