Half-Life thread

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>>3918161

>Half-Life
>"best game ever made"

>>3918168
what do you think is the best game ever made anon

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moddability

>>3918175
probably some doomfag

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>>3918168
shhh baby

>>3918168
ANON, that was mean-spirited.

Did anyone here play Action Half-Life? I only played TS but after looking at some of the secret maps I'm sort of interested now.

>>3918168
This.

It was a good experience, especially for 1998, but nothing that special.

>/vr/ hates Half-life now

>>3918161
I wouldn't say it's the best because it does have some pretty big flaws however the pacing in it is fucking amazing. It's just constantly throwing new threats at you rarely ever giving you a break while you're trying to escape Black Mesa. That being said I don't like how a lot of the weapons feel and the tram sequence can get pretty grating on repeat playthroughs if you don't know how to skip it.

>>3918390

>/vr/ agreeing that the suggestion that Half-Life is the best game ever is ridiculous somehow means that /vr/ hates Half-Life

stop hyperbole plz

>>3918161
Worldcraft + deathmatch, that's what

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>>3918432
I miss brush based mapping.

if you werent into gaming at the time of the release and only played it later on it probably doesnt mean much. But, imo, it had a MASSIVE impact on gaming in general, not just PC or FPS.

I first saw this game being demo'ed at a store in the mall, they had a "gaming" rig setup outfront and looked kinda meh, didnt know what to expect, didnt have much fanfare or hype for the time.

About a week later got a new rig with dat Voodoo 3000 graphics card, probably the best overall rig i had since owning computers (probably my 5-6th computer at the time)

Got HL and a few other games like Kings quest 7 etc. HL was on another level though and shortly after playing through it revealed its potential.

Having smarter AI. ie. marines who would actually adjust to your actions, etc. was really unprecedented for any major game at the time. Graphics, while nothing "insane" for the time were pretty great and just worked, i sometimes think back comparing HL to the way WoW used art direction, in that they werent trying to create realism, just enviroment.

then came along CS and obviously changed the world of FPS. I can still remember to this day playing in one of the first betas along with Gooseman who actually went to school with a friend of a friend and CS was his project for a final at SFU, a university not far from where we lived.

>>3918509
>But, imo, it had a MASSIVE impact on gaming in general

Why are you stating a fact as your opinion? Are you Peggy Hill?

>>3918521
When i said, in my opinion.. that = fact?

>>3918531
Half Life having a massive impact on gaming isn't an opinion it's a fact.

>>3918534
Correct.

I have been playing FPSes since MIDI Maze, Wolf3D, and Ken's stupid-piece-of-shit Labyrinth, but the thing that impressed me most about Half-Life was the AI hands-down.

After years of games where the enemies just rush you like wild boars, it was freaky to see the security guards spread out and take cover. And it was a real holy-shit moment the first time I took cover behind some crates, only to be flushed out with a grenade. You'd be trading potshots, then suddenly the guards would stop shooting. Then, in the silence, you see the grenade come tumbling in the air right towards you. Bam. Motherfucker.

>>3918704
>>3918509
>the AI

Yeah, it was so amazing back then, since just about everyone was used to "Move towards player, shoot at player" being the entirety of AI for enemies before HL. Of course, these days we know how piss-poor the AI actually was, and that rushing the enemy like Rambo actually works better than trying to fight smart.

I feel the only things that really aged well with HL is the level design and sound. Enemies are bullet sponges, everyone looks like they escaped from FF7, but those levels are still great and the sound system still does a great job of pulling you into the game. I never get tired of shooting off a round inside of an elevator shaft or missile silo and hearing the echo fade.

>>3918161
I have great memories of Half Life. At the time of release we only had one buddy with a decent enough PC to run it so we'd gather round his house on Friday nights with beer, weed and pizza and play the fuck out of it. He had surround sound speakers and the sections with the special ops team on the hunt were terrifying.

The goldsrc engine was really cool. Sure it wasn't advanced like newer engines are, but I would love to see half-life 2 ported to the half-life engine.

>>3919520
after replaying through half life + expansions recently I'd say that the AI holds up pretty well compared to more modern FPSs

CS:CZ's singleplayer campaign was probably the weakest of the bunch in AI but that was essentially an unfinished game

>>3919603
it would be next to impossible to do a straight port given that part of HL2 was to show off the source engine's physics via puzzles

it would be like that guy who tried to "port" portal to goldsrc

Half-Life was a ridiculously high quality and polished product in 1997. You kids have to keep it in perspective - it wasn't the norm, so people took notice when releases like this came about.

It's halo level learning curve made it great for everybody.

The hardcore players eventually got their Team Fortress remake as well.

>>3919520

I dunno that it's fair to heavily criticize any game for having bad AI, when pretty much all of them do. I mean I don't play every game but I doubt that there are any games out yet with truly good AI that can't be easily exploited and overwhelmed by a speedrunner etc.

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>>3918509
I kinda hate CS now. It was interesting and popular but I was always an UT fag.
CS was nothing but a bunch of chads and normies playing like lemmings on inferior maps the size of a 1v1.

DoD was superior and still has a special place in my heart.

It was pretty mediocre.

On release it was buggy as fuck and took years of patches to get stable. The AI was terrible and got stuck often if you attacked it rather than crying in a corner because of some audio cues. The hit registration even in single player is broken during animations. The netcode was atrocious. Later steam version broke audio.

It really didn't do anything particular well. About the only thing it did right was present set pieces in a less abstract more believable way than many FPS games that tried before it and it let you transition back and fourth to attempt the illusion of one large facility.

The good news is that it was mediocre by the days standard, not today's where anything less than 9/10 is considered utter dogshit because of bribery and score inflation and complete and utter lack of ethical journalism. (with the exception of the rarest of gems that actually score like 7ish range since they're clearly playable not to get totally trashed but piss poor gamers hate things with any sign of challenge, complexity, or thoughtful design.)
So the game is at least worth playing for FPS historically speaking and it'll be a passable experience (if you can manage to get a proper setup to play it with).

>>3922754
>worth playing for FPS history
>passable experience

It still tops the gameplay and experience of modern FPS

>>3922754
I don't think you were even alive when HL came out.

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>>3918161
>What went so fucking right?

Simple. Everything went so fucking wrong, so they restarted the project with the lessons learned from the first go around.

>>3922754

Anyone saying that HL was mediocre by the standards of the day is objectively wrong and being a contrarian.

Go ahead, what other FPS released near HL was even close? Sin (lol)?

Half-life 2 is better

better and more varied level design
better and more varied gameplay
better encounter design
no bullshit platforming
good innovations with gravity gun + physics
incredible sound design (still has yet to be bested by anything)
episodes are both immaculate

I know that hl2 isn't vr but what I said is still true

Half-life is a 9/10 and Half-life 2 is a 10/10

only thing I'll admit to is that marines are better enemies than combine

>>3923267

Nah, HL2 is pretty uninspired and there are several better FPS's out there (even at the time).

>>3923268
I don't agree with you

>>3923315

Well then you are dead to me.

>>3923267
>no bullshit platforming
what is the whole of ravenholm

>>3923205
I can't help you with your fallacious reasoning skills. But I can give you a response to your post since that's all you're looking for. Have a good weekend.

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What happened to the anon who made a cool map?

>>3923232

This senpai.

The HL Alpha plays like shit. It's no wonder they restarted it.

>>3922754
>Took years of patches
I've never had any issues running on a build from 1999. Quake engine games in general are stable as fuck, and Half-Life is no exception.
Bugs are definitely few and far between compared to other games of its time.

Doom > Half-Life > the rest
What went so right with PC FPS?

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>>3918704
>Ken's stupid-piece-of-shit Labyrinth
we need a ken's labyrinth general, a 2017 remake and a hken mod.

>>3923852
it is "no bullshit" platforming with the greatest physics based encounter design in the whole of video games

>>3924094
kb+m and freedom

but mostly freedom

>>3919520
>how piss-poor the AI actually was
It's not, though. The code is simple by modern standards but the AI functions well and is better at some stuff (flushing you with grenades) than a lot of modern games. They're still fun to fight which is the real test.

