Re-visit the horror that is Half-Life 1's third party remake!
-
@dhromed said:
*) hands up if you thought you were just playing a highly polished and fun puzzle game, and then you got to that hole in the wall and you suddenly realize you're not in Kansas anymore. O_O
I would have loved the game if it didn't have this moment, but I loved it more for it.@Ben L. said:
I've had multiple occasions where I went down a hall, saw a puzzle (how can I get to the other side of this room?), solved it (there are some crates I can push over to the other wall!), and walked into a brick wall. There was nothing on the other side of the room. It was all just scenery. No doors, no ammo, no NPCs, no medkits, no batteries, nothing.
It's a metaphor for life, man!
-
@PJH said:
@Medinoc said:
Doesn't WinZip do that?
Apparently not.@WinZip said:You would see a similar lack of compression if you zipped some files using maximum compression and then added that Zip file to another Zip file. This second Zip file would not be substantially smaller than the first one (it may even be slightly larger). Again, this is because the data in the original Zip file is already compressed.
That's not the same issue - that's referring to compressing a ZIP file yielding another ZIP file which is a few hundred bytes larger because of the overhead of the file format. The issue of storing "compressed" data which is larger than the original data is something which most archiving software knows how to avoid - if it finishes compressing the data and the compressed size is larger than the original size, it'll just discard the compressed data and instead store it uncompressed inside the archive.
I'm guessing (given the lack of compressed size on the md5sum file) that the Black Mesa Source people created their nested 7zip file in solid mode (since Solid Archiving is Better), which would stop it from falling back to "store uncompressed" on a per-file basis, which still qualifies as a WTF.
-
@blakeyrat said:
Been playing Spore last week, digging it.
Cool, I loved that game. You know when in the amoeba stage, putting a spike on your ass and the flippers slightly less on your ass will make your herbivore a "being chased" killing machine. If you're sick of being chased that is or just want to earn your 100% herbivore rating in peace and quiet.
-
Turns out the game actually has a storyline. I was just in the part of the game that didn't.
So I get to whatever the chapter with lots of radiation pools is, and suddenly it feels like a dumb version of ravenholm. Well, at least there's an objective to this mindless murdering of
tinyanimals.I hop onto an elevator. Where does it go? Here:
This doesn't happen in other source engine games - I can play through all of HL2, HL2EP1, and HL2EP2 in a single sitting without having an engine crash. Fun fact: Black Mesa has the first result for that number on Google.
But seriously, 34¾ megabytes? I have 4 gigabytes of swap and almost a gigabyte of system memory free (this didn't change as it went from level load -> game crash. Yes, I have a system monitor open at all times. System memory usage went down to about half after I clicked OK on the dialog.)
-
@dhromed said:
Anyway, HL2 is super awesome.
If anyone disagrees with this statement, morbius and dhromed have prepared a "present" for you.
-
@Ben L. said:
@dhromed said:
First thing that jumped to mind:Anyway, HL2 is super awesome.
If anyone disagrees with this statement, morbius and dhromed have prepared a "present" for you.
Well, actually the first thought those rotating blades, but I couldn't get an image of the blades being gravity-thrown.
I guess a flaming barrel would work too.
-
@Zecc said:
Well I paid for it, I might as well. Or is it that bad?
Don't mind these electronic old men. I played both Black Mesa and Portal 2 and enjoyed both immensely.
@dhromed said:
It's an expansion pack to Portal 1.
It's "Portal" with a "2" stuck on the end. What the fuck did you expect, a brony RTS?
Half-Life 2 is a terrible Half-Life game, because it has nothing to do with Half-Life. Still enjoyed the shit out of it, ofcourse.
Your criticism is unfounded anyway, as Portal 2 has twice as many portals.
-
@Zecc said:
@Ben L. said:
@dhromed said:
First thing that jumped to mind:Anyway, HL2 is super awesome.
If anyone disagrees with this statement, morbius and dhromed have prepared a "present" for you. Well, actually the first thought those rotating blades, but I couldn't get an image of the blades being gravity-thrown.
