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[Half-Life] 25th Anniversary Update and Documentary
Undead Scottsman
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUCpSYvQ6ZgHalf-Life: Alyx - VR Exclusive Game Coming March 23rd
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2W0N3uKXmo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9K0eJEmMEwhttps://www.half-life.com/en/alyx/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/546560/HalfLife_Alyx/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkBrNGeFwoUBlack Mesa, a remake of Half-Life on the Source Engine has finally been released after an incredibly long development period. Once a mod, it was released without the endgame Xen portion in 2012 after 8 years of development. Later it was released on Steam in Early Access in 2015 where they've spent the time since revising the game, adding in multiplayer and completely revamping the Xen experience from scratch. While the Crowbar Collective's work isn't done (The 1.5 "Definitive Edition" will be coming later), this represents a huge milestone for them and the end of a long and ambition project, not just in the real of Half-Life, but mods in general.
Patch Notes: https://steamcommunity.com/games/362890/announcements/detail/1717499322286666465
Store Page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/362890/Black_Mesa/
OTHER GAMES
Half-Life 2: Episode 3 - Probably Dead
Half-Life 3 - Probably in Development Probably in Development Hell
Old Games
For a great retrospective on the legacy of Half-Life, this is an excellent documentary from Noclip
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQLEW1c-69cIf you want to hear more about the creation of Half-Life, including how the development of the game was essentially restarted halfway through the project, check out this article called “Final Hours of Half-Life” that details the history of Valve and Half-Life’s development.
https://www.docdroid.net/nuj22KX/the-final-hours-of-half-life.pdf
(ALSO AT)
http://web.archive.org/web/19991011210909/http://www.gamespot.com/features/halflife_final/
There’s also a sequel article about Half-Life 2 that’s pretty good as well: http://www.gamespot.com/features/the-final-hours-of-half-life-2-6112889/
If you want to play through the older games, here’s some stuff that can enhance your experience.
Half-Life 2: Update
Free mod for Half-Life 2 that includes enhanced lighting, more detailed world shadows, full High Dynamic Range Lighting (HDR), new particle effects, improved fog, bug fixes, and community commentary. Available at: https://store.steampowered.com/app/290930/HalfLife_2_Update/
High Definition Pack – When Half-Life: Blue Shift came out, it included a “high definition” model pack which was eventually ported to steam. In the current version of Half-Life, this can be activated/deactivated in the Video Options menu.
Half-Life: Uplink – Originally a free demo for Half-Life, Uplink has three exclusive levels not found in the main game. You can download a mod version for Half-Life at http://www.halflifeuplink.com/steamlink/
Half-Life: decay – decay was an exclusive addon for Half-Life only released on the PS2 version of the game, but some enterprising fans have ported it to the PC. I won’t lie though, it’s a bit buggy and can be crash prone, but outside of tracking down an old copy of Half-Life for the PS2, this is the only way to check out these levels, also made by Gearbox Software. Available at http://decay.half-lifecreations.com/
Half-Life vs Half-Life: Source
One question I get a lot is which is better: the original Half-Life or the remastering of the game onto the Source Engine. I prefer the original, but I’ll go over the pros and cons of each
Original
+Compatible with HD Pack
+Compatible with mods
+Same engine as the expansion packs, for a more comparable experience
-As with most old software, it has some flakiness running on modern machines
Source
+Better graphics (Crisper visuals, better shaders, better water effects, enhanced backgrounds/skyboxes)
+Better stability
+Better physics (including ragdolls)
+Better AI (Enemies are harder to cheese, allies have much better pathfinding, and less group limits)
-Music issues (Music cuts off during level transitions, which has issues given HL1 was often designed with music right before level transitions.)
-Scripting issues (Monsters sometimes activate before they should, or notice you when they shouldn’t, which can interfere with scripted sequences and dialog)
-Not compatible with classic mods
-No official HD pack
+Compatible with HD Pack
+Compatible with mods
+Same engine as the expansion packs, for a more comparable experience
-As with most old software, it has some flakiness running on modern machines
Source
+Better graphics (Crisper visuals, better shaders, better water effects, enhanced backgrounds/skyboxes)
+Better stability
+Better physics (including ragdolls)
+Better AI (Enemies are harder to cheese, allies have much better pathfinding, and less group limits)
-Music issues (Music cuts off during level transitions, which has issues given HL1 was often designed with music right before level transitions.)
-Scripting issues (Monsters sometimes activate before they should, or notice you when they shouldn’t, which can interfere with scripted sequences and dialog)
-Not compatible with classic mods
-No official HD pack
Undead Scottsman on
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It not being a sequel stings a little, but if it gets the Valve team excited to build games in the setting again, fuck it, fine, whatever.
Fingers crossed and whatnot.
Don't get too excited. Don't get too excited.
ah - fuck it.
hype off the frickin charts.
I heard Resident Evil did a great job in their version.
Valve: "Hold my beer"
I've heard WAY more positive buzz for this VR game than Blizzard's mobile game.
At least they got out ahead of it and mentioned it was VR in the announcement, rather than surprise everyone with it. I mean, it could be good, but the VR market is still very very small for an exclusive game in a franchise people have been waiting a dozen years for a new entry in, they are bound to piss quite a few people off. It would have to be truly exceptional to be a killer app for an expensive platform, and I am not as confident in Valve pulling that off as I would have been 10 years ago.
