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

[QUOTE=Karmal Khan;47471444]Like this? [url]http://www.mediafire.com/download/4cg71ij8i8qbfys/trainlogo.vtf[/url][/QUOTE] Um, it's not showing up in Hammer. Did I do something wrong? I placed it in the materials folder...

It's funny how much we can find out just playing the game. Remember those tunnels with running cars? Well, right in the beginning of it the rebel says "Combine had cut [I]our[/I] supply tunnel in two", which maybe proved that those are rebel cars. The fighting had been going for a week, so resistance may have been smuggling supplies from the outskirts to the city through the underground tunnel that may be connected to the highway.

Something else to note, why do the combine still use human trains when their trains are much more quicker and better at transporting stuff?

[QUOTE=Kickin Balls;47474436]Something else to note, why do the combine still use human trains when their trains are much more quicker and better at transporting stuff?[/QUOTE] I guess it's easier to use the system that's already in place and familiar to humans that are still living in Breen's fantasy world

[QUOTE=Kickin Balls;47474436]Something else to note, why do the combine still use human trains when their trains are much more quicker and better at transporting stuff?[/QUOTE] I don't believe the human train rails could handle their true speed.

Eh. [t]http://i.imgur.com/EnsA1Pk.jpg[/t]

[QUOTE=Kickin Balls;47474436]Something else to note, why do the combine still use human trains when their trains are much more quicker and better at transporting stuff?[/QUOTE] I imagine it's a familiarity thing. The Combine seem to prefer using human environments for the civilian stuff. They don't seem to convert the environment when they don't need to- I'm guessing that since Earth is seen as disposable, it's more of a 'let's not bother wasting resources' thing. Razor trains clearly aren't comfortable, and since the human trains work fine, and people seem to like them, why wouldn't they use them? They need to have a population which is at least relatively happy to ensure they keep... doing whatever citizens actually do.

[QUOTE=Kaleidescoop;47474964]Eh. [t]http://i.imgur.com/EnsA1Pk.jpg[/t][/QUOTE] Looks like the old trainstation concept?

[QUOTE=Kaleidescoop;47474147]Um, it's not showing up in Hammer. Did I do something wrong? I placed it in the materials folder...[/QUOTE] The file needs a .vmt to be read. [url]http://www.mediafire.com/download/msyuvu3jikxjdmd/trainlogo.vmt[/url] Place this plus the other one into materials\decals.

[QUOTE=Kaleidescoop;47474964]Eh. [t]http://i.imgur.com/EnsA1Pk.jpg[/t][/QUOTE]looks alright i may take a shot at this later

There's 2 things that mystify me right now: [t]http://i.imgur.com/diDOz6t.jpg[/t] Why is there a boot and magnum ammo in an unreachable area such as this? [t]http://i.imgur.com/EkEX51r.jpg[/t] What's the purpose of this skull? I wonder if anyone else has spotted these.

[QUOTE=brenz;47476399]There's 2 things that mystify me right now: [t]http://i.imgur.com/diDOz6t.jpg[/t] Why is there a boot and magnum ammo in an unreachable area such as this? [t]http://i.imgur.com/EkEX51r.jpg[/t] What's the purpose of this skull? I wonder if anyone else has spotted these.[/QUOTE] Valve are famous for putting extraordinary effort into small details almost hidden from view and huge ugly square brushes right in your face.

"There's an ammo in my boot!"

Played through HL2 Update, gotta say that while some aspects of the game don't hold up quite as well as I remember them I still haven't played a game that manages to mix up a familiar gameplay formula quite as much as this. No segment of the game outstays its welcome and we're continually introduced to new gameplay mechanics that the game mostly helps you discover intuitively with very little tutorializing. "Rediscovering" the energy ball pipelines during the Our Benefactors chapter made me think about all the little things like that the game throws in to mix up the formula without much fanfare.

I wish somebody would make a simple mod to implement the Smod-style blood squirt effect into regular HL2/update

[QUOTE=PwnGModer;47473548][URL="http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=336735669"]Like this?[/URL][/QUOTE] Oh my god this is amazing.

