Scripted sequence

[TriggerHappy]

You know, in that Tunnels video, if I was playing I probably would have shot that Combine who says "Hold it there!" and not seen the impaling sequence (if I killed the soldier fast enough, that is)! How are you supposed to know you aren't supposed to shoot him?

 

[d8cam]

Thats what I was wondering. You probably can shoot him but when you see the thing come up, you want to sit back and watch the show. I think its possible to kill him before he gets killed by the thing.

 

[Chris D]

Well in HL1 what would have happened is you'd shoot him, but he wouldn't die until he'd acted out his script.

In HL2, if it's more reliant on AI than anything then I'd say that the hydra would still appear, Alyx will still say "Oh... no!", but the hydra would go after Gordon and her instead and forget about the combine.
Or despite him being dead on the floor, the hydra might stab into him anyway, pick him up and drag him down dead.

 

[The Duke]

I don't think you can kill him until his script is acted out, but none of us really know.

 

[mannyfresh027]

if you kill him first then the hydra just goes after you like the guy wasnt even there

 

[Chris D]

The way it'll work is - there are no scripted sequences... to counter-act that, obviously there's still going to be parts of the game that need to happen in a certain way - eg. Alyx talking to you.

Rather than things being scripted so that the whole thing is acted out word for word - they are instead just triggered off.

Alyx sees you > she talks > Alyx finishes talking > Combine soldier starts to climb down.

Now here you can interrupt.

1) Shoot him and kill him > Hydra appears attacks you and Alyxx
2) Let him come down the ladder > Hydra kills him > Hydra attacks you and Alyx
3) Kill the hydra quickly > Soldier attacks > kill soldier


If it was scripted like HL 1 it'd be very linear and there'd be no options.

 

[Flyingdebris]

I don't know, i think that there may be equences that are specifically scripted and not simply AI however I don't think that the game will heavily rely on them

 

[The Duke]

Originally posted by Chris_D
The way it'll work is - there are no scripted sequences... to counter-act that, obviously there's still going to be parts of the game that need to happen in a certain way - eg. Alyx talking to you.

Do you know that for a fact, or are you just making it up as you go along?

 

[d8cam]

Well the barnacles (things that hung from ceiling) would pick guys up and you could kill the barnacle or the guy before either got eaten/ate the guy.

 

[Zoltar]

Maybe if you try to shoot the soldier your gun jams, or you somehow miss!

 

[Typhon]

Originally posted by Zoltar
Maybe if you try to shoot the soldier your gun jams, or you somehow miss!

That's just hokey. Gabe has said that there "are no scripted sequences like in half-life 1" I think its funny that we're beginning to see the beginning of games that are so free-form that players can't really grasp it...

What Chris_D said is essentially as I understand it and sounds similar to what Gabe was describing in several interviews.

 

[Mac]

no, i think he still said there's some scripting, just that its few and far between compared to hl1.

 

[crummy]

Originally posted by Mac
no, i think he still said there's some scripting, just that its few and far between compared to hl1.

yes, that sounds about right to me.

 

[mannyfresh027]

there still are scripted sequences, just more interactive and there are many less

this instance looks like its based mostly on ai, meaning you can kill the combine, but then the hydra focuses on you

 

[PriNcE oF SpAcE]

actually what they're working toward is having scripted sequences that you can still interact with(like Chris said)

most likely there will be a few places were it is fully scripted though...

*edit* manny beat me to it...

 

[Impute]

Originally posted by Typhon
That's just hokey. Gabe has said that there "are no scripted sequences like in half-life 1"

I though he said you would not be able to tell the diffrence from AI and scripted sequences. And if you go that from the movie, then that was about how the AI advanced with you to attack the combine from behind.

 

[Mac]

yah, impute is right about what gabe said. I forget where he said that though.

 

[TriggerHappy]

On the same line of thought, I like it in games where there are conversations you can overhear, which most modern FPS's seem to have. Unfortunately, there seems to be an unavoidable problem that sometimes you will accidently interrupt the conversation by attacking or maybe miss it altogether if you've got a really quick trigger finger. Of course you can just reload your game, but it can be mildly annoying when you're not sure if you can just snipe anyone you see without missing some story.

 

[Typhon]

This bring up an interesting problem that future games are going to have. I don't think HL2 is at this point, but image a game where the environment is so real and dynamic that people are having conversations all around you. Our first impulse would be "oh no, I'm missing vital information!" But isn't that the point of a free-form game? One of the side-effects of multiple endings is that you only experience one of them. And I always felt reloading destroyed the immersion effect that Valve works so hard to create.

 

[TriggerHappy]

Originally posted by Typhon
Our first impulse would be "oh no, I'm missing vital information!"

Lol, that's pretty funny! I know sometimes I fall victim to wanting to find every last secret, story bit, etc. in a game when I should probably just be relaxing and enjoying it. That brings me to another point, sorry I'm getting a little off-topic, but sometimes I feel like games function less as fun diversions and more as fake work, giving us a sense of accomplishment for unlocking all the secret characters or getting to level 99 when all we've really done is sit in front of a screen for hours on end. Games like that tend to have less replay value too, since after you've finished your "work," you don't exactly want to start from the beginning and lose all your progress!

 

[Peks]

it seemed the hydra went after the combine RIGHT after he said hold it there. maybe its sound based again like the plant things in the first hl

 

[Chris D]

Hmm if we look back at Kleiners lab...

