<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Shacknews posted some more collected Half-Life 2 info, some new, some old, some possibly not entirely true. ALL objects in the game world are affected by the physics Movement speed of HL will be retained Drivable vehicles in both single and multiplayer Engine technology scales based on your system specs Known locations: City17 in east Europe, a harbor, a jail, the suburbs, a dried up ocean, an icebreaker (large ship) Multiplayer is important and multiple game modes will be supported The editor is called 'Hammer' and will be included, sounds like a complete development environment for maps, mods etc. TF2 will be using the HL2 engine, once they decided to use the HL2 engine they stopped giving information as they didn't want to blow anything relating to it. TF2 will 'arrive soon'. Of course, Hammer is the same name of the current Half-Life editor (formerly known as Worldcraft), so that's not really a surprise. And it's been established before that TF2, HL2, and Counter-Strike 2 are all using the same engine. If you haven't seen them already, upcoming issues of PC Gamer, Computer Gaming World, and Computer Games Magazine have Half-Life 2 features. The magazine embargo (which was broken anyway) expired today, and while we're not quite sure when reputable online sites can start posting their previews and better-quality screenshots, we're guessing you may see some pop up by the end of the week.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Muhaha, heres some info taken from a translated german interview with valve (ripped from 3DR forums) Thx too... whoever translated it (I forgot <!--emo&???--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/confused.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='confused.gif'><!--endemo--> )
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We started work on HL2 immediately after the release of HL. This has been our most important project by far, you can imagine how hard it was for us to keep quiet about the game.
The HL2 team consists of a considerable number of people that also worked on HL In addition, the success of our first title has enabled us to hire a lot of new talent, which we think will be beneficial to the quality of HL2.
The critical and commercial success of HL created a luxury situation. We have obtained such a strong position that we can remain independent from outside pressure, which for a game developer is fairly unique. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- No producer to look over your shoulder, no impatient publisher to impose an impossible deadline, we have been able to fully develop all our plans for the game. Because of this, we're convinced that we're able to offer gamers something they haven't experienced before and we're confident that we can live up to the expectations that have been raised. This is exactly the reason why you've had to wait for so long.
We don't want to spoil the story for you, but what we can tell is that HL2 takes place some time after the disaster in Black Mesa and that the aliens have continued their invasion of earth. The player will once again take the role of Gordon Freeman and is assisted by the beautiful Alyx and her father, a Black Mesa scientist called Eli Vance. Alyx' mother was killed in one of the accidents at Black Mesa.
An important part of the game will play out in City 17, a typical Eastern European town that is not only plagued by the aliens but also by a corrupt law enforcement group. In total, there will be twelve elaborate chapters in the game. City 17 is huge and the player will visit places like the harbour, a jail, the suburbs as well the center of town. This is just the tip of the iceberg though, other environments will include a dried up part of a former sea and an icebreaker. There are twelve chapters in total and you will certainly encounter a few familiar places...that's all I will tell you though.
As you've mentioned it's difficult to come up with something original, but we're convinced we have succeeded in doing just that. Enhanced physics is the future of gaming and it's precisely this aspect of the game that we've innovated. All objects in the gameworld will behave realistically and are more than just windowdressing. The characters have also gotten much more depth, which will benefit the story. Aside from that, we have included brand new and avanced AI and pathfinding routines that you won't find in any other first person shooter. Let's not forget our new V-Source engine that will blow you away and the powerful Hammer editor that will enable you to create your own multiplayer levels and mods.
Half-Life was one of the first shooters to include scripting. Nowadays we have advanced a bit and come to find that using scripts limits our freedom. That's why HL2 will make use of what we call "advanced contextual AI", which is best explained as the game world telling the AI interesting things to do in and with the environment. In essence, the gane world 'talks' to the AI, which in turn will react appropriately. Unlike HL, you won't come across any uninterruptible and non-interactive scripted scenes in H2.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- An example of the AI in the singleplayer game: let's say a radio is transmitting an important message and an NPC (such as Alyx) heads over to listen. In this situation the player can react the way he or she sees fit - one possibility would be to destroy the radio, which leaves you with a ****-off NPC. Another example that you have seen demonstrated: you're being chased by a Mechanised Commando and you take refuge in a room close by. You close the door which then 'tells' the AI is can be bashed in and the AI then reacts to this information. You will experience different gameplay situations and outcomes according to the approach you take.
