Half Life 2 Rant
by Scott Casey · in General Discussion · 12/07/2004 (5:14 am) · 46 replies
Ok, I just bought Half Life 2 the other day. I am a HUGE fan of the first game and think it is one of the best single player games that I have every played. Last night I finally had some free time to install it. The game comes on five (yes 5!) CDs. I thought - this is going to be killer with all that extra content!
Problem #1: It took me three hours to finally install this game! The fourth attempt was successful as the other attempts were blocked by 'cabinet file' errors when reading the different CDs.
Problem #2: I hate Steam. It took two hours to register my account, download the patches, and decrypt the files. And I have a broadband cable modem! Let me state that again: I have broadband!
Problem #3: I sat there for about 10 min. waiting for the menu screen to come up. I rebooted and had the same time delay problem.
Problem #4: When the menu finally came up it took another 10 min. for the game to register that I changed screen resolutions.(!?)
Problem #5: Alright! Game play starts and it is the G-Man with full facial animation! After a little monologue, he is telling Mr. Freeman (the player) to wake up. I feel like a giddy school girl! His image starts to fade and I am riding on a passanger train. The game then promptly locked up with the audio stuck in a loop.
Problem #6: Rebooted again and waited another 10 min. for the menu to finish loading. The menu comes up and the game locks up again.
I am an experienced computer user (heck, my day job is being a software engineer developing military sims for the DoD!) and my system exceeds the min. requirements listed on the box. At first I had thought that I was alone, until I typed into Google 'Half Life 2 problems' and found that it wasn't just me. I expect these kinds of installation issues when working with research projects on Solaris, not consumer software.
I love the screen shots and the videos I have seen online and G4:TechTV. I really want to play this game! However, and this is will likely incite the fanboys, Valve has really screwed the pooch on this one. Yeah, I know, it is all in the name of stopping piracy, but what they have done is to stop the fun. I feel sorry for those poor suckers that get this lemon as a Christmas present and end up spending their holiday in frustration. Especially Joe Walmart that just expects a game to play without having to scan forums or FAQs just to get a game up and running. It is no wonder that console gaming gaining more popularity. I mean, how great is it to just pop in a DVD in your system and to be playing your new game within minutes?
I am also upset that none of the print reviews for this game mentioned any of these problems, nor did the TV reviews. I am going to try to return this 'game', but I am most likely S.O.L. with respect to retail's return policy concerning opened software.
Why did I type all of this? I guess it is a form of therapy and it feels good to vent!
Flame on.
Problem #1: It took me three hours to finally install this game! The fourth attempt was successful as the other attempts were blocked by 'cabinet file' errors when reading the different CDs.
Problem #2: I hate Steam. It took two hours to register my account, download the patches, and decrypt the files. And I have a broadband cable modem! Let me state that again: I have broadband!
Problem #3: I sat there for about 10 min. waiting for the menu screen to come up. I rebooted and had the same time delay problem.
Problem #4: When the menu finally came up it took another 10 min. for the game to register that I changed screen resolutions.(!?)
Problem #5: Alright! Game play starts and it is the G-Man with full facial animation! After a little monologue, he is telling Mr. Freeman (the player) to wake up. I feel like a giddy school girl! His image starts to fade and I am riding on a passanger train. The game then promptly locked up with the audio stuck in a loop.
Problem #6: Rebooted again and waited another 10 min. for the menu to finish loading. The menu comes up and the game locks up again.
I am an experienced computer user (heck, my day job is being a software engineer developing military sims for the DoD!) and my system exceeds the min. requirements listed on the box. At first I had thought that I was alone, until I typed into Google 'Half Life 2 problems' and found that it wasn't just me. I expect these kinds of installation issues when working with research projects on Solaris, not consumer software.
I love the screen shots and the videos I have seen online and G4:TechTV. I really want to play this game! However, and this is will likely incite the fanboys, Valve has really screwed the pooch on this one. Yeah, I know, it is all in the name of stopping piracy, but what they have done is to stop the fun. I feel sorry for those poor suckers that get this lemon as a Christmas present and end up spending their holiday in frustration. Especially Joe Walmart that just expects a game to play without having to scan forums or FAQs just to get a game up and running. It is no wonder that console gaming gaining more popularity. I mean, how great is it to just pop in a DVD in your system and to be playing your new game within minutes?
I am also upset that none of the print reviews for this game mentioned any of these problems, nor did the TV reviews. I am going to try to return this 'game', but I am most likely S.O.L. with respect to retail's return policy concerning opened software.
Why did I type all of this? I guess it is a form of therapy and it feels good to vent!
Flame on.