Obviously the conversations there are scripted as they are an essential part of the game. But Gordon then goes over to the computer monitor and knocks it off and you interrupt Kleiner which then triggers him to say "Ooh do be careful!".

Now this obviously isn't fully scripted. Because if it was exactly the same scene in the HL1 engine Kleiner would have to finish what he was saying regardless. You could fire rockets at Kleiner's console and he'd still be saying "...clamped the manifold perameters to CY base and LG oribifold..."

Instead you interacted with the script. Now I'm betting you could do a number of other things to provoke a similar or different reaction, or you could just be quiet, admire Alyx a little closer by picking up that MP7 hidden under the table and zooming in on the scope or whatever else floats your boat.

That's what Gabe means by the sequences being more interactive. That's what I meant earlier when I said it's not really scripted, it's all about triggers.

 

[Prince of China]

Maybe the Hydra killed the Combine soldier 'cause it was to close, so if Gordon where to try and pass, it would of killed him. So, it's kind of like those Big Green Tentacles in the original Half-Life.

 

[Chris D]

So it'd be operating purely on its own AI... that's possible I guess.

 

[MadGuy]

I was wondering, in Trapdown movie, Gordon closes the door with a table, and then the bad guy shoots through the window. but he then shoots the wall, for no reason, like the player was behind the washing machine(?). then the player looks at there and goes there for cover...isnt that weird? look like it was scripted, but the player was too late to go there???

 

[Chris D]

It wasn't scripted. The combine soldier followed you towards the building and you block the door. He can't get in but back up is called and either he or a buddy actually THINK to shoot through the window while one of them tries to kick the door open. It isn't scripted. It's their artificial minds thinking "target in there > cant go to him > can see him through window > shoot window".

As for the accuracy of his shots - meh I don't know. But it wasn't scripted.

 

[TriggerHappy]

Probably wishful thinking, but maybe the Combine soldier was shooting in that area to keep Gordon from leaving the room? I'd have to examine the video a little closer but maybe he was trying to pin Gordon down while his buddy came to knock the door down.

 

[The Duke]

Originally posted by Chris_D
Hmm if we look back at Kleiners lab...

Obviously the conversations there are scripted as they are an essential part of the game. But Gordon then goes over to the computer monitor and knocks it off and you interrupt Kleiner which then triggers him to say "Ooh do be careful!".

Now this obviously isn't fully scripted. Because if it was exactly the same scene in the HL1 engine Kleiner would have to finish what he was saying regardless. You could fire rockets at Kleiner's console and he'd still be saying "...clamped the manifold perameters to CY base and LG oribifold..."

Instead you interacted with the script. Now I'm betting you could do a number of other things to provoke a similar or different reaction, or you could just be quiet, admire Alyx a little closer by picking up that MP7 hidden under the table and zooming in on the scope or whatever else floats your boat.

That's what Gabe means by the sequences being more interactive. That's what I meant earlier when I said it's not really scripted, it's all about triggers.

That's actually an interesting point, but I'm still pretty sure it's scripted.

Kleiner was just scripted to say "Ooh, be careful." When Gordon knocked over the computer. If he had done it earlier, or later that same thing would have happened.

Most likely the combine guy will be invicible, notice the specific animation and such.

 

[Anwar]

what is wrong with having things scripted...

1) it helps the story flow
2) it looks very cool
3) they only way they can time events to happen when you are watching the screen is to script it

 

[Mac84]

i dunno some people think scripting is bad for some reason. but it can be necessary to tell a story, otherwise.. well itd be pretty hard to tell a story without at least SOME scripted sequences

 

[The Duke]

Originally posted by Anwar
what is wrong with having things scripted...

1) it helps the story flow
2) it looks very cool
3) they only way they can time events to happen when you are watching the screen is to script it

The main reason is that it hurts replay value.

 

[Mac84]

not if the scripted sequences are interactive (ie. hl2)

 

[The Duke]

Originally posted by Mac84
not if the scripted sequences are interactive (ie. hl2)

Well, that's yet to be seen. We can hope though.

 

[Prince of China]

What if you were to go to the Combine and try to take that stab for him? And while you were being tossed around, maybe the Combine could kill Alyx meaning that this isn't really a scripted sequence(my guess).

 

[Ry102]

Im sure that scince theres no cut scenes that the scripted sequences will be interactive. Plus look at the kleiner video.

 

[Anwar]

Originally posted by The Duke
The main reason is that it hurts replay value.

I dont see how scripted events hurt replay at all.

They probably help it. Just like when you watch a good movie for the second time you notice the little details that you missed the first time.

Certain events must exist for a story to exist... otherwise you are shooting at AI for no reason at all.

Script is a way for the author to tell his story.

 

[Korgoth]

well without scripted sequences it would be extremely hard to push the story along, thus the story would probably suck and you wouldn't want to play it again anyway.

 

[dawdler]

Not having scripts is like trying to make a movie without a camera. You can do it, but no one would see it

Btw, triggers and scripts are the same thing. They are just the scripts controlling the script

 

[coolUK007]

I think the whole game should be scripted from beggining to end. That way is the best fun for everyone.

Only kidding./

 

[MadGuy]

It would be like watching a movie through one of the characters eyes:afro: