Thirith on 19/9/2012 at 06:46
I've played 1-2 hours so far and am enjoying it quite a bit. Yes, there are rough patches, but by and large I think it's an amazing achievement.
Having said that, it feels weird to play such a hybrid between HL1 and HL2. My first impression was that this is pretty much how Black Mesa looks in my head; my second impression was that the update highlights the disconnect between the two Half-Life games in terms of tone and style. HL1 is much more pulpy - not saying that HL2 doesn't have these moments too, but on the whole it's more subdued, more 'Chris Nolan realism'. Revisiting HL1, even with the updated visuals, feels very much like a FPS time capsule.
ZylonBane on 19/9/2012 at 15:28
Apparently I just managed to reboot the Lambda Lab reactor, having only turned on one of the two main pumps. Been a long time since I played through that part in the original, but I seem to recall that's not how it's supposed to work.
henke on 19/9/2012 at 16:10
Just finished it. That last part nearly brought my computer to it's knees. The FPS were in the single digits there and I had a hard time hitting anything. Finished the level with maybe 20 health left and enemies all around. Was this really only half the game? It went on for a lot longer than I'd expected it to. There were some wonderfully unexpected setpieces towards the end, like when you have to manually load the stationary rocket launcher to take down the tank, or using the missile guidance system to take down the big baddy and improvise a way into the compound ahead. The mission design was great for the most part, as were the guns. The shotty was my favourite, though the magnum and the crosbow were great too (I've never been a big fan of sci-fi guns). The enemy types were alright though I wish there had been more Doom-style monsters that shoot slow-moving projectiles. Pretty much all their attacks were instant-hit which takes most of the finesse out of gunfights, instead it's mostly just a question of who shoots first. Can't say I had too much trouble with the soldiers though. I played on Normal, and the only part that was really frustrating was the lobby. Had to retry that one around 10-15 times before I got through it.
Overall: Fantastic game, can't wait for the rest of it to come out.
Vivian on 19/9/2012 at 16:23
Yeah, it's more like 5/6ths of the game - the only part left is Xen, which is a bit contentious. Basically, it was the one bit of the original everyone shits on (I didn't mind it, made a nice contrast to the rest of the game) because it is extensively jump-puzzly. The BMS team have said they are extensively re-thinking Xen, so I guess it has/is taking longer than everything else. But you have already played most of the game.
ZylonBane on 19/9/2012 at 16:26
Quote Posted by henke
Was this really only half the game?
Uhh... no. It's more like 90% of the game.
Wait, you've seriously never played Half-Life before? :weird:
Renzatic on 19/9/2012 at 16:30
Quote Posted by henke
Just finished it. That last part nearly brought my computer to it's knees. The FPS were in the single digits there and I had a hard time hitting anything. Finished the level with maybe 20 health left and enemies all around. Was this really only half the game? It went on for a lot longer than I'd expected it to.
It was about the first 2/3rds, give or take. I don't know by how much the modders are expanding on Xen, but if they're going by the length of the original, it should be about half as long as what you just played.
I might be going against popular opinion here, but I didn't think Xen was
that bad back in the day. It was different, sure, and annoying as hell in parts, but it had it's own neat little alien vibe that kept things interesting to me.
henke on 19/9/2012 at 16:34
Ah, alrighty.
Quote Posted by ZylonBane
Wait, you've seriously never played Half-Life before? :weird:
No. I mentioned as much a few pages back and there was a big uproar and a lot of gasping and I think one guy fainted.
Renzatic on 19/9/2012 at 16:43
Quote Posted by henke
No. I mentioned as much a few pages back and there was a big uproar and a lot of gasping and I think one guy fainted.
WHAT THE FUCK? WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU? MY GOD! :mad:
Volitions Advocate on 19/9/2012 at 17:00
The lobby and the osprey/tank fight were completely unfair. I had to godmode the osprey bit.
It's a beautiful mod, but I found it to be a grind toward the end. I have the same complaint about the soldiers.
But the vortigaunts were a bunch of tough unrelenting bastards too. sure if they were close you could shotty them, but just hitting them at a distance was practically impossible because the bullets narrowly miss between their arms and centre of mass because they're so scrawny. Most of the last half of the game I spend with less than 20 health, quick saving after every kill I made because I'd die a number of times trying to do things a number of different ways with no health. I easily died 40+ times in the lobby because I started that fight with 20 health. It was just a pattern that kept going over and over again. The soldiers are way too good of shots.
I might have had some aiming problems, though I can't be sure. I played in Eyefinity mode and everything scaled properly except for the crosshair, which was about 3 times the size it should've been.
And yeah, particles really slow this engine down like crazy. I'm using an i7 with a 5870 & 16 gigs of ram, and the final minute of the mod was a slideshow for me.
