236: Gordon Freeman, Private Eye

[qbanknight]

Story telling is an incredibly difficult art; in an interactive medium that job becomes a thousand times harder. Many designers believe you should "funnel" the player to plot-specific moments (i.e. the Metal Gear series; many many FPS that try to emulate Half-life). But because you are creating a living breathing world; you should allow people to discover it for themselves, this is something valve does wonderfully.

Take the Left 4 Dead games. At each saferoom, you see the scribbles of the survivors before you. You see their anger, confusion, and fear of the apocalypse. You walk around to a supposed safe zone in a mall only to find a pile of corpses that touch the ceiling. You move to a motel room and find ammo laying next to the carcass of someone. It's not an infected, but you can tell she took her own life before being torn by the horde or face being turned into one of them. This style has also been used by games like Fallout 3 (checking out the ransacked and obliterated wasteland), the Grand Theft Auto games (with the many easter eggs to be found), and the first F.E.A.R (Alma's appearances and copying the computer drives).

This is the style of storytelling that should be adopted by designers. Let the player slowly unravel their world. Don't just give us a heap of cutscenes that are either written poorly or drag on forever.

 

[RJ Dalton]

Mild Spoiler warning for a game not by Valve.

I have nothing to say about that article aside from "I agree" so I'm going to say something else.

As good as Valve's games are, I really don't think any of them has ever really made the most of the interactive storytelling medium. The fact that the player is in control of the main character is what separates VG storytelling from all other mediums and it's the one thing that so very few games have really taken advantage of (or, at least in a way that worked).
The example I'm going to hold up on an unrealistically idealized pedestal is Deus Ex. It had all the things the Half-Life series has highlighted in this article (except for mind-blowing graphics), but on top of that, it also had a system that adapted to the choices you made. It wasn't that embarrassing moral choice system of Bioshock (and probably some game before it, but I don't know which it was). It was a subtle thing. The story went roughly the same way no matter how you played, but all the characters reacted to you differently, which really gives you the feel that you're in a real world.
Also, the copious amounts of detail make the game worth replaying and has some really eye opening moments. I'll never forget the second time I played the game and I went through the ship with all the Chinese guys on it. The first time I played it, I was thinking "this is a bunch of Chinese guys poisoning innocent civilians, fuck them!" and I systematically hunted down and slaughtered all of them. The second time I played through, I actually took the time to hack every computer and read all of notes and e-mails. By doing this, I learned that most of the crew of the ship had no idea what the cargo was and the captain was only going along with it because the big bad Mr. Simons was holding a gun to his daughter's head. It made me feel really guilty for murdering everyone the first time and served as a real wake-up call about the dangers of jumping to conclusions.
Now, where in Half-Life do you get that effect? No where. Not to say that Half-Life's bad. It's definitely one of my favorite game series and the writing is superb, I'm just saying that it could definitely take better advantage of the strengths of video games as a storytelling medium than it does.

 

[boholikeu]

Well, the thing is; it doesn't have much exposition, per say. It's just that it feels much more than it is, because it's so inconsistently dispersed throughout the game... It's kind of like the difficulty curve in Trine, i.e like running headfirst into a wall.

So, while the game doesn't have, like the tired me said (sorry about that), "tons of fucking exposition". I still think it's handled in the wrong way. Thus, making it worse than it could have been.

Also, it's kind of hard to enjoy the story in a game when you are struggling against a retarded physics-engine, idiotic puzzles, monotonous boss-fights (they're all the same... What's up with that?) and glitches. That might have been contributory to my general disliking of Half-Life 2.

PS. I did enjoy the sections where all you did was run, jump and shoot dudes. Those were really well made.

Your position makes a lot more sense now, but I'm kind of curious about which physics puzzles annoyed you. I realize that havok physics are a bit exaggerated, but your complaining here sounds a bit like this soldier who complained that FPS weapons aren't realistic: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.168194#4528939

Good luck... i believe it's xbox (last gen) exclusive though, the only reason i never played it

I heard it's on steam now.

 

[Xvito]

Have you studied physics or are you currently studying physics? If you have/are, then you should realize that a lot of the puzzles in Half-Life 2 make absolutely no sense. For me, who is currently studying physics (among other things), it's sometimes hard to figure out certain puzzles. Because, what the game wants you to do seems so stupid at times...

Also, I have only played the fourth game in the Metal Gear Solid-series. It was a pretty interesting movie... And at times even an interesting game.

