Nearly one year on and no-one.....

[$kelet0r]

....has ever commented on the falling water levels in hL2

why is the water falling -are the combine using it all, are they evaporating it, converting
if the former what is the water being used for - fusion reacors dont need that much hydrogen equivalent to several metres drop in sea level
how are the combine transporting it???
why are there no tides - i dont remember seeing the moon in HL2


discuss

 

[Ennui]

It's been discussed and it's talked about in Raising the Bar.

 

[63]

You also read about the Air Exchange

 

[ríomhaire]

Check the Rumours and Speculation forum. NO stone has been left unturned except 1. What's a pyrister(sp?).

 

[Sulkdodds]

This has indeed been commented on.

However as far as I know everyone's at a complete loss as to what it's building to. Nobody really knows why the water level is dropping: some suggest it's the beginning of a wide-scale terraforming process that will eventually turn Earth into a giant barren rock. The purpose of this is also unknown. Perhaps the Combine are just being mean. Or perhaps they plan to strip every single resource (and that includes all the hydrogen and oxygen in water) for their giant interdimensional war machine. Remember, it's not just what they've got on earth - with an empire as limitless (we assume) as theirs, I doubt they can get enough resources.

 

[Dekstar]

Perhaps the Combine are just being mean.

Those Bullies.

 

[$kelet0r]

Originally Posted by Sulkdodds
Perhaps the Combine are just being mean

lol

this topic hasnt gotten the attention it perhaps deserves is what i was driving at
my theory is that the combine are pumping the water out of the earth for their universal armies
how they are getting it out has me stumped considering the length of time it took to power up the dark fusion reactor for one man

 

[Epsi]

They are capable of transporting far larger things too. The citadels themselves were teleported in.

 

[Langolier]

They are capable of transporting far larger things too. The citadels themselves were teleported in.

You know...

Everyone quotes Raising the Bar as a factual account of everything that happened...

However I think it's worth noting that the actual game never mentions why the water levels are falling, it never mentions the Combine putting anything in the air, and it is never clear as to how many Citadels there are or how it(they) got there. The only thing we know about the 7-Hours war comes from a small newspaper clipping and a sentence or two from Eli.

As for the water?

I agree with others that most likely the Combine is draining and refining it into Hydrogen for fuel... Terraforming is a possibility though.

 

[CyberPitz]

Because on the Combine homeworld, they need their pool filled. It's a big pool.

 

[caith]

Wouldn't it be because they shut a few dams and may have something to do with the creation of the untold Hydra? I don't have the book, so these are purely my guesses...

 

[BrimStone04]

im confused, i dont know why were talking about water, i thought i knew everything that was suppose to be known about hl and i dont know what were all talking about!!!

 

[Lahire149]

Wouldn't it be because they shut a few dams and may have something to do with the creation of the untold Hydra? I don't have the book, so these are purely my guesses...

they hydra was never created
and i can argue my point from a storyline standpoint, but i don't feel like typing it right now.

 

[Asknoone]

they hydra was never created

Mmm yes it was?

As for the water levels, yes its been discussed several times before, mostly in Rumours and spec. Originally, the ocean was going to be sucked away through a "portal drain", however that was scrapped.

Theres no evidence to indicate exactly whats happened to it, the most logical would be that due to the state of the planet its started to drop.

 

[Reaktor4]

wtf are you lot talking about?

 

[Ennui]

in hl2, the coast levels and all, the water level is greatly decreased (thus the high docks out of water and the beached ships). valve has stated they originally intended to make it a bigger part of the storyline but they didn't in the end. the combine are draining the oceans for some reason.

 

[Reaktor4]

oh. probably just to make more land.
valve really did rush this game didnt they.

 

[$kelet0r]

valve really did rush this game didnt they.

eh.......no
reaktor4 whats wrong tonight - you seem very angry in your posts in several threads

 

[Reaktor4]

it doesnt matter.
anyway, i think they did rush. the game couldve been so much more than it was.

 

[ThrasherX9]

Hmmm... 6 years and they rushed it? I hope not.

 

[ríomhaire]

Another theory is that alot of water was drained away because of the Portal Storms.

 

[DiSTuRbEd]

Hmmm... 6 years and they rushed it? I hope not.

Uh, 3 years were due to the source engine being developed, so you can't really count on that.

 

[Vegeta897]

That's still 3 years of developing a storyline and concepts and ideas, Disturbed. Then the other 3 for developing the game. Most games have 3 or even 2 years of development.

 

[diluted]

Wow, if Valve is "rushing" their games, I sure don't want to see how long it takes when they're being slow.

 

[wilka91]

what are you all talking about? I finished HL2 several times, I read Raising t3h Bar, but I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. what water?

 

[Sulkdodds]

So....you didn't notice that the water levels were, like, really low?

anyway, i think they did rush. the game couldve been so much more than it was.

Not really...the first mainstream game ever to properly integrate a brilliant physics engine into the game and make it a real part of the gameplay - hell, the first really good, totally believable physics in an FPS I've seen. Amazing advances in graphics yet it runs on crappy machines. And that's just the engine...it set a new standard in characters, writing and voice acting. Add to that taking the core HL gameplay, the brilliant level design and frantic action that's the trademark of the series, and putting it into this whole amazing immersive world....

 

[Foebane]

Not really...the first mainstream game ever to properly integrate a brilliant physics engine into the game and make it a real part of the gameplay - hell, the first really good, totally believable physics in an FPS I've seen.

I thought that was Trespasser? And there's a rumour going round that Doom 3's Grabber existed long before Havok's gravity gun. How else could id have trashed the levels for the demonic invasion?

Amazing advances in graphics yet it runs on crappy machines. And that's just the engine...it set a new standard in characters, writing and voice acting.

