Half-Life and Portal series, general discussion (v6) - Games

It is also important to remember that Valve does tend to listen to their audience whilst the game is in development. Considering Portal 2 originally wasn't going to have any portals in...

Hundreds of hours invested into the trilogy and I am just now playing through Commentary mode. Sheesh, I completely forgot it existed!

Is Opposing Force (on hard) is the single hardest half life game? Assassin's fight in HL1 was hard enough, but here, with Mr. take 4 shotgun blasts to the face blackops and those huge energy shooting behemoths take it to the new level. Don't think that any other valve published game gave me so much grief on hardest settings.

male blackops have no head hitbox modifer, just aim for the legs much like hgrunts they also have issues aiming at ducked players, so duck alot

I just noticed, Combine Snipers aim for the head (or where the head should be) regardless of whether NPCs are crouching or not. :v:

don't post too much or you'll make me think something new is revealed about Half-Life 3.

[QUOTE=Kaleidescoop;47445937]Eh, okay. Hey, does anyone know how Eli and Mossman got out of the Citadel? I mean, it doesn't seem like there was a large period of time from when Eli and Mossman were at the top of the Citadel to where they've suddenly gotten out. I guess they could have taken a train or a pod, but from what I can tell the pods are slow as fuck and the trains only really go out of the Citadel near the bottom levels.[/QUOTE] There were cut lines alluding to them using an escape pod.

Making a Fast Headcrab soundpack out of sheer boredom and the fact that Valve just hastily copied and pasted the Classic sounds over instead of making unique vocalizations like what they did for the Poison Headcrab. [URL="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B58itVjqfGhlM3EzUENIdlVzeFk/view?usp=sharing"]Here[/URL] [URL="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B58itVjqfGhlQS1QVE12RTZ1bzA/view?usp=sharing"]are[/URL] [URL="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B58itVjqfGhlb1FMZHNhZzVwcDQ/view?usp=sharing"]some[/URL] [URL="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B58itVjqfGhlSEJCUkZZNy1wN1U/view?usp=sharing"]previews[/URL] I guess, since I don't know where else to put them. Feedback would be greatly appreciated.

[QUOTE=Kaleidescoop;47451122]I just noticed, Combine Snipers aim for the head (or where the head should be) regardless of whether NPCs are crouching or not. :v:[/QUOTE] I thought they always aimed at the chest?

ima time traveller came from 2020 half lief is no more

I was thinking, maybe it was obvious but not to me. Did the combine already know the location of Black Mesa East? Disregard the fact that maybe they had someone or something e.g. a scanner following Gordon through the canals where we don't see. Why I say this is because they had a small operations base going on at the Dam's storage warehouse. Why would they be literally next door to the secret base? I think they already knew it was there and planned to stop Gordon in his tracks. I think they lost track of him after they attacked as you know there were no combine in Ravenholm. They probably got confused and back on track with taking him down after they realised you were at the Coast by the time you got to the bridge. Also, I don't think the coast is far away from C17. Consider that Ravenholm is a 'mining town' but it's actually pretty damn cramped and small. It's more like an industrial location that was run down and disused before it became a rebel place. I love the random train tracks that go through Ravenholm that seemingly have no purpose. A bit silly. Also, interesting how they blocked off the tunnels to get to Ravenholm via train. Possibly to stop combine knocking through? (But then they could just blast the door down) Or to stop zombies getting out? But no way would they have had time to put up massive wooden walls when that happened... Getting out of hand here, I'll stop. Or I could continue about the random things that bother/interest me that no-one usually thinks of.

