Hl2

[[AK]Bribo]

It's official. Freeman is back (crowbar and all)

http://www.gamez.nl/content/nieuws.phtml?id=5587 (Dutch site)

Check the PCZone mag artwork link near the bottom.

[Slaughter]

And it was originally slated for release this year... Don't think thats gonna happen..

[[AK]StitchJones]

What's even more of a blow to the belly is that it is for the Xbox. Looks like Microsoft ponyed up enough cash to get the rights. Figures that Sierra would give it up that easy like a cheap prom date.
My information could be wrong, but I've only heard the phrase xbox with just about every current mention of HL2.
We shall see.

[[AK]Bribo]

They are talking about a November release. I hope the Xbox only rumor is not true. I wonder what engine they are using this time around.

[[AK]StitchJones]

I believe it is using a moded Quake3 engine. So it's gonna be in the OpenGL graphics arena. Oh joy! What a piece of crap. They should jump on the Unreal2 engine bandwagon and move forward smoothly.

[[AK]Gunny Highway]

They built the engine for HL2 from the ground up no q3 mod. Here is some info on it.

At long last! The sequel to the best PC First Person Shooter of all time has been announced at a press conference with Valve in NY this afternoon.

Having been present at this meeting of developers and media, I got to witness the first running preview and in-game demo to leave the walls of Valve's Design Studios since development began way back when, after the release of Half-Life. And I must say, I was no less than awestruck!

At a glance, you could mistake this game for a DVD movie. The Half-Life 2 engine, built from the ground up, and boasting cinematic quality graphics at blistering frame rates, looks like it will easily topple Doom3's engine before ID even releases it!

The Dev team showed us a demo of a working alpha just to prove that the game's cinematic-style graphics were in-fact, being rendered real time. It was nothing short of amazing, especially considering that it was cutting 70fps in highest detail on a 1.7ghz processor and Geforce 4 Ti4200!

"We've tried to accommodate for the widest range of users possible. We felt that allowing gamers with lower end PCs to play with the highest settings would greatly increase the multiplayer potential and encourage the online community to really get behind Half-Life 2." commented Willam Sykes, source programmer.

As some people may also know, the tactical aspect of Half-Life 2 has been greatly increased over its predecessor. Weapons are now fully functional with gun jams, dirty barrels, overheating and weight. For example, in any in-game mission, one is expected to clear bullet casing jams, hold weapons steady (counteracting against weight) and perform maintenance tasks such as stripping, cleaning and polishing of weapons.

The Team are excited with the new tactical aspect which includes missions of the following varieties:


Radio operator missions where you take on the role of 'behind the main lines' support crew, skills in tuning radio frequencies and counter-acting for static will be essential in giving the fighting troops accurate bearings on targets


Co-ordinating scouting missions into unknown regions. Again, these require the player to stay at base with a radio and satellite uplink, communicating with fighting soldiers during battles.


Weapon Maintenance missions are completed before every main mission. In these preparation segments, players must ensure their firearms are fully functional and well kept. Failure to successfully maintain one's weapon reults in demotion and 'less action' in main missions.

Of course the above is only a TASTE of whats to come in the retail package. Expect a lot of the features that made HL1 so popular, like the adventure aspect and of course, slaughtering a LOT of ultra high resolution baddies! While I looked on at valve's demo, I thought it a shame that these baddies were ceasing to exist by Gordon's well-maintained firearm, as they were so extremely detailed it was a pleasure to watch them! The models were so realistic in-fact, that whilst watching the demo, I noticed the following:


All models have rising and falling chests/areas where lungs are used (this is helpful when you are unsure if enemies are dying, dead, sleeping or pretending!


All models are fully destructable in an unlimited number of ways. Say goodbye to shooting the whole head off an enemy. Depending where you hit it, the skull will fragment accordingly, and differently every time!


The sheer detail is ridiculous: actual hair/fur (not textures), sweat, dirt, cuts (can be made anywhere and of different severity Eg: a cut on the skin, right up to a limb coming off or an opening into the abdominal area etc)



Along with the overwhelming abundance of eye-candy, this game has quite a few never-before-tried features incorperated into the adventure.

Players may be at first shocked to find that Valve has taken the standard mouse look of FPS and added in a 'turn head' type feature. This feature allows the player to look around while keeping the body and weapon aimed in a particular direction, and is controlled by the mouse (as are the body movements). This system, for example, will allow the player to observe an environment around them whilst still keeping a weapon trained on the many prisoners that are taken during missions.

Keeping in line with the new weapon detail systems (cleaning, unjamming, maintaining etc) a sidebar will be added that will allow the player to access his weapon cleaning kit quickly by toggling and then using the mouse to grab and apply tools to clean the firearms. After battles, it is quite common to 'take 5' and make use of the weapon maintenance kit in a quiet corner. The most impressive feature of the weapon maintenance kit is that the player will take control of the tools with the mouse. For example, when cleaning the barrel of a firearm, the player must move the mouse back and forth to move the wad inside the barrel. Players must also take care not to spill cleaning solvents with the mouse when applying them. Move the mouse too fast and you'll waste some good fluid.

Our first look at Half-Life 2 was an exciting experience to say the least. The team here at Deepgame Online News are looking forward to the inevitable flow of screenshots and movies that will spill forth from Valve's Studios over the coming months, and will keep you up to date with all the latest developments as the title progresses.

Keep an eye out this Friday as we will be releasing the first screenshots of Half-Life 2 for all to marvel at.

[[AK]Jackle]

Great...sounds like yet another war sim...what happened to the alien frag festing that made the first one so great? Think Valve is letting the success of CS get to their heads rather than putting out another classic original game.

[[AK]Gunny Highway]

Looks like aliens to me

[Hale]

Tuning out static doesn't sound that fun. Don't they have digital radios?

[[AK]Gunny Highway]

From the sounds of this it won't be for the quake fanatic or even the die hard cs people out there. This is more realistic, I love the fact that guns will Jam and need to be cleaned and maintained. This should weed out the 11-17 year age bracket for the most part, they just wont have the patience to clean their guns. As far as the static I look at it this way I don't have to tune it out in Teamspeak

[[AK]Bribo]

HL2 article with a few screenies.

http://money.cnn.com/2003/04/23/comm...ming/index.htm

[[AK]StitchJones]

Wow!, I'm still in shock that the game 'may' come out in September. I would have to say that I will not get excited for it. Cause I will bet money that it will be delayed and it won't come out until long after this year is overwith.

[[AK]Bribo]

Would be nice if we got a Counter-strike 2 mod based off the Unreal engine.

[[AK]Choozoo]

I'm almost 30, and I hate cleaning weapons.

[[AK]Squidly]

I guess this explains why you get your clock cleaned in counterstrike.