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So, who will be picking it up?
OK, stupid question. But are you going to get it through Steam, at the store or from, well, other places?
Right now, my computer just barely makes the cut, though I will upgrade it with a new mobo and CPU before playing (Athln64 3000 in all probability). So chances are I'll have to wait a day or two after the official release to play it.
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I've had it preloaded for about a week.
And I'm skipping college tomorrow to play it, as it unlocks at 8am.
I'll be running it in minimum, mind, as although I have a Radeon 9800, the rest of my spec is a bit of a bottleneck. I mean, I'm still using SD133 ffs.
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Isn't that what "The day after tomorrow....." thread is about?
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Originally posted by Grey Wolf 2009
Isn't that what "The day after tomorrow....." thread is about?
Well if people would give threads sensible names...
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No, thats Halo 2.
My (upgraded) rig will be a Radeon 9600, Athlon64 3000 and 512mb of DDR ram. I hope to run it on highest (or at least high) with good framerates.
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Mmm, I'm wanting to upgrade pretty soon, but I keep wasting money on hats.
Planning to get an Athlon 2800 or similar, along with a new mobo and some new RAM.
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I don't know if I'm going to get it or not. I haven't played a game in months, and I think the only programs I've used on a regular basis are Word and iTunes.
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Store.
Steam is too much for a 56K modem to take.
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You do all know that you still need Steam to be able to play retail copies, yes?
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what about X-Box ?
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What if I want to install it on my room computer, which has no internet connnection?
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You can register it with Steam on a machine with a connection, then use Steam in offline mode on a machine that doesn't, provided you use the same Steam account.
Dunno about X-Box
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You're out of luck.
Though I hear that there will be a mechanism that will allow you to register and unlock the game by proxy, which means that as long as you have access to the Net somewhere you should be fine. Uhm, check the Steam forums or something, they should know.
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I'll get it as soon as it comes out on Xbox or Xbox 2.
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you have to hook up to the internet at least once so you can activate it. no exceptions. unless you want to hack it or wait a few months for the inevitable patch that will allow you to play without activation.
got the gold edition over steam a couple months ago when i had some spare cash. been playing various hl1 games and cs:s ever since. gotta work tomorrow at 8, but i'll probably hit it just as soon as i get home.
... or maybe i'll install it on my comp at work
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I think I may have already expressed my feelings on this issue, but just to review, this is what I think of Steam:
(http://www.users.tsn.cc/bowie/angry.jpg)
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a few months? Try a few days, a week or two tops. Every cracker in the world will be all over this one, if nothing else but for the fame and kudos. They already cracked Counterstrike: Source, so the only real problem is Valve unlocking the game, which they will do shortly.
Though I will still probably be buying it, depending on how much money I have and if its playable by the time I upgrade.
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Its coming to Xbox so I dont need any ****ty steam proggy.
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Steam stopped working for me, so I hate it now. It don't like my login no more.
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Originally posted by Grey Wolf 2009
Isn't that what "The day after tomorrow....." thread is about?
[napoleon dynamite]Heckyes it is[/meh]
um... :nervous:
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Originally posted by Rictor
a few months? Try a few days, a week or two tops. Every cracker in the world will be all over this one, if nothing else but for the fame and kudos. They already cracked Counterstrike: Source, so the only real problem is Valve unlocking the game, which they will do shortly.
i meant an official patch from valve. after the heat dies down and the buying frenzy stops, i'm sure they'll release an update that gets rid of the activation requirement.
i expect a hack available within 3 hours.
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hey, just a quick question for you guys. How long did it take you to fully preload all the content, what sort of connection are you using and how much space does it take up?
I ask because I'm about to start preloading and just need a rough estimate of the time/space required.
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Get ready folks. Within a week, Valve will become one of the most powerful economies on Earth, join the G8, speculate against the dollar, cause a worldwide economic collapse and then proceed to rule the world for a hundred year under the bulbous tyranny of Gabe Newell and his sons.
Nerds, geeks and fanboys, arise, for your hour has come!
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Maybe that means that wars will be fought via Counter-Strike instead of with real people.
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The Koreans will murder us all!
w0rL|> w4r tHr33
The US gets 0wned on de_dust, wins de_aztec against a joint Russian-Syrian force and is finally forced to retreat on cs_office against the terrorists, only to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat by dominating cs_havana against the Peruvians and finally emerging victorious as the CTs take de_inferno by 8:2.
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I want my box TYVM
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I would get steam and preload it, but I want the box. Boxes are nice. You can put them under other boxes and they get squashed and then you're all sad cause your box was squashed but by then you don't care about the game anymore so you laugh at it but the turtle doesn't like that so he eats you and then you're in his stomach and then God burns your soul.
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I wanted a box, but then I realised that
Early release of CS:S and SDK > Box
And went with Steam
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If I hear just one more word about Half-Life 2, I will SCREAM!!
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Why will you scream if you hear one more word about HALF LIFE 2?
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My friend hasnt talked about anything else for many, many days. Eeeek!
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Cogito ergo sum... that's Latin for... 'I think, therefore I am?', isn't it?
Oh, and...
:welcome:
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Originally posted by Ransom Arceihn
Cogito ergo sum... that's Latin for... 'I think, therefore I am?', isn't it?
