#241316 - 15/11/2004 21:58
Ladies and Gentlemen, start your Half-Life 2 engines
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pooh-bah
Registered: 09/09/2000
Posts: 2303
Loc: Richmond, VA
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#241317 - 15/11/2004 23:17
Re: Ladies and Gentlemen, start your Half-Life 2 engines
[Re: mschrag]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31565
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Are you sure? As of a few hours ago, they'd withdrawn the sticky-post that confirmed "midnight" and instead put up the blurb on the web site saying "it'll happen when Vivendi deems it'll happen".
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#241318 - 16/11/2004 00:11
Re: Ladies and Gentlemen, start your Half-Life 2 engines
[Re: tfabris]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 09/09/2000
Posts: 2303
Loc: Richmond, VA
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#241319 - 16/11/2004 05:38
Re: Ladies and Gentlemen, start your Half-Life 2 engines
[Re: mschrag]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31565
Loc: Seattle, WA
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I mean we're all still hoping against hope.
Of course you won't hear the result from me. 23 minutes from now, I'll either be playing it, or I'll be going to bed, dejected.
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#241320 - 16/11/2004 06:03
Re: Ladies and Gentlemen, start your Half-Life 2 engines
[Re: tfabris]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31565
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Oh, then again, looks like we're ON.
12:01 AM....
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#241322 - 16/11/2004 11:37
Re: Ladies and Gentlemen, start your Half-Life 2 engines
[Re: mschrag]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 09/09/2000
Posts: 2303
Loc: Richmond, VA
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This game is awesome. Way better than Doom 3, I think. Must ... remember... that.. it .. is .. a.. workday ... Must ...resist ... HL2... Unable .. to .. speak ... at .. normal .. rate ...
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#241323 - 16/11/2004 13:12
Re: Ladies and Gentlemen, start your Half-Life 2 engines
[Re: mschrag]
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addict
Registered: 11/11/2001
Posts: 552
Loc: Houston, TX
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I'd be playing, but I've got too big of a stack of games on the table already. Here's a webcomic that I read, he did a HL2 comic for todays: http://www.nuklearpower.com/latest.php
_________________________
--Ben
78GB MkIIa, Dead tuner.
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#241324 - 16/11/2004 13:57
Re: Ladies and Gentlemen, start your Half-Life 2 engines
[Re: tfabris]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 18/01/2000
Posts: 5680
Loc: London, UK
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Of course, the hard disk in my games rig decided to die on Sunday night. Still haven't replaced it  . Fortunately, at least, I hadn't pre-bought HL2, so I haven't lost anything there. In fact, what happens if you lose your Steam files -- does it just throw you a fresh copy?
_________________________
-- roger
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#241326 - 16/11/2004 17:33
Re: Ladies and Gentlemen, start your Half-Life 2 engines
[Re: Roger]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31565
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Quote:
In fact, what happens if you lose your Steam files -- does it just throw you a fresh copy?
Yes. If your hard disk goes bad and you don't have a backup, merely reinstall steam and sign on with your ID and password, and it'll send you fresh copies of all the games.
The only important thing that you can't lose is your Steam user ID and password. As long as you've got that, you'll always have whatever you've bought through steam and it'll just re-download.
In fact, you could have the game downloaded and installed on multiple computers under that steam ID. Whichever computer you log into with that ID, it downloads whatever games you feel like playing.
Think of the steam files as just a local cache of online content. In fact, the store-bought CDs are merely a copy of this set of cache files, no different than what you'd download. The only difference is that the store-bought CD slowly go more and more out of date as they make updates and patches to the game.
There is a feature within Steam that allows you to zip your steam files into nice CDR-sized chunks for backup, but really I'm not sure it's even worth it, since it's kind of the equivalent of backing up your "temporary internet files" folder. All it saves you is the time to re-download the game, and if you're on broadband that's just an overnight run.
I must echo the sentiments expressed about the game. I expected that last night I'd play for an hour and then go to bed.
