What innovative & original elements did HL contribute to the FPS genre?

[Rad McCool]

I found [url="https://www.flashback.org/p3958857#p3958857]this thread[/url] on this other forum. The guy has listed innovative aspects throughout the history of FPS games. He also makes note that Half Life wasn't really the first game to do anything - despite its status as the most innovative/revolutionary FPS game ever. I have never really played the game, so I'm asking you who are the experts. What exactly did Half Life do that hadn't been done before? It was probably a very well made game, but taking ideas that have already been thought of doesn't make a game innovative.

I translated the list for you:
[quote][B].: Gameplay :.[/B]

Secondary fire: [B]Marathon[/B] (1994)
First mission based FPS: [B]System Shock[/B] (1994)
Non-hostile NPCs: [B]Blake Stone 3D[/B] (1993)
Teleporters: [B]Doom[/B] (1993)
Cooperative: [B]Doom[/B] (1993)
Strafe running: [B]Doom[/B] (1993)
Game based on different species: [B]Alien Versus Predator[/B] (1994) - on the Atari Jaguar, not to be confused with the PC game which came 5 years later.
Teambased multiplay: [B]Rise Of The Triad[/B] (1994)
Capture The Flag: [B]Rise Of The Triad[/B] (1994)
Arena: [B]Action Quake II[/B] (1998)
Rocket jumping: [B]Rise Of The Triad [/B] (1994)
Alternate endings: [B]Rise Of The Triad [/B] (1994)
Inventory: [B]Heretic[/B] (1994)
Hub-level-system: [B]Hexen[/B] (1995)
Strafe jumping: [B]Quake[/B] (1996)
Character development: [B]Strife[/B] (1996)
Different endings based on in-game good/evil choices: [B]Strife[/B] (1996) "much more complicated than [B]ROTT[/B]'s ending which only changed depending on the how you finished the last level"
Class based multiplay: [B]Team Fortress Quake[/B] (1996)
Game based on stealth: Hexen II (1997) "assassin hid in shadows, did more damage with backstabs, etc"
Non-hostile, exploration based intro: [B]Unreal[/B] (1998)
Game based on multiplayer/bots: [B]Unreal Tournament[/B] (1999)
First playable female character: [B]Rise of the Triad[/B] (1994)

----------

[B].: Weapons etc :.[/B]

Chaingun: [B]Wolfenstein 3D[/B] (1992)
Grenade launcher: [B]Blake Stone 3D[/B] (1993)
Rocket launcher: [B]Doom[/B] (1993)
Armor: [B]Doom[/B] (1993)
Shotgun: [B]Doom[/B] (1993)
Chainsaw: [B]Doom[/B] (1993)
Heat-seeking missiles: [B]Rise Of The Triad[/B] (1994)
Portable medkit: [B]Heretic[/B] (1994) "quarz flask"
Grenades: [B]Hexen[/B] (1995) "flechettes"
Proximity mines: [B]Dark Forces[/B] (1995)
Monsters who fight for you: [B]Hexen[/B] (1995) "dark servant"
Flash bombs: [B]Descent 2[/B] (1996)
Steerable missiles: [B]Descent 2[/B] (1996)
WMD: [B]Descent 2[/B] (1996) "earthshaker missile" - BFG in [B]Doom[/B] possibly..
Sniper rifle: [B]Terminator: Future Shock[/B] (1995)
Grappling hook: [B]Team Fortress Quake[/B] (1996)
Dynamite: [B]Outlaws[/B] (31a Mars 1997)
Railgun: [B]Shadow Warrior[/B] (1997)
Crow bar: [B]Redneck Rampage[/B] (1997)
Akimbo: [B]Rise of the Triad[/B] (1994)

----------

[B].: Technology :.[/B]

