Half Life 2 needs a switch kick in the ...

Handruin · Nov 17, 2004

What year is this? Wait, let me check...yup, 2004.

Can anyone explain to me WHY the installer to half life 2 can ONLY recognize the LAST optical drive in my system? I'm now having to install the bloody game using my Pioneer A06 (G:\), because the stupid POS installer doesn't even understand that it was brought to life from my OTHER optical drive (F:\). It complains of a corrupted cab file...I scratched my head thinking WTF are you smoking, you didn't even spin up the CD drive, how could a file be corrupted...so then it dawned on me.

I've seen this problem with older games...WAY older games...and not surprising, from sierra.

I'm slightly, scratch that, very pissed off right now, because in addition to this, the installer was also trying to FORCE me to install to C:\. I don't install games on this drive because I only have 1.5 GB free...which half life needs 4.5GB of. So I had to zip up my old steam install and delete any trace of it. This forced the installer to prompt me for a new instance of steam, which I could then place on my D:\ (which has 30+GB of free space).

So far, half life 2 has an F for implementation effort and a U for a shitty installer. I can only hope the game actually plays at this point.

:rant:

MaxBurn · Nov 17, 2004

So it gets a "one finger up" rating on the installer? That is crap, the installer should at least search the drives. Then most people could put in two cd's and go do something for a while.

My big question is if you get it on steam can you burn it somehow so you don't have to download the whole thing again after an OS install? Call me crazy but I just like to have the install media on something I buy.

Clocker · Nov 17, 2004

Is there any difference between the DVD version and the CD-ROM version of the game? Sounds like the DVD version is the way to go thus far....

C

ddrueding · Nov 17, 2004

Clocker said:
Is there any difference between the DVD version and the CD-ROM version of the game? Sounds like the DVD version is the way to go thus far....

C

Unless you plan on using a program like daemon-tools, or like backing up your games. Last time I checked, there was no way to bypass the copy-protection for DVDs.

blakerwry · Nov 17, 2004

Handruin said:
What year is this? Wait, let me check...yup, 2004.

Can anyone explain to me WHY the installer to half life 2 can ONLY recognize the LAST optical drive in my system? I'm now having to install the bloody game using my Pioneer A06 (G:\), because the stupid POS installer doesn't even understand that it was brought to life from my OTHER optical drive (F:\). It complains of a corrupted cab file...I scratched my head thinking WTF are you smoking, you didn't even spin up the CD drive, how could a file be corrupted...so then it dawned on me.

I've seen this problem with older games...WAY older games...and not surprising, from sierra.

I'm slightly, scratch that, very pissed off right now, because in addition to this, the installer was also trying to FORCE me to install to C:\. I don't install games on this drive because I only have 1.5 GB free...which half life needs 4.5GB of. So I had to zip up my old steam install and delete any trace of it. This forced the installer to prompt me for a new instance of steam, which I could then place on my D:\ (which has 30+GB of free space).

So far, half life 2 has an F for implementation effort and a U for a shitty installer. I can only hope the game actually plays at this point.

:rant:

When Steam 1st came out for linux it forced the install through a hard coded binary to install it on your /var partition or some such nonesense... if you didnt have room it would error out... quite the pain as I didnt have enough free space and had to remove files, install steam, move steam.... reinstall files to be able to host a CS server that otherwise ran fine pre-steam.

Handruin · Nov 17, 2004

Handruin · Nov 17, 2004

I didn't even mention that after you install, you must also get updates from steam, and then...wait for what seemed like 10-15 minutes while steam unlocks the entire game. The unlocking is very disk intensive...and boring.

Clocker · Nov 17, 2004

ddrueding said:
Clocker said:

Is there any difference between the DVD version and the CD-ROM version of the game? Sounds like the DVD version is the way to go thus far....

C

Click to expand...

Unless you plan on using a program like daemon-tools, or like backing up your games. Last time I checked, there was no way to bypass the copy-protection for DVDs.

Uh..I was just planning on playing it, not copying it. ?

Handruin · Nov 17, 2004

My guess (and again it's a guess) is that the DVD will be the same as the CD version, except it will have all the files on one disc rather than 5. I think you'll have the same lousy installer. It may have more items, such as half-life source, and day of defeat, but I don't think it'll be any better. I think steam wants $89.99 for the dvd version.

