[seebaruk]

Originally Posted by jjacob

Yeah the movie references were awesome, I remember looking past that frozen guy only to force myself to load a previous savegame later on, it was so worth it The final level of NOLF was hard, I had to retry like 5 times before finding that last person in time. NOLF2 is definately worth it though, you should pick it up and enjoy it to its fullest (that is, setting everything way up, 1600x1200, full AA etc. ). I replayed NOLF about half a year ago and was amazed how good everything still looked, especially the characters. Also, wasn't it one of the first shooters to feature full lip animation or something? Too bad they made that NOLF multiplayer rip-off (Jack... something) instead of NOLF 3

Cool, I'll have to get it, if I can find it anywhere still. Should be cheap enough! I heard there was a really cool bit where you're in a trailer park with a hurricane flying about, reminded me of Redneck Rampage. What a quality game that was I remember spending about half an hour just messing around in the bowling alley.

[Fop]

Originally Posted by avatar_58

I don't see how you can say that. The levels might not have been imaginative (something HL2 wins in) but the game was definately more detailed.

More detailed as in more polygons? Sure. But they don't make use of those polygons. I don't really care how smooth a clone soldier's helmet looks.

[Karmillo]

Originally Posted by Fop

More detailed as in more polygons? Sure. But they don't make use of those polygons. I don't really care how smooth a clone soldier's helmet looks.

I think he means more detailed as in phones you can listen to messages on, wall leaving big holes and dust flying everywhere when you shoot them, shooting fire extinguishers to blow up groups, stuff like that

[Fop]

Damn I hate those huge holes. They must have really horrible walls when a pistol bullet takes a chunk out larger than my head. Could've been a cool effect if they didn't go overboard with it.

[avatar_58]

I'm just saying in general the game is more detailed graphically. HL2's levels can all be created using the hammer editor, for one thing. There are some scenes in HL2 which are nice, but some of them resemble the boxy undetailed rooms of HL1 and it hurts the overall image.

80% of what you see outdoors is a "skybox/portal" which makes it LOOK 3D but its actually just a picture of a smaller region. The lost coast level is actulally just a very small boxy mountain....but the skyportal gives the illusion that the game stretches out for miles (which it doesn't). Technically HL2's engine isn't very capable of making larger areas than in HL1. Play at a rats-type level in multiplayer to watch the game struggle even on high end pc's.

[RLacey]

When it comes to F.E.A.R., I certainly wouldn't choose to emphasise the graphics. I know it was part of the design, but the warehouses all look remarkably bland. Come to think of it, the whole game looks pretty bland until it's in motion and there are lots of explosions and debris flying all over the place. When you stand still for a second, though, it really does look like a five year-old game.

[Fop]

Originally Posted by avatar_58

80% of what you see outdoors is a "skybox/portal" which makes it LOOK 3D but its actually just a picture of a smaller region. The lost coast level is actulally just a very small boxy mountain....but the skyportal gives the illusion that the game stretches out for miles (which it doesn't). Technically HL2's engine isn't very capable of making larger areas than in HL1. Play at a rats-type level in multiplayer to watch the game struggle even on high end pc's.

The 3D skybox is a very smart system. When the map is modeled, everything in the 3d skybox is 1/16 the size of the rest of the stuff. It's not any less 3D. Figuring out smart techniques like this is a plus, not a minus. It's the result that matters.

[avatar_58]

Well I know which game looked better in my eyes, and it wasn't HL2. During the whole of HL2 the boxy areas and empty rooms started to show the limits of the source engine and its desginers.

Graphics aside (since they matter not anyway) I enjoyed FEAR a lot more than I did HL2 or Doom 3. The game's combat and mechanics felt really solid and I wasn't just throwing objects around to display phsyics. Having the enemies fully aware of their environments really added to the experience in my opinion. It didn't feel like I was killing the same guy over again (which it IS basically) simply because every fight was great.

[Spiwak]

Originally Posted by avatar_58

Well I know which game looked better in my eyes, and it wasn't HL2. During the whole of HL2 the boxy areas and empty rooms started to show the limits of the source engine and its desginers.

Graphics aside (since they matter not anyway) I enjoyed FEAR a lot more than I did HL2 or Doom 3. The game's combat and mechanics felt really solid and I wasn't just throwing objects around to display phsyics. Having the enemies fully aware of their environments really added to the experience in my opinion. It didn't feel like I was killing the same guy over again (which it IS basically) simply because every fight was great.

