Half-Life 2, An exospective retrospect

As far as games are concerned in my eyes, Half-Life 2 redefined the way we play. Hell, games are designed differently simply because of the innovations set forth in Half-Life, and Half-Life 2 did more to "raise the bar" than any game sequel to date. If I may rant...

Simply in terms of engine advancement, quality jumped. Renderings were as close to photo-realistic as we had seen to date, even with Doom 3 being on the shelves. The fact that you could pick items up and force them to interact physically with other items in the world provided hours of distracting (and then useful) entertainment. Throwing a can at the metrocops turned out to be as much fun as being submissive and throwing it away like they had demanded. This is so mesmerizing that you nearly forget to notice the world into which you have suddenly been forced.

When last we left our hero, he was sweltering through Black Mesa, NM and then some creepy world called Xen. Now, he's in war-worn Eastern Europe, presumably again "working" for the ever-mysterious G-Man. You fight through cordoned city streets, filthy barnacle-laden sewers, along septic routes and dams, and even a zombie infested old mining town. Additionally you get to drive to your location in some parts, which brings up an important clue if you're a good critical thinker. You're driving along the coast, checking out piers and docks that are a good ten to twenty feet above above the surface of the water. I didn't notice it at first, but then I thought about how the hell anyone is going to get in or out of a boat which is floating 20 feet below them? It begs some thought.

The fact that I didn't have to stop and think about it was actually a property of the new game play "feel." I guess that due to the fact that computing resources were less limited (or something, I realize how flawed that statement is), the developers were able to cram more stuff into maps. It wasn't an obligation to explore every little nook and/or cranny. Along Highway 17, you hardly had to stop for anything you couldn't drive around. This can make it an easier or tougher play for you is the thing, so it balances nicely.

Creature design had progressed significantly, but aside from variations to old favorites, the most significant enemy you battle is your own kind. Humans who have turned to "combine" with the Combine, who have apparently been working in the shadows since Half-Life. Xen, your final highland in Half-Life, turned out to merely be a teleportation transfer point for a much bigger problem. Your role in fighting baddies scrolls from random remotely controlled monsters to your own remotely controlled species. It's not as shocking as it should be, but damn if when walking into City 17, I didn't feel a sense of 1984.

Characters actually come to support the meaning of the word in Half-Life 2. Your "spunky" sidekick Alyx is not only a helpful story vehicle, she's genuinely speaking. She peers, looks, smile, raises her eyebrows, and furrows her brow. Arguments between NPCs, while a little corny, were mind-blowing at the time. With a couple of welcome familiar faces, and some unwelcome but powerful allies, you learn very quickly not to try and horribly mutilate everything you come across.

If Half-Life is the greatest game of all time, Half-Life 2 is the greatest sequel of all time. I look heavily forward to a ground shattering Half-Life 3, if VALVe can get it out before they all decide to retire.

-The0

Old computers are called OLD for a reason

My parents have finally decided to get rid of the computer that has been haunting the kitchen since 2002. This thing is so old that new RAM for it costs more than new RAM for YOUR computer. Remember ENIAC? ENIAC should remember this thing. My older brother was trying to get the processor off of the heat sink (so as to put a new one on there) today and somehow or another, he was lacerated very badly on his finger. 5 stitches. It took injury to convince my parents to buy a new machine. Thank god.

Now, I love and respect my parents very dearly, but their computer has not progressed with them and their needs. I'm happy that my older brother (who taught me most of what I know about computers) will be there to help them in their purchase of a new machine. As a way to help illustrate how long they stuck it out with this computer, and in the ghost of Duke Nukem Forever, here is a small list of things that are younger than this electronic abomination.

• The Invasion of Afghanistan
• The lake behind the Three Gorges Dam
• Martha Stewart's insider trading fiasco
• The Beltway Sniper attacks
• The Euro (technically speaking)
• My social life, thanks to that very computer

It's been fun, it's been real. It's been real fun, Kitchen computer. Happy retirement, you murderous box.

