<!--QuoteBegin-Quaunaut+Jul 14 2004, 09:20 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Quaunaut @ Jul 14 2004, 09:20 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> The XBox thing IS the final release- and frankly, XBox can't take anti-aliasing, period.
I myself like the fact it doesn't have Riddick and DOOM3's light scheme. They seem to be a "Its either overlight bright or black" way of things. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd--> Agreed, but this was rediculous - the game looked way worse (the edges of things like pipes, etc. were far more jagged) than say, Halo. I'm curious is that just on the demo, or did it stay like that for the final release?
I am still somewhat concerned that HL2 doesn't seem to smooth map architecture - look at the corner of the wall on the left of the "flashlight" screenie. Looks like Doom3 will be the new graphics benchmark; hopefully HL2 will be the new gameplay/story benchmark.
edit: also this isn't morrowind, (if you remember half-life 1) you move quite fast in this game, so you probably won't notice the little details like that missing shadow in the pic, unless you actively look for them (i'm 100% positive a small minority will do this and post threads about how hl2 is flawed etc.).
douchebagatronCustom member titleJoin Date: 2003-12-20Member: 24581Members, Constellation, Reinforced - Shadow
<!--QuoteBegin-6john6doe6+Jul 14 2004, 07:38 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (6john6doe6 @ Jul 14 2004, 07:38 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> ok so who has any idea what the special edition, complete with solid gold carrying case, might come with? it would seem like a neat idea for it to come with dod:source, hl:source, blue shift:source, opposing force: source, tfc:source, and all those shenanigans, but would they be finished for that? shouldnt they just be free with the normal hl2? what is this "playable extras" that come with the special edition? <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd--> <!--emo&???--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/confused.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='confused.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<!--QuoteBegin-6john6doe6+Jul 16 2004, 04:48 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (6john6doe6 @ Jul 16 2004, 04:48 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> yes i am aware that cs:source is the multiplayer of hl2, but what about the others. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd--> ...........................................
<!--QuoteBegin-Testament+Jul 15 2004, 10:03 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Testament @ Jul 15 2004, 10:03 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> <!--QuoteBegin-6john6doe6+Jul 16 2004, 04:48 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (6john6doe6 @ Jul 16 2004, 04:48 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> yes i am aware that cs:source is the multiplayer of hl2, but what about the others. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--> ........................................... <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd--> Sigh.. This speculation about CS:Source being HL2s multiplayer component is getting kinda.. stupid. Okay, they have said CS:Source will be included with HL2, but really, how can you think it will be HL2s sole multiplayer component? I mean, yeah, CS is super popular, but the idea that HL2 won't even have deathmatch is just insane... Lets look at it this way. Say you are new to the HL series. Right? I don't know, maybe you were a RTS nut or something, hadn't touched too many FPS games. Yeah, there are people like that. So you decide to pick up HL2 one day because you have heard some good things about the original HL and HL2. Now, you figure it might be wise to start with the single player mode first before going online, to get a feel for what is to come when you venture into multiplayer.
So, now you have finished the game, or just gotten stuck and fed up with the singleplayer mode for now and want to try something different. You have a feel for the general controls, weapons, movement speed and so on of the game. Right? Except, whats this? The only online component of the game has NOTHING at all to do with the offline component? Not even the slightest simliarities? No weapons or models remain the same, the boundries of the movement speed are different.. Everything. Well, one would assume you would be confused and just say to hell with it. I know I would.
Anyways, how hard could making a basic deathmatch game be? They have done the models, they have coded the weapons.. Netcode, all that. All they really need is a basic scoring system, a couple maps and then let the players just run around killing eachother.
1st CS:S is not going to be the multiplayer of HL2. I mean comon... 2nd I doubt CS:S will come with HL2, <i>on the same disk</i>, it will probably be downloadable to those with HL2, via Steam. That way they don't have to hold back the release date while waiting for CS:S to be done.
<!--QuoteBegin-DOOManiac+Jul 15 2004, 10:37 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (DOOManiac @ Jul 15 2004, 10:37 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> I sure wish TFC:Source would get more coverage... I wanna see what they did w/ it. :O <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd--> That might just be TF2 <!--emo&;)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif' /><!--endemo-->
douchebagatronCustom member titleJoin Date: 2003-12-20Member: 24581Members, Constellation, Reinforced - Shadow
trust me, a person who checks out all the information he can find for half life 2, ever day. i read in an interview that hl2 will not, i repeat, will not have deathmatch. they never said that cs:s will be the multiplayer of hl2, but they did say it will be the online multiplay that ships with hl2. besides, look at hl deathmatch now. it blows. hard. sure there are some people who play it, but most everyone is playing a mod.
