Impossible things, and things that just shouldn't be...

[rpgprog]

To clear up the antlion thingy: it's a setting in Hammer 'Ignore Bugbait yes/no'.

Thank you for checking.

 

[SLH]

@SLH


Yeah, but the processor achitecture can do time very efficiently.

?? Quicker than one if statement? If that's the case (including the actual OS querying calls etc), i'm impressed.

 

[FireCrack]

^

vaugley quicker, time isn't caculated on the processor IIRC (despite my previous statement) it is done on the system clcok.

Am i right about this? i'm not entirely sure but i think this is the case.


well, it either does it faster or in the same amount of time, that much i'm sure of.

 

[SLH]

But then how would you use the system time without using an if statement anyway??

This:

if(TimeToCheck <= SystemTime)
{
    if(whatever)
        do something;
}

surely can't be faster than this:

if(whatever)
    do something;

 

[Great Grizzly]

But then how would you use the system time without using an if statement anyway??

This:

if(TimeToCheck <= SystemTime)
{
    if(whatever)
        do something;
}

surely can't be faster than this:

if(whatever)
    do something;

but the program doesnt know when to activate

{
if(whatever)
do something;

 

[Adabiviak]

If you noclip where the strider will blast out of (before you walk too far down the tunnel where you will trigger him) you can see him milling around behind the wall. How he got walled in there in the first place is the question. The reason is this: the first time I played the game, I didn't expect it to come crashing through and there I was, running scared in the tunnel. That was fun.

 

[FireCrack]

But then how would you use the system time without using an if statement anyway??

This:

if(TimeToCheck <= SystemTime)
{
    if(whatever)
        do something;
}

surely can't be faster than this:

if(whatever)
    do something;

but, that second one 25 times a second is slower than the first one once or twice a second

 

[okeydokey89]

anyway, as i see hl2 gives us amazing effects and realistic environments.isn't?

 

[FireCrack]

Oh wait, what am i talking about, i'm disgustingly wrong.

 

[ZoFreX]

As you can see, this is a lot of unnecessary calculations

You could have an event driver system that just changes the antlion behaviour pointer to the function that defines passive as opposed to aggressive when the bugbait is given to you, this would only need to be done once.

Seeing as there is a flag on the antlions which can be changed by map editors, the game must somehow be checking whether they are hostile or not already, so changing that flag in real time can't be that difficult.

Also last time I checked (long time ago, computer is very unstable atm) you could only get a limited number of antlions at one time anyway (4 I think).

 

[rpgprog]

You could have an event driver system that just changes the antlion behaviour pointer to the function that defines passive as opposed to aggressive when the bugbait is given to you, this would only need to be done once.

Seeing as there is a flag on the antlions which can be changed by map editors, the game must somehow be checking whether they are hostile or not already, so changing that flag in real time can't be that difficult.

Also last time I checked (long time ago, computer is very unstable atm) you could only get a limited number of antlions at one time anyway (4 I think).

that may be true, the first part, and I thought about that. and you are right about the limit. if you had more no more would spawn, however, as soon as one died, replacements came in,

 

[PCBuster]

Chinese Food's Boxes

After you kill the first antlion king, you enter cave with vortigs and humns. there is chinese food boxes averywere.

 

[Pai-Mei]

After you kill the first antlion king, you enter cave with vortigs and humns. there is chinese food boxes averywere.

This does fit in with the storyline. Its in the manual that Vortigaunts can only eat Chinese food.

 

[Jintor]

^
|

Really?
I didn't see a manual

 

[Pressure]

^
|

Really?
I didn't see a manual

Well it's in invisible ink. You have to utter upon it a special chant on the night of a full moon. Not only that but it has to be when all the planet are aligned and it needs to be done right where the equator and the prime meridian meet. After the chant has been uttered you must do a sacred dance known only by the Incan Indians. After you are finished with the dance you must offer a sacrifice to the Aztec Sun God. After all this turn to page three and the magical text will appear and you read.

 

[Asknoone]

After you kill the first antlion king, you enter cave with vortigs and humns. there is chinese food boxes averywere.

Those are everywhere in the game, all they are are ration cartons with a combine symbol on, see they do fit in.

 

[Coil]

Wow, thats weird how the hl2 "magnum" model is crap compared to blue shift. Are all the weapons like that? I doubt it was time constraints, because anyone of moderate modellign skill could easily knock up a decent low poly model in a few hours.

