OK...I love HL2, but Ravenholm is pissing me off.

I love using the Gravity gun to chop guy sin half, that's fun. And I realize the point is that there's no ammo. But I have almost no ammo left, and I've got the fast zombies jumping at me. WTF! I didn't waste ammo, and there's nothing around. Ravenholm was fun, up until the fast zombies. Then it just got stupid.

Ravenholm sucks. Father Gringori just told me I'm on the wrong side of town, I need to head for the church. Please tell me (if anyone remembers) I'm getting close to the end of Ravenholm?

Oh, and while I like HLComic's explanation, WHAT THE **** IS UP WITH ALL THE EXPLOSIVE BARRELS!? They have 1347189 red gasoline barrels in Ravenholm but almost no ammo? Wtf?

[QUOTE=Victor Van Dort]He said 'Post your amazing game impressions' not 'Complain about how much you hate HL2'. Yes your impression of the game could be that you didn't like it, but we all know that already from thousands of D3 v HL2 threads. This thread is about our LURVE for HL2. If you don't LURVE it, don't post about it.[/QUOTE]
As much as you want to be an admin SAJN, you just aren't. Sorry.

[QUOTE=IRG SithLord]Sounds to me like no game ever created meets your standards.


Personally, I enjoyed HL2. Amazing game.[/QUOTE]
No, I liked Doom 1 and 2, Quake 1, 2 and 4, FarCry, Serious Sam, FEAR, Deus Ex, UT, and a lot more games I can't even count, as far as the SP portions go. For me most of the experience is in the weaponry and how it responds (except in Deus Ex, that was about the amazing experience because the weapons were generally crap), and HL2's weaponry all except the rocket launcher, crossbow (to an extent), magnum, and gravity gun were all weak. The bad part: all of those guns are the ones you RARELY EVER get ammo for.

[QUOTE=Victor Van Dort]Kirby, every game is somewhat linear. F.E.A.R. was just as linear as HL2. They both had a lot of scripted scenes and events. Every game has an objective to get to, and it doesn't matter if you can take a long route or a short route, each game has a story line it needs to put out. Stop complaining. The gravity gun wasn't a gimmick at all. You used it MANY times in the game. All of Ravenholm you had to use it due to lack of ammo, and for a bajillion puzzles you had to use it. You complain that games are boring and all the same, then HL2 brings in the gravity gun and you ignore it as a gimmick. There is no making you happy.[/QUOTE]
FEAR was linear to a point--it's how far that point is. Call of Duty the original is renowned for being open to exploration on the map, allowing you to surprise the enemies from all angles. That's something that was badly missed in UO, the expansion (how many ****ing mines are there, seriously). We know, almost all FPS' have you go to a certain point, or kill a certain guy. But you forget that there's freedom in HOW you can do it in most, and also in other games the AI response is much better. Even with the HP on the soldiers turned up the AI isn't nearly as good as say FarCry's or FEAR's. There's a lot of things that come into play that, mostly, HL2 just misses. True, there are some parts where it allows you a little freedom--but not many. You're just a fanboy through and through, and you can't allow anyone else having a differing opinion than yours. Kind of sounds hypocritical coming through my mouth, yeah, we got that out of the way now, nobody cares.

We don't like it because it's too linear. Get over it.

I'd suggest checking UHS-hints.com. I bought HL2 today, and I'm in about the same spot (Ravenholm mines now).

If you're where I think you are, there's a grassy alley between some shipping crates. You need to jump up on some boxes and work your way above (the zombies respawn).

you said Deus Ex twice.

No, it's the right thread.

And I know where to go, I'm just mad about having to use the frickin' gravity gun. It's cool and all, but getting old when I have to USE A SHOPPING BASKET to kill these guys (doesn't work, I get killed).

And the grenadier guys are annoying too, with the poison headcrab things.

I've been up for 26 hours straight on nothing but caffeine, and have in the course had only a few fries, and two burgers. Sorry, but I think my own exhaustion is getting the better of me.

26 hours.

When I did my 36 hour stint, I was completely awake (almost hyper, I think) at 26 hours. But I'd eaten more than you.

Yeah, but I had only gotten ~4 hours of sleep during the day, and had been up for 22 hours previous to that.

