[vyper]

Hmm, curious...

[Ashrak]

i loved it played through in 2 days, had to activate god to get on the lift though :/


and HDR is MUCH betteri n HL2 than it is in oblivion, and it runs perfect unlike oblivion so imho HL2>oblivion in many ways

[vyper]

i loved it played through in 2 days, had to activate god to get on the lift though :/

Eh?

[Ashrak]

God mode there was a small point with an elevator which was .... hard even on normal dif

[vyper]

I realised you meant God mode, I'm just not sure which point you're referring to. Unless you mean with the falling stuff, which just required patience to find the right angle to deal with the "problem".

[neoterran]

The buildings might be somewhat more detailed in Oblivion, (not really sure I agree with that) but look at the characters. Alyx alone looks and acts a thousand times more realistic and better than any single NPC you're ever going to meet in oblivion.

[Ashrak]

no its the one with the zombine undeground in pretty much the start, after you fall off the train


Edit:

Decided to take some screenshots


http://www.imaginationdesigns.org/HL2images/hl2.jpg
http://www.imaginationdesigns.org/HL2images/hl3.jpg
http://www.imaginationdesigns.org/HL2images/hl4.jpg
http://www.imaginationdesigns.org/HL2images/hl5.jpg
http://www.imaginationdesigns.org/HL2images/hl6.jpg
http://www.imaginationdesigns.org/HL2images/hl7.jpg
http://www.imaginationdesigns.org/HL2images/hl8.jpg
http://www.imaginationdesigns.org/HL2images/hl9.jpg
http://www.imaginationdesigns.org/HL2images/hl1.jpg
http://www.imaginationdesigns.org/HL2images/hl11.jpg

[vyper]

Ah, I know the bit you mean. THAT is where I learned the usefulness of flares. Question - at the end, did you get the trailer to play or did source crap out and relaunch itself?

[Ashrak]

at the end? how end after the credits?

[Flipside]

The buildings might be somewhat more detailed in Oblivion, (not really sure I agree with that) but look at the characters. Alyx alone looks and acts a thousand times more realistic and better than any single NPC you're ever going to meet in oblivion.

Well, now try building an entire set of wardrobes, armour, weapons that she can interchange and try getting her to look natural in all of it, as well as make it interchangeable with every other human character in the game. Now, remove the game scripting and try to add an Artificial Intelligence system that reacts to your behaviour and those around you.

As for the quality of the graphics, my only real complaint is that Oblivion is very 'samey' after a while, but then, if HL2 was freeform, it would probably suffer from the same problem. In Half life, you move from one section to the other, in Oblivion you have a massive world you can wander around in as you wish.

As far as the graphics are concerned, I still disagree, I think Oblivion looks far more atmospheric and generally 'real' than HL2, apart from the HDR, which I always turn off.

[starbug]

just how much is the game ment to cost (in the uk)? every mag i read says it should be about £15 yet every single shop has it priced at £20, i am unsure wether to buy this game or not after the amount of trouble (and a hell of a lot of swearing  ) i had getting HL2 (well steam) to work, it just didn't seem to like my computer.

[WMCoolmon]

I heard it's about £9.5 if you buy it through steam (ie it sells at the $20 price in the states, which thanks to the conversion rate, is £9.5)

[Ashrak]

HDR sucks in oblivion but rocks in HL2 also no slowdowns

[Flipside]

HL2, iirc, uses 'real' HDR, whereas Oblivion doesn't.

The speed is somewhat because of the poly-counts in the models. Oblivion is designed for much higher-end computers, and from my point of view, the graphics most certainly reflect this.

[Ashrak]

not really apparently completely jacked up the high end computers run a max of 40 FPS which is ridiculous

[Flipside]

Just like Doom 3 did when it came out. It now runs like a dream.

[Ashrak]

still whacked :/ i have a up to date card and its fraking lagging

[Fineus]

I've just finished playing it and I have to say I'm blown away.

If anyone cares to look back, you'll see I didn't really like Half Life 2 on the whole. The graphics were good for the most part and the gameplay was fairly entertaining but it just didn't come together as well as Half Life did. It lacked a cohesive feel - perhaps I just didn't like the washed out greys and browns of the Eastern European city setting.

HL: Ep 1 changes all that for me.

From the incredibly cool intro (it appealed to the geek in me, G Mans one line was great) right the way through to the end. It was short but sweet. Alyx' dialogue was fun and interesting, the settings were good (particularly the hospital near the end of the game). It all came together and felt a lot more whole than HL2 did. Given that and the teaser trailer for Episode 2, I really can't wait. The storyline that HL2 vaguely started (but took a lot of consideration before it all came together) is a lot more easy to follow now that the charachters are known.

All in all, I love it. It's a shame it was so short, but I guess Valves decision to release three smaller episodes over the course of the year rather than wait a long time for the next game is a good decision.

[Ace]

I hate to admit that I got it over Steaming pish, but I did enjoy it.

Well save for the stupid "stack cars to get over this wall while ants attack" sequences... Yes you can put cars over the holes but... ugggh... make building an exit like that an option but not the only option...

The intro was nice, as I never liked 'Gman' and his cult following. It was good to see him put in his place. The conclusion was also impressive.

If Oblivion's downloadable content was of this caliber...

Then again if HL2's was like Oblivion's it'd be the Lost Coast with no voice overs and recycling art from the game... with a NEW WEAPON that was already in the art files...

[Hippo]

i did most of chapter 2 without ammo, just using the flares and alyx's machine-pistol to get through (cause wtf, she can't be killed ) ...