some more passive wildlife would be cool… like how they had crows and pigeons and stuff in HL2, maybe some other, larger wildlife, or step up the birds some as you go into the wilderness… i was wondering about the lack of birds in Episode 2.
Wish it was the southern hemisphere… then they could have penguins… doing penguin slides and other penguin stuff… I wonder what a penguin ai script would look like…
I would actually like to see overall improvements to the textures. They are becoming very low res even on maxed out settings. The Fakefactory mod demonstrates my point very well. Also I would like to see water more like the water in Crysis where it’s customizable depending on system specs and actually waves and the light properties. If you listen, on the beach levels, there is an ambient sound of waves washing up on the shore but the water is just a moving texture that isn’t a solid.
I agree with this. I was pleased with the episodes for improving the polygon count on Alyx and the vorts and giving them better textures, and also giving Alyx that belt model that moves independently of her body. If we could get more texture and model updates like that it would be great, this time for the environment especially. Also perhaps rendering some vertical grass as opposed to using only textures might be nice. More physics in the environment would also be pleasing.
you want MOAR!!???
I just want the damn thing to come out in my lifetime.
As opposed to horizontal grass? :hmph:
self-shadowing would be noice
bscly
Actually I had been thinking about this specific subject for the past few weeks. I honestly think that while there are plenty of games that technically have more detail that Orange Box is capable of doing, I don’t honestly feel that any of those graphical improvements really do all that much to benefit actual gameplay. So on that note, my suggestions are all intended to improve what can actually be done in the game and how the game can be played. Some suggestions my be beyond while Orange Box is capable of and simply needs to wait until the next engine that is rebuilt from the ground up.
ENGINE RELATED:
Improved Hitbox Reaction - Essentially the same as L4D and L4D2; allow parts of an enemy to be destroyed without killing it. Zombies can now lose arms or legs and keep coming.
Improved Rope Physics - If you’ve used the crane, or actually tried messing around with those electrical plugs, then you realize that even Orange Box sucks pretty badly at this. Ropes act more like weird elastic bands than actual ropes. I’d like to see this improved to the point that a Helicopter could lower a rope down to be grabbed by the player in order to lift them to safety or to tangle up a strider’s legs (like the ATATs from Empire Strike Back)
Improved Water Physics - Water is more of an effect than an object in Orange Box. you can put it into an area but other than making objects float it really isn’t good for much. I’d like to see water physics that allow for actual water flow, or for water to actually be poured into a container, or to push against objects as well as be dammed up.
Also included with this; all creatures should react to being submerged in water, either by swimming, drowning, or just sinking and having movement altered in the case of enemies that can’t swim but also don’t need to breathe air.
Background Map Loading - I’d like to see more support to have adjacent maps loaded in the background so that map transitions can be seamless or nearly seamless.
Creature Morphing/Replacement - for all that one of the major elements of half life is a headcrab’s ability to turn someone into a zombie, you never actually see them do it. Why? Because source still doesn’t support morphing one creature into another within the game. There are plenty of other applications that this effect could be put towards, but right now in-game headcrabbing is the primary one.
Partial Ragdolling - Allow for creatures to remain alive after being ragdolled and also allow creatures to have only a certain portion of their body ragdolled while the rest remains controlled.
POSSIBLY SCRIPT RELATED:
Creatures Support Weight - Basically make it so enemies and allies will react to objects that are on top of them, including the player. Heavy enough objects can damage creatures that are too weak to support the object they are under, but stronger creatures will be able to support that object. Players can damage enemies they fall on or drop objects on.
Corpses = Objects - Anything that gets killed should be able to be picked up and moved or thrown and act as a physics object. Dead headcrabs should be able to be picked up and thrown at other headcrabs.
More Toggle/Active While Held Options - Both Sprint and Duck can be set so that the button needs to be held to keep the action active, or they can be scripted to allow toggling the action on and off. However zoom and flashlight both need to be held, and “use item” can only be toggled. I would like to see every action in the game with the option for it to be done toggle or hold to keep active.
I agree with everything except
Not HL style. Would be nice for other games, though. Also,
might not work, because Valve hasn’t decided how fast headcrabs can zombify. We can assume from the Canals in HL2 that it’s within a couple minutes for most, though.
Basics are there in the headcrab, and in physics damage from tossing objects, but yes. Oh yes. We need this on a large scale.
Imagine dropping barrels on metrocops, knocking them off balance, then finishing them off with a couple bullets as you jump down to their level.
Water pouring (bscly particle based water, but on a more advanced level) is also something I’ve wanted to see for quite a while. And Valve is definetly one of the companies that can take us there.
I think Grey Acumen just won the thread.
lolling at people who want dynamic water. That shit is way too expensive to run. Blender can do it really well but I think it has to bake for a shitlong time.
Blender uses a strange method.
Engines like Jupiter EX(F.E.A.R.) And the new Unreal Engine 3.0 use a method that calculates two height maps. Which is really not too hard to run. It’s basically a flat plane with a bunch of polygons.
L4D started doing this a bit with the hunter. When the hunters are knocked off now they sometimes ragdoll until they regain control. It’s a nice start, but I doubt we could actually see partial ragdoll in the source engine.
Yeah, but the Unreal Engine also does a shitastic job of simulating small amounts of liquid as opposed to bodies of water. Watching a bartender pour drinks in Mass Effect 2 was downright awful. It looked like a glob of jello slipped out of the space surrounding the bottle and landed in the cup. If we could get even just a small demo of a believable liquid pouring simulation in Ep 3 that would be incredible.
As opposed to flat, horizontal textures. Like I said in my post. It’s not exactly the best description I guess, but you get the idea.
I think this thread just remind me crytostasis.
Terrain deformation. Sheet ice cracking… balancing on floating sheets of ice that can crack and break could be an interesting gameplay element… but to implement it to valve standards would take awhile (it has to actually work and not have that ‘gimmick’ factor)… but hey, it’s the third piece of ‘episodic’ content and has been in development since 2007…
I expect it’s going to look very shiny and capable ONCE IT COMES OUT.
mat_picmip -10 for HD textures.
I have to call you on this. Half Life 2 already had the occasional case where chopping a zombie in half sometimes results in a still living zombie torso coming after you. And even when you kill the zombie, if you didn’t use headshots, you occasionally have the headcrab come after you.
The idea might not be meant for applying to the other enemies, but it’s definitely worth implementing for the zombies.