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How long did it take you to beat HL2?
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 Re: How long did it take you to beat HL2?
Posted by GrandMasterLee on Thu Nov 18th at 6:48pm 2004

So I waited till 2AM CST and started playing. I played until 7am cause I have a little girl and I needed to get *some* sleep before taking her to preschool. Boss called at 1030 to say that the interviewee he'd scheduled for that day was in the office and was waiting on *me*!

Got showered and dressed and fed the kid, got her to school in like 15 mins and got to the office with not much time lost. Still exhausted and buzzing from lack of sleep I interviewed the guy for an hour or so, and then we went to lunch. If the boss buys, you go. :-D

After lunching and chatting a bit about the candidate, I got home and attempted to relax, but the call of HL2 was too strong. I began to play about 1400 until about 1800 when I had to go get the kiddo. Fed the kid, read books, played some Spyro, got her to bed then started playing again at about 2130. Played until 0230. In the AM, got the kid to school about 0930 got home and started playing again from about 1000 to 1400.

Done.

It was a freaking *awesome* game I must say and inspires me, much like the first one, to go and make mad mods. All in all, what, about 13 hours to finish HL2 nearly non-stop?

What a freaking ride!!

--The GrandMaster




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 Re: How long did it take you to beat HL2?
Posted by 7dk2h4md720ih on Thu Nov 18th at 7:03pm 2004

Mines waiting to be downloaded whenever I have a few days.

Might I inquire as to what age you are?




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 Re: How long did it take you to beat HL2?
Posted by Tracer Bullet on Thu Nov 18th at 7:11pm 2004

I'm still in the buggy/antlion/coast level. I spent most of yesterday playing, but that's about it. [addsig]



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 Re: How long did it take you to beat HL2?
Posted by KungFuSquirrel on Thu Nov 18th at 7:38pm 2004

Unlocked and started playing 2:15 AM on Tuesday the 16th, US Central time. Hammered through 4 hours and the first six chapters before going to bed.

1 more hour from 12:15 to 1:15 after a few hours of sleep and picking up my retail copy. Ken and I both took the day off from work, as did our lead designer on the project. heh. Maggie came home for lunch, though, so 1:15 to 2:15 was spent eating and mingling.

Then another 4 1/2 hours between 2:15 and 6:45, at which point my wife and I went to dinner with a number of the other Raven folks as is Tuesday night tradition.

Got back, sat down at 10 til 9, and wrapped up the game about 9:30. Relaxed, went to bed, back to work first thing Wednesday.

Final time: 10 hours, 10 minutes. About. [addsig]



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 Re: How long did it take you to beat HL2?
Posted by Neural Scan on Thu Nov 18th at 8:39pm 2004

I started unlocking the moment it was released, when it finished it was time for school :/

So I came home for lunch just to test it'd work on my comp... had a few problems so I thought I'd leave it until later. So I went back to school for a lesson then it was time to go home... Joy!

Started figuring out some problems, all good in the end, then I set about playing it. I had at least 4-5 hours play on that day, then the next I had one hell of a go (game didn't crash once!) for about 5 or 6 hours. Now today I've played roughly 2 hours inbetween my only 2 lessons and then another 4ish hours to finally complete it.

All in all about... 15 hours? Give or take a few hours I can't keep track of time amidst all the action





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 Re: How long did it take you to beat HL2?
Posted by Orpheus on Thu Nov 18th at 8:42pm 2004

son beat game in less than 12 hours.. he says its a great game, i says 60 bucks and 12 hours does not signify greatness in my book..

no HLDM and a 12 hour game after 5 damned years.. valve is beginning to annoy me.. perhaps i will learn to map for doom III, at least it met all my expectations for a followup game genre'

[addsig]



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 Re: How long did it take you to beat HL2?
Posted by Kage_Prototype on Thu Nov 18th at 11:15pm 2004

Took me around 17 hours altogether. And Orph, seriously, it's probably the best 17 hours of gameplay I've played in a LONG time< i say it's worth the 60 bucks. There are so many bits worth replaying that the abense of any multiplayer doesn't really impact the lasting value of the game. You'll be missing out if you didn't buy it. My guess is that your son and KFS rushed through it; as with all games, your mileage may vary.
[addsig]



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 Re: How long did it take you to beat HL2?
Posted by Orpheus on Thu Nov 18th at 11:18pm 2004

? quoting Kage_Prototype
Took me around 17 hours altogether. And Orph, seriously, it's probably the best 17 hours of gameplay I've played in a LONG time< i say it's worth the 60 bucks. There are so many bits worth replaying that the abense of any multiplayer doesn't really impact the lasting value of the game. You'll be missing out if you didn't buy it. My guess is that your son and KFS rushed through it; as with all games, your mileage may vary.

well, remember.. i cannot play for more than a few minutes.. i ONLY wanted HLDM.. the 60 bucks was worth THAT.. singleplayer, no matter how good, was never a consideration.

i am just in a funk about that one issue.. i will feel better after i sleep.

