- Joined
- Mar 18, 2003
- Messages
- 17,746
- Reaction score
- 6
Valve, Steam, Source all words that trigger a frenzy of mixed emotions into my
head; delays, lawsuits, stolen source code, Counter-Strike, and most importantly
- fun. Whether it is negative or positive it seems Valve and its Half-Life
franchise can't avoid getting itself on the front pages of the gaming press. [br]
[br]
My respect for Valve blossomed when I must have been just about 8 years old in a
now long evicted LAN centre when I spotted an attractive orange fold out box
with a curious looking Greek lambda sign on the binding. I pulled out the box
and saw Half-Life printed in a very sci-fi reminiscent font on the cover. I
folded out the cover to see a mural of the future of PC gaming sprawled out
before me. I look back to that day and remember tugging on my dads pant leg
begging him to let me buy this kick-ass looking M-rated game with zombies only
to hear, "Are you sure this wont give you nightmares like Raiders of the Lost
Ark did". As you can imagine I laughed at this ridiculous assumption, blowing it
off remarking video games could never scare anyone (keep in mind this was before
games like Doom III and Resident Evil). [br]
[br]
I never imagined that today I'd be checking a forum for news on its sequel daily
and browsing forums for little tidbits of info on Source technology. The reason
why I am so excited for Source would take a 5 page essay for me to explain in
full, but I can try in as few words as possible to explain my fascination,
fixation and utter allure for anything with the name Half-Life attached to it,
but first let me rewind a tad bit. At 10 years of age I finally buy (and
complete) Half-Life and for the first time in my budding gaming life I
experienced a game that had achieved novelistic proportions. [br]
[br]
I worked through every level examining every alien life-form, every plot facet,
and replaying every awesome scripted moment feeling surprised and anxious each
time. I crept quietly like a frightened newborn puppy through "Anomalous
Materials" jumping as the creatures of the strange alien planet of Xen unleashed
hell upon Black Mesa, and like any angst ridden pre-teen, crowbarred a few
innocent Barneys' and scientists. I jumped at every zombie and scripted sequence
in "Office Complex" and blasted my way gung-ho through the famous “We've got
Hostiles". The rest of the game was the most memorable experience I would ever
have in gaming as I went into the mysterious planet of Xen and encountered the
mysterious G-Man and his persuasive offer. [br]
[br]
Utter infatuation could only describe my attitude towards PC gaming after the
time I first completed Half-Life, before then I thought games were just for fun
, never a novel you act inside where every action can have a consequence and
every missed ammo deposit could mean a certain death in the near future. After
this point I knew I had to know what ingenious force was behind Half-Life. [br]
[br]
After playing Half-Life to death and having no broadband connection (just a
measly 28.8k modem) I soon was forced to move on and play other single player
games (such as the Final Fantasy games for PlayStation). [br]
[br]
After many years of soul searching and begging day in and day out on my beloved
13th birthday I was given the gift any teenager would sell his left testicle
for; cable internet. At last I could follow my favourite hobby to its fullest.
After receiving broadband my life became a swarm of knowledge gaining and PC
game developer research. I became part of any Half-Life community I could, and
of course, inevitably, discovered what would become the most popular online
shooter of all time: Counter-Strike. [br]
[br]
In the 5th grade I have memories of days I called myself in sick for a full day
of Counter-Striking on WON. I soon realized just how flexible the Half-Life
technology was and with the help of a beast of a mod community it was
developing, among my favourite mods included Science and Industry, Team Fortress
Classic, and of course good old Counter-Strike. Half-Life was to me a god-send;
the best spent 50 dollars of my entire life, 25 games for the price of one.
Half-Life engine gaming was my fixation for about 5 years of my life until I
eventually became part of the Natural-Selection community in which I learned the
comradery of an tightly knit gaming clan. [br]
[br]
All of this ultimately brought me here- explaining to you, my readers, how I got
so infatuated with anything Valve lays its hands on. Despite leaks, controversy
over Steam, or legal battles with their publisher I know when Half-Life 2 is
finally upon us all, and Source is unleashed to the throngs of Half-Life fans
that the game will go down in history like Half-Life before it. If not by the
likes of Valve, by the massive and still growing community filled with
everything from rabid fans to experienced coders and even malicious hackers. [br]
[br]
Nothing can stop Valve or Half-Life 2 from going down in history for gamers like
me or any other member of the PC gaming community, whether your reason for
becoming involved in Half-Life 2 and the Source Engine is technology,
flexibility, mod-ability, or just another thrilling experience like Half-Life
before it, Half-Life 2 will set the standard for the story driven FPS once
again, and when it finally does decide to roll along, we will, as a community,
rejoice in the new dawn of PC gaming.