Well I know I wasn't arguing about that. FEAR is a year younger than HL2 and thus should have better AI, combat and mechanics, and it should have better graphics. I think that considering HL2 is a year older, it still looks great and plays great (the FEAR models certainly can't touch HL2's) and it actually has a pretty deep story (the only FPS in which I've felt something for the characters). In the end, I enjoyed HL2 a lot and I'm going to continue buying expansions and anything else Half-Life that comes out. Since my PC apparently can't even take FEAR without it looking gross, I clearly have to side with HL2 if simply because they made an engine with better performance/scalability.

[jjacob]

At 20$ per episode, I think they're pretty overpriced for 4 hours of gameplay, I might end up spending hundreds of dollars Then again, it is more HL2 awesomeness.

[avatar_58]

Originally Posted by Spiwak

Since my PC apparently can't even take FEAR without it looking gross, I clearly have to side with HL2 if simply because they made an engine with better performance/scalability.

Yes but you can't comdemn a game simply because you don't meet the requirements. If a game is to be judged graphically, it is to be played at its max quality. I remember seeing some screenshots of Doom 3 running on a voodoo card *shudder*

[Dasilva]

A friend of mine played Quake 4 on a very low end PC, and it looked like Half Life 1, and was still very jerky. lol.

[seebaruk]

Originally Posted by Fop

More detailed as in more polygons? Sure. But they don't make use of those polygons. I don't really care how smooth a clone soldier's helmet looks.

OK, I'm clearly the only one to see the dirty innuendo possibilities here

F.E.A.R: The porno patch. With smooth helmets.

[Spiwak]

Originally Posted by avatar_58

Yes but you can't comdemn a game simply because you don't meet the requirements. If a game is to be judged graphically, it is to be played at its max quality. I remember seeing some screenshots of Doom 3 running on a voodoo card *shudder*

You're probably right. Get me a computer that can play the game on macx settings and I'll post my thoughts on it then.

[RLacey]

Originally Posted by jjacob

At 20$ per episode, I think they're pretty overpriced for 4 hours of gameplay, I might end up spending hundreds of dollars Then again, it is more HL2 awesomeness.

Pah. I still reckon all this Episode 1 malarky was made up in order to push out what they'd finished earlier and make more money by charging again for the rest of the game later .

[avatar_58]

Originally Posted by Spiwak

You're probably right. Get me a computer that can play the game on macx settings and I'll post my thoughts on it then.

Alright, just send me your contact info and look in your mailbox for a new PC.

Although I could post some nice looking screenshots for you for the hell of it.

[jjacob]

Originally Posted by RLacey

Pah. I still reckon all this Episode 1 malarky was made up in order to push out what they'd finished earlier and make more money by charging again for the rest of the game later .

Oh I agree 100% - Valve probably finished most of Episode 1 before HL2's release, but then decided they could milk it further by ending it with a cliffhanger and splitting off into episodes. Therefor I don't think it'll live up to expectations with regards to the continuation of the story - still, I'll wait for the reviews and perhaps I might buy it, perhaps even Episode 2, but screw Valve if they expect me to buy Episode 3, I don't like spending more than 100$ on a single game. If I'm really desperate to know the ending, I'll take a peek at a walkthrough or something

[RLacey]

Actually, I suspect Valve have just realised that they couldn't get Aftermath out on time and looked for somewhere to chop it up so they could release part of it earlier. So instead of paying $30 for the complete expansion, or whatever they were intending, you now get to pay $20 + $20 (+ $20?), AND they get to push it out the door sooner.

[/cynic]

[avatar_58]

Originally Posted by RLacey

[/cynic]

Its not cynical if its true.

[Spiwak]

Originally Posted by avatar_58

Although I could post some nice looking screenshots for you for the hell of it.

I'd actually like to see those, even though I'm already aware I'll never see that kind of quality in my own play-throughs for several years probably.

EDIT: I thought Aftermath and Episode One were the same exact thing, and that Valve had already decided that expansions would be episodic. Are these $20 prices confirmed? Becaus I would say $20 might be a bit much for who knows how many episodes....but $10-$15 I might pay.