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Half-Life 25th Anniversary Update

half-life.com

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Re: Half-Life 25th Anniversary Update

#231

Post by fullshark »

cogman10 wrote: post #88
fullshark wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They just happened to have the foresight to develop the most lucrative business model in gaming (owning the distribution platform) and Half Life 3 was the opportunity cost. They could have made a ton of money with that cliff hanger if they remained like every other game developer on the planet, instead of a metric buttload of money.

Opportunity cost? Steam was created shortly after half-life 1 and existed prior to half life 2's release. It was already a huge cash cow when they released games like CS go and TF2. But further, the skills to write a game are different from the skills to manage a game distribution system. It's not like by having the HL2 devs valve was squeezed for cash or resources to expand steam.

I think it's pretty reasonable to assume if Valve never made Steam, they'd have made Half-life 3 do you disagree? Businesses tend to focus on what moves the bottom line most dramatically.

Re: Half-Life 25th Anniversary Update

#233

Post by bsimpson »

pipes wrote: post #216
bsimpson wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I grabbed the free copy…and then fell down the rabbit hole and bought a bunch of other HL games for $6. I'm just now getting into PC gaming via Linux. I've always had a Mac, so I missed a bunch of games like Half Life. Now I'm wondering when I'll get to play any of them…

I'm about to do the same! Genius marketing on valves part!

I was looking at all the $1 titles, and realized it wasn't worth the $5 I might save to figure out which ones to take and which to leave.

Re: Half-Life 25th Anniversary Update

#234

Post by crtasm »

akoboldfrying wrote: post #223
crtasm wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not stealing, please stop repeating this nonsensical comparison.

Just like if I watch you key in your PIN at an ATM, I'm not stealing your PIN. You can still use your PIN, same as before!

My PIN is 3414, copy it as much as you like.

Re: Half-Life 25th Anniversary Update

#235

Post by simonlc »

aequitas wrote: post #116
simonlc wrote: post #44

One of my favorite documentaries was made by Noclip, which tells the story of Half-Life and Valve. It is soo good, a must watch. Interestingly, though, it features no one from Valve, as they, in typical Valve fashion, ignored their requests. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQLEW1c-69c So I'm very excited to watch this new documentary featuring people who worked on the game, made by the same people, such a surprise ha…

I immediately got a déjà vu feeling from the intro like I had seen this already in a Noclip documentary. Nice to finally get this 'episode 3' in the documentary series.

Haha yes! The Black Mesa doc is also very good :D

Re: Half-Life 25th Anniversary Update

#236

Post by pezezin »

dajoh wrote: post #219
fbdab103 wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unless you are looking for the full-on nostalgia trip, I think Black Mesa is how people should play the game today. Many quality of life improvements and stream-lining decisions. Except for Xen. Worst part of the game, and they made it longer.

I don't agree at all, Xen was my favorite part of Black Mesa and my least favorite part of the original Half-Life. I was blown away by how good they managed to make it look (with a 2004-era engine, albeit with updates), it's absolutely gorgeous. The gameplay and puzzles were far more fun for me too, and I greatly appreciate that they made this part of the game longer. But to each his own.

I fully agree with you. Xen was quite crap in the original, but in Black Mesa it is fantastic, and feels really alien and weird.

Re: Half-Life 25th Anniversary Update

#237

Post by pezezin »

pipes wrote: post #215

Can anyone tell me what's the best version to play: black mesa or the original (this anniversary update)? I installed both last night, original plays 4k out of the box. I ended up comparing the intros, in the rail cart bit last night. They are quite different surprisingly. (Hrm, I'm developing weird habits as a sleep deprived parent). I'm on a good pc, 3070, Ryzen 3600. I never really played this back in the day. Tho…

I played Black Mesa a couple of years ago, and I really loved it. All the fun of the original game, but with much better graphics.

Frankly speaking, I find it difficult nowadays to go back to the old, blocky early 3D games. Except for Quake, I will always love Quake.

Re: Half-Life 25th Anniversary Update

#238

Post by ta1243 »

akoboldfrying wrote: post #223
crtasm wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not stealing, please stop repeating this nonsensical comparison.

Just like if I watch you key in your PIN at an ATM, I'm not stealing your PIN. You can still use your PIN, same as before!

Indeed.

Re: Half-Life 25th Anniversary Update

#239

Post by schmorptron »

bsimpson wrote: post #158
haunter wrote: post #9

It's also free until Monday (as in free to get, not just limited free play) https://store.steampowered.com/app/70/HalfLife/

I grabbed the free copy…and then fell down the rabbit hole and bought a bunch of other HL games for $6. I'm just now getting into PC gaming via Linux. I've always had a Mac, so I missed a bunch of games like Half Life. Now I'm wondering when I'll get to play any of them…

If you have a VR headset, you could try the excellent VR mods for them, which makes them much more impressive to play nowadays in my opinion!

Re: Half-Life 25th Anniversary Update

#240

Post by pipes »

pezezin wrote: post #237
pipes wrote: post #215

Can anyone tell me what's the best version to play: black mesa or the original (this anniversary update)? I installed both last night, original plays 4k out of the box. I ended up comparing the intros, in the rail cart bit last night. They are quite different surprisingly. (Hrm, I'm developing weird habits as a sleep deprived parent). I'm on a good pc, 3070, Ryzen 3600. I never really played this back in the day. Tho…

I played Black Mesa a couple of years ago, and I really loved it. All the fun of the original game, but with much better graphics. Frankly speaking, I find it difficult nowadays to go back to the old, blocky early 3D games. Except for Quake, I will always love Quake.

I don't mind old blocky graphics at all, especially if it's running at 120fps at 4k :) It's part of that uncanny valley thing I guess, the more graphics have improved, I find humans in the games look more ridiculous. Though something like dishonoured gets this right, the characters look more like paintings rather than an attempt to look totally real.
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