Will Gordon 'the' Freeman have..

[Pedro The Hutt]

I don't see why Half-Life ~needs~ iron sights. The guns are accurate enough, you don't get penalties in accuracy for moving, and you inversely wouldn't, and shouldn't get increased accuracy for ramming the gun against your cheek and peering down a scope or sights.

Heck, I would argue that Half-Life would be less fun with iron sights, just like how TF2 wouldn't benefit from it at all. You run, and gun, looking down iron sights interferes with the running.

So yeah, bottom line, we've got a crosshair and that's more than enough for us.

 

[Phoenix Arrow]

It doesn't really matter. It's a lot of extra coding for no real benefit. The normal crosshairs are accurate enough that it doesn't really matter so if you added the aim mechanic, would you get rid of those? That would be suicide.

One of the things I liked about Half Life was that the gun fights were very fast paced. I liked that you didn't have to hold the gun up to your face to shoot every time, you could dash from dash out from a door way and quickly gun down some combine then dash back to reload. They're the only company that I can think of off the top of my head that still make shooting happen like that and I enjoy it.

Half Life isn't and was never meant to be a tactical shooter and that's ok.

As for people saying "oh, he's a physicist, he doesn't understand aiming". Shut up. There are plenty of valid reasons why Valve haven't used aiming in Half Life games. That is not one of them.

Ugh. I just read some of the other justifications too. Love Half Life. Hate Valve fanboys.

 

[health-bar]

I want ironsights only on weapons that it would be impractical to ironsight aim with.

so: grenade launcher, (laser guided) rocket launcher, grenade, and yes....the crowbar!

 

[RA92]

Ironsights? Gah! Why the hell would I want my movement restricted while shooting? It's not like it adds greater accuracy, since the crosshair does that perfectly well. Not to mention sticking the whole gun up my nose.

 

[TheMadTypist]

No. The game's good without ADS, and quite frankly it doesn't match the feel of Half Life. I'd much rather they stuck to maintaining the nature of the experience than tacking on an unnecessary mechanic just because other popular shooters have it.

Also, it's not worth giving up the alt-fire modes on every weapon.

 

[Xok]

I think at the end of the game (maybe) Gordon should say something once they have one the combine war and that jazz, like something simple that is right before the credits, like "We did it."

although, hearing him speak might ruin it.

On topic, I kind of feel the lack of iron sights like a really bad empty feeling.
can't hurt to add them.
you don't have to use them.

 

[Couch Radish]

I think at the end of the game (maybe) Gordon should say something once they have one the combine war and that jazz, like something simple that is right before the credits, like "We did it."

Gordon Freeman will never speak in Half-Life. That's been set in stone already.

 

[Porecomesis]

It was not hard at all to aim in either of the first two games..you just sprayed in the general direction and got a kill..real skillful gaming eh?

The graphics on hl2? perfect!
Story? fantastic!
Sound? amazing!
Level design? Incredible!

blah blah blah it ticks all the boxes and when we get to the action parts..we just point and click? it seems the only part of the game that was lacking imo. As much as i loved it, some sharper shooting would be excellent. Since when did a sharp, precise shooting mechanic become a cliche ffs?

You mean to tell me pointing and clicking isn't what you do in other FPSes normally? I play Half-Life and a lot of other FPSes and let me tell you that ironsight aiming does little. The only reason people use it is because it zooms in, and I'm very certain that does not happen in real life, unless you walk with a gun in hand leaning backward for some reason. Hell, my sister played Call of Duty 4 and she found it easier to aim with the crosshairs than the ironsights.

Here's an idea: how about giving Gordon Freeman the ability to fire his gun while you have the suit's zoom function active?

 

[IBlackKiteI]

why does including a ironsight mechanic immediately make a game "samey" or "COD like" or "non original and boring"?

Because people suck and CoD isn't an RPG.

Anyway it seems a bit overkill to make a thread for such a small issue that the game would be better off without. ADS would detract from the run and gun nature of the game, encourage camping and quite possibly allow the player to effectively kill enemies at such a distance they don't even see you.
Like it or not the simple addition of iron-sights will change the way the game plays, possibly greatly and in a game like Half-Life definitely for worse. It won't just be a simple option of whether to use it or not, but aiming will almost certainly provide huge accuracy benefits and what-not which will cause players to use them in practically all engagements. As a result there will be a lot less movement and therefore less exploration done by the players, detracting from the game.

Whilst ADS is a great addition to more realistic military-ish games it has no place in Half-Life.

 

[DracoSuave]

Kicked enough Ass
Busted enough Can
Prodded enough Buttock

By the time HL3 is released to have learned how to aim down the sights?

No. Not every game needs iron sights. It's good for shooters where doing so slows you down, and it becomes a legitimate gameplay option, and the game is designed to feature that.

HL is an old-school, grab all the guns, shoot all the bullets, just go go go go go go go go shooter with superlative storytelling. Iron sights would add nothing to this. It would cause a break in the shooting style, while creating an obstacle to the storytelling style. Both of those are reasons to turf it.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

I don't see it fitting in with his character. As others have said, he is a scientist first, and not a soldier, so the gameplay mechanics of the Half Life games reflect this beautifully, being very "spray and pray" style. Gordon does not use cover based shooting, or fire a gun in the correct military manner, because he was not trained to do that.

