this Box is rather Orange

Hoping to pick this up today...

What game should one play first? I'm leaning towards Portal

Totally Portal. But also totally TF2. I say play Portal until you're warmed up to the stick, and then play some TF2.

10/10 http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=85044

ahem, so i've been sat at home watching eps of seinfeld all evening because i COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT THIS!!. Downloading portal and ep2 now...

PORTAL OMG

really all i want out of a game is a cool toy

I've been playing TF2 for a few weeks now. Years ago, I played TFC religiously. I'm not a serious player or anything - I am usually about halfway up on the scoreboard on any online shooter I play - but I really enjoy TF2.

The graphics are absolute genius, and the small map rotation was a great idea. With all of the "tactical" FPS that have come out over the years, I've really been craving a fast-paced arcadey first person shooter, and TF2 is pretty much the pinnacle of that sub-genre.

One thing that's really nice about TF2 is that you can really help your team without being a deathmatch superstar with lightning fast reflexes.

I'm a huge fan of the Steam chat client, too. When you're online, a friend can log in, see that you're in a game, and click a hot link to join your game. It's nice when you're playing on some server and you see a friend join to help out.

I haven't downloaded Portal yet, but I'm looking forward to it.

yeah Portal WOW

My brain is killin' me after an hour of portal. I'm looking at the room in level(?) 10 and just lost without a clue. I can't imagine what the rooms are going to be like when they actually get "challenging."

I tried one game of TF2 and was a lot overwhelmed. The game needs a real tutorial! I'll definitely be going back to it tho. Looks impressive. I've just barely played any team multiplayer stuff - so the learning curve seems especially steep.

I'd never played Half Life 2 (or one for that matter) so I finally started in on that and am really fucking impressed so far. It's hard, confusing, terrifying & the storytelling is completely absorbing in a way that no other fps I've played matches, I think. I can't wait to work through it and get to the more recent stuff and see how the graphics improve (I hope).

Absolutely play Portal first- it's short, taking around three hours to complete, and the ending is a fantastic payoff. And whatever you do, don't skip the credits.

yeah Jeff these games (Portal and HL) really have the most incredible way of opening up the story as you're playing.

I think I'm right at the end of Portal, many times I actually thought the game was ending but i'm pretty sure once i beat you-know-what it will be the end. After a full days wall painting yesterday, I was just too tired at 2am last night to go on.

Some of the puzzles on Portal are fucking genius. I think my goose bumps were at their most extent when I sussed out the 'speedy things in-speedy things out' moment.

OMG I FORGOT ABOUT THIS TOO and I've only been looking forward to it for a year. And I still haven't fixed my PC.

just played ep2 for the first time. More of the same, which is great of course. But I'm at a part now and OMG FFS enough with the worms and tunnels !!

Portals credits, Telephone Thing otm
But for some reason my reward list hasn't ticked off 'complete Portal'. ??

So we'll be able to import new missions? It seems.

Spent a good few hours on Ep2 last night, it's got a lot better.

And have decided that I'm shit at Team Fortress. I started out okay but everyone seems to be wiping me out way too quickly now, and I can't kill anyone. The problem seems to be that I'm not comfortable with any of the classes. I think I'll go back to CS for multiplayer fun.

Maybe for "complete Portal" you have to do all the advanced levels? I'm just on level 16...

other people have gotten that achievement... weird. try beating it again? (it sounds worth it because it's so incredible, or so people say to me)

I unlocked Heartbreaker on my first playthrough, so yeah, something seems to have gone a bit odd. The only bugs I've experienced have been minor- a piston in one area retracts too far into the wall, so you can't see its "cap" when it's fully recessed, just a black circle; a couple lines of dialogue that appear fully in the subtitles but only the second sentence is spoken by GLaDOS; and another extremely minor subtitle issue toward the end that I can't really discuss without spoiling the (wonderful) ending. But how could I complain, when the cake is so delicious and moist?

Oh dear. Playing Episode 2, and while my machine was adequate for Portal (simple environments, few moving objects, yay) some of the more involved bits of Episode 2 are HELL for low-end systems. STRIDERS, SO MANY OF THEM :(

ok, noob question. i have half-life one but never bothered with two because the pc couldn't handle it. have since bought a new pc. this seems like an ideal way to catch up but:

a) it's a laptop, with decentish nvidia card, 7300. will that be enough (min specs on yougamers says directx 8 compatable card is ok). and will it, unlike a bunch of things i dug out again recently, stuff from only a few years ago, understand 1280x800 resolution?

b) i have no network connection, is that an issue? (pls explain the steam thing for extra points) someone on amazon seems to claim that i need to check licence with their servers every time i play.

kthxbye

You only need to authenticate once, when you install it, but that does require an internet connection. From then on, Steam will try to live-update your games by checking for patches every time you run them (takes a couple of seconds), but you can turn this off by setting them to run in offline mode.

I'm on a laptop too, and while the rest of my system is pretty decent considering its age (3 GHz processor, 1 GB RAM) the video card is as ever the sticking point- most laptop cards use shared system memory instead of having any onboard RAM, and if yours does it could be a problem. Mine is 64 MB shared system memory, and while it can technically run HL2, it's not the best experience. One of the problems I'm having is in a later chapter, "Our Mutual Friend"- those who've played it will know what I'm talking about, but without any spoilers it basically involves a huge open area with detailed, destructible buildings, and a few dozen enemies and allies running around. At times my framerate comes dangerously close to "slideshow."

If you can get online, either through dial-up or hooking up to a friend's connection, download Steam, set it up and take a look at the demo section. There's a demo version of HL2 that'll be a better gauge of your system than anything I can tell you.

Steam explanation- think of it as more or less iTunes for video games. It's a digital distribution system for Valve and a few other publishers and an "organizer" for Valve stuff (whether you get it retail or online) and any games you pay to download, and it handles a few other functions like server matchmaking for multiplayer.

Oh, and about resolution, HL2 goes pretty damn high (can't recall the exact highpoint ATM) and supports 16x9 and 16x10 widescreen modes. The newer games and episodes might go a bit higher, since each time they release a new one they roll out graphics updates and support for newer features. Which reminds me, actually, there's a tech demo/"lost level" of HL2 called Lost Coast that was cut from the original game but later rereleased to show off some of the new Episode 1 graphics features, especially HDR lighting. It's probably better for test purposes than the full HL2 demo, not just because of the filesize (around 400MB instead of 900-ish) but because it includes a full benchmark/stress-test routine.

nice answer, thanks.

graphics card is shared memory, it's a 7300 Go i believe, but it is about a factor of 2 better than anything else i've had and stuff used to run ok on the (win98) desktop until they didn't. um, 64M graphics ram according to this: http://www.ciao.co.uk/ASUS_A6Km_Q013H__6483095

i do have dialup, albeit shoddy dialup. and, of course, it's a laptop so i can drag it into work if need be (i have it here now in fact, but am just leaving.)

'iTunes for video games'

erm... 8)

I'm impressed by people who claim to have blown through Portal - though I wasn't trying to complete it for speed - it took me quite a while (5 or 6 hours!) - especially the later levels were pretty tough - or I'm obviously just not too good at this kind of puzzle thinking. I was especially stuck for a long time on the final part of level 18. For a long time I couldn't figure out what to do & then when I sort of did, I found it really hard to pull off - it made me quite dizzy - perhaps that's the one section where it might have been an advantage to be playing it on a small computer monitor instead of a rather large, more immersive television screen...

I enjoyed Portal a lot & it really did feel amazingly satisfying to beat, since it actually was, at least for me, damn challenging.

Do you dudes think that for someone who has the Orange Box on Xbox already but can't play TF because he can't use Live on this particular game but he likes multiplayer FPSes a lot though he's not very good at them it's worth buying the standalone game on Steam for PC?

Gah. Things I really fucking hate: games which tell me I've almost finished when in fact I've still got about 25-30% of the game left to play. Way to kill my interest/patience/desire to figure out your increasingly pissy jumping puzzles, Portal.

Ah well. TF2 seems like loads of fun, I plan to play it lots this week. You should all join me! (Jimdoo on steam)

I'll probably be around Jimd, but I'm not very good. It is fun though.

so i attempted the final room again on Portal and this time the Heartbreaker was unlocked.

I just unlocked Terminal Velocity too, and I've just left my character falling through portals and came to work. Hopefully i'll have unlocked the falling distances by the time I get home.

And just tried TF2 again, i might actually hate this game. Either that or I just really despise the Well level (with the trains). Such a dull level.