The only "stupid" thing I think that's it's common to see the AI do is plant a grenade and take "cover" like 5 feet away. Otherwise they mostly perform well.

>>3924094
blood>duke=doom>half-life>the rest

it's fun but it's not perfect. the storyline was top-tier and the movement was fun but the weapons in the first half of the game felt unsatisfying, and the second half's gameplay especially fucking Xen wasn't as fun as the first.

>>3924095
You're in luck!

https://twitter.com/KensLabyrinthII

>>3922435
>saying Half Life came out in 1997
>calling other people kids
lel

>>3918436
what game?

>>3923232
>Everything went so fucking wrong
what went so fucking wrong? Hl alpha just a quake game with few changes.

>>3924824

Did you actually bother to play it? It's not all that fun.

>>3923267
Agreed.

I think the only think HL1 does better than HL2 is that the HECU aren't as suicidally aggressive as Overwatch soldiers, and can make use of SMG grenades.

HL1 has more weapons, too, but most of those weapons (crossbow, tau cannon, gluon gun, tripmine, satchel charge, hivehand, snarks) are useless.

I've actually been playing through HL1 again recently (I've just made it to Xen) and it's still a masterpiece, but HL2 managed to blow even HL1 out of the water, it's that good.

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>>3924425
holy shit, i didnt know about that. thank you, anon.

>>3924858
R-Rodney!?

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>>3924843
>I'm a stupid shitter and don't know how to use weapons
>that means they're useless
stop breathing

>>3924825
because it is alpha version not a finished product.

>>3924979
The crossbow is useless. It takes 2 hits to kill a HECU (on hard difficulty) using either the crossbow or the magnum, but the magnum is faster. Scarcity of ammo for both is about the same. None of the maps are open enough for the crossbow scope to be of any use.

Tripmines are only useful if you already know the precise spawn points of enemies beforehand. Several times, for example on the way to the generator room in "Power Up", I could sense an ambush on the return trip, so I placed tripmines around the entrance, but when the ambush happened the HECU soldiers just spawned in front of the entrance, skipping the tripmine. 99% of the time the game throws enemies at you head on, though, so you can't effectively use the foresight and planning required to make tripmines any use.

The hivehand's regenerating ammo and ability to shoot round corners is cool, but the damage it does is too pathetic (it takes like over 30 seconds of constant firing to kill an alien grunt on hard mode) to make it worth using.

The tau cannon and gluon gun are basically the exact same weapon except the gluon gun doesn't let you charge up a shot. Both are powerful but the ammo is far too scarce. A full 100 rounds of Uranium can take out like, what, 6 enemies? That's assuming you don't miss.

I really never could figure out what the point of snarks were. They do pathetic damage, are ridiculously uncommon, and half the time they turn around and attack you instead.

>>3924864
no respect on mars.

>>3924821
quake 2

>>3923267
half life 2 is boring as fucking shit, its like go from this set piece to this set piece and follow this path.

>>3925428
You just described Half-Life 1 as well.

>>3925209
>Tau
>Gluon

>The same thing AT ALL

>He doesn't M2 headshot with the Tau for 1 Uranium

You fucking scrub.

>>3925450
at least half life has cool aliens not just the same giant insects over and over

>>3925513
The lowest amount a charged Tau cannon shot does is 25HP. A HECU grunt on hard mode has 80HP, so even a headshot won't take one out, and they slaughter you fast once they see you, so the best thing to do is always just spam grenades and SMG grenades since they're plentiful enough.

>>3925428
you just described video games

>>3925540

>Not shooting them from a distance with the pistol while their shots whiz past you.

>>3925703
It's rare for there to even be an opportunity to attack them "at a distance", given that the majority of the game takes place in steel corridors.

I usually use the pistol against most aliens aliens, the magnum against small groups of HECU or ones where I can take potshots from a corner, the SMG against alien slaves, and SMG grenades/frag grenades against large groups of HECU.

HL was amazing because the story and the levels were massive and the whole escape from black mesa...really had you feeling like you was trying to escape and not just "omg hurry get out...and nothing fucking happens"...also for me...I felt a strong similarity between this game and the movie the arrival...yea the one with charlie sheen....anyways the fact the game itself felt more like a nerdy shooter...like you really was just some scientist when shit hit the fan and you have to get the fuck out.

>>3924821
that's action quake 2 which is pretty much proto counter strike: not boring trash edition

>>3924093
>and Half-Life is no exception
False.

>>3918161
>What went so fucking right?
practically everything
it has great graphics, not "had", *has*
the setting is great, the scenes/pacing is great, the atmosphere is great, the controls are great, the guns are great, the enemies are great, the level design is the best ever; the various unique things you ahve to do are just really fucking creative
like, its a shooter, but it has puzzles of a sort and complicated level geography that you ahve to navigate, but they dont just throw a few simple things at you over and over, each is unique
other games just dont do that
take deadspace for example, you either shoot something with your slow-beam or you smash something with your gun, or you use your telekinesis on something, and each has an obvious indicator that you see 40 times throughout hte game
then there was xen, which was just mindblowing to me at the time, and the game after that point is soooo different
the first time I played it, i knew it was special just from the 10-minute set up to the cascade

>>3926392
reading through the thread, yeah the AI was also great
I remember fighting the military goons once on hard; I encountered them on some catwalks over a room, I started to aim at one and it turned around and ran around a corner, so i went after it and noticed it had left a grenade where it had been standing so I couldnt chase it after all

sven co-op is one of the best co-op games out there. I'm still pissed about how the throwable crowbar works though, seeing as you can easily fuck yourself and lose it. I still think they should have given the player a timer after throwing it and then given the player their crowbar back after a set period.

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>>3923267
>Half-life 2 is better
https://youtu.be/e0WqAmuSXEQ

>>3926709
That's pretty much the only example of something like that happening in the game. It only happens because that one enemy is scripted to never stop using the mounted gun, so his movement is restricted. You won't be able to use that tactic against enemies that run around and flank you.

It's a competent western game. Doesn't really strike out and has some outright bad game play moments and level design. Some like to pretend its the best game ever but I think that's a mix of Western xenophobia and PC gaming centric elitism and the fact that it's a good game, but not an amazing game by any right.

>>3926797
you can use it with other enemies to make them stop aiming.

that said, you can't even do anything like that in half-life 1, and it's not like the AI doesn't have a tendency to gently place live grenades in groups of its own teammates, and when shot again, stand still on top of said grenade. In a HL1vHL2 argument, the point of AI is more than hl1 has more variety so its more interesting, but HL2s is obviously more polished, better functioning, and more fun to fight against in a lot of scenarios.

>>3927128
t. elitist weeaboo consolefag

HL1 doesn't have great AI

it has great pathfinding

the best to this day actually

>>3918175
Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl

>>3926797

HL2 enemies don't flank you, they rush you.

>>3927497
that's pretty sad actually. You need to play more games.

>>3927608

How is that in any way sad? He's made a fine choice.

I have no idea how anyone can say HL2 is better than HL1. The level design is worse, especially in the vehicle sections (also the vehicle sections have parts where you are supposed to stop and get out to move cars out of the way to show off the physics, the only bad use of HL2's physics mechanics). HL1 would encourage you to keep moving, often in large rooms with destructible containers, whereas HL2 encourages you to figure out the best spot to camp.

HL2 also has worse gunplay than HL1. Enemies in both games are just damage sponges but at least in HL1 you could make them actually absorb the damage. The submachine gun in HL2 fling bullets all over the place, in fact until you get the crossbow the only good gun is the gravity gun.

The AI is worse, a lot of mods have explored this and found that it has to do with the way the AI is instructed in pathfinding. The AI just enters the room and makes a B-line to the nearest waypoint on the map closest to you. Sometimes they'll be scripted to enter the room along a certain path before the change direction and head to you.

