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Geek Culture / Valve and that MORONIC steam system

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Mentor
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Posted: 23rd Nov 2004 03:05 Edited at: 23rd Nov 2004 03:32
just a few points before this thread goes off track.

a..this is actualy a Steam thread, not a Halflife2 thread

b..DoomIII, Farcry, Unreal II come close in terms of the engine, graphics and attempts at good plot (although in the case of Unreal II I think they should have finished the game properly instead of getting a junior school to make the last 6 or so levels )

c..imo the use of physics engines in games is a needless complication that avoids the hard work of coding a level to run fast and still look good, you could hard code the sequences for the puzzles and fudge the rest for flying barrels etc, with not a physics calculation in sight and you would get a serious speed increase, coders just use physics systems because they are easier than doing hardcoded sequences and logic to emulate the same thing.

Quote: "As for other restrictions, level designers have to limit what you are allowed to do otherwise you could avoid any puzzles in the level.
"


imo, with good level design the player can roam freely(ish) and still have to go through the puzzles, Farcry allowed you to dodge camps, outposts and sentries, QuakeII allowed you to roam about anywhere on the current level, even Doom allowed you room to explore, level design, despite all the modern tools we have, has not improved that much, and in many cases has taken a retrograde step, games like DoomIII are seriously linear because they can`t allow the player to wander far off track due to the serious limitations placed on the game by the bot system, lighting, bumpmapping, volumetric fog, lights etc etc

now to go comletely off track...................

@Greenlig: maybe you just havent played as many games as me?, don`t hate me just because I dare to say your favourite game could be MUCH better, there is a tendency in the industry to repeat after every decade, not much incentive to advance that fast, the 15yr old who plays DoomIII today, will be 25 and married with no time for games, by the time that Doom IV comes out, by the time his kids are old enough to play Doom V or VI, they wouldn`t know if they where playing what could be the exact same game dad plaed as a lad.

theres no REAL incentive for the makers to innovate, the previous players 15 year olds can be told that Doom IV is a "major new development in 3d gameing with advanced AI, per pixel lighting and bumpmapping" since they didn`t play Doom IV at its release (unless dad was an early starter ), they won`t know from Bovril that the game they are playing xx years on is the same game dad played as a lad with raytraced GFX and surround sound 26.34 added to hide the fact that the game engine hasn`t been altered one byte, Don`t get me wrong, Unreal2 was fairly good to play, BUT it wasn`t an advance on older games Gameplay wise, in fact compared to the seminal Doom on Nightmare it was pretty easy, I walked most of the car levels and just went back now and again when I needed the car to get round something or to save me spending too much time retraceing my steps.

all in all you expect some advances, and some of the ommisions where noticable, the water thing that speared a combine trooper (from the screen shots and the playtesting reports) was missing (or I missed it), hiding in a room was futile since they just "know" where you are and come after you, the physics was incomplete (I found a few ways that should have solved problems except that the objects didn`t interact with the target objects), and trying to use other tactics (piling boxes to climb over railings) found invisible collision plains above the fence etc.

I like the game, I like most fps games, but they can be done much better, at the moment they are not improving as far as gameplay is concerned, physics is a gimmick that saves the coder work, it doesn`t enhance the gameplay if exploding barrels fly through the air allowing for air resistance and collison with other barrels before killing the hidden troopers, or if they slide across the floor before killing the hidden troopers as in the original Doom, I would rather see more effort spent on gameplay, cos at the moment the gameplay is basicaly what it was two decades ago imo (with slight and badly needed improvements in the AI department excepted)

the basic problem for gamemakers is (I suppose) that you can put figures on the amount of polygons rendered, you can quantify the accuracy of the physics engine, you can quote the man hours spent on level design and gfx, you can name the band that wrote the intro music, you can mention the intro sequence took three months to make on a commercial renderfarm, what you can`t do is quote the gameplay co-efficient, worse...nobody has an editor that adds fun zones to the map, even the "wow!" factor is largly beyond their control, they don`t even have a parser that spots boring sections, the basic problem is .... it takes a LOT of hard work and time to make a realy good game, more time and effort than is possible if you want to turn a profit, and thats the rub, this years player will be off and married by the time "MegaPilchard 2" comes out, the kid playing it will have probably played "Megapilchard" on back release, as long as MP2 looks different from the original, theres no need to innovate, tack on a few new features if you like, but the people playing this release will be happy with something different, it doesn`t NEED to be better, only old sods like me will notice that things don`t get any better, just change, last years scripted physics puzzles are this years physics engine puzzles, they still do the same thing.

Mentor.