Correct.
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[color=66ff00]I'm in two minds about Steam; on one hand you've got the game makers taking power away from the publishers; the people who force game writers to crank out the n-th version of Lara Croft or yet another FIFA football game.
On the other hand this could turn into the biggest flop ever, not because of the quality of the game but because Valve are pulling a microsoft on us all. Microsoft claim that the windows XP activation helps the consumer, it does anything but. Half life isn't such a big issue but I'm sure if little Joe gets a copy of Half life for chrimbo and then realises that he can't play it because it needs to be 'activated' that you'll get a lot of dissapointment, a lot of angry parents and a lot of returns.
Valve got where they are partly due to supporting the gamers, now I can't help but feel that they're stiffing the gamers. Software copying will always happen, it's part of the nature of infinitely copy-able, near zero cost media. They should work like the smarter companies; you buy a copy of the game and if you register it then you get added value; more missions or models.
That's incentive and that cuts down copying.
[/color]
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I don't object to online activation per se - it's possible it was necessary after the leak - but i do object to needing to install steam to do so.
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*has HL2*
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I watched someone play it for three hours after activation and it looked pretty fun. Potential Spoliers Follow
The physics are nicely integrated into the game, even into simple tasks. During the trainstation intro a combine guard knocks a soda can down with his baton simply so he can order you to put it in the trash. Before Water Hazard you encounter lots of barnacles in the sewers; their tongues seem to pick up just about anything now: people, wood debris, explosive barrels. It was really cool seeing it in action because my friend got a barrel rolling towards a cluster of the things, got the barrel flaming, and then not one but several barnacle latched on to it and pulled it up. A few seconds later they all got wiped out.
We left off just after we got the gravity gun at Black Mesa East. Shooting around boxes and crap was fun. Barney had a funny comment or two in the beginning too ("Yeah Gordon, you threw a switch. Glad to see that MIT doctorate is paying off.")
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Well i did buy HL2 and i enjoy playing it but still i think Halo2 is better.
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shouldn't you be out stealing art or something?
anyway, HL2 is amazing. and the graphcis are the best i've ever seen in a game. even on my little pos, it looks like a champ. and it's fun to finally have enemies that do more than just run and charge at you (or in H2's case, occasionally hide behind an obstacle).
and ragdoll physics are the f*cking own!!!
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HL2 sure is pretty good game. I've been playing it today for many hours, at times I played Nexus though which is another good game.
Anyway, I don't actually have anything to complain about HL2, the game does darn well what it is supposed to do. If you like the genre, I seriously doubt HL2 will let you down.
By the way, HL2 even works on Intel Extreme Graphics which is pretty damn good feat in itself. And no, I don't have the card but I tested it on a centrino laptop.
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Been playing it all day. Kicks arse, so it does.
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Does it have a real plot?
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god is mocking me
Exibit #1
I tried preloading HL last night, but didn't have enough space. So I figured I'de do it today, after the release. WRONG. They're not doing preloads anymore, you have to pay for it up front.
Exibit #2
I go to the computer store to buy a new CPU, hard-drive and mobo, paying for it with my brothers Visa. Pretty simple, right? WRONG. The mobo I was returning, cause they were too lazy to tell me a week ago when I first bought it that it was for a discontinued line of CPU (Athlon XP's) was missing the static bag. Imagine that. Everything else had been untouched, but I took it out of the static bag. So, its another 15 minutes for someone to test it if it works (it does). So, I'm done, right? WRONG. The signiature on my bro's Visa is smudged, which means I have to show them my drivers license. Nope, student id won't do, they specifically have to have either the driver's license or debit card, both of which are sitting at home, a 45 minute car drive away.
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After reading that, normally I'd break into fits of laughter at your terrible plight, but I can't. I'm £50 overdrawn, and I don't get paid till the end of the month. SO, no crawbars for me until December.
In other words:
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! :hopping: :hopping: :( :mad: :no:
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I've some conclusions of my own, having played it most of the day:
1: Very impressive gameplay. Great fun so far and no, I've not finished (just reached Nova Prospekt).
2: Steam is the work of the devil. I hate it with abandon and would appreciate not being treated like a software pirate every time I decide I want to fire up the game (for those who don't know, you can't simply fire the game up - you have to log into Steam online and authenticate yourself first... as if CD keys aren't enough). I'm all for protection of software against copying etc. - but not at the expense of the user who buys it. On top of that, from what I gather a cracked version which doesn't need Steam is already in circulation.
3: Long load times. Specifically at the beginning of the game when you first load it up. The games main menu displays part of a level at random for the background. Impressive though this is, I'd far rather have a static background with some form of logo or something that loads in 10 seconds, rather than an impressive backdrop that loads in 60. Remember, you only really look at that thing for about 5 seconds anyway while you load a game or whatever...
4: Story. Or lack of it. By the stage I am in the game - I'm still not sure who the Combine are, where Breen fits into it all or what I as Gordon Freeman am doing, running around shooting people and generally trying to help "the good guys". Why are they the good guys? These are all obvious things that I really don't know - and I don't think I missed some massive speach... its just not explained (if anyone can fill me in - please do). Perhaps things will be filled in later in the game, but right now I seem to be enjoying it without any idea *why* I'm doing it. At least Far Cry and Doom 3 went so far as to tell you when you were mindlessly killing things.
