HL2 with no guns? Thats crazy talk!

[Tynan]

This hasn't been done to the level that is possible in the Source Engine.

It's like someone describing movies, and someone else pointing to a book and saying "it's been done before, forget it".

Honestly this idea intruiges me. I'm even now considering making a singleplayer episode of it. Hmm.

You have a problem with value though. Hl2 was 10-20 hours long. Any movie-game you made would have to be absolutely packed with content, and would thus be rather short (short like a movie). The problem comes when you realize that games currently cost 60 dollars.

As the game market expands this may become more feasible.

 

[Spartan]

Jumping to conclusions?

Name some pls.

You are asking me to specifically name games that have a good story and characters? Are you high on something?

Oh come on - I loved Chrono Trigger, but emotional involvement? :/ On par with a good book or movie ........ not even close. (and Aeris dying in FF7 doesn't count either lol ... these are just a few examples where video games have even begun to realise their potential)

I've heard of people crying when Aeries dies (as can be seen in this thread). The thing is, voice acting and facials (har har) don't instamagically make the game emotionally involving and deep. HL2 is a good example of that.

 

[mikren]

This is what I mean - it's blatantly untrue that all games are about killing things. If you really were a long time gamer, you would know this.

most games have the character hold a pistol of some sort.

I'm saying a game like being stranded on a deserted island or something....you must survive, or something of that nature.

With todays technologie...I know it will happen and your on the right track gregornz.

 

[Spartan]

most games have the character hold a pistol of some sort.

RPGs? Adventure games? Puzzles games? Sports games? Strategy games? Simulations? Arcade games?

I'm saying a game like being stranded on a deserted island or something....you must survive, or something of that nature.

With todays technologie...I know it will happen and your on the right track gregornz.

You need today's tech for something that was possible in the eighties?

 

[Warbie]

You are asking me to specifically name games that have a good story and characters? Are you high on something?

Yes - I am. Ones that can match a decent book/moive. i.e. not Chrono Trigger. Planescape torment is the best I can think of (but there are very few games like this, unfortunately)

I've heard of people crying when Aeries dies (as can be seen in this thread). The thing is, voice acting and facials (har har) don't instamagically make the game emotionally involving and deep. HL2 is a good example of that.

I agree - and didn't say otherwise. But voice acting and facial animation will go along way to making characters more convincing. HL2's greatest strength (imo) is in showing what video games will be able to do (not the game itself) by creating such a believable and engaging world filled with convincing ppl (who actually look like people )

 

[Spartan]

Yes - I am. Ones that can match a decent book/moive. i.e. not Chrono Trigger. Planescape torment is the best I can think of (but there are very few games like this, unfortunately)

Try Grim Fandango. Or just about anything by Lucasarts. Or Max Payne. Then there are text adventure games, like Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Gateway, Eric the Unready, Trinity...

 

[peoplesuc]

Wow those are some terrible examples. Helping a beached whale? The only way to get rid of a whale is with some tnt. How exactly would you take down the government from NYC? Maybe in DC and maybe when Clinton was in office. Taking down Islam from mecca would be a better challenge.

The artform is to sell to the public. THAT IS IT!

Modern video 'games' are very expensive and therefore if you want to produce one developers need to expect some compensation during or after the final product is delivered to the masses. Unless there is some liberal hollywood millionare out there that is willing to put the time and money into making free 'games'; I doubt that your idea will take off.

Don't get me wrong if there was a mod that was free and was REALLY REALLY GOOD then I would play it. But I will never change my life according to an idea from an interactive video game. I feel that only a few would. This is because everyone will play/experience something different. Unless you restrict the boundries and give a linear plot then the majority of players experiences will the same thing. If it's totally interactive and open ended then I feel that guns and violent solutions should be offered.

When you play Counter-Strike and you 'feel' the chaos and fear situations where your out gunned and out numbered then you can't preform and therefore get the highest body count. You need to block all those emotions. You play to win. Do you really want to play to 'feel' hopeless and stupid when you can't make progress?

Ultimatly is your goal to uplift this artform or contort it to spread your political/social views? If so then wouldn't a 'Church sim' be the best start?

 

[Warbie]

Try Grim Fandango. Or just about anything by Lucasarts. Or Max Payne. Then there are text adventure games, like Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Gateway, Eric the Unready, Trinity...

Good games, sure

I still think that in terms of character depth and well written stories video games have a very long way to go.