The reason we developed our own V-Source engine is that we wanted to do things that the then existing engines didn't allow us to. Sometimes these were small issues, such as the easy implementation of shaders in the gameplay. HL2's environments are so interactive that we had to write our own tech, because most other engines treat effects like shaders and bumpmapping as simple 'decoration' when it was necessary for the physics system in the game to apply those effects to all kinds of dynamic objects. The environment is integrated into the gameplay which means it's a fundamental part of the overall experience. That is why we are convinced this will raise both the graphics and the gameplay to a higher level.
Of course the level of detail will be adjusted according to the available system specs. If you're using a TNT2 video card, you'll have to make do with a decrease in detail as opposed to those in possession of the latest ATI cards. It won't be just the number of polygons that makes the difference; because we're using advanced shaders and reflections in for example the rendering of eyes and faces of NPCs, we're able to reach a level of detail we couldn't even approach if we simply upped the poly count. Of course, more important than the sheer number of pixels and polygons you can push is what you do with them - the old quality over quantity adagio. To be honest, we don't even keep up an exact poly count, because there are so many other factors that contribute to the detail of an in-game model. If I had to guess, I'd say 5000 polys per characyter would be a fair estimation. It's the eight to twelve rendering passes we use on these 5000 polys that makes everything look so good, though.
The scalable engine will allow the game to be played with anthing from a TNT2 card and upwards. All known high end DX9 cards will also be supported of course.
We only use motion capturing as a reference, because we feel that there are severe limitations to the technique. Besides, mo-cap doesn't allow for the fluid movements that we can achieve when programming character physics. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Multiplayer is important to us, it's one of the reasons why Half-Life was so successful. We'll continue to fully support the mod community and will provide a number of mulitplayer modes and maps in HL2 itself, although I won't be going into specifics at this point in time. You can be sure though that it will al be there.
The movement speed of HL will be maintained in HL2, players will therefore be able to once again make use of all their tactical abilities - although we have a couple of surprises in this area...
Both the singleplayer and multiplayer modes will feature drivable vehicles. On top of this, it will be perfectly possible for creative modders to make use of the physics engine and to create lots of new vehicles. The possibilities are endless.
I won't give out any information on the availability of bots in MP, right now. We'd like to keep a couple of secrets left (*laughs*).
The Hammer editor will be included in the game, it's the successor to Worldcraft Hammer is a very powerful editor that will allow you to make your own maps, levels and mods.
The development of HL2 proceeded relatively smoothly, the biggest hurdle was definitely deciding what to include and exclude from the final version of the game. We had created so many fantastic, sexy things that it was very hard sometimes to reach a decision and scrap some of them, because for example the technology wasn't ready yet or they didn't fit in to the freedom a player is allowed in HL2. It was heartbreaking,*sob*, but I think I'm over that now...(*laughs*)
HL2 hasn't really been influenced by the other shooters that are around. Our main strategy during the development of the game has been not to look at what the competion is doing, but to rely on our own abilities and also listen to the wants and needs of the fans. That's why you'll be able to see a number of things in HL2 that you haven't yet seen in other exponents of the genre. Being a gamer myself, I have to say that I'm more than a little disappointed in the lack of progress the FPS has shown over the last couple of years. Hopefully we will be able to contribute to a much needed level of innovation.
STEAM will form an important part of our release strategy, accompanied by the more usual form of distribution.