-The0

It turns out Nostalgia is Vista-compatible

In my research for the previous post, I came across the Wikipedia article for Sierra Entertainment. As some of us may remember, the original publisher of Half-Life was Sierra, after VALVe was passed up by everyone else, being told their game was "too ambitious." A good move on Sierra's part, but it is a little sad for them as well. VALVe has utterly outgrown them since their humble beginnings.

I had been a big fan of Sierra even before then, however. The games I played before Quake and Ultima were all Sierra games, the old style ones. I'm referring to their "_____ Quest" games. I used to be able to tell you precisely how to get through Space Quest IV. I knew that no matter what code you entered in the time machine, you would go nowhere at first. As an attempt to get back even further into my childhood and gaming habits, I found an abandoned version of my favorite Quest, King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow.

The adventures of Prince Alexander of Daventry came back to me with much difficulty, to my surprise. It may have been that I was still reeling from the nostalgia (goodness, it was wonderful to to explore those screens like I had before), but I don't think so. What is takes to beat an old Sierra Quest game was patience, logic, creativity, and an entirely different way of thinking. The game can be beaten in 5 hours, but the first time I played it, 16 years ago, it took me almost 3 months. I kept trying every combination of events until something new happened. I tried and tried, and with some help for the Sierra Hint line (that's how popular their games were. They had their own hot line with hints for EVERY game), I finally had it beaten, and I was so proud that I knew exactly how to put the pieces together. Now, I need a guide in order to even get off the first island. Oh well.

I guess the main thought behind this veneer of words is that it's easy for me to relive key parts of my childhood. I remember the weather of the first summer that Prince Alexander got shoved in the catacombs. I remember late nights with no progress. It was great for me to get back and feel all this again. Thanks for joining me.

-The0

Better Half-Life than no life at all.

In my opinion, many things can retain their grandeur despite their age. Everyone still loves the Mona Lisa, The Godfather is still revered as the best movie ever, and as far as this list is concerned, the Half-Life series raises the bar on all video games. This is a small dissertation on why.

Let’s start with Half-Life (the first one, released in 1998). Half-Life was based on the GoldSrc engine, a heavily modified version of the Quake engine. The graphics were stunning to me, and it utterly taxed my little 233 MHz laptop. I remember the first time I played it. I was a sophomore in high school, and I had just started the storyline of the game in hopes that I might improve my LAN battle strategy, which at the time was pretty much, "run straight forward with guns blazing at everything which moves." This was the first lesson I garnered from Half-Life. NOT EVERYTHING NEEDS TO BE SHOT! No sooner had Barney started speaking than I had finished blowing a hole in his skull. It was some comment about the zombies, of which he had just taken care for my ungrateful ass.

Another game-changing moment was when I had to figure out my first “puzzle.” For once I wasn’t just running through corridors shooting everything which moved. This was my second lesson from Half-Life. It’s not all going to be about getting bigger guns for bigger baddies anymore. This time I had to figure out where I was going to go and what I was going to do in order to NOT die. It was like being in Mario brothers all over again. Only this time I got to use quicksaves and quickloads. At any rate, we go onto the best thing of all. The Storytelling.

Storytelling in Half-life was unlike anything I had ever experienced in my limited catalogue of gaming. I had played a couple of the Ultima games, and even played through all of Quake, but to have the story directly delivered to me in play, and not through some text screen or in a hidden manuscript was world-changing for me. In fact, a lot of the tale was lost to me. In order to actually get any of the yarn, you have to infer a lot from your surroundings and environment. This “resonance cascade” had supposedly just happened 48 hours ago, how could they possibly have built specimen examination rooms for the monsters in such short time? Unless? The point I’m making is, I was still just shooting everything. I was murdering, not thinking. As soon as I learned my third lesson, to stop and look around, everything started making more sense. After all, VALVe had made it a point to build (mostly) realistic worlds, who was I to ignore it?