PS: I STILL think Steam is the worst thing to happen to games since LensLock (and I hope it goes the same way)

PC1: P4 3ghz, 1gig mem, 3x160gig hd`s, Radeon 9800pro w cooler (3rd gfx card), 6 way speakers.
PC2: AMD 2ghz, 512mb ram, FX5200 ultra, 16 bit SB.
Mini ATX cases suck.
Peter H
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Posted: 23rd Nov 2004 04:04
Quote: "Realistic physics in games is the future.
"

..BTW i found some of the physics in HL2 unrealistic...for example i'd shoot a pallet with my pistol and it went flying...???

pallets don't get blasted around from a tiny pistol in real life

"We make the worst games in the universe."

OSX Using Happy Dude
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Posted: 23rd Nov 2004 04:33
Personally, I dont see Steam lasting much further than HL3 - assuming they do get around to it, and thats assuming it doesn't take 5 years.

Walk softly... and carry a big gun...
Shadow Robert
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Posted: 23rd Nov 2004 06:10
Quote: "Personally, I dont see Steam lasting much further than HL3 - assuming they do get around to it, and thats assuming it doesn't take 5 years."


We can expect Half-Life 3 around next Christmas, it's an add-on to the story not a new engine.

Steam, will live on for some time. While Valve get around 1,000 complaints a day over it; there are over 250,000 people on the service at any given time of the day. Ratio-wise that would constitute as a Steam is a relatively stable and successful product.
While Valve cannot deny it need some overhauling again, Steam today is alot more stable than when it was first implimented.

Alright so it's not perfect, however while there is a way to test a few thousand connections in-house; there is no way to test without releasing public versions the sheer load it will have in a real-life situation. Remember the Steam servers not only provide, authenticity, purchase, download, but also updates, in-game content, and a messenger.

Quote: "I like the game, I like most fps games, but they can be done much better, at the moment they are not improving as far as gameplay is concerned, physics is a gimmick that saves the coder work, it doesn`t enhance the gameplay if exploding barrels fly through the air allowing for air resistance and collison with other barrels before killing the hidden troopers, or if they slide across the floor before killing the hidden troopers as in the original Doom, I would rather see more effort spent on gameplay, cos at the moment the gameplay is basicaly what it was two decades ago imo (with slight and badly needed improvements in the AI department excepted"


I totally agree with this.. FPS are one of the most popular genres in the Western Culture, and they've barely improved since they first appeared. Something that tweeked me about Half-Life 2 was, it it's levels are obviously well developed with alot of thought going into them, and whats happened? They've totally overlooked giving the players a challenge past more people to defend against.

I read in one of the reviews, that Half-Life 2 offers you the ability to go in guns blazing, or sneak past people and such. Can't say I really noticed any part of the game like that; Enemies were generally static rather than patroling, and worked classically FPS.
If you moved behind them they'd instantly know you were there.


OSX Using Happy Dude
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Posted: 23rd Nov 2004 06:19 Edited at: 23rd Nov 2004 06:21
Quote: "Half-Life 2 offers you the ability to go in guns blazing, or sneak past people and such"

Indeed - and I didn't see the NPC's fashioning weapons out of whatever layed around - all they did was pick up any weapons that were around...

Quote: "We can expect Half-Life 3 around next Christmas"

Where did you get that from ?

Walk softly... and carry a big gun...
Eric T
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Posted: 23rd Nov 2004 06:27
We should see Half-Life 3 alot quicker this time around, for they already said in some interview that it was going to still be based on the source engine. Not sure about "Next Christmas", thats pushing it a bit, but i'd say summer 2006.

In the mean time, we should see a "Story Expansion" sometime in the next few months for HL2.

Major Payn
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Posted: 23rd Nov 2004 06:35
I think it was very idiotic to force a piece of spyware on you like that, but after the first hour of installation, I have had no problem with it, and it is a pretty good system for looking up servers, plus I am sure it will make mods alot easier to find and download.

Guns arnt the problem, people are the problem, shoot all the people and guns arnt a problem anymore.
Ilya
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Posted: 23rd Nov 2004 06:40
Yes, but I prefer normal Half-life.

Quote: "I've seen the word programming and I'm not sure what it means. Anybody please explain?"


Quote: "We shouldn't sacrifice the truth to preserve "balance"."
Redmotion
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Posted: 23rd Nov 2004 06:41
Yeah, but since when did anyone take more than 200 bullets before getting gunned down in a fire fight. This isn't supposed to be REAL. Noone can take on the might of 5000 soldiers, an entire state and endless traps and peril and survive! What do you think the SAVE GAME feature is for! When did you last recieve the opportunity for a SAVE LIFE in the real world?!!!

It's not real! It's a game! Here you lot are bleating on about physics! There are no other game engines at the moment with this sort of extensive physics! Items float and sink depending on their material. Yeah a pistol into a crate might not move in real life but it's a laugh for crying out loud! Try picking up the crates with crane and drop it on the soldiers heads! (Except for maybe the physics wrappers in DBPRo - someone point me to a genuine DBPro game with working physics that forms a fundamental part of the gameplay please!)

