Got Half Life 2?

[Rabbitrunner51]

Downloaded the new drivers for my VC and it took care of the artifacting..and everything looks and plays super....

What a sweet game.... One of the reasons this game gets the praise it does is the level of detail and all that goes into the graphics structure and the whole environment included. There is so much of the whole game filled in with all sorts of things.....no gaps in visuals...

Am at the part where i am fighting bunches of those flying whirly copter thingies... What a trip...just amazing stuff and AI is good.

I bet i spent over a hour trying to find boxes and pile them up to get out of the last part ..only to find that I did need to jump in the water and have enough health to survive the guard elite throwing cannisters and blowing them up... just little things that make this game very unigue ..... very smooth game engine....sweet! ( and alot of humor also)

[MJCfromCT]

Have you noticed the facial expressions of people when you talk to them? To me, it was amazing how lifelike they looked.

[Rabbitrunner51]

yeah...I love this part in games and it seems that is one area game makers are concentrating on more and more.....

I thought the facial expressions and realism were good in D 3 also.... although in this game they are better overall... ( a little more of Alyx please...ha..ha..)

The interaction of everything in the environment is done very well and it is one of the many things that make this game good.

Another thing is not knowing where you are going next or what might be around the next corner... pretty good job of keeping the drama and surprise factor playing out ...

Whats the big deal about the graphic cards and water effects not being as good with FX or Nvidia cards?? The water looks amazing and just like it should....

Because of the smooth game engine..I am not so sure open GL is as mucha factor as pixel shading is....and lighting...which is used extensively in so many ways in this game.

Won't be able to play again till later on tonight....family matters.

[Rabbitrunner51]

I am quite a long ways into the level where he drives the boat and it just keeps going and going...stoped and did alot of things along the way already... the designers must have workesd a long time on this one.....very ingenious on how you have to do things along the way just to be able to go on.... got stumped a few times but figured them out right...

I am kind of stomped right now though...

Am at the place where there are two dock or gate tenders...and the guy says "wow its Gordon Freeman" and I guess you have to figure out how to raise the other gate...The valve does not work or move and maybe you load boxes for ballast or something...any clues??

[kevrob1]

If you're where I think you are you should look right from the valve. The rest will come to you...

[MJCfromCT]

Originally posted by Rabbitrunner51

Am at the place where there are two dock or gate tenders...and the guy says "wow its Gordon Freeman" and I guess you have to figure out how to raise the other gate...The valve does not work or move and maybe you load boxes for ballast or something...any clues??

If you don't end up getting it, post a screenshot or two and i'll be able to help you out.

[Rabbitrunner51]

Thanks... if I can gt my FPS program to work like it should , then I will try and post a screenie...

Actually I have wanted to post alot of screenies here or other places..but the last time i used the program nothing happened.
Sometimes I think weither i am dumber than I bellieve or something in my sytem prevents me doing so.

So far, there have been a few times I had to twist my brain and try and think like the game makers...and was in high delight as I figured them out right...and then proceeded to pat myself on the back....and go on to the next.
i especially had a whopper of a time with the area where you have to climg ladder in this room....get onto pipe and jump to walkway to get to next room and then swim underwater and bust the area on the bottom to get the barrels and other to rise so you can get out to other area... just alot of neat puzzles like this.....sometimes frustrating...but fun. The game would get pretty boring without all of this.

[MJCfromCT]

If you just hit F5 while in the game, it'll automatically take screenshots for you...it stores them in the Valve/Steam/Steamapps/username/hl2/screenshots directory

[Rabbitrunner51]

Thanks again for being specific ( one of your best traits MJ )

I think the probewlm i had before was due to not knowing or finding the screenshots... I will give it a go later on..and post something if I fail to fiure it out ( my stuck problem)

Heck, I wll post a picture anyways..just to show what alast generation VC looks like for this game since I use Nvidia FX

[Rabbitrunner51]

Well, I finally got through the level I described above asfter some moere trials and thoughts... ( the monster thingie fixes my boat and puts a machine gun onboard..and I proceed to shoot the jeezits out of the bridge ( all metal by the way ),and the thingie yells at me and the bridge opens... pretty darn funny aas all along the way in this game are ingenius puzzles to figure out .....its trully what makes this game so unigue and the most popular to date....

I am at or close to the end of the boat run and am battling two( copters ) or maybe its the same one I keep shooting down and he just keeps coming back and coming back.... Its like no end in this ....but i beleive its merely a final showdown ..then the answer from here...

Whenever its over i would have to day the boat run was alot of fun and vry ingenius the things they did ...what a ride....

[MJCfromCT]

I remember that final helicopter, it took me a while to finally beat him, that was definately a hair raising battle!

[Rabbitrunner51]

Update... having a great time with this game.....

Got through Ravenhorn... ( quite a fun level ...lots of baddies...crab face zombies )

Also, got through graveyard and mines...

Am now just walking down the RR tracks after coming out of mine incline with the whirly copter chopper..( whatever you call it )...got the health behind train section and defeated one Zombie ..collected the ammo from box and am going after sniper in overpass ahead. ( attention: we have music again..nice stuff)

Got to love the gravity gun....a very nice weapon and alot of fun ....esp. the saw blades cutting the zombies in half and I used the whirly blade to take out a few in Ravenhorn ( plus many other objects)

They cerainly give you a good amount of health and I really like how you can take them with you by picking them up with the gravity gun and placing them wherever...

I play about two levels a night or more average... no hurry just enjoying it...

[MJCfromCT]

That gravity gun becomes very useful in later levels, learn to use it to its full potential.

It took me a few weeks to finish too, I wanted to take it slow and savor every step of the way

[gringo]

I was plugging my way through the sandtraps level last night . I must admit that every level gets better than the last.

What makes this a great game is just the difference between all the different levels (and obviously the graphics). It's a shame that I have to work every day, because once I get behind my PC, I can't leave this game alone.

[Rabbitrunner51]

yeah...ditto

The way they make everything a puzzle and the environments are not overly done...in so much as they look very natural....
You almost feel like you are actually in this environment...and not playing a game sometimes..

They also did a good job of keeping you in some suspense...not knowing what is coming next.... Its like one big journey to the unknown....

It is not ovrly hard either...most could get through this easily I think...but then again I am on the mid levels...

Detail and graphics look very nice ..even playing my FX5900 card..but after the latest drivers...it looks so sweet.....even the water is good to go.

This would be a very interesting game for higer end VC's,in that after what I see on mine and the fluidity....the higher end cards must look just awesome....or maybe even not a huge difference.