Topic awaiting preservation: Half-Life 2 (Page 1 of 2)

Half Life 2 is out!

I went to the mall today for some Xmas shopping and saw a box of Half-Life 2... I'd gotten so used to seeing the 'reserve your copy' boxes that I didn't think too much of it.

So, I asked the clerk and said that, yeah, it was the real deal...

That's just frikkin fantastic- HL2 finally comes out and I don't have the time to play it.... oh, war is hell....

I finished the game today - damned amazing, in my opinion. One of the best single player games, ever.
It looks better than Doom 3, as well. Doom 3 never had me stop playing and go "...wow."

But hell, the gravity gun never gets old.

--------------------------------------------------------
"Abortion clinics are like expressways to heaven."

I am kinda torn between halflife 2 and prince of persia 2... what to buy? POP2 comes out in 9 days.

I am leaning towards POP2, because it looks like it closer resembles the only game that has ever captured my heart... ninja gaiden.

So, does halflife really rock that much?

Ninja Gaiden was a really great game--though, I thought that some parts of certain levels could be a little more straight-forward like Halo: Combat Evolved's levels are.

I'm perfectly happy with 18-30 hour Halo 2 multiplayer on the weekends, and a little FFXI during the week, but if I get a bit of a better computer I may go out and get HL2, though I hated Half-Life 1.

- James
Google Boards | Great Big Blog

Meh...I _really_ want to get Half-life 2, but my laptop is only 2.8GHz, 512 meg RAM and 64 meg go5600 geForce graphics card ( ) and I don't want to buy it if it isn't going to run. I mean, Unreal 2004 has some issues running (though that's the only one I've really had a problem with. Halo wasn't great, but then technically it wasnt a great conversion...)

Anyone any ideas if it'd work ok?

Wrayal

Go to kimber-ja.demon.co.uk and click on the link to the raytracer!

half life 2 is gold. i saw and played it already. however, i will spare all my money for World of Warcraft

Half-Life 2 consumed my soul.

"Nothin' like a pro-stabbin' from a pro." -Weadah

mine too.
And it runs fine on my 2 ghz, 512 meg ram, nforce2 Onboard graphics 'card' system. In 800x600, but without any* lag .

* - except when I hit 'quick-save'. can deal with that

hehe, ok, I might have to give it a try then. I've been loking forward to this for ages ...mmm....havok-ish goodness....

Go to kimber-ja.demon.co.uk and click on the link to the raytracer!

The only downers about HL2 are the lack of non-CS multiplayer (CS is the suck) and that your squad members are pretty stupid in terms of the rest of the AI in the game.

It's still the best game in the existence of humanity, though.

"Nothin' like a pro-stabbin' from a pro." -Weadah

(Edited by synax on 11-22-2004 19:32)

synax:

also, that some of the demo scenarios never made it into the final game, eg the blue tentacle monster.

--------------------------------------------------------
"Abortion clinics are like expressways to heaven."

Can't do anything but agree with Synax; HL2 is simply the best game in existence.

So if you have the money and the computer to play it, you shouldn't hesitate. If you don't have the money you should take up a loan and buy it anyway

_________________________
"There are 10 kinds of people; those who know binary, those who don't and those who start counting at zero"
- the Golden Ratio - Vim Tutorial -

so, what's the realistical minimum HW spec you need for HL2 ?

{cell 260} {Blog}
-{ ?Computer games don?t affect kids; I mean if Pac-Man affected us as kids, we?d all be running around in darkened rooms, munching magic pills and listening to repetitive electronic music.? (Kristian Wilson, Nintendo, Inc, 1989.) }-

I belive the minimum hardware specs were 1.2GHz CPU, 256MB RAM, DX 7 compatible videocard and 4.5 gigs of HD space.

If you're short on CPU power, you can probably make up for it with more RAM. A DX 7 videocard is fairly old (64MB something or other) so something newer will give the extra boost you may need.

Recommendations for the game are 2.4GHz, 512MB RAM, DX 9 compatible videocard, and 4.5 gigs of HD space.

You positively ABSOLUTELY need an internet connection. Your HL2 CD-Key is checked *everytime* you run the game. It's a bit of a pain in the ass, but it's Valve's way of fighting piracy, which I can deal with.