And while on the subject of scripts, HL2 is way more scripted than HL1. This is a video game, not a movie, people want the bad guys to show up and you start shooting at them.

HL2 was cool because it was the first game to really put physics in the hands of the player, but HL1 was one of the first single player games to combine fast paced combat with an extremely well-rounded and immersive environment. That is a much bigger accomplishment.

>>3927649
I camp far, far more in HL1 than 2. The enemies in 1 are so spongey and kill you so fast (2 hits from a slave on hard) that the only effective strategy is to spam grenades and take potshots with the magnum from round a corner.

>>3918436
I feel like this is all I know how to do. What other ways are there? I love how everything is grid based, block based, angular, and geometrically correct.

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>>3924087
Hey man. I made another little bit, and new priorities came along.

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>>3928606

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>>3928607

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>>3928609
And that's the only update in the last year or so. I'm just too busy with other commitments these days.

>>3918161
Counter-strike
Everybody I knew bought it to play counter-strike.

>>3928613
>>3928609
>>3928607
>>3928606
Generic Half Life asset shift #153
Be better than that.
t.someguy who made a shit map in doom once and feels like he could have been more creative.

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>>3928674
Thanks for the input anon, but I really wanted to make a doomed starship. It was fun for a while.

>>3918161
Are Opposing Force and Blue Shift any good? I've always wanted to try them.

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>>3928753
Opposing Force is really great, play it right now. Blue Shift is good enough to play once but nowhere as compelling as Opposing Force.
And if you can find Gunman Chronicles, play that too. It doesn't get enough love.

>>3928761
I don't know what this Gunman Chronicles is but any game that lets me shoot dinosaurs is good in my book. I'll check it out.

>>3928674
Making textures, models and sounds takes a lot of time, so does making maps for Goldsrc. It's so time consuming. I should know. Been doing it for ages. You could spend a lot of time on the world brushes alone because of the limitations of the engine. It takes a pad of paper and a lot of thoughtful design to make something that will run smoothly. You can't just pile stuff in there and hope for the best
For what it's worth starship anon it looks pretty cool. I have no idea how >>3928684 actually runs though.

Not saying those screens look bad because they don't but maybe make it a bit less Half-Life and more your own. As I've said it takes time to do so and maybe you don't have the time.
Looks good not sure about the gameplay

>>3928753
i thought they were great when I played through them a decade ago
now they're just too dated for me

>>3928790
It's a Goldsource total conversion mod that was picked up by rich people for an opportunity to release as a retail game. But instead of being consumed by Valve, it was approached by Sierra rather.

>>3929564
Sierra just published it, like they did with Half-Life.
No way Rewolf would be consumed by Valve; Valve was a different animal then, way before Steam and The Great Studio Eating. Before they started charging for free mods like TFC and DoD, which killed the games stone dead.

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>>3924858
I know, I'm excited as hell too

>>3929571
I should've said offered by Sierra to not imply it was eating them up.

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>>3923267
Okay, you asked for this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpCv12q6fFI

>>3929580
I knew what you meant, it's cool. I just read it wrong. Sorry for any stupidity on my part.
I have an old PC for old games, and when I start Half-Life or Gunman I get the same Sierra logos, and it's pretty weird to see that these days.
To think my doorstop Pentium 3 was once a luxury. I got Black & White working on that thing.

>>3924049
Everything you said was flat out false. Thanks for proving my point.

>>3928684
That seems like a stupid amount of shit in one map. rspeeds and polys count anon, keep that in mind always. It s impressive work for sure because it looks really detailed but I don't get those weird neon lights. Your map would look a lot better if the white lights were more yelow and you could get a warmer more industrual feel that would fit the gray and orange textures more and bring them together instead of being so dark. You clearly put a lot of effort into your map so don't take this the wrong way. I like your textures and lighting for what they are but it all seems kinda basic and I'm sure you could do better with the skill you have.

>>3928674
yeah i'm sure your neon colored set of rectangular rooms was more creative

>>3929638
2 minutes in and I'm not going to watch the video because it's an actual strawman

instead of criticizing the game it sets up to easy to take down arguments that nobody is arguing for
>it was single handedly influential for its time
>it was a perfect sequel to the original

these arguments do not matter. what matters is how good of a game it is on its own merit, and not whether or not it was as innovative for its time as Half-life 1 was or whether or not it further developed the gameplay formula of the original

Half-life 2 instead expanded the gameplay formula and introduced new concepts; both on gameplay and artistic/technical levels. This is how they should be compared, not on how well do the best elements of Half-life 1 stack up when viewed under a microscope in its sequel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJ7vcY-b5kg

here is something that explains my perspective on half-life 2 and how it does what it does well and it doesn't fucking matter that it doesn't excel at what half-life 1 excelled at

>>3929894
Barely any horror or dread except for a couple parts
Barely any interesting weapons
Barely any interesting alien forms except for ant lions
Barely any interesting cross faction warfare other than Combine vs Rebels street riots
Barely any science (Portal does this well)
Barely any self driven narrative (scripted or not) and it's just ALL PRAISE MUH FREE MAN

All I took away from the sequel was:
How cool gravity gun was
How cool plugging in batteries and sockets were
How cool realistic buoyancy was
How cool playing catch with Dog was
How cool Pulse Rifle orbs were
How cool realistic facial mapping was
How cool knocking around Manhacks was
How cool feeding Barnacles explosives was
How cool using ant lion bait was
How cool picking up turrets was

Every single one of these little toys do not make up for the complete experience that Half-Life was, especially considering Half-Life 2 removed some of the most vital pillars of what was established from the first game.

>>3930157
>Barely any horror or dread except for a couple parts

Are you implying the first game had any of that? Pretty pathetic if so

>>3930157
>Barely any horror or dread except for a couple parts
>Barely any interesting alien forms except for ant lions
>Barely any interesting cross faction warfare other than Combine vs Rebels street riots
>Barely any science
and? Like I said, who cares if Half-life 1 has things that Half-life 2 doesn/t Half-life 2 has things that Half-life 1 does not but you ignore those because of nostalgia.

>Barely any self driven narrative (scripted or not) and it's just ALL KILL MUH FREE MAN
see how bad at criticism you are?

>barely any interesting weapons
this is the part where you pretend that the laser canon from half-life 1 is cooler than the gravity gun

>>3930438
>>Barely any self driven narrative (scripted or not) and it's just ALL KILL MUH FREE MAN
HL1 is an action-oriented game. this actually fits the game's design. It wouldn't be a good action game if there was more narrative than action.

HL2 has a lot more story driving with all the scripted scenes that block you from progressing forward while forcing to listen to crummy dialogue. This is not only a worse design choice for a video game (because it kills action), but also the execution is poor, because the HL2 story is plain shit

>laser canon from half-life 1 is cooler than the gravity gun
at least the tau cannon is a proper weapon and not a gimmicky tool to show off the game engine

>>3930723
>at least the tau cannon is a proper weapon and not a gimmicky tool to show off the game engine
the fact that I knew you were going to say this makes me feel like I can disregard the rest of your posts with peace of mind

>>3930216
The immediate aftermath of the resonance cascade is pretty horrific. Soldiers killing unarmed civilians is pretty horrific. Alien beasts and slaves from another dimension entering an industrial workplace environment is pretty horrific. The entire game is an intense survival of a regular guy. Because it doesn't literally have a haunted house level doesn't mean it has no horror elements.

>>3930932
conceptually those might be horrifying but the delivery is corny

>>3930932
The long-term aftermath of the resonance cascade and the devastation the Combine has wreaked on the environment is pretty horrific. Civil Protection beating and killing unarmed civilians is pretty horrific. Alien beasts being used as biological weapons and/or slaves by the Combine is pretty horrific.

>>3930438
Disregarding Half-Life is about science and think it's nostalgia means everybody should just ignore anything you have to say

You suck at defending your own game

Anyone wanna discuss mods?
Anyone played RE: Cold Blood?