I'm madly in love with TF2- wasted way too much time in high school with TFC, been waiting for the sequel for damn near a decade now- but dear lord do I suck. There is only so much I can blame on my video card, the rest is just a combination of my lack of skill at team shooters and sheer blinkered insistence on playing the Pyro. I can't help it; I must keep trying for the "light five people on fire at once" achievement, not to mention his emote animations are just too damn satisfying. MMMFWA-HA-HA-HAAA

i always choose soldier, heavy, or sniper.

i think i might try someone else, pyro guy sounds fun.

My friend used to play TFC near-professionally as a Demoman, they are apparnetly a LOT of fun. I dunno about in TF2, though. My faves were always the "utility" classes-- engineer, medic, spy.

One thing that really impresses me about TF2 is how much more popular the medic is after a few simple tweaks to the class to make him more fun- it might've just been the people on my school's network in Ye Olde Days, but it was like pulling teeth trying to get someone to play medic.

I am all about the medic, I love the challenge of hopping around like an idiot trying to avoid dying while healing dudes.

A friend of mine is starting up a team for league games - I think TF2 will really shine in organized play. I find personally I get tired of public games unless I have a few friends around to team up with.

started playing portal tonight, took me about 2 hours to get to level 18, where i stopped. Great game, great vibe. The hidden are a nice touch, especially when the ambient scoring changes tone.

played some of the advanced challenges last night, wow they get hard. am stuck on the fourth one (16?)

well i'm still shit at TF2. Tried the Pryo and things were a little better but still got pissed off when people somehow managed to survive my flaming torrent.

I think it's definitely back to CS sauce for me.

Portal was so much fun. I am definitely going to beat it a few more times. I am disappointed by its length, but only because I want way, way more of that incredibly fun gameplay. I could make random portals and just dick around for hours, though. Also, the sense of humor was, like, PERFECT. Reminded me a lot of a more grownup, sardonic, less Burton-y Tim Schafer plot or something. I highly, highly recommend a rental, if not a buy.

I'm shit at TF2 as well, but no more shit than I was at CSS. And this is prettier, and more varied. So I'm still enjoying it.

just played 45 minutes of portal. i'm sleeping over at antexit's cuz they're renovating my stupid bathroom. he's asleep. what should i play now?

Swords & Sandals 2?

http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/9121/russiancosplaymb8.jpg

for those who want their own companion cube:

http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/8808/companionez7.th.jpg

yeah i keep checking back in to tf2, am enjoying the pyro a bit more. at least i get some kills with it.

i prefer it over CS in at least one aspect - the respawning more than once.

Did anyone else have trouble getting the Camera Shy achievement point in Portal? I destroyed cameras like mad on my first playthrough but it didn't count them or give me running status updates (like in the "Get Some Grub" or "Grim Pinatas" achievements in Episode 2).

Hit pause and go to Achievements, it shows you there how close you are to complete on the playthrough. How do you kill cameras that are attached to non-portalable walls, though?

Maybe you can drop a cube on them from the roof? Or yourself

I tried doing things like that but it never worked... has it worked for others? I may need to re-beat the game and kill all of the cameras (it's so good I'd probably re-beat it anyway)

I was just looking thru the list and the game has some weird achievements. For instance...

The One Free Bullet - 40 - Beat Episode One firing exactly one bullet. Grenade, crowbar, rocket, and Gravgun kills are okay!

Just finished another playthrough; kind of cheated and used an FAQ to make sure I got all the cameras in each level. Turns out there are exactly 33 cameras on portal-able surfaces; you needn't bother with the cameras attached to metal walls.

My favorite Episode Two achievement is Little Rocket Man ("send the garden gnome into space"). For what it's worth, the one scene where you can get the gnome into the White Forest rocket is toward the end of the game, and the gnome itself is about two minutes in. So to do it properly you have to play the entire episode holding the goddamn thing, including, and this is the hard part, the driving bits- it will fly out of the passenger seat with even the slightest turn.

Oh, and if anyone can get the Neighborhood Watch achievement point, then sir or madam, I salute you. So so very hard.

Played a fair bit of Ep2 last night, reached the Strider/sticky bomb part which just infuriated. Loving the random achievements notices popping up.

What's the Neighborhood Watch one then?

And scored on TF2, am now used to being a Pyro and loving it!

Neighborhood Watch is one you get for preventing the Striders from destroying any of the buildings during the Strider attack part you're on right now. If anyone tells you they've successfully done this then they are a <i>god damned liar</i>.

I rather like being the spy, but I can't imagine it's a used class in "competitive" play. Because people know who's who on their team, etc. But boy is it fun to dress up as a medic or something, and then their dudes run up to you, and you just stand there like you're up for a glass of water or something, then as soon as they turn around you stab their neck! Oh, happy day...

Wow. The end of Portal was pretty incredible. Now I guess I've got to play through HL2. It's been a long time :)

My xbox live account has apparently been suspended due to issues with my payment type. I assume this means something has gone awry with my credit card, which is a massive worry. I suppose I'll have to chase it up tomorrow. Xbox was last paid for last month though, so I can't see how it makes a difference. Maybe they're just being arseholes and stopping me from playing Team Fortress.

episode 2 is great. Far better and more satisfying than 1. Awesome that they somehow figured out how to put a mopar-type muscle car into this thing.

in other news, if this hasn't been mentioned yet:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKg3TUPQ8Sg

http://www.primotechnology.com/2007/10/17/half-life-2-portal/

Playing thru HL2 with the portal gun.

:O

I haven't even hit eps 1 and 2 yet, still working on half-life proper. i maybe do a chapter a night, a good hour or two a pop. i did beat it when it fiiiiirst came out, but it's been so long that practically everything's new to me again.

my gf was asknig if i liked HL2 more than portal, which is such a hard question to answer... HL2 is just such a huger, broader experience, i am learning by playing through it again. it has EVERYTHING-- not to mention how insane it was to have that physics engine, when you put it in the context of a few years ago. I loved Portal, but I may have loved HL2 more... thoughts?

Portal IS my game of the year, though, I reckon.

Portal is kind of a perfect tiny kernel of a game. You want more, but to add any more content would spoil the experience, I think. There may be some interesting community work done for it but it's not really something I'd want to re-visit.

HL2 is a much more cinematic experience - it's like running through a great big post-apocalyptic world - I'm more interested in exploring and the characters / story than I am in the shooting bits; said shooting bits are great too, because they blend seemlessly into the exploration / story - I never felt like I was running from point A to point B just because that was the way the level was layed out, it was always a very organic progression.

And the game stands up very well against current releases!
I am always impressed at the expressions and faces of HL2's characters - they don't look like glassy-eyed Uncanny Valley dolls at all. And even with the HDR / lighting upgrades to the engine the game doesn't look like bloom-soaked mud, unlike so many current shooters.

My only real gripe is how much they want you as Gordan Freeman to be the completely silent detatched protagonist - I don't mind the silent bit, but not seeing hands / arms on the steering wheel of the car in E2, for example, is a little jarring.

Also, vortigaunts are great.

I'm still working my way through HL2 - I'd never played it before, though. I must say, the first few hours were fucking riveting. It really created an oppressive, scary world. When you first work your way out of the train station and into that square and the TVs are blaring propaganda and the little spy cameras are floating around snapping your picture - the security gates and the skull-faced cops shoving you in the guts with their truncheons & that first unarmed chase through the alleyways and up to the roof - that shit is terrifying. But, I do feel (about 2/3 of the way through, I guess) that the game does drag a tad as the novelty wears off and you keep just moving on and on, through corridors, hallways, graveyards etc, from on foot to car / boat... The game does have a good mix, of somewhat easy puzzles, combat and the pacing is mostly good, from hectic sections, boss-ish battles to the semi-cut scenes / observation / exploration. Everything so far has been well planned out and possible to figure out without having to look for help - which is nice - it's a tremendously thoughtfully designed game. I'm excited to finish, and to play episodes one and two, which supposedly trim all the fat - it just may take a while yet, with so many games out right now and so many just about to drop. I'm also waiting for TF2 to get its 360 update, to try out more of that...

Sorry for the overlong post... it's definitely one of the most compelling, convincing games I've ever played.

http://www.tindeck.com/audio/my/cbyr/Victims_of_Science_-_The_Device_Has_Been_Modified

sweet remix of the portal song

this box is rather ordered.

Finished off HL2 tonight. I really enjoyed it - and especially appreciated the way they managed to switch things up gameplay-wise (a bit) once you get to the citadel. I felt like the ending was one of the best I can remember in a videogame.

I was thinking of taking a break before starting in on Episode 1, but now I'm just about ready for more... not sure I can hold off.

I wonder how they are planning to package episode 3 on consoles? And when???