#3
12/07/2004 (5:56 am)
Heh heh, Anthony. You've been talking to Jay Moore too much! 
#4
12/07/2004 (6:21 am)
Gee - I was kinda sorta hinting about this game to my wife for Christmas. Now it doesn't sound so great. 
#5
12/07/2004 (6:24 am)
I had the same problems as you Scott, except the 10 minute wait kinda thing you experienced. That sure is odd stuff. 
#6
12/07/2004 (6:46 am)
My brother-in-law had no problems but I have heard problems. I played a part of a level on his PC and I have to say I had a load of fun.
#7
12/07/2004 (6:55 am)
I get random BSOD on mine, something to do with some Nforce and some athlon processors so I ended up returning it and bought KOTOR 2 with the credit instead. 
#8
Some ya win, some ya dont.
On a side note, stick with it, its a great game - very enjoyable. Well worth buying or @ least playing @ a friend's etc. Deathmatch is a blast too.
edit: spelling
12/07/2004 (7:09 am)
The game ran perfectly on my system. (heck i even have a gfx card with no pixel shaders) Never had a single lockup or choppy gameplay. Updates ran fine, everything was running correctly down to the letter...Some ya win, some ya dont.
On a side note, stick with it, its a great game - very enjoyable. Well worth buying or @ least playing @ a friend's etc. Deathmatch is a blast too.
edit: spelling
#9
I wouldn't return the game if I were you I would just keep it for all the multyplayer games that steam keeps putting up. Counterstrike, HL deathmatch and soon to be more.
Max
12/07/2004 (7:10 am)
I never really had any problems with it. I too have broadband cable and it only took me about 20 mins or so to install the game and get it up and running. When I got the menu screen opened it took about 1 min to get a new game running and it allways takes a few mins to save or load a game and occasionly It would zreez up in game for 30 secs or so but it would be fine after about that amount of time and start running. On the other hand my best friend bought the game his comp isn't as good as mine but for him the game crashes every time it gets to a load point. Other than that I didn't have any other problems.I wouldn't return the game if I were you I would just keep it for all the multyplayer games that steam keeps putting up. Counterstrike, HL deathmatch and soon to be more.
Max
#10
12/07/2004 (8:04 am)
I keep hearing about other people's issues. Me ... I had Steam downloaded months ago with the Half-Life 2 files all pre-loaded. It took a few minutes to decrypt and I had no issues playing. I got to load and play the game for a bit within 10 minutes (just enough time to make it to a friends b-day ;) The game is quite good ... I'd probably find a way if I were you to get it working. 
#11
I'm not sure that these people are simply not understanding that online distribution for ALL digital content is an inevitability or that they don't want to believe it is so. This is what Steam is all about moreso even than the anti-piracy effects it has.
12/07/2004 (8:23 am)
I also keep reading posts about how bad Steam is and how people won't buy Valve products in the future because of it. From what I've read, and from my own experience, the folks that used Steam for purchasing and downloading the title had relatively few problems. I'm not sure that these people are simply not understanding that online distribution for ALL digital content is an inevitability or that they don't want to believe it is so. This is what Steam is all about moreso even than the anti-piracy effects it has.
#12
Ian
12/07/2004 (8:26 am)
Just for the record, I bought HL2 from Steam and have been nothing but happy with the game and the service. Well, apart from them taking out the MP5.Ian
#13
12/07/2004 (8:27 am)
Ditto on the buying it thru steam rather then off-the-shelf retail.
#14
Ahh, yes one other complaint about HL2 every time I hear summit behind me I grab at my belt for a gun. Not good. he he.
Max :)
12/07/2004 (8:32 am)
I too like steam. It is great. When you open Cstrike and there are new updates it sees that and downloads them to your comp andthen runs the game. It's sooo much easyer than having to go on the web and search for new updates and the likes. My only complaint about some of the games don't have very good admins and that the games are easly hacked so alot of people download things like "auto sniper" and stuff. But overall it is great and I couldn't be happyer.Ahh, yes one other complaint about HL2 every time I hear summit behind me I grab at my belt for a gun. Not good. he he.
Max :)
#15
No problem with steam.
No problems with the game.
Great Game BTW.
12/07/2004 (8:53 am)
My exprience:No problem with steam.
No problems with the game.
Great Game BTW.
#16
12/07/2004 (9:32 am)
I dun buy it, i'll play it at my local cyber cafe if I *really* want too. I think the game is fun at times, but i haven't bought it because i know for a fact it will melt my PC. (P.S. I hate dell.)
