Branching Storylines

[SpectreBlofeld]

Bored at work and thinking of Half-Life...

A nice addition to gameplay would be branching storylines.

Valve would of course want to keep the endings to their episodes or games to be unified to tie into the inevitable sequel, but what would be interesting is allowing you to pick several branching paths toward achieving your goal.

For instance, Gordon needs to get from point A to point B. He can either:

1) Drive the resistance-mobile of the week through a river/valley/whatever that is the longest of the routes but assisted by vehicle, though open to attacks by choppers/snipers/etc...

2) Navigate on foot over a mountain pass, where Xen wildlife and Combine outposts pose danger, but there's more cover and gunplay...

3) Travel through abandoned mines/tunnels/etc to get through that very same mountain and come across zombies, antlions, barnacles, etc.

...Or whatever. Those are just examples. Point is, all choices would eventually lead to the same place so the final storyline isn't affected, just the intermediary gameplay.

This would also reward replayability as you could pick a different path with repeat playings.

 

[Operational]

Why add replayability when you could put them together sequentially and add more to everyones experience?

 

[LandStander]

What Operational said. What makes the Half-Life series great is how tight the narrative and game play is. Yeah there are less options, but there are innumerable FPSs that have a sort of open-ended game play mechanic and I can't think of any that are nearly as good as HL, the sequel, or the episodes.

 

[Cheomesh]

Well, you could do both, Operational. Well, sort of.

Lets say the distance is 10 miles or whatever. This is for arguments sake.

You could go those 10 miles on foot, or take the car. Roughly half way out of the above said pass, you find a rebel base with their own (different) car. You could either take that (gaining a car or swapping it out) or totally bypass it.

 

[Atomic_Piggy]

Linear FTW.

char.

 

[SpectreBlofeld]

Why add replayability when you could put them together sequentially and add more to everyones experience?

Because 'everyone' can replay it, picking the alternate route the next time. This isn't a pay-per-use game.

 

[SpectreBlofeld]

What Operational said. What makes the Half-Life series great is how tight the narrative and game play is. Yeah there are less options, but there are innumerable FPSs that have a sort of open-ended game play mechanic and I can't think of any that are nearly as good as HL, the sequel, or the episodes.

I'm not talking about open-ended, I'm talking about open-middle. Different ways to meet the scripted goal.

And regarding 'almost as good' as HL, look at Deus Ex, from the same era, being awarded the title of 'best PC game of all time' by a British poll: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=24674

And it shares the quality of being an FPS with HL, but DOES have branching storylines.

Half-Life 2 scores no. 2 in the poll. And Deus Ex came out about the same time as HL1.

 

[Druckles]

It would be like making Gordon talk.

Half-Life always has been linear, and the only non-linear moment was at the end of Half-Life with the "Hobson's Choice". Hey look, I'm already referring to "Alternative Ending" .

They make a joke out of this in the comic "Concerned", about how linear the gameplay is.

 

[SpectreBlofeld]

It would be like making Gordon talk.

Half-Life always has been linear, and the only non-linear moment was at the end of Half-Life with the "Hobson's Choice". Hey look, I'm already referring to "Alternative Ending" .

They make a joke out of this in the comic "Concerned", about how linear the gameplay is.

No, it would be nothing like making Gordon talk.

Every time someone suggests something they'd like to change in HL on this forum, SOMEBODY says 'That would be like making Gordon talk!'

 

[Druckles]

No, it would be nothing like making Gordon talk.

Every time someone suggests something they'd like to change in HL on this forum, SOMEBODY says 'That would be like making Gordon talk!'

I'm not going to get unreasonable... I'm not... /mutterings

Do you even have a clue about Half-Life? The amount of time and thought that has been put behind the whole half-life universe, the number of speculations, theories, jokes and parodies?

There are some things in Half-Life which are put there for a reason:
Barney's first line in HL2
Alyx's comment about being quiet, again in HL2
And there are some things which Half-Life has been noted for, and they create an almost classicality which can't be taken away from it. To be altering certain aspects of this which have been there since the very beginning, would be like taking away half of it's life (not pun intended), and almost all of what it represents. You might as well consider adding another Lord of the Rings to the "trilogy" but say something like:
"Oh, I don't like this, it's boring, let's make Gandalf a woman, or set it in space"
or even creating a new Doom, but saying something along the lines of:
"Ah, Doom's too spooky, it's not appropriate for kids, lets put the user in a field with flowers and cute animals".
(It's kind've hard to think of good examples on the spot)

There appear to be an increasing amount of people who appear on these forums out of nowhere, deciding that they don't like Half-Life as it is, or they think that they have a new "theory" when in reality it's probably been discussed before, total crap, or we just don't want to hear it, because we like the Half-Life universe the way it is, with half the plot line missing, no legs, no speaking, over linearality, some mysterious dude etc. I would not be surprised if someone decided that they'd prefer it if the gman died at the end of Half-Life 2 and complained on here because it wasn't the case.

If you aren't satisfied with the way Half-Life is currently, then please go play another game, or post on another forum, one suited to complaining at the game, not stopping and worshipping the amazing nature of the game and the time, effort and thought that Valve have put into it.

