HL2:Update

[TechBoyJK]

http://store.steampowered.com/app/290930/

Played it for a few hours last night. I certainly feels updated. Doesn't change the game, just presents it in a more polished package. Doesn't feel 10 years old anymore.

I recommend it.

 

[Zenoth]

With mods Half-Life 2 still holds up well indeed.

But I don't think that I'll play it, much less complete it for probably the 8th or 9th time (including Episodes). All I want is continuation, because Episode Two's cliffhanger is nothing short of mind-blowing (and cries for, demands... oblige continuity, what in the great heck are you waiting for Valve!).

For those who haven't played Half-Life 2, however, with that community mod applied to the game then I would definitely recommend it. It has its few downsides here and there (only a few of them in my opinion), but generally-speaking H-L 2 (plus Episodes) is among the very best linear story-driven FPS game of all time.

 

[destrekor]

I really need to get around to finishing that damn game one of these years. I have so many half-finished games because I'll move onto something else and never look back, even when I was really, really enjoying the game.

I remember following the Black Mesa mod as well.

One day... one day.

 

[Kaido]

Bah, the Update is not available for Mac

 

[Kaido]

With mods Half-Life 2 still holds up well indeed.

But I don't think that I'll play it, much less complete it for probably the 8th or 9th time (including Episodes). All I want is continuation, because Episode Two's cliffhanger is nothing short of mind-blowing (and cries for, demands... oblige continuity, what in the great heck are you waiting for Valve!).

For those who haven't played Half-Life 2, however, with that community mod applied to the game then I would definitely recommend it. It has its few downsides here and there (only a few of them in my opinion), but generally-speaking H-L 2 (plus Episodes) is among the very best linear story-driven FPS game of all time.

imo it's really stupid of them to not continue it on. HL3 will be huge, and maybe they're waiting for the Oculus to wrap up, I dunno. I felt like the episodes worked well...they were short enough that I could fit playing them into my somewhat busy schedule, and not such a huge time investment that I didn't want to start it because I knew I wouldn't have time to finish it, but I'd like to see the story to continue to grow & mature & simply continue because I really like the whole franchise. HL1 was amazing, probably my all-time favorite game...a cinematic FPS.

 

[chubbyfatazn]

I played through HL2 again in ~August last year and remember thinking that for a 10-year-old game it still looks pretty damn good.

features:
- Complete lighting overhaul including enhanced lighting, more detailed world shadows, and full High Dynamic Range Lighting (HDR).

- New particle effects and improved fog.

- Countless bug fixes, correcting both visual and game-based issues.

- An extensive Community Commentary Mode featuring the voices of well-known Youtubers, including Caddicarus, Brutalmoose, Ricepirate, Balrog the Master, ProJared, and Ross Scott from Freeman's Mind .

- Retains the iconic Half-Life 2 visual style and gameplay.

Will be giving it another go soon :thumbsup:

 

[Regs]

My god - some of us here were still single and in college when that game was out. Scary, right?

 

[finglobes]

Half Life 2 was first PC game I ever played. I went through all the main games. I remember when "Lost Coast" was the big test for peoples expensive video cards lol.

Don't think a mod would get me interested again. Zombies, head crabs, jump puzzles etc don't do much for my anymore

 

[showb1z]

It's quite nice. They didn't alter the feel of the game. Just better draw distances, better lighting, better fog effects, etc. Exactly what I wanted a mod like this to do.
I'll give it another go once Black Mesa gets its final release, so before 2020 hopefully.

I'm guessing HL3 will be released together with Valve's VR initiative. It's the perfect match, and it would mean a huge advantage in adoption rate over the Rift.

 

[mikeymikec]

HL3 will be huge

Nope. It'll either never arrive, or by the time it arrives, it will be churned out in an el cheapo fashion and have about the same impact as Duke Nukem Forever. If they were going to do HL3 properly, they would have done it by now. /imo

 

[Rezident]

This looks great. Will be replaying soon.

 

[crownjules]

I just realized it's been 7.5 years since HL2:E2 was released. That highlights how bad of a failure their episodic content idea turned out to be in execution.

Nope. It'll either never arrive, or by the time it arrives, it will be churned out in an el cheapo fashion and have about the same impact as Duke Nukem Forever. If they were going to do HL3 properly, they would have done it by now. /imo

DNF was a failure. Waiting so long for it amplified that failure but the things DNF received criticism for I have a hard time thinking Valve would let slide into a HL3 release.

 

[destrekor]

Nope. It'll either never arrive, or by the time it arrives, it will be churned out in an el cheapo fashion and have about the same impact as Duke Nukem Forever. If they were going to do HL3 properly, they would have done it by now. /imo

I think they've been waiting to build a new engine. It has been discussed numerous times that there was a new engine in the works, and these do usually take years, especially for smaller development teams.

They did announce Source 2 recently, so perhaps we don't have that much longer to wait.

But now that they've been making inroads with Source 2, I know Gabe will very much be focusing on getting that engine to have native support for the new Vulkan API so that he can really demonstrate the strengths and value of Steam OS and the Steam platform in general, as Vulkan will be multi-platform unlike DirectX. Source was originally DirectX but they've ported it to OpenGL for Linux and Mac support with their engine, encouraging broader development on multiple platforms as they went.

I think we'll see a Vulkan HL3 within a year or two, and that makes me very excited.

 

[JTsyo]

My god - some of us here were still single and in college when that game was out. Scary, right?

Dude, no need to dig on guys that are still single, seesh.

The part that really stands out for me was using the saw blades against the "zombies". The first fight vs a strider was pretty intense too.

 

[BlitzPuppet]

Can anyone recommend a complete HD texture pack to use with this mod?

 

[Smoblikat]

Sure, ill install this and beat that game for the 50th time

 

[TechBoyJK]

Can anyone recommend a complete HD texture pack to use with this mod?

Not sure if you really need it.

 

[TreyRandom]

My god - some of us here were still single and in college when that game was out. Scary, right?

Do you want to know what was out when several of us were in college?

Just sayin'. (get off my lawn! )

 

[Regs]

hah. I was 20 years old. I was not even old enough to drink.

 

[Martimus]

Can anyone recommend a complete HD texture pack to use with this mod?

I thought this mod included one.

 

[rivethead]

Sweet. I was thinking about going back and giving this a second run (and trying to collect a few more achievements).

Now I have a good reason to.

 

[crashtech]

If I play it again I will just get pissed off again that they haven't finished the story.

 

[BlitzPuppet]

I thought this mod included one.

Not sure if you really need it.

The mod only effects engine lighting and such, the textures are all still pretty bland. I played it last night and noticed how bad the duct tape on Alyx's jacket was.

 

[Midwayman]

Nope. It'll either never arrive, or by the time it arrives, it will be churned out in an el cheapo fashion and have about the same impact as Duke Nukem Forever. If they were going to do HL3 properly, they would have done it by now. /imo

I want to say that it'll be their killer app that they use to sell the vive VR headset. Pure speculation, but it would ensure a ton of demand.

 

[Attic]

Perfect excuse to play through again.


The games I always revisit are:

Zelda: A Link to the Past
Zelda: Twilight Princess
Half Life 2 Series
Baldurs Gate 2: Shadows of Amn


HL2 is the only one I go back to now. Greatest game ever IMO, eclipses Zelda stuff for me.