I guess I've come off rather negative on some points - it doesn't mean I hate the game. I do indeed enjoy it and am really pleased that I bought it. But these things have tarnished an otherwise brilliant title.
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Steam is a giant filthy pile of *censored*
I bought the game, it wants me to make an account, so I do so. It then refuses to connect to the server, giving a whole plethora of errors.
Then, I hit the back button to retry, and steam freezes when doing the 'working' thing.
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Originally posted by PeachE
shouldn't you be out stealing art or something?
:lol:
Um, when's the demo due?
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Originally posted by Kalfireth
4: Story. Or lack of it. By the stage I am in the game - I'm still not sure who the Combine are, where Breen fits into it all or what I as Gordon Freeman am doing, running around shooting people and generally trying to help "the good guys". Why are they the good guys? These are all obvious things that I really don't know - and I don't think I missed some massive speach... its just not explained (if anyone can fill me in - please do). Perhaps things will be filled in later in the game, but right now I seem to be enjoying it without any idea *why* I'm doing it. At least Far Cry and Doom 3 went so far as to tell you when you were mindlessly killing things.
They've deliberately left a lot of questions unanswered, so they can answer them in HL3.
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Has anyone tried Halflife:Source included with steam's Silver and Gold packages? I can't decide whether to go Steam or to my local store. Did the original Halflife get a COMPLETE overhaul graphicswise or is it not worth the extra $10 and no box with Steam's Silver package. I have the original Halflife already and I don't wanna pay an extra 10 bucks for a game I already have unless they transplanted the original to the new HL2 engine.
Screenshots of Halflife:Source would also be appreciated if you have it,
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It's just HL with the source engine. They haven't upgraded the geometry or anything, not worth it if you already have the original HL.
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WHAT!!!!!???? No character model or environment upgrades? Could post screenshots?
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CS:Source looks so nice , How could they have NOT done anything for the original Halflife!?
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Too much work I guess, it would have taken ages to fully upgrade all the maps and so on. As far as I'm aware all it has is the high definition thingy that came with Blue Shift, upgraded physics and shaderised water.
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Thats it!? Blueshift upgrades don't evemn compare with CS:Source. ::sigh:: How about bumpmapping and other nifty Source engine effects besides water and physics? If not I guess its the bronze package Steam or local store for me. Any of the steam versions worth it?
In any case, could you post me some screenshots of Halflife:source or email me some snaps? I can't find screenshots of this game anywhere.
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Original:
http://www.halflife2.net/news//1093618899_hls2.jpg
Source:
http://www.halflife2.net/news//1093618899_hls1.jpg
Does look a little better thanks to Source's improved lighting ability, but none of the models or textures are upgraded to really take advantage of it.
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What's the difference between the specs required for HL1 & HL:source, I wonder..............
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I would assume a directx-9 card would make the difference to notice the changes.
Ransom, i'm sold. Time to re-experience the original and get back into the story mindset before jumping to HL2.
Heres a question about steam. I noticed that they are no longer doing the preloading thing. I assume once I pay up, I'll be permitted to start downloading. I take it its a huge download. My question is, is there a way to burn the download to disc so I can download with my cousin's superior cable connection (I got verizon DSL , sucks) then play on my home PC?
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Originally posted by Omniscaper
I would assume a directx-9 card would make the difference to notice the changes.
Ransom, i'm sold. Time to re-experience the original and get back into the story mindset before jumping to HL2.
Heres a question about steam. I noticed that they are no longer doing the preloading thing. I assume once I pay up, I'll be permitted to start downloading. I take it its a huge download. My question is, is there a way to burn the download to disc so I can download with my cousin's superior cable connection (I got verizon DSL , sucks) then play on my home PC?
Yes, you can back it up to CD but - IIRC - you have to be permanently connected to Steam when you play it (i.e. not just to activate it, presumably anti-piracy so you can't have 2 copies of the same key in use at the one time)
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I anticipate a change in the way Steam works, considering the vast numbers of people who are having problems connecting and authenticating at the moment - which means they've bought and installed the game but can't play it because Steam wont let them.
They'd be insane to insist on keeping that going, and if they do, I anticipate myself and lot of others will begin to use modified .exe files that skip Steam out entirely and save on wasted time.
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I've read it's been taking literally hours to verify the game, which has helped put me off buying it for the present time (I'd probably wait to see how well a demo runs on my compy first, anyways)
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I starting to understand how Steam works.... sorta.
Just this weekend I started an account with steam and registered my old Halflife key and all of a sudden I had Halflife and all of its addons at my disposal. At first I was confused, since I didn't install Halflife or anything else. Didn't realize that the game itself was downloading to my computer. Not only that CS, Opposing Forces, and others were also at my disposal. I thought those games were seperate from Halflife and needed to be purchased. I was psyched and installed them all.
My question is, those downloads, is there a way to back those up since my DSL will take TOO long to download HL2. I understand that games played under steam need online login. Thats no problem.... I guess.
