Talk:Half-Life 2

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Previous discussions:

• Archive 1
• Archive 2

total conversions

This line: Some total conversions have also been developed, which introduce completely new settings, multiplayer modes, or entirely new and original types of games such as Dystopia and GoldenEye: Source

strikes me as odd. I think GoldenEye Source wouldn't be an original game type, because it's based off of the Goldeneye James Bond game for N64. Can't we take that part out and substitute something like Garry's Mod or SourceForts, something new and completely original (Leaving Dystopia where it is of course, it's fine.)

Yeah, some anon put that in there. I'll take it out now. Nufy8 19:20, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

PEGI Rating

This page says HL2 is rated 16, 15, and '?' in different EU countries, but the boxes show 18. What are we going to do about this? My vote is stick with the 18 rating as it is more likely to be up to date. --Tom Edwards 17:40, 27 October 2005 (UTC)

I guess I would go with the 18 rating. That's the first time I've seen the European box art so I wouldn't be 100% sure. Thunderbrand 17:45, 27 October 2005 (UTC)

Uh, you have to copy and paste the link -- otherwise, it redirects to Google. --Yar Kramer 20:43, 27 October 2005 (UTC)

Lead paragraph

"Steam sales account for 25% of overall custom;"... custom doesn't makes sense. - RoyBoy ⁸⁰⁰ 22:53, 13 November 2005 (UTC)

'Custom' is another word for 'sales'. I'll change it now. --Tom Edwards 17:18, 14 November 2005 (UTC)

Whoop, no need to. :-) --Tom Edwards 17:19, 14 November 2005 (UTC)

Glitch

An interesting glitch found in Half Life 2 is that players can fly by grabbing a planar object, looking downwards and jumping continuously.

This is a part from the Speedrun article that I'm working on. Can anybody explain what exactly this is and how it works? Thanks :) --Michiel Sikma 19:17, 3 December 2005 (UTC)

The player exerts a force on the object, but the object doesn't exert a force on the player. Thus it is possible to fly upwards, or in any direction you can manage. :-) --Tom Edwards 13:34, 4 December 2005 (UTC)

Thanks for that explanation, but it still isn't totally clear to me exactly what it is. So you "exert force" on an object (by jumping while holding it)? How would this make you fly? Are there certain circumstances that need to be present? Perhaps you could give me a concrete example of the glitch used at some point in the game. Again, thanks for the trouble! --Michiel Sikma 22:28, 17 December 2005 (UTC)

I don't know any more about it, sorry. --Tom Edwards 09:46, 18 December 2005 (UTC)

A planar object is something which has a flat plane to it, it seems. From what I know from the game, when an object is "held" by Gordon, it ceases to be affected by gravity or force affected on it until released (from his gravity well, so to speak). That said, when Gordon jumps while holding an appropriate object and looking down, he won't land on the ground, but on the object he's holding (because the object always is "held" straight in front of his face). Since the object isn't affected by Gordon, he can jump again to gain additional height, and his platform will follow him as long as it is held. Theoretically (if the game allowed it), he could eventually jump free of the Earth's atmosphere and out into space. Does that help any?

Viewer 01:01, 30 December 2005 (UTC)

It works because the gravity gun (and possibly jumping off stuff, but I haven't tested it) don't obey Newton's third law. When you pull stuff towards you, you don't experience an equal force towards the object. Which is helpful, because if you tried to pull something heavy/stuck in place, you'd be dragged towards it. Which is even more exploitable... Also, when you jump off something, it should be pushed downwards. But I don't think this happens either. So because you're always above the flat object, you always pull it upwards, so the object experiences a constant force upwards, while the player experiences nothing but normal gravity. And you can get over that by jumping off the object below you. They could fix it by making the gravity gun actually obey physics, by making it obey Newton's third, and work by lowering the mass of whatever you're attracting. And make it so a downforce is applied to whatever is underneath you when you jump. If they don't already. --82.47.23.237 02:15, 19 February 2006 (UTC)

Half-Life 2 Box Image

Could someone please try to find a more recent picture of the Half-Life 2 box image? It's been officially rated 'M' since 2004. --Von 09:09, 21 February 2006 (UTC)

I know, but the "RP" image is the best one I have seen. I've seen it with the "M" logo but those ones are super small and would look tacky. If someone wants to scan theirs that it OK I guess. Thunderbrand 20:27, 21 February 2006 (UTC)

The "Combine"

I think it's worth considering the possibility than the "Combine" is a tip of the hat to Ken Kesey's novel "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest."

See discussion in The Combine article talk page for details. ╫ ２５ ^{◀RingADing▶} 07:57, 27 February 2006 (UTC) ╫

Aha, so I'm not the only one. It seemed a little too convenient to me that Ken Kesey's Combine do things like kidnapping old men, slicing them open to find a body composed of cogs and machinery, which could be related to the way the Combine use of "transhuman" people in their civil protection services.

