Bits & Bobs XII

KovacsC · **Posted:** Fri Sep 25, 2009 8:53

I have a big fluffy dog who likes the cold, I however!!!

Time to get my warm coat out..

Malc · **Posted:** Fri Sep 25, 2009 9:15

Still sitting here in shorts and T-shirt with the window open!

Malc

KovacsC · **Posted:** Fri Sep 25, 2009 9:23

Malc wrote:

Still sitting here in shorts and T-shirt with the window open!

Malc

It is nice and toasty in the office, just not outside..

where are you, you mad man?

myp · **Posted:** Fri Sep 25, 2009 9:29

I love these kinds of stories.

TheAlbin0Kid · **Posted:** Fri Sep 25, 2009 9:40

Ok, I'm currently playing through Half Life 2 (incidentally, I've been telling the guy who sold The Orange Box to me how good it is and he has just offered to buy it back off me lolz), but never played the original Half Life game. Can someone please fill me in on the storyline? Where does this messed up world come from, and why does everyone think I'm such hot shit? (in game character, not me personally

)

myp · **Posted:** Fri Sep 25, 2009 9:41

I could lend you the first game on the PS2 if you like?

This site is really good.

TheAlbin0Kid · **Posted:** Fri Sep 25, 2009 9:43

myp wrote:

I could lend you the first game on the PS2 if you like?

This site is really good.

How spoiler packed is it? If I read the Half-Life stuff will it ruin my Half-Life 2 experience?

metalangel · **Posted:** Fri Sep 25, 2009 9:46

I'm bored at work so I'm reading it now, I'll let you know.

myp · **Posted:** Fri Sep 25, 2009 9:47

TheAlbin0Kid wrote:

myp wrote:

I could lend you the first game on the PS2 if you like?

This site is really good.

How spoiler packed is it? If I read the Half-Life stuff will it ruin my Half-Life 2 experience?

It's only one fan's interpretation, but it's pretty in-depth. Let me find you the pages you want to read (if you look at the table of contents it'll probably spoil some stuff for you).

http://www.members.shaw.ca/halflifestory/timeline.htm

Read up to section 1.5, but no further. It won't spoil anything in HL2 unless you read 1.6 onwards.

Malc · **Posted:** Fri Sep 25, 2009 9:48

KovacsC wrote:

Malc wrote:

Still sitting here in shorts and T-shirt with the window open!

Malc

It is nice and toasty in the office, just not outside..

where are you, you mad man?

10 miles outside Plymouth, the sun is shining, although the car said 7 Degrees earlier.

Malc

Zardoz · **Posted:** Fri Sep 25, 2009 9:49

You should really play Half Life.

Mimi · **Joined:** 27th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 25594

I was woken up by someone delivering me flowers today, from my Nan. I've not received a bunch of flowers for... well, for a very very long time indeed. Actually, no, the last time I had flowers was this spring, when I bumped into my old lecturer in M&S and he bought me a fe bunches of daffodils. Today I received many orchids. They are beautful.

It is dark in the mornings and evenings now. I like this time of year very much. I can wear my coat and hat, wrap my scarf around me, find some mittens and hide, and I'm not forced to look at people's bare bellies wobbling by because in Lancaster it is still 1984. Oh, and hopefully everyone will stop wearing ugly shorts over leggings, because it looks terrible, and just because it is fashionable doesn't mean it is right.

myp · **Posted:** Fri Sep 25, 2009 9:50

Zardoz wrote:

You should really play Half Life.

I doubt he will, now he's hooked on cheevos.

Mimi · **Joined:** 27th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 25594

My skin is so dry. That is the only problem with autumn and winter.

Malc · **Posted:** Fri Sep 25, 2009 9:56

Got paid today, my Net Pay was £11 more than Basic Pay thanks to all the overtime I did in August!

Woohoo!

Malc

KovacsC · **Posted:** Fri Sep 25, 2009 9:57

Malc wrote:

KovacsC wrote:

Malc wrote:

Still sitting here in shorts and T-shirt with the window open!

Malc

It is nice and toasty in the office, just not outside..

where are you, you mad man?

10 miles outside Plymouth, the sun is shining, although the car said 7 Degrees earlier.

Malc

I am down in Portsmouth on Suday, I hope it is warm

TheAlbin0Kid · **Posted:** Fri Sep 25, 2009 10:16

myp wrote:

Zardoz wrote:

You should really play Half Life.

I doubt he will, now he's hooked on cheevos.

