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March 28, 2024, 07:04:33 PM

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Half-Life is back you bastards

Started by popcorn, November 18, 2019, 11:22:13 PM

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popcorn

Quote from: Zetetic on November 20, 2019, 06:44:59 PM
No, such that has become a go-to-talking point. (Including about this game, in this thread.)

Yeah but it was only mentioned as part of a post full of bullshit.

Elderly Sumo Prophecy

That Gabe Newell is a bit of a fat cunt isn't he? Cripes. The sort of man who carries biscuits around in his pockets.


Famous Mortimer

Quote from: popcorn on November 20, 2019, 06:38:22 PM
But yeah they've had some flops. Like the card game, and Ricochet, dunno what else. I think their hardware hasn't worked out either has it? I'm not sure exactly what their expectations were for the Steam box or whatever, but I've never even seen one in my life. Or the controller.
I got a box and a controller when they were on sale - the box was fine, but the controller was dogshit, cheap-feeling and tough to use (the "mouse pad" especially).

popcorn

Half-Life: Alyx isn't a very good name though is it.

Jim Bob

Quote from: popcorn on November 21, 2019, 12:04:36 AM
Half-Life: Alyx isn't a very good name though is it.

How dare you!  My firstborn is named Half-Life.

madhair60

It's better than the working title which was Half-Life: Anuscunt

madhair60


Looks like the only ever good VR game except pornhub.

Thursday

Not arsed mate, not going to buy a VR headset for some spin-off prequel shite. Just wanted to see how their dumb story ended. Don't care that this is a bad entitled gamer take.

H-O-W-L


Thursday

Her arms are missing! Can't believe they let that get through.

popcorn

Looks ace. Lovely to see the HL stuff with glorious modern art and animation. Nice to hear it's a proper full-length thing too.

The gravity gloves look like 1) a nice way to fix the fumbling around with objects in VR 2) a sensible continuation of the gravity gun idea.

Concerns:

- Movement might be shit, limited, or make me ill
- Is this just going to be a sort of glorified fairground ride
- Alyx seems to speak? I do not want the player character to speak in a Valve game, cancel the game if necessary please Gabe

The trailer didn't have anything that made me shit myself like the HL2 tech demo with the falling barrels, or HL2's radical new setting and art direction. It all looks like a logical continuation. But it will be good I reckon.

Thursday

Quote from: popcorn on November 21, 2019, 07:43:45 PM

- Alyx seems to speak? I do not want the player character to speak in a Valve game, cancel the game if necessary please Gabe


I don't understand your surprise or this opinion.

She's an established character, of course she was going to speak. They weren't going to make her suddenly stop speaking because you're controlling her now.

Jim Bob

Quote from: popcorn on November 21, 2019, 07:43:45 PM
Alyx seems to speak? I do not want the player character to speak in a Valve game, cancel the game if necessary please Gabe

The trailer didn't have anything that made me shit myself like the HL2 tech demo with the falling barrels, or HL2's radical new setting and art direction. It all looks like a logical continuation. But it will be good I reckon.

Shhh!  Nobody tell popcorn about the cutscene where Alyx enacts a seven hour interpretive dance performance of Macbeth.

Quote from: Thursday on November 21, 2019, 09:03:31 PM
I don't understand your surprise or this opinion.

She's an established character, of course she was going to speak. They weren't going to make her suddenly stop speaking because you're controlling her now.

Gordon Freeman's a silent protagonist.  That was kind one of the first game's selling points.  It wasn't the first game to do it, but it was the game to truly popularise and popularise the concept of the player fully inserting themselves as the protagonist, within a 3D game.

Thursday


Jim Bob

#46
Quote from: Thursday on November 21, 2019, 10:59:10 PM
Yes, I'm aware.

Therefore, why is the question, which Thursday asked of you, so surprising?  It's not odd or unreasonable to question whether a game within a series which features a protagonist, primarily known for being silent, might still feature a silent protagonist within this new iteration.  Why should such a question be deemed as 'surprising'?

If I was going to pick out a descriptive word, then it would be 'inevitable', closely followed by 'understandably', 'of' and 'course'.  It's a perfectly natural and reasonable question to raise.

popcorn

#47
Quote from: Thursday on November 21, 2019, 09:03:31 PM
I don't understand your surprise or this opinion.

She's an established character, of course she was going to speak. They weren't going to make her suddenly stop speaking because you're controlling her now.

They were either going to have Alyx be silent (which would be weird - she's Alyx and she speaks) or have her speak (which would be weird - Valve protagonists shouldn't speak). This is why the idea of playing as Alyx isn't too attractive to me on paper.

