Half-Life 2 Complaints

Ey, loco, odd thing for that to happen - in the CS Source Beta, when
they didn't have any hud sprites for the weapons yet, they were
replaced with big letters. Sounds like you need to re-install the
sprites for the game.

I figured, but I would depend on others then. As I don't feel like biking all the way x|

Why do all the pistols look the same in the hud in cs:s ?

Ey, loco, odd thing for that to happen - in the CS Source Beta, when
they didn't have any hud sprites for the weapons yet, they were
replaced with big letters. Sounds like you need to re-install the
sprites for the game.

Continuing the random sub-thread. I found something interesting. In
C:\Program Files\Valve\Steam\SteamApps\<username>\half-life
2\hl2\resource there are two .ttf files. One named "hl2crosshairs" and
the other named "halflife2". Can someone upload a working version of
these and post a link? That could be the problem. The hl2crosshairs
certainly looks empty

yeh from what I saw when my mate brought his copy round here to activate and play the hud dont use sprites but fonts instead cos I opend up one of them and it had all the little pictures for the weapons, health and armor in it.

gimpinthesink said:
yeh from what I saw when my mate brought his copy round here to activate and play the hud dont use sprites but fonts instead cos I opend up one of them and it had all the little pictures for the weapons, health and armor in it.

That would be a bit more efficient. And it would allow the HUD to look good at any resolution.

<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quoting Kage_Prototype</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>

<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quote:</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>I found the G-man suprisingly poped out in a few places. When I was in my fan boat thingy he was on a dock above further down the stream. Just standing and starring, I went up jumped on the dock climbed the stairs and walked towards the door to brutaly get hit in the face with a barrel from a zombie. That was kinda wierd. Later on He was spoted above me in front of a overpass. Thats about all that stood out to me. The game was nice and all but the ending was not as i had though. I have no complaints though better than anyone i know could do.</DIV></DIV>

Yeah, he's supposed to be. :smile: It happened in the original if you didn't notice.
</DIV></DIV>
What, I missed both of those? My second time through I did see the GMan 3 times, while I missed him completely the first time. I saw him on TV during Route Kanal (in the boxcar converted to underground checkpoint with a vortigaunt and citizen), in Nova Prospekt on one of those switchable video screens, and in Follow Freeman on a TV half-buried in the rubble. How many more did I miss?

Actually, I think he appears in most of the oppening screens. As in, when you first load the game, it'll show a picture of some area of the game.

I've noticed him walking about in a few of 'em. You've got to be quick though, as it doesn't loop. He's only there for a second or two.

I've only seen him once so far, but I can't remember exactly when it
occured. I think it was up some watch tower thing around the coastline
area, where you could look through some combine binoculuars and see him
in a base. You could also see barney walking along its outer wall and
kicking an antlion corpse off it :smile:

sadly, i just met alyx or whatever her name is, between getting ready for turkey day, and these Xmas computers i have had no time to play.

but looking over my sons shoulder once, i saw him.. it was as he was gliding up on the boat thingy.. he was standing on top of a second story ledge/porch of a wooden shanty.

needless to say, before you can hop up there he exits stage right.

He appears on the security monitor in Kleiner's Lab, and a couple of
those Breencast screens dotted around the city have him flash on
occasionally as well. I saw him once during Route Kanal on a TV a
vortiguant was watching, I saw him three times during Water Hazard
(once at the beginning with the red building, one on another balcony,
and one at the dam at the end). I saw him at Highway 17, talking to
other resistance members (!) by looking through some mounted binoculars
at a house on the second map, I saw him on the Nova Prospekt security
monitor, I saw him on Anticitizen One, on a TV in some rubble...he's
bleedin' everywhere. I wonder where they hid him in the closing levels?

while playing cs source at gimps i noticed people with like the hl sign in their name... not really a complaint but a nice thing.

also on the subject of insta death for no reason. happend to me a few times... one i remember i was hitting a wall with the crowbar

When you first meet dog and split up with alyx after running from an
airlock type thing, I got crushed for no apparent reason. Still don't
know what happened, I was too busy looking backwards and watching dog
pounding down the ramp after me to see where I was going :smile:

The roof collapses in that area.

I died walking over a plank once... not pretty :razz:

Anyone tried hurling objects in the air (with gravgun) to see how much they hurt? I was killed instantly by the leg of a chair (after it had been broken off), whereas a shelf thingy took several hits X.x Ah, things sure are fun to throw.

Just wait till you accidentally super charge it :wink: Throwing soldierse is much more entertaining :biggrin:

Just beat the game. I have to say, this made Doom3 look like a load crap.