>>3931019
Why? Cos it's old? I think HL1 has better atmosphere than most games if I'm honest.

>>3931029
I agree. I wish the combine experiment stuff could've been fleshed out more in the game. Heard they cut a lot of stuff out.

You have to be a pussy to think HL1 or 2 had anything even remotely close to horror.

>>3931117
Nice exaggeration that most people will disagree with. Are you trying to impress someone?

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>>3931117
I can still hear the screams of those scientists that never stood a chance.

>>3931117
no game is horror if you're not a pussy pussy

>>3918161
I don't know, I didn't like it. Maybe the environment was too dull. Except for outside in the mountains sections, it's very uninspired. Gunplay wasn't satisfying either. And "good luck finding where to go" meme from mediocre 90s fpses was still there. I understand the importance of Half-Life and respect it, but I couldn't force myself to like it.
On the other hand, I find Half-Life 2 a wonderful game.

>>3931117
Agree

>>3931117
t. another person who thinks horror has to be about haunted houses and ghosts. Cosmic horror, experiments gone wrong, militaristic terror, etc, are more compelling than jumpscares and creepy children. This fact isn't diminished because HL has guns.

>>3931246
It doesn't have to be about haunted houses, ghosts, jumpscares or creepy children, but horror has to be scare you, and if you find Half-Life 1 scary then you're pretty much a pussy.

>>3931130
yes, I can too still hear their cartoon screams.

pussies will be pussies

>>3931279
Who isn't a pussy?

>>3931130
>>3931293
GARGH
REEEAUGH
AAAAOAAHHH

>>3931279
>horror has to be scare you
wrong

>>3931445

>english has to be sense make

WRONG.

>>3931454
nothing is scary. no movie/book/video game is scary. they can't be.

so according to your logic then horror doesn't exist. according to your logic if a piece of media fails to scare you then its no longer horror. thats a pretty fucking stupid metric to decide what genre something is

horror has way more to do with the vibe it gives off and sense of isolation. whether it works for you or not doesn't change the genre.

>>3931475
Then if anything Half-Life was one of the first FPS games that wasn't horror, considering the huge amount of friendly NPCs in the game that ruin the sense of isolation compared to, say, DOOM.

>>3931501
Half-life has horror elements. I wouldn't call it full blown horror but it is definitely a part of the artistic design language of the game

Also, the presence of friendly NPCs does not necessitate the opposite of isolation; you begin the game in a friendly state (after foreshadowing isolation) and then the friendliness is taken away. the friendly NPCs are almost all killed, and the ones you do find alive also almost all die. The ones that do not are usually afraid for their lives as well, and then when you think you're being rescued the marines turn on you and you're alone again. There is a massive sense of isolation in HL1

>>3931117
>another redditor who thinks horror only come in jump scares or psychological
Grow up

>>3927649
Agreed, I like HL2, but 1 is much more difficult. Encounters require planning and ammo management which leads to more tension where as 2 is just an explosion laden movie set piece tour. Its way too easy, and the "story" is meh. I like the atmosphere in both though, but still feel like the isolation and difficulty in 1 make it much more immersive.

>>3922754
nice try. I give it 2/10.1 point for the netcode info, at least you got that right.

>>3931548
1 is definitely more difficult and "hardcore" but I think that games have more to offer than just how difficult of a challenge they offer

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>inb4 woff boys come in and complain about the bullet sponge health levels

What are your favorite segments?

Apprehension, Forget about Freeman and Lambda Core for me.

>>3935072
good choices

surface tension is extremely overrated

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>>3935072
>What are your favorite segments?

Just one pham: Surface fucking Tension, all of it.

>>3927608
>>3927618

Have to admit he did make a good choice.

>>3934818

Not really. They are, by definition, challenges with an end goal. Being good at that matters a lot more than the fluff.

I mean, for crying out loud, this board claims it cares about that core aspect more than graphics and whatnot.

An excellent example is how 1 rarely confines you into a room for several minutes to hear some dialog, yet 2 does that all the time. That's the type of thing "more" gets you most of the time, and obviously not just in Half-Life.

>>3929638
>"I have played the half life trilogy throughly"
>When a grunt shoots him instead of taking cover he backs closer to explosive barrels like a total retard
wew lad
This guy is a total strawmaning autist and cant even play the game

>>3923267

I think its really hard to compare sequels to games that way though -- even if Half-Life 2 is better a lot of what makes it good came from the original.

>>3918161

In my opinion when I first played it (long after it was released, without spoiling it prior)...

It made me feel like this was some serious black ops shit that could Actually Happen. I mean doom was far fetched but Half Life seemed like something that could actually get triggered off.

Having a black ops facility built right into the side of the grand canyon or one of its branches, sounds entirely possible and a good place to put something like that.

> Ive heard there are areas of the grand canyon that are off limits for no reason.

>>3918509
Half Life was an example of Game Graphics that were catered to their visual performance while also maintaining appearances. The lighting was pretty good

It was a rare example of beautifying game graphics (refinement)

In fact F.E.A.R is only about 1 step above HL and only due to texture resolution and variety.

And in my personal opinion, anything beyond FEAR has been utterly unnecessary - only thing that should have improved since then has been how complex and awesome the special effects are (explosions, weapon flashes, fireballs, sparks flying).

FEAR was another one of those games refined as well as possible to appearances while maintaining a high performance threshold.

In my opinion even HL2 is like top tier on graphics. Games like that and Halo 3 shoulda been as far as game graphics went.

Cons of the game...

Alot of work was done on the details to the initial parts of the game, but the later parts of the game were made of alot of low resolution terrain and slopes.

Which made the later parts of the game feel like they were alot "cheaper" even though you had more weapons to use in exchange for that.

>>3918394
How do you skip the initial sequence and tram for Half Life 2?

The initial sequence with the GMan crashes my game, and I have to use 3d Analyzer just to run the game at all.

On my old laptop, which has about the same specs as this one, half life 2 ran generally speaking, enough for me to beat it.

>>3925209
you piece of shit

crossbow is overpowered as fuck

magnum is overpowered as fuck too (but if you go with the original audio saying its a .44 magnum that makes a little more sense)

I will agree on the gluon gun but only because the tau cannon is god.

Two fully charged tau shots will blow the top off of an M1 Abrams. Thats how I beat the one trying to pin you down on top of the mesa. I didnt bother using rockets and grenades. ZAP (hide)... ZAP (BOOM)

Alt. Fire for 1 Uranium was pretty effective especially on a headshot. Less damage than the primary fire maybe but it was alot of damage for expending 1 ammo... at a point in the game where it was practically raining uranium.

Do you even understand how many times I had max ammo on Uranium or 9mm and I was finding more and more of it and couldnt use it all?

> Snarks
you piece of shit

you use snarks to distract people, send it after some dudes and they start shooting it instead

then you start poking holes in them with the crossbow, or fuck, you've got plenty of time to just toss them a Satchel because they're not able to care

either that or I let them deal with that and I just go walk off and do the other stuff im doing - its good to have several MP5s aimed somewhere else rather than at you so that you can run past them

> hive hand doesnt hit hard enough

Meh, the fact it has regenerating ammo is the compromise for that. You never need to use the crowbar after that I think, even if you get necked by a barnacle you can probably alt-fire a volley from the hive hand and it dies.

It is rather hard to get through Xen using the hive hand, those flying things are pretty tough. The writing on the wall I believe is to give some benefit to pulling out the MP5 again, because despite it being limited, its faster and its got the grenade launcher.

> tripmines
KYS

You dont use tripmines to trip things up, they're like satchel charges bud. Except you shoot them, or trip them yourself at a significant distance.

>>3935072
For me it's On a Rail

>>3935682
Worst level ever.

>>3935681
And ill repeat I never bother to use the Gluon Gun at all, even against Nihlanth.

I'll Tau Charge him at maximum over and over again, ill shotgun the fuck out of his ass, its awesome to see all those blood trails just spraying everywhere from those double blasts (from cheap ammo that I dont know what to do with).