I guess a flaming barrel would work too.
Actually it was a purple dildo. Sorry to disappoint.
-
@Zecc said:
I'll have you know that picking up and throwing things with the GG was never my strong suit.
Also Ravenholm creeped the everloving fuck out of me. Fast headcrab zombies. Fuuuuuck.
-
@dhromed said:
I wasn't so scared of the fast ones. They were just faster versions of the normal headcrab zombies. This thing still scares the shit out of me when I see it ingame.@Zecc said:
I'll have you know that picking up and throwing things with the GG was never my strong suit.
Also Ravenholm creeped the everloving fuck out of me. Fast headcrab zombies. Fuuuuuck.
-
@Ben L. said:
@dhromed said:
I wasn't so scared of the fast ones. They were just faster versions of the normal headcrab zombies. This thing still scares the shit out of me when I see it ingame.@Zecc said:
I'll have you know that picking up and throwing things with the GG was never my strong suit.
Also Ravenholm creeped the everloving fuck out of me. Fast headcrab zombies. Fuuuuuck.
I was most freaked out by barnacles, even if they were fairly easy to avoid. I'd just be walking along and suddenly leave the ground, being pulled into a waiting maw, and for some reason that made me physically recoil every time.
-
@joe.edwards said:
I was most freaked out by barnacles, even if they were fairly easy to avoid.
Barnacle is the best NPC, and not just because this guy says so. It is honest, unassuming, and never makes a fuss. I just wish one could talk to the barnacle.
-
@dhromed said:
Unreal 1 was one of my favourite games. It was really good!
Beautiful game, loved it, really long and immersing. The ending bit when the ship loses power and you're in pretty much complete darkness was well freaky (especially when you notice the jails that held berzerker mutant skarrj are NOW EMPTY)
I found a mod for UT99 that allowed you to load Unreal maps in and play them single-player (but with the UT textures and weapons).
I also get a mist of nostalgia when playing the odd Monster Hunt game with friends and recognise chunks of the map from Unreal.
You played R2NP or Unreal 2?
-
@dhromed said:
The stupid thing is that I would have loved Portal 2 if it hadn't had portals. Or more than portals.
You mean, like an engaging and hilarious multiplayer campaign? Or several sorts of wall paint that greatly enhance and expand the puzzling options? Y'know, like the ones introduced in portal 2?Whether the introduction of wheatley has enhanced the game is debatable, but if you really think portal 2 adds nothing new, than you obviously stopped playing before all that new stuff got introduced. Seriously, give it a try. Remember this is a valve game, so instead of being bombarded with a twenty minute tutorial, you get dumped straight into the game and new stuff is being added gradually; of course, the first two things to be added (the orange and blue portal) were done so in much the same way as in Portal 1. That does not mean the game is simply an expansion pack on it; far, far from it.
In my opinion, the multiplayer campaign alone makes portal 2 well worth buying. Of course, it helps if you have someone to sit next to you and play it with.
-
One of the scariest moments for me was, interestingly enough, the very first headcrab in HL1.
This was because of what I consider very good level design: first, there was the relatively long and boring "intro" where you just walked around trying to figure out what the heck was going on; then there was the Resonance Cascade incident, where you got a first glimpse of the aliens; and then by the time you finally got your first weapon (a crowbar, yay!) you had alreay been hearing the not too distant sounds of the still unfamiliar creatures.
This long suspense really got to me, and I got quite a startle when the first little guy tried to jump on me.
-
@blakeyrat said:
I bet Dungeon Defenders is more his speed, since the UI is so fucking awful it just reminds him of his lovely Linux computer.
He speaks!
-
@dhromed said:
@Ben L. said:
The first level consists of
I see we have a slightly different definition of "first level".
You're both wrong. In the first level you double-click the Steam icon on the desktop..
-
@dhromed said:
@wrack said:
HL1 was one of my favourite games
I never understand this. I never thought it was something special.
