Hl2, you've come along way baby

[alehm]

Being so close to the release I thought I would bring up one of the first HL2 'hoaxes' that came to our communities attention when we knew so little about the game.

I remember reading this and thinking :sniper: + ;( until I realized it was a joke. Thank goodness HL2 is nothing like this old hoax.

At long last! The sequel to the best PC First Person Shooter of all time has been announced at a press conference with Valve in NY this afternoon.

Having been present at this meeting of developers and media, I got to witness the first running preview and in-game demo to leave the walls of Valve's Design Studios since development began way back when, after the release of Half-Life. And I must say, I was no less than awestruck!

At a glance, you could mistake this game for a DVD movie. The Half-Life 2 engine, built from the ground up, and boasting cinematic quality graphics at blistering frame rates, looks like it will easily topple Doom3's engine before ID even releases it!

The Dev team showed us a demo of a working alpha just to prove that the game's cinematic-style graphics were in-fact, being rendered real time. It was nothing short of amazing, especially considering that it was cutting 70fps in highest detail on a 1.7ghz processor and Geforce 4 Ti4200!

"We've tried to accommodate for the widest range of users possible. We felt that allowing gamers with lower end PCs to play with the highest settings would greatly increase the multiplayer potential and encourage the online community to really get behind Half-Life 2." commented Willam Sykes, source programmer.

As some people may also know, the tactical aspect of Half-Life 2 has been greatly increased over its predecessor. Weapons are now fully functional with gun jams, dirty barrels, overheating and weight. For example, in any in-game mission, one is expected to clear bullet casing jams, hold weapons steady (counteracting against weight) and perform maintenance tasks such as stripping, cleaning and polishing of weapons.

The Team are excited with the new tactical aspect which includes missions of the following varieties:


Radio operator missions where you take on the role of 'behind the main lines' support crew, skills in tuning radio frequencies and counter-acting for static will be essential in giving the fighting troops accurate bearings on targets


Co-ordinating scouting missions into unknown regions. Again, these require the player to stay at base with a radio and satellite uplink, communicating with fighting soldiers during battles.


Weapon Maintenance missions are completed before every main mission. In these preparation segments, players must ensure their firearms are fully functional and well kept. Failure to successfully maintain one's weapon reults in demotion and 'less action' in main missions.

Of course the above is only a TASTE of whats to come in the retail package. Expect a lot of the features that made HL1 so popular, like the adventure aspect and of course, slaughtering a LOT of ultra high resolution baddies! While I looked on at valve's demo, I thought it a shame that these baddies were ceasing to exist by Gordon's well-maintained firearm, as they were so extremely detailed it was a pleasure to watch them! The models were so realistic in-fact, that whilst watching the demo, I noticed the following:


All models have rising and falling chests/areas where lungs are used (this is helpful when you are unsure if enemies are dying, dead, sleeping or pretending!


All models are fully destructable in an unlimited number of ways. Say goodbye to shooting the whole head off an enemy. Depending where you hit it, the skull will fragment accordingly, and differently every time!


The sheer detail is ridiculous: actual hair/fur (not textures), sweat, dirt, cuts (can be made anywhere and of different severity Eg: a cut on the skin, right up to a limb coming off or an opening into the abdominal area etc)


Along with the overwhelming abundance of eye-candy, this game has quite a few never-before-tried features incorperated into the adventure.

Players may be at first shocked to find that Valve has taken the standard mouse look of FPS and added in a 'turn head' type feature. This feature allows the player to look around while keeping the body and weapon aimed in a particular direction, and is controlled by the mouse (as are the body movements). This system, for example, will allow the player to observe an environment around them whilst still keeping a weapon trained on the many prisoners that are taken during missions.

