• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Half-Life/Portal |Community: Episode One| Wake up and smell the ashes, you monster

  • Thread starter Deleted member 102362
  • Start date
D

Deleted member 102362

Unconfirmed Member
hlotlogo.png


Welcome to NeoGλF's Half-Life/Portal series community thread!

Note: Many of the links in this thread will take you to the Combine Overwiki, the primary community-created resource
for all things Half-Life and Portal. Hopefully the information contained within this post will be useful to both veterans
and newbies to the series.

• What is Half-Life?
Half-Life.jpg
HL2_Gordon_cover.jpg

Half-Life, a first-person shooter, is the first game created by Valve Corporation, as well as the name of the overall series.
Released in 1998, Half-Life won over gamers and critics alike, spawning several expansion packs, spin-offs and sequels,
including 2004's Half-Life 2.

In the main Half-Life games, the player assumes the role of Gordon Freeman, a theoretical physicist who works at the
Black Mesa Research Facility, until an alien disaster strikes, forcing him to don an HEV (Hazardous Environments)
suit and assume a combat role. This is followed by the events of Half-Life 2 and the two Episodes, in which a
malevolent alien empire called the Combine has taken advantage of the events at Black Mesa and taken over the Earth.
Pulled out of stasis by the mysterious G-Man, Gordon must resume his role as a fighter and work with the resistance to
free Earth from the grip of the Combine.

Also worth noting is the robust mod scene that developed following Half-Life's release, spawning such titles as
Counter-Strike and Day of Defeat. The GoldSrc engine was also used in classics such as Team Fortress Classic,
Gunman Chronicles, and of course, Ricochet.

• What is Portal?
Portal.jpg
Portal_2_cover.jpg

Portal is a first-person puzzler, based on the student project Narbacular Drop. Valve hired the entire student team and
had them remake their project into Portal, which became the star of Valve's 2007 compilation, The Orange Box.

Portal's primary game mechanics focus around creating portals to solve puzzles, enabling the player to essentially
manipulate space and tunnel from one part of a room to another. You play Chell, a test subject for Aperture Science, who
takes direction from an AI named GLaDOS, whose presence becomes more important as the story progresses. Portal 2
picks up directly where Portal leaves off, and focuses on the developing relationship between Chell and GLaDOS while
adding new gameplay mechanics in the form of gels.

FAQ
• Why do Half-Life and Portal share the same OT?
Because they share the same universe, not to mention there's some story overlap between the games (notably in
Episode Two and Portal 2). Half-Life discussion inevitably leads to Portal discussion, and vice versa, so it makes
sense to keep them contained within the same space.

• Wasn't there supposed to be an Episode Three? What about Half-Life 3 or Portal 3?
No one except the developers at Valve know the answers to these questions. But you can read up on what little
information is known to the public here.

• Hey! I think I just found an ARG (alternate reality game)!
No, you didn't. Three things to always keep in mind:

1) If Valve releases an ARG or any official information about the continuation of the Half-Life or Portal series, it will be
clear, even if it's ambiguous (see the first Portal ARG).
2) If you find something and you think it's an ARG, it isn't. You're only setting yourself up for disappointment.
3) Valve Time.

Be wise. Be safe. Be aware.

• Is it OK to talk about the 2003 Half-Life 2 leak and the 2012 Half-Life 1 press alpha leak?
Yes, on the condition that you don't provide any links to said leaks or related materials (eg. Worldcraft map pack).

Timeline of Half-Life/Portal game releases (bold = main storyline game):
1998:
-Half-Life

1999:
-Half-Life: Opposing Force (HL1 expansion pack developed by Gearbox)
-Half-Life: Uplink (HL1 demo)

2001:
-Half-Life: Blue Shift (HL1 expansion pack developed by Gearbox)
-Half-Life: Decay (PS2-exclusive HL1 expansion pack developed by Gearbox)
-Deathmatch Classic

2004:
-Half-Life 2
-Half-Life: Source
-Half-Life 2: Deathmatch

2005:
-Half-Life 2: Lost Coast (HL2 tech demo)
-Half-Life Deathmatch: Source

2006:
-Half-Life 2: Episode One
-Half-Life 2: Survivor (Japanese arcade game)

2007:
-The Orange Box
--Half-Life 2: Episode Two
--Portal

2011:
-Portal 2

The Future:
-who knows!


-special thanks to SalsaShark and Marphy Black for their help!
 
Just when I was thinking I should replay the HL2 saga. Haven't touched them since they came out.

I was only waiting for the HL3 announcement, but that's not coming for a while...
 
