"The Freeman Returns" with The Official Orange Box Thread
- Thread starter The M.O.B
- Start date
ThaiGrocer
Member
Better textures? More HDD space.
celestial body
Member
I know it seems premature but out of interest have they said there's going to be an ep3 teaser at the end of the game like in ep1?
fistfulofmetal
Banned
Frenck said:
No, that's the year 2004.
It was just a stupid way to point out that the game looks dated, even if you consider the art direction. But I hope that nobody plays HL for the graphics.
I'm not a fan of HL2 but the episodes look much better. The things that killed the whole experience for me in the original HL2 were the loading issues and the vehicle sections, but both seem to have been fixed by Valve for the episodes.
Maybe I'll be finally able to appreciate what HL has to offer. It's always been bugging me that I don't like a game that is loved by just about anyone. At least I don't outright hate it like RE4
I hate Valve though. I will never forget the HL2 launch disaster and the entire industry ignoring it. The game was a buggy, stuttering mess, didn't feature a multiplayer mode, could only be played if you installed Steam and were connected to the internet, as a SP only game at the time mind you.
It was even more of a pain in the ass for people who bought and downloaded it over Steam. They didn't make it easy for me to enjoy the game the way it was meant to be enjoyed.
And to be honest after 6 years, numerous delays and those faked E3 demos back in the day, they HAD to deliver a great game. A task they accomplished even though they did their best to screw it up. Valve should be taking more shit from the gaming press and gamers themselves.
Blah, whatever... I'm sure I'll buy the Orange Box for my 360 early next year anyway. Can't resist a quality game even if I hate the developer behind it.
I'm not a fan of HL2 but the episodes look much better. The things that killed the whole experience for me in the original HL2 were the loading issues and the vehicle sections, but both seem to have been fixed by Valve for the episodes.
Maybe I'll be finally able to appreciate what HL has to offer. It's always been bugging me that I don't like a game that is loved by just about anyone. At least I don't outright hate it like RE4
I hate Valve though. I will never forget the HL2 launch disaster and the entire industry ignoring it. The game was a buggy, stuttering mess, didn't feature a multiplayer mode, could only be played if you installed Steam and were connected to the internet, as a SP only game at the time mind you.
It was even more of a pain in the ass for people who bought and downloaded it over Steam. They didn't make it easy for me to enjoy the game the way it was meant to be enjoyed.
And to be honest after 6 years, numerous delays and those faked E3 demos back in the day, they HAD to deliver a great game. A task they accomplished even though they did their best to screw it up. Valve should be taking more shit from the gaming press and gamers themselves.
Blah, whatever... I'm sure I'll buy the Orange Box for my 360 early next year anyway. Can't resist a quality game even if I hate the developer behind it.
Weird - my experience was the opposite. Steam sucked for the first few weeks of the beta, but by the time HL2 rolled around I was playing within minutes of the launch after having pre-loaded, and it ran like a charm. I had also been playing CS:S for weeks for pre-ordering, which was a lot of fun.Frenck said:
I guess one's mileage may vary.
Fallout-NL
Member
adg1034 said:
Huh?
Frenck said:It was just a stupid way to point out that the game looks dated, even if you consider the art direction. But I hope that nobody plays HL for the graphics.
I'm not a fan of HL2 but the episodes look much better. The things that killed the whole experience for me in the original HL2 were the loading issues and the vehicle sections, but both seem to have been fixed by Valve for the episodes.
Maybe I'll be finally able to appreciate what HL has to offer. It's always been bugging me that I don't like a game that is loved by just about anyone. At least I don't outright hate it like RE4
I hate Valve though. I will never forget the HL2 launch disaster and the entire industry ignoring it. The game was a buggy, stuttering mess, didn't feature a multiplayer mode, could only be played if you installed Steam and were connected to the internet, as a SP only game at the time mind you.
It was even more of a pain in the ass for people who bought and downloaded it over Steam. They didn't make it easy for me to enjoy the game the way it was meant to be enjoyed.
And to be honest after 6 years, numerous delays and those faked E3 demos back in the day, they HAD to deliver a great game. A task they accomplished even though they did their best to screw it up. Valve should be taking more shit from the gaming press and gamers themselves.
Blah, whatever... I'm sure I'll buy the Orange Box for my 360 early next year anyway. Can't resist a quality game even if I hate the developer behind it.
i was playing HL2 off steam probably 10 minutes after it was released (played it all night and into the morning). i had it pre-loaded and it wasn't too much trouble getting it unlocked. and it did have multiplayer -- cs:s was released with it and included in the price. maybe a week later, HL2DM came out and it was fun throwing toilets at eachother. few months later DOD:S came out (i bought the silver edition, so dod:s was included).
i'm not saying valve is perfect, but steam was fine when HL2 came out. at least, it was much better than when steam first came out with 1.6 -- that was awful. it's no reason to "hate" valve though.
I bought the boxed copy, but I've heard horror stories about crashed servers and slow downloads and Steam bugs. Maybe it wasn't THAT bad, just a few overreactions by HL fanboys after waiting for so many years.
Still, my own experience with the boxed copy was negative. It took forever to install, the reinstall a couple of weeks ago took about 3-4 hours for some reason. I own the vanilla version of HL2 without any extras and the installation probably brought it up to the current standards along with all that worthless CS business and the Lost Coast stuff. I only care for HL2 and HL2DM.