"Nothin' like a pro-stabbin' from a pro." -Weadah

well the radeon vid cards run this game rather well.. and I would say that at least 512 megs of ram and around a 2 gig processor (might not need that fast of a processor though)...

If you would like to now for sure search it in google : half-life 2 benchmark

I have been playing it for a couple days now, and I can't stop.. I mean I am at work and my eyes hurt they are so tired

Cool, thanx!

I've got a 1,7 Ghz P4, 512 RAM XP Home, and an older Geforce 4 card that runs DX9 without any problems.
I guess that would work decently then. I just wouldn't wanna run off and spend a fat wad of $ on something that runs as stuck in bubblegum...

Too bad there's no demo
/Dan

{cell 260} {Blog}
-{ ?Computer games don?t affect kids; I mean if Pac-Man affected us as kids, we?d all be running around in darkened rooms, munching magic pills and listening to repetitive electronic music.? (Kristian Wilson, Nintendo, Inc, 1989.) }-

... haven't played it yet.

Found some neat links here:

http://archive.gamespy.com/landing/halflife2/

w00t - got steam subscription! Now, just 3 hours, and then undoubtedly it'll die on startup, or my computer wont be able to handle it or something, but anyway...cant wait

Wrayal

Go to kimber-ja.demon.co.uk and click on the link to the raytracer!

AARRRGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I HATE STEAM!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've just spent the last 4 hours trying to install the damn game and- nothing...

when I get to the EULA the NEXT button is ghosted as is the 'I agree' part.. when I cancel out, I get:

---------------------------
Install
---------------------------
Error in custom action. The library C:\Documents and Settings\Petskull\D45EC2594A194656B588C2C360DD18EA.TMP\WiseCustomCalla.dll is invalid or could not be found.
---------------------------
OK
---------------------------

....it used to be ''WiseCustomCalla4.dll", but since I went WAY out of my way to download and install STEAM (while trying to figure out what the *original* fucking problem was), I now get a slightly different error message.... seems all I can do now is crawl my way to the Asylum and bitch... grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

I've been waiting 4 years to play Half-Life 2 and this is about as far as I get..

*slumps in a corner with arms crossed, fuming*
I'm so fucking disappointed.........

Christ, if I get that, Im going to kill someone...

Go to kimber-ja.demon.co.uk and click on the link to the raytracer!

I feel sorry for one of my friends who tried ot install it on crappy dialup... took him the better part of 12 hours jsut to install the game...


Justice 4 Pat Richard

Poor sod. Its taken me a few on 512k DSL...

[edit] OMG I've downloaded, it's installed and...it hangs on "loading" I've checked ports, other running processes...I've tried severa;l times....what the hell else can I do? Piece of crap. I know others have taken it more graciously than me, I just get irate about these things. Shit programming. They can get all the awesome graphics in the world, but if it doesnt boot on half the users' machines, what's the frgging point?![/edit]

[edit2] Not gona try and pretend the above didnt happen, but I think I ought to say it now works fine. Just needed to download updates. Didnt tell me that was what it was doing - never dreamt it was "loading" its data straight off the valve servers . Still, all is cool. doesnt run amazingly, possibly because my lappy has got extremely hot during the install, but hey, Im off to steam the rest of the components . [/edit2]

Go to kimber-ja.demon.co.uk and click on the link to the raytracer!

(Edited by wrayal on 11-27-2004 09:10)

(Edited by wrayal on 11-27-2004 09:58)

ok, this was really dumb, but I simply needed to scroll down
*awkward chuckle*

anyway... now it hangs on install because it can't install some .ico.... fuck this... I'll play it on someone else's machine sometime in the future... or something....

I remain so fucking disappointed....

Yeah, the whole about needing an internet connection on the minimum req's really turned me off when I saw the box.

I readily agree with their efforts to combat piracy, but anti-copy protection schemes which adversely affect legitimate users seem to be a bit extreme.

The funny thing is, such measures never stop the determined pirate, it only hurts the honest customers. That is ass-backwards, if you ask me.

*shrugs*

Sorry to hear you can't play the game, Petskull.

