[Flipside]

Look on the bright side, for all of it's Steaminess, at least it wasn't the one-play wonder that Doom 3 was.

[Unknown Target]

At least Doom 3 was enjoyable the first round through. Half Life 2 was a bunch of jumping through hoops. I'd never play it again, either, because of those horrible load times. I remember when you first came...

tiny spoiler:

Spoiler:

out back into the city, with Dog. I waited literally five minutes for this scene. I walk out, a couple combine pop out, and so does a tank. Dog takes the tank and kills the combine, then opens a door for me. I walk through and he does a minor fight with a hovercraft. I walk through a door and the level ends[/quote]

Five minutes of waiting for that?! I didn't even PLAY! I freaking walked through a door and watched another guy kick ass!
Half Life 2 simply did NOT require load times like it did. I've seen other games with HUGE levels that would load almost split-second, or even games JUST as detailed as Half Life 2, (maybe with less physics), with levels about the same size, that loaded in maybe thirty seconds. Half Life 2 is bloatware.

[redsniper]

Originally posted by Ghostavo


Full circle on the storyline?

more like: use the engine to its full potential.

[WMCoolmon]

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.

My A64 with 512 MB DDR400 RAM takes minutes to load. Actually, when I was forced to play at 800x600 with everything on medium or low (due to crappy gfx card) load times were acceptable. Now they're ridiculous, and I simply can't play through the game because I don't have the patience to wait that long at my computer. During that time I'm likely to turn the TV on or something, and get so engaged in that, that I completely forget about HL2.

This is in contrast to when I spent a few days doing nothing but replaying HL2 levels 'til I started to get sick of 'em. Unfortunately, I can't take advantage of the new life my new graphics card brings the game because it flatlines after a few minutes.

Fortunately, Counter-Strike doesn't seem to be afflicted by this problem. Unfortunately, it's started to crash spontaneously - after the recent updates Valve made.

[Grug]

Originally posted by WMCoolmon
Aftermath looks good, but I hope it'll be available from outside of Steam. Predictably, steam opens up all its links in an IE window, which I've sworn off.

Not to mention taking up 50 MB of space when I play CounterStrike.

Code: [Select]

int AllocationSize = GetTotalSystemPhysicalRam() / 10;
char *garbage = (char *)malloc(AllocationSize);

if(GetTotalFreeRam() < 51200)
{
     if(Prompt("You are currently low on RAM! Would you like to buy some more?"))
     {
          Steam.Open.Hardware.ValvePartners();
     }
     else
     {
          Steam.GetAppHandle("Counter-Strike")->Close();
          Steam.Error("Sorry, there is not enough memory to start Counter-Strike!");
     }
} [/B]

HL2 story was kind of a dissapointment for me. Maybe they can turn it around with this.
I hope its not overly priced. Just have to buy it when conversion rates are good for me.

[Ace]

Originally posted by Flipside
Look on the bright side, for all of it's Steaminess, at least it wasn't the one-play wonder that Doom 3 was.

Actually I find Doom 3 more replayable than Half-Life 2. HL2 has a few levels that you can replay, but has a lot of lengthy heavilly scripted sequences that become boring after the first time through. (most events with Dog, the first parts of the Citadel, etc.)

Doom 3 and its expansion are very much like the originals in replayability. It's even fun to cheat in the intro level with guns. (especially with the grabber)

[Fury]

Doom 3... now there's a game that was so boring I never bothered to finish it. Before another HL2 vs. D3 flame war starts; your mileage may vary.

I predict this thread gets closed after 6 more posts.

[vyper]

I was weak... I just bought Condition Zero over Steam... Now i've got a 3GB download to wait on...

[IPAndrews]

Originally posted by Mr. Fury
Before another HL2 vs. D3 flame war starts; your mileage may vary.

A vs thread would be rather pointless since they both suck donkey balls. Call of Duty now there's an entertaining FPS. I've just discovered that. Short maybe, but you get so much more out of that game than either of the two soulless monstrosities mentioned above. That said. One day the HL2 engine will be used to make something really, really fun. It just won't be HL2 aftermath.

[aldo_14]

I've been playing the arse off of the expansion pack multiplayer recently for some reason.

[Flipside]

I must admit, haven't got the expansion pack yet for Doom 3, was pretty dissapointed with the Original, I wanted a nice Kill-Fest like the other Dooms and got a Bug Hunt instead of a stand-up fight.

Does the expansion add some more variation? Particuarly to the monsters?

And yes, cheating on the start level and running round killing everyone is great fun in a twisted kind of way

[aldo_14]

Originally posted by Flipside
I must admit, haven't got the expansion pack yet for Doom 3, was pretty dissapointed with the Original, I wanted a nice Kill-Fest like the other Dooms and got a Bug Hunt instead of a stand-up fight.

Does the expansion add some more variation? Particuarly to the monsters?

Going solely by reviews, no.  There's something like 2 new monsters, one of which is a modified Imp.  From what I've read, it's not a major change or improvement.

[StratComm]

Going soly from screenshots, there are at least three new demons; the uber imp, something resembling a siren, and something that looks like a levitating Hell Knight.  The previews say six.  But whatever, I actually enjoyed Doom 3 and will probably give the expansion a go when it drops in price by $10 or so.

[Ace]

Originally posted by aldo_14


Going solely by reviews, no.  There's something like 2 new monsters, one of which is a modified Imp.  From what I've read, it's not a major change or improvement.

Off the top of my head:
*Old school Doom Lost Souls (flying, flaming skulls)
*Imp-like critters (faster and much smarter than imps)
*"TV head" (big nasty critter with... well a TV head)
*The Hunters (boss monsters with special powers)
*Various new zombies (hazmat suit zombies and zombies using flashlights comes to mind)
*Walking head critters

It uses also more of a variety of the Doom 3 monsters. While Doom 3 was pretty much an Imp/Zombie fest minus a few encounters, the expansion uses a much larger variety.

Overall, the AI while nothing astounding seems better. Some of the Doom 3 monsters like the MarsSec zombies and Imps were pretty bright. (using cover, not blowing themselves up with barrels, unlike the FarCry AI) The expansion's monsters are bright enough to change attack types when you use the grabber to steal their projectiles, they also dodge shots better.

Flipside, if your complaint about Doom 3 was (like mine) that it wasn't a real slaughterfest or a real horror type game you'll like the expansion. It's *much* more intense, since many encounters are designed that you need to use the artifact.

[Flipside]

Hmmmmmmmmmm.. Well, I will certainly keep my fingers crossed

That said, I've somehow managed to get two topics talking about Doom 3, which I don't even have installed atm, so my apologies for that

[vyper]

****ing CS: Condition Zero takes about three minutes just to start a local server. WTF

[Grug]

Just burn Condition Zero. That's it, in the bin. Throw the match. Good lad.


I've installed the D3 expansion, I like the fact you don't require the cd in the drive any more.
Havn't played through it yet though. Will have to wait till I'm pissed one day or something and crank the rock up.

[redmenace]

First Screen Shot

[Ace]

You know what's really stupid about this? They release a shot like that which shows absolutely nothing new for HL2, and the whole internet starts drooling.

[Ransom]

omgomg it's too dark!!!! what r they using, the doom 3 engien??????