The worst thing about it was opening the box and only finding an orange little flyer and the DVD inside. One thing I love about PC games, especially the classics, are the various contents that come with the box. As a console gamer I would even be happy with a detailed manual that explains the story and the characters, something that shows the passion that went into the development of that particular game. HL2 had nothing, I don't even think it had a pdf file on the DVD. Valve simply didn't care and it felt very bland, almost like a budget game.
Games like Elite Force 2, Blade Runner, the Lucas Arts classics or Oblivion had great content that came with the game. HL2, by many considered to be the best game of all times, should at least come with a damn manual. Maybe even a black & white one printed on cheap paper like some budget game, but at least give me something that shows that you care.
Maybe I'm just picky but I really appreciate little details like that and I immediately notice when they're missing.
Still, my own experience with the boxed copy was negative. It took forever to install, the reinstall a couple of weeks ago took about 3-4 hours for some reason. I own the vanilla version of HL2 without any extras and the installation probably brought it up to the current standards along with all that worthless CS business and the Lost Coast stuff. I only care for HL2 and HL2DM.
The worst thing about it was opening the box and only finding an orange little flyer and the DVD inside. One thing I love about PC games, especially the classics, are the various contents that come with the box. As a console gamer I would even be happy with a detailed manual that explains the story and the characters, something that shows the passion that went into the development of that particular game. HL2 had nothing, I don't even think it had a pdf file on the DVD. Valve simply didn't care and it felt very bland, almost like a budget game.
Games like Elite Force 2, Blade Runner, the Lucas Arts classics or Oblivion had great content that came with the game. HL2, by many considered to be the best game of all times, should at least come with a damn manual. Maybe even a black & white one printed on cheap paper like some budget game, but at least give me something that shows that you care.
Maybe I'm just picky but I really appreciate little details like that and I immediately notice when they're missing.
Angst said:
Use this link to get HL2: DM and HL2: LC for free:
http://www.steampowered.com/ati_offer1a/dl/redirect.html
Click on the "Yes, I already have Steam Installed!".
If you don't have an ATI card, then use 3D-Analyze to get HL2: DM and HL2: LC (fake the VendorID and the DeviceID to an ATI card).
http://www.tommti-systems.com/main-Dateien/files.html
Select Steam.exe in 3D-Analyze and Run.
You only have to do this once.
Prime crotch
Banned
It's Valve's strategy to make users get used into their digital distribution platform all the manuals are there trough Steam.Frenck said:
Computer programmer turned singer and songwriter Jonathon Coulton has teamed up with Valve to release a single specifically for the release of the Orange Box package on the 10th of October.
To learn more about just who Jonathon Coulton is, visit his official website at http://www.jonathancoulton.com/
5 Days Remain
To learn more about just who Jonathon Coulton is, visit his official website at http://www.jonathancoulton.com/
5 Days Remain
Prime crotch
Banned
I'm at 83% of the pre-load but I was wondering how can I see how much is actually left in bandwith. Is it 1gig or less cause I can't push it much more this month.
Graphics Horse
Member
Prime crotch said:
Right click on the game in your steam list and choose properties, then go to the local files tab. That should tell you the total size.
Jaded Alyx said:
Ah ok, I only tried it on Deus Ex. It's a bit weird that they don't even list a number in the system requirements for Ep:2.
Jaded Alyx
Member
Graphics Horse said:
That only works if the game has been released, as far as I can tell.
celestial body
Member
Did anybody else's Portal preload just go back to 99.5% and start d/ling again? I think they updated a file.
UnholySpectacle
Member
GrayFoxPL said:
Damn that sucks, sorry man.
Baron Doggystyle von Woof
Member
I tried to buy the Orange box today trough steam with Paypal, but paypal blocked my account for no reason. I wanna kill someone right now.
plagiarize
Banned
you don't remember the stuttering issue that plagued so many of us from the game's release?dfyb said:
i was playing hl2 at 3:15 am (EST) but it crashed twice for me and had stuttering problems.
it was still an awesome game, but it did debut in a pretty ugly state. yeah, it worked fine for some, but the stuttering problem was really wide spread... and as i recall there were some unlocking issues for people that bought the boxed version.
CS:S was released before HL2 fwiw, in beta, much as TF2 was.
but hey, i don't get why anyone would want CS:S when they get TF2... unless they like getting racial and homophobic slurs thrown at them in a game with goatse sprayed all over the walls.
ThaiGrocer
Member
Just in case: new footage from 1up show. http://www.gamevideos.com/video/id/15223
Prime crotch
Banned
Graphics Horse said:
VideoMan said:
Thanks both, guess I'll be playing Portal until the my ISP ticker resets on the eleventh.
smarties00
Member
would this work on a 2.16g macbook? With Vista of course.
smarties00
Member
theultimo said:
Cheers. I cant wait to get this game.
Still need to play through Episode One, but the framerate isn't solid on my computer at 1280x800... I think I'm going to end up getting the 360 version, but I'd rather play on a mouse and keyboard, especially after watching the 1up show. So it's either play it on 360 or play it at about a 3rd of the resolution of my monitor. Decisions decisions.
