Half Life 2 Questions...

[DVDWotcha]

Seeing as I now have a machine capable of playing it I thought I might give it a go, but damn am I confused.

Can anyone give me a brief rundown of the various add-ons and if they are expansions or seperate entities ?

I'm confused as there seems to be

Half Life 2
Lost coast
Episode 1
Episode 2
etc.

Also, am I better off buying this on CD/DVD £15 or download via steam ? Additionally, if I bought the DVD would I be able to download the add ons via steam ?

It's all too confusing :?: :thinking: :nuts:

[Savagexii]

Half Life 2 = Full game, the sequel to the original Half Life.

Lost coast = A technology showcase, a small level complete with commentary designed to give the player insight into the new strides in technology and how they get implemented etc. Not an actual game per-se.

Episode 1 + Episode 2 = extensions for HL2, essentially Half-Life 3 but without the 3+ years wait and a new game engine. Imagine if Valve made HL3 using the same engine as HL2, but instead of waiting for it to get finished, they would release it in bits as they were finished. These episodes are also Valves way of slowly introducing new technology into the Half-life game, usually resulting in better graphics/AI/physics etc as each episode gets released.



Buying it on Disc (cd or dvd) is not really worth it as you have to update the games anyway over steam before you play them so you may aswell purchase via steam. Steam = good, fast, reliable and above all (usually) cheaper.

Oh and, if you did purchase one of the games on DVD, yes you would be able to then download the many add-ons etc, it doesnt matter if any of it is downloaded or not, once it's installed, it's merged into Steam the same was as if it was downloaded. Steam will store all your details (what games you purchased etc) on their end so you are free to re-download/update etc as you wish.

[PlexShaw]

From the Half-Life 2 games, only the following have been released so far:

Half-Life 2
Half-Life 2: Deathmatch (which is included free with Half-Life 2)
Half-Life 2: Lost Coast (which is included free with Half-Life 2)
Half-Life 2: Episode One (the first expansion pack)

Half-Life 2: Episode Two is not due for release until next year.

What you get if you buy a retail copy of the game on DVD largely depends on what you get. I purchased all the games via Steam, so I cannot help with that. I do know, however, that regardless of how you choose to purchase the game, it all goes through Steam.

[subdude2k]

One benefit with buying through Steam, especially right now, is the favourable
$ to £ exchange rate. :)

[Vulcan101]

...but they charge US sales tax :(

[DB2k]

im pretty sure you get charged VAT because you tell them you are in the UK.

[PlexShaw]

im pretty sure you get charged VAT because you tell them you are in the UK.
Correct.

[DVDWotcha]

Thanks guys. Looks like steam is the way to go. I'll download it and have a look. :thumbs:

[SqueakyG]

Any news on when the Xbox 360 (and PS3) are getting the big HL2 + Episode 1 + Episode 2 release? Last I heard it was coming out in December, but now you say Episode 2 won't be out until next year?

[DVDWotcha]

Bit of a follow up question.

I downloaded the demo on steam last night, and setting up the graphics options this morning the game only seems to have one widescreen resolution 1600x900.

Does the game have a 1680x1050 setting ? Can it be tweaked ?

[PlexShaw]

Bit of a follow up question.

I downloaded the demo on steam last night, and setting up the graphics options this morning the game only seems to have one widescreen resolution 1600x900.

Does the game have a 1680x1050 setting ? Can it be tweaked ?
Half-Life 2 supports just about every resolution known to man, so it should not need to be tweaked in any way. Make sure that the option is set to 16:10 (instead of the 16:9 I presume you currently have it set to), and the 1680x1050 option should appear in the drop-down list.

[DVDWotcha]

I have been playing the demo just to get a feel for things. In the demo level there seems to be a distinct shortage of ammo and a reliance on the environment to kill enemy. Is this typical game play ? It is fustrating if you are expected to shoot barrels to kill enemy and you have no ammo to shoot them with.

[kiran_mk2]

Early on in the game, ammo is pretty scarce and in the Ravenholm level you are "encouraged" to make use of the gravity gun, but other than that there's no real shortage.

[cjay]

Perhaps you need to learn to aim better. Only joking :lol: what part is the demo taken from? I don't recall being that dependent on the environment in order to kill people/things.

[The Cleaner]

I think the demo was the opening train level and Ravenholm.

[DVDWotcha]

yes ravenholm is the one. Maybe I am not using the grav gun correctly, it does not seem to do anything.

[hookbeak]

yes ravenholm is the one. Maybe I am not using the grav gun correctly, it does not seem to do anything.

yeah you're not using it right then :)

pick stuff up with it and chuck it at people. best. fps. weapon. ever.

[cjay]

Circular saw discs are invaluable, paint cans are humourous (especially when it sets them on fire), gas canisters are also good.