I was reading some of the older threads about HL2, and a few thoughts came to mind. For anyone else on the planet who hasn't purchased this game (I hear there are only 3 or 4 of you left), let me just say a few very brief things.
1. One of the best games of the year (and I would not balk at GOTY honors) also is shackled with the worst install in the history of modern technology from 1959 to present. Valve decided to include their new proprietary online gaming program, Steam that forces the installer to go online, register an account, and UPLOAD for a few hours (on dialup) before being able to play. Installs of 6 hours were being reported on launch day because of server overloads occuring. This is pure garbage in the first place, and secondly, Steam will try to boot and connect to the internet with each startup unless you disable it. Thankfully, you can play HL2 in offline mode and do not have to verify your account online with each load, but you must enter your password and ask Steam to remember it...
2. Did I mention that the game is awesome, and I like it better than Halo 2? and I LOVE Halo 2. Ralphie had posted in an older thread about how PC games are more immersive and that console games can not match the experience that PC games offer, and I had a thought that I never had before:
What if what console games needed were being hooked up to a big 22 inch computer monitor instead of being played on TV? If I played any number of console games right up front of a big CRT or LCD screen with a nice 5.1 sound system to boot, I would be just as immersed as I am in front of my PC with all its goodies. Just a thought. But I must say that Ralphie hit the nail on the head and I agree with her fully.
3. Some were questioning whether their computer had enough to actually run HL2 because of its reputation for being reliant on cutting-edge performance.
I am playing HL2 on a laptop with a P-IV 2.8GHz with a 64MB GeForce Go 5600 graphics chipset. Yes the processor is good, but the graphics card is hardly cutting-edge.
And the game looks terrific. Sure there are a few hiccups and stutters with sound, and the load times are longer than I would like, but the game is most definitely playable. The sad part is that I have a tower PC that is much faster than my laptop, but I wanted portability in my lifestyle. With the advent of this Steam network, I am hesitant to even try to install the game on another machine, even though I am supposed to be able to do so without incident.
So in short, Half-Life 2 is awesome, but you must jump through flaming hoops to get it to install, but in the end it is worth it. I just hope Valve does not keep us from Gordon Freeman (my hero) for another 6 years...!
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Go idea, BookWyrm. That's how I purchase most of my games--either used or I go for the bargain price sometime later. Of course this means I get to miss out on all the fun of the initial hype (like as happened with Halo two this past month) but if the game has any substance it can wait being played for half a year. I find that this saves me a lot of money.
Posts: 722 | Registered: Jul 2004
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Not only that, but the bugs are generally worked out and the patches make the game more whole.
quote: Have I mentioned I got my Ram today ?
I forgot to mention that my laptop is packing 512MG RAM, which helps tremendously!
All in all, HL2 has so many little things that are so darned impressive, it makes for a very immersive experience like few other games offer. In truth, I never solved the single player missions of Halo 2. I played about 2/3 of the way through, and watched my son play through the rest.
For example: (spoiler alert)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
I was assulting this bunker with my antlions under my control, and rounded a line of rocks to head up the beach. An overwatch trooper was descending the beach and targeted me with his assault rifle. One of my antions leapt over my head from behind to confront the trooper, the trooper took his sights off of me and targeted the antlion, shooting him out of the air in an over-the-head-and-spinning-behind-type move that caused my jaw to drop. After looking behind to make sure he killed the antlion, he brought his assault rifle back to bear on me, while I fired a burst of my assault rifle a his head, taking him down.
This all occured in about 3 or 4 seconds. I weep with joy...
I sit here at work and wonder if I can churn out 30 minutes of gaming or so and get away with it...because I have yet to play through the whole game...
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Oooooooooo, Now you've done it. You've touched on a subject I can so easily get into. I can talk about HL2 all day. I won't though, seeing as how I have homework to do, but I will touch on a few things you said.