One of the reasons we've only now announced HL2 is that we wanted to be sure we would be able to get the game out before Christmas 2003. We've currently entered a stage of development where we can say with certainty that we will make that date.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Like no other we understand the frustration of those looking forward to TF2, the game was announced and appears all but disappeared off the face of the earth. The reason you haven't recieved any information on TF2 in a long time is that we didn't want to give anything about HL2 away. We decided back then to use the V-Source engine for TF2 as well as HL2 and it was impossible for us to show parts of TF2 without uncovering the technology behind HL2, which we wanted to avoid at all cost. This isn't a factor anymore though, so we can now reassure all you fans out there - TF2 will arrive soon and will use the HL2 engine. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- And some more from something else.... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PCGP: Where in other shooters only limited parts of the environment are interactive, HL2 does things a little differently. All textures on objects have their own weight, density and sound properties. Toss a grenade in a room and the whole environment will react to the explosion . If there's a monitor on a table close to the impact, they both will be sent flying by the blast. The direction of flight will be calculated on the basis of the point of impact. A scenario is possible where the monitor crashes through a nearby window, then smashes into a wood fence, which in turn splinters and caves in on a passer-by. Brilliant. And yes, I witnessed exactly such an event during the demonstration. [...] Because everything is calculated in real-time, the outcome of such a situation will be different each time.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PCGP [on a particular combat situation]: You're being chased by five Ant Lions [the 'Zerg' - XV], you're trying to take cover behind the rocks while firing at the enemy when all of a sudden the Ant Lions start digging themselves into the sand. The reason for this is that they've discovered another alien - the big mama version of the Ant Lion which proceeds to chase you. You only just have time to find cover under an overhanging rock. The Ant Lion immediately starts searching for an entrance to catch you, sniffing like a bloodhound. Just before it succeeds, you manage to escape and make a run for it. The Ant Lion is gaining on you and has almost caught up when it notices an APC with a number of marines on board. Because it percieves the marines as a bigger threat, it heads for their vehicle. What follows is a brilliant fight in which the Ant Lion manages to throw the APC on its side, down the cliff. You take the opportunity to escape. The unique thing is, none of this is scripted. The game fully relies on AI routines and advanced pathfinding. Had you taken a different escape route earlier, the Ant Lion would never have encountered the marines and would have continued chasing you. quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The alien invasion takes place on a much bigger scale; in Half-Life they sent the scouts, this time they bring in the cavalry, so to speak.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There will be no Xen levels in HL2. We weren't too happy with certain aspects of Xen, but beside that we we wanted to bring Xen to earth this time around and create an interesting melting pot with the realistic and familiar environments around us.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We wanted HL2 to be a much more innovative product than its predecessor was. We don't use 3rd party financing and there is no external producer to look over our shoulders, impose a number of milestones or otherwise tell us how to do our job. Because of our freedom from such restrictions, we were able to fully concentrate on making our vision of what HL2 should be come true. Besides, often you'll announce a game only for it to still turn up a "no show" a year later, we've fallen into that trap ourselves in the past. Typically, a game will be announced at a time when there is yet no clear image of how to resolve all the complicated design issues, such as the initial development, making the individual parts work and presenting the results to the outside world. Currently, HL is nearing completion and has entered the playtesting stage.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Both the player and the NPCs possess a certain weight and have been issued simulated physics qualities. This means that when you're walking across an uneven surface, your character Gordon Freeman will try to find his balance, just as someone would in real life.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We've invested heavily in our characters in HL2. In HL, we included rudimentary character types as a test, to see what it would be like if they really talked to you in stead of offering the player a volume of text to read. What we resent most is the idea that the action should stop in order to present the player with a non-interactive movie. We tried to keep the story in HL basic and while people still found it enjoyable, we received lots of complaints about the lacking number of characters in the game. A considerable number of people indicated that they would feel sad the first time they saw a scientist or a Barney die, which means they connected to them. So we took a large percentage of the money we made on the first game and invested it primarily in the characters in HL2.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There is a part of the brain that is used to evaluate other people's focus of (visual) attention, whether it is you directly or rather a point in the distance, somewhere over your shoulder. We've tried to maximise the reality factor of our characters' actions, so that their reaction to the player will stimulate your brain to tell you if these persons feel positively or negatively towards you or if they are actually focussing their attention on you rather than someone else.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The way we see it is that if you treat an enemy creature as nothing more than a simple weapons system, the possibilities of handling it are limited. If the player can climb ladders and open doors, then so should the AI. There are also creatures than can do things you can't. The Ant Lions for example can jump to places you can't reach.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In HL, there were scripted sequences that took place behind closed doors and were therefore uninterruptable. We now feel limiting a player's choice of action that way is a design flaw.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You'll lose a lot of graphics detail on a lower end PC, but the physics are processor based, so people with a 733Mhz machine won't lose the physics and the characyer animations
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Theres your crapload of translated pure heart-breaking info! Be0w to the forum n00b! <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo--> <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo--> <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo--> =Edit!= Oh yeah it was X-Vector who translated this in the first places, you can also find this info in 3DR forums <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo--> Those poor people who actually believe DNF exhists *laughs* <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> Toss a grenade in a room and the whole environment will react to the explosion .
...
A scenario is possible where the monitor crashes through a nearby window, then smashes into a wood fence, which in turn splinters and caves in on a passer-by. Brilliant. And yes, I witnessed exactly such an event during the demonstration. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Bill Gates / Rob Pardo / Gabe Newell / Satan are going to havea fit when they find out they each own my soul. <!--emo&???--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/confused.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='confused.gif'><!--endemo-->
darnit !! knew i shouldn't have sold my soul to my friend... now i have to break into valves hq and steal the alpha beta thingy... <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif'><!--endemo-->
Hey I will take it so long as theres no paper trail. Mabye I could sell it back to Satan / Gabe Newell for a spot in playtesting HL2... But I dunno if they will trust me after the whole selling my dead aunts soul for BF1942.... <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->
Comments
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Shacknews posted some more collected Half-Life 2 info, some new, some old, some possibly not entirely true.