In reguard to this new form of software distribution, its an interesting deterent to piracy, but I'm not too sure about a program that downloads games without my knowledge. Perhaps I missed the fine print upon registering with Steam. That and the fact that HL2 needs online access to activate. WHat if I don't have internet? These days it seems rare now to not have net access. A recent statistic says that 1 out of 5 households have net access, what if i was in one of the other four?
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If you're one of the other 4, you can't play it.
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DIGITAL FACISM!!!!!
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Originally posted by Omniscaper
CS:Source looks so nice , How could they have NOT done anything for the original Halflife!?
updating about 8 maps, a few models, and a few weapons and dropping them into the source engine is a far cry from upgrading an entire game's worth of textures and models and maps, etc. you're talking about months worth of work. i seriously doubt the additional profits from doing so would justify the costs.
they made SOME upgrades to the graphics and it feels like they updated the physics a little. other than that, it's a business decision and they made the right one.
Any of the steam versions worth it?
the bronze is the same as you would get in the store. as for the others, it depends. if you bought every little add on that ever came out for HL, probably not. but for example, i only ever bought the original HL package. so getting the valve back catalog for 20 bucks extra (games that still range from $5 to $20 around here) was worth it. i just got the gold cuz i'm a freak.
Originally posted by aldo_14
Yes, you can back it up to CD but - IIRC - you have to be permanently connected to Steam when you play it (i.e. not just to activate it, presumably anti-piracy so you can't have 2 copies of the same key in use at the one time)
i'm nearly certain that's wrong and all you have to do is activate. after that, you can use steam in offline mode and play HL2 offline. at least, i'm pretty sure - i played in offline mode last night.
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PeachE's right, you can play it in offline mode.
Also, I've noticed that Dr. Breen is actually Willie Nelson. It's uncanny.
(http://photo.sing365.com/music/picture.nsf/SingerPicUnid/7DF31010090720A248256D6E00125AB9/$file/Willie+Nelson.jpg) (http://www.halflife2.net/misc_images/characters/c_breen.jpg)
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Originally posted by PeachE
i'm nearly certain that's wrong and all you have to do is activate. after that, you can use steam in offline mode and play HL2 offline. at least, i'm pretty sure - i played in offline mode last night.
I don't know. I could have sworn I saw it in a post on bluesnews a month or so ago, but I can't find that post. If it works for you, fair enough.
How well does it run, BTW? Despite my hesitance over having to install Steam, I'm considering it if HL2 will run ok on my fairly shoddy box.
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What's yer spec?
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(Badly configured, but...)
512MB RAM (DDR 3200 I think....), Athlon 2400XP, GeForce 5600 128MB*
*gulp
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I can run it fine, on minimum settings, and with a bit of lag every time it saves, and I'm on an Athlon 1600XP, 256MB SD133, Radeon9800.
You should be fine.
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Originally posted by aldo_14
512MB RAM (DDR 3200 I think....), Athlon 2400XP, GeForce 5600 128MB*
i have a two year old P4 2ghz with 512MB DDR and a GeForce 4200TI 128 Mb. i run it maxed out details at 1024x768 and i still get over 50 fps. you'll be fine as long as you don't mind the low res, which i got over really quickly after seeing how beautiful the game looked even with those settings.
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1024 is low res?
Also, to all of you who have it: post screenshots now or I will hunt you down.
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I've just been running it in maximum, and it runs just the same, only takes four times as long to load the maps.
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Sounds good. I shall have to take a look at it.
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You won't be disappointed.
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(http://xs3.xs.to/pics/04472/rocks.jpg)
Hehehe
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Originally posted by aldo_14
(Badly configured, but...)
512MB RAM (DDR 3200 I think....), Athlon 2400XP, GeForce 5600 128MB*
*gulp
Given that HL2 will even run on Intel Extreme Graphics (which does not even support HTL btw) you will do fine.
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Originally posted by Petrarch of the VBB
(http://xs3.xs.to/pics/04472/rocks.jpg)
That rock appears to be frowning.
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So it does. Well, can you blame it, being made to pose in front of various lights, and be continually photographed...
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Petrarch, you seem to be on target with the rock assessment EXCEPT for the Doom version. I can still see it.
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:lol:
Half Life 2 is definately one of the best games ever made. Nuff' said.
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Got my preorder from EBGames at 5:00 PM yesterday (was in bed sick until then). Had it installed by 6:30 (many problems in this regard...grrrr). Had it actually authorized by 7:00.
Beat it on Easy by 7:30 AM the next morning.
Will I be playing again? HELL YES. :D
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I got pretty far. Haven't gotten to face up a Strider yet with my resistance boys, but I've seen some.
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I... er... finished it five minutes ago.
Don't let that fool you - I'm a lazy uni student so perhaps I have spent more time playing it straight than anyone else. At any rate -here's my final analysis of the story (generally and some thoughts - it'll be broken down into spoiler and non-spoiler.
Non Spoiler:
Very good game. That said, perhaps a bit to vague about where the Combine have come from, what they're doing and why everyone is so oppressed. Breen also isn't explained to clearly and the ending does leave things wide open for Half Life 3.
