New Aftermath Information

[Musopticon?]

Well, in it's time...it was.

 

 

*has a moment of pure nostalgia*

[Darkside]

I never played the first two. :">

 

But I'm still number 2 right? Right?

[Musopticon?]

My number two favorite board member, yes.

[Deraldin]

Well, in it's time...it was.

 

 

*has a moment of pure nostalgia*

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I never finished Thief 1 because of it. The first time I played that mission was at 4am with headphones, trying not to wake my parents when I was 10. :">

[Musopticon?]

You must have loved the ambients. And the opening of doors. And the Eye

 

*more nostalgia, twitches*

[Darkside]

Oh gods, the Eye. I hate that thing. All through the end of Thief 3 it gloats about your previous encounter. If it hadn't been the key to saving the day I would have smashed it. <_<

[Deraldin]

You must have loved the ambients. And the opening of doors. And the Eye

 

*more nostalgia, twitches*

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I was scared enough going through the front door. :"> What really got me were those creepy guys wandering around with that really unnerving voice saying "Join us!" and then when they see you "I see you..." *shudders just thinking about it.* Did I mention the lights were off to? I don't think I slept the next night...

[alanschu]

Who. Does. Number. Two. Work for?

[Musopticon?]

I dunno. Ask her.

 

 

I'm guessing it's Baley.

[Deraldin]

Oh gods, the Eye.  I hate that thing.  All through the end of Thief 3 it gloats about your previous encounter.  If it hadn't been the key to saving the day I would have smashed it. <_<

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Never made it to the end of Thief 3 either. I got bored replaying the first mission over and over again while waiting for a fix for the AI reset bug. Once it came I had just lost interest. Tried playing it again recently, but I just couldn't get into it.

[Musopticon?]

I'd say it's worth playing if not for anything else than atmoshphere and muzak/ambients. It had both in spades.

[Deraldin]

I'd say it's worth playing if not for anything else than atmoshphere and muzak/ambients. It had both in spades.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I agree. It did have a great atmosphere and I've loved the setting since I played the original. I remember that after I played the first one I started walking quieter and staying on carpets when I had a choice, so as not to make any noise. I still do that if I play the game for any length of time.

[alanschu]

Zero points for Musopticon.

 

Austion Powers reference.

[Musopticon?]

I got it. But the international man of mystery has nil to do with this thread. However, Darkside is my number two.

[metadigital]

ML More so with Half-Life than Half-Life 2. There is definitely a desire to make the game play out inside people's heads when they leave the computer. ... If we're going to answer any question, we have to make sure we're raising even more questions that are even more interesting.

Well, that's an... interesting design philosophy. Yes, it really makes sense to have a very imprecise and barely fleshed story, so you won't find yourself restricted in future installments. The paradigm of innovative storytelling.

 

That's probably why I can't stand a large part of what passes for art these days.

BVB ...

Do you remember coming down into Eli's lab, seeing the Vortigaunt chefs? That's an idea Dhabih Eng [One of Valve's Senior Artists] had. That wouldn't have made it into the game at any other company. It's silly, our game's supposed to be a scary game, but somehow, we have Vortigaunts in chef hats....

Come again? HL2 is supposed to be a scary game?

 

Please, don't make me go on an AvP2 rant again.

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I thought you'd appreciate those quotes. :D

 

But you didn't mention the Chef Vortigaunts! And, they are just following a true gnostic tradition; ther must always be another mystery to replace the ones solved. You can't have a conspiracy theory that everyone knows about, then it's not a conspiracy!

 

...

BVB It never occurred to us to stop and put some kind of expository section in the game, that we couldn't actually support without the player experiencing it. That's what we are always trying to support, to keep you in the world.[1] I think part of the fun is telling the story with the environment.

..."

 

...

ML Dhabih did the most amazing models you've never seen. We were watching him building the stuff, putting so much detail into something no one will ever see.[2] But he's so excited to be doing it. Even like[3] a curmudgeon would look at it, and say "Normally, I'd say we shouldn't be doing this. But this is so cool we have to keep it in the game." Then we try not to draw attention to it, we just leave it there for people to discover.[4]" ...

 

1. Note Bene LA (and you too, OE, after K2): no more stupid "Where are they now" dialogue-only epilogues!

 

2. So not much in the way of project management going on with the creatives, then.

 

3. Speech patterns identify Mark Laidlaw as definitely a US citizen, from the Friends generation.

 

4. This almost makes up for all sins, though.

[LoneWolf16]

Am I the only one hoping for an Opposing Forces type of expansion for HL 2?