And don't forget about playability vs performance vs everyone in the world with slightly different machines/processors/graphics cards. If it looked like Doom3 (extensive specular maps) it wouldnt run on anyones computer. If the AI was much more complicated - you die evey five seconds - whipped again and again. Their is delicate balance between combating true intelligence and no-intelligence. Play on HARD mode if you want more of challenge!

And lastly - and I may offend a few forum members here - why if HL2 sucks so much - in all departments...it seems , is there such a good reception to someone posting their lastest unfinished pile of dogs-doo-doos, with wonky stolen texture maps, no lighting, dreadful handling, and no game play, and a character that looks like a couple of boxes moonwalking!!???? (not forgetting the six patches required to make the collision work!)



PROJECTS:
Scorched Real Estate - beta release scheduled for october
Ilya
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Posted: 23rd Nov 2004 06:43
We should make fun physics instead of real physics.
(Everything breaks everything, things fly at 100mph)
(Everything very light and flying off when you bump into it)

Quote: "I've seen the word programming and I'm not sure what it means. Anybody please explain?"


Quote: "We shouldn't sacrifice the truth to preserve "balance"."
Ian T
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Posted: 23rd Nov 2004 07:16
Quote: "why if HL2 sucks so much - in all departments...it seems , is there such a good reception to someone posting their lastest unfinished pile of dogs-doo-doos, with wonky stolen texture maps, no lighting, dreadful handling, and no game play, and a character that looks like a couple of boxes moonwalking!!???? (not forgetting the six patches required to make the collision work!)"


Give the developers of latter program a few millions dollars equal to Valve's budget. Then compare .

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Rob K
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Posted: 23rd Nov 2004 07:28 Edited at: 23rd Nov 2004 07:31
Quote: "last years scripted physics puzzles are this years physics engine puzzles, they still do the same thing."


The idea that a physics engine saves the coder work is a complete myth. They still have to plan everything out from the level designer's point of view, it just allows them to be far more flexible without being constrained by game engine limitations.
There is no way that the buoyancy puzzle, Ravenholm, the vehicle sections or the docks would have been possible using scripted sequences (I use Hammer, I know what it can and cannot do).

As you pointed out, this is a Steam thread, so back on topic -
Steam has a number of advantages from my perspective - easier to buy games, easier updating of games, easier access to online multiplayer, I get informed about Valve's new products, I can play games on more than one PC. From the publisher's perspective - they get a larger percentage of the profits, and they can inform users about new titles.

This is the theory at least, maybe the reality does not yet bear that out fully (although Steam works perfectly here) - but why do you dislike the concept of Steam?

Quote: "why if HL2 sucks so much - in all departments...it seems , is there such a good reception to someone posting their lastest unfinished pile of dogs-doo-doos, with wonky stolen texture maps, no lighting, dreadful handling, and no game play, and a character that looks like a couple of boxes moonwalking!!???? (not forgetting the six patches required to make the collision work!)"


It seems that most of us follow the policy of "can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." The reason being that often the programmers are young (12-16) and so debunking their first effort with the criticism levelled at major developers would be rather harsh.


BlueGUI:Windows UI Plugin - All the power of the windows interface in your DBPro games.
Shadow Robert
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Posted: 23rd Nov 2004 08:21
Quote: "There is no way that the buoyancy puzzle, Ravenholm, the vehicle sections or the docks would have been possible using scripted sequences (I use Hammer, I know what it can and cannot do)."


Wow, you use hammer.. instantly you must have immense skill and professionalism in using it.
Sorry, but please. The SDK is there to add things like vehicles, HL Rally is a prime example. As for the Ravenholm 'puzzles' and Docks.
While it would be difficult to do it in Half-Life using Hammer, it wouldn't be impossible; using the new Scripting language which is capable of interlinking scripts.. well sorry but it would be no harder creating them in pure script as it would to do them in DBP.

Quote: "It's not real! It's a game! Here you lot are bleating on about physics! There are no other game engines at the moment with this sort of extensive physics! "


Valve made the game to emulate the REAL universe, when your going for realism, expect critque to that end!
As for extensive physics systems.. Sorry but Black&White, Unreal2, and Doom3 have extensive physic systems.

Doom3 infact doesn't have the excuse that HL2 has with using a PROFESSIONAL PHYSICS ENGINE.

Sorry, but programming wise, the HL2 physics are as close to Havok2 in plug'n'play mode as you can get. They tried to beat Doom3 in realism and imo, they've failed!
The ironic thing is, Doom3 isn't designed for realism; but to provide enough of a realistic environment to make it believable enough to make you need a change of underwear after an hour of play.

The reason so many Armchair gamers are up in arms about the physics in Half-Life 2 is quite simply.. Unreal Tournament has better physics, and for UT it IS a byproduct of the engine thier using; it wasn't thought about, it wasn't really used, if it wasn't already part of the engine it would not've been put in.