ALL objects in the game world are affected by the physics
Movement speed of HL will be retained
Drivable vehicles in both single and multiplayer
Engine technology scales based on your system specs
Known locations: City17 in east Europe, a harbor, a jail, the suburbs, a dried up ocean, an icebreaker (large ship)
Multiplayer is important and multiple game modes will be supported
The editor is called 'Hammer' and will be included, sounds like a complete development environment for maps, mods etc.
TF2 will be using the HL2 engine, once they decided to use the HL2 engine they stopped giving information as they didn't want to blow anything relating to it. TF2 will 'arrive soon'.
Of course, Hammer is the same name of the current Half-Life editor (formerly known as Worldcraft), so that's not really a surprise. And it's been established before that TF2, HL2, and Counter-Strike 2 are all using the same engine.
If you haven't seen them already, upcoming issues of PC Gamer, Computer Gaming World, and Computer Games Magazine have Half-Life 2 features. The magazine embargo (which was broken anyway) expired today, and while we're not quite sure when reputable online sites can start posting their previews and better-quality screenshots, we're guessing you may see some pop up by the end of the week.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We started work on HL2 immediately after the release of HL.
This has been our most important project by far, you can imagine how hard it was for us to keep quiet about the game.
The HL2 team consists of a considerable number of people that also worked on HL
In addition, the success of our first title has enabled us to hire a lot of new talent, which we think will be beneficial to the quality of HL2.
The critical and commercial success of HL created a luxury situation.
We have obtained such a strong position that we can remain independent from outside pressure, which for a game developer is fairly unique.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
No producer to look over your shoulder, no impatient publisher to impose an impossible deadline, we have been able to fully develop all our plans for the game.
Because of this, we're convinced that we're able to offer gamers something they haven't experienced before and we're confident that we can live up to the expectations that have been raised.
This is exactly the reason why you've had to wait for so long.
We don't want to spoil the story for you, but what we can tell is that HL2 takes place some time after the disaster in Black Mesa and that the aliens have continued their invasion of earth.
The player will once again take the role of Gordon Freeman and is assisted by the beautiful Alyx and her father, a Black Mesa scientist called Eli Vance.
Alyx' mother was killed in one of the accidents at Black Mesa.
An important part of the game will play out in City 17, a typical Eastern European town that is not only plagued by the aliens but also by a corrupt law enforcement group.
In total, there will be twelve elaborate chapters in the game.
City 17 is huge and the player will visit places like the harbour, a jail, the suburbs as well the center of town.
This is just the tip of the iceberg though, other environments will include a dried up part of a former sea and an icebreaker.
There are twelve chapters in total and you will certainly encounter a few familiar places...that's all I will tell you though.
As you've mentioned it's difficult to come up with something original, but we're convinced we have succeeded in doing just that.
Enhanced physics is the future of gaming and it's precisely this aspect of the game that we've innovated.
All objects in the gameworld will behave realistically and are more than just windowdressing.
The characters have also gotten much more depth, which will benefit the story.
Aside from that, we have included brand new and avanced AI and pathfinding routines that you won't find in any other first person shooter.
Let's not forget our new V-Source engine that will blow you away and the powerful Hammer editor that will enable you to create your own multiplayer levels and mods.
Half-Life was one of the first shooters to include scripting.
Nowadays we have advanced a bit and come to find that using scripts limits our freedom.
That's why HL2 will make use of what we call "advanced contextual AI", which is best explained as the game world telling the AI interesting things to do in and with the environment.
In essence, the gane world 'talks' to the AI, which in turn will react appropriately.
Unlike HL, you won't come across any uninterruptible and non-interactive scripted scenes in H2.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An example of the AI in the singleplayer game: let's say a radio is transmitting an important message and an NPC (such as Alyx) heads over to listen.
In this situation the player can react the way he or she sees fit - one possibility would be to destroy the radio, which leaves you with a ****-off NPC.
Another example that you have seen demonstrated: you're being chased by a Mechanised Commando and you take refuge in a room close by.
You close the door which then 'tells' the AI is can be bashed in and the AI then reacts to this information.
You will experience different gameplay situations and outcomes according to the approach you take.