[QUOTE=Kickin Balls;47452510]I was thinking, maybe it was obvious but not to me. Did the combine already know the location of Black Mesa East? Disregard the fact that maybe they had someone or something e.g. a scanner following Gordon through the canals where we don't see. Why I say this is because they had a small operations base going on at the Dam's storage warehouse. Why would they be literally next door to the secret base? I think they already knew it was there and planned to stop Gordon in his tracks. I think they lost track of him after they attacked as you know there were no combine in Ravenholm. They probably got confused and back on track with taking him down after they realised you were at the Coast by the time you got to the bridge.[/QUOTE] I was always under the impression that once you got there [sp]Mossman radioed in to Breen that Gordon, Eli, and Alyx were there, and that's why she goes off into that little room at the bottom of the elevator while you're talking to Eli[/sp] E: Post is not preview

[QUOTE=teddthebucfan;47452677]I was always under the impression that once you got there [sp]Mossman radioed in to Breen that Gordon, Eli, and Alyx were there, and that's why she goes off into that little room at the bottom of the elevator while you're talking to Eli[/sp] E: Post is not preview[/QUOTE] Well, I suppose. She does act surprised. That further adds to my point, actually, as to why they're at the Dam warehouse. Maybe she's letting them know and that's why they took to the canals, to stop rebels and citizens making their way there, and when she goes into the room (as you said, to radio Breen) to let da comboz know that you're there. Seems coincidental. Another probably neglible thing is when they attack it's at night. Did they assume Gordon could be asleep and tried to surprise attack? I know it was getting late in the game time anyway, but they could've attacked at any time. Or did they finally get forces together to attack and it just happened to be at night? They probably tried a stormtrooper thing. What would've been most effective is snipers on the cliffs above Dog's playground. They could've taken out Alyx or even Gordon at that point. Come to think of it, they are so incomptent they can't think of obvious solutions; they clearly don't care about who gets hurt, so they could literally take down infrastructure that needs to be used by Gordon. Could they not have planted explosives on a bridge in the coast level? Another thing, why are they even patrolling the coast?! What for? There has to be an actual reason other than just a normal outpost. For an outpost they're pretty shit as well. No radios to signal Gordons there? Granted they probably have someone doing that when Gordon isn't running them over or buckshotting them in the face 0.1mm away from their face. I suppose they did have a reason to form an outpost at the bridge; their trains need that infrastructure. Another point about the trains on that bridge; why on Earth have they just...left a whole consist on the bridge? Oh no, back carriage is derailed, better leave it. Come to think of it, it's similar to the one you jump on isn't it? You see that train when you first jump on it at the start of Route Kanal, and it's stationary on a bridge you drive under with the airboat later, and it's resting place is on the massive bridge because of one derailed carriage? Does anyone know if the trains are automatic? They might not be considering the type of trains. Plus, Razor Trains aren't automatic as you might think they are, because you can see a window, obviously for a cabin. Whose operating the horn? Some advanced shit right there folks. Maybe whoever was driving that train on the bridge was carrying something that they didn't want the Combine to have (could've been rebels for all we know) and the combine found out, and tried stopping them, and mabye got the driver of it. Half Life 2: The Conductor. But really though, these things may never have even crossed Valves minds...or so we think

So is the only way to play SMOD tactical or its offshoots anymore that weird ass standalone version that strips out steam?

[QUOTE=Kickin Balls;47452790] I suppose they did have a reason to form an outpost at the bridge; their trains need that infrastructure. Another point about the trains on that bridge; why on Earth have they just...left a whole consist on the bridge?[/QUOTE] The better question is, how do they even get to the outpost? All the catwalks under the bridge are broken.

[QUOTE=HGrunt;47452946]The better question is, how do they even get to the outpost? All the catwalks under the bridge are broken.[/QUOTE] They do have airships.