[213374U]

But you didn't mention the Chef Vortigaunts! And, they are just following a true gnostic tradition; ther must always be another mystery to replace the ones solved. You can't have a conspiracy theory that everyone knows about, then it's not a conspiracy!

I didn't recall the chef vorts. But I guess it's a nice detail, as in we don't take ourselves too seriously. But now they come out and say HL2 is supposed to be scary. Give me a break.

 

And um, yeah. I sure like mysteries. But also I am full aware of the difference between a mystery and a plot hole (or lack thereof). "

 

 

Am I the only one hoping for an Opposing Forces type of expansion for HL 2?

No, you're not the only one. However, chances are slim that it will happen. You see, OF was developed by Gearbox, not Valve. While this doesn't mean they can't make it, it probably means they aren't as attached to the characters and events of that expansion as they are to the original game or the new characters they have created. I hope I'm wrong though.

[metadigital]

But you didn't mention the Chef Vortigaunts! And, they are just following a true gnostic tradition; ther must always be another mystery to replace the ones solved. You can't have a conspiracy theory that everyone knows about, then it's not a conspiracy!

[1]I didn't recall the chef vorts. But I guess it's a nice detail, as in we don't take ourselves too seriously. But now they come out and say HL2 is supposed to be scary[2]. Give me a break. ...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

1. Minus several points from your OCD-level-grinding score.

2. Well, Half-Life 2 had scary bits, like Ravenholm, and the beginning of Nova Prospekt ... sort of ...

...

And um, yeah. I sure like mysteries. But also I am full aware of the difference between a mystery and a plot hole (or lack thereof).  "

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think the plan is to play out the narrative over a longer timeframe; sort of like the original series of Star Trek didn't have a clue about some of the major canon, like the planet Vulcan and even that Vulcans didn't have emotional responses.

 

Also, once all the mystery is exposed as lore, a certain magic is lost, I feel. The pregnant possibilities of what is unknown outweigh the certainties, so there is a natural and unavoidable sense of trepidation concerning all interactions in the universe ...

Am I the only one hoping for an Opposing Forces type of expansion for HL 2?

No, you're not the only one. However, chances are slim that it will happen. You see, OF was developed by Gearbox, not Valve. While this doesn't mean they can't make it, it probably means they aren't as attached to the characters and events of that expansion as they are to the original game or the new characters they have created. I hope I'm wrong though.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think it will be a lot easier for smaller independents to use Valve/Steam as a launch point; I foresee more than a few Gearbox-like startups ...

[Musopticon?]

So, the game is supposedly going to happen entirely in City 17 and its premises. What kind of enviroment we haven't gone through yet? To me it feels like almost all backdrops for city fighting are exhausted. Any ideas what kind of new enviroments there might be? One example on creativeness over the usual office building-sewer-street-office building-sewer-roof-street city millieu, was the tunnel filled with radiactive goo in the latter part of HL 2, where you needed to avoid getting dropped from your makeshift bridges while simultaneusly navigating through the everloving horde of citys new inhabitants=zombies. Very different, almost Fallout-like, very cool.

[metadigital]

I believe there will be lots of out-of-towners in the City: the perimeters are breached, so all the Antlions, et alia are free to raid the streets.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if Dog recues Alyx.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if the Combine actually work on the same side as Gordon, either; after all, with the Xen portal busted, it's everyone for themselves against the bigger, nastier besties.

 

Here's hoping we get to pilot a drop ship, or

[Musopticon?]

I for one hope we see some bigger beasties.

[metadigital]

Well, eventually we'll have to fight some of the Xen beasties.

 

But I don't think that is now.

 

(Remember the Blue Meanies in Half-Life? Man, they were tough!)

 

There is still the mystery of the Blue Water-Tentacle-Thinggie ...

[Musopticon?]

Oh that water thing? If I recall correctly; it was supposed to be a sort of semi-boss in a overrun mall of some kind. Come to think of; we didn't see a mall in HL 2, did we?

[metadigital]

Nope, it was given the scissor treatment. But there is a good chance it will turn up in the next episode, because it was at the E3 demo ...

[Musopticon?]

That I meant. And remain hopeful.

 

 

I almost dare to ask, but what were your thoughts of HL 2?