Half Life 2: Episode 2 Trailer @TXB

[AlNom]

I presume it's from the Xbox 360 build... but I don't know...

http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/11373/HalfLife-2-Episode-Two-Teaser-Trailer/

One has to do a little age thing before watching it. The teaser is 16MB to download, ~1min long. The graphics don't appear much different from the highest settings on PC, but the forest scenes were a nice change. It's not anywhere near Oblivion's forest at all though. No apparent framerate issues.

 

[Acert93]

Or it could be the PC version? This was available for the PC a while back.

I am quite interested to see what the finished product will be like in regards to features and framerate. HL2 played ok on my Radeon 9700 (1024x768; 2xAA, 4xAF) and played great on my 6800GT (60fps; 1280x1024; 4xAA, 8xAF, High across the board). Both consoles should chew through this if it is a solid port.

While it would be nice to get insight into whether they are doing some extra graphical features for the consoles/high end PCs, I am just as interested in whether they offloaded their custom Havok engine to an SPE and whether they will use FP10 on the 360 or will continue doing HDR effects through shaders.

TF2 also looks neat, hopefully the game actually has the same IQ as in the shot they showed.

 

[inefficient]

I'm waiting till all the HL episodes get released so that I can play them at the same time.

And HL2:EP2 this is not out yet on the PC right? Why would this be an Xbox build when both HL2 and HL2:EP1 are not even on the 360 yet.

 

[AlNom]

Ah... I didn't know about the PC teaser.

I think the art assets will remain the same, but they will make use of the tech available. The original Xbox port had framerate issues, but it didn't look too far off from the PC version barring texture resolution. And they did enhance the lighting somewhat for the port too. In interviews, they usually mentioned the learning process for streaming content instead of en-masse loading of the memory typical of PC games. Given that, I still wonder if they'll have to make any sacrifice with respect to textures.

In particular, I wonder if they'll make use of predicated tiling to showcase that their engine is "that" flexible (in addition to your points regarding the SPEs/multi-core with the physics engine and the HDR format).

And HL2:EP2 this is not out yet on the PC right? Why would this be an Xbox build when both HL2 and HL2:EP1 are not even on the 360 yet.

The ports are to be released at the same time as Episode 2 on PC, at least that's what I understood. I just assumed it to be a 360 build because TXB had the trailer, but that was before Acert mentioned the PC teaser.

I'd wait for all the episodes too, but I wonder if Valve might just release a $20-30 Episode 3 on consoles. Then again, they'll probably do a final compilation too, ala the GTA trilogy.

 

[Acert93]

I'd wait for all the episodes too, but I wonder if Valve might just release a $20-30 Episode 3 on consoles. Then again, they'll probably do a final compilation too, ala the GTA trilogy.

I think that is the plan: Get PS3/Xbox 360 owners to get HL2+Ep1+Ep2 and then offer Ep3 as either a download for $20-$30 /and/ included in a $60 premium pack that has HL2+Ep1+Ep2+Ep3 while the base pack goes down to like $40 or $50 maybe?

This way they are milking the same game a bit and able to justify boosting back up to the $60 point while still offering more affordable versions to maximize sales while "word of mouth" and advertising is high.

Really not a bad strategy, hopefully the quality is great. TF2 has me excited. I also noticed Ep2 looked to be more combat focused, maybe even fast paced combat. The episodes with more focused gameplay could be a good thing, 3 Episodes each covering 5-6hours and having a distinct feel, and then strung together into a $60 package where it is just a loaded experience from beginning to end. Sounds good in theory...

Glad to see all the console gamers getting a decent version of HL2 though--really a great game. TF2 is probably a decent sub for CS:S, although I would not be surprised if Valve is working on a standalone CS game for down the road. It surely as the immense fanbase.

 

[AlNom]

TF2 is probably a decent sub for CS:S, although I would not be surprised if Valve is working on a standalone CS game for down the road. It surely as the immense fanbase.

Maybe, I don't recall CS being too popular on the Xbox though.

 

[Acert93]

Maybe, I don't recall CS being too popular on the Xbox though.

Being a 4 year old upgade with negligably better graphics can do that, especially when it is a free mod of a game selling for $20 and works on about every PC on the market.

HL+CS (and a ton for free mods) for $20 on the PC with KB/MS or CS alone for $50 on the Xbox with a gamepad? Not a hard decision considering CS on the Xbox is pretty straight forward port with pretty limited gameplay value.

I had something more along the lines of a new standalone CS product, seeing as CS:S is basically CS with better graphics and some gameplay tweaks. It would be nice to see Source+ pushed to make a killer new CS game.

