Favorite new graphics

[staticprimer]

There were plenty of new graphics features in Ep2, so what was everyone's favorite? Personally I loved that the flashlight now casts shadows on everything. Doors, windows, fences, skulls, everything. It made me "whoa" out loud the first time I saw it.

 

[scotland1]

I didn't like how the flashlight cast pure black shadows over everything you looked at. It wouldn't be black, it would just be dark.

 

[theholygod]

It seemed gibs had a lot of work; smashing something like a bench seemed to make a lot more pieces that were all colliding.

Also, striders sploding looked pretty damn incredible. Hitting the thing with a magnussun, hearing the beeping, getting a shot in, seeing the thing explode, the cheers from the rebels. Wow.

 

[Malfunction]

They didn't seem pure black to me, more like transparent grey or something. :/

Umm, the shadows were definitely a big improvement. They really made the game more immersive, and the feature is one that is lacking in most modern games.

The ultra-high textures were a REALLY nice change from the old blurry-ish ones. Props to Valve for that.

I'm also really digging the whole far-away big scene cinematics they have going on. The few times you look at the citadel from afar watching something happen, i.e., first portal storms. And then later with the rocket, that really impressed me. I barely noticed an FPS drop if any, and it looked like it really could be authentic.

Finally, I really liked the antlion caverns below the surface. The mappers and texturers did a tremendous job there. Every tunnel looked very natural, and all of the textures made me feel like I was in some dark, dank, moist place, just as I had imagined it would. The light really reflected well off those tunnel walls as well.

EDIT: Also, I really loved the new blood and gore. It's a much-welcomed change IMO. Some people say it was too over the top, but it doesn't make sense to have really over-the-top physics and stuff, and then you shoot someone point blank with a shotgun, or perforate 30 holes in a dude with your MP7, and barely see any red. It was especially tasty from far away, as it really gave you the sense you were hurting them.

 

[-Psy-]

+ New Particle Effects
+ New Shadow Casting
+ The never ending scenery

I never thought this game would look so nice compared to EP1.

 

[TaoFan]

I absolutely ADORED the shiny walls in the Antlion tunnels, they were beautiful to look at! I love surface effects like that.

 

[darkeye]

Well, I loved the Motion Blur, the dynamic flashlight and the Cinematic Physics... just awesome

 

[Nitre]

do you need vista or something for the motion blur? i switched it on but it didnt seem to work for some reason.

 

[Stene]

I don't think the Motion Blur was real difference, I didn't mention it alot without console tweaks. I tweaked it so that you see it while driving the car. The basic one is just when you turn real fast.

 

[Mahalis]

Motion blur won't show up if your framerate is too low.

Dynamic flashlight was nice but laggy, cinematic physics were amazing but I was usually too busy freaking out about Striders to notice them... frankly, my favorites were the improved model lighting (proper Phong and such) and the new beam effects (Vort attacks, hunter-flechette trails, etc.).

 

[leib10]

Cinematic physics, the new particle system, new lighting system, updated facial animation system, updated movement system for Alyx and Eli, and the absolutely gorgeous sceneries.

Show that the Source engine still has some life left in it.

 

[Tyguy]

i bet theres a console command to increase blur

 

[Nitre]

Well, at the moment i get none at all. I've tried moving really damn fast, but nothing happens.

 

[The Brick]

I liked the new blood splatters. Killing soldiers with the shotgun felt more satisfying than ever.

 

[Rapstah]

Vortigaunt lightning.

 

[TaoFan]

Show that the Source engine still has some life left in it.

SOME life left in it? I think Valve intend to heavily update that engine until past HL3! :upstare:

 

[Ridge]

I didnt like the blood splatter in the Advisor preview we saw, but I really do love it in practice...the Hunters were beautiful...they looked so real and you could hear them far enough way...sounded like horses running...

I actually got naseous walking through the Antlion nests, with that scloop scloop sound when you walked through the puddles of gore, etc...

I loved how when you got out of the car the hazard lights came on...funny touch...

I love how when the animals are nearly dead they start just spewing fluids...

What I didnt like? Giant alien penis.

 

[DEATHMASTER]

Combine: the telekinetic worm potatoes with penis tongues.

 

[theotherguy]

new fire.

nuff said.

The phong shading and the shadows don't work. Are the SM 3.0 only?

If so, that sucks. I must buy a new card.

 

[Ridge]

Yeah, the fire in P0rtal is downright gorgeous...it was almost a shame that I couldnt get a closer look at it!

 

[mikese]

Combine: the telekinetic worm potatoes with penis tongues.

TATERPENIS

 

[leib10]

I liked the new blood splatters. Killing soldiers with the shotgun felt more satisfying than ever.

I stand corrected. I HATED the new blood spatter in the preview videos, but in the end I say that it looked great, if a bit unrealistic.

 

[Saturos]

While everyone's on the topic, how's my system stack up against Episode 2 with all the new fancy upgraded graphics? I have dual GeForce 7600GS 256MB cards, 2 gigs RAM, and an AMD 3800+ 2.4 GHz processor, and my system could run the first two installments on full settings without breaking a sweat. Even with Forceware's transparent Supersampling enabled.(around 60fps or so according to the console's benchmark command)

 

[leib10]

You should be fine.

OB has relatively mild hardware requirements, considering the graphics it delivers.

 

[Saturos]

Thanks! Since I'll be using dial-up to install OB, I wanted to make sure I wasn't wasting my time (and money) if my system couldn't handle it. But I believe it should though. Can't wait to get my hands on it. But then I'll have to wait it out a day or two since dial-up sucks so badly.