Orchid XP v7 <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
> (I *still* can't do the double-fling very well. Indeed, I'm still having 
> trouble with a single-fling. It's just very hard to hit the portal...)

  You are probably doing it wrongly and that's why it's so difficult.

  Double-flinging is pretty easy. First find a place where you can do it:
Basically a vertical surface at a high altitude, with a floor below it
(both surfaces should obviously allow portals). Create eg. a red portal
on the vertical surface, and then the blue portal anywhere you like, eg.
a wall nearby. Step through the blue portal and you will obviously start
falling down. As you fall down, aim directly down and shoot a new blue
portal shortly before you hit the ground. -> Fling!

  I think that many people haven't realized this "shoot a new portal
while you are falling" basic technique, which is why they find it so
hard.

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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Warp wrote:
> Orchid XP v7 <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
>> (I *still* can't do the double-fling very well. Indeed, I'm still having 
>> trouble with a single-fling. It's just very hard to hit the portal...)
> 
>   You are probably doing it wrongly and that's why it's so difficult.
> 
>   Double-flinging is pretty easy. First find a place where you can do it:
> Basically a vertical surface at a high altitude, with a floor below it
> (both surfaces should obviously allow portals). Create eg. a red portal
> on the vertical surface, and then the blue portal anywhere you like, eg.
> a wall nearby. Step through the blue portal and you will obviously start
> falling down. As you fall down, aim directly down and shoot a new blue
> portal shortly before you hit the ground. -> Fling!
> 
>   I think that many people haven't realized this "shoot a new portal
> while you are falling" basic technique, which is why they find it so
> hard.

The main problem is walking through one portal, falling out of the 
other, rotating cat-style while in free fall, trying to figure out where 
the hell you are and which way you're facing, and... oh wait, I'm on the 
ground again. :-S

I think the game would probably be helped if all the walls *weren't* 
identical. It's quite disorienting enough walking through random portals 
without being easily able to see where you're going / where you just 
came from. ;-)

PS. In the time between writing my last post and writing this one, I 
re-completed the game with comentary turned on. (Or rather, I 
recompleted the second half of it. I did the first half yesterday.) The 
commentary is almost overwhelmingly dense at the start, and 
dissapointingly sparse towards the end.

Interesting note: The final battle seemed *massively* easier this time. 
Maybe because I know what I'm actually trying to do this time round...

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PS. Do you have HL2:EP2? I can't complete [what is probably] the final 
battle. It's just too hard.

The Hunters are virtually indescructible, and you only have about 20 
seconds to kill 7 of them, make 3 failed attempts at using the Magnesson 
Device and bring down the Strider. Oh, did I mention? THERE ARE FIVE OF 
THEM! Five Striders, each with seven Hunters. You have 20 seconds to 
kill them all.

I recall the G-Man's words: "A battle you have No Hope of winning..."

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> PS. Do you have HL2:EP2? I can't complete [what is probably] the final
> battle. It's just too hard.

I found it very difficult also. The trick seems to be taking out as many
hunters as you can before working on the striders, since the hunters destroy
the magnessons. You definitely have more than 20 seconds though if you
handle them one at a time. Taking down the hunters is the hardest part; you
can accumulate explosives ahead of time (bring them to the beginning of the
area, the choke point that all striders will have to pass through). You can
also take any hunter out with the alternate fire of the combine pulse rifle
(don't miss! quicksave ahead of time) or a couple rockets. When you run out
of those and explosives, try running them over with your car. When all else
fails use the shotgun.

If you drive around, and you should at first to make use of the items in the
more distant buildings, use the magnesson holder on the back of your car.
Later I found that I spent most of my time at the main entrance so you want
to conserve the items there.

If at any point a strider is getting too close, start using magnessons on it
even if there are still hunters around. If you've taken out enough of the
hunters you can sometimes get the strider anyway.

I wasn't happy with the way they try to humiliate you if you lose.

 - Slime
 [ http://www.slimeland.com/ ]

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>   For some reason I didn't find the puzzles too difficult. Some of them
> required some thinking, but I would estimate that even the hardest ones
> I solved in like 5-10 minutes.

That doesn't surprise me given your programming background.

>   I haven't tried the challenge levels yet, though. Those ought to be
> much harder, I suppose.