How can you expect gamers to take something like HL2 seriously, when some of the features to provide the realism and gameplay promised are just huge areas of let down?


Ian T
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Posted: 23rd Nov 2004 09:20 Edited at: 23rd Nov 2004 09:21
Quote: "using the new Scripting language which is capable of interlinking scripts.. well sorry but it would be no harder creating them in pure script as it would to do them in DBP."


My money is on it being impossible with modern processing power. The scripting language, last I checked, simply can not support that kind of detailed physics interaction, never mind the incredible amount of code it would take.

Quote: "Valve made the game to emulate the REAL universe, when your going for realism, expect critque to that end!
As for extensive physics systems.. Sorry but Black&White, Unreal2, and Doom3 have extensive physic systems."


In games, gameplay always comes before realism, and it doesn't matter how realistic the game is supposed to be. Furthermore Valve was making the game to create a fun experience that followed up HL, not a realistic experience. They never stated that was their intent.

And as for B&W having a better physics system than HL2... are you friggin' joking?


Oh yeah, and Raven, don't pull that 'how can you expect gamers' card when you're well aware that the vast majority of the gaming world loves this game. Speak for yourself, especially if you're going to put in tripe like that physics gag above.

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Sparda
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Posted: 23rd Nov 2004 09:26
Quote: "You know what I find weird... Half-Life (without the CD) downloaded in a few minutes, about 5 i think"


I preloaded and it took several hours (combined). Not sure of any connection (maybe LAN) that can download 1 gb in 5 minutes. The only downtime I had in waiting for HL2 was for several hours while the Steam servers were full. After that it was all downhill. About 5 minutes to unlock the game and 30 seconds later I was playing. Not too bad if you ask me.

A lot of the gripes seem to being coming from the settings you're using Steam with. If you want to play offline, make sure you have the Save My Password = CHECKED and the Don't Save Account Info on this Computer = UNCHECKED.

My only problem with Steam is the Friends system. Seems like there is a 50% chance you will be able to sign in and then half the time I lose my connection to Friends anyways. Oh well, that's a pretty minor setback to me.

As for HL2, best game I've ever played, not my favorite game, but definitely the best I've seen. I think everybody is forgetting the most important part of gaming. Does it matter if didn't revolution the genre, uses a remake of Half-Life AI, and has simple phsyics puzzles? Who cares!? It was fun and that's all that really matters. If you can't manage to get one grain of fun out of HL2 then you must be missing something. Oh, one last thing. The last weapon is by the far the coolest gun I have ever played with in any game. Hands down


Sparda
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Posted: 23rd Nov 2004 09:35
Quote: "Sorry, but programming wise, the HL2 physics are as close to Havok2 in plug'n'play mode as you can get. They tried to beat Doom3 in realism and imo, they've failed!"


This was my friend's comparison of HL2 physics and Doom3 physics.
-Doom3 - I found a barrel, shot it, and it blew up. Fun.
-HL2 - I spent 1 hour playing with a barrel and the gravity gun.


Ilya
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Posted: 23rd Nov 2004 09:52
Does it lift stuff?

Quote: "I've seen the word programming and I'm not sure what it means. Anybody please explain?"


Quote: "We shouldn't sacrifice the truth to preserve "balance"."
Shadow Robert
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Posted: 23rd Nov 2004 11:17
Quote: "This was my friend's comparison of HL2 physics and Doom3 physics.
-Doom3 - I found a barrel, shot it, and it blew up. Fun.
-HL2 - I spent 1 hour playing with a barrel and the gravity gun."


Try finding boxes which move.. just shoot them up a bit.
On idSDK.net someone posted up a mod demo showing how to make the Gravity Gun in Doom3; heh

Quote: "My money is on it being impossible with modern processing power. The scripting language, last I checked, simply can not support that kind of detailed physics interaction, never mind the incredible amount of code it would take."


Look at the scenes where physics is being used; and think about what ACTUALLY needs to happen and what doesn't.
While the physics does add some nice touches, there is nothing about the PUZZLES which can't be recreated in the Scripter.



Quote: "In games, gameplay always comes before realism, and it doesn't matter how realistic the game is supposed to be. Furthermore Valve was making the game to create a fun experience that followed up HL, not a realistic experience. They never stated that was their intent."


Really, that's weird as I remember Gabe Newell at Alkatraz saying 'This is going to be THE most Realistic Game ever, that GeForce can't handle!'

Quote: "And as for B&W having a better physics system than HL2... are you friggin' joking?"

Throw something at one of the friendlies, watch how they react.
Slap your creature in B&W about, or how about a tree into your village.

Sorry but the physics used is bog-standard-out-of-the-box Havok.
I'm not saying that the game is bad, however I DO NOT believe it is the best ever, I DO NOT believe that it comes close to the promises made, I DO NOT believe that the physics is the best part of the game.