[QUOTE=Kickin Balls;47452510]Did the combine already know the location of Black Mesa East? Why I say this is because they had a small operations base going on at the Dam's storage warehouse. Why would they be literally next door to the secret base? I think they already knew it was there and planned to stop Gordon in his tracks. I think they lost track of him after they attacked as you know there were no combine in Ravenholm. They probably got confused and back on track with taking him down after they realised you were at the Coast by the time you got to the bridge.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Kickin Balls;47452790]Another thing, why are they even patrolling the coast?! What for? There has to be an actual reason other than just a normal outpost. For an outpost they're pretty shit as well. No radios to signal Gordons there? Granted they probably have someone doing that when Gordon isn't running them over or buckshotting them in the face 0.1mm away from their face.[/QUOTE] Yes they knew the location of Black Mesa East, as well as Eli's presence there. In fact, they didn't just know about Black Mesa East, they knew about everything. They knew about the rebels in the canals and sewers, they knew about Black Mesa East, they knew about Highway 17. The only place they didn't seem to know about was Dr. Kleiner's Lab and Barney being a spy. The Civil Protection post above the damn was probably an observation post to keep an eye on Black Mesa East. Dr. Mossman was serving as a spy for the Combine, but she didn't call in the Combine Raid, because she can be heard blaming Breen for not waiting for the signal, to which Breen responds he wasn't sure if he could trust her. As for the raid, the Combine probably they had units on stand-by to take out BME when they got the go-ahead. When Gordon first turned up in City 17, Breen knew his friends were key resistance members, and that he would most likely be working with them. So Civil Protection started raiding all the resistance stations and sewers in City 17. When they failed to capture you at Black Mesa East, they stepped up efforts and sent Overwatch Soldiers to wipe out the resistance around Ravenholm, including the Coast. The Bridge itself is a key connection from Nova Prospekt to The Citadel, so it's likely that the Soldiers stationed there were permanent anyway. The small number of Soldiers (not Guards) seen in Nova Prospekt were probably either reinforcements or freshly created Soldiers being used in defense of the facility instead of being shipped to the Citadel, since Nova Prospekt's own security forces were being overwhelmed.

[QUOTE=halfer;47448929] I wonder what niche did Left 4 Dead 2 fill[/QUOTE] If I remember right, the "experiment" there was to see how soon they could develop and release a brand new game right after releasing another one, I guess as a way of disproving the (at the time) newly-coined phrase "Valve Time".

I wonder what L4D2 would be like if they hadn't rushed it.

I was poking around in the editor that came with Half-Life 2, and I found a set of what appear to be cover animations for all the human NPCs, called Cover_L, Cover_LToShootSMG1, etc. Are these ever used in the game? I don't remember seeing any NPCs actually take cover (only crouch at random times in the middle of areas for no apparent reason), so I'm kind of curious as to why Valve never added them in or why the ability for NPCs to take cover was disabled.

There were e3 demos where you saw people taking cover, but it never happened in-game. There's also some leak maps where people and Overwatch Soldiers are seen using cover. It's scripted in both instances, but cool nevertheless.

I'm surprised Alyx didn't know she secretly triggered a flashback due to Gordon's PTSD involving helicopters :v: [t]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/73775541/ep2_outland_12a0003.jpg[/t] [t]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/73775541/ep2_outland_12a0004.jpg[/t] [t]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/73775541/gordon_ptsd1.jpg[/t] [t]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/73775541/gordon_ptsd2.jpg[/t] [t]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/73775541/gordon_ptsd3.jpg[/t]

Is Brutal Half Life's installer broken or is it just me? Because I can't find anyone else having the same issue as me.

[QUOTE=Pigbear;47447497]ep2 spoiilers donut read if u haven't done episdoe 2 eli dies[/QUOTE] Why did you have to spoil it? What level does he die in? Is there a way to stop it from happening? Can I skip it?

I'm playing through HL2:Update and I have to say: The commmunity Commentary mode, which was the main aspect of it for me, is [I]really[/I] underwhelming and disappointing. I thought it was going to be a [I]lot[/I] more people with a lot more commentary, but it mainly feels like it's just Rick Scott and a few voice actors / animators and other people I don't even know reading stuff off of the Combine Wiki and just saying 'hey I like this part of the game'. even ignoring my cynicism, there are so many parts they just leave devoid of commentary that are good points to talk about or give ... well comment on.