I think the reason that things don't seem to have correct volume when flying is that the equation for it would use more processing power.
Someone suggested force=mass*accel (i think). So assuming that it's the objects volumes that need to be integrated we would then have to add volume in somehow. Not having done much physics, I'm not sure what the exact equation would be, but at least 4 variables would be in there.
Havok is calculating how the objects in the world are behaving all the time, and going from 3 variables to 4 adds 33% to the needed resources. Everytime I'm in a fight I make heavy use of the grav gun, and nades are knocking shit around, so thats a large drop in processing power everytime something is affected.
Basically, if volume is added, system reqs go up. The more complex (but more realistic) the equation is the more power its going to take.
Having to pay for all my comp stuff out of my pocket, and not having a job, means I'd rather be able to play hl2 and be slightly less immersed because a matress goes farther than a grenade, than to not be able to play at all because my comp is too shit to run the physics.

Also, I think the combine guys don't chase you too far is you piss them off in the begining is cause they're kinda fat. Maybe it's the armor, but I'm betting theres a donut shop somewhere nearby.
And @ whoever suggested gordon carrying his extra weapons in a cart, LMFAO.

 

[Zeus]

In follow freeman if the beam lands right on top of u and another rebel, the rebel will get vaporized instantly yet gordon will be just dented.

 

[dj_flameskull]

^again, its becuz of his superduperhightec environmental suit. hehe

THe striders are huge which means they are about as heavy as the tanks. Their foot or the tip of their legs are made of sharp edged blades. So how come whenever it walks, it never burrowed at least a portion of it into the ground? ? ?

 

[Pai-Mei]

The striders are huge which means they are about as heavy as the tanks.

I honestly don't think that they are THAT heavy. In Dark Energy, you can move their legs around with the super grav gun. Plus, I think that they are very graceful walkers.

 

[wolvesrdogs]

In the future games will get more realisitic so for now get over it, you are worse then a over obsessed game critic, if game critics played the whole game carefully noting every unrealistic thing in the game, you will probably halflife 2 wouldnt have got 10/10 never would any other game. Also when you fall a long way and dont die its because of the HEV suit. If you dont like it stop annoying steam and let them make the next halflife even better... and more realisitic.
:cheers:

 

[dj_flameskull]

Its a discussion dood. The thread is not actually meant to criticize the game. We are just pointing out the "unreal" part. We never give a bad thought bout it so dont worry. We all know this is just a game. So relax.

Personally I never expect any game to come up with realistic features. If it was, it would be very annoying if ya know wat i mean. So games will be games.

 

[Calanen]

The person who said 10 story building drop and live is dead wrong. Maybe 2 stories if you are lucky, any more and you get splattoed.

Why dont the leaches in the water eat the ant lions?

At the end when u r in Dr Breen's office - and he blasts a the room apart - i got stuck to the sarcophogas - and Alyx kept saying 'Cmon Dr Freeman, we have to go!' Im sorry Alyx, im glued to the floor by a graphics bug and Im staying right here.

You cant ever get in the armoured cars owned by the CPs. Pity - I would have liked to smash some things up with them.

It appears as tho the CPs do hand signals as in raise fist for stop, when they have no other companions, or at least nobody near enough to appreciate a hand signal.

How do the zombies walk around in the radioactive waste? sure they are monsters - but made from human body parts - the stuff eats through my suit in nothing flat.

Dr Freeman does not talk to any1 in the whole game - he looks at people and they talk to him. Bit anti-social? Is he a mute?

I felt a bit like Spinal Tap on the way to a concert when they get lost backstage and cant find their way our 'Rock n Roll!' - follow Dr Freeman they'd say - all well and good, but Dr Freeman has no idea where he is going. And when I get crowded by my followers, one of whom pushed me off a building - i cant even hit them with the crow bar.

I liked when you go into a room with a character - a friendly, and u just start trashng the place, smashing chairs, throwing things around the room. The only person who ever seems to notice is Alyx who says 'Careful!' as you completely destroy the furniture and toss things about. Its interesting that this action goes un-noticed by Dr Kleiner, Barney, Eli, and every1 else.

And where is the sniper rifle and stun stick? I killed guys with em right? So i want the darn things!

 

[Calanen]

oh 1 more thing - i tried to be really clever and stack extra mods on my dune buggy - cant do it, the dune buggy becomes transparent when u try, and the mod ends up on the ground.

 

[Calanen]

Btw - re as to super poison - the poison has to be super to stop stuff from getting away, fast. If you are a jellyfish, and you inject lethal poison into a fish, the dosage has to be mahoosively high - otherwise it disappears in a flash. It needs to be so dosed, that it is overwhelmed instantly and cannot bail.

 

[ríomhaire]

Gordon does talk, you just don't hear him, it's for more imersion.

 

[slashandburn]

I like in sandtraps you can flip on the generator at the end by tossing a nade at it. (It has to explode near it) I would think that it would blow it up, not turn it on.

 

[Sam2k]

You can throw stuff at civilians and they never hit you back.

The pick-up-the-can cop at the start lets you past if you put it in... as opposed to smacking you anyway (I get the feeling he was just looking for a reason to smack you).

Gordon doesn't ask for a suit which isn't flurescent orange.