Characters are a bit lackluster at times, but at other times, they are inescapably enigmatic. The G-Man is the only real character with whom you make any lasting contact. His involvement with everything is curious, but never forgotten. One might think he’s calling the shots in everything, others may say he is simply observing. Barney (the security guard) is met time and again, and even killed multiple times. I think Black Mesa may have been a cloning facility in addition to a hypothetical physics think tank. At any rate, the main character, Dr. Gordon Freeman, never speaks but is always central. I like that. You control him, and you can choose to save others or save your own ass. You can progress through the game as fast as you want, making a mad dash to whichever way “Out” is, or you can really explore the map, and find some extra goodies. Dr. Freeman can be a free-running murderer, or a thinking fighter. It is this ambiguity that allows him to have such a strong following. Master Chief is the gaming world’s Chuck Norris, steering a bomb through space on pure baddass alone, as in Halo 2. Dr. Freeman is just a scientist who apparently reads Guns and Ammo magazine and was the right man in the wrong place. That makes all the diffffference, in the world.

Whereas this has gotten to be a very long post, be it resolved that we’ll go ahead and close up here. I'll carry on this babble into HL2 sometime soon, before the end of the month. Which means you’ll probably be reading it in August, 2010.

Oh, in case you need to be warned, this post has spoilers. Figured I'd at least mention it somewhere.

-The0

Wait, what's going on?

This is the update post to which I keep alluding. It will be concise and possibly endearing, but I need to sleep first. It'll be up soon, I promise, but for now, courage.

* * *

05/11/2009

And We're Back! Finally. An update for you all! As of today, it has been a very weird year. Let's start with the job. I was fired from my old place of employment, when they refused to work around my new schedule. It's just as well, I am working more hours for slightly more money, and I am finally getting down the system this place uses. Now, I probably shouldn't have destroyed a bridge for a temp job, but I really hated that last place. Besides, if I can manage to impress the management at this new job, they'll hire me on full time (not that I'm not working almost 40 - 50 hours a week already.) That would even get me benefits, like health insurance and a 401k. That has been the working goal since college. All in all, the job front is good.

I have a roommate now, one of the previously alluded-to cost cutting techniques. This wasn't my choice however. My parents moved my little brother in with me. It's not so bad though, we're getting used to each other, and my costs have been effectively cut in half. Maybe I can finally start cutting down my debts.

The lovely eHarmony match and I are officially dating. She shall remain anonymous still, because I still think it's a good idea to protect her reputation. we have been out on a number of very fun events, and it's a rare occurrence to meet a girl who can handle her drink like I can mine. We went to the Killers concert on the 2nd, and that was a pretty fun show. We're getting along very well.

In summation, things are looking up. I sincerely apologize for not updating as much as I should. I haven't had much about which to write. Next post: a study of Half-Life, the best series of video games ever!

-The0

I wonder if the CIA has heard about these guys...

Recently, I noticed all the commercials for the SMS directory service KGB (supposedly an acronym for Knowledge Generation Bureau.) The idea is that you send them a text message containing your question or point of curiosity, and they respond with a text message containing the answer to your question. You wind up one fact smarter and 99 cents poorer.

I decided to test out this service and ask them a question to which I already knew the answer. I asked “What is a granfalloon?” I got a confirmation message, saying that they were researching the answer. 2 minutes later, I was given the answer, “A granfalloon, in the fictional religion of Bokononism (created by Kurt Vonnegut in his 1963 novel Cat’s Cradle), is defined as a ‘false karass’” I was impressed.

As a self-proclaimed denizen of the digital age, I should have no qualms with readily accessible information, but something irks me about this service. First, I know I’m not the only one who remembers that Russia’s Committee for Governmental Security (founded in 1954) was called the KGB. What if it’s a front? Am I supposed to let these guys just hear my deepest (or most recent) curiosities? What if they’re creating a psychological profile of populations? Wait…Are they even our enemy any longer? Maybe I should ask them that.