I'm seriously running on empty. Trying to normalize my stupid *** sleep schedule.

sv_cheats 1
impulse 101
god



problem solved

HL2 was a exciting game. The episodes definitley bring back nostalgia.

I just sort of speed ran through the zombies, and had plenty of ammo to deal with the fast ones.

Ravenholm was definetely my least favorite part of the game. The sniper alley afterward was one of my favorites, though, even if it was pretty short.

You have to use the gravity gun as much as possible to conserve your ammo. Wait for the fast zombies to get close and use the shotgun.

Yeah, I loved HL2 as well, except for a few parts where it just stretched ON AND ON. I actually just reformatted my computer and had to install it to get CS:S on there as well, so I might play through it yet again. FarCry also seems very tempting at the moment.

Far cry starts out fun but then it gets annoying. And liner. Linear isn't bad when you're rushed through quickly and the environment changes quickly like in HL2. but the endless bunkers in Far Cry with the stupidly strong enemies almost made me quite. Not only was it hard, it was slow and not fun at all. And 99% of people thought the gravity gun was fun. Including me. Maybe we were playing a different version of the game because I didn't see the constant gravity gun puzzles. It was well paced and well thought out, and I'm tired of seeing the rants from people who have some mind of chip on their shoulder. It was a well made game and if the style didn't appeal to you say so and be done with it.

Beat Ravenholm. God that was hard.

The mines and the graveyard at the end were hella fun though. So was the train bit (sniper's alley, as Zell said).

I'm currently at the end of Sand Traps (at least, I think it's the end; I'm turning off the thumpers on the beach). My thoughts:

It's really heavily scripted, which is kind of cool and kind of bad: Point Insertion was pretty intense, but it's not something you'd ever want to play again for the sake of playing the game (if, on the other hand, you wanted to play something that's like a TV show or movie in it's execution then you might). Some levels aren't like this, however - Water Hazard is very replayable.

Ravenholm was okay but it just seemed like something thrown for no apparent reason. Undead-filled city and crazy church zombie hunter guy? What does this have to do with the Combine?

I liked both Highway 17 and Water Hazard (though Highway 17 a little less; it was soooo long). I guess they were the least scripted...lots of fun with running down ant lions and blasting Combine soldiers.

I've got some questions:

-What is Ravenholm? Is it part of City 17? Does it link into the story at all?
-Where is City 17 anyways? It seems like a French or Russian sort of European town.

Gravity Gun is the perfect anti-man-hack

And cement bricks + Gravity Gun + combine soldier = infinite ammo

Ravenholm is not a part of City 17, as far as I know; you have to get out pretty far from City 17 on the airboat, and Ravenholm isn't that far from Vance's base.

City 17 is supposed to be a generic east-European city. No real location is given for it; makes it easier for level designers, as they don't have to deal with "wtf this is in teh real city whys it not in the game lollerskates" Valve used a lot of European building art and incorporated it into the design and look of City 17.

It's close to City 17, a hamlet on the outskirts of sorts, that got heavily shelled by the combine headcrab canisters (which are strangely absent).


It's in an ex-bloc country. A lot of the theories point to somewhere in Ukraine. I don't remember if it's obvious in HL2, but in Episode 1 there is plenty of Cyrillic writing to hint at the location.

I enjoyed HL2 for the story and the pacing for the most part. Like Yoshi said, the weapons were pretty crappy. The Pulse Rifle just absolutely pissed me off and the lack of a decent sniping weapon (while the crossbow has some fun effects, there's no ammo for it. Also, I'm not counting zoom-sniping with the Magnum) was a letdown. They should really have just taken a handful of the CS:S weapons and used those instead of the standard HL2 weapons. The Scout in HL2 would have been awesome. Airboat and buggy parts were a bit long, but not terrible. I just wished it was more broken up, giving you vehicles of opportunity, like in FarCry. I hated how it was "Here is the airboat, this is what you'll be doing for the next 20 minutes. It's your only means of conveyance." I rarely used the gravity gun outside of Ravenholm and the Citadel. Though in early builds of HL2 you could block the Combine's weapons with a pill bottle. The enemy AI is also not outstanding. They'll duck behind a crate for a moment, and then come right back out to shoot at you. I rarely noticed any attempt to manuever to a flanking position or to call backup etc.