If that offends you then TOUGH, while it might be amusing to some people to sit there kicking around a barrel for an hour (which you can do in Doom3 or Unreal2 as well!) .. Personally I don't see how it adds much to the game.


greenlig
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Posted: 23rd Nov 2004 12:00
hey guys, raven has spoken. the game must suck.

Aust. Convention...get there!! http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=38799&b=2&p=1
Ian T
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Posted: 23rd Nov 2004 12:20
Quote: "Really, that's weird as I remember Gabe Newell at Alkatraz saying 'This is going to be THE most Realistic Game ever, that GeForce can't handle!'"


I know you're dealing with permanent PMS Raven but could you for once in your life stop splitting hairs and intentionaly misconstruing people? Gabe is blatantly obviously speaking about graphics not gameplay realism, as with the video card reference. But you were previously talking about gameplay realism. In other words you're just wasting everyone's time.

Quote: "Look at the scenes where physics is being used; and think about what ACTUALLY needs to happen and what doesn't.
While the physics does add some nice touches, there is nothing about the PUZZLES which can't be recreated in the Scripter."


Nobody was talking about the puzzles, they were talking about the physics. Same hair-splitting.

Quote: "infact if you'd bothered to read/listen to any of the interviews on HL2.net you'd of found out that every puzzle in the game IS scripted"


No s..t sherlock? Newsflash, the topic is scripting physics, not puzzles.

Quote: "Sorry but the physics used is bog-standard-out-of-the-box Havok."


Which is a hell of a lot better than half the games you mentioned. For the second/third time you try to change the subject, from the quality of the physics to the amount of work put into it.

Quote: "If that offends you then TOUGH, while it might be amusing to some people to sit there kicking around a barrel for an hour (which you can do in Doom3 or Unreal2 as well!) .. Personally I don't see how it adds much to the game."


In other words you're wrong, but what does it matter anyways, the whole thing sucks. Sidetracking the topic, splitting hairs, and now 'sour grapes'... Raven, grow up.

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Eric T
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Posted: 23rd Nov 2004 13:00
Now that I have time today to actually make a post...

Quote: "While it would be difficult to do it in Half-Life using Hammer, it wouldn't be impossible; using the new Scripting language which is capable of interlinking scripts.. well sorry but it would be no harder creating them in pure script as it would to do them in DBP.
"


I disagree. Every part of the "Ravenholm puzzle" section would be too hard, too much of a pain staking for the scripting system of Hammer to handle. That being said, it might of been done in that scripting system, but I still highly doubt they would take the "Long Road".

Quote: "Valve made the game to emulate the REAL universe, when your going for realism, expect critque to that end!
"


How can you emulate a universe that we haven't even arrived at? Thats defying all laws of Time and Matter. Anyone who dosen't realize that and actually thought it would be like real life (which is too intensive for any computer to handle in the first place) is has very unrealistic dreams, and should know better. This game takes place in the future. A future we have never seen. How do we know they are even on earth? That is never said through the game. So taking that into account, there is no way that you can have "Realistic" Physics.

Quote: "As for extensive physics systems.. Sorry but Black&White, Unreal2, and Doom3 have extensive physic systems."


B&W, I don't see how you can even bring that into a arguement such as this. Yes, back a few years ago, B&W had a nice physics engine. But considering todays standards, I truly beg to differ.

Unreal 2 is a game that is commonly overlooked. I thought it did have a nice physics engine, but sometimes it was ignorable when you got into the game.

Doom 3, I got bored with the physics in that after 10 minutes, and just went on with the game. Push a box, push a barrel, shoot a barrel. Wow it moves a bit. I couldn't interact with the objects any other way. The marines movement physics we're ok (jump is a jump but a nice even jump), but mind blwing, I don't think so.

Half-Life 2, Just the way you interact with every sodding object in the game amazed me. Pick up a peice of small metal with my hands (although i was a little sad with "Invisble Hands"), throw it around, watch it bounce, pick her up again, throw it down, find another object (lets say a gun), throw it around... etc

Then I got the gravity gun. I sh*t myself with shear fun of playing around with that. Pick things up, any mettalic object.

Spoiler:


What i'm saying is , Half-Life 2 had the funnest physics of all. Who gives a flying f*ck about the "Realistic approach of the game". If you can't look past it being a game and have to look for "Realistic things" then I feel sorry.

Quote: "The reason so many Armchair gamers are up in arms about the physics in Half-Life 2 is quite simply.. Unreal Tournament has better physics, and for UT it IS a byproduct of the engine thier using; it wasn't thought about, it wasn't really used, if it wasn't already part of the engine it would not've been put in.
"


I don't see any of these "Arm chair gamers" complaining at all. In fact, if you go around some of them lousy game (not half-life forums) forums, you'll notice people are begging for more of the same. They love the way it works. They love the way it looks. They just hate steam.