Oh my God can you imagine if they announced that there's a new HL game and then it ended up being VR in the reveal? The amount of salt generated would make the ocean jealous.
I just don't know if Valve can succeed where others have had mediocre results in forcing VR as a thing that people care about and adopt widely. Remember when Gabe Newell said Linux was the future of PC gaming?
3DS Friend Code: 2165-6448-8348 www.Twitch.TV/cooljammer00
Battle.Net: JohnDarc#1203 Origin/UPlay: CoolJammer00
And Steam Machines, and Steam Controller.
Personally I like VR, but I'm having a hard time seeing how it ever stops being niche. Sony's been going crazy trying to make VR a thing, but even at $200, their set isn't really taking off.
But I'm sure the 2% of Half-Life's fanbase that owns a VR headset will dig this.
PSN/Steam/NNID: SyphonBlue | BNet: SyphonBlue#1126
I hope this is the first big game that is a definite "must have" for VR.
...yep, going back to that physics mine.
Personally, I couldn't give less of a shit about this simply because it's new Half-Life material that has nothing to do with actually wrapping up the franchise they've left hanging for years. I like VR but that is a total zero-interest draw for me, since I have no idea when I'll be getting PC VR and it's still stupidly expensive. I'm not going to be at all surprised if Valve gets a bunch of negative flack for this, simply because the vast, vast majority of PC users don't have VR and don't want anything from the HL setting other than HL3.
It's getting better at least. My 4 year old PC is (according to the Oculus Rift test tool) VR capable at the recommended requirements (as in, substantially beyond the minimums), though I have yet to put that theory into practice yet.
$350'ish US (looking at the Rift S and Quest) is certainly an expensive peripheral, no doubt about it. There are some cheaper options, and I'm hoping that with Black Friday we'll see some kinds of deals (game bundles at least, if not the 15% or so off that some shops had last year, which isn't huge but is better than nothing).
I agree, it's a reach on an already expensive hobby. I keep wavering between getting a Rift (for future proofing for HL VR, which I'm at least interested in, and all the free Beat Saber tracks I could ever want) or PS4 VR (which is like 20% cheaper, at least before the sales start in earnest).
Hopefully the tech will keep getting better and also cheaper. Even if today is not that day, and seems unlikely to have a massive drop in price in the next 4 months, who knows what the black friday sales of 2020 will be?
Resident 8bitdo expert.
Resident hybrid/flap cover expert.
Valve has always used the Half-Life franchise to push new tech, platforms, and ideas. Half-Life 1 was a pioneer for cinematic shooters. Half-Life 2 wasn't just about a new level physics and graphics in games, but also a Trojan horse for Steam. The Half-Life 2 expansions were used to push the idea of episodic gaming.
Valve has said from the start that they plan on developing major VR experiences, so if you were Valve and you were planning on making a AAA VR experience, what franchises would you consider?
I could understand people being so angry if they straight up announced that Half-Life 3 was going to be VR, but this is a spinoff prequel title. Are they not even allowed to make spinoffs the way that they want, or do they have to deliver Half-Life 3 before they have permission to? Though I do get some of the annoyance of this being the first Half-Life title being announced in over a decade and instead of 3 it's a VR side-story. Not a problem for me though, I have my Index ready to go and play day one.
Also, 100% this tweet:
3DS Friend Code: 2165-6448-8348 www.Twitch.TV/cooljammer00
Battle.Net: JohnDarc#1203 Origin/UPlay: CoolJammer00
The only thing I never liked about it was having to setup the headset and sensors. It was always a chore to set everything up, so something like the Oculus S that doesn't use sensors (But then has much less accurate VR space behind you) is a huge step in the right direction. The PS4 VR is annoying that it has so many things to plug into as well, and the resolution of course.
I will definitely be picking VR up again either with the S or something similar with some improvements comes along.
Maybe this is their "fuck off about half life already" moment.
Twitch: KoopahTroopah - Steam: Koopah
The game's cost is of course piddlingly small in comparison to an Index, but it's kinda a nice surprise if you already own one, or it's your choice for a new VR purchase.
-I didn't hear much about what's going to set this game apart from the million other VR shooters, except that it's a Half-Life game.
-Sounds like the rumors of Campo Santo working on this game are true. (I'm not super worried, In the Valley of the Gods is a game that doesn't need to worry about looking outdated when it comes out, so a bit of a delay is manageable)
-"Developing Half-Life 3 is a scary prospect" implies to me that Valve doesn't have any idea how to make make the next few years any more productive on the front of producing a Half-Life 3 than the last 12 years were, so :razz:
Trailer looks nice at least, that Gman is ridiculously high rez.
This looks really good! I just want to play it with kbm though!
PSN/Steam/NNID: SyphonBlue | BNet: SyphonBlue#1126
I should really get some of those knuckles controllers sometime.
Trailer: "Don't worry, it's unloaded!" "..." "Well, it's unloaded now!"
Me: "... damn you."
So yeah this actually looks very interesting and like it takes excellent advantage of VR controls. Unfortunately, I have that particular issue with VR where I can't do any of it without wanting to vomit. It's not even the motion itself; something about the 3D setup. Basically ANY 3D interface fucks up my brain. Can't watch 3D movies, can't do VR.
https://podcast.tidalwavegames.com/
This seems like a weird statement. There's lots of very successful VR games. Valve has their own headset they want people to buy!