Mercutio · Nov 17, 2004

I'd like to play Half Life Source and I'd like to play HL2, but there's no way that I will do it until it is divorced somehow from Steam. I want the single-player FUN and INTERESTING games, not the internet-broke-ass-reg-required-auto-updating BS that goes along with Valve's distribution software.

timwhit · Nov 17, 2004

Mercutio said:
I'd like to play Half Life Source and I'd like to play HL2, but there's no way that I will do it until it is divorced somehow from Steam. I want the single-player FUN and INTERESTING games, not the internet-broke-ass-reg-required-auto-updating BS that goes along with Valve's distribution software.

Better wait for someone to crack it then, could be awhile...

sechs · Nov 18, 2004

Does the packaged version require all of this mumbo-jumbo, as well?

Clocker · Nov 18, 2004

I have not tried Steam since I was playing CounterStrike many months ago but it's getting some pretty positive reviews, here.

I might just try it.

Handruin · Nov 18, 2004

sechs said:
Does the packaged version require all of this mumbo-jumbo, as well?

Yes, mine is the retail package.

Handruin · Nov 18, 2004

Merc, I'd just let "the man" win this one, and buy the game. I'm havig some much fun, you don't know what you're missing...new pics coming right up.

Handruin · Nov 18, 2004

It might spoil some of the game, but if you don't plan on buying it anyway, here is what you're missing:

Second Series

Gravity Gun + Paint Can = :mrgrn:

CraigLC · Nov 18, 2004

That looks schweet!

Mercutio · Nov 18, 2004

It's not a "the man" thing, Handy.

I still play a commercial game - regularly - that was released in 1994. I load it on every PC I have.

I adored the Half Life single player games with their cool locations, mysterious villain, awesome AI, and ever-increasing sense of dread. I finished all three of them. Half Life is the FPS that I have spent by far the most time actually playing.

But what do I do with a game I supposedly own but can't play without Valve's say-so? What happens when Valve closes up shop or shuts down its authentication servers?

I play City of Heroes, which is an MMO with a monthly fee. I don't have a problem with THAT; every other month they give us a content update and the game wouldn't be nearly as much fun unless other people were playing.

But Half Life, as a single player title... that I object to needing essentially the same type of controls as an MMO.

I really do want to play it and own it. But if I get it, it'll be a physical copy (the DVD), rather than one of the upteen ATI coupon-codes I had, and I'll probably firewall the damn thing from accessing the internet after I install it. Steam is shit and I neither want nor need it.

Handruin · Nov 18, 2004

No matter if you have a physical copy or not, it's going to be the same process (maybe I misunderstood you). I bought mine as a physical copy and I believe the single player game requires steam.

I won't disagree with you. It does stink to have steam authenticate me to play. If I didn't have such a desire to play this game, I wouldn't have bothered with their stupid implementation. I guess that's what I meant by saying "the man". Meaning valve controlling how and when we play the game.

To counter your point about City of Heroes, I think Valve (steam) has proven to stay alive even without a subscription. Now that they are obtaining income from the sale of the game, I don't have any worries about them going away. The immense popularity of counter-strike gives them a source of income.

Blizzard is another company who has proven they can provide a service without monthly income, aside from game sales. That will change once World Of Warcraft is released, but battle.net has been around for several years now with no indication of collapsing. I realize blizzard games don't require activation like half-life, but they are able to provide the internet based service without charging people. I would actually think City of Heroes is at a greater risk because you can't use their game without paying a monthly fee.

Mercutio · Nov 18, 2004

There's a hack to set up your own battle.net server, too. Which is a good thing - even if Blizzard doesn't like it (BTW, I hate Blizzard - their games are unfun and then there's the battle.net lawsuit thing). If Blizzard went away tomorrow - and I can only hope it does - people could still play Warcraft and Diablo online.

What I'm reading on Slashdot is that the game connects to Steam EVERY TIME YOU TRY TO PLAY. That's unacceptable for a game that is single-player only IMO.

Maybe it's because I spent a bit longer on dialup than most of the people here but I think that software that doesn't require an internet connection SHOULDN'T require an internet connection. I've had customers rant in much the same way about Quickbooks, so I don't think it's just me.

I want a physical disc that I can use to install and play this single player game at my leisure. That's it. I don't want to have to depend on what's going on in the developer's corporate office, or what's happening on the internet. I just want to play the game I've already paid for. Apparently that's asking for too much.

Mercutio · Nov 18, 2004

Can someone tell me if this method actually works?

Handruin · Nov 19, 2004

Just for you Merc, I tried completely disabling all internet access to my PC, then I launched Half Life 2 via desktop icon.

Steam tried to connect but failed, and then gave me an "off-line" option.

I verified you can play half-life 2 without a network connection.

Click "Start in Offline Mode" and the game started as normal. No issues, no warnings, just half life 2.

