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Half Life 2 Graphic Mods

Yikes, just awful.

From google, the FakeFactory mod uses the models from Poser to replace Alyx and Barney. This further reinforces the stereotype that the Poser community is a breeding ground for dudes with zero artistic talent. (No offence to any Poser users on GAF, I'm sure you're the exception to the rule).

Models aside, the textures and lighting in the 'after' screen shots look like ass too. Barney's combine soldier suit looks like it's made of shiny elephant skin. I'm assuming it was meant to look like leather, but the scale is way off. And the lighting... I understand the desire to add contrast, but blinding darkening everything and then adding colourful blue/orange lights is probably not the way to go. Bleh. Just awful in every possible way.

But yay for subjectivity.
 
DennisK4 said:
I don't understand this idea that the developers vision is somehow sacrosanct. Often modders are gaming enthusiasts that push the games in a more hardcore direction that the developers themselves are too afraid to take.
I don't think anyone believes that the developer's vision is sacrosanct. Merely that the developer has a lot of experience and knowledge of their craft and that the keen enthusiast's idea of what looks better probably only looks better to a handful of people.
 
DennisK4 said:
I don't understand this idea that the developers vision is somehow sacrosanct. Often modders are gaming enthusiasts that push the games in a more hardcore direction that the developers themselves are too afraid to take.
FakeFactory is only trying to push Half-Life 2 into some sort of self-defined "art"/"bad-ass" direction. The mod, even pulled down to the bare-bones essentials of only map edits and textures, changes the mood of entire chapters based on what someone on the team (or is it all one guy?) thinks looks great. Highway 17 was foggy because Valve wanted it to be, not because 2004 hardware limited it to be.
 
This stretched Adriana Lima face is fugly.

HL2's biggest problem is how lifeless it is though, some animals, animated skyboxes, wind effects etc. would make wonders for that game.
 
szaromir said:
This stretched Adriana Lima face is fugly.

HL2's biggest problem is how lifeless it is though, some animals, animated skyboxes, wind effects etc. would make wonders for that game.
Do birds not count as animals now?

Agree somewhat on the wind effects, though. Grass/trees swaying in the wind could have kicked up the atmosphere on Highway 17 a bunch.
 
szaromir said:
This stretched Adriana Lima face is fugly.

HL2's biggest problem is how lifeless it is though, some animals, animated skyboxes, wind effects etc. would make wonders for that game.

That's kind of the point. City 17 is a city of lifelessness and oppression. Let me guess you think Fallout 3 needs more colors?

image013.jpg


Left = Developer
Right = Modder

Taken from this article.
 
Lionheart1337 said:
That's kind of the point. City 17 is a city of lifelessness and oppression. Let me guess you think Fallout 3 needs more colors?
That's just bollocks. You can have that effect by showing some contrast how the place used to be and how desert it is now etc, but not that the world around you is completely static and devoid of any activity.

From The Dust said:
she kinda looks like the new Lara Croft
Nah, it's clearly Adriana Lima.
 
The beautiful thing about mods is you can choose not to download it instead of complaining about it "not working with the game world" or whatever phantom excuse is being used. Me? I'm hunting down that Adriana Lima mod :D
 
Ickman3400 said:
The beautiful thing about mods is you can choose not to download it instead of complaining about it "not working with the game world" or whatever phantom excuse is being used. Me? I'm hunting down that Adriana Lima mod :D
Oh right, so because we don't all think that stomping over the style of the game is an improvement we should all shut up and keep our opinions to ourselves.

And that's not even getting started on the misogynist undertones of the Alyx model replacement. Gamers will be gamers, I suppose.
 
godels rotating universe said:
And that's not even getting started on the misogynist undertones of the Alyx model replacement. Gamers will be gamers, I suppose.
People say this like the original Alyx isn't completely pandering.

Like every time you stop somewhere in the game there's some suggestion of the player eventually and totally banging her.
 
Ickman3400 said:
The beautiful thing about mods is you can choose not to download it instead of complaining about it "not working with the game world" or whatever phantom excuse is being used. Me? I'm hunting down that Adriana Lima mod :D

It being "optional" does not excuse it from criticism. Like that I think the Alyx mod looks like a creepy mannequin.
 
Dance In My Blood said:
People say this like the original Alyx isn't completely pandering.

Like every time you stop somewhere in the game there's some suggestion of the player eventually and totally banging her.
Yup.
Do birds not count as animals now?
Too little, way too little.
 
godels rotating universe said:
I mean, she lives in a post-apocalyptic world but still managed to find a lacy brassiere and lipgloss?

That isn't lip-gloss, it's drool, from looking at Gordon and his very fit buttocks.
 
Dance In My Blood said:
People say this like the original Alyx isn't completely pandering.

Like every time you stop somewhere in the game there's some suggestion of the player eventually and totally banging her.
I didn't notice it. Though to be fair, I'm gay, and when girls aren't trying to throw themselves on your dick (á la Bioware), I'm pretty oblivious even in real life.

Besides which it's a crap argument anyway. You're basically saying that because Valve put her in as a bit of a tease anyway, it's okay to turn her into the Platonic Form of Trashy Slut.
 
StrayB said:
Models aside, the textures and lighting in the 'after' screen shots look like ass too. Barney's combine soldier suit looks like it's made of shiny elephant skin. I'm assuming it was meant to look like leather, but the scale is way off. And the lighting... I understand the desire to add contrast, but blinding darkening everything and then adding colourful blue/orange lights is probably not the way to go. Bleh. Just awful in every possible way.
Yup. The Metrocop uniform is clearly supposed to be made of woven fabric, but that's not shiny and detailed enough so NORMAL MAP SOME LEATHER TEXTURE ON THAT SHIT.