That's part of the problem right there - Valve spent so much time writing code that covers a wide range of older system specs as well as the latest specs, that many, MANY bugs have been introduced that cause no end of problems. DirectX was introduced to allow programmers to access any varying sound and gfx hardware without worrying if it would work or not, but Valve have managed to tax it a lot, by rushing the DX coding (maybe).

New standard in characters, eh? What about Half-Life 1? Writing? Dull, predictable story, HL1 was better. Voice acting? Again, HL1.

Add to that taking the core HL gameplay, the brilliant level design and frantic action that's the trademark of the series, and putting it into this whole amazing immersive world....

No different to HL1, except for the more realistic aspect, which I find pointless. I mean, why not go to a real Eastern European city and just imagine the Citadel there? Why not simply take a holiday and go to places like that instead of sitting at home, drooling over fake visuals in a computer? Another thing could be, people play games to escape from reality, so why make the world realistic? I hanker for the days of the older games, where graphics were more abstract. I find games TOO realistic these days.

And there is something negative to be said for realistic facial expressions in games, where people start feeling unnerved at seeing these characters who look like real people but who are just pixels and code. I think there was a similar reaction to the Final Fantasy movie...

 

[Sulkdodds]

I thought that was Trespasser?

Tresspasser had weird, unearthly physics. So did every other game with 'realistic physics' - except maybe Far Cry, but that didn't really use them much. In Half-Life 2, I never though 'lolz that wouldn't happen'.

Let me see:

HL1: sets a new standard in immersive environments and interactivity. Now you can push crates! Smash windows! Open and close doors! Objects act with real physics! Revolutionary at the time.

HL2: sets a new standard in immersive environments and interactivity. Now almost every object acts with completely believable physics! Throw crates and use barrels as riot shields! Block doorways with masses of random stuff! Revolutionary. And that's without the manipulator - with that, the environment is your weapon. Tresspasser did this to some extent, sure...but say what you want about HL2, I have not played any other game where I could grab a barrel, running backwards using it as a shield, dropping it as I run round a corner, pulling an explosive crate into position, retreating behind a desk and knocking it over, waiting for the enemies to run to the crate and blow them all up. I have not played any other game where such improvised tactics are possible. You can throw grenades back at your enemies, too.

Of course, if you just run through HL2 blasting, you might not notice all this stuff.

No different to HL1, except for the more realistic aspect, which I find pointless. I mean, why not go to a real Eastern European city and just imagine the Citadel there? Why not simply take a holiday and go to places like that instead of sitting at home, drooling over fake visuals in a computer? Another thing could be, people play games to escape from reality, so why make the world realistic? I hanker for the days of the older games, where graphics were more abstract. I find games TOO realistic these days.

So......what you're saying is that there's no point making realistic games. That the creation of a completely believable, interactive and immersive environment is not a viable achievement. Not to mention that said world is incredibly inventive, interesting, evocative, beautiful and sometimes disturbing. No corridors. No secret bases. We're talking abandoned farms, lighthouses, shit-filled canals, city streets, midnight beaches, Ravenholm. Even the traditional FPS levels - a prison, a giant evil skyscraper - were made really cool.

New standard in characters, eh? What about Half-Life 1? Writing? Dull, predictable story, HL1 was better. Voice acting? Again, HL1.

HL1's characters were sock puppets in comparison. And they were all identikit scientists and barneys - there were no real characters. Hey, if you thought HL2's story was dull I guess that's your opinion...personally, I think HL1's strength was more the way the story was told rather than the story itself. HL2 is brilliant in both respects.

And the voice acting was far better than HL1's. Seriously.

What HL2 did was take everything that was great about HL1 - brilliant level design, sublime combat and scripted events and new enemies/weapons lending a new twist to every encounter - and improve it. Lots.. Massive-scale street battles, team-based sections, proper ally characters, defence bits, an actual objective-ish structure as opposed to simply get to the end of the level. The core gameplay is similiar to HL1 but the structure is completely changed.

I'm sure, given enough time (like maybe ten years :dozey, HL2 could have been even better with more new amazing stuff...but rushed? :x

 

[Reaktor4]

think about all the shit 'that was originally gonna be there, but we decided for some reason to cut it out'
i wonder what the reason was.

 

[Asknoone]

think about all the shit 'that was originally gonna be there, but we decided for some reason to cut it out'
i wonder what the reason was.

Because alot of it wasn't fun to play, didn't work out right and didn't fit in.

 

[clarky003]

I think its as simple as the start to a terraforming process. To make earth more inhabbitable to them, and to take away human resources to try and force them to join.

 

[Asknoone]

and to take away human resources to try and force them to join.

Force them to join? I don't think they need to force anyone to do anything, looking at the state of things

 

[CookieCuttah]

Force them to join? I don't think they need to force anyone to do anything, looking at the state of things

Maybe this was BEFORe the state of things got to this point.

 

[Reaktor4]

Because alot of it wasn't fun to play, didn't work out right and didn't fit in.

youre right, my bad. more stuff about why the water levels are low etc wouldnt have fitted at all.

 

[rocketman44]

maybe the portal sucked away the water.

 

[Beerdude26]

maybe the portal sucked away the water.

That was one of the ideas Valve had, but they didn't use it.

 

[little.rebel]

think about all the shit 'that was originally gonna be there, but we decided for some reason to cut it out'
i wonder what the reason was.

because it would have been too 'horrible' for kids, so they cut out 50% of the good stuff and made a "low violence game, for low violence users".

 

[Cukel]

Sheesh, you people ever heard of removed scenes in Hollywood movies?

 

[Jesus Lincoln]

They were really thirsty

 

[Reaktor4]

and also there should have been many more puzzles, with some being harder than extremely easy