I will have to look into installing that later. I can obviously download it via the Steam "Gold" package, but being in hippy dial-up hell, I would much rather install it from the CE. I will have to find out if the CE disk lets you install specific components (games) or if it is an all-or-nothing deal.

As for Half-Life: Source, does it at least use the updated model packs, helping the game look more current, or does it use the original, dated models?
Complicity, go buy Half-Life 2, damn it!
Edit: The more I play it, the more I like Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines. The gameplay could definitely be tweaked, the NPCs can react rather harshly at times, and the combat is a bit Chunky Monkey, but it is still a hell of a hybrid RPG.

Edit: Love it or hate it, Steam is the future of gaming. It may not be the immediate future, but there is no avoiding the inevitable. Valve had to play nice with the whiney, red-haired step-child known as VUG this round, but it does give the developer more of the money, shelf space has long been an issue for (PC) games, production costs are going higher and higher, and, for the majority of games that are just a slim manual and jewel case, why wait a week or more for a box? Speaking of boxes, Valve sure did put out a crappy CE; was it another semi-rebellion against VUG?

Thinking Half-Life (original) is still a great game,
Ray

-----
Half-Life 2: All that and a bag of chips!
http://users.ign.com/collection/RayMarden
http://www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html?cat=1&id=ray_marden
I love you, mom.
This comment was edited on Nov 18, 09:08.

is it fair to say that valve's steam tech is hit?i know there some problem people are facing but gamers usually complain a lot .are we going to see more release like this(using steam)?

It's funny how that works. Upon release, I played HL2 until I got the handgun then logged out and noticed HL; Source in the menu and proceeded to download that and started playing immediately...

It still holds up as a great game, it's just graphics deprived. I don't think I'll finish it again, as I'd already completed the original twice and could pretty well play the lead role nowadays... lol The end of OpFor left us believing Corporal Arian Shepard had a future and Valve better make that happen... I thought OpFor was better than Half Life;P

Edit:

Yes Ray, it uses the updated models. And yes, I'd buy from Steam again without a doubt. I don't like the offline modes functionality, but the system worked flawlessly for me and gave me no grief at all. Plus, on top of that, Valve had my Gold Pack out in Australia the day after release. Can't ask for better service than that imo.

This comment was edited on Nov 18, 09:04.

HL: Source is just a straight port. The only thing that really gets an update is the water. That said... there's a group of fans porting HL to the new models, textures, everything. Should be quite a remarkable "remake" and possibly a first for a AAA game title.

They sure don't make dangerous toys like they did when I was young:

http://snltranscripts.jt.org/76/76jconsumerprobe.phtml

or

http://www.happyfunball.com/hfb.html

-------------------------------------------------------
"Give me a Sandwich and a Douchebag and there is nothing I cannot do." ~ Lord Salisbury

I will have to look into installing that later. I can obviously download it via the Steam "Gold" package, but being in hippy dial-up hell, I would much rather install it from the CE. I will have to find out if the CE disk lets you install specific components (games) or if it is an all-or-nothing deal.

As a fellow chump who bought the CE, I can tell you that you can install specific components (like HL1:S) from the DVD. I would like to warn you though that if you install from the DVD, you will have to put the DVD in every time you start the game. So it looks like you have a bad choice of download it over dial-up or insert the DVD each time.

Valve sure did put out a crappy CE

They sure did. I feel like a total chump for buying the CE. (Not to mention feeling like a chump for buying retail instead of through steam) Damn you Gabe! ... Oh Gabe, I'm sorry, how can I stay made at you? You gave me HL2.

why wait a week or more for a box? Speaking of boxes, Valve sure did put out a crappy CE; was it another semi-rebellion against VUG?

In University I had a talk from somebody in the publishing business and he said more often or not the box is made by the distributor as different country like different boxes for example people from the US like their PC Games to have the big chunky boxes and the UK prefer to have the slim line DVD cases.

Blue: Might want to check the OOTB for errors (hint, there's an "a" that seems to have jumped around). God, I am an anal bastard when it comes to this sort of thing. Sorry

On OpFor: I though OpFor was better in terms of gameplay and level design, although to be fair, that's easier for an expansion pack. Valve, if you are listening, an expansion pack starring Shepard would make a great addition to HL2, maybe Shepard could (being HL2 spoiler - DONT READ IF NOT DONE!) Gordon misses a week. Gman could tell Shepard something isn't going to plan, and he needs to begin an armed resistance against the Combine. He could fight for a week with the resistence, commendeer Combine vehicles, and finally help Gordon get into the tower through his own assualt. You could use it to flesh out so much! PLEASE!
(horrible spoilers over)

I don't know what to do, start Bloodlines, replay all of HL2 on hard with psycho physics on, or start learning how to use hammer...decisions, decisions. Good thing I don't own any consoles!

you will have to put the DVD in every time you start the game

I've discovered this with HL2 on the CD version.

Why do I have to put the CD in the drive when I'm authenticating through Steam? This is stupid. They'd better patch that away soon. I haven't tried yet, but I bet I'll have to have the damn thing in for playing CS:S too.