I loved it. It's probably the only reason I ever got into computer gaming, however briefly. I mean, it was like "OMG, FPS with in-game cut scenes and puzzles that aren't just 'get the keycard' and your character has a name and NPCs talk to him???"
I mean, in hindsight, I guess it's pretty tame, but at the time it was wild. But you have to keep in mind, this was the late 90s: indoor plumbing was still pretty new and exciting, too.
-
@Ben L. said:
But seriously, 34¾ megabytes? I have 4 gigabytes of swap and almost a gigabyte of system memory free (this didn't change as it went from level load -> game crash. Yes, I have a system monitor open at all times. System memory usage went down to about half after I clicked OK on the dialog.)
A better question is: why are you trying to play it in Whine? Do you poop in the trash can and then complain when it doesn't flush?
-
@morbiuswilters said:
@Ben L. said:
But seriously, 34¾ megabytes? I have 4 gigabytes of swap and almost a gigabyte of system memory free (this didn't change as it went from level load -> game crash. Yes, I have a system monitor open at all times. System memory usage went down to about half after I clicked OK on the dialog.)
A better question is: why are you trying to play it in Whine? Do you poop in the trash can and then complain when it doesn't flush?
Every Source engine game from HL2 to Portal 2 works with no issues whatsoever in Wine. I see no reason another game on the same engine can't work just as well. Besides, this isn't a Wine problem.
-
@Ben L. said:
Every Source engine game from HL2 to Portal 2 works with no issues whatsoever in Wine.
So what?
@Ben L. said:
I see no reason another game on the same engine can't work just as well.
Flawless reasoning.
@Ben L. said:
Besides, this isn't a Wine problem.
Oh, so this happens to every Windows user, too?
-
@morbiuswilters said:
@Ben L. said:
Besides, this isn't a Wine problem.
Oh, so this happens to every Windows user, too?
Well, the first Google result for the number of bytes doesn't mention Wine or Linux anywhere...
I suppose you think the !!! at the end of the error message was added by Wine? Or that there's some code in Wine that reimplements all Valve games that I've ever played but leaves this third-party mod out? Explain your reasoning.
-
@Ben L. said:
I suppose you think the !!! at the end of the error message was added by Wine?
Where the hell are you getting this from? You do realize that if Wine fucks something up and the program it's abusing notices, the program very well might put up an error message, right? Do you understand how software works? Do you think the words that I'm saying to you were programmed into your browser by Mozilla developers??
@Ben L. said:
Or that there's some code in Wine that reimplements all Valve games that I've ever played but leaves this third-party mod out?
No, Wine is just a buggy piece of shit, prone to having problems like this. It wouldn't surprised me at all if Game A ran and Game B (built on same engine) didn't. Or if a mod failed to work because one of the textures had too much purple and Wine just pooped itself. Wine working shocks me a lot more than Wine failing. Now, you can use whatever godawful emulation layer you want, but publicly whining makes you look foolish.
Anyway, I read that thread you linked and I don't know what's going on. Somebody said "It's supposed to happen. It clears up when you go up the elevator. Fake radioactive interference." which is like "ZUH...?"
So I have no idea if they were using Wine or not. You'd think a sane person, when telling the world that their toilet overflowed, might mention that it was a trash can. But as far as I can tell, you didn't. I just noticed because of the trash can screenshot you posted. So perhaps these people are using Wine, too, and just lack basic communication skills and have the unreasonable assumption that their trash can should flush.
-
@morbiuswilters said:
Have you played the Black Mesa mod, with or without Wine? Because I'm pretty sure you haven't and you're just talking out of your ass.
Don't get me wrong, I like your ass just as much as the next guy, but it's not the person I turn to when I need advice about things I have experienced firsthand.
-
@Ben L. said:
Have you played the Black Mesa mod, with or without Wine?
How is this at all relevant to what I've said? Sure, maybe the mod is lame, but you're the one playing it on Wine and then complaining about an error. And you still haven't explained how or why you think this error must be the fault of the game and not Wine. I mean, maybe this is the rare case when something failing on Wine isn't Wine's fault. Maybe we should be optimistic and say the shit-filled trash can is half-empty. That doesn't change the fact that you're squatting over it.