Also I remember this mod, with all of its ill-fitting music and stuff, extended HL2's load times even more. That was a while ago though.


Not to shit on ALL modders. Some mods are great! There are even some textures and graphics mods that are great! But a lot of texture packs are ugly and clearly show that the modder in question is better at making a lot of sharp high res textures than they are designing a level or character's appearance.
 
godels rotating universe said:
Oh right, so because we don't all think that stomping over the style of the game is an improvement we should all shut up and keep our opinions to ourselves.

And that's not even getting started on the misogynist undertones of the Alyx model replacement. Gamers will be gamers, I suppose.

It's one thing to say you dont' think it looks good or whatever, but some people here were saying stupid things like an attractive and more slutty looking Alyx doesn't work in the oppressive game world or story. Who gives a shit? You're overthinking things if that even crosses into your mind for a second.
 
NaM said:
You decide:
looks like shit. too many changes, too much bloom.

the stalker complete mods are doing a great job. making the graphics better without taking a shit on the artstyle. or quarls textures for oblivion.
 
Ickman3400 said:
It's one thing to say you dont' think it looks good or whatever, but some people here were saying stupid things like an attractive and more slutty looking Alyx doesn't work in the oppressive game world or story. Who gives a shit? You're overthinking things if that even crosses into your mind for a second.
I can't take this post seriously, sorry.
 
This might be good for another playthrough just for something different but I don't think it captures the feel of HL2 too well.

On a side note, are there any other HL2 mods that I should check out?
 
DennisK4 said:
I love this example that always gets pulled out because I vastly prefer the fan version of Faith. Boobs a little too exaggerated but otherwise better.
I like how the fan version gives you a hint of pointy nipple.
 
Stallion Free said:
Nah, the Cinematic mod changes the actual art-style of the game and it adds shit that makes no sense at all. It looks like shit on every level. And so many texture mods are just the vanilla textures over-sharpened. That or they are just way too detailed for the actual geometry/polycount and look awkward as fuck.
I agree, but it also depends on the people who do the textures. I think you need to limit it if it's a singular project to get the aesthetic right, but if you just mash a bunch of mods together or have no idea how to get art direction right, it's gonna look terrible.

Although it is true that modders clearly more more technically impressive art assets, they usually break consistency. Sometimes one texture artist wants to paint with a certain lightsource instead of using other maps to do it, or someone else bakes shadows into the textures instead of handdrawing it.

I used to be much more active in the CS modding community, there were seriously models that had more polys than most scenes. Even textures that spanned like 4, 5 1024^2 textures to squeeze the extra detail in.

This is why I hate, hate, hate things like people adding all those modded out weapons into games like Fallout. Hell, half of those things I had the source files to at one time or another since they came from the CS modding community. I can still identify that shit even to this day who did what. Plus, having stuff that looks factory-fresh into a post-apocalyptic game? Please.

Also, sometimes modders can get cocky as fuck. I remember this one Dawn of War 1 mod that added the Sisters of Battle. Jesus fuck was the team cocky as shit, ragging on Relic for making 'low quality' models and textures versus their work. You go look at the shit they put out, they did stuff like have a single 512^2 texture on a weapon where a regular developer would try to squeeze the entire unit and half of it's equipment onto a 512^2 texture instead. No shit it's going to look better if you want to devote an entire texture to the sole of a boot noone's going to see except in a rare kick animation or something.
 
They could have improved Faith more if they'd added a low(er) plunging top and six inch heels too. Also added a shower scene.

And also if instead of talking at all, ever, she'd just moaned suggestively and touched her boobies.
 
FootNinja said:
image013.jpg


Could someone avatar the right side of this image up for me? Really liking the way it looks.
THAT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN NO

It's too anime-y for my taste plus the breasts/nipples are ridiculous. decent fan mock up though.
 
godels rotating universe said:
Here's why I take the mod seriously: because it highlights the saddening level of misogyny still present in video gaming.
You seem like a sad man. Not many males look like Duke Nukem or Chris Redfield, yet no one is complaining.
 
szaromir said:
You seem like a sad man. Not many males look like Duke Nukem or Chris Redfield, yet no one is complaining.
Duke Nukem is a parody of machismo, and a LOT of people complained about how ridiculously roided up Chris looked in RE5.
 
szaromir said:
You seem like a sad man. Not many males look like Duke Nukem or Chris Redfield, yet no one is complaining.

Apparently, you were absent when people complained about Redfield.
 
Meh, I like to play with adriana lima and the cinematic mod and also like to play vanilla HL2 with normal alyx. Two different experiences and I like to play both.
Batman begins music>half-life 2 music
Haters gonna hate and all that shit.
 
vidal said:
Apparently, you were absent when people complained about Redfield.
True, I generally don't visit RE threads. :P

And DICE's Faith actually is more attractive. The fan version looks like a parody of animu characters actually. I like boobs of all sizes and it's also very clear that DICE made Faith a hot girl, so I don't think it was undersexualized in the first place.
 
DennisK4 said:
I love this example that always gets pulled out because I vastly prefer the fan version of Faith. Boobs a little too exaggerated but otherwise better.

she looks dumb on the right. Like some airhead posing as a runner just because the original model couldn't come but they needed to shoot everything this day so they went to the nearest cafe to cast some waitress.
 
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