[Opinion/Advices]About tentacle backtracking...

Black Mesa Archive The Cafeteria
#21

Let’s say, the guy who tells you what to do could go a little more into detail of what you’re supposed to do, but otherwise its good the way it is. He says that thing can hear you, so you probably think you can sneak past. If you can’t, the design is in some way flawed. Maybe you should get a little hint on how to distract the tentacles.

As for the backtracking, I remember figuring it out when I first played Half-Life. I admit I was confused as well, but Gregorovich! pretty much got it to the point. You must examine the environment, think and then act, something which distinguishes the Half-Life experience from modern shooters! And to be honest, I can’t quite agree with the complaints about the tentacles. Like lucifer said, you don’t really wanna stay in that room for long anyway. Rush through the room, keep throwing grenades and the tentacles won’t hit or even notice you.

#22

I like how there are giant signs with red light / green light indicators telling you that the silo is READY. That means you did the puzzle correctly.

In the control room just a bit of reading and looking at the lights will tell you pretty much what you’re supposed to do. It wasn’t all too much of an issue.

There could have been larger signs directing you to the FUEL ANNEX and GENERATOR though.

#23

I was pretty sure that when I tossed a grenade down their hole, they all retreated…either that or the game was glitching for me but they definitely dropped for a few seconds. Then when they returned, they started on the lowest level, then moved up after like 10 seconds.

#24

In HL1 the tentacle would retreat if you shot/damaged it. That’s probably why you’re getting weird results with grenades, if they kept that in.

#25

The game was not glitching for you. That’s exactly how it works and how to pass through that room easily. Throw grenade down the hole, walk to the ladder, hope that the ladder system works correctly, climb one level down and get off the ladder, throw the next grenade. If you’re quick enough, you won’t be bothered by the tentacles.

#26

elivance: I’m normally not too hard on forum newbies, but you’re literally asking that the developers hold your hand and tell you what to do during this chapter, rather than let you figure it out for yourself. And that’s pretty dumb.

The dying scientist you encounter tells you that you need to fire the rocket engine. Then, you enter a room where a scientist is futilely smashing his hand on a big red button labelled “fire” before he gets dragged off. “Hmm… there must be something wrong with the engine! Maybe the conspicuous indicator lights on this control panel next to the big red button could give me a clue.” Then, the first guard you encounter tells you that he’s going to “make a break for the generator room” (or something to that effect), and that you’re welcome to join him - a change made in Black Mesa, because in Half-Life, he only tells you that you need to be quiet. When you look out into the silo from the platform you enter on, you can see both of the doors you need to go through. The guard who shouts “eat lead, you giant outer space octopus” distracts the tentacles for a few moments so you can sneak out onto the platform and have a look at the room before they come for you - another change that was made in Black Mesa, by the way, because in the original, that guard is standing on the platform you enter on, which draws the tentacles right to you. Maybe if you’d stopped to assess the situation before you charged into a room full of giant tentacle monsters, you wouldn’t have gotten stuck.

#27

Yeah, Blast Pit is fine as it is. It’s cool not having the game tell you exactly what to do and where to go.

And I really don’t understand why people play this mod, yet haven’t played the original Half-Life? I understand that these people have played Half-Life 2 and all that, but wouldn’t you want to play HL1 after doing that? It just doesn’t really make sense to me.

#28

Different discussion. Please try to help keep threads on-topic.

#29

I agree that this portion was a bit confusing. After turning on fuel and oxy, i thought i was finished. I should have known the team wouldn’t have made killing the tentacles this easy, though. The problem I had was that I couldn’t really see the door on the ground level and the power indicator on the console wasn’t very clear. I assumed it was just random bits like other consoles had throughout the rest of the game. All in all, though this was a minor, if annoying, hitch in the pacing and can be easily remedied if they want to.

#30

i was a little confused as well, but i had the idea to backtrack into the control room myself, and was satisfied that i was right.

the only thing i’d change would be two indicator lights next to the control room, labeled FUEL and POWER. that way you’d find easier where to go, and also knew that you haven’t forgotten anything.

#31

I’ll answer you quoting myself

Or quoting flying sheep

That’s all

#32

I had some problems with this chapter as well.
Similar to the others, I had to go through different sub-levels of this section twice because I missed the “power” indicator for the first time.

But you can’t even imagine how pleasant it was to finally burn that monster with a rocket.
Combined with awesome music that plays at that moment, I felt accomplished.

This was a strange feeling that is usually missing in most modern games.
I felt that I did it. It wasn’t done for me. It wasn’t done with my help. I took all the credit, and I was enjoying the show, observing the direct result of my own work.

That was great.

#33

Yeah, and that’s why you shouldnt be given everything beforehand.
Every puzzle takes its own time to solve and even if you find it quick or slow its an accomplishment. Either it’s like: Hell yeah, I solved that so quick, Im so smart. Or it’s like: Bloody hell, that was hard but I did it!! And now they burn in hell!

Also, watching and playing with the gibs from tentacles and gargs made me giggle :smiley:

#34

Oh yes, that much at least I can agree on.

Sitting in that control room with that damn tentacle in front of you and the fire button glowing green is the best feeling in the world.

Did you notice that you can pick them up and throw them about?

Or that you can pick up dead headcrabs and houndeyes too? I loved that.

#35

We’ve all gotten lazy with games like WoW and Skyrim giving us GREAT BIG FUCKING ARROWS[/SIZE] pointing to where we need to go and what we need to do.
So it does take a bit of getting used to when we have to suddenly use our brains to work something out ourselves.
Keep at it and you’ll get into the whole ‘thinking for yourself’ thing.

I admit that I too had a shock when I had to use my brain. There sure was a lot of dust on it.

#36

For people who badmouth people who got confused, I direct you to the Portal 2 Developer Commentary. Run through the game and listen to the commentary, the note down how many things Valve changed because players were being confused by it. And almost all the things they changed weren’t made easier, just less misleading.

There’s a reason Valve’s games are as popular as they are, and it isn’t because they treat their players with tough love. Yes, there’s an element to figuring things out for yourself. As there should be. But there’s also an element of clarity in game design that avoids ways of being needlessly misleading. Hell, go back to Half Life and look at the console again. Virtually the ONLY things on it are huge signs saying Power, Oxy and Fuel for even the blind to see, yet we’re not saying that was too easy or too clear or not hard enough, are we?

Again, I’m a Half-Life veteran. I’ve replayed the original enough times to quote almost all of its locations from memory, and even remember most of the enemy spawns. I went into Blast Pit knowing precisely what to look for and what to do and I STILL couldn’t find where on the console “power” was even mentioned, before or after I switched it on. That console can use a redesign to make the power button less prone to being mistaken for cosmetic clutter.

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.