Half-Life Questions

[sj33]

I've recently been using my PC more for games recently, mainly because I'll be stuck with just a laptop for most of the year while at University. My friend gave me a free Half-Life 2, so I've been playing that recently, and have been tempted to pick up the Orange Box. However, I found this on Steam.

http://www.steampowered.com/v/index.php?area=sub&SubId=478&cc=GB

At that price, converted into ?, it makes for petty good value for money. But, do the Source versions of the games make the originals redundant?

[Dezm0nd]

Do you mean that if you buy that pack, will your already installed Half Life 2 be useless? Nope.

When you buy a pack like that you get the codes for each of the games. The codes you dont need to use, you can save/give/sell.

I am not 100% sure but i'm fairly confident that's how it works.

[Hohum]

I think he's referring to multiple versions (i.e. Counter Strike and Counter Strike Source, etc). Arguably, yes, however for online stuff some people favour playing the older versions, while some favour the newer editions. Also, the older editions will be a bit less demanding on hardware (but this point is totally moot if you have a newer system, as you won't notice any difference in terms of performance).

Regarding the situation whereby you already own one of the games prior to purchasing a package: that extra copy of the game becomes available as a gift in your games list. You can then give that copy to a friend by entering their steam account details (either their registered username or e-mail address). You cannot sell the extra copy of the game, however.

Personally, I'd give that large package you're looking at a miss, and just purchase the Orange Box instead. Team Fortress 2 alone in that package will keep you busy online

[Magnakai]

Personally, I'd give that large package you're looking at a miss, and just purchase the Orange Box instead. Team Fortress 2 alone in that package will keep you busy online

Seconded. Most of that stuff is pretty useless now. CS:Source and Day Of Defeat: Source are the only things that aren't in the Orange Box and are fun, relevant, and that have a constant userbase. All of that HL/HLeathmatch/HL:Source/HL:Sourceeathmatch stuff is pretty pointless IMO.

If you're wondering what they mean by Half Life vs Half Life: Source, well it's that it's exactly the same game gameplay-wise. It's just that they've loaded all the level and gamplay data into the Source engine. I believe it plays 99% the same as the original version, it's just running in a newer engine. Details

Counter Strike: Source, on the other hand, does (imho) render the original totally redundant and is far superior graphically.

[sj33]

Thanks, I was referring to whether the newer source versions render the original releases redundant, since I'm not sure how different they are. A friend did point out to me that the HL1 expansions are not available for the Source version, so the original version still has some amount of value. Annoying!