The reason we developed our own V-Source engine is that we wanted to do things that the then existing engines didn't allow us to.
Sometimes these were small issues, such as the easy implementation of shaders in the gameplay.
HL2's environments are so interactive that we had to write our own tech, because most other engines treat effects like shaders and bumpmapping as simple 'decoration' when it was necessary for the physics system in the game to apply those effects to all kinds of dynamic objects.
The environment is integrated into the gameplay which means it's a fundamental part of the overall experience.
That is why we are convinced this will raise both the graphics and the gameplay to a higher level.
Of course the level of detail will be adjusted according to the available system specs.
If you're using a TNT2 video card, you'll have to make do with a decrease in detail as opposed to those in possession of the latest ATI cards.
It won't be just the number of polygons that makes the difference; because we're using advanced shaders and reflections in for example the rendering of eyes and faces of NPCs, we're able to reach a level of detail we couldn't even approach if we simply upped the poly count.
Of course, more important than the sheer number of pixels and polygons you can push is what you do with them - the old quality over quantity adagio.
To be honest, we don't even keep up an exact poly count, because there are so many other factors that contribute to the detail of an in-game model.
If I had to guess, I'd say 5000 polys per characyter would be a fair estimation.
It's the eight to twelve rendering passes we use on these 5000 polys that makes everything look so good, though.
The scalable engine will allow the game to be played with anthing from a TNT2 card and upwards.
All known high end DX9 cards will also be supported of course.
We only use motion capturing as a reference, because we feel that there are severe limitations to the technique.
Besides, mo-cap doesn't allow for the fluid movements that we can achieve when programming character physics.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Multiplayer is important to us, it's one of the reasons why Half-Life was so successful.
We'll continue to fully support the mod community and will provide a number of mulitplayer modes and maps in HL2 itself, although I won't be going into specifics at this point in time.
You can be sure though that it will al be there.
The movement speed of HL will be maintained in HL2, players will therefore be able to once again make use of all their tactical abilities - although we have a couple of surprises in this area...
Both the singleplayer and multiplayer modes will feature drivable vehicles.
On top of this, it will be perfectly possible for creative modders to make use of the physics engine and to create lots of new vehicles.
The possibilities are endless.
I won't give out any information on the availability of bots in MP, right now.
We'd like to keep a couple of secrets left (*laughs*).
The Hammer editor will be included in the game, it's the successor to Worldcraft
Hammer is a very powerful editor that will allow you to make your own maps, levels and mods.
The development of HL2 proceeded relatively smoothly, the biggest hurdle was definitely deciding what to include and exclude from the final version of the game.
We had created so many fantastic, sexy things that it was very hard sometimes to reach a decision and scrap some of them, because for example the technology wasn't ready yet or they didn't fit in to the freedom a player is allowed in HL2.
It was heartbreaking,*sob*, but I think I'm over that now...(*laughs*)
HL2 hasn't really been influenced by the other shooters that are around.
Our main strategy during the development of the game has been not to look at what the competion is doing, but to rely on our own abilities and also listen to the wants and needs of the fans.
That's why you'll be able to see a number of things in HL2 that you haven't yet seen in other exponents of the genre.
Being a gamer myself, I have to say that I'm more than a little disappointed in the lack of progress the FPS has shown over the last couple of years.
Hopefully we will be able to contribute to a much needed level of innovation.
STEAM will form an important part of our release strategy, accompanied by the more usual form of distribution.
One of the reasons we've only now announced HL2 is that we wanted to be sure we would be able to get the game out before Christmas 2003.
We've currently entered a stage of development where we can say with certainty that we will make that date.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Like no other we understand the frustration of those looking forward to TF2, the game was announced and appears all but disappeared off the face of the earth.
The reason you haven't recieved any information on TF2 in a long time is that we didn't want to give anything about HL2 away.
We decided back then to use the V-Source engine for TF2 as well as HL2 and it was impossible for us to show parts of TF2 without uncovering the technology behind HL2, which we wanted to avoid at all cost.
This isn't a factor anymore though, so we can now reassure all you fans out there - TF2 will arrive soon and will use the HL2 engine.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And some more from something else....
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PCGP: Where in other shooters only limited parts of the environment are interactive, HL2 does things a little differently.
All textures on objects have their own weight, density and sound properties.
Toss a grenade in a room and the whole environment will react to the explosion .
If there's a monitor on a table close to the impact, they both will be sent flying by the blast.
The direction of flight will be calculated on the basis of the point of impact.
