Vodstok
10-15-2004, 03:36 AM
Okay, i fired up Steam last night and punched in my Credit Card number and paid for the ultimate nerd edition (read: gold edition) of half-life 2. I downloaded the various required parts. Had to wait an extra 20 minutes because my video driver was out of date and i kept installing the wrong type of update from ATI's site :rolleyes:
So i finally get the game up and running. I decide to run the video stress test to see how my machine stands up to the powerful new game engine.
When it plays through the demo, every cool-ass visual effect from the new game is displayed... Spinning panes of glass, water, stained glass, and other substances spin by. The bump-mapping is un-fucking-believable. the water effects are the best i have ever seen, as are the fire effects.
The whole demo is over too quickly, and you are presented with stats for how your machine ran. on 800x600, i got 55.3 frames per second. not too shabby, considering all the bells and whistles are on. it dropped to 33.1 after increasing the resolution to 1024x768, but it wasnt really very noticeable.
so i start a server to play around and see how it looks. I set it to random, and an old faithful, de_aztec loads up. right away, its the same game, but it's not. i recognise the layout, but it looks almost real... the wussy little glock just looks more impressive. it SOUNDS more impressive.
The first test came when i found some barrels. i shot one. it moved. i shot it twice, it tipped, the rocked back where it was. three shots knocked it over. another sent it rolling. I have been begging for physics like this in a game for frigging ever.
The coolest part was when i shot a barrel that was near a depression filled with water. it fell and rolled into the water, then rolled lazily across the surface, hit the other side, rolling up a little, then back into the water to repeat the process on the other side. it continued to do this, like a perpetual motion machine, until i shot it again.
Later, i went to the cs_italy map. There are no more chickens in the market, but there is fruit. if you have ever wanted to shoot the shit out of watermelons, bananas and oranges, but lacked either a gun or the money for fruit, here is your chance.
Finally, i had read reviews describing the cool shit you could do with the computers in cs_office. so i fired it up. It is awesome. one shot blows off the side cover of the pc, exposing it's guts. repeated shots pop out the hard drive, ram, video and sounds cards, and the mother board. it is very impressive :)
I will post some of the screenshots i took. i have an awesome one where i shot a hostage in each eye, and he was still alive. its pretty gruesome :)
So i finally get the game up and running. I decide to run the video stress test to see how my machine stands up to the powerful new game engine.
When it plays through the demo, every cool-ass visual effect from the new game is displayed... Spinning panes of glass, water, stained glass, and other substances spin by. The bump-mapping is un-fucking-believable. the water effects are the best i have ever seen, as are the fire effects.
The whole demo is over too quickly, and you are presented with stats for how your machine ran. on 800x600, i got 55.3 frames per second. not too shabby, considering all the bells and whistles are on. it dropped to 33.1 after increasing the resolution to 1024x768, but it wasnt really very noticeable.
so i start a server to play around and see how it looks. I set it to random, and an old faithful, de_aztec loads up. right away, its the same game, but it's not. i recognise the layout, but it looks almost real... the wussy little glock just looks more impressive. it SOUNDS more impressive.
The first test came when i found some barrels. i shot one. it moved. i shot it twice, it tipped, the rocked back where it was. three shots knocked it over. another sent it rolling. I have been begging for physics like this in a game for frigging ever.
The coolest part was when i shot a barrel that was near a depression filled with water. it fell and rolled into the water, then rolled lazily across the surface, hit the other side, rolling up a little, then back into the water to repeat the process on the other side. it continued to do this, like a perpetual motion machine, until i shot it again.
Later, i went to the cs_italy map. There are no more chickens in the market, but there is fruit. if you have ever wanted to shoot the shit out of watermelons, bananas and oranges, but lacked either a gun or the money for fruit, here is your chance.
Finally, i had read reviews describing the cool shit you could do with the computers in cs_office. so i fired it up. It is awesome. one shot blows off the side cover of the pc, exposing it's guts. repeated shots pop out the hard drive, ram, video and sounds cards, and the mother board. it is very impressive :)
I will post some of the screenshots i took. i have an awesome one where i shot a hostage in each eye, and he was still alive. its pretty gruesome :)