I think my faveorite part of the entire game was the first 2-3 maps of Highway 17. Funny thing was, I did the first 3 maps of it on foot. Couldn't figure out how to get the car out of the first map :biggrin:

Funny 'cos Highway 17 was where I started messing around :razz: It was a lot more fun than throwing bodies, although that did make me feel kinda uber :smile:

If you could throw bodies to start with it'd make sense (not kill people, just throw around some corpses), since you can pick up stuff that's a lot heavier than a corpse anyway... I was disappointed with that :sad:

Hey!! I just got an idea for a simple mod... I was thinking of a kind of 'Makeshift' mod where there's no guns, just you and the objects in the map. To kill people you'd have to maul them with bricks, throw bottles at them, set up traps and stuff. Kind of like a 'thinking man's Half Life' :razz: All it'd need is for the player to be able to do damage by moving the objects whilst held and throwing damage increased or something... Maybe it could work on an RPG'ish 'Strength' system...

Argh! Anyone other than me who thinks this might be cool? :razz:

(or am I rambling...)

/resurrects

Further controversy to be found in an image: and particularly the chappy on the far right- remind you of anyone?- and is that Gordon standing behind?



Also notice the crossed out face, probably Breen, and Big Gabe

Thats Gordon on the right, second row and Breens face is crossed out -
he of course being the old administrator we never saw either way,
so.... and apparently it isn't gman on the right, if that's who people
suspect it is.

Gordon looks like a cartoon!

I believe the Gravity Gun's only improvement when supercharged was that it gained the ability to react to Combine, as it was charged with Combine energy.

Underuse of bumpmapping...

I think bump-mapping is over-rated. I am glad HL2 didn't use much
of it. To me, the appearance of bump-mapping comapred to a
flat-texture isn't all that different (for all that trouble). And
when I'm surrounded by Combines, I'd be a bit too occupied to notice
whether the surface of the canal is bumped or not.

I think the AI is definitely an improvement over HL1. When I
start loading up the Combines with bullets, he/she actually moves away
from his/her position instead of just standing there and waiting to
die. And occasionally, they do seek cover from my fire.

To me, the appearance of bump-mapping comapred to a flat-texture isn't all that different (for all that trouble).

If it isn't, then they didn't use it well. :wink: (and, of course, we're talking normal mapping here, not bump mapping :razz: )

WHY is HL2 always connecting to the net even in offline mode? Isn't it enough that i have to put the silver disc in my rom each time i want to play??

I never really saw the difference. In games, it always seems to get called bump mapping. A normal map is something that makes it look like there are bumps on a surface, right? So what does bump mapping do extra (or less) than that?

... i have to put the silver disc in my rom each time i want to play??

You mean you actually take it out? You use the drive for something else other than HL2?

You disappoint me. You're really not a hardcore HL2 fan then. :smile:

Bump maps are added to a surface to give the illusion of more detail. Normal maps are an advanced form of bump maps that use RGB values instead of greyscale values on a heightmap (usually generated from a high poly model for best effect). this RGB information also stores the face normal (i.e., the direction it faces in 3D space). Lighting calculations on the face then run from the normal map, not the flat surface, allowing lighting highlights/shadows to appear from geometry that isn't there. When used well, this gives the illusion of an actual 3D surface much better than just a bump map. With multiple lights, you see highlights on the undersides of shapes and begin to really pop the shape out.

The next stage beyond normal maps is displacement maps, which actually extrude the geometry out to the point of creating parallax effects (hence why it is often called parallax mapping :smile: )

1. I was expecting a LOT longer gameplay time. Like with the AURORA ship level and stuff.
2. Not NEAR as much NPC diversity as i was expecting. Anyone who read the PHL preview of HL2 thought there was gonna be like 30 different types of enemies and a whole s**tload of weapons.
3. Each and every one of my squadmates was a complete f**ktard. They ran in front of me, blocked me into rooms, ran in front of my rockets, and alerted some enemies to my sneaking presence.
4. You can't pick up combine bodies with the grav gun.
5. Long load times (if steam didn't take up 50MB of ram while HL2 is running it might not be so bad.)
6. s**tty HL2DM maps.
7. There is no sniper rifle to take out the NPC snipers in the game. You are left with no alternative but to run or use the RPG and get your ass shot.

and more stuff i can't remember right now

You're meant to use grenades against the enemy snipers, there's always a handily placed box of them around sniper parts :smile:

<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quoting ReNo</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>You're meant to use grenades against the enemy snipers, there's always a handily placed box of them around sniper parts :smile:
</DIV></DIV>
Yeah, it was possible to get passed the snipers without getting hurt at all if you sprinted from cover to cover.

I dealt with the stupid squad mates by finding a handy sentry gun, and ordering them to stand in front of it.