Don't let me get you down though - I really loved it. I would however have loved it more if I knew a bit more of the storyline - even Doom 3 managed to explain exactly who everyone was, why they were there and what they were trying to do in the great scheme of things. Half Life 2 seems to get by a bit more on assumption and coincedence than anything else... for instance, the fact that half your allies are from or related to people from the Black Mesa incident. An introduction sequence to lead up to events or dialogue added throughout the game between NPCs etc might have gone a long way to dispell some of the confusion.
Spoiler:
Some things are made apparent throughout the game, such as Breen being an emissary for humanity in a deal to try and save the human race - although this seems to er towards enslaving it. Also, the G Man does continue to feature as the engimatic sort who shows up at the beginning and end of the game to imply that everything you have just experienced was some kind of job contract - despite the fact that Earth seems to have become an alien battleground - he seems to be continuing to call all the shots. This does leave me somewhat confused as to what the heck is going on overall (was the alien menace that much of a menace, or was it all in hand as far as G Man was concerned?). Certainly there's a lot that could be answered or explained in expansion packs or future games - but I feel that perhaps these things should have been explained "now" - so that the player has some idea of why they're really playing the game...at least with the original you knew that you were attempting to prevent an alien invasion. (or, escape the facility / whatever in the expansion packs).
I guess time will tell... it could have been better - but not much.
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Originally posted by Petrarch of the VBB
[warhol of some rocks]
Hehehe
I don't get the monochromatic Half-Life rock. All the HL2 screenies I've seen have been very colorful.
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Originally posted by Petrarch of the VBB
(http://xs3.xs.to/pics/04472/rocks.jpg)
Hehehe
LOL.. Right on the spot!
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Originally posted by Kalfireth
I... er... finished it five minutes ago.
Don't let that fool you - I'm a lazy uni student so perhaps I have spent more time playing it straight than anyone else. At any rate -here's my final analysis of the story (generally and some thoughts - it'll be broken down into spoiler and non-spoiler.
Non Spoiler:
Very good game. That said, perhaps a bit to vague about where the Combine have come from, what they're doing and why everyone is so oppressed. Breen also isn't explained to clearly and the ending does leave things wide open for Half Life 3.
Don't let me get you down though - I really loved it. I would however have loved it more if I knew a bit more of the storyline - even Doom 3 managed to explain exactly who everyone was, why they were there and what they were trying to do in the great scheme of things. Half Life 2 seems to get by a bit more on assumption and coincedence than anything else... for instance, the fact that half your allies are from or related to people from the Black Mesa incident. An introduction sequence to lead up to events or dialogue added throughout the game between NPCs etc might have gone a long way to dispell some of the confusion.
I guess time will tell... it could have been better - but not much.
Yeah, a little more exposition in the game through conversations with the civilians in the beginning would have been nice.
As for why all of the Black Mesa people are at City 17, it seems that as the capital of the Combine on Earth and with Dr. Breen there most of the other folks tagged along to organize resistance efforts/conduct research where there is more Combine tech on hand.
Anyway:
While throughout HL1 I assumed the G-Man was a human working for some very... nasty employers (such as the Combine) and thinking that HL2 would involve you betraying him and such, it seems things are a little more complicated.
It's pretty clear that G-Man's natural form isn't human, and he's working for some group of beings that's very powerful and meddles with the affairs of other species.
From what I'm assuming, the Black Mesa incident happened pretty much all over the planet and the aliens stopped teleporting in when Freeman freed Xen. The Combine then attacked the Earth or was preparing to attack shortly after this, with Breen making a deal.
Since Breen's contact was willing to let him flee Earth to another Combine realm, it's probably safe to assume that they understand to an extent that Freeman is working for another group.
I'm thinking that to an extent G-Man is behind the gaining the xen crystals and the whole resonance cascade mess on HL-1. Then he has Freeman save Earth at a moment after they've realized how nasty the Combine is by loosing all liberties. I can't help but assume that this is all intended by G-Man or his employer(s). Earth might become it's own 'Combine' with the Xen critters, pushing back the Combine and Freeman will be sent in again. (probably this time telling the G-Man and his employers to get lost)
What is interesting is how the G-Man states that Freeman really has no free will. Hrmm... "G" man... white doors... pseudoreligious overtones?
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Interesting. The G-Man's always intrigued me. That's about as far as I got into the HL storyline. ;) Does anyone know of a good story synopsis? I might just Google one up, but if anyone can recommend one that would be nice.
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Originally posted by Setekh
Interesting. The G-Man's always intrigued me. That's about as far as I got into the HL storyline. ;) Does anyone know of a good story synopsis? I might just Google one up, but if anyone can recommend one that would be nice.
Um...offhand
Gordon Freeman goes to work
Causes an accidental resobnance cascade error and opens up a portal to an alien dimension
Has to escape
US Military sent in to clean up, kill witnesses as well as aliens
Gordon ends up in alien homeworld, kills big baddy thingie
End shows the G-man talking to Gordon in a train flying through space - describes the US army haven managed to take an initial foothold in the Xen(?) universe, offers Gordon a 'job'. It's left a wee bit ambigous whether he accepts or not, but given that the alternative is death.....
NB: I don't even know if I ever completed Half Life........
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Over my 56k connection, Steam took a while to unlock the game for me. Granted, it was during the evening the day after the game was released, but I literally fell asleep and woke up some time later and it still wasn't done unlocking the game.
