You guys mentioned that the art style of TF2 was based on J.C. Leyendecker. He's one of my favorite artists, and I just went to an exhibit last weekend. I took a bunch of surreptitious pictures that someone might find interesting. They're about as hi-res as you're gonna find of Leyendecker's stuff.
This led to all sorts of fun.I used to play the original Quake 1 Team Fortress with friends back in my college days. We never played online, but we had a LAN and enough players. Without that outside influence, our strategies grew out of small talent pool, but we also adapted pretty quickly to each other. It was always a kick to see an emergent strategy and the adaptations that followed.
While playing the demo-man, I figured out that if team damage was disabled and if my teammates cooperated, I could "transport" them from one end of a map to the other - avoiding environmental traps, enemy snipers, and other obstacles - by using a set charge.
No matter how you design a map (or some other part of gameplay), players will find a way to use it in some way you didn't expect.
I have beaten Super Mario 2 over the span of 1 month. I played nearly every day at least 4 hours. I spent one week on each of the last two levels. HOLY SHIT. Yeah, I know why Japan didn't release this game here.
On 8-3(cloud level), I was on the final jump to the flagpole. I'm sure you all remember the insane hard mario video. I jumped to the flagpole, and realized half-way through exactly what was going to happen. All I can say is I quit for about a day after that.
Multiplayer was pretty awesome especially Capture the Flag, there was quite a bit of skill with snipers, and vehicle control (especially banshees).
The only thing I could fault is that the normal pistol you start off with can be used to kill an enemy with 2 head shots (when in range) and the majority of other special weapons are sucky in comparison.
Howabout "Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory" for a class CTF type game, that was pretty great plus it was free!
Halo: Combat Evolved multiplayer on PC was fun, but it still wasn't as good as most of the other PC FPS games (ie: UT, CS and DoD.)
What made RtCW:ET good in multiplayer, in my opinion, was the objective maps. Where you had to work towards doing something as a team, while the other team tried to stop you. Like the tank level where you have to get the Allied tank across a level, by first blowing up a gate, then clearing another road block, then finally letting it blow up something. Those maps got intense.
I haven't listened to the episode yet, but I have found that it really comes down to whether people are using voice chat at all. If they are, they usually win, if they don't they lose because there is no organized effort.
I see that. I play as a medic most of the time and I don't know how many times I wish I could chat to the pyro or heavy I'm healing and tell them not to run around the corner into the battling area yet as I am 95% charged. Or to tell them I'm ready for uber and get them to run around the corner. I have to just hit it and give them a couple of seconds to realize they're uber and run around the corner. It would also be nice to tell a heavy i'm healing to turn around, there's a scout or a spy coming after me. I usually either quit healing and pull out my gun (hoping the heavy doesn't die durring this time), or I run in front of the heavy. But I'm afraid I get in the way. Does this bother other people?
Also, just for some feedback, if you're a scout, or soldier, or demoman, ect., and a medic is healing a heavy who is going at it with the enemy, or is about to be going at it with the enemy, should a medic stop and hurry to heal additional teamates?
How close is TF2 to HL2? I just downloaded the HL2 demo.They're both FPSes. They both have guns. They both use the same game engine. Otherwise, they are quite different.
Nope, I don't enjoy it at all. I bought 1 in anticipation for Orange Box, but couldn't get in to it. I don't know what it is about HL2, but I fucking HATE that game. I'm not enjoying myself - the story is retarded. "Thanks Gordon, walk through this door!" - then I carry on through the door, no explanation of where I'm going or why, but I just go to places down a funneled path and kill brainless AI with weak-ass guns that need to expend an entire clip to kill a single Combine. Gordon Freeman is a useless character, the guy has no personality or character at all. It's conveyed by Alyx saying "Gordon's ready for anything! Right Gordon?" and that's about it. It looks nice, but god dammit the driving sequences are the worst ever, and after 4 years or whatever you think they'd at least fix that up. TF2 is so much more fun, from the visuals to the weapons and characters as well as the map layouts and team-based gameplay. I do not like Half Life in the least. Not one moment of that game has me having fun, and I think it's total bullshit that this game got positive reception when it's got
A) Terrible AI
B) Terrible Hero
C) Awful Driving
D) Same-old Same-old FPS gameplay
and other things I already bitched about... I dunno, I think Half Life is the most overrated franchise ever. I honestly can't find a reason to keep playing it when I can play Halo, which I know I'll get chewed out for, but honestly play that game. The encounters are amazing, and that game is just plain fun - this coming from a Halo hater. Shit, I'll play Syphon Filter on my PSP instead of Half Life. That's got more fun stuff to do in it.
