You guys hear about Half-Life 2?

[Lex]

I have the most fantastic data about it. A full preview, no less. The facial animation is GAH. It's just that good. GAH. The... Oh, hang it, here's a previous thread:

[UK PC-ZONE]

Did no-one read the PC-Zone Preview? Perhaps I shouldn't give it away, but it looks fantastic. Not the graphics, per-se; but the facial-animation system, the story, the *incredible* AI and fuzzy-logic dessign. It's... just fantastic. When it first talked about all this being used in a AI-Live setting-- Dodging and following [Teh Girl] through the sewers, actually seeing that character's face change from a smile to a look of disgust/horror, as the character's eyes actually move -- and *focus* on a security cop being molested is just... fantastic.

I am saving up for an Alienware PC. Any donations via Paypal would be appreciated.

I will not run this on a PC that does not do it justice. And we all know console games just aren't the same.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

I think that Dayna has some inside info on Half-Life II. There is also a preview of it that is going up on Caltrops shortly. If you are really, really quick, you can catch it right here before it goes "live."

It's also previewed in Computer Gaming Magazine, if you see it out on the shelves at retail. And PC Gamer, for all I know.



EDIT: it's here.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

And geez -- Alienware computers are hideously overpriced. You'd win in about a million different ways if you just built one yourself. Or don't you have that knowledge, kiddo? Ah! Ha! HAaahaha! HAHAAahahAAAAA!

Either way, thank goodness you started posting. Everyone used you as a bit of shoe leather and look what happened? The place went dead quiet.

"I'd rather serve in a complex, infinitely barking cacophony of a BBS than rule an empty one" -- Wilde

[Worm]

I am saving up for an Alienware PC. Any donations via Paypal would be appreciated.

Fucking bum.

My brother got an Alienware PC and ... sure it is good but it cost three thousand dollars. He had the cash to burn and would rather something with a warranty and such. In defense of Alienware you can't find much that speed on the commercial market for anything much better. He promises I can build the next one though so he can save some money.

I am hot for the game. I have a fucking B-O-N-E-R for this game. I managed to get sent generic PC mag which I think is named Computer Gaming Weekly or something ... even though it comes monthly. The pictures look great and they had a bigger boner for it reason being ... they actually saw and played the thing a bit. I really want this game and I will run it on my system considering I heard they aren't making it a system eater like Postal 2, Morrowind, or SOF 2 ... all of which I can run. Oh, It is computer gaming world. I don't even pay for it ... I think. Gee, I feel bad that I don't even read it. But HL2 caught my eye. Ah, ah! Here it is.

4. As rich as the game engine is visually. It can be scaled down to run well on a 733 MHz system with a TNT or Rage 128 3D card.

So why fucking break yourself Lex? Just buy a single new part to give your system the extra *OMPFF*! I mean christ take a look at yourself! Not getting payed, buying games for geek chicks, and whatever else you are doing! But you expect to dish out that kind of cash?

There is also a preview of it that is going up on Caltrops shortly. If you are really, really quick, you can catch it right here before it goes "live."

That was cute.

[Protagonist X]

I've been avidly drooling over grainy screenshots and poorly-written text previews since I heard it was coming out. I was hitting Google News for "Half-life" and "Half Life 2" searches twice daily. From what I've been told, the modding will be excellent.

Valve apparently knows that what propelled the sales of the first one was the mod community, and so a lot of the cool functions of the new engine are built in as easy-to-call functions. Stuff like the lip-synching, physics engine, skeletal and musculature-based animation, etc -- all taken care of so modders don't need to rewrite it. I even read an unofficial comment that modeler and animation formats would be easier to traverse, which apparently was a big gripe with HL1.

Or at least, that's what I've read.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

The reason that Lex's opening post is utterly incomprehensible ("other thread"???) is because he originally started this same thread on Something Awful, where he was:

1) Called a retard
2) Repeatedly insulted for asking for a Paypal hand-out
3) Insulted for not providing the PC-Zone link
4) Harassed by a moderator for not finding the other, larger Half-Life II thread
5) Informed that the self-same mod had closed and locked his thread

Now I did in fact ask Lex to start some threads because this place was as quiet and as dead as the local Deafies and Muties Town Morgue, but what is interesting to me is that there's quite the possibility that he copies and pastes all his posts.

Excelsior! You know, at least, that we like you on here, Lex.

[Pootinky]

You know, at least, that we like you on here, Lex.

Uhh, I thought we had actually proven that this is not the case.

[Souffle of Pain]

Scientific data and Jonsey go together about as well as shit and soda.

[Protagonist X]

Half-life 2 screenshots have gone up all over the web a few hours ago -- apparently some sort of NDA or gag order was released.