Playing HL2 again, tbh this is one of the few linear games that manages to make me feel like I'm on the run without feeling too much like a clearly scripted set piece or awkward cutscene (which is nicely accented by songs like Apprehension and Evasion, CP violation etc) It really feels less like something the plot tells you is happening and more like an actual gameplay element. Speaking of music, I generally prefer HL1 in a lot of ways, but I feel the new music in HL2 that wasn't from HL1 on the whole stayed with me more than HL1's OST baring some exceptions. LG Orbifold is an amazing song tone-wise

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/9RP3Ub3.png[/IMG] People like this don't deserve to have an internet connection.

We all know Half-Life and its sequel, even with all of the awkward talk moments during the second game and its episodes, was pretty damn organic at storytelling, but what gets me is that so few games - even those that directly copied elements of its storytelling - managed to do the same. Whether it's extremely muddy and bland environments with no sense of direction, they don't understand the 'organic' part and make it overly scripted and specific or extremely blatant that it's on a level-by-level basis, or other numerous factors. I certainly can't say the HL games are perfect, but somehow you really don't see a whole lot else managing what they did even if it's a wholesale ripoff.

It's like way back with HL1, so many devs/publishers after it came out seemed to see HL1 as this game that people loved and thought it was [I]because[/I] it was scripted it was so good, instead of realizing the scripting was done as a way to enhance the storytelling and gameplay. Now too you see games and there's mostly two sides of the spectrum, highly scripted and highly open ended. Sure there are certain games that fit in between both sides but not that many. And the games that actually do open ended a lot of times end up falling into the "highly scripted" side for their main story quests anyway. And also so many don't seem to realize even something as simple as the illusion of freedom can sometimes be more important than the actual freedom itself. I'll take a combine forcefield barrier blocking my way any day over an invisible wall brush because it's [I]actually fucking there[/I]

I too, started replaying HL2 because of the Update. This has probably been discussed in the past, but in Route Kanal when you drop into the container with BoxCar Joe and the Vortigaunt who charges your suit, at the precise moment you enter the container, the GMan is briefly visible on the TV screen. [t]http://i.imgur.com/1dCWFRw.jpg[/t] Here's something we haven't had in a long time: A GMan theory. Before you leave, the Vort tells you "We serve the same mystery." Now I don't remember if this is one of the canned lines a Vort might say to you (The All Knowing Vort says this too, I think), but it got a few gears rolling in my head. It forever boggled my mind that no one in HL2's supporting cast is like "Holy balls Gordon motherfucking Freeman is still alive after going to fucking [I]Xen[/I]! How did you even get here in City 17 holy shit you haven't even aged how is this possible" but they're more like "Oh look who I found at the trainstation today! Sup Gordon let's go to Eli's Lab and shoot the shit" I know that "yadda yadda it's a videogame" but hear me out. Everyone knows that in the Dark Energy chapter Breen tells Gordon that his "contract" is "open to the highest bidder"? We now know from the Episodes that both Eli and the Vorts know about the GMan's existence and abilities. It seems like it's possible that they contracted Gordon through the GMan to demolish the Combine. Perhaps, after seeing what Gordon did to the Combine, they decided "fuck it we're keeping him" and tried to cross the GMan in Ep1, which resulted in Eli's death in Ep2. -- As an afterthought, when the Episodes were originally announced Valve said that the GMan would play a pivotal role in the development of the plot. [url=http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showpost.php?p=28753574&postcount=2]Marc Laidlaw said in one of his mail replies some time ago[/url] that they had started writing a draft for the episodes in very early 2005. This means that whatever they intended to do with the story, it was well decided before Ep1 went gold. Which pretty much verifies that they didn't write themselves into a corner with Ep3, but decided to go a little larger instead.