Steam is great if you have broadband, if not I imagine it can be a royal pain in the butt. Well before HL2 came out, I had preordered it and downloaded it and was just waiting for the release date for it to be unlocked. When it was finally released, Steam went through the unlocking thing and I was playing within 20 minutes. This was at midnight on the night it came out.
I'd highly recommend buying Valve games off of Steam in the future(if you have broadband). It's so painless and you can get it without having to even get up out of your chair. The games usually run for about $10 less than they do in the store too.
As far as the game goes, I was simply amazed. The way Half-life 2 immerses the player in the game world is juat spectacular. They never pause for cutscenes. You are always seeing from Gordan Freeman's perspective. In a way you become Gordan Freeman.
There's also Counter-Strike: Source and HL2 Deathmatch which are pretty awesome.
I actually made maps for the original Half-life/Counter-Strike. Here're some screenshots of some of my maps for the old HL engine. I'm actually making the chatbox map there into a CS:S map now, andd it looks totally sweet.
I was also thinking of doing a full blown mod for HL2. Some kind of Sci-fi space adventure mod but I haven't nailed down the story or gameplay aspects of it yet.
So yeah... HL2 = awesome and stuff.
//edit. I could also talk about Halo 2 all day even though the SP campaign was pretty disappointing.
The night that came out was a fun night though, the Bungie guys were at my eb at midnight and gave out free stuff.
And Halo 2 on Xbox live is great. Anybody got live? If so we could play sometime.
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Let me tell you MY HL installation frustration.
I have a Radeon 9800AIWPro. When I bought it, it was "bundled" with HL2 -- which wasn't released yet. So a little coupon in the box said I could call a number and give them the code on the coupon to get my free copy.
When the game finally came out, it turns out that the "free" copy would cost $15 shipping and handling unless I wanted to download it over Steam -- which I didn't, since I like having physical copies of my games. So I tried to buy it over the web, only to repeatedly be told that my code was invalid. When I called in, I was asked to E-mail them scans of my product box -- which of course I no longer had -- and a digital photo of my video card in my computer. I grudgingly complied, and got my copy of the game three weeks later.
And when I went to install the game from CD, I unchecked the CounterStrike option -- the only option you CAN uncheck -- because I don't play CounterStrike all that often. Much to my surprise, the installation repeatedly bombed out over and over again when trying to copy an ICON file. It turns out that they apparently never actually seriously believed that anyone would not want to install CounterStrike, since the CD installation of the game DOES NOT WORK if you don't install CounterStrike -- since one of the HL2 executable icons is in the CounterStrike CAB file for some reason. You can remove CounterStrike after you install the whole package, though.
Of course, you also have to register for Steam. Not a bright idea.
I own a CD copy of the game so I don't HAVE to talk to your computers over this new-fangled Internet thingy if I don't want to.
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Yes, by all accounts, the people who don't like to own physical copies of things had painless experiences.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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My friend and I refuse to buy (and pirate) HL2 for the fact that they packaged Steam with it, we're very angry at Valve for doing something that amazingly stupid. Plus, Quake2 is where it's at....it's not just a game, it's a way of life. Satyagraha
Posts: 359 | Registered: Jun 2001
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quote:So in short, Half-Life 2 is awesome, but you must jump through flaming hoops to get it to install, but in the end it is worth it. I just hope Valve does not keep us from Gordon Freeman (my hero) for another 6 years...!
I know. Installation is a bee-otch.
But let me know when you've made it to the end. There are some purr-etty fantabulous things awaiting you.
btw - I love Halflife 2 so much, I actually loved it more than Thief III. And I proposed marriage to Thief III.
quote:My friend and I refuse to buy (and pirate) HL2 for the fact that they packaged Steam with it, we're very angry at Valve for doing something that amazingly stupid. Plus, Quake2 is where it's at....it's not just a game, it's a way of life.
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The games usually run for about $10 less than they do in the store too.