[addsig]



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 Re: How long did it take you to beat HL2?
Posted by ReNo on Thu Nov 18th at 11:20pm 2004

Surely only being able to play for a short period of time has as bad an effect on multiplayer enjoyment as it would on single player. You could just play for 15 minutes or whatever and take a break, as you surely need to for mutliplayer also.
[addsig]



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 Re: How long did it take you to beat HL2?
Posted by Orpheus on Thu Nov 18th at 11:27pm 2004

? quoting ReNo
Surely only being able to play for a short period of time has as bad an effect on multiplayer enjoyment as it would on single player. You could just play for 15 minutes or whatever and take a break, as you surely need to for mutliplayer also.

you know, thinking about it id have to say NOT!!

even the best map i ever saw, never fragged for more than 15-30 minutes, but the singleplayer lasted a few longer..

seriously though, my center of interest was mapping/fragging/critiquing.

even when i do those monster critiques, i have to step away sometimes.. it takes me about 30 minutes to 1 hours to acquire those pics, and about 1/2 that long to write up the words, and about the same coding the images into a proper critique.

don't get me wrong, i am not s**tting on the game.. i am still wet about its release.. i just.... well you know

[addsig]



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 Re: How long did it take you to beat HL2?
Posted by omegaslayer on Thu Nov 18th at 11:40pm 2004

I think it took me a week to complete the first Half life on and off. But thats because I was new to the game. Now when I played HL2 it took me something like 11 hours to finish.

Why the difference? Well not only was there shorter levels, but my skill (and probably everyone elses) has increased in HL in general. We know the ins and outs of the gameplay mechanics, and how to solve HL puzzles. A total noob to HL will take a much longer time because he didnt play the old HL1 puzzles.

/my 2cents

I must say the game is worth buying. And as a side note, never get the HL1 source, valve did nothing to improve the levels, or the models, or gamply. About the only change is the monsters don't blow into bits when you shoot them (ragdoll). And the water looks better.THATS ABOUT IT!

[addsig]



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 Re: How long did it take you to beat HL2?
Posted by SuperCrazy on Thu Nov 18th at 11:51pm 2004

Around 15 hours. I spent a lot of time messing with the physics and tried to do a thorough job exploring. It was the best 15 hours of gaming I've had in quite a while.





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 Re: How long did it take you to beat HL2?
Posted by Kage_Prototype on Fri Nov 19th at 12:37am 2004

I wouldn't say the levels are shorter, they're far, far larger than the original...there's just less maps (about 30 less maps I think, or somewhere around that figure). It's a lot more focused in it's pace, and I have yet to find one shred of filler in the whole game to be honest. They really planned this game out well. I honestly think that both games are equal in length, it's just Half-Life may seem longer because it was more repetitive than Half-Life 2.

Also, you probably rushed through the game too quickly to beat it in 11 bloody hours. I don't blame you, I couldn't stop playing it myself. With a game like Half-Life, you get tired of running around shooting things over and over. With Half-Life 2 though, the gameplay keeps shifting from one thing to the next. With each chapter, not only are the settings wholly unique, but so are many gameplay elements. Like in the Ravenholm chapter, where you're encouraged to use your newly acquired Gravity Gun because of a lack of ammo and a huge abundance of heavymetal objects. In another chapter, you're zooming across drained canals in an airboat, fending off against helicopters that drop mines in front of you. In another, you're leading a team of resistance members in huge battles with striders and gunships.

It's amazing how mediocre Half-Life suddenly seems to be, which is little more than "run and shoot, press a button, do a jump puzzle, watch the pretty scripted sequence". The highlights were fighting marines and apache helicopters, whereas Half-Life 2 seems to manage a very unique and memorable scene on almost every map (and I'm not talking about scripted sequences here).

Yikes, that post ended up being longer than I expected. Is it possible to like a game too much?
[addsig]



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 Re: How long did it take you to beat HL2?
Posted by KungFuSquirrel on Fri Nov 19th at 12:53am 2004

? quoting Orpheus
no HLDM and a 12 hour game after 5 damned years.. valve is beginning to annoy me..


As time goes on, it takes longer and longer and more people to get the content done for a game. Average texture in HL? 128x128 or so. Average texture in HL2? 512x512. You can fit sixteen 128 textures onto the surface area of a 512x512 map. Now they get to paint all of those, and that's not even counting the 1024s. Minimum character polycount averages in at about 4-5 times that of the HL characters, with the important characters up to 3 times that of a smaller character. Facial animation is huge, too. Doesn't matter how automated your system is, you still have to animate each phoneme before you can put them together to look good.

I'll use this example: Raven has almost always kept 3 projects in development simultaneously across three teams. Raven used to be about 30 people (~10 per team) and have maybe 2 designers per project. Our last design meeting, we had over 10 people in there for Quake alone, and the company is reaching the 110 person range. Yet there are still three projects, and they even take longer than before.

Don't judge value of the production by game play time alone... Some of the best games I've played have been to the point. And hell, I'd say it's well worth your $50 - for the manpower put into this title compared to the effectively equally priced HL, you're getting a ridiculously good deal.