Gluon Gun - its like a 20 uranium pickup or something like that, thats all I care about the gluon gun for.

It does 14 damage per uranium and yes it does it quick, but I believe the tau cannon does 20 per uranium and can be charged.

If I need to do a whole lotta damage to something quick, its an explosion, or ill charge the tau and ambush fire with it.

>>3935693
agreed, I thought alot of the traps in it were contrived - the machineguns dont work right, the dynamite was funky, the texturing on alot of things was really subpar.

there's only one part of it at the beginning where I can see blue electricity arcing in the distance, I thought that was beautiful.

>>3935072
I hated Forget about Freeman.

The uber-trapness of that level was just a pain in the ass I kept having to tiptoe around every damn thing when I wanted to run and shoot. Instead I was running from snarks most of the time. Along with plenty of 1994 Doom tier monster-breaks-through-wall lameness.

Also I died about 10 times at the beginning when the air strikes were collapsing that exit to the parking garage. I just figured the game -ended- there.

I managed to figure out how to get up on the handrail in time to avoid the collapsing cieling, and I thought I had cracked into an easter egg section of the game (and that level wasnt a pushover due to the traps either, I genuinely thought I reached a secret level that was designed to destroy you since it would have no exit)

>>3935647
I feel exactly the same senpai

all the extra work should have been put into more realistic animations, physics, effects, etc instead of texture resolution and dynamic shadow complexity

>>3931548
Only thing deadly about HL2 is the potential random killing nature of the walkers, and also if you fuck up with the manhacks they'll chew you apart.

HL2 checks its blows for alot of critters, the fast zombies might hit you a couple times but then they'll stand there screaming at you while you reload your shotgun.

The poisoned headcrabs actually cause you NO damage, their attack only nerfs you so that you're temporarily vulnerable (you get back all the health it zapped you of). Its a psychological terror thats all, and the poison zombie is a great way to get you to waste your rockets.

If the poison headcrabs hit you for 10 damage that would have made them HL1 dangerous (such that after the health restores, ten of it is missing).

Some of the weapons in HL2 kinda sucked compared to their HL1 counterparts. The Magnum was meh because it usually took 2 shots even if they were headshots on the combine soldiers.

All of the weapons used their own ammo, so the Pistol didnt use the same ammunition as the SMG.

And thats downright unrealistic because if you're the combine you control all weapons at this point, and having high velocity PDW rounds means this is a takedown weapon rather than a killing weapon and thats exactly what you want in a handgun if you're a Combine soldier or civil protection. You want to haul people in to question them.

Pistol *definitely* should have used the same ammo as the SMG, just like the first game.

The Pulse Rifle was also laughable - though it had a decent sound effect. The alt-fire was pretty much useless too because it just didnt hit what you wanted it to. Ammo capacity was absolutely terrible.

But the pulse rifle reminds me of the ruined architecture of Nova Prospekt... and its similarity to Silent Hill game architecture, which I would shoot into my veins like a drug if I could.

Gravity Gun I think was really overhyped. I didnt like having all the other guns taken away at the end, even though the gravity gun got better.

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>>3935734

I feel that way about ALL games since 2003. As far as im concerned pic related was as good as it needed to be, check the lighting.

The only benefits the scene there could have gotten in my opinion are more realistic destruction effects - which has nothing to do with textures but rather attention to detail on the human side.

> this is a case of the gaming industry pushing higher spec shit on us and saying "just deal with it" like we'll get used to it, or possibly brainwashed into wanting that
> which apparently it does to some people because my bud just told me there's people complaining that the graphics in FO4 arent MORE realistic - when thats the most realistic fucking lighting ive ever seen in environments in a game before.

Also in terms of texture resolution, you can use Fractal Algorithms to lay additional texture over the textures and these are mathematical operations much like using the photoshop noise filter. Very little processing involved compared to shaders and having to store heavier texture packs in video ram.

And they are scaleable to different distances, as you get closer they look more detailed, with your face up against the wall you can see the imperfections in it and it helps distract/cover up the blurriness of the texture under it.

And of course you cater the algorithm to produce certain kinds of texturing that go along with the textured surfaces they are being applied to.

Unreal Tournament produced some pretty nifty special effects for its time using fractal algorithms, but I dont think its a tech thats been used much since then.

> some scientists theorize the entire universe is a fractal of some kind, due to the way that plant growth mimics a fractal

There's never gonna be a good way to implement "realistic" 3d graphics. Especially when it comes to FACES. Thats what I think trips up people.

But even dedicated hollywood 3d movie graphics in Beowulf werent enough to make it look completely real. And that was render farm shit.

>>3923267
I couldn't stand HL2, especially after the masterpiece that was HL1. The modding scene in HL1 was also much more active and creative.
But what killed HL2 for me was the insufferable vehicle sequences, FOV 75, and those unnecessary "tech demo"-like parts showing off the engine.

>>3925450
Nope. In HL1 you are moving through a complex to run away, and it feels like you are actually exploring it on your own (you rarely get instructions or exposition). In HL2 someone comes up to you and verbally gives you some story on why you should do this or that, trying to show up the facial animation system as much as possible.

>>3936183
The same thing happens constantly in Half-Life 1 as well.

>The phones are out, you need to get to the surface and send for help

>I've heard the military are coming to save us

>The elevators are out, but we can still climb

>FOR GOD'S SAKES OPEN THE SILO DOORS

>So much for the rescue operation. You're going to need to make your way to the Lambda Complex on the other side of the base. They're the only ones who have any chance of stopping this mess.

>Somebody needs to go and turn on the power generator. Smithers went to do it and never came back

>The rail cart will take you straight to the surface, but you'll need to get the power on. I'd do it myself but there are... things... in the way.

>Hey Freeman, I have a message for you from some scientist guys {long-ass talk about launching a rocket}

>Your suit is being tracked, but it's better than trying to make it through the base naked. You should make your way through the older industrial areas of the base, that's how I've made it this far.

I can't be bothered to list more. Half-Life 1 is full of exposition, its just a lot more inconsequential than Half-Life 2 and is usually just telling you stuff you can figure out for yourself.

>>3925209
snarks are fun, its not all about "efficiency" you turbo nerd

>Tfw you can crash any Half-Life DM server online
>Only people who actually still play are mute Turks which keep crawling back like cockroaches after a server comes back online

>>3927497

It's largely unfinished.

>>3929638
>>3926709

HL2 IS A DOWN GRADE!
HL2 IS A DOWN GRADE!
HL2 IS A DOWN GRADE!

I have been saying this shit for years, the only thing good valve did was TF2 and Portal and they're such small fucking games.

We'll never get a real Half-life 2, Halo 2 or fucking SystemShock 3.

2000's era normies ruined everything!

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>>3928247

I had to check this because this sounds like such fucking bullshit.

First, slaves do 30 damage per charge on hard, so it would take 4 shots to kill.

Second, it takes roughly 5-6 shots to kill a slave and by that time the player should have roughly 100+ bullets. It can take 2 seconds if you right mouse that shit like a man.

Stop being a pussy bitch.

>>3939140
No they didn't.

Is there a trick to skipping the 5-minute intro to HL1? I wanna play again but i wanna get right to the action

>>3939209

Look at steam top sellers and prove me wrong needle dick.

>>3939226
Show me your hours in any FPS game released in the last decade so I can tell if you actually hate them or if you're just pretending to hate them like it's trendy.

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>>3939236

I have very few modern fps games on my PC.

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Reminder to play in software mode.

>>3939225
you have the attention span of a millenial, anon. tell me: are you a millenial?

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>>3935754
The stencil shadow specular normal map era was truly glorious.
I want to stay in 2004.

>>3939360
I've played the game dozens of times friend, skipping the intro is not a millenial exclusive trend

>>3939368
map c1a0

Surprising that one has played through so many times without learning that console command.