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I've had nothing but grief since I started installing it.
Insofar as I can tell, it won't copy a single HL2 file until it has had a nice lengthy conversation with Steam. For each file.
Frankly, i wish I'd looked for a hacked copy instead now.
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just don't get the warez that valve leaked or you'll get banned from steam.
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Originally posted by redsniper
just don't get the warez that valve leaked or you'll get banned from steam.
I don't give a **** about that - I'd welcome being banned from steam. In fact, had I previously used that piece of pish software beforehand, I'd not have bought the game.
It is the bane of my existence - having to wait 5 minutes to be told I have the right to play a game I bought with my own money. It has a CD-key, for ****s sake - I resent being treated like a criminal.
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Originally posted by aldo_14
It is the bane of my existence - having to wait 5 minutes to be told I have the right to play a game I bought with my own money. It has a CD-key, for ****s sake - I resent being treated like a criminal.
Exactly.
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Did anyone else think that at the end, when the G-Man turned and walked into the white light, that it was so freakin cool looking?
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Originally posted by .::Tin Can::.
Did anyone else think that at the end, when the G-Man turned and walked into the white light, that it was so freakin cool looking?
[/B]
Yeah, very much so. I was highly impressed by some of the uses of camera effects and control of time in game - if nothing else - HL2 does prove that the way forward is in building a world where everything really does relate to everything else (IE: slow down time, and charachters can move slower.. that sort of thing).
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Originally posted by aldo_14
It is the bane of my existence - having to wait 5 minutes to be told I have the right to play a game I bought with my own money. It has a CD-key, for ****s sake - I resent being treated like a criminal.
Somewhere along the line, Valve drank the Kool-Aid and started believing what the fanboys were drooling: that they and HL are the greatest thing since sliced bread.
The facts are this:
No copy protection can be foolproof, especially when a Beowulf-Cluster can brute force it in a matter of a day if not hours. The kind of Digital Rights Management that they are trying to develop with Steam is what I fear is the Next Step in an effort to control the flow of information. I fear the day is coming where you won't own anything on your computer and Microsoft or their successor will be able to access and control what you do without you're permission or knowledge. They already do it to some degree if you don't know how to turn off XP's automatic updates, granted that's fairly innocuous, but you get the idea.
Don't misunderstand, I fully support a companies right to protect their product, but treating your customers like a bunch of criminals is not the solution. The solution is to fix the situation so that it's easier to buy the product than to download from the nearest crack site. I don't pretend to know how to do that, but it's quite obvious from everything that I've read, that Steam, at least in it's current form, isn't the solution.
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There's a point where customer convenience overrides piracy protection. I mean, how many people will be put off Half Life 3, or whatever, by this? I certainly am - it's the most obtrusive system I've ever encountered; Steam is basically a trojan horse that comes with what is - almost sadly - a very good game.
Of course, you try and say that on a Steam or HL2 forum and you'll get burned at the stake.
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I don't know, a LOT of people on the PlanetHalfLife forum have complained about Steam and the problems they had with authorisation etc.
Of course there were the die hard group of fanboys who tried to flame anyone who said a word against the system. However so many people pointed out the flaws in their arguements that even they had to stop trying to fight it. Nobody has found a good thing to say about Steam and - piracy control or no - it's critically damaging the end user. That's something that no piece of software should be able to do.
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Steam is biggest joke since...err something
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Originally posted by Holy Imperial Gloriano
Steam is biggest joke since...err something
yeah, steam is a *****, i'll admit that... i'm even under the impression that steam is really just spyware in a legit program's shell.
and the registration process, well, i found Win XP's product activation more efficient. and that's saying something.:rolleyes:
let's face it, Half-life's avid devotees are pretty blind to the obvious, and most of them are teens, who wouldn't /really/ know/care about how a computer's software works, only so long as they can run their precious little uninspired Counterstrike sessons, and talk bull**** over the 'net, or at least leetspeak.
now, i do realise that they're quite possibly a lot of people who'd take offense to this, but this is really meant for the trolls, flamers, etc, who can't really see the forest for the trees. which, are quite possibly the few, compared to the others, but they also have the biggest mouths, and the smallest brains. ;)
oh, and if anybody knows of a way of "enhancing" the gravity gun (y'know, like the blue one?), you'll earn my thanks :)
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people are going to b**** no matter what. they'll b**** if it's an inconvenient system. if Valve had decided to go the legal route and filed a few hundred John Doe lawsuits, people would b**** about that too. and if Valve just let people steal the game, the people who paid out good money for it would b****.
Steam isn't a perfect system, but it's not exactly a trojan horse. You have to understand what software companies are facing these days. It will never be easier to buy a game than to steal it, if only because buying it will always come with that nifty 50 dollar price tag. And we're at the point where every major piece of software is released illegally online days before it ever reaches the shelves. Yes, it's bad that the customers feel like their being treated like criminals. But I'm really quite proud of Valve for coming up with a solution within their own business model, rather than running to the government for help or filing several hundred john doe lawsuits, like ... the music industry, just for example.
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Right anyway...
Ending is... interesting. It leaves things open for HL3, in more ways than one. I loved the slow-down time effect, especially with Alyx's motion.