[QUOTE=Kickin Balls;47452510]I was thinking, maybe it was obvious but not to me. Did the combine already know the location of Black Mesa East? Disregard the fact that maybe they had someone or something e.g. a scanner following Gordon through the canals where we don't see. Why I say this is because they had a small operations base going on at the Dam's storage warehouse. Why would they be literally next door to the secret base? I think they already knew it was there and planned to stop Gordon in his tracks. I think they lost track of him after they attacked as you know there were no combine in Ravenholm. They probably got confused and back on track with taking him down after they realised you were at the Coast by the time you got to the bridge. Also, I don't think the coast is far away from C17. Consider that Ravenholm is a 'mining town' but it's actually pretty damn cramped and small. It's more like an industrial location that was run down and disused before it became a rebel place. I love the random train tracks that go through Ravenholm that seemingly have no purpose. A bit silly. Also, interesting how they blocked off the tunnels to get to Ravenholm via train. Possibly to stop combine knocking through? (But then they could just blast the door down) Or to stop zombies getting out? But no way would they have had time to put up massive wooden walls when that happened... Getting out of hand here, I'll stop. Or I could continue about the random things that bother/interest me that no-one usually thinks of.[/QUOTE] I'm sure the Combine knew the location of BME, Thanks to [sp]Mossman[/sp]. But they wanted Eli to develop the teleporter technology. They attacked because everyone vital was there at the same time, teleport was pretty much finished, and they didn't know when the chance could arise again. The Dam's storage warehouse is probably a helicopter servicing outpost, which may as well have been put there to keep and eye on BME. [QUOTE=Kickin Balls;47452790]Well, I suppose. She does act surprised. That further adds to my point, actually, as to why they're at the Dam warehouse. Maybe she's letting them know and that's why they took to the canals, to stop rebels and citizens making their way there, and when she goes into the room (as you said, to radio Breen) to let da comboz know that you're there. Seems coincidental. Another probably neglible thing is when they attack it's at night. Did they assume Gordon could be asleep and tried to surprise attack? I know it was getting late in the game time anyway, but they could've attacked at any time. Or did they finally get forces together to attack and it just happened to be at night? They probably tried a stormtrooper thing. What would've been most effective is snipers on the cliffs above Dog's playground. They could've taken out Alyx or even Gordon at that point. Come to think of it, they are so incomptent they can't think of obvious solutions; they clearly don't care about who gets hurt, so they could literally take down infrastructure that needs to be used by Gordon. Could they not have planted explosives on a bridge in the coast level? Another thing, why are they even patrolling the coast?! What for? There has to be an actual reason other than just a normal outpost. For an outpost they're pretty shit as well. No radios to signal Gordons there? Granted they probably have someone doing that when Gordon isn't running them over or buckshotting them in the face 0.1mm away from their face. I suppose they did have a reason to form an outpost at the bridge; their trains need that infrastructure. Another point about the trains on that bridge; why on Earth have they just...left a whole consist on the bridge? Oh no, back carriage is derailed, better leave it. Come to think of it, it's similar to the one you jump on isn't it? You see that train when you first jump on it at the start of Route Kanal, and it's stationary on a bridge you drive under with the airboat later, and it's resting place is on the massive bridge because of one derailed carriage? Does anyone know if the trains are automatic? They might not be considering the type of trains. Plus, Razor Trains aren't automatic as you might think they are, because you can see a window, obviously for a cabin. Whose operating the horn? Some advanced shit right there folks. Maybe whoever was driving that train on the bridge was carrying something that they didn't want the Combine to have (could've been rebels for all we know) and the combine found out, and tried stopping them, and mabye got the driver of it. Half Life 2: The Conductor. But really though, these things may never have even crossed Valves minds...or so we think[/QUOTE] About snipers being more effective and combine incompetent - it's because Half Life is a videogame. If it had not been a videogame, and even if we ignored that gordon is an one man army, he would 100% be dead the second that combine helicopter showed up in water hazard. A 1990s ka-50 helicopter can strike a moving armored vehicle from up to 8 kilometers with faster than sound rockets. I wouldn't even be a chase. The combine helicopter would