I haven't seen a more innovative rts game than Natural Selection. A mod for Half-Life 1. That game was the bullseye for me. Words can't describe how utterly wholesome the game was. The community consisting of excentric basement dwellers and wizards with a hang to sneaky alien packhunting reactions and a crystal clear conciousness consisting of spaceship corridor L.O.S. awareness, bullet counting and distance awareness combined with bunnyjumping, energy meter, wall climbing, distant sounds of screetching and twisting metal and generator humming in whatever sci-fi universe the community came up with to be the battleground in. It was like you were home, somehow, playing.

No fancy laz0rz. Just you and your light maxhine gun and pistol against the lifeforms you'd throw yourself away from or against to get map control, secure resource nodes and pump alien chambers full of lead. The shotgun was so fucking pumpy you'd practically be able to kill anything with those 8 shells - given the chance. The surge you'd get from one-hitting an experienced alien basic "skulk" in the bow when it jumps past you with 40km/h in a doorway was unreal. One of those fuckers who with no upgrades could kill you in one parasite tap and two bites.Tier two, or two hives gave them leap. Make that 90km/h.

You'd counter the gigantic bull of a mauling tank with the lategame-investment and researched heavy machine gun. It was probably anyones favorite with or without the mother fucking jetpack making you a 125 rounded flying beehive, which the swiping midgame solo-hunting alien carry had to focus down fast before getting two-shot by a doorway-blocking shotgunner, or even worse, doorway-blocking mother fucking heavy-armored shotgunner and his welder-wielding nade launching and vent-cleansing partner in exterminatus @ minute 25.

I will always thank HL1 for that experience

>>3939364
Doom 3 still has some of the most impressive fully dynamic lighting I have seen.

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The feeling of being in a real place. The game doesn't go out of its way to impress you. The scripted events feel like a natural extension of the world. There are no artificial attempts at creating atmosphere, it just is what it is. No unnatural, "cinematic" color palette. No exaggerated detail. Very loud sounds and obnoxious reverberation where you'd expect things to be obnoxiously reverberated. The game revels in being ugly and is not afraid of being outwardly unremarkable.

And in regards to pacing, the game is unafraid of being "boring". Sometimes you're crawling through a vent, that's simply what you gotta do. The game does not seem to be pressured to constantly beat you over the head with anything. The end result is that you never know what to expect as things don't really obviously follow any preconceived notion of pacing and storytelling. It's worth mentioning that this is probably the key element that lets Half Life be so strictly railroaded yet still making you feel like you are exploring its world.

The feeling of being a trapped rat. Yes, you are Gordon Freeman, but at this point, Gordon Freeman is just another whomever who just happens to wear a suit. You're not out to save the world, just escape the place. Even though you have to launch that satellite and eventually kill the boss, it's all framed in a way that it's simply what has to be done to survive.

Not how pretty much all of this is missing in the sequel. The biggest failing of HL2 in my opinion is how it rams novelty down your throat. The game feels so unsure of itself and so eager to impress you at every turn.

>>3918161
well lets not exaggerate.. have you played it since 95?

>>3923265
It used quake 1 engine, when there already was Quake 2.

>>3940474
wrong it used a modified quakeworld engine with bits of quake 2 code

>>3939140
we did get a real halo 2 it was called halo: reach

>>3940450
95?

>>3939225
map c1a0

>>3941397
I only just found out that you can avoid damage from those by crouching.

>>3939360
>dude I was born before 1983
you're a millenial too

Hitting all the notes with neckbeard sensibilities

It isn't that great otherwise

Vending machines are the next topic of that Half-Life fact series. Hype!

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Thoughts?

>>3942298
doom 3 /10

>>3941741
What does that even mean?

>>3942298
shit

>>3940223
Good post.

>>3918175
Deus Ex

>>3929638

Even at the time I didn't get what people were raving about, I had just as much fun with Doom3 as I had with HL2 (the point being, both are very flawed games, but pretty fun, nothing more).

>>3936183
>In HL1 you are moving through a complex to run away, and it feels like you are actually exploring it on your own
Pffft, yeah right. Half Life felt painfully linear.

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>>3918221
I still have it on my steam library, even though it's been ages since I last played.
I assume you are talking about the Hondo maps, had a lot of fun working together with other people (strangers or not) to get through them, in a world without youtube. This mod was really something special for me, The specialists was cool too, maybe even better technically but it never clicked on me.

>>3943379

FEELS LIKE you utter retard. It feels like you are exploring because the paths and environment, the events, feel natural.

um.. no sweetie :)
the greatest game of all time is ocarina of time

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>>3927171
What exactly is the distinction?

>>3918161
>What went so fucking right?
Everything.

>>3927497
Respect

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As much shit as Blue shift got I still kinda like just because of how I liked they expanded on the Black Mesa areas you explore. The whole game just kinda felt comfy to me. Also:

>tfw you will never be a chill security guard working in a topic secret science facility in new mexico eating at Tesla's Tacos with your scientist buddies

>>3918175
Nintendo World Cup Soccer

>>3927171
As if FEAR didn't completely trounce HL1.

HL1
>Jump on ground, zombie walks towards you.
>Jump on table, zombie stalls then walks away for a few seconds until he decides to walk back to you.
>jump off to ground then back to table... zombie repeats his stalling and walking away.

HL1 pathfinding was barely better than the Quake engine it came from. They just added script to have AI avoid walking down long paths towards the protagonist.

>>3945060
No, pumpkin that would be Metal Gear Solid

>>3945440
there are some people under the illusion that "AI" in any game has the capacity to make its own decisions rather than just perform about half a dozen actions based on some very obvious and repeatable circumstances

>>3945767
>zombie behaves like a zombie
woah.......

>>3918161
>best game ever made
play more games
>what went so fucking right
multiplayer. Singleplayer is fun until Xen, too, but multiplay is great.

>>3945823
No honey that would be super metroid

>>3946213
>play more games
Like what, big boy? You gonna school me with some console games or muh Doom/late 90's wrpg?

>>3918168
>best game

Half life reply

>>3925513
> Hurrdurr you dont play like a Korean who is fighting with his girlfriend's father for the right to wed her? Kill yourself lolol

I hate this mentality of "if you don't play the newest AGDQ pro-speedrun strats, you fucking SUCK at the game".

>>3925209

Most points made there are pretty valid. I remember my first playthroughs of Half Life, I rarely used weapons like the Hivehand, Snarks, and the weapons with radioactive ammo.

The crossbow was somewhat powerful, but nowhere near as fun to shoot as it was in HL2. Same goes for the revolver. Ammo is pretty scarce for both. The Rocket Launcher only came in use for specific situations, as did most the explosives bar the tripmines. Those I never used.

Most weapons felt better in Half Life 2, not the least reason being the ragdoll physics. That said, that doesnt mean that the weapons in Half Life 1 were complete dogshit, but they werent the second coming of Jesus either.

Actually, I think Half Life 1 and 2 both have the same problems in terms of replayability. Both games were revolutionary, script-based games, they have fixed sequences you cant really skip, and gimmicky levels. More of them in HL2 for sure.

>>3942298
this would've been the secret to making bland games look excellent but it was rarely tried

the comparison screenshot only makes it look better, the original on the left is still fairly nice

one strong point of HL was its indoors textures, especially lambda complex, most of it isnt hard on the eyes even today

>>3941397
>>3941642
I found out fairly early on that you could Jump ON THE MINE and use it as a platform, and this one you could probably jump over it, run down the way and let the cart blow it up, then jump back on the cart.

>>3928247
>>3939206

Slaves look at me funny, then I give them a bag of hornets and they fall backwards sprawling.

Also they got claws but they're not as bad as their discharge. I don't mind using the crowbar on their big eye thing.

> not using the shotgun on the enemy that the shotgun was pretty much made for

>>3939225
>>3941592
how do you skip the intro sequence in HL2 and just go straight to the tram?

