Mid-Game Objective Indicators

Black Mesa Archive Suggestion Box
#1

I was just discussing this mod with a friend, and then go into the Half-Life vs Half-Life 2 debate. We both decided that Half-Life 1 was a much better game, but neither of us had ever beaten it. Due to the fact that we were both quite young and confused during some missions and got hooked on Counter-Strike, we quit Half-Life before ever completing it. During this conversation, it occurred to me that mid-mission objective indicators didn’t really exist in games back in '98/'99. We both came to the conclusion that, with some helpful objective indicators during missions, Half-Life would have been an absolutely perfect game.

So my suggestion is that you should toy around with the idea of implementing mid-mission objective indicators or hints or something at various checkpoints during the game. Nothing is worse than running around for 15 minutes in the same hallways because you’ve forgotten to press one button. Perhaps the indicators could be used to correct the user when they are doing something improperly. Let’s say that I have already completed Mission A and am attempting to head towards Mission B, but have wandered off in the wrong direction. Once I complete Mission A, some indicator check points will be activated in the hallways which I am not supposed to back track, and will point me in the correct direction. Or you could simply fill the game with checkpoints that will spawn objective hits or tips.

For those of you who know the game like the back of your hand (you know who you are :p) and don’t need these indicators, there could easily be a button in the options menu to disable hints… or even a button that could be pressed to display the previous hint.

Feedback? :smiley:

#2

not a bad idea but its rather late in development to go back and add this in if they haven’t already added this but who knows the devs can add whatever they want its up to them.

#3

I found Half Life to be EXTREMELY linear most of the time, and the environment was designed to draw interest to important areas. I found Half-Life to be an “Oh, shit! That was awesome, and I did it myself!” kind of game.

Half-Life conveyed the feeling of disorganization after a catastrophe,and it would definitely change the atmosphere if you had little pop-ups like:

Turn off the surgical equipment (0/1)
Escort Scientist to retinal scanner (0/1)

#4

Back in the days of Half-Life I don’t think too many developers were working on FPS with a real story. Many techniques in game design hadn’t yet been developed. I agree that for a first time user it was pretty hard to know what I was doing half the time. But While Black Mesa is a recreation, it is not a 1:1 recreation. Which means certain elements will be improved to today’s standard. The Devs have said that they try to make since of some of the crazy rooms in the game that didn’t quite make much sense and figure out how to recreate it. an example of this is that near the beginning that room with the boxes that hang over the bottomless pit. Since such attention to detail is being given in this mod, I’d expect the devs have made one’s sense of direction improved.

#5

Have the dev’s stated how their going to change that room to make sense?

#6

Having tips and indicators show up is like those bloody achievement pop-ups in Episode 2. It’s annoying and detracts heavily from the immersion. The only hints I was happy with was the tutorial messages in HL2, which were subtle and were only there to help you understandthe controls.

#7

Well, if it’s implemented, you’ll be the first to turn them off through the options menu :stuck_out_tongue:

#8

I’m not sure it’s really needed. Half-Life is an extremely linear game, so much so that if you were playing it on silent and had no clue as to what you were doing, you’d still be able to complete it easily. More often than not there’s only one way to go, and on the rare occasion where there’s two routes they always end up in the same place.

I personally hate objectives. They’re an old style of game interface that is quickly dying out. The focus now is on minimal interface, with attention being paid to immersion, such as a good story and a detailed world. Half-Life was, in many ways, one of the forerunners in this regard, as they focussed on detailed environments and good gameplay more than anything else. Its genius is its simplicity. You don’t need objectives or hints because its retardedly simple. The series always struck me as a more intelligent one, without the need for patronising messages telling you what to do.

#9

No. Simply no.
Someone should make a mod that adds all the stupid shit people want, like iron sight. Just for the lulz.

#10

No. It’d ruin the immersion.

Also, for the record, Half-Life 2 is a much better game(which is saying a lot, since Half-Life was fantastic).

#11

Are you talking to JohnKiller? I can’t tell. :stuck_out_tongue:

Anyway, if the hints were just subtle little things like the tutorials, then it would be fine.

#12

Perhaps if you wander off somwhere where you’re not supposed to go, a scientist might contact you on the radio, and remind you of your task.

#13

All Valve games - Half-Life included - are famous for their character acting and direction. If you listen to Valve’s commentary in HL2 and the episodes, they tell you numerous times that NPCs subtly give hints to players who have become stuck. The BM devs have proven themselves capable of working up to Valve’s standards, so I don’t see why they would skimp on this aspect. And Valve’s method is much better than inane pop-up messages.

#14

Anyway, the unspoken truth in Half-Life is that Gordon, as a theoretical physicist understands complex problems and tasks implicitly, even if the player does not.

I’m surprised if anyone got stuck in Half-Life to be honest… I suppose it was probably in Lambda Core, which is pretty much the least linear section of the game…

Really this is so unnecessary as a feature.

#15

For me, indicators would ruin BM. People must discover by themselves how to move on than follow indicators without searching the meaning of their actions. Subtil hints are more efficient than a big cercle floating around the world and don’t disturb the action and the story.
This is not call of duty or other simple FPS. Hints are good for L4D because you don’t have time to think a lot and helps the game to keep moving. The HL serie is more cerebral (a bit).

#16

No he won’t, I will be.

Half-Life is linear enough to not need it. Like someone said above, Lambda Core was probably the one most likely to lose people, and I didn’t find it that hard, beyond the teleporter.

#17

There’s nothing wrong with your idea, but it just doesn’t fit the mood of the Half Life series. I wouldn’t want it either.

#18

No, I was talking to the topic starter. I thought it was a bit obvious, but then again, sometimes it’s harder to tell for people who are just reading it.

#19

f_rand nailed it here. 99% of the time, you were specifically told what the general objective was by one of the scientists, you finished one objective before being informed about the next, and as long as you didn’t go completely backwards you pretty much could only go in the direction that led towards completing your mid-point objectives.
Yet despite all this you still FELT like the path you took was simply one of a hundred other paths you could have taken, or that you found a path where none was even supposed to exist. This kept Half Life from feeling like an On Rails Shooter, despite the fact that, to a great extent, it WAS. I mean, you even have a section that was CALLED “On Rails” and it was the one place that I had the most trouble figuring out where I was supposed to go.

If you really want what you’re talking about, then just pay attention and make a notepad file with your objectives marked down. It’ll accomplish the same thing, and possibly be even more immersive.

#20

Well, that’s another thing to put in the “Forum Feature” thread.

Founded in 2004, Leakfree.org became one of the first online communities dedicated to Valve’s Source engine development. It is more famously known for the formation of Black Mesa: Source under the 'Leakfree Modification Team' handle in September 2004.