Crouching / leaning: [B]System Shock[/B] (1994)
Real bullet-hit detection (headshots): [B]Team Fortress[/B] (1997)
Leaning walls and walls with varied heights: [B]Ultima Underworld[/B] (1992)
VGA-graphics support: [B]Wolfenstein 3D[/B] (1992)
Real-time rendering: [B]Hovertank 3D[/B] (1991)
Wall textures: [B]Catacomb 3D[/B] (1991)
Ceiling and floor textures: [B]Doom[/B] (1993)
Removal of ceiling (outside environments): [B]Doom[/B] (1993)
Light/darkness: [B]Doom[/B] (1993)
Light and shadows in real-time: [B]Doom 3[/B] (2004)
Explosive scenery: [B]Doom[/B] (1993)
Looking up/down: [B]Rise Of The Triad[/B] och [B]Marathon[/B] (1994) (the games were released on the same day, 21st December '94)
Bullet holes: [B]Rise Of The Triad[/B] (1994)
Destructible light: [B]Rise Of The Triad[/B] (1994)
Microphone support in multiplayer: [B]Rise Of The Triad[/B] (1994)
3D-environments: [B]Driller[/B] (1987)
Real 3D: [B]Descent[/B] (1995) (enemies were now real polygons instead of 2D sprites)
Colored lighteffects: [B]Duke Nukem 3D[/B] (1996)
Underwater environments: [B]Duke Nukem 3D[/B] (1996)
Particles: [B]Quake[/B] (1996)
Usable console: [B]Quake[/B] (1996)
TCP/IP-multiplayer: [B]Quake[/B] (1996)
Bots: [B]Duke Nukem 3D: Atomic Edition[/B] (1996)
3D-acceleration support: [B]GLQuake[/B] (1997)
Transparent water: [B]Blood[/B] (1997)
Usable vehicles: [B]Shadow Warrior[/B] (1997)
Built-in support for 3D-cards: [B]Hexen II[/B] (1997)
Built-in support for custom skins: [B]Quake II[/B] (1997)
Adaptive explosions: [B]Aliens Versus Predator[/B] (1999)
Polygon smoothing: [B]Aliens Versus Predator[/B] (1999)
Built-in server finder: [B]Unreal Tournament[/B] (1999)
[/quote]

Again, I'm not saying that HL is a bad game. Just that there's a difference between coming up with ideas, and executing them well.
Any ideas?

[.FLAP.JACK.DAN.]

Better story telling?

[MaxOfS2D]

[del]Skeletal animation.[/del]

[UntouchedShadow]

Fun gameplay?

[AltFanatic]

wheres trespasser on there
one of if not the first games with physics and a ragdoll system with no predefined animations, real ironsights, the noodle arm, dynamic sound mixing, etc.

[Downsider]

[QUOTE=Max of S2D;33982185]Skeletal animation.[/QUOTE]

The first Quake-based game to do skeletal animation, sure, but shitloads of games did it before HL1.

[Sammun]

Loads of scripted events?

[Rad McCool]

[QUOTE=.FLAP.JACK.DAN.;33981888]Better story telling?[/QUOTE]
Than Strife, Shogo, or Unreal? The concept of having a story focused/driven fps game has already been done plenty of times before.
[QUOTE=leonthefox;33982818]Loads of scripted events?[/QUOTE]
Scripted events aren't anything new. Plenty of games have them.

[MaxOfS2D]

[QUOTE=Downsider;33982673]The first Quake-based game to do skeletal animation, sure, but shitloads of games did it before HL1.[/QUOTE]

oh right, my bad

[Smartlord]

It wasn't innovative in that it introduced new things, it was innovative that it took what other games had done before (even the story wasn't considered that original until they expanded it in HL2) and put them together in a new way, in a new package that had some of the best graphics of its time.

The way it told its story was considered pretty new for the time, where it was one of the first games where their was little to no focus on the protagonist as a character.

[Aurora93]

most of those games are set in futuristic settings, if I recall. HL was set, for once, in a relatively modern era, while still being sci-fi.

[Rad McCool]

[QUOTE=CakeMaster7;33983550]It wasn't innovative in that it introduced new things, it was innovative that it took what other games had done before (even the story wasn't considered that original until they expanded it in HL2) and put them together in a new way, in a new package that had some of the best graphics of its time.[/QUOTE]
Couldn't this be used to describe like all FPS games ever?

"Halo wasn't innovative in that it introduced new things, it was innovative that it took what other games had done before and put them together in a new way, in a new package that had some of the best graphics of its time."
[QUOTE=CakeMaster7;33983550] it was one of the first games where their was little to no focus on the protagonist as a character.[/QUOTE]
Being one of the first means nothing. You're either first or you aren't. And in this case HL wasn't. Hell, in Doom you didn't even have a name.

[Aurora93]

also, while DNF3D had colored lightmaps, i don't think they were additive like GoldSrc's

[Rad McCool]

[QUOTE=Aurora93;33983848]also, while DNF3D had colored lightmaps, i don't think they were additive like GoldSrc's[/QUOTE]
I don't really know what that means so I can't argue with it. But you sure that wasn't present in the Quake or the Unreal engine?

[Tin Can™]

I do know they were damn innovative with being able to tell a story through cutscenes where the player weren't frozen in position and unable to do anything, HL is pretty known for that

[Glitchvid]

Half life had a non-hostile intro and it was 1996.
Half life: non cutscene story.
Fully intractable environments. (Although this goes better with Red Faction)
Vent crawling.
Crossbow.
Snarks.
laser-trip-mines.
Saved decal system (Go back and decals / bullet holes are still there)
Action based puzzle solving.
Many different environments.
NPC buddies / helpers.