At 4am I was still wide awake and utterly rivited. This morning I called in a vacation day. It's that good. No spoilers, but there are many MANY moments of "this is so utterly cool" alternating with "HOLY CRAP" jump-out-of-your-chair startles. There are scenes where you're doing things that are just beyond cool and fun, totally immersed.
And I haven't even gotten to the cool scenes they showed in the E3 videos.
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#241327 - 16/11/2004 18:56
Re: Ladies and Gentlemen, start your Half-Life 2 engines
[Re: mschrag]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/06/1999
Posts: 7868
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I caved last night and did end up buying it.
And now I am regretting it, and half tempted to have my credit card company reject the charges.
Last night, it was flawless. Today? Far from it. Spent 15 minutes trying to log into steam since clicking HL2.exe to play would be way too simple. Now, I hit Half Life 2, and watch Steam take up 100% of my CPU. Two minutes later :
So who said this was a good idea? To rely on some server not once, but every time I want to play a single player game? I hate being right about this, but Valve made it way too easy to be right this time.
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#241328 - 16/11/2004 19:08
Re: Ladies and Gentlemen, start your Half-Life 2 engines
[Re: drakino]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/06/1999
Posts: 7868
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Oh, I remembered offline mode. So I hit exit on Steam, pulled my ethernet cable, and restarted Steam. Yeah, offline mode is working real well...
"All circuits are busy" when I call the VUGames support line.
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#241329 - 16/11/2004 21:57
Re: Ladies and Gentlemen, start your Half-Life 2 engines
[Re: drakino]
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veteran
Registered: 25/04/2000
Posts: 1522
Loc: Arizona
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From what I've read (in the box and elsewhere) when you create a Steam account you need to have it 'Remember your password' to have it work offline.
Of course, I'm still trying to create a Steam account and haven't been able to successfully yet
- Tim
Edit: Figures, as soon as I said that it connected finally and let me create an account 
Edited by Tim (16/11/2004 22:01)
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#241330 - 16/11/2004 22:13
Re: Ladies and Gentlemen, start your Half-Life 2 engines
[Re: tfabris]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 09/09/2000
Posts: 2303
Loc: Richmond, VA
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Quote:
At 4am I was still wide awake and utterly rivited. This morning I called in a vacation day. It's that good. No spoilers, but there are many MANY moments of "this is so utterly cool" alternating with "HOLY CRAP" jump-out-of-your-chair startles. There are scenes where you're doing things that are just beyond cool and fun, totally immersed.
I agree -- Way more often than Doom 3 I've found myself saying "oh my god, that's just amazing". I really love how the physics system is actually a major gameplay element and not just a cool thing they stuck on to do ragdoll corpses.
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#241331 - 16/11/2004 22:49
Re: Ladies and Gentlemen, start your Half-Life 2 engines
[Re: mschrag]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31565
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Quote:
I really love how the physics system is actually a major gameplay element and not just a cool thing they stuck on to do ragdoll corpses.
Unfortunately, most of that stuff, although it entertains and amuses me, doesn't impress me as much as it impresses others, because I remember "Trespasser". Of course what they're doing here is scads better than Trespasser was in a multitude of ways, not the least of which is that this game is actually fun. 
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#241332 - 16/11/2004 23:12
Re: Ladies and Gentlemen, start your Half-Life 2 engines
[Re: tfabris]
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addict
Registered: 23/12/2002
Posts: 652
Loc: Winston Salem, NC
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I enjoy the occasional puzzles thrown in here and there. It adds a bit more reality as opposed to the "run and gun" method. Hefting barrels and boxes in order to "activate" the appropriate mechanism can be a nice little challenge.
I also like the way the game catalogues your quick save progress. Now I don't have to worry about pressing the quicksave button only to discover that a missile was about to obliterate me and the most recent "official save" was 2 levels ago.