@Ben L. said:
Don't get me wrong, I like your ass just as much as the next guy, but it's not the person I turn to when I need advice about things I have experienced firsthand.
You sure were willing to turn to it when you needed advice on dhromed... sniffle
-
@morbiuswilters said:
@Ben L. said:
Have you played the Black Mesa mod, with or without Wine?
How is this at all relevant to what I've said? Sure, maybe the mod is lame, but you're the one playing it on Wine and then complaining about an error. And you still haven't explained how or why you think this error must be the fault of the game and not Wine. I mean, maybe this is the rare case when something failing on Wine isn't Wine's fault.
If it were a Wine bug, it wouldn't cause an engine crash. It would fuck everything up much more subtly than that.
This is a 9-year-old game engine. I think someone would have noticed a crash by now if it weren't just this level on this. Mod.
-
That's because the level has been severely reskinned and the automatic portal placement has been replaced with manual buttons.
-
@dhromed said:
@Ben L. said:
The only thing I've noticed that changed is the graphics. It's got the same issues as the original HL1: The storyline goes away after the first few levels and it becomes senseless "lol we shoot gun at you", and the "puzzles" mostly consist of figuring out what the objective is in the first place.
Wait,
you're talking about HL2,while I think bannedfromcoding was talking about Portals.oh wait you're talking about the HL1 remake? ok.
Anyway, HL2 is super awesome.
I was talking about the HL1 remake.
And well, if you played HL1 once long ago and have vague or next to none memory, it does seem the same; but there are some pretty large changes to the maps, including some new ones and stuff.
I'm not arguing - I just like HL1 very, very much, and remember it in detail. I was worried the new one will ehter be a 1:1 "graphics upgrade" with zero changes, or a "let's change everything because bettahr" shit that should never claim to be related to the original.
Why do I like HL1? Well, I don't know. It's a pretty good FPS game with some shitty moments (like most have) - btw, the remake done a great job at fixing most of those.
Sorry for using such vague terms, but I think it's the "atmosphere" of the huge mostly-underground lab complex and stuff. Hell, the train ride intro alone is close to #1 on my list of favourite game openings.
I like HL2 less - it's a good game, mechanics wise, but the plot feels cheaper. Again, IMO.
Portal 1 was ok, and somewhat fresh for the genre. I have Portal 2 but haven't played it yet.
Also, dhromed - the first Unreal is epic. Pun not intended, but now I'll have to dig up my discs and find that unofficial hacked video driver for UnrealEngine.
Last time I played it was still "like the gods intended us to" - on a Pentium with a Voodoo3 card. :)
And unlike HL1... I don't remember the whole game perfectly, so it should be a lot of fun rediscovering it.
Many thanks for the reminder!
-
@Cassidy said:
You played R2NP or Unreal 2?
Nope. I kind of wanted to play U2, but I doubted it would be as poetic as the first one.
Unfortunately, the game doesn't run anymore. At all. I don't know why.
-
@morbiuswilters said:
Sure, maybe the mod is lame, but you're the one playing it on Wine and then complaining about an error. And you still haven't explained how or why you think this error must be the fault of the game and not Wine. I mean, maybe this is the rare case when something failing on Wine isn't Wine's fault. Maybe we should be optimistic and say the shit-filled trash can is half-empty. That doesn't change the fact that you're squatting over it.
C'mon, morbs, up your game. You sound like a retarded phone support drone.
It's funny, because they blame it on Vista. Sort of. I didn't read too deeply or follow any links, but good enough for TDWTF trolling: Vista, TRWTF. Actually, their first suggestion is that some sort of cache is corrupted, but that's not as amusing.
-
@Ben L. said:
@morbiuswilters said:
Valve's own games run much newer versions of the game engine than is available to the public. Just because Valve's own games don't have this issue doesn't mean other mods don't have this issue and have just worked around it.@Ben L. said:
Have you played the Black Mesa mod, with or without Wine?