Ravenholm was supposed to be kind of set-up by the Lost Coast, right? The city in the back being shelled is Ravenholm, if I remember correctly. Perhaps if the Lost Coast would've been left in, it would've given Ravenholm a bit more purpose.

I love Ravenholm. Those screaming jumping things never cease to scare the crap out of me.

However, the worst thing about Ravenholm...Father Gregori's shotgun. Worst....texturing....ever

I had about 3 times that I was scared.

3 times I saw a headcrab jump when I turned a corner, and my arms, legs, and head went into a quick spasm. MY ARMS FLEW UP IN THE AIR.

Hehehe, during our Game Design class, Wolfy and I ran a whole bunch of experiments with Annabelle in our mods and also in Gmod. It's the dumbest gun ever. A shotgun that is pinpoint accurate across the Gmod map.

The Pulse rifle is the best gun in the game if you fire in bursts. Accurate, and kills in only about 3-4 hits if you aim well enough.

As for the crossbow... you're not supposed to have a lot of ammo for a long-range one-shot-kill weapon, but that aside, rarely are you put in a situation that requires the crossbow more than any other weapon.

The weapons are admittedly bland, but they don't suck if you use them correctly.

That's another thing. The shotgun is the shiz. It's so powerful, each little pellet (or whatever the shells in HL2 carry) feels like it could do a ton of damage, and the ricochets off those things are awesome.


I'm saddened by the doors not being able to be manipulated by me running into them or the Gravity Gun.

Is it a shot gun or a rifle?

Where do you get the SDK?

Open Steam, it's under the "tools" tab.

Yeah, except it wasn't well made. There could have been improvements. While some overlook them and look at other aspects, those are the things I look for in a good FPS--gameplay. And to me, HL2 would've delivered had it not been for the absolutely craptastic weaponry.


Except most of the time you didn't have ammo for the pulse rifle either. You usually had either the SMG or the pistol, once in a while you'll have a stint where you have pulse rifle ammo, etc. And you're taking certain tiny examples out twisting my words--I don't want a lot of ammo for a sniper weapon. I want a decent amount of ammo for something other than the pistol/toy rattle (which is what I'm convinced the SMG is). I want to have rockets at times OTHER than when I'm fighting the gunships and directly thereafter. Not many, but a few here and there would've been nice. Etc.

The guns DID suck, because most of the time you had to resort to the semi-accurate sniping of the lameass pistol you had, or flinging **** at the combine. Otherwise you were mostly SOL weaponry-wise.

[QUOTE=Dj Yoshi]Except most of the time you didn't have ammo for the pulse rifle either. You usually had either the SMG or the pistol, once in a while you'll have a stint where you have pulse rifle ammo, etc. And you're taking certain tiny examples out twisting my words--I don't want a lot of ammo for a sniper weapon. I want a decent amount of ammo for something other than the pistol/toy rattle (which is what I'm convinced the SMG is). I want to have rockets at times OTHER than when I'm fighting the gunships and directly thereafter. Not many, but a few here and there would've been nice. Etc.

The guns DID suck, because most of the time you had to resort to the semi-accurate sniping of the lameass pistol you had, or flinging **** at the combine. Otherwise you were mostly SOL weaponry-wise.[/QUOTE]

I was referring to Ric_Olie's post for the most part, though granted I should have specified.

Regardless, if you manage your ammo, you'll never have problems. The SMG and pistol do suck, but everything else is worth using, and there's enough ammo for all of them that if you switch amongst them you won't have problems.

I went through the entire game on hard having full ammo for the RPG, crossbow, magnum, and pulse rifle for the most part. The shotgun is an excellent weapon and ammo for it is common, and the SMG is decent enough to fall back on for CQB or when you're trying to conserve ammunition. The only reason you'd be forced to use the SMG or pistol is if you're not managing your ammo.

Ammo should be rare for those better weapons, because otherwise there'd be no strategy other than just blasting everything in sight.

I don't get it. Black Mesa took place somewhere in Arizona, right? How come HL2 takes place in European settings?

I liked HL2 more than HL1. Perhaps I feel more home in an European city setting than some freaking laboratory, a cliff, laboratory and, oh, alien world.