More to the point, I have a queue building up of games both already bought and soon-to-be bought... which is kind of a good thing, I guess. My True Achievement multiplier/ratio thingy is going downhill though now I'm less of a mono-gaymer.

myp · **Posted:** Fri Sep 25, 2009 10:18

I've broken into the top 10,000 now. I bet you're scared.

metalangel · **Posted:** Fri Sep 25, 2009 10:18

myp wrote:

http://www.members.shaw.ca/halflifestory/timeline.htm

Read up to section 1.5, but no further. It won't spoil anything in HL2 unless you read 1.6 onwards.

Interesting, but a few thoughts as the guy seems to omit a number of facts:

ZOMG Spoiler! Click here to view!

-he says Opposing Force isn't mentioned in the timeline because it's not critical to understanding the story. Black Mesa being nuked by the US Government, with the GMan ensuring that the nuke goes off after Shepard disarms it, is pretty fucking critical, I would have thought. Only the nuclear blast is mentioned, not the GMan's desire to see this happen.
-I've read elsewhere that Breen was actually in communication with the Combine prior to everything going Pete Tong, hence why he was appointed administrator as, being at Black Mesa, he'd have been among the first to know about Xen. Anything beyond this is too much of a coincidence.
-There's also a mention that the satellite network that Gordon activates in the original game is somehow responsible for the portal storms - the Black Mesa scientists erroneously believed it would fix the resonance cascade but in fact it made things worse and also made it possible for the Combine to come through.
-I also don't think Breen is as naive as the author thinks. He has chosen this path of oppression as the only alternative was humanity being wiped out altogether by the Combine. When you're captured at the end of HL2, he's giddy with delight as finally he has some kind of advantage over the Combine.
-He also seems to think that Breen somehow survived that massive explosion.

But yeah, don't read 1.6 or further until you've finished Half Life 2.

Zardoz · **Posted:** Fri Sep 25, 2009 10:22

It's a game that everyone should play though. I wonder how it holds up today? The graphics will have dated obv (although there are texture packs now) but I'm sure the gameplay and story will still be good.

Grim... · **Posted:** Fri Sep 25, 2009 10:24

Zardoz wrote:

It's a game that everyone should play though. I wonder how it holds up today? The graphics will have dated obv (although there are texture packs now) but I'm sure the gameplay and story will still be good.

http://www.blackmesasource.com/
I'm not sure if they've given up or not, though.

metalangel · **Posted:** Fri Sep 25, 2009 10:30

Meh. My view on Half-Life 2 is that for every excellent bit there's two terrible ones. Some of the levels go on far too long, some of the weapons are a bit weedy, and after all the emphasis on physics early on they seem to forget about it. Someone here observed that in many sequences they felt like Valve were sitting next to them, laughing and nudging and chattering about how clever they were with this next bit, look!

The best things about Half-Life 2 are the wonderfully atmospheric and decayed cities, and the sound.

Also, I DEMAND Black Mesa Source. For the WIN!

The Rev Owen · **Posted:** Fri Sep 25, 2009 10:33

MetalAngel wrote:

Meh. My view on Half-Life 2 is that for every excellent bit there's two terrible ones.

Yes, yes, yes!

A version of Half-Life 2 half the length of the original game would be twice as good.

myp · **Posted:** Fri Sep 25, 2009 10:33

Zardoz wrote:

It's a game that everyone should play though. I wonder how it holds up today? The graphics will have dated obv (although there are texture packs now) but I'm sure the gameplay and story will still be good.

It looks pants on the PS2, even with the texture pack and component cable. I started playing it again, but for some reason it just left me cold. It's one of my top ten games, too. I just think we've been spoilt with how far FPS games have come in the last ten years.

I'm a shallow bastard.

metalangel · **Posted:** Fri Sep 25, 2009 10:37

I suppose the blandness of the graphics worked to HL1's favour, given Black Mesa was almost entirely concrete, doesn't take much to render that.

myp · **Posted:** Fri Sep 25, 2009 10:42

MetalAngel wrote:

I suppose the blandness of the graphics worked to HL1's favour, given Black Mesa was almost entirely concrete, doesn't take much to render that.

I remember being very ZOMFG about the lighting effects like your torch and suchlike at the time.

Cras · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 49232

MetalAngel wrote:

Someone here observed that in many sequences they felt like Valve were sitting next to them, laughing and nudging and chattering about how clever they were with this next bit, look!

Yeah, that was me, and it's an annoying feeling that I can never shake when playing any of the HL games.

metalangel · **Posted:** Fri Sep 25, 2009 10:45

myp wrote:

MetalAngel wrote:

I suppose the blandness of the graphics worked to HL1's favour, given Black Mesa was almost entirely concrete, doesn't take much to render that.