While I'm happy to hear you considering Doom 3, HL2's engine only barely can count as next-gen. True next-gen content creation is even more involved and time consuming.

? quote:
The highlights were fighting marines and apache helicopters, whereas Half-Life 2 seems to manage a very unique and memorable scene on almost every map (and I'm not talking about scripted sequences here).


Yeah you are, heh. That game is crazy scripted. And they should have spent less time on the bird AI and more time on the actual in-game AI. [addsig]



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 Re: How long did it take you to beat HL2?
Posted by Crono on Fri Nov 19th at 1:00am 2004

? quoting KungFuSquirrel
? quoting Orpheus
no HLDM and a 12 hour game after 5 damned years.. valve is beginning to annoy me..


As time goes on, it takes longer and longer and more people to get the content done for a game. Average texture in HL? 128x128 or so. Average texture in HL2? 512x512. You can fit sixteen 128 textures onto the surface area of a 512x512 map. Now they get to paint all of those, and that's not even counting the 1024s. Minimum character polycount averages in at about 4-5 times that of the HL characters, with the important characters up to 3 times that of a smaller character. Facial animation is huge, too. Doesn't matter how automated your system is, you still have to animate each phoneme before you can put them together to look good.

I'll use this example: Raven has almost always kept 3 projects in development simultaneously across three teams. Raven used to be about 30 people (~10 per team) and have maybe 2 designers per project. Our last design meeting, we had over 10 people in there for Quake alone, and the company is reaching the 110 person range. Yet there are still three projects, and they even take longer than before.

Don't judge value of the production by game play time alone... Some of the best games I've played have been to the point. And hell, I'd say it's well worth your $50 - for the manpower put into this title compared to the effectively equally priced HL, you're getting a ridiculously good deal.

While I'm happy to hear you considering Doom 3, HL2's engine only barely can count as next-gen. True next-gen content creation is even more involved and time consuming.

? quote:
The highlights were fighting marines and apache helicopters, whereas Half-Life 2 seems to manage a very unique and memorable scene on almost every map (and I'm not talking about scripted sequences here).


Yeah you are, heh. That game is crazy scripted. And they should have spent less time on the bird AI and more time on the actual in-game AI.


I don't know why, but it seems people (in general) consider "Next-Generation" games to be games with "ground breaking" graphics. I doubt many people think about the AI matrix(s) or anything like that. [addsig]



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 Re: How long did it take you to beat HL2?
Posted by scary_jeff on Fri Nov 19th at 1:06am 2004

The only reason I bought HL2 was because I knew that having a legit copy would mean I oculd play all the mods that will come out without any problems. How good the single player is is pretty irrelevant in my buying decision.



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 Re: How long did it take you to beat HL2?
Posted by Orpheus on Fri Nov 19th at 1:13am 2004

seriously andrew, how hard would it have taken them to add the relevant parts to make HLDM a viable option?

you are one of the few we can trust to get a straight answer about content creation in a game as complex as HL, or any modern FPS..

are we talking months? and millions? or were they just catering to the masses and doing only the CS parts?

truth be told, i don't se me releasing a map within the next couple months, but dangit, i wanted to be able to

[addsig]



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 Re: How long did it take you to beat HL2?
Posted by Kage_Prototype on Fri Nov 19th at 1:15am 2004

? quote:
Yeah you are, heh. That game is crazy scripted. And they should have spent less time on the bird AI and more time on the actual in-game AI.


No really, I'm not. I know there's loads of scripted bits, and it's a very linear game, but I was really taking about the amount of things you could do in the game, and how often you found yourself doing something new. In HL2, you have the buggy and airboat sequences, Ravenholm's focus on the gravity gun, setting up turrets, commanding ant lions and other humans, the final chapters (no sppilers, but you must know what I'm talking about). I'm talking about memorable bits that you were a part of, where you were actually involved, rather than just watching something unfold in front of you. That's where I think HL2 really excels, especially over the original.
[addsig]



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 Re: How long did it take you to beat HL2?
Posted by ReNo on Fri Nov 19th at 1:43am 2004

? quote:
truth be told, i don't se me releasing a map within the next couple months, but dangit, i wanted to be able to


Just do some mapping for a community HL2DM mod, such as AG2 or HL2DM. It won't be too long before they release public FGD's I'm sure, and there would be no harm using HL2 single player to make and test maps in the mean time.
[addsig]



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 Re: How long did it take you to beat HL2?
Posted by Orpheus on Fri Nov 19th at 1:47am 2004

? quoting ReNo

? quote:
truth be told, i don't se me releasing a map within the next couple months, but dangit, i wanted to be able to


Just do some mapping for a community HL2DM mod, such as AG2 or HL2DM. It won't be too long before they release public FGD's I'm sure, and there would be no harm using HL2 single player to make and test maps in the mean time.

*wipes sudden increase of eye moisture*

dangit, how can i vent with such reasonable partners.

[addsig]




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