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[Eric-GCA]

Hehe, looking back, all it took was an innocent comment like "I hope this comes to a console" to start this whole new debate on Console's vs. PC's.

But getting back to the point of this thread -the awesomeness of Half Life 2- I can only hope that the new release of media is a precurser to the games near completion.

 

[Bluemercury]

And tHE best knews:

Q: Day Of Defeat: Source, how about any news about it?

A: Day Of Defeat: Source is being worked on but will not be available at Half-life 2 launch.

 

[Eric-GCA]

Yeah, thats from the Q&A posted on planethalflife.

Here's a bit of dissapointment for me personally:

Q: Will the new level design allow Terrain Deformation, or will it be be more like Half-Life 1 (where you had to set a breakable spot in Hammer)?

A: Half-Life 2 will not have any Terrain Deformation, but it can be enabled or used in mods. On a side note, Team Fortress 2 will have Terrain Deformation.

I guess I'll have to wait for a mod to see some nice deformation, though I'd assume that the game will have some scripted scenes of destruction like the original Half Life. Oh well, still some cool info from Valve:

Q: How many CDs or DVDs will the game be (and if possible, the Collector's Edition)?

A: Doug Lombardi told me that Half-Life 2 will most likely be 4 CDs and 1 DVD. The Collector's Edition might be the only one in DVD format, however.

Q: How long is the game, and how linear is it?

A: The game itself is roughly around 25 hours of game play. As far as how linear the game is, it sort of depends on the user playing. VALVe had many play testers say the game did not feel linear at all. One thing is certain: it's much less linear than the original.

Q: Does the game start off the same way as Half-Life 1?

A: The game starts off similarly as Half-Life 1: you are on a train headed for City 17 and you have no weapons. You step out of the train and notice a giant screen with some crazy guy with a beard talking about something. You start to walk and something flies up to you and takes your picture. "Wonder what that was?" As you continue on, you see a combine shove another guy into a luggage cart, knocking over some of the bags. If you try and interfere or throw something at the combine, he beats you with a stick. On the other side of the area is a combine solider ordering around what looks like an Alien Slave from the first game. I didn't get a close-up look so I can't be sure. That's as much as I'm going to spoil

Can't wait.

 

[Dagless M.D.]

Are there any screens of any of these DOOM3 mods, I'd like to see someone else's take on the engine

 

[Evenball]

There are only minor mods right now that change a few gameplay things, the SDK has not yet been released. When it is, there will be a lot more mods.

 

[Stuggernaut]

Comments on everything...

HL2 Screens : Awesome...wish this damn game would come out NOW!! It feels like HL3 should have been out by now...sheesh!

HL2 Bink Video : Nice ..although the graphics are going to probably get labled as "Dated" I personally am looking forward to great gameplay, amazing physics, and a good story to go along with awesome multiplayer

PC/Console comments : While I agree that consoles are getting close to PC power and the games match some of the top PC games out there in some respects, I have to wonder what kind of PC games some of you were playing over the last few years to think that when new consoles come out that they are way ahead of PC games. My PC games have always been a step ahead of my console games...at least until some recent additions have started to blur that line a little. For me, the feeling just isn't the same....yet.

 

[SKluck]

Fucking cocktease. Team Fortress 2 my ass! So we should expect that around the time DNF comes out right?

 

[Buggy Loop]

On a side note, Team Fortress 2 will have Terrain Deformation.

Wow, first time i hear of Team fortress 2 since a good 4 years.

Half life 2 will have the best mod community, damn i cant wait

 

[dark10x]

My PC games have always been a step ahead of my console games...at least until some recent additions have started to blur that line a little

What games were YOU playing? I think your memory is a bit off here...

2001, for example, was the year that games like Max Payne and RtCW were released. Compared to stuff like MGS2, GT3, DOA3, Halo and Rogue Squadron 2...those games looked pretty simple. They had generally stiff animation, very low poly everything, and relied almost entirely on textures in order to look decent. It was not until UT2003 that the PC finally recieved a game which tossed around a LOT of geometry...and nobody else thought to match that game for a while either.

 

[Yusaku]

Oh, and the screenshots above are supposedly from a Siggraph demonstration by Valve's art director Viktor Antonov, so they probably are at the absolute highest quality settings.

I was there. It was underwhelming. The special session was supposed to be about "next generation graphics" but all they talked about was SSX3, Bond, NFS Underground, and the CG from Onimusha 3. The HL2 thing was the only remotely next-gen thing, and it wasn't much.