Second, what’s wrong with popping on the internet on your phone and finding your answer yourself? If you’re going to pay a buck for an answer, you might as well get an internet plan and ask all the questions you damn well please. It would seem some sort of cost/time analysis is in order. It did take me about 5 minutes to find the same answer, given the benefit that I knew the avenues I would have to search to find the answer. The big thing about this is that these guy probably just sit around and Google the answer as I would have. A cool product, but I think it’s a bit overpriced for the convenience.

Sorry about the hiatus. I have been very busy. I was planning on posting this long ago (hence the date maybe,) and I had a draft of it, but a LOT of business came up. I shan’t bore you with the details. That’s for tomorrow’s “Update” post (for anyone who is still reading.) Thanks for following, anyone who is still out there!

-The0

Rockstar Personas

A while ago, when I still perused AlbinoBlacksheep, I came across an artist who had a very unique appeal. He called himself Doctor Steel. His music was something of a cross between rock, techno, and hip-hop. He called it hip-prop (short for Hip-Propaganda.) He wore mad scientist goggles, a perfect white lab coat, and he and his army of toy soldiers vowed to take over the world, and bring toys and happiness to all.

That is a lot of work to put into a character simply to propagate your music.  His fans are called toy soldiers. He writes about fun stuff like Planet X, The Fibonacci Sequence, and the Land of the Lost, to name but a few. He has an intellectual neo-goth steampunk flair that he totally plays upon, and I can't find a single link or resource that refers to him as a normal person. It's like there is an actual mad scientist making music out there.

I guess the point of this diatribe is to ask, why can't more artists do that? The closest I can think of right now is Trent Reznor and his ability to weave an alternate reality into an album (case in point: Year Zero.) I would happily attend a show that had a character performance and a musical performance. It would bring a lot more flavor back into the music industry, not to mention kind of re-humanize it in a way.

I'm not going to ramble. I would request that readers post ideas for personas, or actually make me aware of some other groups or people that do this. Examples: Gwar's grotesque costumes, or what if Five for Fighting brought vacuums on stage, so they could literally suck while they sucked?

-The0

Wait, What?

What's another word for synonym?

Irony?

Real post tomorrow, ladies and gentleman! Thanks to Kurt for the "Wait, What?" theme.

-The0

O Freeman, Where Art Thou?

I've had a little idea running through my head, and though I haven't really done the proper research, I think that it is very safe to say the Half-Life 2 occurs somewhere in Serbia. After a bit of looking, I found this picture of the Serbian Federal Parliament building.

Of course, I ran through the game really quickly and found a good shot of the Overwatch Nexus building.

Taking this in mind, I really want to know a couple of the other locations. City 17 is apparently Belgrade, Serbia. But where was Gordon Freeman dropped off? Where is zombie infested Ravenholm? Whose house got smashed under the Citadel? Where the hell is Half-Life 3!?

Valve has a very good practice of building real environments, and it shows even in their earlier works. Half-Life took place in a research lab hidden in Black Mesa, NM (Clever little wink: It's about 120 miles from Los Alamos, birthplace of the atom bomb.) I have actually been through Black Mesa a couple of times, on hiking expeditions with the Boy Scouts. On the very scenic route, I kept remembering and comparing the environment, color, and appearance of all the stone cliffs and reddish-brown mountains from the game to the actual environment around me. I found that it was really well captured, even for 1998 graphics and game engines.

I wonder if it's bad that my fonder memories of nature come from a video game.

-The0

I'm missing Law and Order for this?

Another week down, but this one is special. Yesterday marked the end of my schooling. It's over. Finé. I have to try and enter the real world again. Rent is still a bitch, and the bills are of course not working in my favor. But what else is new? That will actually be answered in an update post, coming soon to a monitor near you!