head; delays, lawsuits, stolen source code, Counter-Strike, and most importantly
- fun. Whether it is negative or positive it seems Valve and its Half-Life
franchise can't avoid getting itself on the front pages of the gaming press. [br]
[br]
My respect for Valve blossomed when I must have been just about 8 years old in a
now long evicted LAN centre when I spotted an attractive orange fold out box
with a curious looking Greek lambda sign on the binding. I pulled out the box
and saw Half-Life printed in a very sci-fi reminiscent font on the cover. I
folded out the cover to see a mural of the future of PC gaming sprawled out
before me. I look back to that day and remember tugging on my dads pant leg
begging him to let me buy this kick-ass looking M-rated game with zombies only
to hear, "Are you sure this wont give you nightmares like Raiders of the Lost
Ark did". As you can imagine I laughed at this ridiculous assumption, blowing it
off remarking video games could never scare anyone (keep in mind this was before
games like Doom III and Resident Evil). [br]
[br]
I never imagined that today I'd be checking a forum for news on its sequel daily
and browsing forums for little tidbits of info on Source technology. The reason
why I am so excited for Source would take a 5 page essay for me to explain in
full, but I can try in as few words as possible to explain my fascination,
fixation and utter allure for anything with the name Half-Life attached to it,
but first let me rewind a tad bit. At 10 years of age I finally buy (and
complete) Half-Life and for the first time in my budding gaming life I
experienced a game that had achieved novelistic proportions. [br]
[br]
I worked through every level examining every alien life-form, every plot facet,
and replaying every awesome scripted moment feeling surprised and anxious each
time. I crept quietly like a frightened newborn puppy through "Anomalous
Materials" jumping as the creatures of the strange alien planet of Xen unleashed
hell upon Black Mesa, and like any angst ridden pre-teen, crowbarred a few
innocent Barneys' and scientists. I jumped at every zombie and scripted sequence
in "Office Complex" and blasted my way gung-ho through the famous “We've got
Hostiles". The rest of the game was the most memorable experience I would ever
have in gaming as I went into the mysterious planet of Xen and encountered the
mysterious G-Man and his persuasive offer. [br]
[br]
Utter infatuation could only describe my attitude towards PC gaming after the
time I first completed Half-Life, before then I thought games were just for fun
, never a novel you act inside where every action can have a consequence and
every missed ammo deposit could mean a certain death in the near future. After
this point I knew I had to know what ingenious force was behind Half-Life. [br]
[br]
After playing Half-Life to death and having no broadband connection (just a
measly 28.8k modem) I soon was forced to move on and play other single player
games (such as the Final Fantasy games for PlayStation). [br]
[br]
After many years of soul searching and begging day in and day out on my beloved
13th birthday I was given the gift any teenager would sell his left testicle
for; cable internet. At last I could follow my favourite hobby to its fullest.
After receiving broadband my life became a swarm of knowledge gaining and PC
game developer research. I became part of any Half-Life community I could, and
of course, inevitably, discovered what would become the most popular online
shooter of all time: Counter-Strike. [br]
[br]
In the 5th grade I have memories of days I called myself in sick for a full day
of Counter-Striking on WON. I soon realized just how flexible the Half-Life
technology was and with the help of a beast of a mod community it was
developing, among my favourite mods included Science and Industry, Team Fortress
Classic, and of course good old Counter-Strike. Half-Life was to me a god-send;
the best spent 50 dollars of my entire life, 25 games for the price of one.
Half-Life engine gaming was my fixation for about 5 years of my life until I
eventually became part of the Natural-Selection community in which I learned the
comradery of an tightly knit gaming clan. [br]
[br]
All of this ultimately brought me here- explaining to you, my readers, how I got
so infatuated with anything Valve lays its hands on. Despite leaks, controversy
over Steam, or legal battles with their publisher I know when Half-Life 2 is
finally upon us all, and Source is unleashed to the throngs of Half-Life fans
that the game will go down in history like Half-Life before it. If not by the
likes of Valve, by the massive and still growing community filled with
everything from rabid fans to experienced coders and even malicious hackers. [br]
[br]
Nothing can stop Valve or Half-Life 2 from going down in history for gamers like
me or any other member of the PC gaming community, whether your reason for
becoming involved in Half-Life 2 and the Source Engine is technology,
flexibility, mod-ability, or just another thrilling experience like Half-Life
before it, Half-Life 2 will set the standard for the story driven FPS once
again, and when it finally does decide to roll along, we will, as a community,
rejoice in the new dawn of PC gaming.
