New things Half-Life 2 brings to the table

[aeroripper]

The marketplace is so flooded and riddled with every different kind of game... especially FPSs that have mimicked a lot of things Half-life brought... its hard to create anything new.

It looks like so far they are out to try it again and here's what they got going for them... (not mentioning the HUGE fan base, mods, and whatnot)

PHYSICS

Back in the E3 '03 the Physics they showed were absolutely amazing (hearing reactions from the crowd hehe)... because you really hadn't seen physics like that in a game. What a difference a year makes! Now there are quite a few games with the Havok physics engine and its not really to big of a deal to have it in. What i think HL-2 will do with it on the other hand is take a exisiting technology and move it in a direction that you havn't seen it implemented yet.

A excellent example of this is the manipulator so you can alter objects around you (sounds like fun!)... This also adds a lot of dynamic interactivity to the world that doesn't have scripting to make it fun (ie... push button, siren goes off... etc)

It seems that they are making the enviroment and level design in general more open to physical manipulation which i'm sure will be interesting to see.

GRAPHICS

Oh boy the big one... when it was first shown its graphics were awesome... but now they are pretty good looking but don't have the "wow!" effect with them really. Honestly i really don't think this is going to matter to incredibly much and people put WAY to much emphasis on this (look at Far Cry... beautiful game i admit but i don't have much fun replaying it just for graphics when another "leg of the table" isn't that great... gameplay)

I can still play the original half-life today and have a blast even though i've beaten the game again and again, and seen the scripted sequences before... each time i play it is still fun to whack a scientist in mid-sentence and get a good laugh.

The facial animation system is also a step forward and it seems they have gone great lengths to make believable characters.

A.I

So far the A.I. seems pretty interesting and taking what they have learned designing it from Half-Life 1, hopefully they can make it just as fun. Definitely a primary factor in making the game fun... having enemies that are hard to fight, and seem realistic is a lot of fun. Even playing Half-Life 1 with the military A.I. is still a lot of fun!


GAMEPLAY
Definitely the biggest one... if it isn't fun, why play it? Valve has definitely brought some interesting stuff to this area once again. In combination with the physics, graphics, and A.I., hopefully they are gonna be tied together and implemented into eachother quite a bit.

Although it looks promising, there is a lot more people are expecting nowadays from their games. "Bringing characters to be believable" isn't to uncommon nowadays (although to the level HL2 has hasn't been done yet in a FPS, referencing the facial animation system)


There is such huge anticipation and expectations for this game it might even crush it (Deus Ex 2 anyone... minus the crush part)

So for I think Valve's greatest ally is not revealing much about the game. All they ever showed of HL-1 before its OEM: Day One went out to the vendors (and subsequent leak, and downloaders) were two screenshots in game. And they even won best of show for them!



I think valve has a failsafe because even if the single player isn't that great... they'll still have a multiplayer engine and a few good mods to already start out with.

I really think that this extra year is gonna help them put a real nice polish on the game to make it a worthy sequel. As we know most of the time sequels are worse than the original lets hope this is one of the rare ones where its the opposite

and i really hope we get the manipulator in multiplayer cause that would be something really new to have!

Sorry this is so incredibly long

 

[James Isaac]

That's a hard decision - i think all of those are vital to half life 2, or for that matter any game coming out nowadays.

But i went with level design, because that's what really makes the game fun, and effects the gameplay a lot. Although, Half Life 2 wouldn't be such a good game if any of the elements you mentioned were missing.

 

[SnowBall]

I voted for AI because its something that usually gets overlooked in games.

 

[SubKamran]

I voted physics because, yes, physics has been implemented in newer games BUT none of them use it to their advantage. Meaning it's just there to be eye candy. Half-Life 2 on the other hand will be heavily dependant on physics, Valve has said that many of the puzzles will incorporate physics. Plus the manipulator is the most original weapon ever.

 

[Shuzer]

I voted physics because, yes, physics has been implemented in newer games BUT none of them use it to their advantage. Meaning it's just there to be eye candy. Half-Life 2 on the other hand will be heavily dependant on physics, Valve has said that many of the puzzles will incorporate physics. Plus the manipulator is the most original weapon ever.