#17
Half Life 2 kicks ass. The only problem I've had with Steam is that I finished Half Life 2 and then wanted to install it on my laptop so my son could play it now. BUT... Steam won't let me install it as it says the reg key is already used. You're kidding me... I understand that I can't PLAY it on both computers at the same time, but they won't even let me INSTALL it on them both? That's taking it too far.
EDIT - This is for the retail boxed copy, not the one purchased from Steam.
12/07/2004 (9:38 am)
Just want to chime in with the fact that I had no problems at all with either Steam, Half Life 2, or Counter Strike Source. Running it super smooth on a 2.08Ghz Falcon NW AMD Athlon XP 2800+, 1GB RAM, Radeon 9800 Pro.Half Life 2 kicks ass. The only problem I've had with Steam is that I finished Half Life 2 and then wanted to install it on my laptop so my son could play it now. BUT... Steam won't let me install it as it says the reg key is already used. You're kidding me... I understand that I can't PLAY it on both computers at the same time, but they won't even let me INSTALL it on them both? That's taking it too far.
EDIT - This is for the retail boxed copy, not the one purchased from Steam.
#18
Although I haven't had the chance to play HL2 yet (school and such...but I've seen my friend play it, and DM kicks butt), Steam has always worked great for me. The only thing that reeeallly ticks me off is the buddy system - it's always down for maintenance for some reason...
12/07/2004 (10:26 am)
@Jak - you could always have him sign on as your account - that's what I do when I need to play on the computer my dad has (his is faster)Although I haven't had the chance to play HL2 yet (school and such...but I've seen my friend play it, and DM kicks butt), Steam has always worked great for me. The only thing that reeeallly ticks me off is the buddy system - it's always down for maintenance for some reason...
#19
I installed steam at 8am, figured it'd take atleast an hour before I would be playing.
For fun I give CS:S a whirl.
Imagine my surprise; 15 minutes after installing steam Im playing CS.
I play for something like an hour and rush of for work (late again).
Get home around 7-ish, having the HL2 urge in my bones.
Double click on the HL2 label (in steam client), I go for a cupper, as I pour my coffe (instant) I hear the Valve "theme" guitar type of sound from my comp.
17 hours later, I have played it trough without a hickup, crash, error or bug.
1024x768, every setting to high and 4xAA/4xAF, not a single problem...
By my book, this is truly awsome.
The game itself is too good to return, it is just one of the best fps games of all times.
Sure, you could argue that steam is the "gestapo" of modern day copy-protection but as long that it doesn't hassle me I'll go along with it.....
[edit] oops, lied 'bout my res.[/edit]
12/07/2004 (10:28 am)
My chime-in aswell:I installed steam at 8am, figured it'd take atleast an hour before I would be playing.
For fun I give CS:S a whirl.
Imagine my surprise; 15 minutes after installing steam Im playing CS.
I play for something like an hour and rush of for work (late again).
Get home around 7-ish, having the HL2 urge in my bones.
Double click on the HL2 label (in steam client), I go for a cupper, as I pour my coffe (instant) I hear the Valve "theme" guitar type of sound from my comp.
17 hours later, I have played it trough without a hickup, crash, error or bug.
1024x768, every setting to high and 4xAA/4xAF, not a single problem...
By my book, this is truly awsome.
The game itself is too good to return, it is just one of the best fps games of all times.
Sure, you could argue that steam is the "gestapo" of modern day copy-protection but as long that it doesn't hassle me I'll go along with it.....
[edit] oops, lied 'bout my res.[/edit]
#20
So I guess steams _real_ purpose, is simply to piss you off.
I did buy my copy through steam, and I had very few problems. However, it is a major pain in the butt to load the game, as I refuse to allow applets to run in the background. I have to load steam (30 secs to login), click on games (10 sec to display), then click on my HL2 copy (30-40 secs to check for updates).
On top of that, I REALLY don't trust steam. Hell, Valve can't even keep their own network safe from hackers, and I'm supposed to believe they know how to protect mine?
12/07/2004 (10:38 am)
The funny part is, the day after HL2 was released, it showed up on a few illegal DL sites. I think the first one released was part of the 20k users accounts banned, but subsequent releases claim no steam nor internet required.So I guess steams _real_ purpose, is simply to piss you off.
I did buy my copy through steam, and I had very few problems. However, it is a major pain in the butt to load the game, as I refuse to allow applets to run in the background. I have to load steam (30 secs to login), click on games (10 sec to display), then click on my HL2 copy (30-40 secs to check for updates).
On top of that, I REALLY don't trust steam. Hell, Valve can't even keep their own network safe from hackers, and I'm supposed to believe they know how to protect mine?
Associate Anthony Rosenbaum