Some of the shots are so well-detailed, I initially mistook them for concept art. It's a seriously pretty game -- When I compare it with the shots of the new Doom, HL2 comes up as the victor. Carmack's new engine might have better technical details on the dynamic-lighting/sheer-polycount/insert-latest-SIGGRAPH-buzzword-here front, but the character animation and art design lin HL2 looks a lot more human and varied.

I'm probably going to have to upgrade the whole box this Fall -- HL2 looks like a must-play. And the released info on the editing system and dev tools that'll be bundles looks like immense fun to play with.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

I'm probably going to have to upgrade the whole box this Fall -- HL2 looks like a must-play. And the released info on the editing system and dev tools that'll be bundles looks like immense fun to play with.

I hear you there, bud. I'm running at 800Mhz right now and that ain't gonna get it done for much longer.

I am in sick, sick love with the stability of the Pentium processor. On the other hand, AMD chips are *so* freaking cheap. I don't know which way I am going to go, yet. I am going to keep this current rig around and throw the Voodoo3 in it. The PC I'm on now has the whole DOS 6.22 real mode thing working, and with the Voodoo3 in it I get Glide out of Sentinel Returns again.

I normally just upgrade my own main gaming/programming computer once every year or so, but it's usually a minor upgrade -- I'll encounter a 600 Mhz chip, pop that in, go with that... I then found a 750 one, went to that, and then went to the P3-800 that's in it now. But for the next upgrade I am looking at the two gigahertz-plus levels. Should at least help some with Morrowind too, now that I think about it. HERE COMES THIRTY FRAMES A SECOND!

I MEAN FIFTEEN!

OR TEN, ANYWAY, RELIABLY! YEEEEEEEAH!

OKAY, FIVE, BUT IT'S A SOLID FIVE!

AT 800x600!

OH HEAVENS BE I NEED A CRAY

[Protagonist X]

To be honest, I was looking at the Alienware rigs, just like Lex. I like the idea of a warranty, and with the retail cost of Win XP at what it is, the build-my own might not have been a significant savings win. I'll need to run the numbers on it.

I'd probably use their components list as a base, though. All this DDR ram stuff is confusing -- the box I've been on for years is a cobbled-together piecemeal with a Celeron 500 and a Voodoo 3 3500 running Win98SE. Which, for what I do on the computer (browsing, music, CivII addiction) is more than adequate.

It's not like I've got a sweet box that needs some fine-tuning and two new components... I'm gonna have to ditch everything: RAM, Mobo, processor, graphics card, power supply and case (the case I have now looks like it should be in the front yard on cement blocks. The GhettoWare logo's been rubbed off)...

The game, and the moddability, look like they may be worth it, though.

[Protagonist X]

I am in sick, sick love with the stability of the Pentium processor. On the other hand, AMD chips are *so* freaking cheap.

I meant to ask you about that -- A hardware-centric friend hates hates hates the Pentium4, oddly enough for stability reasons.

What have your experiences been with it?

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

Here is my state of the peripherals roundup!!

Processors: Intel has stability, AMD has price. AMD fans will carry on about how their chips are juuuuust as stable as Intel's, and how you're an idiot if you think otherwise. They're wrong, of course. It is usually proven by something like this:

Q: Hey, I have a 300 watt power supply I'd like to use. Will that be OK?
A: Is it on AMD's approved list?
Q: Approved what? Approved list? Jesus Christ.
A: What? So they have an approved list for recommended power supplies. What's the big deal?
Q: I hate you and everything you stand for, you mindwiped cretin.
A: Well, fuck you, too.

It then usually descends into even more hate and bile from there!

Motherboards: I can't wait to go motherboard hunting. It really is the worst part about assembling a computer. All you care about is reliability. You have to do more research here than anywhere else. Then you have to worry about how many PCI slots you're getting, what on-board stuff is there, whether or not they have made advances in sound to the point where you don't want to rip your ears off and shove cement in the holes or whether it supports 5.1 and up. This is the part I dread. But coming in second is...

RAM: RAM *used* to be pretty simple. Then Intel had a great idea -- let's totally ruin everything! Let's make proprietary RAM! Hahaha! MONEY! CASH! PROFITS! This worked out horribly, needless to say. They put out an inferior product and hey, guess what, everyone told them to shove it. I've got to do some reading when it comes to the right batch of DDR RAM, because some assholes have actually brought back pair requirements in certain situations. RAM has taken a huge step backwards.

Video Card: Nvidia's stuff seems to be inferior to ATI's, but at least it gets you through the game without crashing. It comes down to speed versus stability. Personally, the thought of resetting my PC constantly disgusts me, so I avoid ATI's drivers. Not that Nvidia is always on target or anything -- I made the mistake of upgrading my drivers for Postal II (I own a Geforce 4) and the new ones have problems with video playback. Whee! So I have to wait for them to fix it, as I'd rather not go backwards in time there.