 

[Calanen]

Yeah im not sure why Gordon needs that particular suit, when he can put on one of the million combine suits lying around. That would make for far less conscipicuous movement as well. They seem to be well armoured, take quite a few rounds of SMG ammo to the head before any1 dies.

As for Gordon Freeman talking and me not hearing him, how do you know? Even Alyx says 'You are a man of few words aren't you?' and Dr Breen who wants a reply says 'I understand if you do not wish to discuss this in front of your friends'. Also, if you have captions on (which I did for most of the game, made things a bit easier to work out what was going on, rather than sort through the rock concert of noise - gordon never speaks.

 

[DoctorWeeTodd]

Cops will give you the same treatment (beating) regardless if you just try to speak with one or if you threw a concrete block at one.

 

[Muhahahaha]

I don't know if anyone has said this yet, but I found it funny that when you beat on or kill the friendly antlions they do nothing to you. They just come back for more and I kill them again, fun!

 

[Calanen]

I still think you should be able to kill civilians.

And also, the AI for ur squadmates is about vintage 98 style, with them all crashing into u and crowding u into a corner. That needs to be coded a little better.

 

[Jezebel_DM]

The thing that bugs me the most, all the basic zombies wear the same uniform. White shirt and blue trousers. The only one that is different is the citizen you see being attacked in Route Canal just beore you get the airboat, and that is a specific animation. Do they get given the uniform after graduating from the headcrab-wearing course or something? At least in HL1 and its varients you got a variety, scientists, soldiers or security guards.

 

[clarky003]

well from what ive read, none of these 'bad' points made, actually take anything away from the core gameplay, which is why the game is overwhelmingly successful, and I think the AI for the squad was good, if your clever enough you can order them to stay behind, they apologise when they get in your way, if you get frustrated at that, your just nit picking, they dont block your way for more than 3 seconds at most on some occassions,

you can get a mod that allows you to kill civilians, moddability is why source kicks ass hands down,.. if you dont like something go learn to mod it, or dont complain.

me , obviously im not that picky, weither it comes to zombies wearing the same clothes, dont care.. doesnt take anything away from the experiance in ravenholm especially. fewer better animated High poly models make up for the crappy low poly variants.

If i had to say anything needed improving, that Valve could improve , it would be the way the engine cache's the textures and sounds, causing that stuttering. other than that the game is excellent.

 

[TopHunter2016]

This is the end of the strider discussion: When you emerge from the door into the tunnel where he appears, there is a wall a short distance down the tunnel to your left. The strider BREAKS THROUGH that wall and proceeds to attack you. There is ANOTHER wall a short distance behind the strider, which can look similar to the first if you don't actually see the strider bust through. The trigger for the strider to break through is the player moving down the tunnel to the right a bit. If you actually watch the Strider appear, not just turn after you start getting fired at, you'll see him break through the wall.

I'd also like to add, that you can HEAR the strider's secondary attack when you're like half way in the tunnel.

 

[TopHunter2016]

Oh Calanen, I wouldn't say "everything goes ignored by all but Alyx". If you're in the Tenements, and you throw the TV out the window (which made me very happy ) the NPC's say "Watch it will ya". Plus the guy who says "Oh I thought you were a cop" will say "Oh, now we're really going to get it" . And if you throw stuff in Dr.Kleiner's lab he says "Oh dear". He probably thinks you act like Lamarr .

 

[Borat]

The G-Man walking into the red outpost building (in water hazard) and not getting smacked up by the two zombies in there!

 

[Calanen]

Nah the G-Man has an 'arrangement' with the zombies.

My obersvations are just that, observations and critiques. I'm not saying march on valve in protest. They do things better than probably any other gaming company. Does not mean there is not room for improvement. The Squad AI reminds me a bit of a game that came out in 98 or say, whose name know escapes me - which was a Vampire game. And I always felt when I was going anywhere, that I wanted to beat the squad members to make them get out of my way.

I noticed in Nova Prospekt, that the Combine soldiers presented the 'hard targets' philosophy when attacking in force - by diving themselves into two parallel lines and advancing single file, almost. That way - only one target (the first guy) is presented, and grenades cannot normally kill a whole bunch in one hit.

In addition, combine dudes seem to be much better fighters than ur civilians, which is to be expected - but they tend to exhibit a lot more random weirdness than the Combine - who are pretty polished in terms of fighting. Some of the AI dudes tend to run on the spot, while the combine is putting a significant amount of lead into them, reloading and continuing to do so. 'No aerobics during combat people! City 17 Aeroba-cise after the battle!'

 

[Jintor]

Citizens - everyone - reloads Pulse Rifles as if they were SMG's.

(Side note: Zombies are too stupid to respond to grenades!)

NPC's hilareously freeze in place if they attempt to use an animation they don't have!

 

[15357]

zombine and cps kill each other to get at you.

(try lining them up in single file)