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/7248/portalcostumekh0.jpg

RPS: What do you guys do next?

KS: We’re not even sure yet. This is our first professional game. We want to release it, and see what people think. We think it’s really great, but who’s to say that most the population will think it’s great. We want to see what the community has to say, do they want Portal multiplayer, do they want Portal 2, do they want new map packs? Keeping our ear to the ground.

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/?p=524

Got this yesterday, knocked out Portal tonight in 3 hours and 16 minutes. Hilarious. This is the guy who wrote the ending song:

http://cdbaby.name/c/o/coulton6.jpg

http://www.jonathancoulton.com/

do they want Portal multiplayer

YES! Although it might melt my brane.

Am LOVING episode 2! Quite glad I waited until now to play Ep 1 actually, cos that was like a little HL2 refresher, and now I get to go into some lovely new environments (man, those caves! gorgeous!) and try some new stuff.

Really need a new mouse though, mine keeps freaking out at inoportune moments. Anyone got any gaming mouse recommendations? Actually, I might start a new thread for that.

I finished episode 1 last night, and did find it a little disappointing - especially playing it right after finishing HL2 - it too often felt like just more of the same - working your way backwards through the city. It's not that it was bad, because it wasn't - it was the same kind of fun - but it needed something more new - than just those few scattered faster zombies attacking you with grenades. And it felt too short...

Started episode 2 this morning and groaned at losing all my weapons AGAIN. But right away, it seems like an improvement. It looks different and better now that you're out of the city again & most of the enemies are different so far too. Even squashing grubs instead of picking up health packs is a nice change. Those jumping, spitting spiders are tough too. Only about an hour in...

Also found a used copy of HL1 for the PS2 - which I'd never played before - so I started that this afternoon - and so far, other than the graphics downgrade - I'm enjoying it. It's cool to hear all the sounds of the current games were in there way back when & to get a better idea of how things progressed. It's weird to have experienced the games out of order - kind of like if the first Star Wars movie one saw was Empire Strikes Back.

I loved when portal started moving from puzzle game into a little something more.

also loved the last weap in episode 2, it was like killing striders with techno bombs.

http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/8674/tatoosfc2.jpg

[EP2 SPOILERS?] The final battle in ep2 was just absurdly difficult - at times I thought I'd never be able to do it, but ended up somehow getting through after a little over an hour of working at it. I pretty much lost all of the buildings and mostly just fought off those striders right at the compounds gate. Also had trouble with ammo - so I was using my car (when possible) to run over the hunters. ugh

ep2 was much more engaging & challenging than ep1 & just a lot more fun to look at. I do feel slightly sour about how exhaustingly difficult that final battle was though. Looking forward to ep3 - I hope I get to fly the helicopter...

[also SPOILERS]

OTM! on the difficulty. I've never cursed as much as during the final battle yesterday. Played HL2 when it came out on the Xbox, and I want to replay the car section to see if the controls are as incredibly frustrating as ep2's car. Sluggish, counterintuitive car on the left thumbstick combined with lots of the right thumbstick skewing the viewpoint. Miserable moments where I was jamming the left thumbstick in reverse, while the car continued merrily forward. Like someone was waving their hand in front of my face most of the battle. Argh.

That said, saving OFTEN during that battle leads to victory, and it's a SERIOUS feeling of accomplishment. I'd like to tackle that again, and see if I could save the buildings. Last three striders, I was down to the gate, too. Last one probably went down seconds before it accomplished its goal - that was some serious Death Star movie magic there, with the placement and shooting.

Also looking forward to ep3. Wonder how they'll package it for nextgen consoles? Maybe with another Portal?

I ran across a used PS2 Half-Life the month before the Xbox version came out, so have played it in story sequence. Very satisfying and immersive story. Is this intended as a trilogy? Will we get resolution in HL3?

And has anyone gone for the Rocket Man achievement? I tried, but got tired of carrying the gnome and lost it in the mines.

Little Rocket Man = best Achievement ever.

Sounds like someone above did this. I'm envious! I would replay it solely to get this achievement.

yeah the car controls completely sucked, there was one direction (i think backwards and left) that just wouldn't work at all. i killed the last hunter with the crossbow because I had so little ammo left >< (didn't realize you could gravity gun their exploding string thingies)

There is a video walkthru on youtube of somebody getting the neighborhood watch achievement. I wish I'd thought of using those logs!!! Just do a search for "neighborhood watch half life" if you want to take a look (it's broken up into three parts). He makes it look easy :(

Finally played a bunch (too much?) TF2 this weekend - and had a pretty good time. I love all the maps they created and the look / humor of the game. Maybe so far I'm least crazy about their variation on capture the flag and I still get a little confused on the various control point scenarios when they start changing things up. And it does seem like the games end in a stalemate a little too often. The only other problem (on xbox) was several games got super laggy and either lost the host or were impossible to play (basically frozen in lag-land) so you just had to quit out. I did try out every character - and so far seem most comfortable with the soldier - probably because I'm more used to deathmatch type games than team objective. Playing medic is pretty weird, I must say, that compared to other games I've played on xbox live, the other players have been a lot better - a lot more human (or at the worst, silent). Played all weekend and didn't hear one racist, sexist or homophobic comment!!!

Also played thru three of the advanced maps on Portal - they do seem harder - mostly because they seem to require more precision and timing (skills I kind of lack). I'll try to beat the rest soon.

http://www.tindeck.com/audio/my/cbyr/Victims_of_Science_-_The_Device_Has_Been_Modified
sweet remix of the portal song

-- kingfish, Sunday, 28 October 2007 06:42 (2 weeks ago) Link

Took me a few plays before I realized that the second part of "Go to android hell! RRRRAAAAAAGH!" was the sound that GLADoS' aggressive module makes. Couldn't figure out why the remixer had added that bit.

And "the only thing you've managed to break ... is my heart." = classic quote.

the aggro module voiced by Mike Patton, of course

http://kongregate.com/games/Dragy/portal-the-flash-version

neat little 2d flash version

Played some TF2 over the weekend - the assholes have defintely taken over. Plenty of weird racism this weekend, finally! Thanks xbox live. It's especially weird because with a team and so much going on at one time - it's hard to tell who is talking to who. I wonder if it's because the game has been out long enough that a lot of the people playing aren't enjoying the sense of discovery with something new anymore, and are playing more out of boredom? Anyhow - I think I'm done...

How long did HL2E1 take people to beat? How about E2?

Will - episode one is fairly short - it took about four hours (maybe five) - with only one or two mildly challenging points (that I remember). Episode two took about six hours (maybe seven? including deaths) - the ending is a bitch.

played a fair bit of TF2 last night. I'm beginning to get irked by multiplayerism these days, it's so frustrating sometimes.

I'm still playing as Pyro, and starting to use the shotgun more. I can't seem to get anywhere with the Soldier - people easily dodge the slow moving rockets. and i just end up blowing myself up.

Also jumped into CS again, which is even more frustrating with too many experts now on most of the servers. I need more noob places to play in.

The soldiers are good for blowing up people hiding in rooms, like engineers building a turret, or for people trying to stand on a control point, more than people running around in open spaces. Also VERY good for blowing up turrets

I'm stuck on the 5th advanced map in Portal. Completely stumped :(

i can't seem to do the gun turrets in cages one, that fucker is really hard. It's the last section that has me stumped.

I like the little side tune that starts to play when you stumble into the den area on this stage

The advanced maps are murderously hard- I've only solved two of them, and came close to throwing my mouse through a window trying to solve the redone Companion Cube test. Companion Ball does not love you :(

What was satisfying was figuring out the trick to get the Least Portals gold medal on the first gun turret test chamber.

Oh yeah, what I actually came to this thread to mention today- supposedly a patch with achievements is coming for the older games in the PC version of the Orange Box (Half-Life 2 and Episode 1). Neato.

Yep, plus extra achievements in TF2 - apparently a "medic bundle" should show up within the week.

Portal was so awesome.

I'm thinking of downloading TF2 to my pc because the xbox game is still so laggy and crashy - was this Valve's secret plan to get a new generation of people to check out pc gaming? For those of you who are already plaing this on pc, are there any good user created maps? Do they add replayablity to the game ('cause honestly I'm a little sick of the five original maps now - where you kind of "know" what to do every time & can get too quick of a sense when things go hopeless). Also has anybody on here tried creating their own maps before? I'm kind of curious how flexible (and complex) that system is... might want to fool around with that

yeah i've been thinking about map creating too, i've no idea how easy it would be. I'm guessing you need a complex degree in c programming or something though.

I've not come across many user created maps on TF2 yet though, I might just be playing the wrong servers.

