My thoughts on Half-Life 2

[patrick295767]

Quote from this thread.

Hi everyone, I'm new here and this is my first post so be gentle...

Anyway, Valve have been making this excellent game for a long time now and I think it's safe to say that the single player mode is a thing of beauty. Polished to the extreme, you can feel every moment that they have said, "Okay, he thinks he's safe: RELEASE HELL!" I love it, it's brilliant.

That's good and all but that's not the clever part...

They've released HalfLife:Source too and apparently there is some kind of seemingly intentional HL2 multiplayer included. But these features are only skeletons of what they could become.
And here comes the clever part!

Valve know that, if they put in place the barebones elements of things like HL:S and HL2 multiplayer, mod teams will swarm to them and build these games for them! I mean, already there are multiple teams vowing to redo Half-life:Source with more care and attention than Valve has reason to apply. There are also those who were planning to try and implement multiplayer HalfLife2 even without having half the job already done for them.

So basically, they know that they will have these features added to their product for free without having to face any responsibility for the quality of the finished products as well as it not impacting their development time!

I honestly think it's a bloody intelligent move if they did it consciously and it makes a lot of sense - everyone's a winner!

So what does everyone think? Am I reading into things a bit too much? Should this be encouraged?

Hi First of all,

Thank you for your message !!!
I am glad to read such things.
I tried the game 2 days ago...
And as I expected since long time ago : this game is really wicked !!!
An incredible good game ... actually ... yes and not ...
HHigggghhly great game on one hand
and on the other hand, there is a crappy part...
That's my introduction
I will explain you ...

So, let's start by the beginning, just after installing the game, I arrived in kind of same beginning than the previous HL1 ... same feelings : waiting that this door opens finally ...
Then, u enter in this HL-world ... sounds, atmosphere is already surprising you -Yes!! you have in mind ... I'll have a look if this game is as good as it pretends ... as good as the previous HL one ...
Dignity of being called Half-life 2 ???

You discover this HL world ... every objects can be moved, taken in your 'hands' and used !!!
that's really a big step for informatic games ... "creating world !"
As the game gta grand theft auto, the idea is to give freedom to the user ...
to give him the choice !! The game is giving then the possibility of unuseful actions !! Yes, at the beginning, it's funny to move objects, to throw them on guards and so on ... then, u have this feelings of freedom ...
That's the first thing which give the player the feeling of freedom of sthg with is rather real : a real world there, in ur screen !!

After progressing in the game, u discover that there is not so much possiblity compared to medal of honor in terms of using the world of halflife, e.g. u can only drive two vehicles : the car and the boat.
But valve couldnt do everythign.... time time time ... They had to put accent on the engine more than the game itself (map ...) (that are wonderfully beautiful).

When u play the game, the missions/stages are always very limited, u have to go straigth on, to progress like it's indicated by the game...
they even tell you what to do ...e.g. " I guess that the robot wish you to go under this column" or sthg like that ...
yes, lack of freedom in the game ... it's only killing and you feel rather squeezed, oppressed by the walls around you ... you have like a long corridor full of monsters and you cannot escape ... you just have to go on , straight on, shoot ... endlessly ...
actually 'endlessly' : the game is very very short as it is already said in this forum ;
in only 1 or 2 days, you may finish the game ...
it's rather a pity... but this has a deep reason ...

We dont have to blame the game for that actually ...
As said before, the quantity of mods that will be made by players will be as huge as HL1 ...
they knew that already ... what was the choice of valve ?
These clever people made a real goood choice, in economic terms, what is better to do : the maps or the engine(graphics and so on) ?
- The engine !!!!
As predicted this game kick the a.. of others games for the engine quality :
all objects have real weight and u can shoot in every details of objects, use them and also, inerty is there; oscillations of the objects are also present. The object are really like in reality : p=mg of physic was used in this game definitly and finally !!!! finally !!!
The water is magic, like they predicted. Wind from helicopter is also present !! thanks !!
and so on...

So, since the game is rather short, i guess the aim of HL2 is only mutliplayer
since the maps of the original DVD are very small
I am waiting for mods of huge map's for multiplayer ...
Since the engine is really the best in this moment, up to players now to show off that HL2 can be tremendously Better and any other !!!!
(The only lack of valve was less interest for vehicle uses ; even after medal of honor ! taht's rather a mistake : the more freedom you give, more pleasure you give to the player ... mistake mistake ... )

Anyhow, thank you Valve of having made a incredible Engine, which can be the based of other games !!!
This engine deserved to be used (for single and for multiplayer purpose(mainly) ) and improved !!!

Pat'

My Dream :
A gta grand theft auto made on the base of HL2 engine in an huuuuuggge city, huuuge world ... as tried Andreas gta !!!
Then, up to the players to create servers for fights or for car races or car killing or whatever ...
Freedom of a real world has to be reach !!!
We wait for you programmers, who have time for programing as ur job activity : Don't forget : Freedom and in an huge world, is the key of your success !!!
as gta and hl worlds ... (wish to combine them)

 

[iMMuNiTy]

My Dream :
A gta grand theft auto made on the base of HL2 engine in an huuuuuggge city, huuuge world ... as tried Andreas gta !!!
Then, up to the players to create servers for fights or for car races or car killing or whatever ...
Freedom of a real world has to be reach !!!
We wait for you programmers, who have time for programing as ur job activity : Don't forget : Freedom and in an huge world, is the key of your success !!!
as gta and hl worlds ... (wish to combine them)

GTA mixed up with Half-Life 2? My God! I hopefully hope this will never ****ing happen!