>>3939405
doom 3 has the shittiest plasticy looking skin texturing I think ive seen since the 90s

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdLRZzCf_kk

>>3945767

The problem with Fear was a lack of variety in the enemies. It had enough, combined with the supernatural parts, that it just barely got by. It was as immersive as HL but at least until Fear/XP it didnt feel like it was some place you could "live" or get lost in (come the next day it was understood he was going back wherever he came from).

Also the project appearing to be rushed by not going into all the subplots.

> what is wrong with auburn district? dude said there was something in the water - is that what made alma what she is?

> when the hell did they build that facility, do larger-than-tactical nukes come standard with those? Maybe they were doing something before and the chemicals leeched into the water and thats why auburn flatlined.

> what about project icarus? bone density stuff from the 70s space programs... ninjas come in about that time but I dont think that had anything to do with icarus.

They had good physics, but some objects I felt should have had a bypass on them to not see-saw their way to death off a table, and weapons that either fall through the floor or get crushed by a piece of cieling tile that falls on them. A little bit of QC and beta testing could have pointed that out and fixes could have been dealt.

Melee was a nifty part of the game but I feel the main character shouldnt have been able to destroy the ninjas as easily with a sweep just like that (they sweep like autumn leaves man, and they shouldnt since they're martial arts focused). Damage Type averted with the heavy armor soldiers and the mechs fortunately, since its hard to beat the shit out of them and the mechs will just kill you if you try.

>>3946982
There was nothing that could even compare in 2002. Too bad the tech and time needed to actually run the thing was two years later.

>>3939236
>Show me your hours
>implying reasonable people use steam

>>3946695
good post. The differences between the first two games are much less important than people make them out to be.

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>>3945752
The intro maps were really comfy. I liked using noclip to get out of the tram and just explore.
I didn't like the rest of the game, though. It felt like they were trying to emulate the original game too closely, without introducing anything new or innovative.
They did a better job with OpFor in my opinion.

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The fuck was his problem

The best thing about this game was the logic behind what made enemies gibb into many red pieces, like if some fucker is cought by a door, gibbs everywhere.

I think they took that out though, as if this game really needed to live up to feeling realistic. I may be autistic because i would to dismantle every dead thing with the crowbar. Unless it's not just me, and vr also gibbed their dead. Not autistic at all.

>>3927649
It's a matter of aging, one of these games has aged a shitload better.

How does the first game compare to the second game?

Because I remember hating 2. It changed gameplay every 5 minutes like they were afraid they didn't have any core gameplay mechanics that worked well enough to support a full game. And the story was just everybody proclaiming your nobody ass as the greatest human who ever lived and about how awed they are to be in your presence and kiss your boot and then they shove that shitty waifu down your throat. She's the perfect girl and likes you specifically for.... reasons! Morgan Freeman seems to the worst Mary Sue in the history of fiction.


Is the first game any better than that? How much is changed?

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>>3948927
Wait, Gordon not Morgan. Fuck.

Morgan Freeman would have been an improvement.

>>3942714
That we only like it because of the aliens and Freeman having glasses

this is probably the absolute height of contrarianism

>>3925209
hey, the tripmines are useful for skipping power up (the one with the gargantua and the tesla coils i think)

>>3948927
The original game is vastly superior in just about every aspect. Better presentation, better set-pieces, better atmosphere, more compelling plot and environment, more interesting weapons. What are you waiting for if you haven't played it already? Alternatively, just watch this >>3929638 if you're a lazy cunt.

>>3950167
You're a fucking idiot.

>>3946695

There was nothing revolutionary about HL2, that's just false.

>>3950187

He's right, and you are the idiot. Compared side by side today, HL1 is still the more compelling game.

>>3929638
this is one of the worst critical reviews I've ever seen in my entire life, and I don't even think HL2 is that great

>>3950230
You're wrong, are a retard, a samefag and have shit taste.

>>3939402
Ns1 was amazing, it was such a comfy game as well to just get into a ridiculous 16v16 match that lasted for ages.

Science and Industry was amazing as well. At least Sven Co-op is alive and well with it's standalone release (new version added portals and mirrors and shit)

>>3946985
>"HD" models
Absolutely disgusting.

>>3953849
I used to think the HD pack was the bee's knees, they dont look at all bad even in retrospect

>>3953853
They don't look bad, they just stink and I don't like 'em.

>>3918175
Dwarf Foretress

>>3945752
Is Einstein drinking a supreme deluxe double can?

The Specialists is best HL mod

>>3946325

I'm not that guy, but I could only see HL1 as being the best game if a person is really into FPS's, and basically only FPS's. I play a wide variety of genres and the two games I'd put at the absolute top are Fallout 2 and Deus ex.

>>3955864
If you're going to be that subjective, you better use the word "favorite" instead of "best"

Or at least state what criteria you use to define "best"

>>3955952

It's literally impossible to measure an 'objectively best' game, it's always going to be subjective.

>>3945752
the problem with blue shit is 80% of the game is just hallways. gearbox is so incredibly incompetent.

>>3955971
yes, especially if you base your definition of "best" on subjective factors

that's why "favorite" is a more suited word in this case

>>3955989

You can't base "best" on objective factors. Even something that should be straightforward, "best graphics", will be subjective. There's no need to change the wording because the only ones who'd get hang up on this are autists, and most of us aren't "on the spectrum". The initial statement was a subjective value, the whole discussion was about subjective values.

>>3956020
>Even something that should be straightforward, "best graphics", will be subjective.
polycount, texture resolutions are objective. even more specific stuff like consistency in texel size and vertex density can be objectively measured

>>3956062

So you are going to argue that the game with the highest poly-count and resolution has the best graphics? Regardless of what texturers, animators, modelers etc came up with?

>>3956020
>There's no need to change the wording because the only ones who'd get hang up on this are autists, and most of us aren't "on the spectrum".
Come on now.

>>3956182
argue? no

if for example polycount, resolution and consistency are the stated definition of "best graphics" then there is nothing to argue about - unless you name a game that has a better polycount/resolution.

I can hate the game but that won't make it less best - hating a game does not make the graphics worse. I can love another game but that won't make the graphics better. I can name a different "best" game using a different definition of "best graphics" that also includes art direction, but then that's a different statement altogether.

arguing that a game is not "best" because you implicitly change the definition of "best" is pointless. especially when you don't even know the definition of "best" you're arguing against.

>>3934918
this

>>3956938

But nobody except you now are defining polycount, resolution and "consistency" (what is that supposed to measure?) as what makes the best graphics. If you try to find which game has the 'best graphics' you will get a lot of different answers, because it will be subjective. If you are trying to decide which graphics engine is CAPABLE of the 'best graphics', then it becomes much more objective, but that is not what the initial example was.

Find me a game that is supposed to have the best graphics, and people will come and claim that you are wrong and show you another game they think have better graphics, regardless of polycount. It is subjective.

Ok, now you brought up the definition of 'best' ffs. According to Mirriam Webster online it is " excelling all others". You can say that this game "excels all others" in polycount, sure, that's an objective measure, it does not however decide that the game has better graphics.

What you are not grasping is the difference between 'best graphics', which is subjective, and 'most advanced graphics' which is not subjective.

>>3918436
How does the Unreal engine work? Is it not brush based?

>>3924425
What does Ken Silverman think about this?

>>3957976
>If you are trying to decide which graphics engine is CAPABLE of the 'best graphics', then it becomes much more objective, but that is not what the initial example was.
engines are not the final products, one can be either underused or maxed out and you will get very different games. you would have to compile a much more complicated definition of "best graphics possible in a game engine", and in the end, games can still either under-use, max out, or even exceed the engine's capabilities

>Find me a game that is supposed to have the best graphics, and people will come and claim that you are wrong and show you another game they think have better graphics, regardless of polycount. It is subjective.
misusing the word "best" as "favorite" is exactly my point, hence explicitly defining what consists for "best" and why it doesn't contain the subjective factors. there is no "think/consider" if the definition contains only things you can measure. you're free to name games with actual better graphics in the stated measures, but not liking a game/being more pleased with another won't make the best game "not best"

>According to Mirriam Webster online it is " excelling all others". You can say that this game "excels all others" in polycount, sure, that's an objective measure, it does not however decide that the game has better graphics.
you're contradicting yourself here. if it excels other games at graphics, then it has the best graphics. arguing that "i don't like it so it isn't best" is like arguing with women (just don't bother).

what you're not grasping is the point that, again, 'favorite' does not mean 'best'

>>3958164

I'll bring this back to the start since you are making this discussion way more complicated than it needs to be.