Thursday

I assumed she was going to speak because she's Alyx Vance, (speaks) Not Gordon Freeman (doesn't speak) I didn't assume Valve were bound to a law that protagonists in their game can never speak. I assumed that in the case of Alyx, they were going to break with form and have a protagonist who would speak, because that's what any normal person who's not a MAD CUNT would do.

popcorn

QuoteWhile Gordon Freeman remained voiceless across the Half-Life series in the sequel and its follow-ups, Alyx Vance filled many of those silences. Alyx won't stop talking as she makes the transition from NPC to PC. It wasn't an easy decision, as designer Greg Coomer told us. "Previously, Half-Life games have always had a silent protagonist. We try to avoid being dogmatic about any game design choice. All of these choices are trade-offs, and that's definitely the case with silent protagonists."

Cancel the game please Gabe.

Jim Bob

Quote from: Thursday on November 21, 2019, 11:13:00 PM
I assumed she was going to speak because she's Alyx Vance, (speaks) Not Gordon Freeman (doesn't speak) I didn't assume Valve were bound to a law that protagonists in their game can never speak. I assumed that in the case of Alyx, they were going to break with form and have a protagonist who would speak, because that's what any normal person who's not a MAD CUNT would do.

Yes. Fine. I understand that (and to a large degree, I agree with the sentiments).  However, in what sense does any of that justify dismissing the question of whether the protagonist will be silent or not, as to be so surprising, as to be absurd, given that the series is renowned for featuring a silent protagonist?  It's not surprising.  It's expected.

Thursday

I don't understand why you keep asking me that? I suppose I shouldn't have found it so odd? But it really did seem odd to me that someone would think that at first.

Jim Bob

Quote from: Thursday on November 21, 2019, 11:28:20 PM
I don't understand why you keep asking me that? I suppose I shouldn't have found it so odd? But it really did seem odd to me that someone would think that at first.

It seemed odd to you that someone might wonder whether a series known for featuring a silent protagonist might carry forth that tradition?

Okay...

Thursday

Okay you just are being a cunt now, when I was feeling silly and climbing down. fuck off.

kittens

Quote from: Jim Bob on November 21, 2019, 11:30:21 PM
It seemed odd to you that someone might wonder whether a series known for featuring a silent protagonist might carry forth that tradition?

Okay...

the main character has changed to one that talks in the previous games. it would be odd if she stopped talking. why are you pretending this is hard to understand.

popcorn

Fucken hell lads.

All I'm saying is I don't like the idea of a Valve protag chatting while I'm playing - I have admired their no-cutscene, anti-character approach in old games. Questions about "well what did you expect" don't come into it (especially when I said I anticipated them doing this earlier in the thread, aieeee!)

the "silent or not" dilemma is the main reason I don't like the idea of playing as Alyx. Alyx is already a character, so I don't want to "be" her, not in a Valve game. But I remain open to persuasion, the game looks mega

Thursday

I know I feel very silly, I suppose it was fair really, but I'm afraid to post now in case I'm asked to explain myself again.

Jim Bob

Quote from: Thursday on November 21, 2019, 11:39:58 PM
Okay you just are being a cunt now, when I was feeling silly and climbing down. fuck off.

Please feel free to point out the areas in which I've been a "cunt", because I haven't resorted to personal insults, or in fact, insults of any kind.  I'm rather baffled by that accusation, to be honest.  If you'd care to engage in civil debate, then please do.  I encourage it.  You might even change my mind.  I'm open to persuasion.  However, insults only act as a barrier to communication.

popcorn

I spent the first bit of HL2 doing physics experiments, placing objects in boxes and then lifting the boxes and seeing all the objects fly out at 100mph. I anticipate spending the first bit of this carefully picking up objects with my virtua mitts and examining them. I anticipate science labs full of trinkets to ogle while Dr Kleiner waffles on.

Jim Bob

#59
Quote from: popcorn on November 21, 2019, 11:44:55 PM
Fucken hell lads.

All I'm saying is I don't like the idea of a Valve protag chatting while I'm playing...

I fully understand and appreciate that.  For the record (and please appreciate that this isn't aimed at you, popcorn); what I'm trying to say, in my own clumsy way, is that some fans might, understandably want or expect a silent protagonist, given that's the first two and most famous entries in the series are based upon that premise, whilst simultaneously acknowledging that other fans may want and expect a verbal protagonist.  The rest?  Somewhere in the middle.

It's not crazy to think that a certain sector of the existing fanbase may expect or favour a silent protagonist.  It's not exactly a concept out of the blue.  Still trying to figure out how pointing that out makes me a "cunt" exactly.