I realize this doesn't negate the activation issue, but it would allow me to continue playing half life 2 if valve went belly-up, or if my cable modem died.

i · Nov 19, 2004

Disclaimer: I'm always late to the party. That said...

Handruin said:
Can anyone explain to me WHY the installer to half life 2 can ONLY recognize the LAST optical drive in my system?

I would have been interested to know if the "subst" command could have fixed this problem for you.

Mercutio · Nov 19, 2004

Yay!

I shall purchase the DVD so that I can play through Halflife and then HL2.

Mercutio · Nov 22, 2004

Anyone want a men's XL Tshirt with a Lambda on it?

I bought the DVD edition Sunday, because it came with HL1 source. I installed it and played it for a bit... maybe 10 minutes of just wandering around the game world (I didn't have a clear idea of what I was doing). If your eyes blur even a little bit, the world of the game is utterly convincing, and there's something amazing about noticing that, say, the paint is peeling on the wall you are walking by.

But in my 10 minutes of walking around in the game, after it had been installed, halflife2 had sent 78MB of... something back to valve. While I was playing a single player game. And there was no other network traffic. That's fairly substantial for a game on a 128k upstream connection.

So I firewalled the %$%ing thing.

Oh well. At least I can play the stupid game.

Also, Half Life 1 Source looks like ass. I'd say it's about 90% the same as Half Life with the "Blue Shift" high-resolution texture pack, which is NOT what I was hoping for after playing even a tiny bit of HL2.

sechs · Nov 22, 2004

So you bought the hype? Was it worth it?

Mercutio · Nov 22, 2004

It's beautiful as far as the graphics go. I haven't played it at all except to see the graphics. I'm amazed at how beautiful human faces are. Whatever techniques were used to make heads were obviously the right ones. They are REAL looking, but they are a vastly better simulation than before.

sechs · Nov 23, 2004

Doom 3 looked good, too. Gameplay... gameplay?

Handruin · Nov 23, 2004

So far, the game play is great. The game isn't perfect, but what game is without flaws? I personally like the graphics better than Doom3, mostly because they are able to achieve good quality in an environment with good lighting with acceptable framrates. Doom 3 can argue it is meant to be dark, but I find the majority of Doom 3's detail was seen at the light of my flashlight. As Merc mentioned, the faces in HL2 show great detail, and some of the expressions are priceless.

Half Life 2 uses a classic linear path, keeping the player interested by not allowing them to feel hopelessly lost in an open world, yet it's large enough that you don't feel claustrophobic. So far in all situations the game handles level transitions with ease and continuity. There is no "elevator" to indicate a level change, you simply progress. Within a given area, there is the possibility of taking an easier path vs the difficult road, but the game usually presents the difficult road leaving it up to you to find an easier way.

Valve has made it a point to show off it's environmental engine. In many cases for no other reason than to make you smile. From saw blades to paint cans, waste not... If you run out of ammo, there is sure to be some debris on the ground you'll find suitable. My favorite weapon in the game isn't even a real weapon, it's a broken off piece of a trap. Armed with a gravity gun, this weapon was strong enough to kill some of the hardest foes in the level with one shot. A couple times I managed to kill myself with it by trying to run through a doorway...it fell out of the gravity gun and landed on me...insta-death.

The weapons come into play a appropriate times, some well scripted (gravity gun and the dog), a couple were not (here Gordon, thanks for volunteering to take out the gunship with our rocket launcher).

I've yet to complete the game, but I'm at least 75% through it. Unlike Doom3, I've yet to tire of the new and exciting world that continues to change as the game progresses. Half life 2 offers a nice balance of puzzling situations and intense action, although biased more toward action. In each new area there has always been something new, that I had not thought possible in the game. There is plenty of re-usable items, such as throwing boxes and cans, but in each area, there is always a new "trick", or an interesting situation. All of which makes use of the neat environment engine.

The AI is proving to be genuinely unpredictable at times. I spent an hour in one small location last night trying to fight my way through a base using the ant lions. I have the game set to hard to hopefully make it last longer. So far this has been the only situation requiring me to massively reload the game due to death. Two gun ships prove to be difficult when the enemy troops on the ground never do the same thing twice. It's hard to find a consistent pattern to combat the situation...yet that's something a game should do.

Overall the game was well worth the money,even with the annoying valve/vivendi install situation. I've even spent numerous hours playing counter-strike source. It's essentially the same game, but with more details. I didn't have high expectations, and I think this helped.

Handruin · Dec 1, 2004

Valve released the half-life 2 deathmatch today. You can read about it on Slashdot.

Half Life 2 needs a switch kick in the ...

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