I don't think you really have to do any programming to create a map. You do it all through the editor which looks to be mostly point and click? Anyway, I'm just starting to read up on it. Here's the basic info to get started (I think)...

http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Category:Hammer

Here's a list of user created TF2 maps (with sample images if you click on the links)...

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=625658

http://www.vgcats.com/comics/extras/STILL_ALIVE_DONE.swf

Hmm.. downloaded Team Fortress 2 over the weekend off steam and it's almost like playing a completely different game than the xbox version - anyway, it's interesting to compare the differences. The thing that changes it the most is having the bigger matches - up to 32 players, I think. It gets a lot crazier - a lot more frantic. I'm not totally sure that the maps support so many people fighting over so little territoty, but it can be fun. I only played one game on a user created map (castles, I think) and that certainly changed things up too (though the map itself was kind of lame, half-assed). I definitely want to check out some of the other maps.

box may be rather orange but my screen is mostly blue - bsod whenever i try and start hl2. have updated dx9 and now steam exits without doing much when i doubleclick it. um...

and where am i going to find 15G for a full install anyway?

woot. beta video driver, patched by third party to work with my card and now i'm all portalled up. worth the trials.

Medic boosting... so that's how they get up there

http://youtube.com/watch?v=KuHs0eLu8Is

Very into Team Fortress 2 lately - just got my 1,000 kills achievement! Played a bunch of different maps (maybe 8 or 10), but nothing as good as the valve ones, so far. I wonder when they are going to start releasing the official new ones, and if there will be a charge (on PC)

Ooh, what's your steam ID Jeff?

jefflev13

Been playing a lot as the pyro lately - enjoying taking out "buildings" - when you got the teamwork right and a medic to uber you, you can create an awful lot of chaos and sometimes clear things up enough for a few other guys to rush in behind you and a get a capture. But unfortunately, it's sometimes still a little hard to find good games with people who kind of know what they're doing and can coordinate.

wow epi2 = godliek

Uh... is Half-Life 2 considered a hard FPS? Because I am very bad at it. I haven't been good at an FPS since Quake and the last console FPS I played was Goldeneye, and I am stuggling. I am playing on easy and I haven't died all that much but I am still finding it much harder than I anticipated (I am constantly running out of ammo/low on health). Right now I am in Ravenholm and up to a bit that seems to infinitely spawn monsters. Of course I only realised that after using up all of my ammo. I have no idea how I am going to get out of this area. Those face huggers that put you down to 1 hp particularly suck.

ps fuck infinitely spawning enemies

webber - you gotta learn to use the gravity gun as a weapon - there's stuff all around in Ravenholm that can be used to kill off the hordes - barrels, saw blades, etc... anything you can pick up can be used as a weapon. And there are some traps and stuff you can set off too. I did die a fair amount playing this game, but quicksaves make it far less painful - pretty much saved every time I clear off one wave - even if you're low on health or ammo - there's always tons around the next corner - keep your eyes out for the hidden caches too (there's lots). If you do get really stuck, you can always load up a save or two back and try again - it's always easier the second time through an area when you kind of know what to do.

Uh... is Half-Life 2 considered a hard FPS?

It most definitely has it's moments, and especially that part where you are now. Everything Jeff said.

Just wait till you have to hold off a ruck of guards in the abandoned prison, with the auto sentry units. Only then will know the meaning of HARD.

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/11/16/jonathan-coulton-sings-still-alive/

Only then will know the meaning of HARD.

;_;

Just wait till you have to hold off a ruck of guards in the abandoned prison, with the auto sentry units. Only then will know the meaning of HARD.

-- Ste, Wednesday, January 2, 2008 10:07 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark Link

that actually has one of the easiest solutions you could ever imagine!

The penny-arcade.com folk honor Portal.

ok, so I got this game for xmas. Should I play it or get half-life two and the first expansion first? Right now I'm playing bioshock.

uh... the orange box contains half-life 2 and the first expansion. if you got episode 2 only, then i would hold off playing that until you have played the preceding games, since it would make little sense and is only a handful of hours of gametime anyway, apparently.

the actual answer is to play portal first.

> Just wait till you have to hold off a ruck of guards in the abandoned
> prison, with the auto sentry units. Only then will know the meaning of
> HARD.

ha, am just past that point. unfortunately i survived with a grand total of 7 health points and am now trying to get through the corridor where they turn the lights out and throw grenades. can't double back and pick up health either - is all blocked off. need to revert to an earlier saved game i think. otherwise there haven't been many sticking points (i did miss a valve on a pipe for about 2 hours). Ravenholm one of the worst bits though. throwing scythes and saw blades = fun.

is very linear. i know a lot of games have this criticism levelled at them but this is the first time it's bothered me. still, i guess it needs to be.

finished portal though. fun. is there a way of getting a third person replay? sometimes i do stuff and don't realise what i've just done.

I'm decent at FPS games (played on Hard), spent way too long trying to figure out the optimal turret layout, make barricades, etc. and still took a beating. Can't remember where I saw this, but the above-mentioned easy way out:

Pick up the turrets, turn them around, and put them back in their lockers facing straight out. Repeat until you've done this for all of them.

Hide in an empty locker with turrets on either side of it.

Pull out shotgun and wait. You can get through the entire segment using only the gravity gun (for stray Manhacks) and the shotgun (for any Combine guards who make it through the WALL OF TURRETY DEATH).

Wait, never mind, it was probably in the "video commentary" <a href="http://www.goosegoose.com/";>this enterprising chap</a> made for the original and both episodes. If you watch them (which I highly recommend), he made them in the order: Episode 1, original, Episode 2.

did realise (in retrospect) that it would be better to keep turrets in the little room given that room has two doors and you have three turrets (leave them outside room and you have to cover 4 directions). um, would need to watch the windows i guess. but didn't have the idea to put them back into cupboards.

but what's to stop them throwing a grenade into the room?

For whatever reason I didn't have trouble with that section - did it on my second try, if I remember right. Just set up the turrets near the doors, while I mostly covered the area from the back corner (by the glass doors). If I heard a turret go down I'd spring to pick it up. Also I just used the shotgun and whatever guards got through, I'd sprint up to them and give them a nice little shot in the face.

Definitely the hardest section for me was fighting off the 4 or 5 giant striders in the courtyard before approaching the citadel

finished it yesterday although i notice that the default setting is 'easy' rather than normal which may explain that. tripods tough, yes. i had trouble getting across that courtyard on the way there because i missed the door on the far right. also spent about an hour in the room with all the tripwires thinking i could run fast through them and somehow survive. all through those rooftop ruins was tough as well, lots of crossfire, lots of comrades died. but done now.

near to clear out disk before i have space for Ep1...

Thanks for the tip Telephone Thing, the prison was a piece of piss using that method.

Definitely the hardest section for me was fighting off the 4 or 5 giant striders in the courtyard before approaching the citadel

I am up to this now :( How far am I to the end?

Just a couple more hours (or less). The game actually gets quite interesting and different after getting through that section - I really enjoy the way they managed to switch stuff up a bit towards the end, while still keep it feeling true to the rest of the game

I am the only person to have done the sentry gun bit by piling boxes up in the entrances and laughing as the guards were too stupid to knock them over as I stood taking potshots at them?

yes, yes you are. (i noticed the references to City 17 as well, hadn't realised before).

the 'navigating the citadel' would make a nice minigame, like a 3d maze.

i think you can get lucky/unlucky with the sentry section, and if you fail you'll most likely try something completely different next time. That's what was so good about it.

I think I did it by hiding in a cell with the guns facing outward and just armed with the shotgun. Luckily no grenades were 'rolled' into the cell and the guns stayed standing.

the 'navigating the citadel' would make a nice minigame, like a 3d maze.

haha have you played ep1 yet?

all you have to for the sentry section is turn the sentries around in their pod/container things and hide in the empty one. you only have to shoot the occasional baddie that comes near you.

mp3 of the Japanese version of Still Alive...
http://yanai.blackmage.org/music/

Hey - some more details on the new updates to TF2 (supposedly being released in just a little over a month!). Goldrush sounds extremely interesting...

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=180201&site=pcg

mp3 of the Japanese version of Still Alive...

Excellent! What's with the skippy bits in the vocals? Is that what insane computers sounds like in Japan?

Since my computer died over the weekend I thought I'd go back and try some more team fortress 2 on the 360 - and wow - I really can't believe they haven't patched some of the really basic problems with this game yet - the ones that were all fixed on pc ages ago - like snipers being able to shoot through the holes in the gates during set-up and that you still have to damage yourself during set-up if you want to build up a full ubercharge in 60 seconds. Also it's really hard to go back to playing 4 on 4 or 5 on 5 matches after usually playing in 24 or 32 person pc servers. And it's just a drag not to be able to browse servers and jump into any game you like.