My judgement of the games physics isn't due to studying anything. It's relative to what was available at the time, which was seriously lacking. Don't tell me you never experienced the feather physics of the original havoc engine... shit would float to the ground rather then fall.

So... i'm guessing you only played these games recently as you seem to be comparing them to contemporary games. You have to give credit where it's due, half-life 2 was released in 2003-4 (not sure) and it was head shoulders above other games in the physics department. And as for the puzzles... you found them difficult? It's just the game wasn't made by physicists (at least not many) and technology was still limited. So at best it has a secondary level grasp on physics. Geeze give credit where it's due. I'm sorry but "heavy object on one side of a see-saw will lift lighter object on the other" is a pretty easy concept to grasp even if the objects aren't relatively accurate in terms of weight and all the puzzles were like this. I didn't feel the need to get out my compass or ruler or calculator to solve them. It's good to know i was able to figure something out which a SCIENTIST couldn't.

... sorry.

PS. If you want to throw your knowledge around like a weapon then i might as well too (This really wasn't neccessary you know). I'm doing a degree course on film and animation which goes in depth on how to formulate a good story. So in that regards my knowledge of such outweighs your's, right? So that makes this whole mess of an argument pointless as i was right about the very first post, right?

...Or do you have another ace up your sleave. You did mention you were doing "other things".

The problem lies not in the power of the physics-engine. It lies within the fact that it is used so very liberally in the puzzles which sometimes makes them hard to understand. For some of the puzzles I had to find exploits just to get through them... Because apparently Gordon weighs about as much as a fucking brick!?

 

[boholikeu]

Have you studied physics or are you currently studying physics? If you have/are, then you should realize that a lot of the puzzles in Half-Life 2 make absolutely no sense. For me, who is currently studying physics (among other things), it's sometimes hard to figure out certain puzzles. Because, what the game wants you to do seems so stupid at times...

Also, I have only played the fourth game in the Metal Gear Solid-series. It was a pretty interesting movie... And at times even an interesting game.

My judgement of the games physics isn't due to studying anything. It's relative to what was available at the time, which was seriously lacking. Don't tell me you never experienced the feather physics of the original havoc engine... shit would float to the ground rather then fall.

So... i'm guessing you only played these games recently as you seem to be comparing them to contemporary games. You have to give credit where it's due, half-life 2 was released in 2003-4 (not sure) and it was head shoulders above other games in the physics department. And as for the puzzles... you found them difficult? It's just the game wasn't made by physicists (at least not many) and technology was still limited. So at best it has a secondary level grasp on physics. Geeze give credit where it's due. I'm sorry but "heavy object on one side of a see-saw will lift lighter object on the other" is a pretty easy concept to grasp even if the objects aren't relatively accurate in terms of weight and all the puzzles were like this. I didn't feel the need to get out my compass or ruler or calculator to solve them. It's good to know i was able to figure something out which a SCIENTIST couldn't.

... sorry.

PS. If you want to throw your knowledge around like a weapon then i might as well too (This really wasn't neccessary you know). I'm doing a degree course on film and animation which goes in depth on how to formulate a good story. So in that regards my knowledge of such outweighs your's, right? So that makes this whole mess of an argument pointless as i was right about the very first post, right?

...Or do you have another ace up your sleave. You did mention you were doing "other things".

The problem lies not in the power of the physics-engine. It lies within the fact that it is used so very liberally in the puzzles which sometimes makes them hard to understand. For some of the puzzles I had to find exploits just to get through them... Because apparently Gordon weighs about as much as a fucking brick!?

Two bricks, actually.

I dunno, I still see your complaints as being as nit-picky as when people complain about the weapons' realism.

 

[Xvito]

Have you studied physics or are you currently studying physics? If you have/are, then you should realize that a lot of the puzzles in Half-Life 2 make absolutely no sense. For me, who is currently studying physics (among other things), it's sometimes hard to figure out certain puzzles. Because, what the game wants you to do seems so stupid at times...

Also, I have only played the fourth game in the Metal Gear Solid-series. It was a pretty interesting movie... And at times even an interesting game.

My judgement of the games physics isn't due to studying anything. It's relative to what was available at the time, which was seriously lacking. Don't tell me you never experienced the feather physics of the original havoc engine... shit would float to the ground rather then fall.