Quote: "How can you expect gamers to take something like HL2 seriously, when some of the features to provide the realism and gameplay promised are just huge areas of let down?
"


Well we are, and there is sure in hell alot of us taking it as a grand ol' time. Yes some feature we're trashed, somethings annoying. But those things that we're annoying to 1 person are fun to another. I personally do not really like the controling of the antlions, but alot of others do. I was just pissed about trying to get the stirdy bastards outta my way.

@Raven once more, as or your code snippet, i need links.

Quote: "Really, that's weird as I remember Gabe Newell at Alkatraz saying 'This is going to be THE most Realistic Game ever, that GeForce can't handle!'"


I remember him saying it being the most "Realistic LOOKING game ever", but thats for another day.

@the "Havok" refrences:

...
I Disagree, no need to argue. But having played many games using Havok , HL2 feels nothing like it.

Quote: "If that offends you then TOUGH, while it might be amusing to some people to sit there kicking around a barrel for an hour (which you can do in Doom3 or Unreal2 as well!) .. Personally I don't see how it adds much to the game.
"


But thats the thing, its not just barrels and boxes, not just the generic items. There are more objects to interact with then you can shake a stick at (and you can even shake a stick ). From listening to your arguement, i doubt you have spent much time playing the game, considering the game requires you to play with all these things to even get a 1/4 into it.

In the end, I had one of the greatest gaming experiences in the past 5 years playing Half-Life 2. Who cares what was said it "Will be" by loudmouth Gabe. Look past all that, and you still have an awesome gaming experience.

Eric

Bleh, I've just given up on trying to think up signatures.
Sparda
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Location: Pacifica
Posted: 23rd Nov 2004 13:09
Quote: "In the end, I had one of the greatest gaming experiences in the past 5 years playing Half-Life 2. Who cares what was said it "Will be" by loudmouth Gabe. Look past all that, and you still have an awesome gaming experience. "


Amen


the_winch
21
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Joined: 1st Feb 2003
Location: Oxford, UK
Posted: 24th Nov 2004 00:22 Edited at: 24th Nov 2004 00:23
Quote: "Steam has a number of advantages from my perspective - easier to buy games, easier updating of games, easier access to online multiplayer, I get informed about Valve's new products, I can play games on more than one PC. From the publisher's perspective - they get a larger percentage of the profits, and they can inform users about new titles."


I don't really care about any of those things and that is the big problem with steam. From my point of view it is just a program I have to run to play hl2 that does nothing apart from making the game load slower and takes up room in the system tray.
Since it provides me with nothing every minor problem with it is an annoyance that I don't have with other games that don't use steam.
Then there is the whole online activation inconvienece.

It should be optional then people who want to use it can and the people who have no use for any of the things it does can just not install it.

Quote: "this is not a quote"
MiR
21
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Location: Spain
Posted: 24th Nov 2004 01:41
Umm. There is one option. You could buy the game not install it and download a hacked version. Not that I´d bother. I didn´t like Half Life. The chance of me liking half Life 2 is quite remote.

In fact I didn´t like FarCry or Doom3 either. Come to think about it the only fps I like are Doom 1/2,Quake 2/3, Time Splitters2, GoldenEye/Perfect Dark and Halo 1/2. I wonder what they have they have in comman. Could it be that they smeg physics and just make shooting stuff fun?

It seams that stuff like steam is the future of gaming. As it´s the future it still doesn´t work. I´ll just let you guys test it out for me.

@Mentor: Can I suggest buying an Xbox and getting Halo 2? It doesn´t try to invent anything new or add as much realism as possible it´s just enjoyable to play. Or failing that games like Fable and Harvest Moon are very relaxing and they´re just what the doctor ordered after a stressfull time on the pc. Despite popular beleif there are still good games out there. They are just buried under over hyped games that we´ve played thousands of times before.


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Ian T
22
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Location: Around
Posted: 24th Nov 2004 02:50
Quote: "There is one option. You could buy the game not install it and download a hacked version."


Fact police here, warez or piracy is not made legitimate by the fact that you own the software. You could buy a hundred copies, work for Valve, or own Vivendi, it doesn't matter, it's still illegal.

Fact police out

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bitJericho
22
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Joined: 9th Oct 2002
Location: United States
Posted: 24th Nov 2004 02:53
it's not illegal if you do it yourself.. even installing a hack for it prolly isn't illegal either...

but the fact is, do that and there goes your multiplayer and updates

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Rob K
Retired Moderator
22
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Location: Surrey, United Kingdom
Posted: 24th Nov 2004 03:08
Quote: " it's not illegal if you do it yourself.. even installing a hack for it prolly isn't illegal either...
"


Yes it is.


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bitJericho
22
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Location: United States
Posted: 24th Nov 2004 03:11
so what? Why would anyone care unless your passing out the cracks..

and anyway, it wouldn't make sense to do that anyway, like I said you wouldn't get multiplayer nor updates..