/me pulls out his hair, runs around screaming and jumps off the roof.

P.S. GTA is the mother shit of all games.

EDIT: My first flame! Goody.

 

[AJ Rimmer]

You claim Half-life 2 to be too much like a corridor and linear and yet you praise Medal of Honor? A game where you and your squad change direction completely because; Oh, the jeep is knocked over and now blocks our path. shame we can't climb on it, after all, we're just marines. Aha, but I can go around, no I can't, there is a window in the way. The window's open, and large enough for the germans to come in through, but climbing through it would be in bad taste, and I would also find their spawnpoint. But there is another way, past this tank! Oh no... an invisible wall... Okay, I'll go this way to the scripted death of all my squadmembers except for my invincible captain and 6000 nazis with bad aim and death animations!

Also, GTA and HL2 are as different games as you can get. One is based on freedom of the player to do whatever the hell he wants, the other on story-driven intense FPS action. Both of them deliver wonderfully on both accounts. Mixing them wouldn't work.

 

[Sulkdodds]

Must...resist...grammar...nazism....


Erm, yeah. HL2 is good. Yeah.

 

[knut]

EDIT: My first flame! Goody.

*laughs* Yeah, you sure showed him, pal.

 

[Harryz]

Seriously, what kind of Halflife2.net welcoming greeting is this? Eugh.

Anyway, welcome patrick295767, glad to still hear positive things about Half-Life 2 after nearly a year on. If I recall correctly, there already a few GTA mods going on, I can remember seeing one in the modding forum section. Hope you stay to post more often.

 

[iMMuNiTy]

Seriously, what kind of Halflife2.net welcoming greeting is this? Eugh.

Anyway, welcome patrick295767, glad to still hear positive things about Half-Life 2 after nearly a year on. If I recall correctly, there already a few GTA mods going on, I can remember seeing one in the modding forum section. Hope you stay to post more often.

Oh yeah, my bad.


Welcome to the forums, Patrick. Enjoy your stay! Keep posting.

Have a nice, and productive day.

 

[Cole]

1.)
If HL2 had tons and tons of freedom...expect many more times the loading times.

btw, would the fact that HL2 shadows arn't done in realtime but pre-computed jack up the file size of maps thus making them take longer to load?

 

[Asknoone]

I'd offer you a cookie, but I'm quite simply bewildered.

 

[Kyorisu]

1.)btw, would the fact that HL2 shadows arn't done in realtime but pre-computed jack up the file size of maps thus making them take longer to load?

Lightmaps don't make a big dent in size or loading times really. If you've got a good enough rig to play the game you won't notice the difference between real time and pre computed in terms of loading times.

 

[hawtguy1]

Yes, this IS quite the best engine ever, from MY point of view anyway, some may think differently because of lack of certain things in the game they wanted, ex)certain graphics effects or AI actions etc. But you know what? if your gonna cry about it SOoo much, why dont you make a freaking mod that DOES have those things...PWN3D! :cheers:

 

[63]

Yes, this IS quite the best engine ever, from MY point of view anyway, some may think differently because of lack of certain things in the game they wanted, ex)certain graphics effects or AI actions etc. But you know what? if your gonna cry about it SOoo much, why dont you make a freaking mod that DOES have those things...PWN3D! :cheers:

Leave the forums and never return.

 

[Asknoone]

Yes, this IS quite the best engine ever, from MY point of view anyway, some may think differently because of lack of certain things in the game they wanted, ex)certain graphics effects or AI actions etc. But you know what? if your gonna cry about it SOoo much, why dont you make a freaking mod that DOES have those things...PWN3D! :cheers:

Yeaaaaaaaaaahhhh.........no.

 

[iMMuNiTy]

Yes, this IS quite the best engine ever, from MY point of view anyway, some may think differently because of lack of certain things in the game they wanted, ex)certain graphics effects or AI actions etc. But you know what? if your gonna cry about it SOoo much, why dont you make a freaking mod that DOES have those things...PWN3D! :cheers:

I think you just pwned yourself, kid.

 

[Drackard]

Seriously, what kind of Halflife2.net welcoming greeting is this? Eugh.

lol shouldn't this apply to the random Mr.Ijustpwnedmyselfbytalkingcrap kid aswell ??

 

[iMMuNiTy]

lol shouldn't this apply to the random Mr.Ijustpwnedmyselfbytalkingcrap kid aswell ??

Patrick? No. He simply is a naive young child.

 

[Drackard]

:O you mean he has not yet been shown the ways of a half-lifian !!!!!

 

[iMMuNiTy]

Exactly.

Back on topic.