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#241333 - 17/11/2004 01:00
Re: Ladies and Gentlemen, start your Half-Life 2 engines
[Re: drakino]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 19/09/2002
Posts: 2494
Loc: East Coast, USA
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Sounds like doing a Windows XP install... every time you want to boot your machine. I may not buy the game if I have to log on to the server every darn time I want to play.
_________________________
- FireFox31 110gig MKIIa (30+80), Eutronix lights, 32 meg stacked RAM, Filener orange gel lens, Greenlights Lit Buttons green set
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#241334 - 17/11/2004 01:10
Re: Ladies and Gentlemen, start your Half-Life 2 engines
[Re: FireFox31]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 24/12/2001
Posts: 5528
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In theory you just need to do it once like product activation in Windows. Once it's validated your install then it'll let you use offline mode. You don't need to be connected to the internet after that.
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#241335 - 17/11/2004 03:28
Re: Ladies and Gentlemen, start your Half-Life 2 engines
[Re: Cybjorg]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31565
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Quote:
I enjoy the occasional puzzles thrown in here and there. It adds a bit more reality as opposed to the "run and gun" method.
Oh, I enjoy them too. Some of them were quite clever. A couple of them, when I looked at what needed to be done and figured out the solution, actually had me cackling with glee: "Oh this is going to be fun!"
I'm just not as impressed by the physics technology as some people are, because I remember a game from several years ago that essentially tried to do the same thing (albeit not nearly as well). I have to say that they've done it quite well, though.
In other praise: One of the things the game does terribly well is letting you infer things from context. There have been a lot of times where you are expected to figure out what's going on just by observation. What turns that into a truly immersive experience is when they couple that with some piece of action or some kind of urgency. Like when you need to scramble up a ledge before meeting impending doom. So in addition to the "aha" moment when you realize what's happening, it gets followed by an OH CRAP moment where you're afraid for your own existence. Absolutely masterful.
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#241336 - 17/11/2004 03:50
Re: Ladies and Gentlemen, start your Half-Life 2 engines
[Re: tfabris]
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addict
Registered: 11/11/2001
Posts: 552
Loc: Houston, TX
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Quote:
So in addition to the "aha" moment when you realize what's happening, it gets followed by an OH CRAP moment where you're afraid for your own existence. Absolutely masterful.
Aye, I've loved that about the game so far, myself. I'd be playing it right now, but I've gotten motion sickness from it and need to rest my eyes
_________________________
--Ben
78GB MkIIa, Dead tuner.
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#241337 - 17/11/2004 05:07
Re: Ladies and Gentlemen, start your Half-Life 2 engines
[Re: tman]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/06/1999
Posts: 7868
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Quote:
In theory you just need to do it once like product activation in Windows.
In theory we would be in Valveland and it would work right. Here in the real world, I have done everything properly, including having "Save my password" on every time and Offline mode still fails to work. The second I get a proper offline attempt, I am blocking my network from seeing Steam so I can play the game I legally bought any time I want to, and not when Valve decides I can. This assuming I can get it to work. Attempts to call today to ask for a refund were always met with an all circuits are busy error. If I can't get through tomorrow, I am calling Chase and having them reject the credit charge, for receiving faulty merchandise.
I made a few people at Best Buy today rather upset. Told them flat out "I am being treated like a criminal, and am being denied access to Half Life 2, a product I paid for. This while people are downloading the game off pirate sites and playing it just fine with no issues." Pretty sure I managed to stop about 4 sales of it, since the retail version is simply encrypted files and Steam.
*edit* Thinking about it, at least Microsoft did activation in a semi decent way. It is not mandatory to do to use the product you paid for during the first 30 days. And if for some reason you can't activate it online, you can call a toll free number at any time to activate and use the product. It is a one time deal period. Never again do you have to activate or call Microsoft unless you reinstall. Steam, well, you have to have their permission before even using the product, and have it every time if you have an ethernet cable plugged in.