FarCry has some physics traps setup to use to your advantage.. nothing as cool as a Manipulator though

 

[Gorgon]

I voted for AI. The latest vids prove that HL2 AI is not scripted.

 

[brink's]

Their all so equal I can't choose.

 

[aeroripper]

I chose A.I. because that is what makes it fun to play and keeping a challenge. A lot of games just come out with crappy A.I. (although FarCry's was pretty good, and HARD)

Although i think you need all 4 to make it great. It seems as time goes on and games get more and more advanced there is more and more content you have to add.

I think in time these games are going to require the resources of a typical movie crew (ie... like the ones at pixar for monsters inc. etc)

 

[PvtRyan]

Well... all have been done before (but HL2 excels in them all) but HL2's facial and emotional stuff have never been done before. And hopefully HL2 will show the industry that this stuff is important in FPS games like they showed that telling a good story is important in FPS games with HL1.

 

[Varsity]

The complete implementation of phyiscs will have the greatest effect on the gaming world.

 

[o3jox]

I think the best thing hl2 will bring to the table will be its SDK maybe. Just imagine all the new mods that will be coming out and the new kind of gameplay modes. If the rumors are true about the 200 something players this could be something really to watch for. Of course all the other options put into the game aswell.

 

[GorgeousOrifice]

STRIIIIIIIDER!!!

A 80-foot-tall spider is kinda new and unique, I think. The fact that it obeys physical laws is really a revolutionary idea. The Manipulator is going to be one of the most-copied things in any FPS ever.

I'm not saying the graphics, AI, etc. aren't going to be great, or that the level design won't be Valve's usual top-shelf work, but the complete physics integration will do the most for making the world truly believable.

 

[NeoGlyphix]

I vote physics, something that is really going to change the way we all perceive games from now on, and I am damn glad about that.

Edit: Yes, I know Source™ isn't the first engine with physics, but the way HL2 is going to use them is nothing short of amazing, atleast in the multiplayer realm :E

 

[guchi]

level design... theres nothing like the feeling of being sucked in to a game

 

[Stigmata]

I'd have to say AI for sure. We all know that each of those elements are integral to the game itself (would HL2 get as much recognition with sprite-based graphics, or zero physics, or abysmal level design?), AI would have to be the most important IMO. The way I see it, no matter how pretty the game is, no matter how interactive or constructed the game world is, without good AI it's just a shooting range with moving targets. When I play a game, I want the enemies to respond realistically every time, and take appropriate actions towards anything that I, or another NPC, does in the game. I want them to take cover, I want them to use realistic tactics if required (zombies won't use SWAT tactics, for example ), and I want them to immerse me in the game and create a believable enemy or friendly presence. If nothing else, I want a foe worthy enough to create a gameplay challenge.

 

[DevilsFear]

Half-Life 2... Hmm... Physics

 

[Sedako]

It'll all be great, but one huge thing will set HL2 apart from all other fps games is the amazing physics.

What's with the new avatar shuzer, it reminds me of The Ring.

 

[crabcakes66]

Well I voted AI. But I think the most important thing HL2 brings to the table is tying all of those things together. Any game can do 1 or 2....or for excellent games even 3.


HL2 will do all 4 and they will be seamlessly integrated.

 

[Kazuki_Fuse]

's impossible to choose one thing...If I was forced to, I'd say A.I. The only one's you could get rid of and still have a good game i think would be good graphics and physics. ie fallout series, bad graphics no physics, good levels half decent AI awseome game.

 

[lans]

Half-life's (original) selling factor was that it combined everything which a FPS should have well. This included:

Immersive gameplay

A.I.

Story/characters

Fun play mechanics

Good sound effects

True, valve was never recognised for the use of graphics in their game, but these other factors alone made what HL is today. Hopefully HL2 will excel with all that and today's graphic tech to make HL2 the second big step in the changing of the FPS genre, like it's predecessor.