What's really new for me is right now I'm sequestered in a jury room. I've kind of wanted to be a juror ever since I really started enjoying Harvey Birdman. None of my family members have ever been to jury duty before, and none of my friends have either. the only person I know that has sat on a jury is the manager at my place of work (the one whom I'm convinced is trying to find a reason to get rid of me.) This post is to serve as a warning and a lesson as to what to expect.

This isn't my first time being summoned to jury duty, this is just the first time I've been able to make it there. School has always been a priority to me over the justice system, and let me tell you, if you have any reason you can't make it in, you need to send them that letter they give you as soon as possible. Otherwise they will just keep summoning you. That gets annoying. They also may send out a warrant after you. That’s worse.

* * *

And we're back from lunch. The worst part of this so far has been dealing with parking. I found the courthouse just in time, and spent approximately 20 minutes trying to find a parking place. I ended up initially parking at an expired meter to try and get there on time, and ask them where on earth to park. For anyone who gets summoned in St. Louis, you park next to the MetroLink Station at Shaw and Meramec. You also want to make sure you have your summons with you; it’s needed in order to be checked in and logged. Don’t have too many things in your pockets, you’ll have to take them out for the metal detector and x-ray check. This is almost as bad as going through airport security. Come to think of it, this is a lot like the airport. You hurry up to get here and wait, you go through a series of metal detectors and security checks, and then you sit in your waiting room like a terminal.

Anyway, It’s pretty cool so far. It’s usually a two day affair, though it can last as little as 1.5 days to however long your case lasts, should you get selected to serve on one. It’s a big tall room, and it has a good few amenities included. There are snack machines, soda and coffee machines, a magazine rack (complete with outdated issues of Time,) and a couple of televisions (one of them is tuned to The View. How am I supposed to be an unbiased juror with the definition of daytime dreck television showing to a room full of the fairer sex?) The best feature is this little separate work area. A number of chairs and desks are next to a window overlooking central St. Louis County.

Out of a last minute thought, I had decided to grab my laptop, which remained in my truck until the 90 minute lunch break. You’d assume with the “hush hush” nature of juries and cases and such, any connection to the outside world would be forbidden. The joke is on me though, and in an ironic way. There is next to no internet connectivity in this room. There is no wireless, and though there are Cat5 data ports all over the room, none of them connect anywhere. The 56k modem lines connect to the outside world, and that used to be this laptop’s primary connection to the internet. I grabbed a Cat5 cable before I left, but no phone cable. The lesson learned is that I either A) need a newer, more modern laptop (I’m looking at an Asus model or two, simply because I’m a fanboy, or something from CyberPower, for the same reason) so that I can go mobile broadband and call myself a disciple of the internet, or B) need to not call myself a disciple of the internet. I should have grabbed the Vonnegut that Kurt has lent me. I’ll bring that tomorrow.

Other observations: In stark contrast to The View, there is a very lively forum going on in an alcove next to the workstations. The subjects have ranged seamlessly from the housing market, to the current presidency, a religious history and philosophy discourse, and now they’re talking about foreign policy. My goodness, I’m lurking in real life! I’m glad that I’m still learning. I should probably go over there and see if I can contribute anything, but to be perfectly honest, I’m scared. My opinions aren’t very strong except for a couple of subjects, and they’re pretty taboo. I guess I’m afraid of turning out to be incorrect or wrong, and without my beloved Google, Wikipedia, and Fark quickly available, I don’t really feel like I have the moxie or facts available to be a good debater or contributor in an actual, intellectual forum. Case in point: I’m rambling. Oh well, maybe next time.

My number still has not been called, and it’s just over a half hour to closing time. If I don’t get put on a case, I should hope I get summoned again so that I can actually sit in, and learn how a case works, see how attorneys act, and what it’s like to actually deliberate. Here’s hoping to that.

My final note is that I have finally come across a couple of subjects about which I would like to write, e.g. updates, thoughts, observations, and a couple of obscure memories which I am trying to confirm actually existed. Adieu until next time!