<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quoting ReNo</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>You're meant to use grenades against the enemy snipers, there's always a handily placed box of them around sniper parts :smile:
</DIV></DIV>
never noticed the handy boxes, but i DID use grenades to take them out after Barney says, "Take them out........GORDON....Grenades!!!"

Ok don't have a go at me for my opinion...

The game had crap AI, the grunts don't run away from grenades on normal hardness, which seems kinda odd... They have no strategy and don't flank you like in HL1 (maybe that was fluke that they did that).

The story was way off in its own world from the original, seems they just made it set in a European city because they were too lazy to create an environment that involved not taking photos for textures.

The story was poor. The game ends badly. Its like Matrix 2- it seems to just be some random action thats plonked to fill space in the story just so you don't get too lost. On that note, the game gets boring very quickly. Its incredibly repetetive- same enemies over and over. Any part with a devistating action scene is never something you control. In HL1 i remember using mortars or doing cool stuff to wipe out loads of people. In HL2 its an NPC that does that. Also its a very very linear game- 1 path for everything. In most games theres at least a little 2nd sneaky way round.

Although I do say quite alot of bad stuff the game has a very good engine, and some nice effects here and there. Also had some cool enemies and ideas, but as a whole I thought it was a poor Single Player game. HL1 was far superior- and wasn't hyped up with all this stuff it never had (see the hydra and the strider lab attack scenes, also the traps scenes in that scabby part of City 17 with the monk). There was so much stuff shown in the E3 and near to none of it was in the game! Thats poor/false advertising I say...

<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quoting Myrk-</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>Ok don't have a go at me for my opinion...

The game had crap AI, the grunts don't run away from grenades on normal hardness, which seems kinda odd... They have no strategy and don't flank you like in HL1 (maybe that was fluke that they did that).

The story was way off in its own world from the original, seems they just made it set in a European city because they were too lazy to create an environment that involved not taking photos for textures.

The story was poor. The game ends badly. Its like Matrix 2- it seems to just be some random action thats plonked to fill space in the story just so you don't get too lost. On that note, the game gets boring very quickly. Its incredibly repetetive- same enemies over and over. Any part with a devistating action scene is never something you control. In HL1 i remember using mortars or doing cool stuff to wipe out loads of people. In HL2 its an NPC that does that. Also its a very very linear game- 1 path for everything. In most games theres at least a little 2nd sneaky way round.

Although I do say quite alot of bad stuff the game has a very good engine, and some nice effects here and there. Also had some cool enemies and ideas, but as a whole I thought it was a poor Single Player game. HL1 was far superior- and wasn't hyped up with all this stuff it never had (see the hydra and the strider lab attack scenes, also the traps scenes in that scabby part of City 17 with the monk). There was so much stuff shown in the E3 and near to none of it was in the game! Thats poor/false advertising I say...

</DIV></DIV>

I agree with everything you've just said. Where is the damn hydra? where is the sniper rifle, the assassins, the GREAT GRAND GLORIOUS MULTITUDE OF DIVERSITY I EXPECTED!!! there are very few enemies for Pete's sake: combine, elite combine, ant lions, 6 striders, like 12 barnacles, headcraps (sic), zombies and three ant lion guards.
Oh, and i HATE how you cant kill the carrier zombie until it has released ALL of it's headcrabs, and you can't kill the headcrabs until they are released, so naturally they LEAP over 50 feet or are thrown and take your health THEn they can be killed GAY! GAY! GAY!! It's an outrage!

I see, so bumpmaps are just heightmaps. The concept of a normal map is what I thought bumpmaps did, so... ok, it all makes sense now :smile:

Oh, and i HATE how you cant kill the carrier zombie until it has
released ALL of it's headcrabs, and you can't kill the headcrabs until
they are released, so naturally they LEAP over 50 feet or are thrown
and take your health THEn they can be killed GAY! GAY! GAY!! It's an
outrage!

You mean the poison zombies? If so, you can. :smile: All the headcrabs just jump off and go for you.

the only way i was able to kill a poison zombie before he let all of his crabs go was to shoot an RPG rocket from point blank.

They seem to die just as easily for me, headcrab-less or otherwise.

<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quoting Kage_Prototype</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>

<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quote:</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>Oh, and i HATE how you cant kill the carrier zombie until it has released ALL of it's headcrabs, and you can't kill the headcrabs until they are released, so naturally they LEAP over 50 feet or are thrown and take your health THEn they can be killed GAY! GAY! GAY!! It's an outrage! </DIV></DIV>

You mean the poison zombies? If so, you can. :smile: All the headcrabs just jump off and go for you.
</DIV></DIV>

I just double barral shotgun the thing. I only thing I didn't like was that you didn't learn anything else about the G-man. Oh and I guess I also hate how they ended it. I mean all your buddys probibly die, including Alex, who was just begining to "like" you.