Snarkpit Forum Index » General Banter » Half-Life 2 so different
Half-Life 2 so different
1
2 next page »
Post Reply
Quote
 Re: Half-Life 2 so different
Posted by Flynn on Mon Sep 29th at 6:19pm 2008

I have made threads about the topic in question before.

When I first played Half-Life 2 I couldn't fathom how different it was to Half-Life 1. From the labs of Black Mesa to Ravenholm? You would have thought they were completely and utterly unrelated games.

Also, the interactivity in Half-Life 2 seemed to be greatly reduced from that of Half-Life 1. As an example of this, the people who you come across don't seem to be reliable like they were on Half-Life 1. A Barney would constantly shoot any head crabs whereas the rebels of Half-Life 2 seem to run around a lot and do less shooting.

The graphics of Half-Life 2 have a much less "solid" feel if you know what I mean. On Half-Life 1 with the high definition pack on everything was nice and chunky and detailed in their texture, whereas on H-Life 2 things are still detailed, but you can step through things like bodies. On Half-Life 1 you would feel when you walked over something. The variety of enemies is also a lot less.

The weapons also don't feel as nice. When you used the Magnum on Half-Life 1 it would feel all chunky and powerful. But on Half-Life 2 it just feels like a picture which an animation and a sound playing when you shoot it. And Gordon doesn't fiddle with the weapons anymore either. Infact, he doesn't even move them around. They just stay there, static, unless the player moves.

I have just been looking at the Half-Life nostalgia project, that is what triggered all this smiley http://nostalgia.planethalflife.gamespy.com/halflife/cuttings/im_spring98b.jpg



Quote
 Re: Half-Life 2 so different
Posted by Yak_Fighter on Mon Sep 29th at 7:45pm 2008

Use of the high def pack invalidates any opinion you could have on this subject.



Quote
 Re: Half-Life 2 so different
Posted by Flynn on Tue Sep 30th at 7:42pm 2008

Why don't you like the high definition pack? smiley


Just Kidding

Just Kidding



Quote
 Re: Half-Life 2 so different
Posted by Le Chief on Wed Oct 1st at 6:48am 2008

Yeah, there is a big difference between Half-life 1 and Half-life 2 in terms of.. everything and it feels different but I think the differences are justified and are perfectly fine, I mean, its a different game, there is better technology available now, different location...

Also, Half-life 2 makes heavy use of fog including indoor spaces, so that's probably why things don't feel "sharp and chunky".


Aaron's Stuff



Quote
 Re: Half-Life 2 so different
Posted by Yak_Fighter on Wed Oct 1st at 11:07pm 2008

Quoting Flynn
Why don't you like the high definition pack? smiley


Probably because it looks like crap and arbitrarily changes things that didn't need changing. You complain about HL2 'looking so different' and then use a model pack that changes all the original HL ones and makes 'em way worse.



Quote
 Re: Half-Life 2 so different
Posted by Flynn on Thu Oct 2nd at 8:51pm 2008

I am shocked that you say the High Definition pack looked crap. It fleshed out the models (take Barney's body armour and helmet for example) and it added detail like on the security badges; you could actually see the photographs clearly on the scientists and security guard's uniforms.

The detail and depth it added to everything was immense. All the model textures were high resolution. Everything was so much more solid looking with it. The Barnys looked very weird without the H.D. pack, but with the H.D. pack they looked all youthful and had colour in their cheeks like a Barney should have. How you can justify your critism of the H.D. pack is entirely beyond comprehension smiley


Just Kidding

Just Kidding



Quote
 Re: Half-Life 2 so different
Posted by G4MER on Thu Oct 2nd at 10:42pm 2008

Flynn can you post some photos of before and after the HD pack.. please.



Quote
 Re: Half-Life 2 so different
Posted by Flynn on Fri Oct 3rd at 8:56pm 2008

The security guard in the middle is the one with the High Definition pack:


This is of the shotgun without the High Definition pack:



This is the shotgun with the High Definition pack:



Zombies:



Without:



With:



Search "Half-life High Definition pack" in Google and it has some more results.

Sorry about the blurry images. The image tags appear to have made them a standard size even though some are small.