Wishing more than ever that I'd just bought via Steam...

for example people from the US like their PC Games to have the big chunky boxes and the UK prefer to have the slim line DVD cases

Er, not sure what you mean by "big chunky boxes" vs "slim line cases". Can you give links showing off both?

I know I'm not alone in wishing that more games in the US would come out on DVD, and the less packaging the better. I think the distributors have an allergic reaction to change though. They're probably still remembering the problems that came when moving from 3 1/2" to CD (or even 5 1/4" to 3 1/2")... but given the success of games like UT2k4 on DVD, you'd think they would see the light. Or maybe I'm overstating the success of that on DVD.

Well, I was not referring to the look of the box, though it certainly would have been nice if they did something like the reinforced material the SWG CE came in, but the actual contents. The box is, what, 12"x18" and, when you open it, you just get a case, a shirt, a quick reference card, and one of those lame miniature Prima "Hint Books."

Thank gosh I got both versions.

Lame as it sounds, the art book has been the most interestin HL2 gimmick, by far. It covers all things Half-Life and has a number of images, many of which are accompanied by some type of development detail.

Having a very hard time....deciding which great game to play :D,
Ray If only I had that cable modem for next weeks WoW...

-----
Half-Life 2: All that and a bag of chips!
http://users.ign.com/collection/RayMarden
http://www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html?cat=1&id=ray_marden
I love you, mom.

It is an overly broad generalization, but please see all games that come out in box form in the U.S. and then as a DVD case in those silly non-U.S. places.

This was even more pronounced when the U.S. market was using the even larger (12") boxes.

Noting my Thief/Sysem Shock boxes dwarf all the other boxes,
Ray Wanting EVERY game to be a CE - w00t!

-----
Half-Life 2: All that and a bag of chips!
http://users.ign.com/collection/RayMarden
http://www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html?cat=1&id=ray_marden
I love you, mom.

You know, this is the first time that I can think of where Blue spoke positively on TWO OotB in a row. Usually he does not say anything about a game, good or bad.

But yeah, HL2 really is that good. I am taking it slow and savoring the game like Blue. Currently near the end of Chapter 3, I think. I might fire up HL-Source this weekend. I had started playing HL1 right before HL2 was released and had played through up to the start of the underground train level. Looks like I will try out HL-Source instead. Was initially planning on starting with HL-Source, playing through it and then start HL2, but couldn't resist

You cannot make anything fool-proof. The fools are too inventive

HALF LIFE 2 IS THE BEST GAME EVER

FIN

And apparently, so is the Caps Lock key.... ASS

Edit: The more I play it, the more I like Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines. The gameplay could definitely be tweaked, the NPCs can react rather harshly at times, and the combat is a bit Chunky Monkey, but it is still a hell of a hybrid RPG.

I'm loving it. I love the fact that game forces you to make real character choices and abide by them. No more being Superman and being able to do it all. Playing a Brujah bruiser versus a Nosferatu stealther yields very different results. I feel the game very much captures the strong and passionate reaction vampires should have. As I said before, this game oozes ambience. The game does have its share of minor problems, but all games do. Nothing that detracts from the overall experience which is one I'm greatly enjoying so far.

For everyone planning to play WoW in retail, are you going to jump in next week on launch day or wait till Dec 1st? I'm pretty honestly concerned about the launch, and I don't think it's quite ready for primetime. Yesterday the lag was brutal. If we could have had the last few days lag free I wouldn't hesitate, but now I don't know.

I still want to play this game retail - at least untill DDO gets here - but maybe it's worth waiting a week or so. Just want to know what everyone else thinks so we can try and get on the same page here for the same server, guild, etc.


"Now, my Woody Allen impression: I'm a neurotic nerd who likes to sleep with little girls."
- Rainer Wolfcastle

The caps-lock key isn't such a good game. That's why he only pressed it once.

he caps-lock key isn't such a good game. That's why he only pressed it once

LOL! Good one.

As for WoW - meh, I am skipping it. Not interesteed in MMORPG treadmill, and I have a huge backlog of mostly PC and some XBOx I need to get through and finish during Christmas break (Halo 2, HL2-again, Far Cry, Mafia, Ninja Gaiden, Gothic, among others)

You cannot make anything fool-proof. The fools are too inventive

Gotta check the main page at gracelessland;P

Rice never looked so.... good, yet scary...

Er, not sure what you mean by "big chunky boxes" vs "slim line cases". Can you give links showing off both?

chunky box
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00006I02Z.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

slimline box(DVD case)
http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00009ATWC.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

It is hard to make a comparison between the boxes the UK version comes in a case that is the same size and thickness of a DVD case.
Also look at the difference in the box between the US HL2 CE and the UK version

Half life 2 CE(US)
http://www.ebgames.com/ebx_assets/product_images/243836.jpg

Half Life 2 CE(UK)
http://img.game.net/ml/3/2/5/0/325016ps.gif

This comment was edited on Nov 18, 10:48.