Pictures of your games...

[Sand]

Sand begins to sing!

 

There's a hole where the sarlacc needs to be

and I doubt it is roaming free.

Oh, where is our missing sarlacc?

Please, will someone give him back!

[jaguars4ever]

I don't think the Sarlaac's coming back

Jabba's got his head on a plaque

He lived on Tattoine

Then the Hutt stole his spleen

And now his kids are living in a Jawa shack!

[CoM_Solaufein]

Cut content is always interesting

 

We cut several sections out of Tatooine. The Star Map on Tatooine was originally located in the maw of a Sarlacc pit. The player had to find the Sarlacc pit in a cave complex and then figure out how to descend into the pit without becoming the Sarlacc's next snack.

From: http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/454/454429p1.html

 

Next I want to play the deleted Sleheyron, but that probably won't be possible

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

A shame that things have to be cut in games. This would have been interesting if it was not cut.

[Amentep]

A little Night Watch

[Volourn]

This just shows that BIO can handle making cuts without anyone knowing it. Too bad, the cut stuff sounded very cool. Ah well. *shrug* It's nearly a 4 year old game. L0LLERZ!

[alanschu]

I'd be surprised if any large scale game had nothing cut from it.

[Hurlshort]

A little Night Watch

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Can you give your impressions of the game? I heard it was pretty bad, but I haven't kept track of any patches they've done. I was a big Silent Storm fan, so I love the game engine in general.

[Hell Kitty]

A little Night Watch

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Can you give your impressions of the game? I heard it was pretty bad, but I haven't kept track of any patches they've done. I was a big Silent Storm fan, so I love the game engine in general.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I recently finished the game, and didn't find it terribly exciting. I don't think it was bad so much as it was kinda dull. I LOVE the combat in Silent Storm and this just doesn't compare. Chain lightning is nice, though.

[Amentep]

I'm still early in it, and I'm enjoying it. It has some...idiosyncratic issues, but its been fun. But again, very early in play.

[Sand]

These aren't the ruins you are looking for. Move along.

[metadigital]

Noes teh sarlacc pit!

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Is that a mod? If so where did you get it?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah it's deleted content someone dug up, note the unfinished temple background.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I can see the last time she shaved ... "

[Wistrik]

Here is the Gman during the introduction sequence. The test chamber and portions of the Citadel that appear in this sequence are actual models floating in map space near the train station map. You can visit them by using noclip.

 

 

This is a scene of the train station you arrive in, taken from outside the fence and facing back toward the building. I used noclip to arrive at this vantage point; a fence prevents you from leaving the station otherwise. You arrive near here (behind where I'm standing) later on, after achieving "miscount" status, only to find a large forcefield blocking access to the train station.

 

 

Here is your only encounter with the icthyosaur from the original Half Life. This underwater area is part of a large outdoor map that hovers far above the train station map (out of camera view). The only way to get here outside of a teleporter malfunction is to use noclip and fly to it. The 'desert' Heddy escapes to is on the back side of the same outdoor map.

 

 

These images of the Citadel show it during normal operations, and again after entering high alert status. It enters high alert status just before Barney gives you a crowbar, and that is how you see it for the remainder of the game, and throughout Episode One as well. The streams of scanners you see leaving it are merely overlays; they aren't actual 3D models. In fact, the entire citadel model is projected onto the background. Valve uses projection throughout the game to give the illusion of depth of field. In reality, the 'world' you run around in is very small indeed.

 

[Bokishi]

That projection is called skybox.

[Wistrik]

By the way, all of these screenshots are taken at my play resolution of 1280x960, which preserves the 4:3 ratio the game was primarily designed for. I also use 8xFSAA (and all else maximized too), which makes for nicely rendered maps. I was able to turn off Levels of Detail (LOD) without suffering a performance hit, and this helps models look better from a distance. I've also doubled the distance for rendering various things, at a slight loss of performance, but it's been worth it.

 

This is a power substation located near the beginning of Route Kanal. I had to use noclip to reach this vantage point for taking a screenshot.

 

 

This is "Station 7" of the underground resistance, and also a place to see the Gman.

 

 

Here is an interesting image that caught my eye for some reason. None of these images look as good as being in the game. There are times when I feel like I'm really there, and this location made me feel that way more so than some others.

 

 

This is Black Mesa East, with Eli's lab on the left and the dam's power station on the right. The game has built in global lighting rather than a dynamic day/night cycle. When you first get off the train, it is morning. By this point it is evening, and it will be night time when you enter Ravenholm. All in all, the events of Half Life 2 take place in just nine days, seven of which are lost to "slow teleportation".

 

 

Finally, a popular spot for the screenshots and movies I've seen, and for good reason. Ravenholm is a fun place to blow things up and cause all sorts of mayhem. All the interactive devices are a lot of fun.

 

 

That's it for now. It's harder to find places to take scenic screenshots in after Ravenholm, as the maps tend to be more crowded and designed for fast action rather than sightseeing. I initially set out to take screenshots to help me identify which maps I was in, since online lists of maps are rather vague. I ended up trying to get decent screenshots that showcased a game feature or graphics display, though I'm not a professional photographer so these efforts are amateur at best.

Edited January 28, 2007 by Wistrik

[Wistrik]

That projection is called skybox.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes, that's the technical term for it. I used layman's terms for the general populous.

[Bokishi]

you got an 8800 yet

Edited January 28, 2007 by Bokishi

[Wistrik]

you got an 8800 yet

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Nope, I decided to wait until I could afford to upgrade the whole box. My 6800 renders older games just fine, but I plan on having at least one 8800 by mid-year for the newer games that are coming out.

[alanschu]

Just curious, why the sudden lecture about aspects of Half-Life 2? It just sort of seemed to come out of no where.

Edited January 28, 2007 by alanschu

[Musopticon?]

Most of us are rather acquainted with the "professional" terms. And Half-Life 2. Actually, it's probably the most played game of all regulars here.

[alanschu]

That's partly why I was surprised. I was wondering if someone asked some questions or something.

[Wistrik]

The internet is global in scope, and many 'guests' visit the plethora of forums such as this one (they usually outnumber the 'members'), so I posted comments on the off chance someone might not be aware of such things despite having played the game before. Not that I need to explain myself, but there you have it.

[Musopticon?]

Oh, ok.

 

Funny how quickly someone can become a fanboy when it comes to this game's assets.

[Wistrik]

I tried to keep them (the pictures posts) positive, since many times I tend to complain about what bothers me in a game. HL2 aggravates me in several ways, but I like it enough that I haven't tossed it in the trash.

 

I don't consider myself a fanboy of anything, except perhaps the singleplayer Ultima games, which I still have after all this time. However, I have not become a 'dragon', and have no plans of ever doing so.

[Dark_Raven]

i would get pics of my Fallout games but my cscreen capture is broken or sumthin

[alanschu]

The internet is global in scope, and many 'guests' visit the plethora of forums such as this one (they usually outnumber the 'members'), so I posted comments on the off chance someone might not be aware of such things despite having played the game before. Not that I need to explain myself, but there you have it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

It just seemed odd to spontaneously start talking about the technical aspects of a game engine.