A scenario is possible where the monitor crashes through a nearby window, then smashes into a wood fence, which in turn splinters and caves in on a passer-by.
Brilliant. And yes, I witnessed exactly such an event during the demonstration.
[...]
Because everything is calculated in real-time, the outcome of such a situation will be different each time.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PCGP [on a particular combat situation]: You're being chased by five Ant Lions [the 'Zerg' - XV], you're trying to take cover behind the rocks while firing at the enemy when all of a sudden the Ant Lions start digging themselves into the sand.
The reason for this is that they've discovered another alien - the big mama version of the Ant Lion which proceeds to chase you.
You only just have time to find cover under an overhanging rock.
The Ant Lion immediately starts searching for an entrance to catch you, sniffing like a bloodhound.
Just before it succeeds, you manage to escape and make a run for it.
The Ant Lion is gaining on you and has almost caught up when it notices an APC with a number of marines on board.
Because it percieves the marines as a bigger threat, it heads for their vehicle.
What follows is a brilliant fight in which the Ant Lion manages to throw the APC on its side, down the cliff.
You take the opportunity to escape.
The unique thing is, none of this is scripted.
The game fully relies on AI routines and advanced pathfinding.
Had you taken a different escape route earlier, the Ant Lion would never have encountered the marines and would have continued chasing you.
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The alien invasion takes place on a much bigger scale; in Half-Life they sent the scouts, this time they bring in the cavalry, so to speak.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There will be no Xen levels in HL2. We weren't too happy with certain aspects of Xen, but beside that we we wanted to bring Xen to earth this time around and create an interesting melting pot with the realistic and familiar environments around us.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We wanted HL2 to be a much more innovative product than its predecessor was. We don't use 3rd party financing and there is no external producer to look over our shoulders, impose a number of milestones or otherwise tell us how to do our job.
Because of our freedom from such restrictions, we were able to fully concentrate on making our vision of what HL2 should be come true. Besides, often you'll announce a game only for it to still turn up a "no show" a year later, we've fallen into that trap ourselves in the past. Typically, a game will be announced at a time when there is yet no clear image of how to resolve all the complicated design issues, such as the initial development, making the individual parts work and presenting the results to the outside world. Currently, HL is nearing completion and has entered the playtesting stage.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Both the player and the NPCs possess a certain weight and have been issued simulated physics qualities. This means that when you're walking across an uneven surface, your character Gordon Freeman will try to find his balance, just as someone would in real life.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We've invested heavily in our characters in HL2. In HL, we included rudimentary character types as a test, to see what it would be like if they really talked to you in stead of offering the player a volume of text to read. What we resent most is the idea that the action should stop in order to present the player with a non-interactive movie. We tried to keep the story in HL basic and while people still found it enjoyable, we received lots of complaints about the lacking number of characters in the game. A considerable number of people indicated that they would feel sad the first time they saw a scientist or a Barney die, which means they connected to them. So we took a large percentage of the money we made on the first game and invested it primarily in the characters in HL2.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
quote:
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There is a part of the brain that is used to evaluate other people's focus of (visual) attention, whether it is you directly or rather a point in the distance, somewhere over your shoulder. We've tried to maximise the reality factor of our characters' actions, so that their reaction to the player will stimulate your brain to tell you if these persons feel positively or negatively towards you or if they are actually focussing their attention on you rather than someone else.
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The way we see it is that if you treat an enemy creature as nothing more than a simple weapons system, the possibilities of handling it are limited. If the player can climb ladders and open doors, then so should the AI. There are also creatures than can do things you can't. The Ant Lions for example can jump to places you can't reach.
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In HL, there were scripted sequences that took place behind closed doors and were therefore uninterruptable. We now feel limiting a player's choice of action that way is a design flaw.
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You'll lose a lot of graphics detail on a lower end PC, but the physics are processor based, so people with a 733Mhz machine won't lose the physics and the characyer animations
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Theres your crapload of translated pure heart-breaking info! Be0w to the forum n00b! <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo--> <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo--> <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->
=Edit!= Oh yeah it was X-Vector who translated this in the first places, you can also find this info in 3DR forums <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo--> Those poor people who actually believe DNF exhists *laughs* <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->
Toss a grenade in a room and the whole environment will react to the explosion .
...
A scenario is possible where the monitor crashes through a nearby window, then smashes into a wood fence, which in turn splinters and caves in on a passer-by.
Brilliant. And yes, I witnessed exactly such an event during the demonstration.
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MWAA!!
But that's probably not a good idea.