What difficulty level were you playing the game on? Easy?
I played the HL2 demo all the way through the first mission and I still have no clue what I was doing or why.
Hey Scrym. I know you already did the episode on FPS key bindings, what about creating a thread where you tell us what key bindings you actually use for each game?
I have some really strong urges to punch certain close minded noobs. But on the subject of the demo it is really a tech demo more than a gameplay demo. Just look how pretty it is now go buy orange box!
But.. the first 3 training things were simply "look a portal, go through here, come out there" which i doubt would be enough to get much of an influx of new players, and if it was the first 3 puzzles after you got to shoot both orange and blue portals, then that might be a bit tough for some people to grasp. I personally think up until the fire pit, that is the demo, and that is what should be freely available, its an hour maybe hour and a half of gaming, learning and getting a feel for the game. Granted that's most of the game... so we NEED MORE MAPS VALVE!
But.. the first 3 training things were simply "look a portal, go through here, come out there" which i doubt would be enough to get much of an influx of new players, and if it was the first 3 puzzles after you got to shoot both orange and blue portals, then that might be a bit tough for some people to grasp. I personally think up until the fire pit, that is the demo, and that is what should be freely available, its an hour maybe hour and a half of gaming, learning and getting a feel for the game. Granted that's most of the game... so we NEED MORE MAPS VALVE!
Yeah, that's the problem. Hard to have a demo of a game that is largely a demo. I just can't wait for Episode 3, which will no doubt give Gordan the portal gun.
Are you saying that because of the story, or because they'd be stupid not to?
I really want to enjoy Half Life, there's so much of it - especially on Orange Box. I am happy with my purchase for Portal and TF2 alone (GN, please do a Portal show!) but there's so much Half Life 2 there for me to play - I really, really want to enjoy it, but I just can't with all the shit it's got wrong with it.
But.. the first 3 training things were simply "look a portal, go through here, come out there" which i doubt would be enough to get much of an influx of new players, and if it was the first 3 puzzles after you got to shoot both orange and blue portals, then that might be a bit tough for some people to grasp. I personally think up until the fire pit, that is the demo, and that is what should be freely available, its an hour maybe hour and a half of gaming, learning and getting a feel for the game. Granted that's most of the game... so we NEED MORE MAPS VALVE!
Yeah, that's the problem. Hard to have a demo of a game that is largely a demo. I just can't wait for Episode 3, which will no doubt give Gordan the portal gun.
I really want to enjoy Half Life, there's so much of it - especially on Orange Box. I am happy with my purchase for Portal and TF2 alone (GN, please do a Portal show!) but there's so much Half Life 2 there for me to play - I really, really want to enjoy it, but I just can't with all the shit it's got wrong with it.
From what you've posted it seems like you have some misconception about what Half-Life is supposed to be about. The AI is kind of crummy and the guns are weak intentionally. It's not supposed to be a game like Doom or Halo. Running and gunning is not Gordan Freeman's forte. He's got a doctorate at MIT, he not a soldier. He doesn't beat back zombies by being a badass, even though that happens from time to time, he beats them back with tricky moves.
Half-Life and HL2 are first person game with shooting, but they have more in common with Metroid or Zelda than they have with Quake or Halo. For example, in HL2: Episode 1 there is a part of the game where you defend yourself from a zomie hoarde while you wait for an elevator to show up and take you away. In any other typical fps, succeeding at this part of the game would depend on your accuracy and speed. However, in HL2 success or failure hinges on your ability to locate and manage resources effectively. Do you position the flares properly so Alyx does the most damage possible? Do you kill zombines with their own grenades in order to conserve your own? These are the sorts of things that Half-Life is about.
What I like so much about Half-Life games is that they are actually a string of very small unrelated games put under a single cinematic umbrella. Take for example the part in HL2 where you have to get past the snipers. The big game you are playing is "get from A to B without dying". Within that game you are playing many other games such as "use cover effectively to not get killed", "figure out a way to kill an enemy that has a vastly superior tactical position", "conserve your resources so that you are able to kill all the enemies", and "pay attention so you aren't caught off guard". All of these little games are individually challenging and fun. The fact that how well you do at each separate game adds up into something greater is what propels HL to such amazingness.
Also, one more thing about why HL is awesome. The fact that you get barely any resources. The fact that bad guys do take so many hits. The fact that any hidden cache of supplies almost always has an evil alien in it waiting to jump out at you. The fact that you are often put in situations where you can't defeat your enemies straight-up and have to figure out clever and new ways to progress. These things build a constant tension within the player. That tension is what above all else makes HL what it is. You never see Gordan Freeman, he never says anything, because he's you. You are Freeman. The tension you feel is the tension he feels. From the third person view he would appear to be the most badass action hero of all time. The reality is that he's unlucky sob who gets in the shittiest situations and only barely escapes with his life. Dude can't catch a fuckin' break even for two minutes.