The suit has an advanced targeting system to give him an automatic crosshair for where the gun is pointing. Looking down the ironsights will not make his automatic targeting system more accurate, so he has no need to.

 

[TheNaut131]

...eh, who cares?

If they were to put them in the game, sure. It probably wouldn't ruin much, besides it's your choice to aim down iron sites. Just don't use them if you don't want to. Though I could understand how it would mess with the "spraying and hectic Half Life gameplay. Which reminds me, Serious Sam 3: BFE will also have iron sites, so let's see how that goes...then again it is looking a bit gray/brown this time around, but they're in Egypt for part of the game we're just wait and see.

The Half life IP can live without ironsites, but if you want them in there I'm more than sure the modding community can fix that. Besides, I think the zoom in function is already pretty good. Though, when a bit closer, it can be a hassle. Like looking through a sniper scope while standing a few feet from someone. You think it would make things better but...eh, not so much. So I could see why someone would want iron sites...especially with certain guns...

Spoiler

In all I honesty though:
Frankly, I'm just hoping for a few more animations, new weapons, and more enemy variety.

Or perhaps give Gordon different levels of zoom.

But hey, what do I know?

 

[Ulixes Dimon]

Why the hell would you need an aim mechanic in Half Life? So we can make a somewhat original, interesting IP into samey mindless, cliche, boring, and non-inventive crap that is the modern FPS genre? Why not just tell Gordon to go roll around in the dirt, tell him to work out and put on some bulk, and give him regenerating health while you're at it?

I've never had any trouble aiming in HL1, or HL2. I fail to see the need for such a mechanic change. There's no need to make Half Life into a generic modern FPS... there are dozens of those on the market, but there is only one Half Life.

His pooint is he wants to be able to use the weapons more accurately. They spread of the automatics in the game is rather wide and it makes you feel like you are wasting ammo. Either adding a more accurate weapon or sight aiming would allow you to shoot at a greater range, that's all the op wants I believe. I love Half Life and I don't think it would become a samey generic shooter just because Gordon decides to use the tools he has more efficiently.
Edit:
The Naut made a point I forgot, a little more weapon variety, even if it's just returns of weapons from Half Life 1, would be very pleasant.

The suit has an advanced targeting system to give him an automatic cross-hair for where the gun is pointing. Looking down the ironsights will not make his automatic targeting system more accurate, so he has no need to.

I see your points and understand how it could be best not to add an aiming mechanic, but for the record Gordon's suit does not have a targeting system for the same reason he doesn't aim down the sights. The suit was designed for protection from hazardous materials like poisonous chemicals, acid, radiation, and blunt trauma (to some degree). The cross-hairs are simply for the player to tell better where the gun is pointing in lieu of sights.

 

[Dirzzit]

I think were all forgetting something big here.

Half Life 3

Think about it.

 

[superdelux]

He survived Black Mesa and Closing The Combine Portal from the hip why use the sights now

 

[Pyro Paul]

But with the new Source engine the could include a localized body damage mechanic, it seems a pretty lame excuse not to include an aim mechanic "because we dont want to be like CoD" well..do you want to be like every man on the planet? because you don't have to be..well..Gordon Freeman to know that looking along the top of your gun might just give you a more accurate shot.

i mean he has been fighting super soldiers, black ops agents, killer aliens and robots for a few years now. It's maybe time he applied his knowledge of science to the art of Shooty-cuffs.

Meh, id personally go for some good alien leg shots and then a head shot on a - now - crawling alien.

The suit does everything, there is no need to aim down sights. Iron sights are redundant, and unneeded.

Kinda like how Master Chief's crosshairs are projected based on where the gun is pointed, not where he's looking? I wonder though, how does Freeman see the hud if he doesn't have a helmet or other viewing device?

those thick frame glasses do more then just swoon the ladies.

For the sake of arguing the point, he had the glasses before the suit and other wearers of the Black Mesa environment suits didn't have glasses of any kind. I would like to think the HUD is something Freeman sees, it bugs me though that there doesn't look like any way for him to see it.

VRD.
Virtual Retinal Display.

the technology was invented in 1991, but it really hasn't gotten off the ground simply because it is too expensive and carries too many risks.

the basic idea is low powered lasers directly projects images into the eye so that an optical illusion is created infront of the user of the virtual image projected. DARPA is doing serious testing with this technology as it could be the start of the real life HUD for ground troops. a couple of image projectors on the troopers helm would give him a full heads up display, optical map, and so much more at a glance.

 

[Ace of Spades]

I hope so, because I waste far too many shots spraying at combine soldiers.

 

[infernovolver]

I hope you can ADS in HL3. It's a feature I really like from FPS's, and shame on any developer who puts so many guns with scopes in their games that never get any use.

 

[GiglameshSoulEater]

HL has never had iron sights and to be honest will never need iron sights.

I hope you can ADS in HL3. It's a feature I really like from FPS's, and shame on any developer who puts so many guns with scopes in their games that never get any use.

You can aim with scopes in HL...