How is this at all relevant to what I've said? Sure, maybe the mod is lame, but you're the one playing it on Wine and then complaining about an error. And you still haven't explained how or why you think this error must be the fault of the game and not Wine. I mean, maybe this is the rare case when something failing on Wine isn't Wine's fault.
If it were a Wine bug, it wouldn't cause an engine crash. It would fuck everything up much more subtly than that.
This is a 9-year-old game engine. I think someone would have noticed a crash by now if it weren't just this level on this. Mod.
-
@dhromed said:
Nope. I kind of wanted to play U2, but I doubted it would be as poetic as the first one.
It isn't.... if anything, it's a new game inspired by Unreal.
I enjoyed it as a game (the Skarj in the first level are dead creepy) but it's more HL with Unreal weapons and specific missions to complete (which are bound together weakly with a running backstory). It also feels like they spent more time polishing the glitz and less on gameplay itself. If you ever get to play it and decide you hate it completely then I can well understand. It's had less replay value for me.
R2NP continues on from where Unreal left off - your life pod is snagged, you're defrosted and to avoid jail you return to the planet to carry out some mission on behalf of the marines (I'm guessing someone got the idea from "Aliens"), but it extended Unreal for me for a bit longer. I've probably played that more than U2; I loved wandering around aztec architecture, old fortified buildings and long green valleys.
Since getting a 24" monitor I've been replaying many games to enjoy the bigger screen and more detailed architecture (GPU can handle maxed-out settings). Currently trying to 5-star Painkiller: BOOH so left U2 on a back-burner.
@dhromed said:
Unfortunately, the game doesn't run anymore. At all. I don't know why.
You got more than one core? I know some mates had an issue with UT99 online until they applied a patch that fixed the multicore issue.
-
-
@Cassidy said:
It isn't.... if anything, it's a new game inspired by Unreal.
It takes place in the Unreal universe. But it's a crappy, short, badly-written game.
I loved the Mary Sue starship pilot though. "Oh yeah she's like 22, supermodel hot, has like 27 science degrees, and drives a spaceship and hangs out with a bunch of mercenary losers. Probably rich too but that didn't come up."
-
@Cassidy said:
You got more than one core? I know some mates had an issue with UT99 online until they applied a patch that fixed the multicore issue.
UT runs on an entirely different engine, I think.
@Cassidy said:
R2NP continues on from where Unreal left off
Yes, I played it. Its execution is decidely less competent, or immature, or however you'd want to call it.
U1 had a strong sense of desolation; it was restrained, subtle, atmospheric, which made all the grandeur all the more imposing. Remember the bridge to the fort? Remember the goddam sky spire? Remember the titan on the granite throne with a coveted prize before its feet? Shit man, I didn't fight for myself, I fought for the goddamn Nali! Remember when you found their slain champion within a moist, cold space in the mountain? (and also a flak cannon. cool. don't mind if I do.*collect*)
In R2NP that was all gone and only the "coolness" was left. It was observed and copied by an inexperienced eye which did not see beyond the surface.
Oh, that's also my problem with Portal2, which makes P2's flawless execution all the more puzzling.
@Cassidy said:
(GPU can handle maxed-out settings)
I had this weird moment in an engine room near a storage depot where my fps would just drop to 1. Some weird bug that would punch my then-GPU in the dick. :(
-
@joe.edwards said:
@Cassidy said:
You got more than one core?
That would explain why he's been so worried and confused.?
-
Like, when I hit 10,000 posts, I'm taking a vacation.
-
@dhromed said:
@joe.edwards said:
@Cassidy said:
You got more than one core?
That would explain why he's been so worried and confused.?
Context
-
@dhromed said:
UT runs on an entirely different engine, I think.
Oh, I just assumed they used the same unreal engine. I dunno.@dhromed said:
Remember the goddam sky spire?