Half-Life, HL2, and all the episodes are IMHO as good as the single player fps experience can get. Just don't expect it to be anything like other typical single player fpses like Halo, FarCry, Call of Duty, Gears of War, etc. Think System Shock, Bioshock, Zelda, Metroid, that is the type of game you find in Half-Life.
Wrong. Portal gun + super gravity gun = best game ever. Also, you just know that they'll totally string you along little by little. They'll give crowbar. Then blue portal and crow bar. Then blue portal and gravity. Don't expect to get the full portal gun and gravity gun until the final chapter or two.
Don't expect to get the full portal gun and gravity gun until the final chapter or two.That was one thing that pisesd me off about HL2. It's awesomeness was too concentrated. As soon as I got the super gravity gun, I immediately and audibly asked, "Why'd they wait until now?"
That was one thing that pisesd me off about HL2. It's awesomeness was too concentrated. As soon as I got the super gravity gun, I immediately and audibly asked, "Why'd they wait until now?"
If you listened to the dev's commentary in Episode 2 they explain that the super gravity gun was immensely over powered and was really hard to design levels around. While it was fun, having it in the game for a long amount of time would probably break gameplay in the long run.
As for the portal gun making an appearance in Episode 3, I was really excited to see how they integrated the Portal story into the Half-Life universe. I wonder how the female character in Portal will meet up with the Freeman and whether or not she is part of the G-Man's plan.
Also, one more thing about why HL is awesome. The fact that you get barely any resources. The fact that bad guys do take so many hits. The fact that any hidden cache of supplies almost always has an evil alien in it waiting to jump out at you. The fact that you are often put in situations where you can't defeat your enemies straight-up and have to figure out clever and new ways to progress. These things build a constant tension within the player. That tension is what above all else makes HL what it is. You never see Gordan Freeman, he never says anything, because he's you. You are Freeman. The tension you feel is the tension he feels. From the third person view he would appear to be the most badass action hero of all time. The reality is that he's unlucky sob who gets in the shittiest situations and only barely escapes with his life. Dude can't catch a fuckin' break even for two minutes.
I actually think that this is the part of Half-Life that really sets the series apart from the rest. Putting a bunch of little games together, like you said before, just makes it more adventure-ish, like Zelda or Metroid. What really, really makes Half-Life is the immersive quality. As you pointed out, in this series, you are Gordon Freeman. He knows only what you know, and vice-versa. All the plot in the series is experienced in-game, so if you don't know what's going, it's because Gordon doesn't know what's going on. That's what makes the action in the game so awesome and intense; throughout the whole game, you're just some guy who's doing everything he can to survive, and usually just making it. An ordinary man in extraordinary circumstances will accomplish the impossible; that's Half-Life in a nutshell.
The limited resources and the connection with the main character give the game a gritty, intense feel. Challenges are challenges in this game.
Really, you should play the games in order: Half-Life, Half-Life 2, and the two episodes. If you play them out of order, you won't really have a good feel for what the game is doing.
Comments
While playing the demo-man, I figured out that if team damage was disabled and if my teammates cooperated, I could "transport" them from one end of a map to the other - avoiding environmental traps, enemy snipers, and other obstacles - by using a set charge.
No matter how you design a map (or some other part of gameplay), players will find a way to use it in some way you didn't expect.
I have beaten Super Mario 2 over the span of 1 month. I played nearly every day at least 4 hours. I spent one week on each of the last two levels. HOLY SHIT. Yeah, I know why Japan didn't release this game here.
On 8-3(cloud level), I was on the final jump to the flagpole. I'm sure you all remember the insane hard mario video. I jumped to the flagpole, and realized half-way through exactly what was going to happen. All I can say is I quit for about a day after that.
Multiplayer was pretty awesome especially Capture the Flag, there was quite a bit of skill with snipers, and vehicle control (especially banshees).
The only thing I could fault is that the normal pistol you start off with can be used to kill an enemy with 2 head shots (when in range) and the majority of other special weapons are sucky in comparison.
Howabout "Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory" for a class CTF type game, that was pretty great plus it was free!
What made RtCW:ET good in multiplayer, in my opinion, was the objective maps. Where you had to work towards doing something as a team, while the other team tried to stop you. Like the tank level where you have to get the Allied tank across a level, by first blowing up a gate, then clearing another road block, then finally letting it blow up something. Those maps got intense.