[ Edited by flynn on Fri Oct 3rd 2008 at 9:02pm - total edits: 1]



Just Kidding

Just Kidding



Quote
 Re: Half-Life 2 so different
Posted by G4MER on Sat Oct 4th at 3:44am 2008

Thank you.. I can see where the HD pack improved the look and feel of the old.. this reminds me of my gaming days on the C64. I recall the images as full fledged 3D renderings and then when I go back and look at them, I am like thats not what I remember it looking like. I am spoiled now on the better looking stuff.. look at the barney progression. You have to admit the last one is far Superior.

Thank you though its good to see where we have come from and where we are going..



Quote
 Re: Half-Life 2 so different
Posted by tnkqwe on Sat Oct 4th at 6:21pm 2008

Fitrst,it donesn't to talk about it,because the Source engine makes the game more real loking
Second,if the HD pack isnt made from Valve,so the models arent original(anyway from hwo is made the HD pack?).


Never think about bad things!
TNKqwe:The New Killer qwe

I am Engineer - Play Free Online Games

Citizen Arms



Quote
 Re: Half-Life 2 so different
Posted by Gwil on Sat Oct 4th at 6:37pm 2008

Either Gearbox or Turtle Rock are responsible for the dreadful HD pack.

The biggest problem I had was the alteration of the shotgun and the MP5. Just looked naff, and didn't feel like the original game. I found generally that those who played Half Life when it was a new game didn't care for the HD pack, those who played it later (OP4 + Blueshift onwards) seemed to like the HD pack. Because they were stupid, probably!



Quote
 Re: Half-Life 2 so different
Posted by Flynn on Sat Oct 4th at 6:48pm 2008

Quoting Muhnay
Thank you.. I can see where the HD pack improved the look and feel of the old.. this reminds me of my gaming days on the C64. I recall the images as full fledged 3D renderings and then when I go back and look at them, I am like thats not what I remember it looking like. I am spoiled now on the better looking stuff.. look at the barney progression. You have to admit the last one is far Superior.

Thank you though its good to see where we have come from and where we are going..


Obviously the last Barney looks the best, Muhnay. That is Half-Life 2. I would like to focus on the difference between the original Half-Life and the improvement that the H.D. pack made. What I am trying to understand is why Yak_fighter says that the High Definition pack looked like "crap" as he put it.

It is a huge improvement on the original models. Everything looks just spot on with the H.D. pack. Those soldiers look nice and chunky, and their faces are those of the stereotypical hansome and tough movie soldiers(I would love to know who there based on actually). The Barney looks all nice and youthful instead of looking like a frail old man. You can see the scientists ties swing when they walk for christs sake! How detailed is that!? Imagine the effort that went into the whole thing. I am bemused that someone says such an upgrade looks like crap.

I would like to get back on topic but I want to settle this shit first smiley


[ Edited by flynn on Sat Oct 4th 2008 at 6:54pm - total edits: 3]



Just Kidding

Just Kidding



Quote
 Re: Half-Life 2 so different
Posted by Le Chief on Sun Oct 5th at 12:11am 2008

Oh man, the shotgun is the worst of the HD models. If you look at it, it looks like the old shotgun with some extra fluff at the top.

I wouldn't use the HD models over the original Valve models for playing Half-life 1, but when I was making my doomed Half-Life mod, I did use a handful of models from various HD packs because it just looked better in context.

Quoting Flynn
You can see the scientists ties swing when they walk for christs sake! How detailed is that!?


Yeah that's all good and whatever, but the ties actually go through the model smiley! And cause glitches when viewed from a distance, which is probably an engine error.

[ Edited by aaron_da_killa on Sun Oct 5th 2008 at 9:48am - total edits: 1]



Aaron's Stuff



Quote
 Re: Half-Life 2 so different
Posted by Flynn on Sun Oct 5th at 5:49pm 2008

Quoting Gwil
Either Gearbox or Turtle Rock are responsible for the dreadful HD pack.

The biggest problem I had was the alteration of the shotgun and the MP5. Just looked naff, and didn't feel like the original game. I found generally that those who played Half Life when it was a new game didn't care for the HD pack, those who played it later (OP4 + Blueshift onwards) seemed to like the HD pack. Because they were stupid, probably!


