[Ford Prefect]

But you need an internet connection to run Steam to begin with. Therefore, I cannot install HL2 on the computer in my room, which has better specs, but no internet connection. This, in my opinion, is lame.

[WMCoolmon]

Offline mode only works if you've got Steam remembering your password. There's also some conditions where it won't work - IIRC, such as the steam servers being online but not working properly.

Steam turns your software purchase into an indefinite-length loan, subject to Valve's approval (or disapproval) whenever you use the software. Not to mention that Valve doesn't seem to have a problem with accidentally disabling user's accounts when they've been using it completely legally. (Still gotta pay the $10 fee)

[StratComm]

You could always physically move the computer if you got desperate.  I refuse to install it because I like my system to remain stable, and I just don't trust it.  Anytime you dedicate a process to making sure something is still legally yours once it's been installed, I'm a little suspect.  But I also don't have any firsthand experience.

[Fury]

Originally posted by Ford Prefect
But you need an internet connection to run Steam to begin with. Therefore, I cannot install HL2 on the computer in my room, which has better specs, but no internet connection. This, in my opinion, is lame.

I almost commented to your replies, but then I found out it would be useless from my point of view, and only stir up possible flaming.

Have a nice day.

[IPAndrews]

I have absolutely no expectations for this Half Life 2 expansion whatsoever. Based on the story telling skills demonstrated by Valve in Half Life 2 itself. A great game engine wasted.

[Carl]

oh, you're such a party make badder.

[Fineus]

Originally posted by Carl


so that one thing is enough to turn a good game into a pile of ****?

and 5 min for 30 sec is a gross exaggeration, unless you have a really bad puter.

I wouldn't be to hasty to say that Carl, I've not got a top spec computer anymore but it's certainly no slouch. The incredibly long waiting time for what seems like a quite small amount of gameplay at any one time is unacceptable... especially if you happen to be loading between stages in a corridor and get "lost" then have to reload another two times to continue.

Compared to Half Life the load times are vast. The pace is broken up by this. Add that to the long startup time, unnecessary menu screen level load times and obscure storyline and HL2 isn't the world-beater that the media would have everyone believe.

That is of course - my two cents

[aldo_14]

I'd rate Half Life 2 about 80%, myself - it's good (for one thing it has one of the most atmospheric settings I've played, in particular Highway 17) - but it's not that good (lack of context for locations due to the storyline, fairly dull last third with pretty poor squad combat, annoying ending, lack of variety)

[Unknown Target]

Originally posted by Carl


so that one thing is enough to turn a good game into a pile of ****?

and 5 min for 30 sec is a gross exaggeration, unless you have a really bad puter.

Yes it is, because I want to play the game, not sit through load times for most of it. I actually went and fixed a microwave TV Dinner during one of the load times, and when I got back, it still wasn't done.

And my computer isn't that bad, either - P4 2.4 Ghz, Geforce 4 4600, 512 MB of RAM.

And Kal's right about the pace, as well: the load times simply break it up, so it feels like you're playing segments of something, not the whole game.

[Carl]

well it was never than bad on mine. and IIRC there is a patch that lessens the loading times.

[BlackDove]

There's this thing called "Defragmenting your hard drive" as well

[Fineus]

That's what's so irritating about the load times. My computer is tuned to run applications quite quickly. Everything else loads in an acceptable time. The drives are defragged both before and after install.

The fault of this is the games... not my computers.

[Fury]

No software, including games can be programmed to run perfectly on every all systems. That said, I've never experienced too long loading times in HL2, with exception of the startup loading before the menus. Although my A64 with RAID0 and 1 GB RAM setup might have something to do with it.

[aldo_14]

Originally posted by Mr. Fury
No software, including games can be programmed to run perfectly on every all systems. That said, I've never experienced too long loading times in HL2, with exception of the startup loading before the menus. Although my A64 with RAID0 and 1 GB RAM setup might have something to do with it.

However, system disparity is no excuse for programming errors.

[kode]

Originally posted by vyper
It's growing on me.

cancer does that too, you know.

[Mefustae]

let's face it, Half Life 2 could never live up to the expectations the media and the general public set it. It was supposed to be as revolutionary to the First Person Shooter genre as Wolfenstein 3D was all those years ago, but of course, HL2 did not live up to those expectations for the simple reason that it COULD not live up to the expectations that were set, they were too damn high! And the same damn thing is going to happen to Aftermath, which should (emphasis on SHOULD) be an improvement to HL2, but will never, and i mean NEVER be as good as everyone hopes...

...and of course, it doesn't help that Steam, a vital component in the Half Life 2 "experience" is about as popular and useful as the dreaded BSOD...

[Ford Prefect]

Now wait a minute. Steam may suck a lot of metaphorical genitalia, but I still think that Half-Life 2 is possibly the greatest first-person shooter ever.

[Scorpius]

I suppose the possibility of loading the next segment of the level while in game play is out of the question?  As I hear, Halo 2 had that nifty feature and therefore the only load time was at the beginning of a new level.

[Fineus]

It'd certainly shut me up. Surely the only computational power needed while the game is actually running is for physics, processing player input and AI calculations, right? The majority of the graphics is handled by GPUs these days anyway.

So the rest of the idle power could be used for loading the next level, even if it was only partially loaded before the level change you'd see a reduced loading time.

[Slanker_MT]

Originally posted by Mr. Fury
...And Ford Prefect, do you realize that Steam does also have offline mode?...

True, but there are of occasions where that thing doesn´t work... I for myself have to connect once, before I can open Steam (even for opening the map editor) *sigh*

It´s a great game, but it couldn´t live up to the expectations, true.