I do wish it had lasted slightly longer, because as G-man walked away I couldn't help but feel a little cheated - as if something was missing. We've waited 6 years for this, and I really was expecting a little more to it. Ah well... :)
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I think sticking with the whole 'Steam' idea was probably a bad one, Steam is reknowned as a dodgy piece of software, and people are going to be suspicious of it from the start.
It's not the theory that is at fault, it's the practice :(
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What if Steam's purpous was to infect every computer in the world with its mark, and then Valve loaded every Steam App with a virus that baleeted your computer! o_0
Oh noes....
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Originally posted by PeachE
people are going to b**** no matter what. they'll b**** if it's an inconvenient system. if Valve had decided to go the legal route and filed a few hundred John Doe lawsuits, people would b**** about that too. and if Valve just let people steal the game, the people who paid out good money for it would b****.
Steam isn't a perfect system, but it's not exactly a trojan horse. You have to understand what software companies are facing these days. It will never be easier to buy a game than to steal it, if only because buying it will always come with that nifty 50 dollar price tag. And we're at the point where every major piece of software is released illegally online days before it ever reaches the shelves. Yes, it's bad that the customers feel like their being treated like criminals. But I'm really quite proud of Valve for coming up with a solution within their own business model, rather than running to the government for help or filing several hundred john doe lawsuits, like ... the music industry, just for example.
It feels like a Trojan horse to me - I have absolutely no idea what it's doing when it sits running in the background. But I've always felt the legitimate purchasers shouldn't be punished because of the pirates - and in this case I am being punished, or made to feel that way.
Surely it's just as important to keep your existing customers loyal, as it is to find those who are not? I mean, how much money did Doom3 make, a game that was leaked just prior to release and was as anticipated? And AFAIK that game didn't have a horribly obtrusive form of copy protection.
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I just remembered that I have a coupon that came with my graphics card that gives me a free copy of Half-Life 2. I'm downloading it now. :D
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... I mean, how much money did Doom3 make, a game that was leaked just prior to release and was as anticipated? And AFAIK that game didn't have a horribly obtrusive form of copy protection.
steam isn't really highly obtrusive. all it requires is that you activate the game before you start playing. it's the equivalent of requiring registration instead of just asking for it. after that, you can run in offline mode all you want. hell, if you're that paranoid, tell your firewall to block steam. the games (with the exception of multiplayer of course) will still run.
btw, Doom has sold a little over a million copies. given the average price of games, after costing somewhere in the neighborhood of $14mil to produce, it's safe to say it brought home a 7 digit profit, which will be a good jumping off point for the production of their next game.
...
as i said before though, people are going to piss and moan no matter what. one rumor (only a rumor, unconfirmed afaik), states that valve is releasing a cracked version and watching the accounts that use it. even if this was effective (which it's not) and even if it was true (which it probably isn't), it only effects those that would hack the game. and yet, people are still pissed off at this rumor.
meh.
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Life goes on, ya know?
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Originally posted by PeachE
steam isn't really highly obtrusive. all it requires is that you activate the game before you start playing. it's the equivalent of requiring registration instead of just asking for it. after that, you can run in offline mode all you want. hell, if you're that paranoid, tell your firewall to block steam. the games (with the exception of multiplayer of course) will still run.
It doesn't run in offline mode - just gives a server inaccessible error (which was sort of the whole point). And this is the retail copy, CD key et-al. So having to wait between 1-5 minutes before it even starts loading the game, really pisses me off.
But I guess I've made my objection to the whole situation clear anyways. It's a pain in the arse, and I'm not a happy bunny about it.
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Aldo, try updating steam and hl2, mine's works fine in Offline mode but I had to wait 2 hours for updates when I first installed it.
Depending on where and when you bought it, some UK discs have had errors.
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I dunno, supposedly it is updated but they give you **** all information as to what the program is actually doing.
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I'm able to run HL2 in offline mode too (a good thing being on 56k). Frankly I hope Valve scraps Steam as a requirement for their games. If they want to make it optional for those with broadband so people can download updates easily then fine. But in its current state it's a real *****.
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Could someone point out to me where Offline Mode is? I've looked high and low but haven't seen any sign of it..
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I originally thought i'd bypass Steam by buying HL2 retail in stores... boy was I wrong.
Keep an eye on the port activity light of your router or switch that your computer's plugged into... I did... and while I'm playing HL2, i see that little light blinking like crazy, when the only thing running is HL2 and it's "companion" Steam. I don't know what it's doing, but i don't like it. As was mentioned, I've got no problems with the game validating with a server every time you want to play online, to make sure that no two CD keys are in use (like Blizzard does with their games), but they make the game too "online oriented"... I mean with 5 CDs, I'd have thought I could install it, MAYBE verify it... I can still see that... because I can see how they don't want someone installing it on 10 computers... but the whole "logging onto your account to play the game"... that's bull crap, and I don't like it. I mean, when I click on "Half Life 2", i expect the game to pop up, not some little turquoise box to pop up saying "Logging into your account..."
*shakes head*
otherwise, the game seems good. I'm not happy with my framerates, but I suspect it's my crappy 9200. When you run the "Frame rate test", what FPS are you all getting?