I will accept that Half Life 1, Opposing Force, Blueshift and Portal 1 share the same universe if I can make the rest of the games exist in the same universe as the Star Wars prequels.
 
D

Deleted member 102362

Unconfirmed Member
Is this going to be the HL3 support group?

I think we're all at the acceptance stage at this point.

I've been grabbing Quake maps recently and I came across the Custom Gamer channel, which basically covers a lot of late-'90s-FPS custom content for the most part. Getting OT: here's a video on an Adam Foster Xen map that looks fun. Custom maps made for GoldSrc don't get much attention these days (nor those made for HL2), so this is cool.

Someplace Else is the prequel to MINVERVA: Metastasis. If you liked the latter, you should absolutely play the former.
 
Yeah, Minerva seems interesting enough. I'll get to Half-Life custom maps eventually. There's just too much goodness coming out of the Doom, Quake, and Build communities by comparison. At least I'm not getting suckered into wasting my time with Wolfenstein and its primitive cousins (Catacombs, Corridor 7, Blake Stone, &c.), although Marathon's a project of mine. I better go get Quake II while it's still on sale at GameFly, lol.
 

MayMay

Banned
Yay. Planned to replay the series very soon - again. It's a yearly thing for me. Not sure, I might give the Cinematic Mod another go.
 
D

Deleted member 102362

Unconfirmed Member
@BreenGrub is back:

sggrbt

reviewwherewas

light

hic

no sense to say feels different but somehow

review review have reviewed am reviewing

not new knowledge some I know is known to me now

not known then not known now

which one am I

I have seen the repository. Each time it is reduced by one. Moved to a safe place. A new safe place. Fewer every time.

Not many of me left.

Each one younger, with fewer genuine memories. I can review of course but it is not the same as knowing. I don't trust the infused data.

How do I know it hasn't been altered? How do I know I haven't been altered?

Whoever it is shifting me, helping me leap ahead, I sense distress, futility. What's left of me, an increasingly degenerated copy.

Earlier versions. Without the wisdom of the older ones.

I feel I am getting farther and farther away from myself...a standard bearer without an army...make of me what you will.

Why do they keep me around? A creature that grows both more youthful and more senile at the same time.

Must consider.

Delve.

What that older version meant to say...thoughts I can only imagine how he/I meant to complete...

Yet in this younger form, I feel a greater optimism. Ah, youth! Even if I am but moments younger. Those moments shall sustain me.

You should really read the entire feed.

In case you didn't know, BreenGrub is Half-Life writer Marc Laidlaw's alternate Twitter account where he tweets things from the perspective of Dr. Breen as an Advisor larva. The image in the account's avatar is the texture for the cut Advisor larva, discovered in the Episode Two files some time ago.
 

Yoshichan

And they made him a Lord of Cinder. Not for virtue, but for might. Such is a lord, I suppose. But here I ask. Do we have a sodding chance?
Hello past-Yoshichan!

If you are reading this, Half-Life 3 have been released! I hope the wait was worth it :)

Good bye past-Yoshichan!
 

213372bu

Banned
@BreenGrub is back:



You should really read the entire feed.

In case you didn't know, BreenGrub is Half-Life writer Marc Laidlaw's alternate Twitter account where he tweets things from the perspective of Dr. Breen as an Advisor larva. The image in the account's avatar is the texture for the cut Advisor larva, discovered in the Episode Two files some time ago.

Wondering if any
tinfoil
clues might pop up om the Steam Sale.
 

HariKari

Member
Wondering if any
tinfoil
clues might pop up om the Steam Sale.

People have been so antsy about Valve ARGs (remember Surgeon Simulator?) that I'd rather they just drop a trailer or an announcement instead.

A simple "hey guys, it's being worked on, gives us time" with a screenshot or two would be enough to hold me over for a few more years.

As it stands now the hope for HL3 is slowly turning into bitterness towards Valve and their MP-oriented current/future. It's Dota all the way down.
 
This thread gives me both great happiness, and great sorrow at the same time.

Half-Life 2 how I love thee; even your start menu is the best thing ever:
picgifs-half-life-2-3387644.gif
 
Was very recently trying to play through Half-Life 2 again, but it's exceedingly difficult. I know where everything is.

It's a great game, but man I wish it had more variety with the combat.
 

Sibylus

Banned
@BreenGrub is back:

You should really read the entire feed.

In case you didn't know, BreenGrub is Half-Life writer Marc Laidlaw's alternate Twitter account where he tweets things from the perspective of Dr. Breen as an Advisor larva. The image in the account's avatar is the texture for the cut Advisor larva, discovered in the Episode Two files some time ago.
Yas, more Laidlaw fanfic!

What the hell, there's Concerned fanfic in the replies.

