HL2 load times on par with HL1 woohoo!!

[denlife7]

Got an email from Rick Ellis (see here).

I am amazed that they have accomplished this considering the huge looking levels, great stuff Valve!!

I think that deserves a HL2 hype smiley :afro: :bounce: :afro:

 

[Crusader]

Hehe, thats because Valve are a quality dev team

 

[OctoChops]

you do realize that the load times in HL1 were completely dependent upon your cpu/pc specs

 

[Sai]

hahaha, good point, the game will probably load differently on different gfx cards

 

[Crusader]

It's kind of an "on an average pc" type thing.

Like say an average 1996 PC loaded a HL map in 4 seconds.

Then an average 2004 PC will load a HL2 map in 4 seconds.

Those are of course totally made up numbers btw ^^

 

[denlife7]

you do realize that the load times in HL1 were completely dependent upon your cpu/pc specs

of course I do, that's what minimum specs are for...

I also remember how fast HL1 levels loaded compared to other games out at the time (anyone ever played Sin before the patch?) and HL1 load times were pretty good even on low spec systems. You should be glad that Valve have put effort into accomplishing this, many companies release games that take far too long to load (Deus Ex: IW anyone?)...

Are you saying that HL1 levels took a long time to load for you??

 

[OctoChops]

Load times will be completely determined by RAM and CPU

For HL1, I think you meant to say:

An average 1996 PC = 5-8 second load time

an average 2004 PC = .5 second load time (prob less since I last played it)

 

[Ames]

Half-Life was released Nov. 1998.

 

[Sedako]

As long as they aren't like Far Cry's load time, i'm good to go.

 

[PatPwnt]

Load times will be completely determined by RAM and CPU

For HL1, I think you meant to say:

An average 1996 PC = 5-8 second load time

an average 2004 PC = .5 second load time (prob less since I last played it)

hard drive also...

 

[FictiousWill]

Shaders don't require much loading, so HL2 will load decently. And it will depend on your machine. Making guesses at seconds is pointless.

 

[SMT]

Wow, you guys are bored.

 

[obiwanquinobi]

Wow, you guys are bored.

You got that damn rite

Anyways, the actual level load time is unimportant for me - I'm more interested in 'Re-Load' times (After being killed ect) I forsee people dying many times including myself!!

 

[simmo]

W00h00!, loading times is one of the things I was most worried about

 

[ray_MAN]

I hope it is like Halo's loading times. Within 3 seconds I was done loading a new map.

 

[SMT]

I'm looking forward to the seamless map transitions (a la HL1) but much further apart. I.E. much larger BSP's will be possible in Source so you won't walk through a transition every couple of minutes. But even when you do, it won't be a terrible interruption to gameplay. Lovely.

 

[jimbones]

the transitions in the original HL with the rockettestdrivetentaclesfuel type of level were annoyingly close to each other..

 

[m00gie]

the maps in HL² can be 64 times larger then HL1

 

[ACLeroK212]

Load times will be completely determined by RAM and CPU

For HL1, I think you meant to say:

An average 1996 PC = 5-8 second load time

an average 2004 PC = .5 second load time (prob less since I last played it)

no, i don't think that is what he meant to say.

he was saying half-life loads times on an average pc in 1996 should be the same as the half-life 2 load times on an average pc in 2004.

don't really think anyone cares about the load times of the original half-life in 2004 anymore.

 

[KagePrototype]

the maps in HL² can be 64 times larger then HL1

That is true. However, I hope no one is expecting them to be that big -- there will undoubtedly be limits set to how much detail the source engine can handle (just like the HL engine), so don't expect to see or create maps of this size so easily without sacrificing detail. It is also possible that the developers are working at self-set limits to reach people with less powerful hardware more easily, just like the first HL. Of course, these limits won't be there for mod makers, so detail can be added as hardware gets more and more powerful.

 

[Striker]

HL loads pretty fast for me.. sometimes it gets slow though... :|

 

[DvS]

hahaha, good point, the game will probably load differently on different gfx cards

This and the "CS is going to run awesome on my x800" myths are obvious pretty widespread.. no myth pal, gfx cards don't change your load times, Hard drives, memory and CPU power do. Likewise, performance in all HL based games has little to do with graphics cards...