hover somewhere far beyond your field of vision or hearing, and shoot guided rockets that would reach you faster than their sound. You'd just be driving that airboat and suddenly explode into unidentifiable pieces. Same thing with combine snipers - there would be no drunken blue beam. You'd just die the second you show your head around the corner. About the coast patrol: Most probably just waiting for you after realizing that you're going to be traveling there (Don't forget that you meet a small force trying to breach the coastal base). Their APC's probably have radios. And one of the shacks have a binocular, which means that they also gathered intel and planned an attack on the base where you get the RPG. I asked Mark about automatic trains but he didn't reply on that topic. I'm torn on this topic also. About the trains on the bridge - it's the "same" train because it's the same prefab Valve used, I don't think there's a deep reasoning for that. It occupied half of the bridge for gameplay - the "escape from being smashed" moment with the Razortrain. Half Life has tons of inconsistencies, which Mark addressed to me personally and other people. Valve simply choose the thing that looks and plays better over the thing that makes more sense. One such example: Citadel is about 2km high, but the actual Breen office map is only 400 meters high from the ground. Alyx elevator ride doesn't line up with the Kleiner laboratory at all. Razortrain at route canal would have hit the overpass that the train you jump on passes through. Point Insertion apartment building has more floors inside than it has outside. Where you get the buggy, you can see distant ports sitting on water. The problem is that the water is drained. And if would be on it's original height, those ports would drown. And no, I don't think Combine has ships. Probably just another fuckup of the mapper. And so on. Valve seems to give great details on one part of the map and then make another part a huge ugly brush not making sense. It's a mystery. Now, to other forum members - if you think that this guy is thinking way to much into it, I sometimes spend hours looking on papers stuck on a wall in the apartment building and wonder which of them are 20 years old and which of them are relocation notices posted by the combine policeman and how the infrastructure/bureaucratic world of combine earth looks and works in general. Mostly started after I read this sign for the first time: [t]https://a.pomf.se/cibjlj.png[/t] The combine have a pretty complex civil system that we're not aware of, and probably not fleshed out by Valve either. Really fun to think about. [editline]4th April 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=Catscratch;47454916]I'm playing through HL2:Update and I have to say: The commmunity Commentary mode, which was the main aspect of it for me, is [I]really[/I] underwhelming and disappointing. I thought it was going to be a [I]lot[/I] more people with a lot more commentary, but it mainly feels like it's just Rick Scott and a few voice actors / animators and other people I don't even know reading stuff off of the Combine Wiki and just saying 'hey I like this part of the game'. even ignoring my cynicism, there are so many parts they just leave devoid of commentary that are good points to talk about or give ... well comment on.[/QUOTE] They just read straight from Raising the Bar. It's disappointing for someone who had read it from start to finish, yes, but it is what it was meant to be - translating Raising the Bar into in-game commentary. Just wish they used more articles. For example, a commentary about combine soldier design would fit well in the end of Ravenholm, where you first meet them.

[QUOTE=Xubs;47454864]I'm talking more about the time difference between HL2 and Episode One, I just find it kind of weird that if the Mossman recording was actually after the Citadel collapse (which makes sense because she's helping the rebels in that recording), and it's only like 12 hours after Gordon wrecked the Citadel, why she would jump into the action [I]that quickly.[/I] If it's been a couple days that makes a lot more sense, but if it's been like, less than a day you think she'd at least want to sleep and rest off after the intensity of the Citadel escape. As Marc Laidlaw says, they kind of don't explain very well how much time has passed between Episode One and HL2 so that's purely the cause of my confusion.[/QUOTE] If I remember correctly, the time between HL2 and E1 is about a week.

and let's not forget about that bridge that seems to turn into a highway while underneath it.

[QUOTE=EpicRandomnes;47455861]If I remember correctly, the time between HL2 and E1 is about a week.[/QUOTE] Did Alyx really stay near the citadel for that long, just looking for Gordon all that time? Likely without food? Even 3 days seems a little far-fetched for that, but a week is too much.

Or, she and Gordan could have been taken there one week after the event by the Vortigaunts and their magic space and time powers when they save her from the Citadel explosion. Forgot about the opening to Episode 1 eh?