Half-life is not the best game ever in my view, that goes to Deus ex and Fallout 2.

A games graphics quality can not be judged objectively in any way that matters to a human.

For example, I'm sure the engine for Quake 3 is more advanced than the one for Unreal Tournament (since ID are always on the forefront on that), and I'm sure Q3 has better 'polycount' and stuff than Unreal Tournament, but Unreal Tournament is still a much prettier game than Q3, it has 'better graphics' in human terms.

>>3958504
>Half-life is not my favorite game, that goes to Deus ex and Fallout 2.
ftfy

I tihnk a lot of annoying trends in first person shooter campaigns can be directly traced to half life and it's mods desu

>>3958561
>a lot of annoying trends
such as?

I tihnk a lot of areeable trends in first person shooter campaigns can be directly traced to half life and it's mods desu

>>3958504
Quake 3 objectively looks better than anything in UT99

>>3958643

UT looks objectively better than Q3

>>3958738
Quake 3 objectively looks better than anything in UT

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>>3958738
the maps are as blocky as quake 2 with right angle corridors and player models are the same 4 models with different textures slapped on top of them
i like UT99 but quake 3 just looks better and has a crazy amount of custom maps and texture sets

>>3935754
I'd have loved it if more devs played a bit with procedural textures. Any screenshots showing how far it can go or some benchmarks showing how efficient it is?

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>>3958768
>not even using trilinear filtering, wrong aspect ratio, shit replacement model, no AA
Though you also reskinned your UI and weapons for some reason.

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>>3958738
If anything UT had worse animating textures though it could handle higher resolution textures. The animations were framerate dependent so water animations for example looked terrible. It also didn't have shaders and lighting as good as Q3 overall.

With custom textures and maps UT doesn't look bad but arguably worse overall. Some of the weapon models are better. The player models are about on par - though Q3 possibly has the stupidest high poly model with the Q4 gladiator model that was backported and usable in game when it came out, but good luck finding that.

>>3959927
I'd also give Q3 a bonus for playing well with color correction whereas UT does not.

>>3927608
He's probably Ukrainian

>All these retards shitting on HL2
If they were around in 2004, they would have known that HL2 is the perfect sequel, it's everything HL fans wanted. Although HL1 is amazing, it was held down for being confined to one place. Everyone dreamed about a HL game set "outside", allowing the player to explore the "world". It's no surprise that the best, most notorious HL1 level is Surface Tension, the most open ended. HL2 was built on expanding the ideas and gameplay established on Surface Tension.

The modding scene for HL1 was almost as active as the one for quake 1. So the fun didn't stop after winning the game.

>>3960025
Tell me where you find based af canyons, hundreds of explosives in a nuclear missile storage room, alien weapons, gargs killed using an air force tactical map, mine fields that make you feel nervous each step you take or, hell, something as simple as a freaking desert in HL2.

>>3918175
I'm
>>3918168
call of duty 3

>>3961006
>Hating HL2 without having ever actually played the game
When you upgrade from your mother's Pentium III and get a modern PC, you can play the game and see for yourself, kiddo.

I want these anti-HL2 scrubs to choke on a dick and die. Just because they can't play the game, it doesn't mean it's bad. Quit being a lazy piece of shit and get a job, then you'll have the money to get a PC to play the grown-ups games.

>>3924310
The problem with good AI is that it's not fun to fight.

>>3950167
The intro to HL2 has more atmosphere than any other game I've ever played. It feels goddamn amazing to just look at shit. HL1 is a better game as isn't a tech demo game but atmosphere does to HL2 by a long margin, it's just better done.

>>3960025

I played it at release, drawn in by the faked 'gameplay'-videos. I was dissapointed by it. That video someone linked was spot on. Pretty good game, but no Half life.

>>3960025
Lmao
First reaction to beating HL2 after desperately waiting for it was
>what
>the
>fuck

>>3961278
Yes it is.

>>3961278
define "good AI"
good as in efficient?
good as in behaving realistically?

>>3950221
People sure did go nuts over the Gravity Gun at the time. Well, maybe it wasn't THAT revolutionary but people perceived it as such. Ravenholm was basically a low ammo level where all you did was use the Gravity Gun with your surroundings to kill enemies and progress through the level. The leaps in graphics such as facial animations was and still is amazing. Don't forget that companies like Bioware still can't animate a face with human non-uncanny-valley emotions.

>>3963264
Good as in whichever way let's me win the argument because I don't understand the words coming out of my mouth or AI.

>>3961154
>When you upgrade from your mother's Pentium III and get a modern PC, you can play the game and see for yourself, kiddo.
>projecting this hard

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Who here has played the Half Life fighting game?

Knowing that HL1 is set in the same universe as Portal 2 with the stupid comedic robots is unsettling.

>>3964513
Not even sure what the point of a splitscreen deathmatch with aim lock on is

>>3963264

Are you the graphics autist? The 'define good graphichs'-guy? Good is a word that exists in the english language and it is perfectly fine to use it, regardless of your personal autistic vencetta against it. It was probably you that sperged out over the word 'fun' over at /v/ as well a few years back.

>>3963321

The facial animations were amazing in that engine, yes, but as shown in Bloodlines, not HL2. I played HL2 before Bloodlines and I was never particularly impressed until Bloodlines.

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>>3965889
>x is good
>in what way?
>you autist!
triggered much?

>>3964513
I played that shitty Dbz Mod for Half Life

>>3966069

More like:

>This game has good AI
>Define good

I really don't even need to change it for humorous effect

>>3958768
>>3959884
>>3959901
>>3959902
>>3959927
It's hard to pick an ultimate winner. Quake looked more rounded and naturally lit, with high quality textures in place, but Unreal just seems so much more dynamic and doesn't shy on cool particle effects.
Look at the Star Trek DS9 game, it runs on Unreal and looks infinitely better than the Id Tech Star Trek game.

>>3966194

Also, all the characters in Q3 looks like they are made of plastic.

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>>3966194
No it's pretty easy to pick when you compare id tech 3 games to unreal games. Return to Castle Wolfenstein and Q3TA or elite force 2 look great. Elite Force 1 just has ugly character models and looks worse than Soldier of Fortune which was id tech 2.

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>>3929638
The whole video was spot on. HL2 defending cucks and same fags will disagree though. Half Life 2 is dog shit.

>>3966458
the video is not spot on. it's a bunch of horse shit fake arguments

>>3929747
Literally my point.
Don't just make a shitty map, build your own assets or don't bother.

>>3966624

It is spot on and is full of accurate statements.

>>3966857

Fuck you, it's FUN to have a selection of maps to choose from when playing games, downloading user-made maps increase the variance of maps and it's all done for free as a hobby.

>>3918161
great game in '98 but in retrospect was the cancer that began the downfall of the FPS genre desu

>>3967069
people keep repeating this claim but never follow up with any facts

What were your favourite HL single player mods and why were the ones made by Neil Manke & co always best?

>>3969214
Nah, though they were solid creations.

My faves were USS Dankstar and Poke646.

>>3967153
Just doombabies as usual. Everything HL1 did was already done before.

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>>3923267
it had too many nignogs in it also.

>>3931515
this
It's not so much horror as it is not knowing what you're completely up against until the end (at least on your first time).

>>3969274
>Everything HL1 did was already done before.

literally where?

>>3918168
It's still a classic

>>3918175
Obviously Space War, Pong, Space Invaders, Zork I, and Super Mario Bros.

>>3918161
It's so loose

What are some other games like Half Life?

>>3969527
you tell me asspain