 

[StevenlAFl]

PHysics, definately.. out of those there. Otherwise, storyline and gameplay.

 

[^Thomas^]

Physics
A.I

!

 

[lans]

I surely hope valve suprises us with the A.I.

So far we have seen little to none of anything it has yet to offer. They cover, shoot and toss nades/ and dodge them - and that's what any A.I. would do in a modern FPS game. Nothing revolutionary we've seen yet - but if Far cry's A.I. is comparable to the A.I of a 6 year old game like Half-life, we've yet to sepculate what valve comes up for the next generation sequel.

 

[Rupertvdb]

All about the AI in my book, getting a game where the enemy and people react like real life and behave like real people would make the game soo fun.

 

[ailevation]

:cheers: I am really interested in the gameplay, what you can do with the physics and such.

 

[Kangy]

I'm really interested in the way they can use all these elements to tell me a story.

 

[epoch-]

It's a close tie between physics and level design for me...

I've always wanted physics like they employ in half life 2. ALWAYS. Ever since 3d games were around I've always wanted big, explorable environments, with stuff I can blow up, toss at people, and interact with. Static trash cans never quite cut it for me...

On the other hand... I've always wanted to be able to design levels that easily toss in all the physics without having to do massive ammounts of scripting. I always wanted to make a level made of plywood that you can jack up and collapse and block off passage ways and stuff. The things you can do for levels in HL2 looks pretty awesome...

So I'm torn... But I voted physics just because it was first on the list.

 

[aeroripper]

I still stick with A.I.

This is a very fun aspect of the game. I just got out of a Half-Life single player game and its fun to have a barney tag along and help you out, especially early in the game when you only have a crowbar and gives you a sense of comradary (sp)... the A.I. was revolutionary for its time but its still very simple and the barnies got stuck... especially when you tried to get two of them ... maybe they would explode if they saw their clone in some sort of a paradox like in back to the future 2

cool

I really hope the A.I. has evolved and they will be a lot more human and be more helpful

 

[stanr]

You're going to have to change the meaning of Level Design if you're going to get my vote.

Level design is *NOT* art direction, which is what you wanted to have there on the list under "pretty."

Level design = things for you to do in a game + things that happen to you in a game

Level design is the hardest part to get right and the thing that HL1 had in spades.

vALVE mantras including "something cool has to happen to a player every 5 minutes" and "the game should reward the player for exploration" are all parts of level design. "All objects should be interactive" is part of level design. I vote for level design. HL2 is ALL level design.

Example of a game that had bad level design: Halo. Great A.I., lots of eye candy, plot line on par with HL1's, but man, what that game ever boring.
Boring gray temples, 0 interactivity with anything in the environment, very few interesting things happening throughout the game. That's bad level design for you.

Stan R.

 

[Sandler]

I won't vote because each category is important so it's hard to choose.

 

[Kschreck]

Quite honestly, you really can't choose just one. You need all the categories to make a good game. For example you could have the best graphics, but very poor level design, and the game would be automatically ruined.

 

[Sandler]

Quite honestly, you really can't choose just one. You need all the categories to make a good game. For example you could have the best graphics, but very poor level design, and the game would be automatically ruined.

That's what i said in my post. Well i didn't say in the exact words but that's what i was thinking

 

[aeroripper]

I suppose i could have worded it better but i meant which of the 3 is most important kindof

not really

 

[tCh]

I wont choose until i have played the game

 

[Maui]

I chose AI because that's what I'm preparing to study in college

BTW, first post, hi!

 

[Yuri]

I can't vote in this evil poll! It's like choosing a friend out of four to live, while the others will die! NOOOOO!

Welcome, Maui, love the icon. Jhonnen Vasquez is the man.

 

[Maui]

Gir was probably one of the best cartoon characters evar.

I agree with the general feel of most people who voted here that they're all important, but I personally derive a pleasure from seeing something that is artificial act as if it were alive. I'm not quite sure why, but if you plunk down an ant in a crappy little artificial plane and let me move boxes around and chase it, I can be amused for hours