You'll just have to grit your teeth and bare it, or take it back to the store.

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AlecM
22
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Location: Concord, MA
Posted: 24th Nov 2004 03:34 Edited at: 24th Nov 2004 03:38
people seem to remember pre-steam as some sort of good old days. It wasn't. After 5 years my original HL CD was all scratched up... With Steam I dont need it. And how many times can you guys remember downloading HL1110.exe? Over those 5 years I must have downloaded it 10 times. We get quick patching and much more reliable multiplayer off of steam.

People seem to enjoy bitching about steam. Personally, I got my copy of HL2 unlocked within 5 minutes of its release.


Mentor: Maybe your type of gamer who should go play Xbox.. I rather enjoyed HL2 because playing on medium and hard required some thought and wasn't a mindless run and gun game.


Buy it
Ilya
21
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Location:
Posted: 24th Nov 2004 05:00
Quote: "It seams that stuff like steam is the future of gaming."

Boycott Steam before it's too late!!!!!!!!!1111111

Quote: "With Steam I dont need it."

And without Steam, I don't need it.

Quote: "And how many times can you guys remember downloading HL1110.exe?"

Once. It's in my downloads folder when I need it.

Quote: "much more reliable multiplayer off of steam."

Same multiplayer, except you are stripped of all your mods.

Quote: "wasn't a mindless run and gun game."

So? Those games are fun.

Quote: "I've seen the word programming and I'm not sure what it means. Anybody please explain?"


Quote: "We shouldn't sacrifice the truth to preserve "balance"."
Jeku
Moderator
21
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Joined: 4th Jul 2003
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Posted: 24th Nov 2004 05:03
Quote: "So? Those games are fun."


Yeah, for like a day. Then it becomes boring.


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Ilya
21
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Posted: 24th Nov 2004 05:04
...and Halo2 took people 9 hours to beat.

Quote: "I've seen the word programming and I'm not sure what it means. Anybody please explain?"


Quote: "We shouldn't sacrifice the truth to preserve "balance"."
OSX Using Happy Dude
21
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Location: At home
Posted: 24th Nov 2004 05:05 Edited at: 24th Nov 2004 05:06
Quote: "...and Halo2 took people 9 hours to beat.
"

Bet they cheated and were on the easy level...

Quote: "Boycott Steam before it's too late!!!!!!!!!"

Too right...

Walk softly... and carry a big gun...
Wiggett
21
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Location: Australia
Posted: 25th Nov 2004 16:33
i think the problem here isn't half life 2, but instead it's steam. I for one hate having to have one program run all my games, considering if that program stuffs up i have to re intall it all over again. Steam was ok to use for day of defeat a while ago, but I don't like the idea of not having a hard copy of a product purchased just fo rthe fact that electronic stuff is so easy to damage, not to mention the errors that can occur during downloading. But anyway half life 2 looks ok from what i've seen, still yet to buy it, and I'm very annoyed that i will need steam to play it single player, though i think it installs the source for all the other games, which is why when you wanted to start hl1 it took a while to install teh extra 30 meg. btu anyway boycott steam if that's what it takes to get them to fix it (or hopefully remove it all together)

Van B
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22
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Location: Sunnyvale
Posted: 25th Nov 2004 17:03
HL:Source is an add on that you buy, it's not free.

Steam does'nt work on my PC, so I'm gonna remain peeved at it - hopefully my upcomming upgrade will fix it, but when I install, and it takes like 5 minutes too boot steam, then HL2 still does'nt work - I just wanna gouge it's eyes out. If it works on your PC then it's hard to see other peoples problems with it, but the bottom line for me is that I spent £35 on a coaster, and it's a coaster with a special number that only I can use - so I can't really return the game. The whole idea of Steam is copy protection, let's not kid ourselves that they're doing us any favours - and I can understand that, but if your gonna start something like Steam, make sure it's coded as best it can be.

I've completed Halo2 on easy, and am playing through in co-op on normal mode, than we'll tackle the hardest level - it is fairly short if your blazing through it, because they've tried to do away with the repetitiveness - but playing it properly is a much more satisfying game.


Van-B


It's c**p being the only coder in the village.
OSX Using Happy Dude
21
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Location: At home
Posted: 25th Nov 2004 17:47 Edited at: 25th Nov 2004 17:48
Quote: "so I can't really return the game"

I dont see why not... You could even see it on eBay, as long as you say the serial codes been used.