Buff Eversmoking, or whatever? I also read somewhere that the enormous cavern for the final Queen battle was designed to show off the engine's capabilities, how vast maps can be. @dhromed said:
Remember when you found their slain champion within a moist, cold space in the mountain? (and also a flak cannon. cool. don't mind if I do.*collect*)
Yeah... there were a number of distinct places that presented the opportunity to gain a new weapon, mainly involved in keeping Nali alive. I think the ripper was hidden in a temple's loft in the small village (I played a similar map in MHunt but the weapon was missing from that location) before the descent to the mining ship and the
rocket launcher5-ball was suspended above a fire pit, both of which required a Nali to show you the way or operate a hidden switch. If you were quick enough to take out the Skarj before he beheaded the Nali, you were rewarded.Neat touch in living up to the Nali's prophesy.
I also got upset when a warcow was caught in a crossfire and fell onto its side, dead - and three smaller offpsring bounded up and began howling mournfully over the body. I dunno who decided to add that touch in, but you got a real sense of ridding the planet of Skarj, Krall - a fight for justice.
(until the next stone titan smeared you with a rock)
-
@dhromed said:
I had this weird moment in an engine room near a storage depot where my fps would just drop to 1. Some weird bug that would punch my then-GPU in the dick. :(
You know what renderer you were using? I had it on Software Renderer when I first played, then swapped to D3D when I got my 6600GT card. Later on I used newer renderers for UT in which I also played U1 maps, getting a great framerate and nicer textures.
-
@Cassidy said:
You know what renderer you were using?
I don't remember. It was all new to me back then.
FPS was perfect -- except for that one spot at one angle.
-
I experienced similar crashes to Ben, running under Win7 x64, on a QX9650 with 8GB RAM and a 6970. It's not a system problem, it's not an OS problem, it's that Black Mesa Source is a poorly written piece of junk.
For example, the geniuses who programmed it made the string table lookup USE THE DIRECTORY THAT THE MOD IS INSTALLED AS A PREFIX. Except those string names are hardcoded in the localisation files to start with "BMS". So if you install the mod to a "BMS" directory (the default), everything works. If you install it to, say, "BlackMesaSource" like I did, it tries to lookup strings starting with BlackMesaSource, which of course don't exist. This is such a well-known issue it's the "READ FIRST" sticky on the official forums.
The cherry on top is that (a) they didn't catch this in testing (hah! what testing?) (b) the setup allows you to change the path to install to. AND, even after they identified this issue, they didn't bother releasing a fix. Just a thread telling you "don't install it anywhere except the default even thought the installer allows you to because we're useless dumbshits lol".
BMS has all the quality (i.e. lack thereof) of an open-source project and I'm sorry it was greenlit. Especially considering it isn't even fucking complete (Xen levels anyone?).
-
Nowadays we apparantly expect higher standards in mods than in AAA-titles.
-
@Faxmachinen said:
Nowadays we apparantly expect higher standards in mods than in AAA-titles.
I expect some standards, that I think are fair, from any publication whose owners think it's ready to stand on its own.
-
@Faxmachinen said:
Nowadays we apparantly expect higher standards in mods than in AAA-titles.
Even whores have standards, so yeah I expect mods and FOSS to have some. I had BlMS installed for like 10 minutes and my impresion were: Oh this is the same game, with dated graphics and buggy... why I'm playing this again?! I liked Half Life 1 but one time is enough so now I'm playing Bioshock Infinity, maybe this time I won't hate it.
-
@dhromed said:
Like, when I hit 10,000 posts, I'm taking a vacation.
Cool, then you'll have plenty of time to post on the forum!
-
@serguey123 said:
Even whores have standards, so yeah I expect mods and FOSS to have some.
Come now, Sim City was pretty bad, but that's a bit over the top.
-
@morbiuswilters said:
-
@Ben L. said:
Filed under: The program that generated that was written in Go.
I think you misunderstood morb's request. I think he was asking you to show him a Go program that does something useful.
-
@derula said:
@Ben L. said:
Filed under: The program that generated that was written in Go.
I think you misunderstood morb's request. I think he was asking you to show him a Go program that does something useful.
What could possibly be more useful than a QR code that looks like morbs's avatar?
