HL3 innovations

[dan_brew]

What does hl3 need, or what do you want from it so that the FPS genre can move forward due to innovative ideas?

How about:
-there's always something to do. Like, after fighting, you get tired and have to rest a while. But you can put together some components of a new gun or something. Ie, make your own custom guns in the game, so there could be heaps of different types possible. People can post screenshots of *their guns on the internet.

-Administering odours that repel headcrabs.

-"Freestyle" throwing. Instead of clicking left mouse button, you must carefully chuck, say, a grenade.

-Glasses (spectacles) can get smashed so your vision goes blurry. Or they fog up near those steam pipes.

-Water can be manipulated, for putting out fires with a bucket, healing wounds or throwing in G-Man's face.

-Your "time travel train" crashes repeatedly and you end up in the 1800's, 500BC, 2188AD with a chance to hop out on any time of your choosing. 3 alternate endings right there.

Yeah, I think they're cool, but I'd like to hear your ideas...

 

[dan_brew]

................................ :bounce: Helooooo? Anybody??

 

[Baal]

Hey! How's it going?

 

[dan_brew]

Not bad, you?

 

[ShadowX]

................................ :bounce: Helooooo? Anybody??

Wait more than 20 minutes before you post something like that.

Those sound like cool ideas, you should actually have hands on the steering wheel when driving...

 

[dan_brew]

I waited 21 mins
Lol

 

[corkscru74]

"Administering Odours" as in farting?

I don't know how to improve HL3 - that's why I'm not a game designer at Valve =). I guess weather effects to make the world even more immersive. Have your hands pick up an object - not have it float 2 feet in front of you. Hands on Steering Wheel (as mentioned above by ShadowX).

More of the same though really - more aliens, more humanoids, more big monsters, more physics, more puzzles, more shooting etc etc etc

 

[diluted]

I've ALWAYS wanted to fart on a headcrab :|

 

[The Silhouette]

Many new things, mainly new Dynamic action, such as absolute everything does indeed have physical properties, not just props here and their. Water dynamics, weather dynamics. If you go thru the game onces, the next time the weather in areas may not be the same. More and even better looking ragdoll bone structures, even the fingers will move correctly. Im guessing even parts of hair will be rendered instead of just textured on. cloth dynamics, considerably better AI. Half Life 2 is just one of the first games in the step of next-generation technology. Their's alot of areas to be improved on.

 

[hildigrim]

yeah, was thinking about the hair thing to....

will unreal three engine be able to do that????

 

[BattleShip Ron]

And have the game run off the system clock. If it's night time where you are it would be night time during the game.

 

[xiphrex]

Another thing I want to see is true realistic landscapes and objects. If I throw a grenade next to a wall, I want the wall to interact with the blast, it might move, it might get smashed, it might fall down, its all up to the circumstances and physic of everything. Also if I hit a wall with a rocket, I want the wall to blow up, like for some of the scripted sections of the strider laser blasting walls (I think they call the laser singularity? not sure)

Also, its about time we had some true unscripted AI. I was lead to believe that HL2 had this, but it has become apparent that many sections are just scripted. Scripting is needed for a story, but more unscripted AI would be nice.

I also want weapons with recoil, that affect your aim. Blasting the rifle gun, for example, continuously will not be as effective as burst firing due to this recoil (cs players will know about this).

Another thing is definately multiple endings, where not just one part of the game chooses your ending, but a combination of parts, where you decide, for instance, to blow up that strider now, or leave it, and if you do leave it be and ran away, then later on it may kill someone important, changing the story. I liked how you were given a choice at the end of HL1, I hope HL3 develops more on that.

Definately more weapons are needed. If HL2 just had one more long range rifle, it would of been perfect imo, I needed an AK like weapon with good long range accuracy for those long range battles.

Anyway that all I can think of just now, but definately the main thing is true landscape/object interaction. I think red faction had what I am talking about, but even more of it is needed, so for example, if I accidentally blow up a wall and it blocks my exit, or an enemy blows up the wall and blocks my exit, then I am going to need to find another exit! and if there isnt one, I'ld have to make one! Oh look there I can see a light ray coming from up there, but how to get up there once I blow it up? etc etc, it would add to the gameplay.

 

[Cole]

If you right click on a gernade, it wont go as far. Rolls on the ground. Left click will throw it.

 

[Cole]

EE..... now as far as water dynamics go.
You want it to have a processor not yet developed for its minimum specs? Thats what I thought.
If you have every pixel of water being calculated by physics. Thats probably, a few hundred billion. Crash your buggyingi nto some water, things are colliding with other things, etc... thats a few hundered billion calculations.

