I don’t get it. Everytime we start up this game we have to check in with the server? I can’t even login now and I’ve had the game up and running already.
I’m not at home, so I can’t try it, but this statement from Steam News, makes it sound like you can double click the icon in your Steam Games (steamapps?) directory.
Uhh, on further consideration, it looks like they’re talking about running it through Steam. I was confused by the choice of word “directory”.
Is there an .exe file anywhere, I wonder?
How to make Steam offline mode work from the Steam Support page might be useful to you.
The game is amazing. I can’t wait till the mod community gets the SDK.
Anyone else think that the only negative for HL2 is the rather large load times? It kind of ruins the continuity, I feel.
Every time you INSTALL the game on a computer, you check in with the server. That allows them to ensure that only one computer gets playing rights at a time. You can run steam in offline mode just fine.
The load times aren’t so bad for me, and the levels are larger between loads than they were in HL1. In the end it isn’t the wait that would destroy the seamlessness, its the changing locales between levels. And you don’t: like HL1, you transition perfectly between each level: every last move and object is carried over. You do wait a little longer, but it’s really not so bad.
I know the game is only supposed to be 20 hours or so long, but it already feels epic and I’m not even halfway through. I’ve been through so many different types of play since starting, done so many cool things.
The menu for this game (and indeed, now for HL1:S as well) is SO badass: a 3d moving vinette of the chapter you are currently in.
Game of the Year. Easily.
It lives up to the hype! It lives up to the hype!
HL:S is HL done in the new engine?
Yeah, but they didn’t do anything but port it straight over. No new models or textures from what I understand. Haven’t tried running it yet myself though.
HL2 is beautiful. I just want to wader around and look at stuff. I like the white helmets on the Combine soldiers…makes a great target. 
Not really spoilers per se, but don’t read if you aren’t well into the game/don’t want to know some vague information about what is coming up.
-I am at the prison-thingee, Something Prospect. It’s cool as hell, you get bugs to fight with you. Tre’ Starship Troopers.
-The gravity gun is incredibly useful. Playing catch with the robo-dog was pretty fun.
-So far, I like all the weapons. Pistol-Revolver-SMG-Pulse Rifle-Shotgun-Crossbow-Rocket Launcher (don’t waste rounds, you need 3 to take out the gunships!) grenades, crowbar, and gravity. Oh ya, and the pheromone sack. They all work well, some better in certain situations. I favor the SMG.
-Damn. I am still impressed with the overall experience: Graphics, sound, playability, level design. Kudos to Valve.
Just Incredible. Never played anything like it. Placing Call of Duty in a reasonably distant second. The sense of being pursued is like in no other game.
I’ve got a couple questions because I can’t remember how half life ended:
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Am I supposed to know what the deal is with the oppressive state?
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Am I supposed to assume that this takes place immediately after HL ended?
I played and finished HL, and I am a good distance along in HL2, and nothing about the origins of the police state has been revealed, sort of. Something does come along that seems like it will be ‘The Explanation’, but it remains to be seen…
During a teleporter jump, you lose a week. (As in, the teleportation seems instant to you, but other characters say you were gone for a week.) Presumably, since Gordon was teleporting around like a mofo in HL, he lost enough time for a goofy police state to pop up?
P.S. The females are rather well-modelled in HL2.
No, all I know is:
The old administrator of Black Mesa is the big brother guy
Anyone else think that there’s a lot of Matrix and Nineteen Eighty Four influences in this game? For example:
The flying cameras that keep photographing you are a lot like the squid things in the Matrix
I’ve played some of HL:S
-they’ve basically set it up so that new players can go through it fresh, or veterans can play it as a “Greatest hits” thing, by choosing favorite chapters from the “new game” menu.
-the main menu is like HL2’s: little 3D vinettes (I KNOW there has got to be someway to disable this at command line so that loading the menu doesn’t take so long, as cool and as pretty as this stuff is.
What you notice as different in game, given that textures and models are the same:
-water, obviously, though amazingly because of its reflective properties, it doesn’t look so out of place
-heat (like from steam valves) warps the air like in Doom3
-some occasional shader effects on shiny things (though its hard to tell, because HL1 had lots of faked “metalic shiny” things)
-explosions and such are HL2-like: not all environmental effects are like that, but some are
-sounds are all beefed up
-enemies ragdoll upon death
As far as the plot: no you aren’t supposed to know what the heck happened (Valve said so) until later on in the game. Gordon could have been gone for a few weeks, or a few years when the game starts. From just the first level, it seems like years. I don’t think you lose any time after that point though: just a straight day or two in the life of Gordon Freeman.
Quick question(s), be great if someone could answer in the next 60 minutes before I leave work:
How long does it take via broadband (I have cable modem) to download the game from Steam?