I remember being very ZOMFG about the lighting effects like your torch and suchlike at the time.

The flashlight was weird. If you use one in total blackness, you tend to get a lot of ambient light and then the main focus of the light really bright. Unlike Half-Life, where you get all the light super-concentrated in one spot, and everything around it impenetrable blackness.

myp · **Posted:** Fri Sep 25, 2009 10:45

Craster wrote:

Yeah, that was me, and it's an annoying feeling that I can never shake when playing any of the HL games.

But yet I don't feel that about L4D or TF2, etc, which is odd as they're made by the same people. Though, perhaps if they didn't push the boundaries with the HL series, we wouldn't get those games.

Cras · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 49232

Push what boundaries?

Malabelm · **Posted:** Fri Sep 25, 2009 10:47

Craster wrote:

Push what boundaries?

Dimrill's patience.

Zardoz · **Posted:** Fri Sep 25, 2009 10:47

I like the feeling that they're wanking off next to me.

metalangel · **Posted:** Fri Sep 25, 2009 10:48

The ones of gaming that both Valve and their sycophants like Gillen are convinced that they're pushing.

I thought L4D and TF2 were both even more extreme cases of 'look how clever we're being, ooh, hehehe, we're fucking geniuses'.

Cras · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 49232

Really? TF2 is basic, but works. L4D is clever, but I'm not convinced it trumpets that fact.

Doctor Glyndwr · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 32619

Craster wrote:

Really? TF2 is basic, but works. L4D is clever, but I'm not convinced it trumpets that fact.

Keep in mind Meaty only played a little TF2 and has never played L4D.

myp · **Posted:** Fri Sep 25, 2009 10:52

Craster wrote:

Push what boundaries?

Technology. Not just the physics engine, but everything it runs on. Remember, the other games all use the Source engine, and without the amount of time and money they pump into making Tech Demo 3 Half Life 3 etc, those games wouldn't benefit from it.

metalangel · **Posted:** Fri Sep 25, 2009 10:53

Craster wrote:

Really? TF2 is basic, but works. L4D is clever, but I'm not convinced it trumpets that fact.

You've never played a match where both sides are deadlocked with three turrets in the intelligence room, then.

BikNorton · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 10078

I've still not played anything off Orange Box except Portal and TF2.

Cras · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 49232

MetalAngel wrote:

Craster wrote:

Really? TF2 is basic, but works. L4D is clever, but I'm not convinced it trumpets that fact.

You've never played a match where both sides are deadlocked with three turrets in the intelligence room, then.

No. I've played a good 100 matches where they aren't, though.

NervousPete · **Posted:** Fri Sep 25, 2009 10:56

I love TF2, even if the server list system is infuriatingly orderless and can't be filtered. I love L4D as well, and believe that it is fairly innovative, but not really pushing boundaries. It is great though. I also don't think Valve are immodest, it's just that the press tend to slather over them too much.

I have never played a dead-locked match in TF2 - maybe I'm lucky.

Haven't played HL2 since release, though I am replaying Episode 2.

sinister agent · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 7046

The press go on about them largely because Valve's marketing is second to none, and I don't just mean within their industry. They're one of extreeemely few companies whose marketing people might not be immediately skewered on big rusty spears were I to get round to taking over the world.

Mimi · **Joined:** 27th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 25594

My nan sent me some lovely orchids today.

Mimi · **Joined:** 27th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 25594

This thread requires more kalmar.

TheAlbin0Kid · **Posted:** Fri Sep 25, 2009 16:13

Where's everyone gone?

Oh, I remember.

I just got my first payslip since my paycut, it was bigger than I had been expecting. My wages were bigger I mean, not the paycut

Cras · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 49232

Is that because you can't do maths?

TheAlbin0Kid · **Posted:** Fri Sep 25, 2009 16:19

Craster wrote:

Is that because you can't do maths?

No, it's because of tax and wotnot. Was a 20% paycut, but my take-home pay after tax and NI seems to have only gone down by about 16%, which perhaps should have occurred to me before but SHUT UP.

KovacsC · **Posted:** Fri Sep 25, 2009 16:21

ouch 20% that is grim

Grim... · **Posted:** Fri Sep 25, 2009 16:22

KovacsC wrote:

ouch 20% that is grim

Fuck you, buddy.

KovacsC · **Posted:** Fri Sep 25, 2009 16:23

not you. You big cuddly beast.

Malabelm · **Posted:** Fri Sep 25, 2009 16:26

KovacsC wrote:

You big cuddly beast.

That's almost as cute as Andy Bear.

Be Excellent To Each Other

Bits & Bobs XII

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