Consider this

Ok so one thing everybody knows do to the resistance fighters in follow freeman chapter there are NO KIDS in HL2 but in several occasions there are childrens toys scattered through out the game such as: in point insurtion there is a playground with childrens toys and in the beginning of anticitizen one there is a baby doll in the elavator so why are these items here? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Spike Spiegle (talk • contribs) .

At one time there were kids, but since the Combine use suppression field-things to inhibit human breeding, there are no kids. The toys and playground serve as a reminder, since they are in disrepair and look old. Thunderbrand 03:45, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

Gravity Gun in Citadel

"However, the strange technology of the gravity gun absorbs the energy from the beam and shorts it out. It can now manipulate organic matter, instantly killing Combine forces, destroying their weapons and its lift strength is greatly increased, enabling Gordon to lift huge metal objects as easily as wooden planks." Here it states that the ZPEFM is what is destroying the soldier’s weapons. This isn’t proven; in fact I always thought it was something to do with the citadel. It just doesn’t makes sense that it would destroy their weapons and not other equipment (though it was done from a gameplay point of view rather than story)

They lose their weapons as the Gravity Gun is used on them. Why would the Citadel, where they are intended to be stationed, have anything to do with them losing their weapons? Also, even if the gun is used on them outside the Citadel, they lose their weapons. Again, not really a POV issue. Nufy8 23:28, 17 March 2006 (UTC)

It makes sense because the DEGG is enhanced by the Combine Confiscation Field, which destroys all the weapons it touches. So thus, it destroys the weapons the soldiers have in their inventory due to the Confiscation Field still exerting its force on the Gravity Gun. AK-17 14:38, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

Split off "Cuts from the game"

This section has nothing to do with the game itself, it might be better off by itself? As it is now it's basically just a list of things Half-Life 2 is not. Poulsen 17:46, 23 March 2006 (UTC)

I would say it is important. It was things that the game was at one time. Thunderbrand 15:18, 24 March 2006 (UTC)

But... practically every game have features that were cut for gameplay or technical reasons. Corvo^msg 15:45, 1 May 2006 (UTC).

Half-Life series in particular place a lot of emphasis on the narrative. There are a lot of legends, guesses, conspiracy theories and what not when it comes to Half Life storyline. It is, therefore, most interesting and informative to trace the Laidlaw's thinking, and the evolution of HL2 world. I say, keep all cuts. Matveims 20:00, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

Location

I've seen the currency "krona" (I think they spelled it like this) on a petrol pump. Krone is the currency in Norway and Denmark (and Estonia?). In Sweden it's kronor. I think the game location is eastern europe. Does anyone have any sugestions?

Some sighns are in english and some are in russian. Also on the highway you can notice an old broken and dumped car of russian mark, which is commonly used by countrys that were once a part of USSR. But those cars are pretty old. Also I have read that one of the head producers(?) is from country near Ukraine and Russia. And don't forget father Grigory with heavy russian accent. But english sighns point that location is near UK or Germany, France. So, basiclly the location is somewhere in the middle of Europe, but closer to Russia. kniaz March 31, 2006 10:19 PM.

It seems to me that it is probably quite a bit farther east than people assume. Primarily, this is because, having lived in Russia, I know that even today there are probably almost as many signs in English as there are in Russian. And the game takes place some time in the future. Also, actual places, like Nova Prospekt, though written in English appear, to me, completely Russian. So my guess would be somewhere in the western part of the former USSR. Although there is still the question of why the minor NPCs don't speak with a Russian accent... DarkWizzard 15:37, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

The petrol pump textures are definitaly Swedish - they also sport words such as summa (sum/total), volym (volume) and liter (litres). Krona is the singular form of kronor. One shouldn't read too much into this tidbit, though, the only conclusion to draw is that this photo of an old rusty Swedish pump was thought by someone to fit into that environment. /Mr. Anonsson 02:20, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

i've been thinking about this for a while. the City_17 page has a few good theories; though for a while i've considered odesa, ukraine to be the location. 129.137.91.189 17:57, 12 May 2006 (UTC)dethtoll (sorry, forgot to sign this last night.)

From new mexico, USA to City 17, Eastern Europe

How does this trip actually work? Why is there never any explenation given for the extreme movement of the main characters? More importantly, why don't the minor NPCs have Russian accents? Jackpot Den 18:00, 8 April 2006 (UTC)

Combine shuffling of the Humans explains movement, and as for the accents- a wizard did it. :) AK-17 14:40, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

Typo and revert

"In the middle of playing "fetch," the lab is attacked..."