Overall, great game, I'm loving it, but Steam i don't like one bit. It's taken to extremes, and it's not like it's going to stop piracy of the game... or if it was supposed to, then it's already failed in that regard.
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Originally posted by Kalfireth
Could someone point out to me where Offline Mode is? I've looked high and low but haven't seen any sign of it..
try unplugging your computer from your network and then running HL2. i'm going to try that when I get home, and see how Steam starts freaking out.
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To be honest I don't know enough about Steam to tell you how Offline Mode would work on broadband since you're always connected to the internet. The way it works for me is that when I'm not online and I start the HL2 exe it starts Steam up, Steam finds out I'm not connected to the internet after a minute or two, asks me if I want to try to reconnnect to the servers or just run Steam in Offline Mode, and then off I am to several more minutes of loading to get to the HL2 menu screen.
I'd like to think there's a way to run Steam in Offline Mode without disconnecting from the internet, but I really don't know how.
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yeah for us it'd be the same as just pulling the plug or shutting an interface down *nods*
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I tried that, but after clicking 'Start in Offline Mode' it says it has a server error or some other rubbish then quits. Ugh. Why is it trying to connect to the server when it's supposed to be running in offline mode?
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Well I started up HL2 and it seems to get stuck in the loading screen. I think it's either my graphics card or that my processor isn't fast enough.
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(http://www.sectorfiles.com/ti-file-dump/Flipside/OtherImages/pp3.jpg)
Sorry, saw this on Photoshop Phriday and I just had to......
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Originally posted by Ransom Arceihn
I tried that, but after clicking 'Start in Offline Mode' it says it has a server error or some other rubbish then quits. Ugh. Why is it trying to connect to the server when it's supposed to be running in offline mode?
It appears you need to start up *hack* *spit* Steam and click on 'news'. Then close steam and click on the link in the browser window, which will start up steam again and do some wacky-baccy 'validation' stuff. Which seems to work.
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that's so true Flipside... there's no part of the game now that i can pass without destroying any crates i see, either with the gravity gun, or with the crowbar... i'll be driving that vehicle around, see a crate, stop, get out, kill the crate, and drive on... it's addicting
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HL2 is the new king of FPS!!!!!!
HAIL TO THE KING!
*goes back to camp at his friend house and beg him to play HL2*
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HL2 is awesome but ending was really bad
I think that Gordon is some kind hitman who eliminate targets and moves next (Gman gives orders)
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It;s good - very good - but not brilliant. There's a lack of variety of enemies & weapons IMO.
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Flipside, I've only one image to post to compliment that ;)
(http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2004/20041117l.jpg)
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Sadly, I spent half an hour on the Coast level doing nothing but shooting cars over the cliff edge and into the ocean with the grav gun.
I can't help but wonder if the grav gun is going to be some sort of second signature weapon alongside the crowbar...
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Originally posted by Slasher
Sadly, I spent half an hour on the Coast level doing nothing but shooting cars over the cliff edge and into the ocean with the grav gun.
I can't help but wonder if the grav gun is going to be some sort of second signature weapon alongside the crowbar...
(spoilerised on the off chance you might not want to see it.
I loved that level (specifically the bits along the clifftop road), had a really good sense of some mad-max / 28 days later style devastating even. One of the things the game is good at - maybe too good - is putting you in a situation where you wonder 'what the **** happened here?' - i.e. in little ruined houses with the windows boarded up, or coastlines with deserted car wrecks, or even a strange sort of fortress village thing (not Ravenholm, that bit where you need to find the batteries on the road bit).
The only thing is that IMO they needed a wee bit more information to put it more into context... especially in explaining who was firing the headcrab-artillery, or even just how long you'd been out of it (presumably they wanted the player to feel like a man with amnesia?).
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haha every time i see someone i always throw something at them, to see their reaction. usually it's nothing.
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Originally posted by Holy Imperial Gloriano
HL2 is awesome but ending was really bad
Bah. Cliffhangers are the best kind of ending ever, except for when evil wins, but that never happens.
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ActionTrip also offers another HL2 related pic:
(http://www.actiontrip.com/comics/pics/at_comic20.jpg)
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Originally posted by Holy Imperial Gloriano
HL2 is awesome but ending was really bad
Thats exactly what you said about Halo 2...
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Originally posted by Deepblue
Thats exactly what you said about Halo 2...
that is true Halo2 did have little better ending because it's was epic
Hl2 end was like stop (when you want more it's end)
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I heard Halo 2's ending was like stopping in the middle of the story...
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Originally posted by Ransom Arceihn
Bah. Cliffhangers are the best kind of ending ever, except for when evil wins, but that never happens.
True, but that said - I for one felt that HL2 *started* with a cliffhanger, and didn't get much better from there untill the end.
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Hl2 was fun, so, lets just leave it at that.
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Originally posted by Kalfireth
True, but that said - I for one felt that HL2 *started* with a cliffhanger, and didn't get much better from there untill the end.
That was actually what I liked about HL2's story. What made it not very good was the fact it didn't ask any more questions, at the end you were left with pretty much the same ones you had at the start.
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I have a quesion that I didn't want to start a whole new thread for: Does anyone know if there's any possibility that Killzone will be made for the PC?
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Probably no. (it got a crap score anyway)