Edited by drakino (17/11/2004 05:27)
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#241338 - 17/11/2004 11:23
Re: Ladies and Gentlemen, start your Half-Life 2 engines
[Re: drakino]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 24/12/2001
Posts: 5528
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Ah. Didn't know that it would ALWAYS try to authenticate if it detected that it had an internet connection! Now that sucks! What happens if you don't actually have internet? Some people don't have any internet access at home which means they'll be screwed if they bought HL2. Lug your PC to an internet cafe to get the Half Life 2 install unlocked?
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#241339 - 17/11/2004 11:36
Re: Ladies and Gentlemen, start your Half-Life 2 engines
[Re: BAKup]
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veteran
Registered: 25/04/2000
Posts: 1522
Loc: Arizona
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Quote:
I'd be playing it right now, but I've gotten motion sickness from it and need to rest my eyes
I was trying to decide if I was feeling motion sickness or just the general crappiness I felt the last few days. I'm hoping the game itself is not what made me feel (more?) ill.
- Tim
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#241340 - 17/11/2004 11:40
Re: Ladies and Gentlemen, start your Half-Life 2 engines
[Re: tfabris]
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veteran
Registered: 25/04/2000
Posts: 1522
Loc: Arizona
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Quote:
What turns that into a truly immersive experience is when they couple that with some piece of action or some kind of urgency.
One of the first things I noticed was the sense of urgency. After you really start the game, the speakers talking about you (suspect or something?) really got my attention. That was serious immersion.
So far, outside of the Steam issues (took me 3 hours before I was able to play after installing it from the DVD) I am really impressed with this game.
- Tim
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#241341 - 17/11/2004 13:20
Re: Ladies and Gentlemen, start your Half-Life 2 engines
[Re: mschrag]
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new poster
Registered: 30/10/2004
Posts: 21
Loc: MaryLand , USA
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Ah yes .. awesome so far! I was bothered a bit by the load times between 'scenes' but I after awhile it was good to get those few seconds to stretch a bit.
If you guys hadn't noticed yet, there is a 'backup files' opotion in the 'playgames' menu if you right-click on the game title. I'm going to give it a shot tonight, I'm curious just what gets backed up ...
_________________________
TankheaD
Rio MkIIa (plus PCATS tuner) - 120Gb - green with lighted Greenlights smoke buttons!
JL 300/4 (Polk Audio fr & rr) - JL 250/1 (Polk Momo 8" sw)
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#241342 - 17/11/2004 13:57
Re: Ladies and Gentlemen, start your Half-Life 2 engines
[Re: Tim]
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addict
Registered: 11/11/2001
Posts: 552
Loc: Houston, TX
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Quote:
I'm hoping the game itself is not what made me feel (more?) ill.
It's not the first FPS that's done it to me, basicly what happens is my eyes and ears aren't sending the same signals to my brain so things get confused
_________________________
--Ben
78GB MkIIa, Dead tuner.
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#241343 - 17/11/2004 14:41
Re: Ladies and Gentlemen, start your Half-Life 2 engines
[Re: BAKup]
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veteran
Registered: 25/04/2000
Posts: 1522
Loc: Arizona
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Quote:
Quote:
I'm hoping the game itself is not what made me feel (more?) ill.
It's not the first FPS that's done it to me, basicly what happens is my eyes and ears aren't sending the same signals to my brain so things get confused
I haven't gotten ill since the original Doom. Games that I've previously played with no problems did bother me last night, but that was after HL2, so it might've been the problem.
In retrospect, I didn't like the default mouse speed, it was way too slow so I ran out of room before completing a 90deg turn. I messed with the settings quite a bit, by spinning around and the like. Maybe that is what got to me.
Guess I will find out soon enough.
- Tim
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#241344 - 17/11/2004 15:30
Re: Ladies and Gentlemen, start your Half-Life 2 engines
[Re: Tim]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31565
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Quote:
After you really start the game, the speakers talking about you (suspect or something?) really got my attention. That was serious immersion.
Did you catch how, as time went on, the crimes you were charged with kept increasing in severity? Eventually they started charging entire sections of the city with collective criminal activity. I got a real kick out of that.
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