Keeping in line with the new weapon detail systems (cleaning, unjamming, maintaining etc) a sidebar will be added that will allow the player to access his weapon cleaning kit quickly by toggling and then using the mouse to grab and apply tools to clean the firearms. After battles, it is quite common to 'take 5' and make use of the weapon maintenance kit in a quiet corner. The most impressive feature of the weapon maintenance kit is that the player will take control of the tools with the mouse. For example, when cleaning the barrel of a firearm, the player must move the mouse back and forth to move the wad inside the barrel. Players must also take care not to spill cleaning solvents with the mouse when applying them. Move the mouse too fast and you'll waste some good fluid.

Our first look at Half-Life 2 was an exciting experience to say the least. The team here at Deepgame Online News are looking forward to the inevitable flow of screenshots and movies that will spill forth from Valve's Studios over the coming months, and will keep you up to date with all the latest developments as the title progresses.

Keep an eye out this Friday as we will be releasing the first screenshots of Half-Life 2 for all to marvel at.

 

[KagePrototype]

Haha, I remember this. God, it's so old, I don't think that many people beleived it when it came out, some of it was so far-fetched.

 

[kaellinn18]

Yeah, I wasn't around when this happened. That tactical gun stripping and stuff would suck ass.

 

[Gorgon]

Awsome article, You wrote it ? Great Job keep it coming.

LOL j/k. Yep I read it.

 

[kaellinn18]

Ummm....what? Did you even read it?

 

[RoguePsi]

Haha! First time I've read that article. It was extremely wild but I can see people easily believing it simply through hope alone. It might've been better if they really went over the top at the end. Just do enough to make people think "this can't be real...can it? - Oh my God...I've been duped!!"

Oh well...thumbs up I say.

 

[DrPowers]

didnt they show this in the new Bink movie that they released today?????

 

[Bait]

I remember that.....God, it was evil of the man to toy with people's emotions like that. I hope he's rotting in hell right now. Better yet, I hope he never gets HL2.

 

[Mediocrity]

I remember that.....God, it was evil of the man to toy with people's emotions like that. I hope he's rotting in hell right now. Better yet, I hope he never gets HL2.

Hoping for people to go to hell is one thing, but that last....that's just cold, man.

 

[KagePrototype]

I remember that.....God, it was evil of the man to toy with people's emotions like that. I hope he's rotting in hell right now. Better yet, I hope he never gets HL2.

I'm suprised people still care about this to condemn him to such a fate.

 

[Nex321]

what new binks?????

 

[DrPowers]

Just kidding about the new BINKS... feeding the hatred!

 

[Mountain Man]

That article's a classic. Did they ever do a follow-up to explain why they were so off base?

 

[The Monkey]

lo, not half of that is about HL2.

 

[CrazyHarij]

Wow haha.. Man, that's really old. I wasn't really interested in HL2 then though, I didn't really like the screenshots and the flame never really started burning until around June.

(it stopped burning august 01)

 

[M1RAG3]

Valve has taken the standard mouse look of FPS and added in a 'turn head' type feature. This feature allows the player to look around while keeping the body and weapon aimed in a particular direction, and is controlled by the mouse (as are the body movements). This system, for example, will allow the player to observe an environment around them whilst still keeping a weapon trained on the many prisoners that are taken during missions.

Sounds a little like Trespasser, a completely and totally amazing game, 10/10, flawless...
























Or wait, maybe not, yeah that is right, I was thinking of HL2.

 

[Annihilator_91]

Hmm, interesting! LOL!

 

[Seppo]

It would be funny if that wasn't a hoax and all those, maybe stupid, things were actually included in Half-Life 2. It would suck major balls, though it would also be funny.

 

[Lavrik]

Oh no my gun jammed again! Im tired of this stupid gun cleaning minigame! *Getting shot at moment*

Sounds stupid to me.

 

[Random Task]

It would be a funny option to turn on and off, it would add a new plain of realism to the game same with the whole head moving thing but you know we can't wish for everything....My Lamborghini will have to suffice

 

[ferd]

LoL

I never saw this...

 

[Citizen 1150421]

some of the features sound like they are in STALKER than in hl2 like the gun jam cleaning and the head turning.
first time reading that article

people can dream.
its up to the coders to make it happen in game.

 

[Asuka]

Wow, just wow.