Actually, it works well, and an alternate non-internet version is available.
It may be extreme, and inconvenience me occasionally, but evidently Valve has banned the accounts of 20,000 (that's the number I recall. It may be wrong) pirates recently.

--------------------------------------------------------
"Abortion clinics are like expressways to heaven."

And with the non-internet version you miss out on such good updates like HL2 Deathmatch and Operation Gordon


Justice 4 Pat Richard

Silence: Honestly, do you know of even one person with a computer that meets those system specs that doesn't have an internet connection?

I think the steam distribution is a grand idea. It saved me a good 30-40% off the in store retail price (in auatralia) and I got valve's backlog of games to boot.

As for it being an anti piracy measure? I don't really see that as playing any mojor role in steam. A handy side effect for sure, but for me steam has offered more that anything I've ever gotten out of a retail box. No horrid CD-Keys, No "Must insert CD to play this game" messages -- most of the things these so called faithful purchasers site when they justify their distaste with anti-piracy measures. Add to that the nifty "backup game files" option for those who want to keep a copy on CD for easy install later on, what's not to love about it? Seems like it avoids all the usual anti-piracy traps and offers end users a better gaming experience in the process.

After all, valve would be outlaying quite a bit of money for the IT required to support such a large online distribution. A lot of other companies like ubi soft don't ven host thier own game patches, fobbing them off to add ridden download mirrors and the like.

As for the problems people have expressed about steam not installing the game correctly, that must indeed suck. On the flip side, I've installed it on roughly 4 different machines with wildly different specs now and have never had a problem with it.

It would suck if you didn't have broadband, but if you didn't have broadband you'd just purchase the retail version instead of trying to pull down several gigs of data over dial-up*shudder*...

At the end of the day, steam seems to be a big win for the legit customer, at least from my experience.

p.s. I thought the single player game was a tad too short, and the ending, whilst epic yet nicely understated for an action title - a little unsatisfying. But the other games more than make up for it... if I can ever find a CS server that isn't rife with foul mouthed crack shot 13 yr olds at least...

^ Hey, fanboy! Wake up! Apparently, not everyone is able to connect (re - Petskull). Therefore, it is hurting paying customers, now, isn't it?

quote:

---

Cameron said:

No "Must insert CD to play this game" messages

---

Umm... you require the first of the 5 HL2 CDs inserted in orer to play the game or you will get that message. Oh, and as for buying the retail version, wel, I take it your talking about the 5 CD retail version? It'sthe only one available down in Victoria currently. And even that still requires several gigabytes of transfers as steam updates, downloads new game types, decrypts the game, does a whole lotta things...

There's alot of data to be transfered whatever version you get.


Justice 4 Pat Richard

As for anti-piracy measures - we'll, they've already been cracked. There's a version of HL2 going around that has its own Steam emulator. Of course, you can't play online which makes me (a legit owner of the game) happy to say the least.

Personally, I like what Valve has done. I was at first very disappointed that the 5 CD's didn't even come in a jewel case (5 freakin' sleeves) and there was no manual - in fact, I thought I had somehow gotten a tainted copy of HL2. Then being presented with 1001 different authorization progressions kind of made me upset - but then I started playing the game, and all was good again.

I too think the single player was a tad short with a sudden ending, but I think it's mainly due to my preconceived hype.

Now that the full SDK and classic deathmatch has been released, I'm a happy boy XSI even provides a free version of Softimage that was made exclusively for HL2 development.

Oh yeah.

"Nothin' like a pro-stabbin' from a pro." -Weadah

Okay, maybe I need some things cleared up for me then.

Do you need an active internet connection just to play the game?

If the connection is just for updates and other things then that's fine, but an actual check over the internet just to play the game is what I'm talking about.

I just got my broadband account reactivated and was without internet for a month and a half. During that time, I played several games since I wasn't able to get online and a game that doesn't work in that time period is just a very expensive 5-disc coaster set.

Also, the retail version available here in Victoria has "internet connection required" in the system requirements box.

quote:

---

Cameron said:

Silence: Honestly, do you know of even one person with a computer that meets those system specs that doesn't have an internet connection?

---

Yes, I do. According to recent statistics, Australia and the US have about 60% population penetration for internet usage. That still leaves a lot of people without internet access. Don't be so naive, my friend.