If you do have a good suggestion, there's little point in posting it on here. Please, go email Gabe, tell him you've got this "cool" idea, and then maybe come here with his response so we can all tell you why he rejected it. Most people don't seem to realise that Valve already have alot of this planned out, especially this story arc, and that you're idea is one in a million.

/rant

Geez, don't think I've ever cared about anything that much... :burp:

 

[Nitre]

Well put Druckles.

 

[Druckles]

Wonder if he ever played Half-Life.

 

[Hydra]

I'm not going to get unreasonable... I'm not... /mutterings

Do you even have a clue about Half-Life? The amount of time and thought that has been put behind the whole half-life universe, the number of speculations, theories, jokes and parodies?

There are some things in Half-Life which are put there for a reason:
Barney's first line in HL2
Alyx's comment about being quiet, again in HL2
And there are some things which Half-Life has been noted for, and they create an almost classicality which can't be taken away from it. To be altering certain aspects of this which have been there since the very beginning, would be like taking away half of it's life (not pun intended), and almost all of what it represents. You might as well consider adding another Lord of the Rings to the "trilogy" but say something like:
"Oh, I don't like this, it's boring, let's make Gandalf a woman, or set it in space"
or even creating a new Doom, but saying something along the lines of:
"Ah, Doom's too spooky, it's not appropriate for kids, lets put the user in a field with flowers and cute animals".
(It's kind've hard to think of good examples on the spot)

There appear to be an increasing amount of people who appear on these forums out of nowhere, deciding that they don't like Half-Life as it is, or they think that they have a new "theory" when in reality it's probably been discussed before, total crap, or we just don't want to hear it, because we like the Half-Life universe the way it is, with half the plot line missing, no legs, no speaking, over linearality, some mysterious dude etc. I would not be surprised if someone decided that they'd prefer it if the gman died at the end of Half-Life 2 and complained on here because it wasn't the case.

If you aren't satisfied with the way Half-Life is currently, then please go play another game, or post on another forum, one suited to complaining at the game, not stopping and worshipping the amazing nature of the game and the time, effort and thought that Valve have put into it.

If you do have a good suggestion, there's little point in posting it on here. Please, go email Gabe, tell him you've got this "cool" idea, and then maybe come here with his response so we can all tell you why he rejected it. Most people don't seem to realise that Valve already have alot of this planned out, especially this story arc, and that you're idea is one in a million.

/rant

Geez, don't think I've ever cared about anything that much... :burp:

Major win.

 

[SpectreBlofeld]

Wonder if he ever played Half-Life.

Been playing since 1998, nitwit. Logged many hundreds of hours in original HLDM (if you ever played Severian or Rocket Crowbar mods, I probably fragged you). Still have the original 'Game of the Year' disc of HL1. Made my own Lambda stencils and graffitti'd some alleys back in 2004. Sat in my car in front of Best Buy waiting for the store to open on HL2's release date. If you wanna play the "who's the bigger Half-Life fan" game, be prepared to lose.

 

[SpectreBlofeld]

If you aren't satisfied with the way Half-Life is currently, then please go play another game, or post on another forum, one suited to complaining at the game, not stopping and worshipping the amazing nature of the game and the time, effort and thought that Valve have put into it.

If you do have a good suggestion, there's little point in posting it on here. Please, go email Gabe, tell him you've got this "cool" idea, and then maybe come here with his response so we can all tell you why he rejected it. Most people don't seem to realise that Valve already have alot of this planned out, especially this story arc, and that you're idea is one in a million.

I don't know if you know this or not, but this is a forum dedicated to discussion of Half-Life.

You seem to think I'm complaining about the game. I don't know why you think that is. I'm just suggesting something that would be cool for the next one.

Why are you so defensive that you feel the need to defend something that's not under attack?

 

[Asknoone]

I don't think it's a good idea. Half-life thrives off driving you down a single path, and this is purely to the games strength rather than a negative trait (not that you're saying it is). I much prefer Half-life as it is: a linear, tight experience where the gameplay can be tuned, adjusted and made to be varied scene after scene. It's a cinematic experience, and I don't think branching paths has any real place here when you can make your gameplay as good as it is by throwing up distinct scenarios at every turn.

More open, figure-it-out-your-own-way combat scenes like the end of Episode 2 on the other hand are an entirely different beast altogether, and more of that would be a welcome addition.

 

[Azner]

Because 'everyone' can replay it, picking the alternate route the next time. This isn't a pay-per-use game.

Even better if you could choose the mines first, then you have to then choose between the vehicle and the forest and then playing as the one you have not chosen. Its like choosing the first map triggers the game to only allow you to get to the other two, but then it would seem very un-halflifish.

 

[SpectreBlofeld]

I don't think it's a good idea. Half-life thrives off driving you down a single path, and this is purely to the games strength rather than a negative trait (not that you're saying it is).

And to be clear, I am not. However, the feeling of being guided down a tight path and a lack of 'openness' to the world was pretty much the ONLY criticism reviewers had for HL2 when it came out, so not everyone feels the same way.