It might not be anywhere near a 100 billion but my point is simple.

 

[Dead-Inside]

yeah, was thinking about the hair thing to....

will unreal three engine be able to do that????

... Source is able to do that, it just wouldn't be a computer able to run it until we see the Magnetic processors currently being developed

 

[ShadowFox]

No offense dan_brew, but most of those ideas are awful. They may be realistic, but I can't imagine fun.

Now dynamic weather systems.. that sounds feasible and cool.

 

[rocklegendfm99]

the structure of all the materials should be included
so when you break something it will break realisticly
instead of breaking the way it was told to

 

[spinkitten]

hmmm, well given the current 10 year gap, i'll presume the events of HL3 will take place 10 years later. So you can expect a far more impressive array of weaponry, and from that destruction. Although no current game offers a large amount of destruction (with teh exception of some of those Vampire:Bloodlines videos - going to pick k it up after xmas) - forthcoming titles such as FEAR show an abundance destruction, so i imagine the technology side of things is sorted. Cloth Dynamics is a must, as Vampire:B can do that, hair dynamics might be a bit too much but you never know.

The only problem with the added freedom destruction brings, is that levels are going to need to be far more thought through, and the construction time will be factored considerably, by having to map every area available.

dan_brew's idea of the time-travel messing up would be fun, kinda letting you go off the grid, similar to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - maybe they could implement it as an add-on for a prequel - there you are as Gordon, in stasis after HL2 when boom - a series of quick flashbacks going back in time and you start at the beginning of the entire story...or maybe the bad guys/aliens discover time travel and stop the cascade from occuring...the G-Man returns and it'll be upto you to put things right again - very much like Back To The Future 2 - in fact put yourself in the G-Man's shoes and you've got a great add-on pack for HL2!

 

[R@mmstien]

after all this time waiting and all the hours i worked off to pay for my comps upgrades.... i just think they should make an expansion pack to finish the story.

 

[Ownzed]

Those ideas sound cool.

 

[The Silhouette]

EE..... now as far as water dynamics go.
You want it to have a processor not yet developed for its minimum specs? Thats what I thought.
If you have every pixel of water being calculated by physics. Thats probably, a few hundred billion. Crash your buggyingi nto some water, things are colliding with other things, etc... thats a few hundered billion calculations.

It might not be anywhere near a 100 billion but my point is simple.

No sorry, it is completely possible. Of course not an entire body of water like that in the coast missions in HL2 will have physical properties, but say little rivers, some puddles, ponds, any oceans only say 20 feet into the body of water is physically stimulated. their are many ways to approach it. plus HL3 probly wont be here until 2006/7, leaning towards late 2007. thats 3 year, im pretty sure no-one will be running anything less then an Athlon A64 CPU with less then a gig of RAM. with the way technology is heading, the way of multi core CPU's, soon we'll see 5MB cache in about a year, 1066 FSB will be common by this time next year. We'll have the technology to calculate water dynamics by early 06' maybe late 05. I wouldn't be surprize under the Source Engines compatability that you could actually turn a feature off such as Water dynamics under certain low spec systems. I mean in HL2 you can turn off ragdoll physics if you really wanted to. You my friend are not thinking out of the box.


As for multi-ending game, that i dont see happening because HL2 is this based story, with multiple parts. Open ending works great with games that have only one part because you get close eitherway, but for some reason i see VALVe staying with one ending. of course you never know when it comes to VALVe.

 

[photon]

How about per-pixel raytracing (it will burn your processor to ashes) and 64-bit color (which Unreal3 "supports" in some mysterious way, by the way) for starters?

That would really beat the stuff out of Doom3 which has currently a more advanced engine.

I think id should allow Valve to bring out Quake IV. Just let John Carmack lend his OpenGL graphics engine to Valve where they integrate it with DirectX and the Havok physics engine and then Bungie glues it all up with a great Dolby Digital soundtrack and multiplayer module and there you have it - a half-doomed life quaking about with a queer halo around it.

We can have Gordon Freeman as the scientist who lands on an alien planet inhabited by Quake aliens. But voila - the dynamic terrain renderer from Valve transforms the honest, spherical planet into a deadly ring capable of launching headcrabs into the whole galaxy.