Stalker Runs on the X-Ray engine, X-Ray is a powerful game engine implementing modern technologies. The engine does not support software rendering and requires a DirectX® 8 or higher compatible accelerator.
General: Levels combining closed spaces as well as enormous open areas On demand loading makes it possible to create a single huge level Game time flow, change of time of the day Powerful skeleton-based animation allows usage of motion-capture hardware and produces smooth and realistic motion of characters VR-Simulation engine optimized for massive load Graphics: Support for all second generation D3D compatible accelerators (TNT/Voodo2/etc), optimized for Geforce2 and up Visualization optimized for hardware TnL (both FF and shading capable parts) Continuous level of detail technology for all the geometry ~300 000 polygons per frame at 60 fps on average hardware Detailed character models (500-10 000 polys) High-speed blended animation system capable of an infinite number of bone interpolation & modulation operations SSE/3Dnow! Technologies used for skinning and forward kinematics Visibility determination Portal-style, non-linear subdivision based visibility detection system Optimized for T&L hardware by batching primitives in optimally sized groups Dynamic occlusion culling, contribution culling Adaptive hardware state caching technology Lighting Colored dynamic lights and dynamic "soft" shadows Breakable light sources Animated lights Character shadowing Intelligent light source selection, clipping, and merging Detail mapping Water, flares, coronas, etc. Particle system with real physics Screen post-processing Shading The Shader library is central to every part of the rendering pipeline Completely abstracts the graphics API. Multi-pass Rendering Fallback Shaders Facilitates cross-platform development Separates shader writing from engine development Pixel and Vertex shaders are automatically used (on shader capable hardware.) Detail objects: Grass, small stones, etc. Enviromental effects, such as wind, turbulence, and tracks Physics: Based on ODE engine Simulation speed outperforms commercial engines such as MathEngine, Havok, etc. Real-time IK, vehicle physics, etc. Collision database with low memory usage Collision detection optimized for a large number of queries in a high concentration polygonal environment Realistic simulation of ballistics, movement, and fluids Audio: High quality HRTF 3D-sound with clipping and partial wave tracing Location-based environmental audio affected by surrounding obstructions Context-relative multiple-mixed music streams in MP3/MP2/WMA/ADPCM formats Network: Distributed computing Client-Server based system Tools In-house tools ( Level, Shader, Particle, and Actor Editors ) Plug-ins for popular modeling packages AI: Simulation Level-Of-Detail and Culling (2 AI models - high and low detail) Fiber based time distribution allows scalable AI without any slowdown Virtual senses; sight, hearing and touch Terrain-aware tactical assessment system FSM with random factor Data driven design (pattern based evaluation functions are automatically generated and optimized on training examples - supervised learning)
I don't think that valve will rely purely on mods for online play, there will almost certainly be a DM game, they are just keeping it quiet because they plan to have other modes too.
I personally believe that they are going to try and make some kind of HL2:Co-op game-play mode. Not neccessarily through the full single player game itself, maybe select levels or make new levels. After all look at the success of Sven Co-op.
I could just imagine some assault style levels in a co-op mode, Survive against the odd's style modes etc.
I also really hope that TFC is still there as well as TF2, TF2 sounds like fun but seems too realistic for me, I like my team-based unrealistic games where it's possible to conc and r-jump while trying to achieve goals for no real reason other than because the map says. I want to be able to take a point because it lights up in my teams colour, not because it has a vital fuel dump which could prove critical to blah's invasion of insert-random-country.
I want to be able to run over a medpack and it heal me. (PS, I tried that when I cut my foot open on holiday, I threw the first aid kit on the floor and jumped on it... in my excitement forgetting that jumping on to lumpy objects when you have a deep gash in your foot thats only just started healing is not a good idea... doh!).