[QUOTE=i_speel_good;47478765]I too, started replaying HL2 because of the Update. This has probably been discussed in the past, but in Route Kanal when you drop into the container with BoxCar Joe and the Vortigaunt who charges your suit, at the precise moment you enter the container, the GMan is briefly visible on the TV screen. [t]http://i.imgur.com/1dCWFRw.jpg[/t] Here's something we haven't had in a long time: A GMan theory. Before you leave, the Vort tells you "We serve the same mystery." Now I don't remember if this is one of the canned lines a Vort might say to you (The All Knowing Vort says this too, I think), but it got a few gears rolling in my head. It forever boggled my mind that no one in HL2's supporting cast is like "Holy balls Gordon motherfucking Freeman is still alive after going to fucking [I]Xen[/I]! How did you even get here in City 17 holy shit you haven't even aged how is this possible" but they're more like "Oh look who I found at the trainstation today! Sup Gordon let's go to Eli's Lab and shoot the shit" I know that "yadda yadda it's a videogame" but hear me out. Everyone knows that in the Dark Energy chapter Breen tells Gordon that his "contract" is "open to the highest bidder"? We now know from the Episodes that both Eli and the Vorts know about the GMan's existence and abilities. It seems like it's possible that they contracted Gordon through the GMan to demolish the Combine. Perhaps, after seeing what Gordon did to the Combine, they decided "fuck it we're keeping him" and tried to cross the GMan in Ep1, which resulted in Eli's death in Ep2. -- As an afterthought, when the Episodes were originally announced Valve said that the GMan would play a pivotal role in the development of the plot. [url=http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showpost.php?p=28753574&postcount=2]Marc Laidlaw said in one of his mail replies some time ago[/url] that they had started writing a draft for the episodes in very early 2005. This means that whatever they intended to do with the story, it was well decided before Ep1 went gold. Which pretty much verifies that they didn't write themselves into a corner with Ep3, but decided to go a little larger instead.[/QUOTE] Speaking of G-man, is it just me or did the G-man sightings seem dissapointing in HL2? In Half-Life 1 there was this sense that this guy was watching Gordon's every move, where as in Half-Life 2 he mostly appears on tv screens making the relationship seem more like Gordon is watching G-man.

[QUOTE=teddthebucfan;47478866]Speaking of G-man, is it just me or did the G-man sightings seem dissapointing in HL2? In Half-Life 1 there was this sense that this guy was watching Gordon's every move, where as in Half-Life 2 he mostly appears on tv screens making the relationship seem more like Gordon is watching G-man.[/QUOTE] You weren't paying close enough attention in HL2. It's more subtle, but he's there, and usually in person.

[QUOTE=brenz;47476399][t]http://i.imgur.com/EkEX51r.jpg[/t] What's the purpose of this skull? I wonder if anyone else has spotted these.[/QUOTE] they hid skulls all over Water Hazard

Where's that video where the guy shows how to get a health/battery that's at the bottom of a cave that kills you?

I just replayed Blue Shift and I got lost in the Xen tunnels. Eventually, I no-clipped to find the way out. I wound up finding the chumtoad's lair by accident. I never even knew there were more easter eggs in Blue Shift besides the chumtoad in the locker and the dancing scientist on the cctv.

[QUOTE=Kaleidescoop;47474964]Eh. [t]http://i.imgur.com/EnsA1Pk.jpg[/t][/QUOTE]ok so trying out making [url=http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?p=47461156#post47461156]this again[/url]. since there was no concept art for INSIDE the train i decided to come up with something since the combine were so brutal and grimdark in their original writings, i decided to make the trains completely anti-human, as in there's no seats and everyone sits on the floor like cattle. also overlays and decals don't parent to brush entities like trains from my knowledge, so a func_brush can suffice as long as you leave it at least .1 unit sticking out this is what i got so far (note the light texture needs redoing). also genuinely interested on working on this further [t]http://i.imgur.com/l1Skfr8.jpg[/t] [t]http://i.imgur.com/hVeTTXh.jpg[/t]

[QUOTE=Coffee;47479328]Where's that video where the guy shows how to get a health/battery that's at the bottom of a cave that kills you?[/QUOTE] It actually fell off the minecart he was riding a minute earlier.

[video=youtube;1xJOGb_dVzQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xJOGb_dVzQ[/video] Hey guys. Dunno if you all would care, but I made an HL2 themed SFM video if you wanna take a look. It uses a lot of dialogue that was cut from Episode One's Stalker Train scene. I found it interesting that some of these were cut - but then again I can understand it. Alyx was supposed to be a very, very strong character and these lines were a bit too emotional for her. Keeping her as stern as possible made her break down at the end of Episode Two much, much more heartbreaking. Anyway, enjoy maybe. :3

that was pretty fucking good dude i wanna see what else you could do with hl2-themed stuff