So... i'm guessing you only played these games recently as you seem to be comparing them to contemporary games. You have to give credit where it's due, half-life 2 was released in 2003-4 (not sure) and it was head shoulders above other games in the physics department. And as for the puzzles... you found them difficult? It's just the game wasn't made by physicists (at least not many) and technology was still limited. So at best it has a secondary level grasp on physics. Geeze give credit where it's due. I'm sorry but "heavy object on one side of a see-saw will lift lighter object on the other" is a pretty easy concept to grasp even if the objects aren't relatively accurate in terms of weight and all the puzzles were like this. I didn't feel the need to get out my compass or ruler or calculator to solve them. It's good to know i was able to figure something out which a SCIENTIST couldn't.

... sorry.

PS. If you want to throw your knowledge around like a weapon then i might as well too (This really wasn't neccessary you know). I'm doing a degree course on film and animation which goes in depth on how to formulate a good story. So in that regards my knowledge of such outweighs your's, right? So that makes this whole mess of an argument pointless as i was right about the very first post, right?

...Or do you have another ace up your sleave. You did mention you were doing "other things".

The problem lies not in the power of the physics-engine. It lies within the fact that it is used so very liberally in the puzzles which sometimes makes them hard to understand. For some of the puzzles I had to find exploits just to get through them... Because apparently Gordon weighs about as much as a fucking brick!?

Two bricks, actually.

I dunno, I still see your complaints as being as nit-picky as when people complain about the weapons' realism.

Well, the thing is; if I'm going to find a counter-weight for myself, then I'm not going to be looking for bricks, instead I'm going to be looking for some large boulder. It's first when I realize, that, much like the spoon, there is no large boulder, that I try with two bricks instead.

And if I can push a weight around to be able to drive my car up a ramp, then why can't I just throw the car up the ramp instead... And then jump fifteen feet into the air and do a somersault...?

I don't demand that the physics should be realistic; merely that they should be consistent.

 

[boholikeu]

Well, the thing is; if I'm going to find a counter-weight for myself, then I'm not going to be looking for bricks, instead I'm going to be looking for some large boulder. It's first when I realize, that, much like the spoon, there is no large boulder, that I try with two bricks instead.

And if I can push a weight around to be able to drive my car up a ramp, then why can't I just throw the car up the ramp instead... And then jump fifteen feet into the air and do a somersault...?

I don't demand that the physics should be realistic; merely that they should be consistent.

Again, I understand where you're coming from, but one doesn't need to be studying physics to be aware of the problems you mentioned. I guess that's why the comments sound so nit-picky to me. Most people realize the same things you did, but most people can let it go because, well, HL2 is also a game about aliens and robots.

 

[EvilMaggot]

that picture of gorden freeman looks very much alike Dan Turèll a danish writer

http://frokenlilienskjold.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/dan_turell_89870b.jpg

 

[dancinginfernal]

Episode 3 MUST have Gordon with a 40's style going on. Otherwise I will be extremely disappointed.

 

[Biodeamon]

reminds me a bit of my hobby about figuring out how and who died in video games. it`s especially a bad habit in fallout when i find some blood smears or a skeleton.

 

[Doom-Slayer]

I didn't get the hint, and nobody directed my attention to it.
But at least there was somebody in episodes 1&2. Alex nicely points at a few things and starts the ball rolling for you to piece the rest together. And there aren't any distractions like endless headcrabs when you're meant to learn something new about the world you're in.

I'll need a reason to look at it first, otherwise I'll walk right by.

These two quotes are probably one of the big reasons I like Valves story so much. With the coastline example, it was always there for you to see, but you chose not to look to deeply at it because you were enjoying and focused on the gameplay. If your someone like me who looks around in every corner to see what there is, there is ALWAYS something more to find, and always more to add to the story which is encredibly rewarding. I wouldnt say that these things are at any time hidden, more hidden in plain sight. They are out there but if you dont choose to look to closely you dont notice, and I appricieate that more than having big arrows pointing to content.

 

[Mbellosg]

Wow.... I thoroughly enjoyed the Half Life Series before but after reading this im going to wipe the dust off the orange box and replay it, looking for every detail that i might of previously overlooked.

 

[The Youth Counselor]

While we're casting Gordon Freeman as a private eye maybe we can have him investigate where Half-Life 2: Episode 3 went.

God, this was written January 2010. It's now two years later and the six year anniversary of the announcement of Episode 3.