They are definitely more of a challenge. The "least portals" ones are all
worth doing. I also found the "least time" challenges fun, but the "least
steps" not so much. Also, be sure to do the advanced levels if you haven't
yet. Those are easier than the challenges but harder than the game.

 - Slime
 [ http://www.slimeland.com/ ]

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Slime wrote:
>> PS. Do you have HL2:EP2? I can't complete [what is probably] the final
>> battle. It's just too hard.
> 
> I found it very difficult also. The trick seems to be taking out as many
> hunters as you can before working on the striders, since the hunters destroy
> the magnessons.

This is a problem. The Hunters can't die. (Or rather, they can't die 
unless you unload your entire ammo supply at them for about 5 minutes. 
Then *one* of them dies. But there's still 7 others waiting to be 
killed. Oh, assuming they don't surround you and kill you first...)

> You definitely have more than 20 seconds though if you
> handle them one at a time.

Yeah, but... in spite of the radar, I can't *find* them until they're 
practically on top of the base. I then have about 20 seconds to take 'em 
out. (And they all arrive at once...)

> Taking down the hunters is the hardest part; you
> can accumulate explosives ahead of time (bring them to the beginning of the
> area, the choke point that all striders will have to pass through). You can
> also take any hunter out with the alternate fire of the combine pulse rifle
> (don't miss! quicksave ahead of time) or a couple rockets. When you run out
> of those and explosives, try running them over with your car. When all else
> fails use the shotgun.

I can't find any damn ammo anywhere. I keep ending up with almost none left.

The car seems to be the only fast way to kill a hunter. But the car is 
so utterly uncontrolable, and the hunters are so nimble... well, you 
don't stand much of a chance. (The only other way is the orb fire from 
the pulse rifle. But then we're talking 100% pure luck as to whether you 
hit or not. And you only get 3 shots in the entire game.)

> If you drive around, and you should at first to make use of the items in the
> more distant buildings, use the magnesson holder on the back of your car.

Damn right. All the other supply dealies have already been blown up, so 
every time I miss with a magnesson, I have to drive 20 minutes back to 
the base to get another one... :-(

> If at any point a strider is getting too close, start using magnessons on it
> even if there are still hunters around. If you've taken out enough of the
> hunters you can sometimes get the strider anyway.

This is basically what I'm reduced to doing. Hoping I can take out all 
five striders by pure pot luck. So far I've replayed the same 90 seconds 
of game endlessly for about half an hour, and I just can't take 'em all 
out fast enough. :-{

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Orchid XP v7 <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
> The main problem is walking through one portal, falling out of the 
> other, rotating cat-style while in free fall, trying to figure out where 
> the hell you are and which way you're facing, and... oh wait, I'm on the 
> ground again. :-S

  I don't see what's the problem with that. If both portals are on vertical
surfaces, you just walk through, like through a regular door, and "down"
will be "down" and nothing else. Just turn down and shoot before hitting
the floor.

  Even if one of the portals is not on a vertical surface, visualizing
the situation is helped by being able to visualize 3D space, like when
designing POV-Ray scenes in your head. :P

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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Orchid XP v7 <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
> PS. Do you have HL2:EP2?

  Yes, but I haven't played it through yet.

  Once again Valve failed to disappoint with this game. It's very immersive
and addictive from the very start. I'm also impressed about the amount of
graphics and special effects they have succeeded in putting in the levels
and still maintain a very good framerate. (It barely doesn't reach the
level of detail of Oblivion, but OTOH it has a much better framerate.)

  I like the strong storylines of the HL2 series.

  Most FPS games have very weak, almost inexistent storylines, where the
makers clearly haven't put too many resources in them. You get an intro,
a few short plot details here and there, and an outro. Usually it's all
rather simple and not very worked. Usually even the little plot there is
doesn't seem to matter too much. It's more like "yeah, yeah, blah blah,
let me play already". Also the backstory often is very detached from the
game itself.

  Not so with the HL2 series. The stories are believable and interesting,
and they have clearly put a lot of effort in merging the plot and the
gameplay, to make it more interesting.