Having never played the pc version, I have no problems with TF2 on the 360. Of course, I've never played any on-line multiplayer shooting thing ever, so I have no idea what makes one good or not. Other than, y'know, fun, which the 360 vers. has in spades.

yeah - it's still fun on the 360 to some extent - though if they just did they basic patches I mentioned it would play a lot better, even with the smaller teams.

You should try it on pc if you get the chance though - it really changes up the game A LOT... when you have like 4 engies building like crazy and multiple timed ubers attacking a point or whatever - the game is just so much crazier, frantic, challenging and fun.

woah - just won the most epic 22 vs. 22 on dustbowl ever! It got down to that final control point - but we were able to hold 'em off. Well, twenty-two people - I don't know how you could break through that without some pretty extremely organized waves, but it was crazy fun.

I'm developing a new fondness for playing heavy

just finished Portal..what a game! great ending song, too.

Got a taste for this recently

But still not completed the challenge level 16, with the caged gun turrets. It was almost a monitor smashing moment the other night, amazingly the level after this is about a jillion times easier.

but this was before i knew that your health replenishes over time, like in HL2,

just played 45 minutes of portal. i'm sleeping over at antexit's cuz they're renovating my stupid bathroom. he's asleep. what should i play now?

-- s1ocki, Wednesday, October 17, 2007 5:15 AM (6 months ago) Bookmark Link

haa

The new Team Fortress 2 stuff is supposed to be out this week. Hopefully now other people will start playing medic so I don't have to :)

Goldrush looks like it's going to be fun.

Is anybody else on here still playing TF2?

I'll look into the new stuff, but nah got fed up with being pwned. it just felt like everyone had a LOT more health than i did.

I still dip in now and again, and I'll definitely be up for some when this new content arrives.

now that i have a new computer i'm thinking about installing boot camp JUST to play team fortress 2

but i'm wondering:

1) does the game have an AI? can i practice by myself or is this game *only* for online group gaming?

2) is the learning curve super-steep?

3) is it going to be a frustrating experience (i am *not* much of a gamer at all, i haven't done any FPS games since halo 1 ... i have a playstation-style USB controller that i use for emulator gradius, castlevania and SMB but that's about it...)

My impression from the menu is that you can get matched up with people who are similarly novice.

1) There are no bots to practice against. You can load up a map to get the lay of the land, if so desired (and listen to commentary from Valve)

2) learning curve to get decent at the game is not steep at all. It's a pretty friendly game. There are only six/seven stock maps, with a new one set to come out this week. The class thing is a little complicated - there are nine - but most of what you need to learn about each class is pretty basic and can be picked up in a game or two. I think it helps that the game is cartoony - it's hard to get frustrated even when you are sucking, just because it's usually pretty funny. Sometimes being stuck on a bad team gets to be a bit of a drag - as does working really hard for your team only to get auto-balanced over to the other team right near the end of an epic battle.

3) You're going to want to control it with a mouse and keyboard I think. It's usually not a very frustrating game, because it has a great sense of humor built into it, though, like any competitive game, it can get frustrating, sure. There are "noob" friendly servers supposedly, but it's hard to notice the difference, at least the few times I've tried 'em out. That may be the one problem starting the game now - most people have been playing it a while and pretty much know the best strategies, at least on the stock maps. Actually, that's why I'm a bit bored with the game right now. People just basically do the same thing over and over on each map - the surprises are kind of gone - that's why I'm looking forward to this week's new map / game-type.

There are some videos and stuff to give you hints on playing the different classes...
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=team+fortress+2+how+to+play&search_type=

A lot of people recommend starting with the medic, basically a support class. Soldier is probably the most basic, and easy to pick up tho, if you want to shoot at stuff.

My lord, I got a lot more than thirty dollars entertainment out of this game...
http://steamcommunity.com/id/jefflev13/stats/TF2

any way to set up private games w/ just a few other people?

if you're not that into the multi maybe you should rock the HL2 games instead? which i set up boot camp for actually!

i am into multi, but i seeing as i get pwnt by teenagers for a living i'm not too keen on repeating that experience in my spare time

moonship - you can create your own server in the game menu & set it to as many players as you would like (even just one) and make it private or public. Not 100% sure if it works with bootcamp - though I don't know why it wouldn't, if the game does.

The only problem with that idea, is the game is really set up for team play - there's no real deatchmatch & the game isn't much fun unless you at least are playing with a full team. I actually think you need about 24 players to have a really good game. I guess there are a few custom maps, like arenaball, that are almost deathmatch like, that could probably work with fewer players.

In public servers at least, it's not a super competitive game - I mean, you'll die, and die a lot, but you won't get "pwnt." I'd describe it more as cartoon mayhem. For the most part the game seems to usually be played by a little older crowd - not the halo crowd.

i am curious about s1ocki's setup - which windows xp are you using?

i forget which one i installed!

it was pretty straight-up and easy to do though. i eventually deleted the partition cuz it was sucking up 20gigs of space for half-life alone but it worked awesomely.

moonship - you can try out team fortress 2 this weekend for free and see if you like it. Details here...

http://www.steampowered.com/goldrush/

I tried it this weekend. Damn, it's been a really long time since I played an FPS (seriously like at least 5 years) and got really into it. Great game, an awesome refinement of TF, Wolfenstein: ET, all that junk. I love the art style and cartooniness, too.

Of course, that feeling wore off a bit soon as online gaming's ugly aspects that turned me off so long ago haven't disappeared, like the annoying racism. Also TF's voice chat thing - sounded cool at first, then i end up turning it off because some jackass is always playing annoying music or their mic has terrible feedback problems. Or they're just whining endlessly about something or another. This is why we can't have nice things...

Still, I gotta pick up Orange Box someday. BTW, I'm using XP SP2, and everything works fine. Apple even just released a driver update package for the upcoming SP3.

i really wasn't that into it. i found the gameplay to be sort of repetitive and spastic, though maybe that was just because of the weekend. seemed like every server i got on it was groups of people charging into each other at full speed with groups of medics trailing behind healing constantly. the sound was also really annoying... instead of sounding like a gunbattle it sounded like a construction site. i ended up quitting early on saturday and deleting my windows partition.

one thing about next-gen gaming vs old-gen gaming is a certain loss of ... clarity??

Im halfway through episode 2 and Im trying to do the gnome accomplisment (carry a gnome from the video of the game til you reach a rocket and send him to space). Hopefully I haven't saved past the rocket scene so I can still send him... anyways I saw a picture on the internet of a giant gnome attacking a city. Anyone have information about this? Maybe its a pc mod?

video of the game = beginning* of the game

http://youtube.com/watch?v=vnV_C1pg0Oo

I've seen the gnome achievement videos, but I wanted to know about the giant gnome walking around town like the marshmellow man. I don't know where that came from.

Hm, misunderstood; never heard of that!

honestly vahid i never really got into TF2. if you want to play super-awesome all-time amazing online multiplayer get call of duty 4.

http://www.steampowered.com/pyro/?pw=presspreview

The new pyro stuff coming out tomorrow seems over-powered & most of the achievements seems pretty easy compared to the medic stuff. Good news for me since pyro is by far my most played class. It's going to be crazy tomorrow. Free weekend too for people who want to check tf2 out still. It's weird tho that they keep doing the free weekends when they put out all the new stuff, because that's when the game gets all out of whack (for a few weeks).

damn I wonder if this still is lagged as hell on xbox.

I still haven't played this since pre-nu-medic etc. I'll try to fit some in this weekend.

That portal credits song is awesome btw. I don't know if anyone mentioned it.youtube I would say it is most awesome if you actually played the game and beat it without knowing this song was going to come up (like I did). Fucking Dos, and ASCII macros mixed with credits, lyrics, and the bizarre computer voice that accompanies you with humor throughout the game.

I like this girl's guitar version: youtube
And the Mario Paint version:
youtube

portal was great for me in that it was a rare game where the gameplay actually exceeded it's own hype.

If anybody is checking out TF2 this weekend, just keep in mind - the new update had a few bugs (maybe they will be fixed today?) the most serious of which won't allow you to re-spawn on some servers - the re-spawn counter just keeps counting down - you have to quit out as far as I know.