[A B.A. Survivor]

[QUOTE=VaSTinY;33984441]I do know they were damn innovative with being able to tell a story through [B]cutscenes where the player weren't frozen in position and unable to do anything[/B], HL is pretty known for that[/QUOTE]
:v:

[Aurora93]

[QUOTE=Rad McCool;33984132]I don't really know what that means so I can't argue with it. But you sure that wasn't present in the Quake or the Unreal engine?[/QUOTE]

additive means that multiple colors will mix correctly together

made a little picture to explain this for you:

[img]http://i53.tinypic.com/2n0r6zo.png[/img]

[Rad McCool]

[QUOTE=VaSTinY;33984441]I do know they were damn innovative with being able to tell a story through cutscenes where the player weren't frozen in position and unable to do anything, HL is pretty known for that[/QUOTE]
Hardly any of the older FPS games had frozen cutscenes. You were usually able to move as normally during all the scripted events. Hexen comes to mind.
[QUOTE=glitchvid;33984576]Half life had a non-hostile intro and it was 1996.[/QUOTE]
Unreal
[QUOTE=glitchvid;33984576]Fully intractable environments. (Although this goes better with Red Faction)[/QUOTE]
Is this really true?
[QUOTE=glitchvid;33984576]Vent crawling.[/QUOTE]
GoldenEye 64
[QUOTE=glitchvid;33984576]Crossbow.[/QUOTE]
Strife / Heretic / Hexen II
[QUOTE=glitchvid;33984576]Snarks.[/QUOTE]
Duke Nukem 3D
[QUOTE=glitchvid;33984576]laser-trip-mines.[/QUOTE]
Duke Nukem 3D
[QUOTE=glitchvid;33984576]Saved decal system (Go back and decals / bullet holes are still there)[/QUOTE]
I think this was present in Duke 3D. But I'm not sure. You could be right!
[QUOTE=glitchvid;33984576]Action based puzzle solving.[/QUOTE]
Hexen II
[QUOTE=glitchvid;33984576]Many different environments.[/QUOTE]
Shogo
[QUOTE=glitchvid;33984576]NPC buddies / helpers.[/QUOTE]
Blake Stone / Marathon

[TCB]

[B]IT INVENTED TIES.[/B]

[Aurora93]

also not to mention there was more emphasis on NPC relationships, not just good-to-bad but there were multiple tiers that were hostile to eachother

[A B.A. Survivor]

There's always someone who comes into the Valve Games and Mods section and tries to tell everyone why Half-Life is unimportant.
I'm sick of those kinds of people.

[Dam]

Wasp gun

[Aurora93]

plus a fear/neutral/hostile/ally kind of system

[Rad McCool]

[QUOTE=Aurora93;33985062]also not to mention there was more emphasis on NPC relationships, not just good-to-bad but there were multiple tiers that were hostile to eachother[/QUOTE]
Hmm.. how do you mean exactly?

[Aurora93]

grunts hated aliens and BM staff, aliens hated grunts and BM staff, BM staff could turn on you if shot at, snarks hated everything

[editline]31st December 2011[/editline]

there was also more of an emphasis on puzzles and slow-paced areas in a market that was predominately about getting as much frags as possible

[Meatpuppet]

The game as a whole is much more than the sum of its parts.

[Rad McCool]

[QUOTE=Aurora93;33985135]plus a fear/neutral/hostile/ally kind of system[/QUOTE]
Try Strife!
[QUOTE=Aurora93;33985161]grunts hated aliens and BM staff, aliens hated grunts and BM staff, BM staff could turn on you if shot at, snarks hated everything[/QUOTE]
Ah I get it. Feels kind of like Alien vs Predator - where there were three species who interfered with each other. But I will look into this more. You could be onto something.
[QUOTE=Aurora93;33985161]there was also more of an emphasis on puzzles and slow-paced areas in a market that was predominately about getting as much frags as possible[/QUOTE]
System Shock did this years earlier.

[Aurora93]

i meant that as supplementary to what i said about npc relationships

[Rad McCool]

[QUOTE=Meatpuppet;33985190]The game as a whole is much more than the sum of its parts.[/QUOTE]
Yeah sure. But that's not what were discussing here. I'm talking about original ideas. If we look at the most modern and popular fps-games today: What features are present that dates back to Half Life instead of an earlier game? Being innovative means you are contributing to the scene with ideas that other people can later use/steal/exploit.