(really - comparing the Max Payne to a good book should be a crime of some kind)

 

[Flyingdebris]

while i disagree with your semi-communist agenda (i freaking hate commies, they ruined Cuba, where my family is from)

i must applaud your desision to think outside the box. However since the player will no longer be running around gunning everything down it will be necessary to create a large assortment of scripted seqences and recorded dialogue or text. This will take a lot of time to get right. Otherwise the game will be over way too fast.

 

[Fishlore]

Good games, sure

I still think that in terms of character depth and well written stories video games have a very long way to go.

(really - comparing the Max Payne to a good book should be a crime of some kind)

This is why we have video games, books and movies. They are seperate entities and in my opinion should stay that way. You simply can't expect to sell a video game that has a plot like "21 Grams." Nobody would buy it. Release it in a movie form and people eat it up with spoons.

Similarly we've all read stories we've loved. Once they hit the big screen something happens and the experience is completely ruined. Books don't make good movies, movies don't make good books and video games don't make good in either arena. At least that's the way I feel.

 

[Warbie]

This is why we have video games, books and movies. They are seperate entities and in my opinion should stay that way. You simply can't expect to sell a video game that has a plot like "21 Grams." Nobody would buy it. Release it in a movie form and people eat it up with spoons.

Similarly we've all read stories we've loved. Once they hit the big screen something happens and the experience is completely ruined. Books don't make good movies, movies don't make good books and video games don't make good in either arena. At least that's the way I feel.

Fair points - and I agree that it's good to keep them seperate.

That doesn't mean video games can't improve in many areas tremendously. The line between these forms of entertainment will become increasingly blurry as games get better.

Titles like HL2 are great now - but they will be amazing in the future, better than we could probably hope (and will be as recognised as books and movies imo)

 

[Spartan]

(really - comparing the Max Payne to a good book should be a crime of some kind)

Well obviously, if you're going to compare to classics.

 

[Hondo]

How about some kind of detective story? You go around a city uncovering a mystery, and you even carry a gun. You just keep it holstered for a majority of the game. That way you can have a few action sequences that the engine was made for, but the overall idea is really just solving the mystery.

Take a look at an old adventure game "Blade Runner" for an example. You play, obviously, a blade runner like Harrison in the movie, and draw your gun and shoot a few times. A game like this from a first-person perspective would be pretty cool.

 

[Hondo]

Also, a remake of "The Last Express" using the Source engine would absolutely rule.

 

[justmatt]

A game about overthrowing the government? ....Well I just hope the current government doesn't go "Patriot Act" on your ass.

 

[Fishlore]

That doesn't mean video games can't improve in many areas tremendously.

I do agree with you here as far as interactivity, realism and such. While the boundaries may continue to blur, I don't think that they'll ever truley overlap. This is all opinion though.

How about some kind of detective story? You go around a city uncovering a mystery, and you even carry a gun. You just keep it holstered for a majority of the game. That way you can have a few action sequences that the engine was made for, but the overall idea is really just solving the mystery.

Good idea. Remake the old "Police Quest" games in Source. That would be cool. How are the CSI games? As cheesey as one would expect?

 

[Finger]

This is why we have video games, books and movies. They are seperate entities and in my opinion should stay that way. You simply can't expect to sell a video game that has a plot like "21 Grams." Nobody would buy it. Release it in a movie form and people eat it up with spoons.

Similarly we've all read stories we've loved. Once they hit the big screen something happens and the experience is completely ruined. Books don't make good movies, movies don't make good books and video games don't make good in either arena. At least that's the way I feel.

Each medium shines in it's own light, yes. You can't however, rule out the marriage of different mediums, and the potential success of such evolution. There are exceptions to every scenario you have mentioned, and I think that the more we try to stretch/blur the boundaries of literature, film, games.... whether it fails or succedes.....the closer we come to reinventing our world of entertainment. And believe me, I'm all about entertainment.

 

[MastaUK]

I hear the same sentiments here that popped up in the Monkey Island thread. We've all played HL2 and have noticed that there is the potential for a level of interactivity with a virtual world not seen in many games before. I'm not sure if people are wanting an interactive movie, an adventure game (like monkey island), or a story-based non-linear RPG (like deus ex). Perhaps a mixture of all of the above?



The puzzles we saw in HL2 were good, but I think they were quite simple (The ones that stick out are the breeze blocks on the see-saw, and the blue barrels under the water). Taking these to the next level, making a game without guns, but a high level of interactivity with the environment and NPCs, combined with puzzles and a good story sounds enticing. OK, so these ideas may be rehashes of old ideas dating back the beginning of computer games, but it would be great to see them revived in Source. It wouldn't be an easy task of course.