<!--QuoteBegin-CMEast+Jul 16 2004, 09:42 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (CMEast @ Jul 16 2004, 09:42 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> I want to be able to run over a medpack and it heal me. (PS, I tried that when I cut my foot open on holiday, I threw the first aid kit on the floor and jumped on it... in my excitement forgetting that jumping on to lumpy objects when you have a deep gash in your foot thats only just started healing is not a good idea... doh!). <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd--> and I want packs of crack that fall from the sky and give me enhanced speed for a few seconds with no side-effects <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Stalker Runs on the X-Ray engine, X-Ray is a powerful game engine implementing modern technologies. The engine does not support software rendering and requires a DirectX® 8 or higher compatible accelerator. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd--> so? dont tell us somthin we dont already know <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.natural-selection.org/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
and the topic is hl2 .you dont have to get offtopic in a offtopic post <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.natural-selection.org/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<!--QuoteBegin-6john6doe6+Jul 16 2004, 05:48 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (6john6doe6 @ Jul 16 2004, 05:48 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> yes i am aware that cs:source is the multiplayer of hl2, but what about the others. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd--> CS: Source is not the MP of HL2, it is a separate game. And it's free, which is nice. HL2's MP will be DM and perhaps more.
<!--QuoteBegin-UZi+Jul 16 2004, 12:18 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (UZi @ Jul 16 2004, 12:18 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> Levels combining closed spaces as well as enormous open areas On demand loading makes it possible to create a single huge level Game time flow, change of time of the day Powerful skeleton-based animation allows usage of motion-capture hardware and produces smooth and realistic motion of characters Detailed character models (500-10 000 polys) Lighting Colored dynamic lights and dynamic "soft" shadows Breakable light sources Animated lights Character shadowing Detail mapping Water, flares, coronas, etc. Shading Grass, small stones, etc. Enviromental effects, such as wind, turbulence, and tracks Real-time IK, vehicle physics, etc. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd--> Whoa Stalker is going to be Far Cry! And just about every other new FPS coming out!
douchebagatronCustom member titleJoin Date: 2003-12-20Member: 24581Members, Constellation, Reinforced - Shadow
<!--QuoteBegin-cs-nation interview+--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (cs-nation interview)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->CS-Nation: Is CS: Source the only multiplayer game shipping with Half-Life 2? cliffe: Half-Life 2 will come with CS: Source. Right now, we do not plan to include any other multiplayer games with Half-Life 2. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
KungFuSquirrelBasher of MuttonsJoin Date: 2002-01-26Member: 103Members, NS1 Playtester, Contributor
I don't know if I'd consider HL2DM a different 'game' like I would CS:S or any of the other ports. That can just as easily be read as "We do not plan to include any ported HL1 content other than CS:Source at release."
Just playing devil's advocate. There's still some grey area in Valve's commentary, which is really no different from the usual. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Does it really matter? HL and HL2 were never about multiplayer anyway - DM was decent, and definitely had its moments, but out of the box it was all single player. I'm going to buy and play HL2 regardless of what it ships with for MP, unless it's a cleverly disguised version of Daikatana or Secret Service 2 hidden in the "play online" area...
douchebagatronCustom member titleJoin Date: 2003-12-20Member: 24581Members, Constellation, Reinforced - Shadow
honestly, i would rather there not be a deathmatch for hl2. i played hl deamatch twice. the first time to see if it was any good, the second time because i was extremely bored at my friends house and that was the only thing we could get working on his comp. both times i regret. i would rather they spend their time on important things other than deathmatch. valve knows that people are going to focus on online mods muuuch more than ANY type of multiplayer valve inputs.
I quite enjoyed HLDM actually, it's not the best game in the world but I had a lot of laughs on it with mates. There isn't anything actually wrong with it, its fairly fast, the weapons are all balanced and there were some really nice maps and models available.
I think the main problem with it is that it was just to... half-lifey. People get tired of the same old look and same old weapons after awhile hence the modding scene. It started off fairly simple, Cold Ice, Rocket Crowbar etc, now I very much doubt you'll find any mods in progress that has the same content as the SP game.
I personally think that was the main flaw with Science and Industry, people got bored of the same look even if the gameplay was great. Who really wants to put loads of effort into research to get the same old Shotgun, Grenade etc.
<!--QuoteBegin-TychoCelchuuu+Jul 16 2004, 11:02 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (TychoCelchuuu @ Jul 16 2004, 11:02 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> <!--QuoteBegin-UZi+Jul 16 2004, 12:18 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (UZi @ Jul 16 2004, 12:18 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> Levels combining closed Real-time IK, vehicle physics, etc. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--> Whoa Stalker is going to be Far Cry! And just about every other new FPS coming out! <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd--> Oh, just because they worked so hard on eye candy and couldn't get their product out sooner than the rest, it must suck now.
