Half-Life 2 (PC)

[Ciaran]

What does pre-loading mean?

[Tom Salter]

Im guessing it's going to be half of the game. If you look, it says CZ/ATi. The ATi bit being the part that people who bought a GFx card with HL2 in the bundle can start to download some of the game.

[Ciaran]

That means the people with CZ or an ATI HL2 ticket can download and play the CS:S beta.

[Concept]

Actually, the outdoors isn't looking as 'next gen' as the indoor sections suggested, though perhaps that's just jpeging.

Still, it's halflife

Just saw the bink file that came with PC Zone apparently this month - A montage of segments from the E3 2004 presentations. Trust me, the outdoor scenes look delicious, as do the character models.

The environments may not have Doom III's complexity, but overall the texturing has this lovely high quality gritty appearance to it.

[Spatial]

Christ on a bike !

http://img61.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img61&image=snap033.jpg

http://img26.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img26&image=snap012.jpg

http://img26.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img26&image=snap013.jpg

http://img26.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img26&image=snap014.jpg

http://img26.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img26&image=snap032.jpg

http://img61.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img61&image=snap037.jpg

http://img53.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img53&image=snap051.jpg

http://img37.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img37&image=snap053.jpg

http://img5.imgspot.com/u/04/226/19/halflife2.JPG

And my personal fav

http://img5.imgspot.com/u/04/226/19/halflife.JPG

[Stuart Smith]

You know what...if this game isn't the best of the year, with an engine like this and the same development team as before, someone somewhere really dropped the ball...

[Concept]

I agree. While I don't think Half-Life 2's engine (from what I've seen of it) offers anywhere near as sophisticated light sourcing to Doom III, the quality of the texturing and characterisation is superb. Add onto that a highly expansive and changing environment, coupled with (hopefully) an intriguing story with excellent use of physics, and we could be looking at the best first-person experience of this generation.

Oh, and Spatial, all those screens are from the bink movie I saw earlier. It looks even better in motion if you haven't already seen the file.

[Spatial]

Haven't seen it yet. I think the PC Zone one you've got doesn't hit shelves until the 22nd of this month ( are you a subscriber by any chance ? They always get their copies early )

There is a torrent floating around but right now I'm maxing out my connection on something else. I'll be chasing it down though as soon as its finished

[Spatial]

Say what about the outdoor environments ?



















Obviously taken from Planet Half Life as part of an exclusive interview with Valve - see here

That last screen looks fecking lovely.

All this new media means we're getting closer and closer now.

I've just downloaded that new Bink trailer as well. It all looks soooooooo good in motion. The textures and lighting are to die for.

[Concept]

Those pictures are absolutely insane.

And here's me, just coming from a gob smacking Doom III session (monorail section) thinking I'd seen the best the PC is going to technically throw at us this year.

Well... Those outdoor shots have just emphatically answered any potential critics in that particular area. I just hope my x800Pro will be up to the job of rendering them at a decent frame rate.

Oh, and thanks for the link by the way.

[nips]

So, without a set date yet, possibly due to last years bungle, are we assuming that late September is once again the time we're looking at?

I'm going to need a new graphics card to be able to play this game, becuase mine, for some reason, crashes everytime it goes into 3D mode, and there is nothing that I can do to rectify the situation. I think the hardware might be b0rked becuase it's really bizarre.

I am looking at getting a 9600XT 256MB, or a 9800 128MB. I am not sure which to go for becuase, the large memory would hopefully make the XT a better long term investment, even if it won't perform as well as the 9800 generally. The maximum I could pay is ?100, but I'm looking for less, if possible. I've been living on a 8500 LE for the last year or so, so I am able to handle lower performance. Can anyone suggest a card and retailer that will be good for this game and UT2k4 with out keeling over and bleeding from the ears?

[Concept]

Here's a few of my favourites from that collection of screenshots.






Jaw dropping. Damn... I hope this game comes out in the next couple of months.

[Concept]

On second thoughts, there's no way some of them can be in-game.

[Ish]

nips - I'd go for the 9800 Pro. Nice and cheap now. I'm using a 128Mb one to run Doom 3 in high detail at 1024x768 and am a regular UT2K4 player - it eats that engine for breakfast

[Concept]

Yes.

Considering Half-Life 2's source engine was originally intended for 9800 hardware last year, it should run pretty much okay on a 9800Pro. If you can get one for around ?100, then pick it up Nips. Just make sure you don't pick up a 128bit version.