  In the past some FPS games have tried the concept of NPC sidekicks, and
usually failed miserably. Usually these sidekicks are completely useless,
annoying and more a burden than anything else (especially if them dying
means game over).
  In some games mandatory sidekicks are extremely stupid. A very prominent
example is Oblivion, where it feels like your allies are constantly moving
to your line of fire, so that you will hit them instead of the enemy. It
gets really irritating very soon, especially when there's a bad consequence
of hitting an ally (such as being expelled from a guild).

  Again, not so in the HL2 series, especially episodes 1 and 2. The
sidekicks are actually helpful and not annoying at all. They really are
very strong allies in fighting, and they mostly know how to keep out
of your way (even though I think you couldn't even hurt them even if
you shoot at them, but it's good that they keep out of your line of fire
just for visibility reasons if nothing else). Also if they are blocking
your way in a narrow passage, they usually move away quite promptly when
needed.
  Also, the allies (especially Alyx) are not just dumb gameplay elements,
but add to the plot. They act, they tell you things, and they direct your
attention to events (one good example being the beginning of Episode 2,
where Alyx tells you to look at the railway bridge).

<nerd mode>
  It's also cool to drive with Alyx at your side. It almost feels like
in a date.
</nerd mode>

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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Warp wrote:

>   Once again Valve failed to disappoint with this game. It's very immersive
> and addictive from the very start. I'm also impressed about the amount of
> graphics and special effects they have succeeded in putting in the levels
> and still maintain a very good framerate. (It barely doesn't reach the
> level of detail of Oblivion, but OTOH it has a much better framerate.)

As I have written previously, I have been quite dissapointed with HL2 
and HL2:EP1.

*This* game, however, is FUN. (Remember fun? Fun is good...)

>   I like the strong storylines of the HL2 series.
> 
>   Most FPS games have very weak, almost inexistent storylines, where the
> makers clearly haven't put too many resources in them.

...as in, "you are the last survivor, trapped alone on the alien 
homeworld. Try to stay alive!"

>   Not so with the HL2 series. The stories are believable and interesting,
> and they have clearly put a lot of effort in merging the plot and the
> gameplay, to make it more interesting.

HL1 kind of had more of a concept of a story than most. (In particular, 
you play through the beginning of the "story" - which was novel at the 
time.) HL2 takes it slightly further. But it's really EP1 and EP2 where 
the story element becomes quite strong.

>   In the past some FPS games have tried the concept of NPC sidekicks, and
> usually failed miserably.

Yeah, this is a rather tough game design challenge.

Real humans possess a level of intelligence that AI designers can 
currently only dream about. So you have to somehow make an NPC who won't 
die too easily, but isn't too invincible either. They have to be able to 
help you in a battle, but not win the whole thing for you. And - 
possibly hardest of all - they have to act believably whatever the 
player decides to do. (How the heck are the designers supposed to 
anticipate that one? Well, they can't really...)

>   Again, not so in the HL2 series, especially episodes 1 and 2. The
> sidekicks are actually helpful and not annoying at all. They really are
> very strong allies in fighting, and they mostly know how to keep out
> of your way. Also if they are blocking
> your way in a narrow passage, they usually move away quite promptly when
> needed.

Especially in HL2, allies getting in your way seemed to be a constant 
problem. They seem to have fixed this in EP1 and EP2.

>   Also, the allies (especially Alyx) are not just dumb gameplay elements,
> but add to the plot.

Some *real* plot twists in EP2... heh. (What the heck is that G-Man 
actually up to, anyway?)

> <nerd mode>
>   It's also cool to drive with Alyx at your side. It almost feels like
> in a date.
> </nerd mode>

<ubernerd mode>
   I'll have to take your word for that one...
</ubernerd mode>

(BTW, is there a *reason* why she always has to climb into the car 
starting from your side? What's wrong with the *door* on her side?? Is 
it just so you get to have a look at her cute high-polygon butt?)

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Orchid XP v7 <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
> (BTW, is there a *reason* why she always has to climb into the car 
> starting from your side? What's wrong with the *door* on her side?? Is 
> it just so you get to have a look at her cute high-polygon butt?)

  I suppose that the AI can't know if you are going to enter the car or
not, so it just follows you as usual. If you do enter the car, then a
pre-determined animation is played when she enters the car too. I suppose
that they noticed that if she just walked around the car you could just
drive away and let her behind, so with this pre-determined animation they
made it impossible to do so, while still looking at least somewhat convincing.

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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