Revisiting Steam and HalfLife 2

[ThunderDawg]

From a review I wrote on LittleBlackDog:

Back in the day, Steam created this monstrosity of a system that essentially pissed off all their customers, many of whom nevertheless continued to play the game, HalfLife 2. Even at that time its harshest critics still gave props for a well written storyline, engaging gunplay, and intriguing puzzles to solve. There are parts I still hate, but the major problems I originally had have somehow subsided. God, I can't believe it.

But those were the days of DSL, pathetic by today's standards, but exponentially faster than dialup of just a year earlier, for me. Of course, today's fatter broadband connections have eliminated those GeeDee updates that took hours to complete at least once a week. And nowadays, you can always decide to only download an update now and start using it next time.

It was the first game I remember that required a player to start Steam, then start the game, then load or start a new game. Three long one minute waits. An Eternity in CyberSpace. This unconsionable delay remains to this day, but is somehow not as bad as it used to be, because of course you learn to do other things during each load, and can be minimized.

AnyHooo, a little pre-history: When I bought HalfLife 2 in early 2005, I was so disgusted with Steam I never finished the game. I got all the way to Ravenholm. It was crashy buggy and I should have run it in a window, not full screen, given the hardware I had at the time. Even with a 256 MB video card today, I still won't run it full screen on a 20" monitor. And yet, it still crashes on occasion. Luckily, I have always been an avid saver, since 1980. But back then it was spending ten or more hours a week downloading updates, during which nothing else could be done. Yeah. WTF. Right?

But, it was a challenge that I never finished. Challenges are what I crave and what I pay for. I have never lost a challenge.

So earlier this year, I decided to revisit Steam and HalfLife 2, and finish my ONE unfinished FPS challenge. Turns out, you can download all Steam software you own, anywhere you want. No Effing around with one machine per license. Wherever you are, you can play.

I downloaded it in 8 minutes, and ultimately finished HalfLife 2 in about forty hours over 2 weeks, and can now play a no-frills speed game in god mode in about 7 hours. Not that I am a cheater, but I'm not innit for gathering ammo by stepping over casualties or scrounging for healthkits. The available cheat codes allow you to ignore economics, which is pretty much what I want to escape right now.


The other thing is, the game comes with a LOT of freebies. I have gotten more mileage out of one HL2 license than, perhaps, all the other games I have ever played, combined. Is that even possible? There is a whole cottage industry of mods and maps now that the game has matured. I have played dozens of the highest rated mods and maps as recommended at Planet Phillip and also enjoyed many of the winners of the SnarkPit Competition for HL2. Here are a few that I highly recommend:

• * Das Roboss
  * Rock 24
  * Powerstation 17
  * City 7: Toronto Conflict V1 Gordon Freeman
  * Zombie Panic: Source
  * Insurgency
  * Age of Chivalry
  * Synergy
  * Riot Act
  * Offshore

Das RoBoss is a mod where you steal a gigantic robot. It might take a couple hours, but you can do it in under one hour with practice. Rock 24 is an escape from an island prison with a few more maps and a great story but poor voice actors who oddly enough add more realism than expected, if you have ever had annoying co-workers. PowerStation 17 is a quick map that can be done in ten minutes when you need to do a lot of fragging in short order. City 7: Toronto Conflict is a 20-map mod that can take a few days and was submitted for a Master's thesis at George Brown College.

They are engaging alternate or complementary scenarios. I can't believe how plentiful they are. The only ones I don't finish now are are the really bad, pointless ones, like A Dog Was Hit In The Head With An Axe. But even still, there are times when you're in a Bad Mod Mood.


And, they are all fun to explore.

So I've probably spent 400 hours playing all that since May.
[adding machine]chikka-chikka boom boom[/adding machine]
M'Kayy, Ten Fulltime weeks in the last eight months...

It keeps Sucking Me in.

 

[jet_porkins]

HL2 in 40 hours?

I've had my own quarrels with steam in the past, especially with Half Life 2. Seemed like too much red tape to go through to start up a game. Even though I don't play PC games much anymore, I don't think it's so bad now.

 

[giant384]

how on earth can you take 40 hours in hl2??

even with taking your time to look at all the little details valve adds wouldnt take you 40 hrs to complete, unless hes talking about ep1 and ep2 as well.

i agree that steam did have its problems in the past and people complained and complained because it was a change they didnt want, but look how far steam has come since then. it is a godsend to pc gaming.

 

[Dr.Freeman]

how on earth can you take 40 hours in hl2??

even with taking your time to look at all the little details valve adds wouldnt take you 40 hrs to complete, unless hes talking about ep1 and ep2 as well.

i agree that steam did have its problems in the past and people complained and complained because it was a change they didnt want, but look how far steam has come since then. it is a godsend to pc gaming.

I agree with that.