Is there any value in picking the game up from a store as opposed to from Steam? Does the steam download include other things not included in store package?
basically, I’m busy from 5 until 8 tonite, and I want to be able to play right after. I need to purchase the game. Should I run to a store at 4:30, or go home and start my download instead?
Much appreciated
Well, I ordered it from Steam and 6 hours later I had everything downloaded (this was couple of days before release).
I think you should be fine with three hours available - Steam should load the Source engine first, and then Half-Life 2. I don’t think you have to have the whole game loaded to begin playing. I think I read somewhere once (nice cite, eh?) that you could start playing and the game would continue to download levels in the background. Does anyone else remember seeing this?
I bought the Silver package from Steam, which seemed like the best deal to me. You get HL2, Counter-Strike: Source, Half-Life: Source, Day of Defeat:Source and all of Valve’s older catalog (Blue Shift, Opposing Force, Condition Zero, Team Fortress Classic, etc). It all goes on your hard drive, but you can burn the files to a DVD or CDs to back them up (on the Steam menu go to Play Games and then right click on a game. There is an option to backup game files.)
The retail version is for you only if you really want a box and some silk-screened CDs. Apparently there is only a bare bones installation guide and six paper-sleeved CDs in the box.
I believe the retail version is missing parts of the game as well which need to be downloaded – perhaps as an additional form of copy protection. So it seems like you’ll need to download “something” anyway. You’ll certainly need to at least register/go online with Steam to activate your game.
Additionally, I’ve heard that if you purchase the retail version you can’t pay an additionally amount to upgrade to the Silver version. At least not at the moment. Everyone kinda assumed you would be able to and some people got screwed. If you make the wrong choice now out of impatience, you will likely have to live with it.
Furthermore, if you purchase the retail version you will always have to have the CD-ROM in your drive when you play. This is not the case with the Steam download. This also precludes downloading/playing your game over at a friend’s house. I’ve done this once already and it’s sweet. (No more talking about how cool HL2 is, let me just D/L it on your comp and show you right now! That’s advertising!)
Sounds like the people who are buying the retail are screwing themselves. And it consistently seems to be in the name of “I don’t trust STEAM. What if it’s not around.” (After playing the beauty that is HL2, you seriously think that VALVE is gonna let people be screwed like that? This is the team that roams the message boards on release night solving peoples problems. Gabe’s even given his home phone and said he doesn’t mind talking to people as long as its not at 4am.)
Or worse yet: “I want something tangible that I can hold in my hands when I buy something.” (Sorry to be harsh, but get with the times. These people clearly don’t meddle in the stock market. :eek: )
This is all, of course, ignoring the issue of purchasing something straight drom the source (no pun) – the developers – rather than a middle man. Personally, I’d rather buy Lord of the Rings directly from ol’ P. Jackson if I could.
I don’t believe that this is true. Buying the retail version is basically like buying the steam version, but having the content files installed via cd rather than downloaded off steam. I may be wrong, but that was my understanding.
Back to the game: there is, apparently, no end to the coolness.
Spoilers for up to the Nova Prospekt level (the name of which isn’t a spoiler since nobody will have any clue what it is just by hearing the name)
[spoiler]
How awesome is it that the two gunships defend each other, shooting down my rockets? Virtually ever “scene” in the game is like this: there’s always one new element of coolness that makes each encounter, even with the same enemies, just a little different.
The buggy section (hey, double menaing!) is definately the slowest portion of the game: I did get a little tired of it after a bit. But it picked right up again after that.
And the broken down house with the rollermines is a neat touch: you’re like "yawn, rollermines again… I’ll just toss these off into the ocean and… oh shit! all the windows are blocked up! ahhhh!
Nova Prospekt is teh r0xor, except my buggy friends make me feel a little useless sometimes. However, watching them take on waves of combine, manhacks, turrets, and so on is godly awesome. Taking the beach back from the combine was like Call of Duty on crack. 
The coolest moment so far in the bug levels was when I and an antlion crowbarred/slashed a manhack to death between us in one simultaneous doublesided blow. I wanted to give the little guy a high five. :)[/spoiler]
I’m pretty sure – several people have reported this and are pursuing nocd cracks from the warez community. Clearly this is a terrible alternative as one would have to hunt for an updated crack everytime the game is updated.
I too could easily be wrong, but I’ve heard this reported on messageboards from many retail buyers. As one put it: “all the disadvantages of Steam with none of the advantages”. Any Dopers buy the retail that can confirm or deny this point?
Back to the game, indeed. As soon as I get back from work I’ll be nearing the end of Highway 17. I’m dying to peek into your spoiler box!