Really, how many games are comming out that are gonna be like STALKER, not just look like it?
Comments
I myself like the fact it doesn't have Riddick and DOOM3's light scheme. They seem to be a "Its either overlight bright or black" way of things. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Agreed, but this was rediculous - the game looked way worse (the edges of things like pipes, etc. were far more jagged) than say, Halo. I'm curious is that just on the demo, or did it stay like that for the final release?
edit: also this isn't morrowind, (if you remember half-life 1) you move quite fast in this game, so you probably won't notice the little details like that missing shadow in the pic, unless you actively look for them (i'm 100% positive a small minority will do this and post threads about how hl2 is flawed etc.).
<!--emo&???--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/confused.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='confused.gif' /><!--endemo-->
"It is the plan to include it in the regular and collectors edition
boxes." - Gabe Newell.
CS: Source is free, folks.
...........................................
........................................... <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Sigh.. This speculation about CS:Source being HL2s multiplayer component is getting kinda.. stupid.
Okay, they have said CS:Source will be included with HL2, but really, how can you think it will be HL2s sole multiplayer component?
I mean, yeah, CS is super popular, but the idea that HL2 won't even have deathmatch is just insane...
Lets look at it this way. Say you are new to the HL series. Right? I don't know, maybe you were a RTS nut or something, hadn't touched too many FPS games. Yeah, there are people like that. So you decide to pick up HL2 one day because you have heard some good things about the original HL and HL2. Now, you figure it might be wise to start with the single player mode first before going online, to get a feel for what is to come when you venture into multiplayer.
So, now you have finished the game, or just gotten stuck and fed up with the singleplayer mode for now and want to try something different. You have a feel for the general controls, weapons, movement speed and so on of the game. Right? Except, whats this? The only online component of the game has NOTHING at all to do with the offline component? Not even the slightest simliarities? No weapons or models remain the same, the boundries of the movement speed are different.. Everything. Well, one would assume you would be confused and just say to hell with it. I know I would.
Anyways, how hard could making a basic deathmatch game be? They have done the models, they have coded the weapons.. Netcode, all that. All they really need is a basic scoring system, a couple maps and then let the players just run around killing eachother.
2nd I doubt CS:S will come with HL2, <i>on the same disk</i>, it will probably be downloadable to those with HL2, via Steam. That way they don't have to hold back the release date while waiting for CS:S to be done.
That might just be TF2 <!--emo&;)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Stalker Runs on the X-Ray engine, X-Ray is a powerful game engine implementing modern technologies. The engine does not support software rendering and requires a DirectX® 8 or higher compatible accelerator.
General:
Levels combining closed spaces as well as enormous open areas
On demand loading makes it possible to create a single huge level
Game time flow, change of time of the day
Powerful skeleton-based animation allows usage of motion-capture hardware and produces smooth and realistic motion of characters
VR-Simulation engine optimized for massive load
Graphics:
Support for all second generation D3D compatible accelerators (TNT/Voodo2/etc), optimized for Geforce2 and up
Visualization optimized for hardware TnL (both FF and shading capable parts)
Continuous level of detail technology for all the geometry
~300 000 polygons per frame at 60 fps on average hardware
Detailed character models (500-10 000 polys)
High-speed blended animation system capable of an infinite number of bone interpolation & modulation operations
SSE/3Dnow! Technologies used for skinning and forward kinematics
Visibility determination
Portal-style, non-linear subdivision based visibility detection system
Optimized for T&L hardware by batching primitives in optimally sized groups
Dynamic occlusion culling, contribution culling
Adaptive hardware state caching technology
Lighting
Colored dynamic lights and dynamic "soft" shadows
Breakable light sources
Animated lights
Character shadowing
Intelligent light source selection, clipping, and merging
Detail mapping
Water, flares, coronas, etc.
Particle system with real physics
Screen post-processing
Shading
The Shader library is central to every part of the rendering pipeline
Completely abstracts the graphics API.
Multi-pass Rendering
Fallback Shaders
Facilitates cross-platform development
Separates shader writing from engine development
Pixel and Vertex shaders are automatically used (on shader capable hardware.)
Detail objects:
Grass, small stones, etc.
Enviromental effects, such as wind, turbulence, and tracks
Physics:
Based on ODE engine
Simulation speed outperforms commercial engines such as MathEngine, Havok, etc.