 

[AlNom]

Being a 4 year old upgade with negligably better graphics can do that, especially when it is a free mod of a game selling for $20 and works on about every PC on the market.

HL+CS (and a ton for free mods) for $20 on the PC with KB/MS or CS alone for $50 on the Xbox with a gamepad? Not a hard decision considering CS on the Xbox is pretty straight forward port with pretty limited gameplay value.

I had something more along the lines of a new standalone CS product, seeing as CS:S is basically CS with better graphics and some gameplay tweaks. It would be nice to see Source+ pushed to make a killer new CS game.

Right, but I guess I was set into thinking that they wouldn't spend much time on upgrading a product that the likely audience is likely only to get on PC anyway for the mouse and keyboard support. Add to the fact that it will be another $50USD to play this CS online for Xbox 360, and it doesn't seem like a great investment. There is the PS3, of course, which has support for the mouse and keyboard. Still, AFAIK, the online pricing component is not yet set in stone.

For the "old" audience there is probably little to no chance of conversion, but it is this audience which is the source of that popularity. Personally, I don't expect Valve to concentrate on adding a lot to any port without doing the same on the PC side, so the PC crowd remains on that platform (for all intents and purposes).

For the console-only audience, they would have to add quite a lot of content (as you've hinted at), but IHMO CS:S isn't on the same level of a multiplayer-only game like the UT games to expect a $50 price-point, but which they still did for CS on the Xbox. Really, I think it will be a very long time before Valve works on a huge upgrade for CS:S to make it a standalone product for consoles, which will undoubtedly be done on PC too. Depending on how they end Episode 3, they might never get around to a major rehaul of CS:S. (My argument here is based on them wanting to launch a potential CS:S standalone product at the standard full price for a console game, so bear with me ).

And by the time they finish Episode 3, CS:S will be....three years old? At least on the Xbox 360, a CS:S port will probably suffer from the same issues that you mentioned for the original port. Factor in a major redux to warrant $50-60 and also Valve's infamous development time... forgive for being pessimistic.

But here's an idea: CS:S+ included with Episode 3 for consoles. IMO, a good standalone CS:S product on consoles won't be feasible content & development-wise. But if they're already going to pains with TF2 alongside HL2 & Ep1&2, why not CS:S+ with Ep3, and justify an even higher price (on consoles)?

 

[AlNom]

Being a 4 year old upgade with negligably better graphics can do that, especially when it is a free mod of a game selling for $20 and works on about every PC on the market.

HL+CS (and a ton for free mods) for $20 on the PC with KB/MS or CS alone for $50 on the Xbox with a gamepad? Not a hard decision considering CS on the Xbox is pretty straight forward port with pretty limited gameplay value.

I had something more along the lines of a new standalone CS product, seeing as CS:S is basically CS with better graphics and some gameplay tweaks. It would be nice to see Source+ pushed to make a killer new CS game.

Right, but I guess I was set into thinking that they wouldn't spend much time on upgrading a product that the likely audience is likely only to get on PC anyway for the mouse and keyboard support. Add to the fact that it will be another $50USD to play this CS online for Xbox 360, and it doesn't seem like a great investment. There is the PS3, of course, which has support for the mouse and keyboard. Still, AFAIK, the online pricing component is not yet set in stone.

For the "old" audience there is probably little to no chance of conversion, but it is this audience which is the source of that popularity. Personally, I don't expect Valve to concentrate on adding a lot to any port without doing the same on the PC side, so the PC crowd remains on that platform (for all intents and purposes).

For the console-only audience, they would have to add quite a lot of content (as you've hinted at), but IHMO CS:S isn't on the same level of a multiplayer-only game like the UT games to expect a $50 price-point, but which they still did for CS on the Xbox. Really, I think it will be a very long time before Valve works on a huge upgrade for CS:S to make it a worthwhile, standalone product for consoles, which will undoubtedly be done on PC too. Depending on how they end Episode 3, they might never get around to a major rehaul of CS:S. (My argument here is based on them wanting to launch a potential CS:S standalone product at the standard full price for a console game, so bear with me ).

And by the time they finish Episode 3, CS:S will be....three years old? At least on the Xbox 360, a CS:S port will probably suffer from the same issues that you mentioned for the original port. Factor in a major redux to warrant $50-60 and also Valve's infamous development time... then please forgive for being pessimistic.

But here's an idea: CS:S+ included with Episode 3 for consoles. IMO, a good standalone CS:S product on consoles won't be feasible content & development-wise. But if they're already going to pains with TF2 alongside HL2 & Ep1&2, why not CS:S+ with Ep3, and justify an even higher price (on consoles)?