The new pyro stuff seems fun. Some servers wisely put a 3 to 4 limit on pyros so it's still pretty easy to find balanced games. I actually didn't play much pyro yesterday since so many other people were. I'm looking forward to unlocking some of those new weapons though at some point & the blow-back thing added to the flame thrower seems interesting. I actually ended up playing more medic & got a few achievements & also engineer & finally got the ten kills with the same sentry (haven't played an engy in months). Forgot to check out the two new community maps :(

http://kotaku.com/5014851/rumor-casting-call-reveals-portal-2-details

Won't be out for quite a while, of course, but...

finally completed the caged turret advanced stage, and did it with flippin ease too and don't know what all the fuss was about etc etc.

and kicked ass on TF2 too, so after ten minutes turned it off and walked away feeling great.

and for some reason none of my HL games are working anymore, I keep getting internal driver errors!!

I don't know. Maybe update your graphics card driver?

New heavy update coming (supposedly) next Tuesday, the 19th looks hefty. Besides the expected three new heavy weapons and achievements, there's a new game type with 5 new maps(!), a new payload map and a new community map. Also another free weekend.

Meet the sandvich...
http://steamgames.com/tf2/heavy/sandvich.htm

everytime i turn Steam on these days it's updating TF2

that tank universal looks interesting, i can't believe its not multiplay though

Played and beat Portal in about three sessions over the weekend, finally.
Good as advertised, my neighbors were entranced watching it.

you should consider investing in blinds!

I invited them up.
But yes, I should.

God, TF2 is scary-addictive.

poop-socking is scarily-addictive

that post is getting saved; you know that, right?

yep

Just bought it for PC. Anyone using Steam? Add me-- I'm "Brilliam"

Will, I tried adding you but steam couldn't find ya? did you post that name right? anyway, my tag on steam is jefflev13

still playing tf2 almost every day :(

It's probably kind of messed up that I've racked up twice as many hours as you on TF2 just using the free weekends...

Holding off getting this until HL2P3 is out, by which time I'm sure there will be other goodies.

Or will I be waiting far too long?

nhex - are you sure about that?

I've got 66.8 hours of pyro alone. About 144 hours split between all the classes - uhg

Oh, stupid me... I forgot that number on the steam community page is just for the last 2 weeks, not total.

i like tf2 and should play it more.
On Steam I am "kittyautomatic". Add me & stuff, and I will be more than happy to scattergun you.

http://vimeo.com/1739740?pg=embed&sec=1739740

okay. so portal is out on xbla soon, and i have always wanted to play it. do i download it, or search out a second hand copy of orange box? have never played half life/team fortress before...

get orange box, lots of great games on it. surely can't cost that much.

how much is it on xbl?

in fact, i am going to get this for my ps3 today. my pc is choking to death on its own weasly knackered circuits and also i get to play them on lovely HD telly size.

Team Fortress on console is kind of broken, but apparently they're finally going to release some kind of patch / update for the 360 version soon (though it will cost money for the update). No update for the ps3 version however. Portal is an awesome little game, but HL2 and HL2 ep2 are also masterpieces, and should be played.

i got orange box used for $25, i think. it is totally, absolutely, 100% worth it. portal is amazing. i want sequels, more sequels. (haven't touched TF2 tho.)

Re TF2: They're going to charge money to fix a broken game? What is that about?

HL2 isn't really the kind of game I like to play, but if you like killing scary things, by all means.

Ha, to claim that Half Life 2 is just a game about "killing scary things" is criminal!

does anyone happen to have an mp3 of the Portal credits song knocking around that they could upload/email?

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=7RUNU9C1

grazie mille!

massive xbox TF2 update coming:

- “includes pretty much everything shipped on the PC in the last year”
- includes classes, levels, and weapons upgrades
- no date confirmed
- able to upgrade teleporters and dispensers to level 3
- recharge their cloaking ability as a spy
- next class pack will feature the scout
- valve porting some of their engine improvements from l4d into TF2

same for PS3 version, by chance?

nah mate : /

New TF2 update for PC is up, but not the scout stuff yet. Some pretty big things here though, especially anybody being able to break demoman's sticky bombs, I think.

+ The Engineer's teleporters can now be upgraded to level three. It will recharge faster the higher level it is

+ The Engineer's dispensers can now be upgraded to level three. It will give out metal and heal faster as it is upgraded

+ Spies will be able to recharge their cloaking ability by picking up ammo off of the ground or from health cabinets

+ Some changes to the second part of the first stage of Goldrush to give the attackers more of an advantage

+ Any weapons that fire bullets (shotguns, sniper's machine gun, heavy's minigun, etc.) can now break apart the Demoman's stickybombs

Damn you Steam! I buckled at this weekend's measly $10 price for TF2 - that was just too good to pass up. Basically the cost of a movie ticket for what's probably 100 hours of game. I've love to get a game going.

(Slightly shamefully realizing that I've put in over 30 hours and 34% of the achievements just on demo weekends alone)

i want to play TF2 but i don't really know how to hook my 360 up to the internet and (crucially) i don't want to be taunted by 12 year olds.

I got it because of the $10. It's way more complicated than I expected! I'm going to have to spend some time learning the strategies over winter break. Is the "teleporter trap" (teleporter entrance and exit set up practically on top of each other to trap one's own teammates and earn a lot of xp in the process) a brand new bug with the latest update?

I could have sworn they patched that out ages ago - you're playing on PC right? Anyway, I haven't seen anybody pull that stunt in probably a year. Maybe a server running some mods?

Yeah, thinking about it now, jumping into TF2 fresh today with all the extra content is probably a lot more confusing than getting in early on, but I still bet after 5-10 hours you'll get most of the concepts. For now I'd advise to only play on vanilla maps and to try out each character for a round or two, then pick a couple to stick with. A lot of people like to start as medic as it's a pretty easy role (for the most part). Pyro is more fun, and also fairly easy to pick up. Soldier isn't bad if you like shooting things. Demoman is probably the most dangerous class, but also probably the most difficult to play effectively.

Nhex - cool to see you in-game yesterday, though I usually try to avoid instant respawn servers like that because I think they kind of break the game... as they give defense too much of an advantage... and especially on Goldrush where defense is already winning over 80% of the time http://www.steampowered.com/status/tf2/tf2_stats.php

Good to see you too! I don't really have a preference for instant respawn, I just usually pick an open server with low ping regardless of maps or rules. I had no idea Goldrush was so lopsided! That stats page is really informative.

I've just tried out one of the developer commentaries. Really fascinating stuff! I love all the information on how they crafted the art style, especially, but also how they used it to guide direction in the levels. There's so many expertly designed things in this game that make it inherently intuitive.

Scout update finally coming next week! I like the idea of the first unlockable already... should make him more useful on payload maps, as I think they said was one of their aims.

http://www.teamfortress.com/scoutupdate/sandman.htm

http://www.teamfortress.com/scoutupdate/images/05_bottom.jpg

TF2 on sale till Friday for ten bucks (50% off) if somebody out there still doesn't have it.

Downloading the update right now. Gonna kill me some scouts!

That Sandman definitely is going to need a tweak... last night it was a constant stun -> one shot kill at close range. Maybe it needs more of a delay/startup time to compensate - it makes sense for the other members of your team to attack the stunned guy, but turning the Scout one-man killing machine that can pretty much instantly kill a full health Heavy, I think maybe it goes a little too far. It's totally wrecks maps like 2fort. The new community maps aren't that great, either...

I assume everybody who wants this has it by now, but if not, the week's crazy steam weekend deal is the Orange Box for just 10.00 USD (66% off)
http://store.steampowered.com/sub/469/

You never know, I just got it about a month ago! Yeah, TF2 and Portal are easily worth $10 alone by themselves, let alone HL2. I just started going through it - surprised how well it holds up for a five-year-old game, it's fun and gorgeous.

Yay I finally have a new PC that can play this! Finished Portal over the weelend, loooved it. Haven't tackled the bonus levels yet. HL2 ep 2 next!

Portal has such a solid storyline throughout, loved it too.

be warned on those bonus challenges, fruuuuuustrrrraaaation

ooohhh shiiiiiit you're not wrong. the portal challenges might be fun, taxing the old grey matter. the time challenges, not so much.

http://www.teamfortress.com/sniperupdate/

ZUT ALORS

playing hl ep 2. vortigaunts are kinda smug bastards.

noticed you were, and you've changed yer name

it's a new era. delmot '09 ftw.

Free weekend coming up again for TF2 to coincide with the Spy/Sniper update, you can preload now.

JARATE IS FOR REALS

Okay, I'm definitely getting back into this now if only to nail the hated Demoman with jars of pee.

I love these guys, so damn funny.

Remember that part between panels four and five? That was not time lapse magic! I kicked a chair across the room, and seconds later I knew Jarate! NOW YOU CAN TOO!

New Payload race map is awesome.