Charming. Again you are calling the models "naff" without actually specifying anything. The shotgun looks like a shotgun is supposed to look like with the H.D. pack! It is all chunky and heavy looking and when you fire it it sounds powerful. The original one was just pathetic. About the M.P.-5, since when is having a grenade launcher on an M.P.-5 realistic...? The M-4 was far nicer looking a realistic. The H.D. pack models were also far more detailed.
Quoting aaron_da_killa
Yeah that's all good and whatever, but the ties actually go through the model smiley! And cause glitches when viewed from a distance, which is probably an engine error.


That's just nitpicking. I didn't even notice what you speak of. That shows how tiny a bug it must have been. I would rather have a tiny little glitch than ties which are part of the model skin!

It is as though the H.D. pack was a person and it said something personal to spite you guys or something the way you speak of it.



Just Kidding

Just Kidding



Quote
 Re: Half-Life 2 so different
Posted by Gwil on Sun Oct 5th at 5:56pm 2008

You overlooked the key point - generally, people (myself included) who knew the vanilla models didn't like the HD pack.



Quote
 Re: Half-Life 2 so different
Posted by Flynn on Sun Oct 5th at 6:23pm 2008

Okay so you are saying that you prefered the Vanilla models even though they were less detailed less realistic and less pleasing to use... smiley

Surely you can appreciate the huge amount of work that went into the H.D. pack.

[ Edited by flynn on Sun Oct 5th 2008 at 6:33pm - total edits: 1]



Just Kidding

Just Kidding



Quote
 Re: Half-Life 2 so different
Posted by Gwil on Sun Oct 5th at 7:14pm 2008

you're saying you prefer aldi baked beans to heinz even though heinz is more expensive and better branded smiley

I don't like the HD pack, I don't like how it looks, I don't use it (or rather didn't use it).

Less detailed, dont care.
Less realistic, dont care.
"less pleasing to use" - opinion. I prefer the vanilla models, I find them infinitely more pleasing to use - particularly the rough and satisfying rattle of the MP5.



Quote
 Re: Half-Life 2 so different
Posted by haymaker on Mon Oct 6th at 5:38am 2008

I installed this pack when blueshift came out; I remember I liked the zombies and not much else, I can't tell you why. Barney looked like a bit of a slob too I think



Quote
 Re: Half-Life 2 so different
Posted by Flynn on Mon Oct 6th at 10:28am 2008

Quoting Gwil
you're saying you prefer aldi baked beans to heinz even though heinz is more expensive and better branded smiley

I don't like the HD pack, I don't like how it looks, I don't use it (or rather didn't use it).

Less detailed, dont care.
Less realistic, dont care.
"less pleasing to use" - opinion. I prefer the vanilla models, I find them infinitely more pleasing to use - particularly the rough and satisfying rattle of the MP5.


That is simply a version of brand snobbery you have described there. The soldiers arms look so weird on the normal Half-Life models they looked all disjointed and such. You have listed one thing you prefer from Half-Life original out of loads of things that are better about Half-Life H.D. You really need to lose the "Whatever" attitude you are displaying here. Why would you like the Vanilla shotgun more than the High Definition shotgun? Why would you like the normal soldiers more than the High Definition soldiers?

Quoting haymaker
I installed this pack when blueshift came out; I remember I liked the zombies and not much else, I can't tell you why. Barney looked like a bit of a slob too I think


What do you mean by "Barney looked like a bit of a slob"? Was that with H.D. pack or without? Please explain your reasons for either. You should appreciate the huge attention to detail that went on with the H.D. pack. The body armour of the soldiers looked padded rather than being part of the model skin. You could see the lights flash on their radios for christ's sake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Just Kidding

Just Kidding



Quote
 Re: Half-Life 2 so different
Posted by Le Chief on Mon Oct 6th at 11:27am 2008

To me, the vanilla models have a sentimental value. If you mess with anything from that good old experience, it just isn't the same, that nostalgic value has gone totally.

As for the models themselves, yeah sure there more detailed, I appreciate the detail that has gone into them and all and the effort and such. But just because there is more polygons on screen, doesn't make them great regardless. I don't like the design of some of the weapons and some of the characters there either just too "generic" or just not quite right. That said, I'm not particularly a fan of some of the vanilla Half-life models but I think that generally they seem to be more thought out.


Aaron's Stuff




1
2 next page »
Post Reply