Real-time IK, vehicle physics, etc.
Collision database with low memory usage
Collision detection optimized for a large number of queries in a high concentration polygonal environment
Realistic simulation of ballistics, movement, and fluids
Audio:
High quality HRTF 3D-sound with clipping and partial wave tracing
Location-based environmental audio affected by surrounding obstructions
Context-relative multiple-mixed music streams in MP3/MP2/WMA/ADPCM formats
Network:
Distributed computing
Client-Server based system
Tools
In-house tools ( Level, Shader, Particle, and Actor Editors )
Plug-ins for popular modeling packages
AI:
Simulation Level-Of-Detail and Culling (2 AI models - high and low detail)
Fiber based time distribution allows scalable AI without any slowdown
Virtual senses; sight, hearing and touch
Terrain-aware tactical assessment system
FSM with random factor
Data driven design (pattern based evaluation functions are automatically generated and optimized on training examples - supervised learning)
I personally believe that they are going to try and make some kind of HL2:Co-op game-play mode. Not neccessarily through the full single player game itself, maybe select levels or make new levels. After all look at the success of Sven Co-op.
I could just imagine some assault style levels in a co-op mode, Survive against the odd's style modes etc.
I also really hope that TFC is still there as well as TF2, TF2 sounds like fun but seems too realistic for me, I like my team-based unrealistic games where it's possible to conc and r-jump while trying to achieve goals for no real reason other than because the map says. I want to be able to take a point because it lights up in my teams colour, not because it has a vital fuel dump which could prove critical to blah's invasion of insert-random-country.
I want to be able to run over a medpack and it heal me. (PS, I tried that when I cut my foot open on holiday, I threw the first aid kit on the floor and jumped on it... in my excitement forgetting that jumping on to lumpy objects when you have a deep gash in your foot thats only just started healing is not a good idea... doh!).
and I want packs of crack that fall from the sky and give me enhanced speed for a few seconds with no side-effects <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Stalker Runs on the X-Ray engine, X-Ray is a powerful game engine implementing modern technologies. The engine does not support software rendering and requires a DirectX® 8 or higher compatible accelerator.
<!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
so? dont tell us somthin we dont already know <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.natural-selection.org/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
and the topic is hl2 .you dont have to get offtopic in a offtopic post <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.natural-selection.org/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
CS: Source is not the MP of HL2, it is a separate game. And it's free, which is nice. HL2's MP will be DM and perhaps more.
On demand loading makes it possible to create a single huge level
Game time flow, change of time of the day
Powerful skeleton-based animation allows usage of motion-capture hardware and produces smooth and realistic motion of characters
Detailed character models (500-10 000 polys)
Lighting
Colored dynamic lights and dynamic "soft" shadows
Breakable light sources
Animated lights
Character shadowing
Detail mapping
Water, flares, coronas, etc.
Shading
Grass, small stones, etc.
Enviromental effects, such as wind, turbulence, and tracks
Real-time IK, vehicle physics, etc.
<!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Whoa Stalker is going to be Far Cry! And just about every other new FPS coming out!
cliffe: Half-Life 2 will come with CS: Source. Right now, we do not plan to include any other multiplayer games with Half-Life 2.
<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
you all got served.
Just playing devil's advocate. There's still some grey area in Valve's commentary, which is really no different from the usual. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Does it really matter? HL and HL2 were never about multiplayer anyway - DM was decent, and definitely had its moments, but out of the box it was all single player. I'm going to buy and play HL2 regardless of what it ships with for MP, unless it's a cleverly disguised version of Daikatana or Secret Service 2 hidden in the "play online" area...
I think the main problem with it is that it was just to... half-lifey. People get tired of the same old look and same old weapons after awhile hence the modding scene. It started off fairly simple, Cold Ice, Rocket Crowbar etc, now I very much doubt you'll find any mods in progress that has the same content as the SP game.
I personally think that was the main flaw with Science and Industry, people got bored of the same look even if the gameplay was great. Who really wants to put loads of effort into research to get the same old Shotgun, Grenade etc.
Real-time IK, vehicle physics, etc.
<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Whoa Stalker is going to be Far Cry! And just about every other new FPS coming out! <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Oh, just because they worked so hard on eye candy and couldn't get their product out sooner than the rest, it must suck now.
Really, how many games are comming out that are gonna be like STALKER, not just look like it?
*<sarcasm smiley>*