So, even with all that, I'm still torn as to whether or not I should buy a copy while a still DO have internet.

http://img11.exs.cx/img11/3865/im-a-winner.gif
spoilers. kinda.

--------------------------------------------------------
"Abortion clinics are like expressways to heaven."

silence: Halflife 2 has to be activated once via the net. Then you can put your steam application into 'offline mode' and play without further network connection.

I'm not sure it's as simple as that TP, you need to copy a file in your HL2 folder and make it read only once you've started the game, then quit, put Steam in Offline mode and then you can play offline.

It's documented somewhere in the Steam forums, but personally I think this is a bit crud.

I'm not a fan of Steam, I certainly wouldn't have liked to have installed this game over a dial-up connection, even from the DVD or 5 CD's.

Cheers,

TP, Blaise: If that's the case then I think I can live with it.

Now to convince my wife...

quote:

---

Skaarjj said:

Umm... you require the first of the 5 HL2 CDs inserted in orer to play the game or you will get that message. Oh, and as for buying the retail version, wel, I take it your talking about the 5 CD retail version? It'sthe only one available down in Victoria currently. And even that still requires several gigabytes of transfers as steam updates, downloads new game types, decrypts the game, does a whole lotta things...

---

No, I was talking about purchasing the game *thorugh* steam, which is avaliable anywhere if you have an internation credit card or a good friend with one (thanks bugz). This bypasses retailers alltogther. Have a look at www.steampowered.com for more info. It basicaly means you have to download the whole game, but there's no CD's, No activations, noffin. Which is why I was talking about the nifty option of being able to backup the game files. Much better than the retail version IMHO. Espically if you use the fat T3 connection at work to download all the game files in one evening

I realise the idea of downloading several gigs of data sounds a bit extreme, espically with the low bandwidth limits and capping currently employed with most australian broadband providers, but you'll likely find most of the big name ISP's (internode, pacific, optus, and telstra) provide local mirrors of the steam content which won't count towards your monthly downloads. Furthermore, valve began releasing parts of steam for download many many months back so users could download 99% of the game prior to purchase. This meant that when it was released they just paid online and were off and running, as it had basically already installed itself.

quote:

---

silence said:

Yes, I do. According to recent statistics,
Australia and the US have about 60% population penetration for internet
usage. That still leaves a lot of people without internet access. Don't
be so naive, my friend.

---

I'm not. I'm betting those stats are for the general computer using public - not for people playing high end games on a PC, which is quite a specialized group of people when you think about it. I'm surprised you know of a gamer with a system powerfull enough to support Half Life 2 that doesn't have a net connection. Even if people like these do exist, they'd be few and far between - and I'm not talking about those ultra paranoid freaks who claim that their gaming rig will never go online in fear of viruses, they can keep the half-life less paranoia for all I care.

Although it does disvantage those poor saps in remote areas who simply can't get access, but hey, that's progress for yah. Any if they can't get internet access, it also likely means they can't get a telehpone, which means they're living in a really remote area thus technical difficulties like these probably aren't anything new. We all know this kind of product activation would eventually require internet access, at least I did. I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner actually, and I wouldn't be surprised if more applications and games start to follow suit in the future.

quote:

---

Blaise
I'm not a fan of Steam, I certainly wouldn't have liked to have installed this game over a dial-up connection, even from the DVD or 5 CD's.

---

I can't see why that would be a problem. If you've purchased the retail version and installed form disk, the downloads from then on are minimal. There's the required steam platform update with is a few hundred kb, and you don't *have* to update the game files to play single player. You'd only update if the game has issues, in which case you'd need to get a patch form somewhere anyways. If you wanted to play online then you'd need to update, but most games for the past few years have forced users to update to the latest version for online play for compatibility reasons, so I honestly can't see any reason why people with dialup would shy away form it...

synax: Yah, I'm also pretty keen to get my fingers into the source engine. Looks like I'll have to brush the dust off that old C++ book though...

(Edited by Cameron on 12-09-2004 18:49)

LOL... oh ok, Cameron mate, I getcha now. I think somehow I'll still be getting the retail version.


Justice 4 Pat Richard

btw here is the first hl3 screenshot:


B | T | E | P | L

The HL2 demo has been released today as well, so you can try before you buy.