Case: I used to use colorcase.com or colorcases.com or whichever one it was. They went straight to shit, however. I really can't recommend them. I believe I ordered my current one from either Newegg.com or Tigerdirect.com. It's a solid case, nice and black and everything. Space is not at a premium for me, so I got the biggest one I could find without it getting ridiculous. I think it ran me around forty bucks or so.

Anyway, long story short, I'm not on the top of my game, and I have an enormous amount of reading to do before I decide to get a new PC. They say that Half-Life II can be scaled down to run on a 733Mhz chip, but I know what developers think "scaling down" means -- the fog'll be so thick you can write your name in it. Or if not your name, at least spray-paint SIN IS SHIT on it.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

I meant to ask you about that -- A hardware-centric friend hates hates hates the Pentium4, oddly enough for stability reasons.

What have your experiences been with it?

They've all been solid. I don't want to turn into raving AMD lunatic and say "well, your friend is doing it wrong, kekeke!" I'm sure that he's probably doing everything correct. If the Pentium IV started giving me any shit I'd be going with AMD in a flash, I mean, no point in paying a premium for a shitty CPU.

I've built five AMD systems in my time. The first was several years ago. It was for my brother. The chip was fine, but the motherboard... oh, dear, it was terrible. One problem right after another. I still have the thing around somewhere, just as sort of a testament to how bad it was.

The second was for my friend Fodge. No troubles or problems whatsoever.

The third was for my friend out here named Randall. Funnily enough, he helped to design the Athlon, back in the day. It went without a hitch. I think we placed an AMD 1700 or 1800 in it. It runs perfectly.

The fourth was for my father. I think he ended up with an 1800. It absolutely kicks ass. His PC and Randall's PC are the experiences I am attempting to duplicate.

The last was an AMD system for Bundy. It was a nightmare. Again, it was due to the motherboard -- it was using a new Nvidia chipset, and I guess they didn't have all the bugs worked out. First, it doesn't find anything on the PCI bus. I should probably have RMAed it, but the guy I built the system for didn't care (the motherboard in question had sound, network and everything else built-in, and the AGP port works fine). Then came the instability and the lockups. One right after another. It was ridiculous. He still can't get through Morrowind for more than a few seconds. (Oddly, Dark Age of Camelot works flawlessly.)

So I should amend my statement now that I've had a chance to reflect: there are some seriously picky and shitty AMD-compatible motherboards out there. Unfortunately, using the ones that I've had success with isn't an option because when I get one, it needs to be exclusively set for DDR, as DDR isn't going away and PC-133 is. If I were to find a perfect motherboard, yeah, I would probably slap an "approved" 500 watt power supply on the thing and go with AMD.

[Worm]

1) Called a retard
2) Repeatedly insulted for asking for a Paypal hand-out
3) Insulted for not providing the PC-Zone link
4) Harassed by a moderator for not finding the other, larger Half-Life II thread
5) Informed that the self-same mod had closed and locked his thread

I hate these guys. I mean for fucks sake. You give them a IF game and first thing they do is chortle with laughter as they type "find penis" and "examine penis".

[Angry Stewart Payne]

I presume you are speaking of the Shade thread on Something Awful. I had to laugh at one post -- there was a guy who took a screenshot of what he saw.

Code: Select all

>pick up glass
Taken.

>put glass in counter
Done.

>look in glass
It's empty.

HURR HOW DO I LOOK AT THE GLASS WHEN I DON'T HAVE IT?!!!

I added the "hurr" by the way, in order to show my displeasure with this person's intelligence. I mean, THINK, asshole -- are you able to determine the contents of a glass without holding it in this real life that you are comparing the game to? Jesus Christ.

On the other hand, whenever a group of people start playing an IF game that do not normally do so, authors can get a TON of information regarding what they are likely to try and what they are likely to get bothered by. For instance, one poster mentioned how the game didn't understand 'look at living room." All of us realize that the command "look" will give you the overview on the room, but it's something that a person who is new to text games won't immediately understand. (Additionally, Walrustitty was playing through FoD and mentioned how none of the buildings show up as objects when you are wandering around in the street. I mean, that sort of thing just didn't occur to me at all, as I've been so used to what is and what is not acceptable to the average IF player.)

But there were a bunch of posters on that thread who seemed to really get into it, too. That was pretty cool to see.

[Worm]

Yes, the few that got into it were the ray of hope in Pandora's box. Maybe I am different but I simply went into FoD with no trouble at all and that was my first IF. I mean I had a primer in Kings Quest. I though never looked for my penis.

EDIT: I might of in typed poop in King's Quest when I was six.

[Roody_Yogurt]

I think it's cute to read that stuff (I read that thread yesterday). It would have been nice if I cared enough to get an account and didn't have to worry about being called a n00b every time I say something, otherwise I'd go in there and play a proper wingman and tell them all about Robb's fine contributions to the art. Also, while Shade and Photopia are great games, I'd also want to recommend games like Punk Points, Fallacy of Dawn, and others that just manage to remind me why the medium can be so exciting.