Where's Judith Harris and Freud's kid when you need him/her?

I never thought a hiatus would be something to which I wasn't looking forward. I have been very busy these last couple of weeks, and I also haven't had much about which to type. But now I'm back, for the time being. My date went very well, we even had a second date but a week later. Also went very well. We went to see Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. I didn't get to reflect on it very much with my date, but I did have some musings about it upon which I wanted to get opinions. Hiatus Over. Starting now.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a show mostly about two men in one man's body. The upstanding, intelligent, restrained pillar of the community Dr. Henry Jekyll, and the depraved, crude, ultimately hated but happy and free Mr. Edward Hyde. Throughout the story, Dr. Jekyll is trying to resist the urge to consume this tincture that he made which brings out Mr. Hyde, which is later alluded to being an addiction. Murders are committed, the two sides argue within the same head, and Dr. Jekyll kills himself. The last lines of the show are something to the order of "I had the strangest dream. I dreamt that I was a good man, and everybody loved me and looked up to me. I was the perfect gentleman. And I was so unhappy." These lines are spoken by Mr. Hyde.

There are of course several themes here which all fall under something of the same umbrella. During the show, the nature vs. nurture argument is resolved, if only for story purposes. Dr. Jekyll denies that upbringing has anything to do with it, and that that are definitely "two streams of the mind." One which is all desire and hurtful, and one which brings ultimate peace to the soul. His works were to isolate these and remove the bad. His response to the proposal of the opposite occurring, the good being removed leaving only the bad, was that if it were possible, why would anyone want to have anything but peace? To me, it would seem that such an ideal would be synonymous with self-restraint and denial, as he admitted in his other character that he enjoyed beating up streetwalkers and the refined, and happy "to pay for the privilege." While Dr. Jekyll, the man was cold, calculated, unhappy, single, yet compassionate to his fellow man. It's a tough argument, really. With only two options, I don't think I can in good conscience say I would choose lonely inner peace over happy mirth and mayhem.

Another theme which can easily be brought up is Freud's structural model of the psyche. That's right, the id, ego, and superego. These streams of consciousness alluded to in the previous paragraph are a good representation of the superego and the id. I would love to say that before the good doctor started drinking those potions of his, he was a picture perfect example of the balanced Ego. Striving for perfection while still finding time to give into his basest drives. These of course manifest themselves as the superego Dr. Jekyll and our id-man Mr. Hyde after he starts drinking the tincture. This can bring in a question regarding the way our society views good and evil. Mr. Hyde is constantly demonized in the play, and Dr. Jekyll conversely is practically deified. Is it truly evil just to satisfied all your deepest desires, with no concern for society or other? Is it really saintly to set aside your life for the betterment of society? It's a good question, but all the same, I'm glad to have just a slightly imbalanced ego in me, for the time being.

Other questions raised during the show were, "Where does the body end, and the mind/soul begin?" "What prompts our morbid fascinations?" Walter (a link to his weblog, not the fact at hand) has told me there have been discoveries in human nerves where doctors and scientists cannot distinguish the nerves from electrochemical processes (or something.) I'll have to ask him and edit this post regarding that. To the second question, my date (who shall remain nameless to protect her reputation) believes that there is a real thing to our maleficent fascinations. Have you ever been stuck in traffic, cursing and and oathing against the rubberneckers, only to find yourself gawking at the ghastly scene? Nothing like seeing a Cobalt turned into a Pringle to make you realize that your speedometer should match those signs on the side of the road. Is that the answer? Are we trying to learn from the failings of others? Or are we trying to satisfy a bloodlust while thinking "Better him than me"?

I would highly recommend this play. It had a very unique set, somewhat minimalistic in it's design. Blood on the ground was cleverly represented by red lights underneath the stage. Hyde's multiple streams of thought were all voiced by other actors lining up behind him. A very entertaining show, for both the morbidly obsessed and the well to do.

-The0