[QUOTE=Dj Yoshi]
The bad part: all of those guns are the ones you RARELY EVER get ammo for.
[/QUOTE]

But wouldn't an abundance of that ammo just make the game dramatically easier? I mean, those weapons are pretty darn powerful.

most my favourite games are linear

I like all of the people that quoted my block of text, and then said something about how they hate when people think that their opinion is right, and then proceed to tell me my opinion is wrong.

I didn't like the game's linear gameplay. You are ok with it being linear.

It's cute when people get offended when someone doesn't like a game they adore.

Oh, and I HAVE turned up the health on the combine, as many people suggested: Even on the highest difficulty level, I think you could pre-program a set of button presses and it'd work for 80% of the time. The soldiers are almost pre-scripted, in that I know EXACTLY what they'll do, and can counter it almost instantly.

FarCry, however, I'll think the enemy is going to circle back around a bunker, and I'm tricked when he signals his budy to flank me while he fakes around. I end up with a pistol in my back, and an automatic on my flank, and a sniper up the hill a little ways that heard the alarm they pulled, AND I can hear more enemies coming. I'm screwed. NO other game has made me feel that intense. None. This game was made almost a year before HL2. It CAME with my graphics card. It looks JUST as good. The weapons are RELIABLE and BALANCED and work well in several different situations. If I want ammo, I go to a logical storage place for ammo, and it's THERE. I want to get to a cave on an island, I get to the cave ANY WAY I PLEASE. I take a boat? Maybe a jeap? Maybe I just stalk the ways? Maybe I do a combination of all 3? Maybe I just swim ALL THE WAY AROUND THE ISLAND and avoid combat COMPLETELY and go into the cave? No, you're right. FarCry was JUST as linear as HL2. *Rollseyes*

Everyone moved from the USA to Europe for some reason.

Which means the USA must have been worse than Europe at the time.

Or maybe they were sick of the anti-war protesters saying "We don't support the war against alienism!"

And then moved to Europe.

Then why does everyone in Europe in the game have an American accent!!??

Kirby: Dude, you have convinced me to go check out FarCry and see what it's all about.

I don't remember anyone saying that at all. I agree that Far Cry is very open ended and free, allowing you to choose whatever path you want to take. That's a good quality. However, the game loses most of its fun in the superhuman A.I. I agree that thier TACTICS are very good, in that they call for backup and flank, but thier reflexes... arrgh. They can spot me in ridiculous circumstances, like when I'm prone in a bush, far away from them. And they can track me wherever I go, so there's no such thing as hit-n-run, as they will shoot you through the bushes and so on with pin point accuracy after they've seen you once. It really pissed me off.

The ONLY complaint I have with FarCry's AI isn't with the AI (I've done many hit and runs, as it's how I went through the realistic mode with just a knife, so I have no clue what you're talking about) but with their health. On realistic, you can hit a guy with a sniper rifle and he lives. OR you can unload with the P90 on a guy and he'll go hide in a corner, as if he didn't just get his body riddled with bullets.

And of course, FarCry was ruined by the mutants .

There was strategy? The only thing I did if I didn't have ammo was look for the nearest explosive barrel--which was never more than 3 feet away. Honestly, the game has more explosive barrels than I could fathom would ever be necessary.

[QUOTE=IRG SithLord]But wouldn't an abundance of that ammo just make the game dramatically easier? I mean, those weapons are pretty darn powerful.[/QUOTE]
You're going from one extreme to the other--I don't want an abundance. I want a decent amount. Enough to make it challenging but not too challenging.

And I conserved my ammo as best I could on the hardest mode (I don't remember, it's been like a year or two since I played.), but I still ran out plenty. I didn't bother giving it a second chance to see if I could conserve better, though, and I don't plan on it either.

Actually, I didn't quote your text at all, but good job figuring out that I was referring to you.

And no. I could care less what you like. You can think HL2 sucks all you want, it's not my business. What is my business is your arrogant, condescending attitude, acting as if everyone who likes HL2 is inferior compared to your massive intelligence, and that is what I have a problem with. Guess what: You're not right. HL2 was a good game. The vast majority enjoyed it. You don't have to like it, but don't treat others poorly because they do.



And thanks for proving my point.