And oh yes - Gordon Freeman gets to wear unbreakable perspex glasses (complete with motorized wipers for those "steamy" scenes) and his HEV suit can now support an AI construct which always keeps pestering him about a "Big Freaking Gun 10K" which take out the entire ring in one blow and kill the aliens at Mars too because of its aftershocks.

At the end, Gordon Freeman sits in a seedy bar in City 17 enjoying a well-earned rest. But then suddenly, here comes in a man complete with sniper rifle and all, jabbering stories about how he got stuck on an unknown island and got out from there. A far cry, Gordon presumes, and continues his enjoyment of a reproduction-blocking cocktail with an unreal taste.

 

[rocky]

i'd like HL3 to be slightly less linear. Dynamic lighting will be a must have.

 

[Borrish]

I wouldn't expect HL3 anytime soon after all the hassle Valve got because of HL2.

 

[f|uke]

HL3 would do well to add increased realism in the depiction of violence, with anatomical gore. Real emotional distress and terror expressed by in game characters. Horrible, horrible things.

And on the other side, more unpressured character interaction. The ability to explore interesting areas without being pushed to move on. Being allowed to 'hang out' somewhere without all the stress.

Both of these in unison would help create the 'ungamelike' experience that we look for in their software.

 

[Asuka]

Dunno im going to trust valve with there decision.

 

[dan_brew]

Thanks everyone, some great ideas there. I'm sure Valve can handle it, but I thought it'd be cool to have ideas from the HL community. Apparently Valve watch the forums pretty closely, so they might take YOUR idea!

 

[Mr.Wotsit]

Mr.Brew. The ideas you have listed are awful. Beyond awful.

If you ever become any kind of games designer, I will take it as a sign from Baby Jesus that a second flood is coming because the world has sunk to a new low and begin construction on an enormous boat.

 

[Spectre01]

Agreed.

 

[major5013]

they are not THAT bad, i like the one with the fogged up glasses. If they just fog up a little that would add to realism it would be kinda cool too.

 

[Warbie]

All I want are decent AI reactions and animations to being shot.

I want to the enemy judder as each bullet hits them - to see them hop when shot in the foot, clutch at their throat and make girgling sounds when hit in the neck, limp away for cover if hit in the leg etc (if Golden Eye and Perfect Dark can do this I see no reason why the HL series can't - it would make the game far more enjoyable)

At the moment it doesn't feel like you're actually shooting the enemy in HL2 ....... more an exercise in moving a cursor over them and holding down a button untill they fall over .. not very satisfying imo.

And while we're at it - harder difficulty settings pls, less ammo and less health.

It doesn't have to be realistic - just fun and effective. As it stands HL2 is a great game, with mediocre combat.

 

[MysticalMrBob]

I thought the combat when you first meet the combine soldiers was GREAT. I'm like OMFG I JUST GOT FLANKED SON. And then they chucked a grenade and stuff.

 

[kurly]

For HL3,
I wanna see...

- An open world with freedom to move anywhere, regardless of my point on the storyline. No herding me down the single storyline path.
- A very large world with various methods of transport available. Trains. Cars that can be hi-jacked, a la Vice City.
- Give me a jet pack!
- Fractal generated land/city-scapes. to allow me to wander off the beaten path. My problem if I get lost.
- Characters that react to my behavior. Alyx should hit back. Eli should refuse to help, if I keep antagonizing his girl.
- Story characters that can be hurt - by me. If I kill Alyx, and can't open a door without her, let me resort to another path. If I drop a grenade in the middle of my troops, I deserve to fight alone - or to get shot by an angry citizen.
- Real character interaction. Maybe I meet some guy who knows where the gravity gun is, but he wants proof I'm on his side before he gives up the goods. Girls giggle, slap, or run, if I keep pressing them into a corner, or grab at their personals. They may, or may not, be helpful after such an encounter.
- Characters that can be interviewed or bribed for useful information. (DX2 style, or some new HL3 style)
- Game time tied to my PC's clock. Lighting of levels kept in accordance real time of day.
- Story advancement based on a series of accomplishments, not simply being somewhere.

 

[dlandis72]

kurly, many of your ideas sound more like a roleplaying game such as morrowind. The Half Life series is successful partly because of the tight storylines that it has. If somebody is able to just wander off for hours, the story line becomes broken up and the whole experience of the game won't be as powerful. Also, I like the idea of a continuous in-game clock, but tying to the PC clock might get monotonous for people that only have the opportunity to play at 10 PM. It would be night time in each level. The continuous time thing would be better if time froze when the person stopped playing and then resumed when they loaded the saved game.