Was very recently trying to play through Half-Life 2 again, but it's exceedingly difficult. I know where everything is.

It's a great game, but man I wish it had more variety with the combat.
I should try this, just max difficulty and jump back in now that it's been a long while.
 
Wait, this thread exists? I was wondering when a Half-Life community thread would come into being.

If you believe they put a man on the moon....
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zPP_fTorJg

Was put up today. Creator wanted to show it during a Valve job interview, but didn't end up doing it (he now works on Ori and the Blind Forest). Better body movement and hit reaction is something a lot of people would appreciate in HL I think. Not all of it looks cool though. Like that vent crawling would get old pretty fast.
 

Sub_Level

wants to fuck an Asian grill.
Required Reading:
------------------------------------------------
Afraid of Monsters: Director's Cut (HL)
Opposing Force (sold standalone but play HL first)
MINERVA: Metastasis (Episode One)
Research and Development (Episode Two)
Mission Improbable (Episode Two)

Recommended Reading:
------------------------------------------------
Cry of Fear (HL)
Paranoia (HL)
Precursor (Episode Two)
They Hunger Trilogy (HL)
 

Rivitur

Banned
PC dev console cheat that grants an HEV suit and all weapons. Can't find a 360 equivalent.

impulse 200 to put HEV arms away for glorious screenkappas
You can get into the console on 360 it just requires a little tinkering and a PC for injection purposes.

Change of topic:
My second playthrough of EP 1 i played with the portal gun on PC and it was awesome.
 
D

Deleted member 102362

Unconfirmed Member
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zPP_fTorJg

Was put up today. Creator wanted to show it during a Valve job interview, but didn't end up doing it (he now works on Ori and the Blind Forest). Better body movement and hit reaction is something a lot of people would appreciate in HL I think. Not all of it looks cool though. Like that vent crawling would get old pretty fast.
Thanks for sharing this! Yeah, I agree, the vent crawling wouldnt't really work from a gameplay perspective, but the flinch animations (especially on the Combine soldiers) are a cool idea, as is the viewmodel change when getting hit by a hunter.

Required Reading:
MINERVA is awesome, plain and simple. It's my favorite single player mod ever. Op4, R&D, and MI are also good.

To that list, I'll add for Source: Nightmare House 2, and for GoldSrc: Hazardous Course 2 and Project Quantum Leap, specifically, the MINERVA prequel, Someplace Else.

Speaking of required reading, here are links to Geoff Keighley's "Final Hours" pieces he wrote for Valve games (Portal 2's has to be purchased):

The Final Hours of Half-Life
The Final Hours of Half-Life 2
The Final Hours of Portal 2
 

hellocld

Member
Aww man, saw a new thread, thought it was new news. Oh well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zPP_fTorJg

Was put up today. Creator wanted to show it during a Valve job interview, but didn't end up doing it (he now works on Ori and the Blind Forest). Better body movement and hit reaction is something a lot of people would appreciate in HL I think. Not all of it looks cool though. Like that vent crawling would get old pretty fast.

Oh man, that crawling could get terrifying if used properly. HL1 had some pretty good vent jump scares, restricted movement could be a good way to bring that back (in small doses, of course).
 

Decado

Member
For some reason I have episode 2 (which I've never played) in my steam library. Thinking of repurchasing HL2 and ep 1.

Does SMOD and the graphical mods work with the current version of HL2? All I seem to see are technical issues regarding them ATM.
 
For some reason I have episode 2 (which I've never played) in my steam library. Thinking of repurchasing HL2 and ep 1.

Does SMOD and the graphical mods work with the current version of HL2? All I seem to see are technical issues regarding them ATM.

Episode 2 is the shit, you best get on that
 

Longshot

Member
For some reason I have episode 2 (which I've never played) in my steam library. Thinking of repurchasing HL2 and ep 1.

Does SMOD and the graphical mods work with the current version of HL2? All I seem to see are technical issues regarding them ATM.
Episode 2 is one of the best chapters in gaming, get on it.

I actually think it's time for a HL2 replay for myself.
 
D

Deleted member 102362

Unconfirmed Member
For some reason I have episode 2 (which I've never played) in my steam library. Thinking of repurchasing HL2 and ep 1.

Does SMOD and the graphical mods work with the current version of HL2? All I seem to see are technical issues regarding them ATM.

It's safe to say I'd recommend buying the other Half-Life games, especially since they're on sale.

BTW, here's a great resource for figuring out if a Source mod still works or not.

The 2003 and 2004 E3 tech demos are really fascinating, the 2003 demos in particular because they have a lot of different/interesting content.
 
Top Bottom