Walk softly... and carry a big gun...
Peter H
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Location: Witness Protection Program
Posted: 25th Nov 2004 22:04 Edited at: 25th Nov 2004 22:04
Quote: "Bet they cheated and were on the easy level...
"

heh...me and my freind beat it on Co-Op in 9 hours...including a dinner break(a short one though ...)

anyway we had it one normal and we didn't rush through...we fully viewed everything

but i still loved it (also teh multi player is good)

"We make the worst games in the universe."

zircher
21
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Location: Oklahoma
Posted: 30th Nov 2004 21:17
Just to add some fuel to the fire, trying to use a bogus key can cripple all of your other steam powered games...

http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=284378
--
TAZ

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David R
21
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Location: 3.14
Posted: 30th Nov 2004 21:28
Does anyone here get so sick of someone saying something, they dont care what that person is aying, they woul just like to punch their face in? Because I am extremely irrated by 'Mentor''s moaning. ******* well shut up! You should call your self 'Moaning a*s hole' instead. Next time, wait until a review comes out. Plus, your such a moaning i*iot that the game was probably quite good, but you obviously moan at any f****** thing possible. Do the world a favour and shut up.

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OSX Using Happy Dude
21
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Location: At home
Posted: 30th Nov 2004 21:38
Umm - try to be a bit more polite in the future.

Walk softly... and carry a big gun...
Van B
Moderator
22
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Location: Sunnyvale
Posted: 30th Nov 2004 21:44
God there's some real townspeople in that forum!.

Quote: "Why? They did what any company would have done."


Erm... yes, well a lot of PC games I play don't even mind if you install on 2 PC's for network games. The annoying thing is, all this activation stuff is unnecessary - Valve obviously have no faith in their fan base, they must think we'd instantly go and download pirate copies rather than buy it. It must be news to them that most of us just want to buy the freakin game and play it without all this rubbish. The thing is that HL2 is a non-starter for second hand, ebay, lending, any of that stuff because without a legit CD key, you won't be able to play it.

After my upgrade I still can't play it, I'm playing Doom3 and Farcry no problem, but it's the same NOTHINGNESS when I try and run it (it'll tell me it's starting up with steams little dialogue, then that disapears and then nothing). Frankly unless I buy a brand new PC, I have little chance of playing it - and I'm not sure I can even get a refund because I registered it already.

I'm holding out for a patch, bug notice, whatever - IMHO £35 is absolutely nothing when you've waited years for a game, I'd pay another £30 if the damn thing worked. At least there's always the XBox version, which I'll have no qualms about stealing.

My brother is playing CS:Source quite a lot (that don't work either on my PC, I'm blaming Steam for all this), if you see someone called 'Borat' putting up his propoganda posters everywhere, that's my little brother - and you should make every effort to frag the git, then admire his lovely tag, which I made for him .


Van-B


It's c**p being the only coder in the village.
Mentor
22
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Joined: 27th Aug 2002
Location: United Kingdom
Posted: 1st Dec 2004 02:18
Quote: "Does anyone here get so sick of someone saying something, they dont care what that person is aying, they woul just like to punch their face in? Because I am extremely irrated by 'Mentor''s moaning. ******* well shut up! You should call your self 'Moaning a*s hole' instead. Next time, wait until a review comes out. Plus, your such a moaning i*iot that the game was probably quite good, but you obviously moan at any f****** thing possible. Do the world a favour and shut up.
"


OOH! how scarey, and you live in Licolnshire too, I suppose I should just adopt your...

"I am corporate clone 46789976!, this is a good game!, I was told this was a good game so it is a good game!, I must now buy 2.4 newspapers and travel 7.2 miles to work, it is not yet time for me to blink, I must wait another 4.6 seconds before I can blink ...infinite litany of inane self monitoring mass mentality approved chatter"

before you come after me , just because I happen to have an opinion of my own and it doesn`t jive with the media hyped opinion does not mean it is moaning, the trouble with some people is they are just too happy to be herd animals,saves having to think for one thing, for another they can attack people who dare to have independent opinions with relative impunity (being supported by several billion other mindwashed drones on the planet) and with full approval of whoever is the "current authority", it`s a nice way to stifle independent opinion and create that 2.4 children drone mentality and maintain it, drone mentality has less support on this forum though, since many of the users are in the habit of thinking (you should try it).

the sheer fact that you had to resort to profanity (implied but asterisked out) tells me exactly how much intellect I am having to contend with, so out of kindness (imo undeserved in your case, but I`m a nice guy) I will refrain from engaging in a battle of wits since I would have an unfair advantage against an unarmed opponent.

Mentor.

PC1: P4 3ghz, 1gig mem, 3x160gig hd`s, Radeon 9800pro w cooler (3rd gfx card), 6 way speakers.
PC2: AMD 2ghz, 512mb ram, FX5200 ultra, 16 bit SB.
Mini ATX cases suck.
Ian T
22
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Location: Around
Posted: 1st Dec 2004 03:56
Okay, let's keep the flamethrowers to games that have them shall we ?

Mentor, no need to even respond to garbage, it only makes the thread worse.

Lightning Studios, flames are allowed if they're earned, but it's hardly that situation when you drop into a thread and spew out personal attacks and profanity completely unprovoked. Another one of those and I'll ban you for a day. Consider yourself warned

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