I believe there is a small typo in this sentence. I changed it two days ago, but it seems Nufy8 didn't care for this, and reverted my edit. Why is this? --80.111.112.152 02:17, 10 April 2006 (UTC)

Punctuation is inclusive in American English quotations, and since the rest of the article conforms to this style, changing it would make it inconsistent. Nufy8 02:55, 10 April 2006 (UTC)

Because

Remember when Gordon is on the train there are two men that are saying that they were "put/reasighned" to the city 17. And other people also mention that they moved to city 17. Most likely that people were "reasighn" to Europe, when actually people of Europe(not all ofcourse) are moved to other locations. Another thought you have to add is that the settings are in the future, near, but future. Even now, in the present we know that English is worl-wide spoken languge because it is uncomplicated, unlike most, is it not possible that English became a major (or common)languge spoken almost(or complitly)perfectly by people of the Earth. Kniaz Saturday 15, 16:09 pm

I'll argue with the "English is uncomplicated" thing- I have an ESL friend and he thinks it's a pain. And, Chinese is more widely spoken than English, so it might make more sense to use. But, there IS an Eastern European accent in the game- Father Grigori. And maybe that was the English sector of City 17, or maybe City 17 is where they took the survivors from the U.S.? We could speculate forever on this.

And this should have been tacked to the second one above. AK-17 19:12, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

"Cuts from the game" section - contradiction

"The player meeting Samuel, a character of Asian descent, on the Wasteland Train. Samuel's character model would eventually be used for a nameless train passenger at the start of the storyline of the final version. Samuel's model was later re-used for hostage in Counter-Strike: Source. In addition, the train ride was originally planned to be much longer, and allowed players to view the wastelands outside the New City (the original name for City 17)."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I recalled seeing only two passengers in the train: One of Caucasian descent seated at the front end of the car, and another passenger, who is apparently of African descent, standing near the door (and mentioning he "didn't see you get on" the train). There are neither present passengers with any noticeable Asian facial features, nor any who resembles the sole Asian hostage in CS:S.

Can someone clarify this? ╫ ２５ ^{◀RingADing▶} 19:12, 25 April 2006 (UTC) ╫

Not that I play CS, but I just updated myself with Concerned : the half-life and death of Gordon Frohman [1], and that mentions (at some length) an Asian hostage in CS. Hardly a primary source however! --Plumbago 19:20, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

The four hostage models are made up of three Caucasians and one Asian; the passengers in Half-Life 2's train are only made out of one Caucasian and one African. Anyone who has played both games should notice that. Hence, the paragraph is creating some confusion, unless Samuel is neither Asian nor African, but is actually Caucasian. A look in HL:RTB should help clear things up. ╫ ２５ ^{◀RingADing▶} 11:40, 26 April 2006 (UTC) ╫

Image

I updated this image. The "new" one is of the same area, but has a better background (the other one was mostly drab sky). The old one has been bothering me for some time. Thunderbrand 03:32, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

I also uploaded a new image for the infobox. I scanned my copy. At least the "RP" is gone. Does it look better? Thunderbrand 16:11, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

Featured drive

I'm interested in bringing this article up to featured status. If anyone's interested in helping me, please drop a note on my talk page. I'm going to be contacting Valve later today to get more information. Linuxbeak (drop me a line) 20:13, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

Current Status

1. Start a new article: Completed!
2. Do some research: Incomplete.
3. Write a great article: Incomplete.
4. Check against the featured article criteria: Incomplete.
5. Get creative feedback: Incomplete.
6. Apply for featured article status: Incomplete.
7. Featured articles: Incomplete.

Tasks to be completed

We currently need the following tasks to be completed before we can even think about nominating this page for featured article status:

• Add a section describing the reception of the game. Most of the other game FA's (Wind Waker, Final Fantasy X) have them.

Things that have been [constructively] complained about

List here...

remixes and general soundtrack questions

i have a question about the supposedly remixed tracks that appear in HL2. at least one is obviously a remix- the ending theme; but the other two, for example vague voices/black mesa inbound, are identical to each other, at least to my ear. am i just insane?

i should note that the valve theme in HL2 is a significantly shorter version of the version we hear in HL1.

one other thing- should we try and get a hold of kelly bailey and ask him for song titles for the rest of the game music (including the songs in HL1 that weren't recycled/remixed) 72.49.242.131 05:48, 8 May 2006 (UTC)dethtoll

I've already shot an e-mail to Valve asking for information. They have yet to respond. Linuxbeak (drop me a line) 23:56, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

I know it is, but why?

Not a while ago one of my friends asked me why do i think HL2 is such an awesome and good game. I wanted to explain but just couldn't pick the right things. More, when I called the things that I think are great about the game(physics, weapons, settings), another person said that there are other stuff(story/twisted plot, graphics) that are really sweet about the game. So, what should be considered cool about the game?