New unlock system is... random. As in you will randomly get unlockable items over time (this will include party hats and such later), through playing all night I got like 4 or 5 unlocks, all dupes of stuff I already had except for one item. I'm not sure if the old method of unlocking through achievements still exists, since they removed those "get 11/16/22" achievements from Sniper and Spy.

downloading the update. am i going to get 8649 headshots as soon as i get online?

Possibly, but it's mitigated by two things: a)influx of noobs from the free weekend and b)there's no special reward in getting the achievements now that the items are randomly unlocked. So if you get a lot of headshots, go Scout or Pyro (even better to deal with the extra Spies).

payload race is going to be interesting once it stops being populated by sniper-spy-pyro teams who are indifferent to the 'payload' and 'race' aspects

surfeit of reactive pyros is really annoying

got the razorback very quickly. confused by the randomness of item handouts. wonder if valve will explain how it works soon, beyond 'it is now random'

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/05/22/the-tf2-unlock-teacup-storm/

They're supposed to be constant, with the hats as rare drops. I think I got 1-2 per hour which seemed reasonable (though somewhat annoying to get so many repeats - the only new one i got was Bonk since I had unlocked all the other old ones, didn't even get a Spy or Sniper item).

I think there were certain rollout problems yesterday - when i started the update servers were slow as hell and no one could connect to Steam and get achievements. It got better throughout the night. It's also weird that when you get a dupe it shows up multiple times in your loadout - it's a mystery if this is intentional or not, some people want to believe that you'll be able to trade items at some point.

I'm starting to feel like the last couple of updates have made this game just a little too chaotic / a little too random / a little too crazy. What strategy there once was seems to have mostly disappeared in favor of some kind of crazy rumble - playing the game feels like being in a cartoon fight where it's all just one big ball of flying fists and guns poking through the dust. That's probably good for drop in and play kind of feeling, but putting time into seems like a waste, as I'm not sure it's a game you can actually develop much skill in anymore. I'm also not a fan of the scouts flying bonk thing, the piss jars and overpowered and excessive spies running around. It would be cool if you had an option to set up some servers that took things back to the launch games rule set, back when the game was simpler, more understandable and not just a continual clusterfuck of insanity.

That said, I do think the new payload race mode has a lot of potential, even if I'm not yet sold on the first map.

Aw, but I love the insanity!

I have to disagree, generally. Most of these extra/new weapons and items are eventually balanced out. I complained about the Scout ball at first, but they toned it down greatly very quickly - mostly that you need to be a longer distance for it to work and the stun isn't super effective at short distances anyway - reflective of the scattergun philosophy. The key thing is that, like the piss jar, it's relatively useless on its own - you need a team backing you up to take full advantage of it. You can still do the one-man stun > kill but it's tricky since you need to trade off distance/stun time. (And not useful at all if you're going against more than one enemy, besides delaying ubers). I like The Huntsman as a nice option to sniper rifle, it has no zoom and gives him a nice medium range weapon.

The Spy is definitely overpowered now. I got Cloak and Dagger, that one that lets you get unlimited invisibility if you stand still. That's gotta be toned down, it even sounded too strong even from the original description! The Ambassador basically sounds like a permanent replacement for the handgun (like the medic's ubersaw).

I get what you're saying about developing skill, it feels really useless often when people are running around with no real goals or coordination. But, especially with the Scout update, the achievements and new weapons motivated me to get a lot better with that class, like every class update has. I was absolute garbage with that class before - hopefully I can up my Spy game too (but hopes are lower for that).

We had a great run on Steel last night, but the problem was there was a complete lack of communication on our side. I have to say I'm a little ashamed that, despite having played this map dozens of times, I completely forgot that you can take A-point straight to E-point after it's unlocked (as did the vast majority of our team). (Also I have voice comms turned off always so I might have been out of the loop.) We spent the last 10-15 minutes just pouring in through one entrance (where B-point goes in) and if one of those engineers had put one teleport to A instead of putting two at B, instead we would have had that one - it would have been less like just putting everyone into a meat grinder. My point is - every map, even the new Payload race one, has a ton of options, the major part is coordinating teams or squads to take routes and time it correctly.

All this stuff probably serves your point about the game getting too complicated for its own good, but I still believe anyone new can just jump into a map, play Medic (almost always helpful) or Pyro (which counters Spy, Sniper, Scout and Demoman all well) and learn the map strategies and character balances as they play.

xpost

I've seen people on the internet claim that there are vanilla servers, somehow. I wonder if they're just maintained on an honour basis.

I like the freneticness and randomness of it quite a bit: I do a lot of playing on the balloon race and toy fortress etc. maps, less on the more serious ones. But totally a week ago the general state of the public servers was less stupid and OTT. I think maybe the fact that doubled max players seems to be almost the default now adds to the effect you're talking of?

It puts 'skill' in a weird place — like, I only feel like I've been honestly out-reflexed by someone maybe one in five deaths, and feel responsible for maybe one in twenty kills this way, basically just when I manage to kill a pyro as a scout or whatever. Everything else tends to be a matter of 'well, standing on that balcony I knew I would become a target anyway', sort of thing.

The only power-up I'm really conscious of being bothered by is the pyro alternate flamethrower, which is basically automatic kill if ever they get behind you. Which is one of the less showy of the weapons. Actually, I think the fact that you had to be OCD to get it made it less of a problem, before. The scout stun-ball is waaaaay less game-breaking than the immune-to-bullets drink, I think. (No one ever seems to make much use of the latter for the what-would-seem-obvious purpose of drinking it and running up to people and shooting them in the fact with impunity.)

I had my first good run as Spy playing the balloon race map, of all things. I think because no one expects anyone to bother. I actually feel like the spy/sniper things are nice and not overdone alternates. Ambassador doesn't do a full crit on headshot, it still leaves alive a 125-health class. Though yeah, I can't see why someone would keep the revolver.

People who are good with the bow are getting really pesky already.

I kind of don't know how I feel about "developing skill" with videogames: I sometimes wish all games had really shallow difficulty curves and no 'depth'.

^ new thrd plz

I guess I didn't mean to say the new weapons were making things unbalanced, just maybe a little too busy (for my tastes)...

I do sometimes try to find smaller games - sometimes they feel good - sometimes a little like a ghost town. It's tough to find the sweet spot. Communication definitely can help, but after a year and a half of playing the game, I think I've only managed to play 20 or so games where it ended up being used in a useful way :(

btw thomp - vanilla just means standard maps and no mods.

Shit, would get the OB for a tenner. How often does this happen?

For $10, not that often, I basically waited through all of last year for around that price and it didn't happen until I snagged a Best Buy deal. It'll drop to $20 more occasionally, though at places like Amazon or Best Buy.

is anyone playing tf2 on the ps3? i've been trying today, but it won't let me connect to any servers, it lets me view them so there's nothing wrong with my internet connection. ps3 will be worst console etc etc

http://jopereira.deviantart.com/art/WIN-Guide-128949239

somebody's been playing a lot of medic lately

Wow I had no idea about the Heavy fist taunt
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3ChNjSMoNI

are you tempted to play by the new 'classless' update? wait, no, are you the one that plays tf2 for like one squillion hours a week anyway?

I was, but cooled down about a month or two ago (mostly due to SFIV). Still try to get in an hour or two a week though. the classless update doesn't seem to add much, and even with those billion hours I put in I only managed to get a single hat, so unless they tweaked the drop rate i'm not hopeful... still love the game though. And I just realized, hey it's only Day 1 of the classless update! Okay so yes I am tempted to get back into it which I guess is gonna happen every time they do one of these major updates.

The TF2 blog linked to ubercharged.net today which has a lot of interesting articles about more competitive play. I'm somewhat interested, but not that serious since I don't like the main format (generally 6v6 teams of 1 medic, 1 demo, 2 scout, 2 soldiers, the other classes are pretty much ignored).

man i just love these dudes
http://www.teamfortress.com/classless/hidden/hats/

The TF2 blog linked to ubercharged.net today which has a lot of interesting articles about more competitive play. I'm somewhat interested, but not that serious since I don't like the main format (generally 6v6 teams of 1 medic, 1 demo, 2 scout, 2 soldiers, the other classes are pretty much ignored).

ha yeah i read this — seems like terrible and fun-killing to me — i kind of hope one day some random team starts using an entirely different set up and completely redefines the world of er competitive tf2

start playing half-life 2 for the first time. i'm hooked, and the engine feels nice having already played portal. i'm dying often, but i like how consequence-free it is (ie the frequent auto-saves).