Turn your textures up to max and read the papers that fall out of the intellgence package - it has the names of 5 upcoming downloadable maps.
Also, look at the Pyro's locker in 2Fort.
I see that. I play as a medic most of the time and I don't know how many times I wish I could chat to the pyro or heavy I'm healing and tell them not to run around the corner into the battling area yet as I am 95% charged. Or to tell them I'm ready for uber and get them to run around the corner. I have to just hit it and give them a couple of seconds to realize they're uber and run around the corner.
It would also be nice to tell a heavy i'm healing to turn around, there's a scout or a spy coming after me. I usually either quit healing and pull out my gun (hoping the heavy doesn't die durring this time), or I run in front of the heavy. But I'm afraid I get in the way. Does this bother other people?
Also, just for some feedback, if you're a scout, or soldier, or demoman, ect., and a medic is healing a heavy who is going at it with the enemy, or is about to be going at it with the enemy, should a medic stop and hurry to heal additional teamates?
A) Terrible AI
B) Terrible Hero
C) Awful Driving
D) Same-old Same-old FPS gameplay
and other things I already bitched about... I dunno, I think Half Life is the most overrated franchise ever. I honestly can't find a reason to keep playing it when I can play Halo, which I know I'll get chewed out for, but honestly play that game. The encounters are amazing, and that game is just plain fun - this coming from a Halo hater. Shit, I'll play Syphon Filter on my PSP instead of Half Life. That's got more fun stuff to do in it.
Hey Scrym. I know you already did the episode on FPS key bindings, what about creating a thread where you tell us what key bindings you actually use for each game?
I personally think up until the fire pit, that is the demo, and that is what should be freely available, its an hour maybe hour and a half of gaming, learning and getting a feel for the game. Granted that's most of the game... so we NEED MORE MAPS VALVE!
I really want to enjoy Half Life, there's so much of it - especially on Orange Box. I am happy with my purchase for Portal and TF2 alone (GN, please do a Portal show!) but there's so much Half Life 2 there for me to play - I really, really want to enjoy it, but I just can't with all the shit it's got wrong with it.
Half-Life and HL2 are first person game with shooting, but they have more in common with Metroid or Zelda than they have with Quake or Halo. For example, in HL2: Episode 1 there is a part of the game where you defend yourself from a zomie hoarde while you wait for an elevator to show up and take you away. In any other typical fps, succeeding at this part of the game would depend on your accuracy and speed. However, in HL2 success or failure hinges on your ability to locate and manage resources effectively. Do you position the flares properly so Alyx does the most damage possible? Do you kill zombines with their own grenades in order to conserve your own? These are the sorts of things that Half-Life is about.
What I like so much about Half-Life games is that they are actually a string of very small unrelated games put under a single cinematic umbrella. Take for example the part in HL2 where you have to get past the snipers. The big game you are playing is "get from A to B without dying". Within that game you are playing many other games such as "use cover effectively to not get killed", "figure out a way to kill an enemy that has a vastly superior tactical position", "conserve your resources so that you are able to kill all the enemies", and "pay attention so you aren't caught off guard". All of these little games are individually challenging and fun. The fact that how well you do at each separate game adds up into something greater is what propels HL to such amazingness.
Also, one more thing about why HL is awesome. The fact that you get barely any resources. The fact that bad guys do take so many hits. The fact that any hidden cache of supplies almost always has an evil alien in it waiting to jump out at you. The fact that you are often put in situations where you can't defeat your enemies straight-up and have to figure out clever and new ways to progress. These things build a constant tension within the player. That tension is what above all else makes HL what it is. You never see Gordan Freeman, he never says anything, because he's you. You are Freeman. The tension you feel is the tension he feels. From the third person view he would appear to be the most badass action hero of all time. The reality is that he's unlucky sob who gets in the shittiest situations and only barely escapes with his life. Dude can't catch a fuckin' break even for two minutes.
Half-Life, HL2, and all the episodes are IMHO as good as the single player fps experience can get. Just don't expect it to be anything like other typical single player fpses like Halo, FarCry, Call of Duty, Gears of War, etc. Think System Shock, Bioshock, Zelda, Metroid, that is the type of game you find in Half-Life.
As for the portal gun making an appearance in Episode 3, I was really excited to see how they integrated the Portal story into the Half-Life universe. I wonder how the female character in Portal will meet up with the Freeman and whether or not she is part of the G-Man's plan.
The limited resources and the connection with the main character give the game a gritty, intense feel. Challenges are challenges in this game.
Really, you should play the games in order: Half-Life, Half-Life 2, and the two episodes. If you play them out of order, you won't really have a good feel for what the game is doing.