Good game. I recently read through all the wikis so I could remember the games storyline. I think each episode might have got better and better. The first time I played through HL2 (or one of the episodes) I focused on doing a stupid accomplishment (gnome on the moon) for no good reason. But it actually proved to be a fun challenge.

so far "puzzles" in this game seem to consist of wandering around trying to find the hard-to-see lever or crank that does what obviously needs to happen (raise the water, open the gate, etc.).

still, really enjoying the combat and set pieces.

yah this is pretty duh in 2009 but i just finished portal and it's pretty awesome huh?

DUH

(i finally did last year and ya it is)

seconding the A-DUH. it rules, don't it!

Why no one has tried to make a full length portal clone is beyond me.

is portal not full-length?

anyway the "still alive" version has a bunch of extra levels, they are hard.

I don't think valve considers portal a full length!

i don't know, i'm in the mindset that the game is basically the perfect length. no sequels necessary!

For anyone who's STILL sitting on the fence, or wants to gift it, it's at $15 today:
http://store.steampowered.com/sub/469/

news incoming...
http://store.steampowered.com/news/3533/
morse code?
http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1168990
new achievement (scroll to the bottom)
http://steamcommunity.com/stats/Portal/achievements/

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1169218

juicy, valve

well, it's weird and exciting - hopefully it means Episode 3 is on the way this year (seems reasonable). I imagine this is leading to some kind of announcement next week at GDC? A new box with Episode 3, Portal 2 and CounterStrike 2 would sure shake up the fall.

oh please that would be so nice

http://www.boingboing.net/2010/03/01/not-a-lie-valve-upda.html

weird viral Contact like shit

new Portal update, they changed the ending - you can watch it here http://www.xfire.com/video/2393cf/

Ha nice! I remember that bit. I wonder why they bothered to even do it at this point, but it's a nice little upgrade from how it looked originally.

Hmm, I just noticed the update news says "Added valuable asset retrieval", and guessing from the end of that video... I guess it means Chell will be back...

one of the comments on that link, they've removed the radio thing already?

so the idea is that the new ending sets up the sequel now? sweet?

sequel confirmed hooray!
http://store.steampowered.com/news/3559/

I wonder if it's a stand-alone full retail release

or what?

stand-alone, full price... I'm curious, but skeptical for some reason...
http://gameinformer.com/mag/portal2.aspx

Original co-op campaign sounds cool. But yeah, I have to be a little skeptical for the same reasons as I was for Bioshock 2... this game doesn't inherently need a sequel.

ok huge kudos on that wraparound game informer cover concept!

http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/9705/oalehaaca.jpg

not really feelin' this viral campaign

also, when did game informer become the big gaming mag? ( apologies m@tt)

aren't they the one owned by gamestop?

yeah, didn't you get free subscripts if you bought things from gamestop...?

I'm still pining for the days of next gen ;_;

http://www.vg247.com/2010/03/12/newell-portal-2-will-take-the-concept-big/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCt2nZF2nLk

Like the concept, but the needless constant wobbly "shakycam" made me a bit nauseous

i have a nearly irrational hatred of that blocky pentagram-style presentation

http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/plush/a9d5/

why would you?

wow :O
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjGrHBpfqCo

sorta made me wanna see that movie now!

i was gonna come here to post that. some really nice compositing work.

boy, that "transmission received" radio / portal 2 arg achievement is totally unfun to do, unlike shooting down cameras

Free download of Portal (1) http://store.steampowered.com/freeportal/

Wow, Portal: Prelude is fucking terrible. I say this having played it less than five minutes- you start, are subjected to some awful dialog (delivered by the same speech-to-text routine Xtranormal uses, kind of killing the whole "humans overseeing the test" backstory), get the portal gun and are immediately spat out in front of four turrets that shoot your balls off. I think I was expected to do some lightning-fast Portal-ninjery to disable all four turrets before dying, but fuck that.

When this originally came out, the creators took some flak for making an ultra-difficult mod that relied on lots of fiddly portal placement and reflexes instead of logical thinking and had a big whiny shitfit about what I can assure you is a very good point. The version I downloaded starts with a warning that it is for "advanced Portalers" only and implies that those looking for actual fun need not apply. That is, it shows the warning screen after a minute-long Domo-kun short the creators have decided to appropriate for their logo sequence. But hey, what's an extra hundred megs or so on an installer that's almost a gig in size?

I'm going to try to soldier through this fucking thing just to see how their little story plays out, but my expectations are quite, quite low.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxCt-03LcUE

Okay no. Just...no. I am uninstalling this now.

http://twitpic.com/1t3oal/full

i don't want to ever see that prelude game. i like how portal was and i'll leave it at that.

http://www.teamfortress.com/macupdate/comic/

Fucking great. I MAKE SQUARE, UNSAFE PRODUCTS FOR MEN!

Kind of wishing I had a Mac to log on from, though :(

I have to say that this made me pretty excited for Portal 2:

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/gc-10-portal-2/703167

Stephen Merchant!

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2010/08/21/buddy-system-portal-2-co-op-trailer/

http://gamevideos.1up.com/video/id/32405

Oh, Telephone's link is pretty similar.

dope

Meet Wheatley

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWQasZbjy_I

portal 2 looks amazing, but i'm not sure about the storyline anymore - the original was mind blowing but the sequel just feels a bit too cocky.

oof, portal was probably the best game i've played in years, and the sequel looks great, but i'm not sure i want to have a goofy wise-cracking english guy with me the whole time. preferred the austerity and dry humor of the original

yeh the best way of telling a story in a game is "show don't tell", and Portal was a good example of this - i think there was only a cutscene at the very end?

It won't be as good of a story, but the puzzles will be great.

Apaz 'Wheatley' is only in the intro bit (the encounter w/ GlAdos @ the end of the video means you go back into the test chambers). More wacky characters wuld indeed suck though.

years late but

PORTAL OMG

― adam, Wednesday, October 10, 2007 3:33 PM Bookmark

haha yes! i only got orange box abt 18 months ago, have played a couple of unsuccessful games of team fortress, never touched half-life (will once i finish fallout 3) but portal was worth the price of admission alone

In light of yesterdays announcement, I'm wondering if any other people with both a PC and PS3 have decided to just pick up the PS3 version instead. It seems like they've got everything covered with the free Steam dl on PC, full interoperability, cloud storage, etc. If they support mouse and keyboard, I might not even play the pc version unless I'm traveling...

i hope this sets a meaningful cross platform precedent

i dont know what you guys are talking about

but i have a 360 so im prob already screwed wrt whatever it is so

if i need a ps3 to play whatever sequel you're talking about i might actually buy one

what is 'yesterday's announcement'

if you buy the ps3 version you get it on steam for free

(the game being portal 2)

http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2011/01/ps3-gets-steam-support-cross-platform-portal-2.html

paste? what

i loved portal but i want another HL much more tbf

yeah, if had a PS3 I definitely would've just bought the PS3 version and linked it to my Steam acct. steam is still the devil

the cross-platform playability is pretty great too, it keeps numbers up and helps solve the problem of console multiplayer bases dying quickly - the PC online numbers never really fade out, especially for Valve games

Latest updates: new song from The National (eeehhhhh), J.K. Simmons as Cave Johnson (much more enthusiastic sound!).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r7i89DdnC8

"For those of you who volunteered to be injected with praying mantis DNA, I've got some good news and some bad news. The bad news is, those tests have been postponed indefinitely. The good news is, we've got a much better test for you: fighting an army of Mantis Men! Please grab a rifle and follow the yellow line. You'll know when the test starts."

I saw an ad for Portal 2 on the side of a bus this morning.

shoulda jumped through it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=wyduSUyIChA

gah, let's try that again:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqh8v1mwWzo

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13097370

so is anyone playing Portal 2? is it good? i really want to play it but don't really have the extra $$$ right now

out tomorrow, right? i pre-ordered it awhile back from amazon.

oh for some reason i thought it was out last week

wow, so the potato sack early release thing was all bullshit, huh? Brilliant sales technique but i don't blame their audience for being pissed.

tv spots for this on uk tv at the mo, the two robots playing with portals.

i am officially all geeked out about this now

they've been promoting the shit out of this, billboards and bus ads all over chicago

kinda weird how there are zero reviews of this the day before it comes out. are video game reviews always held until launch day?

no. steam's been really tight.

a bunch of spoilers have already leaked apparently (*sticks fingers in ears*)

i actually ponied up for this btw - rarely ever preorder games, but there was some crazy ass best buy deal where i got it for $15 net on Mac

Some jackoff troll threw out a spoiler right in my face this afternoon in the comments thread on a usually trustworthy site (Rock Paper Shotgun). Not enough to RUIN TEH GAME or anything, but exasperating and a little sad. Who the fuck does that?