So are PC users going to get the HL2 (and Ep1) upgrades that 360 users will get?

[Shields]

I think it would be pretty ridiculous if they didn't. If Valve is worried about everybody DLing it at once and taking up their bandwidth (without paying extra) they should just limit how fast people can get it. (maybe 30K/s or something)

 

[Selkcip]

That'd be nice.

 

[The Brick]

Yes we will.
http://www.halflife2.net/forums/showpost.php?p=2058762&postcount=856

 

[SpotEnemyBoats]

Imagine the EP2 inhancements in Half-Life 2 vanilla, the higher poly ep1 ALyx, the cool Vort skins (with their cool attacks), Cinematic physics, & so on.

 

[The Brick]

Only visual enhancements would be likely to get implemented. Not the new Vort attack, neither cinematic physics.

 

[kacation_man]

wont Half life 2 have HDR in the 360 version? NM....

Yes we will.
http://www.halflife2.net/forums/showpost.php?p=2058762&postcount=856

OMG.... SWEET-NESS!!

 

[Shift]

Yeah it will along with a few other minor graphical enhancement, PC users will be getting via downloads from steam I think

 

[PimpinPenguin]

Will we have to pay for the update or will it be free.

 

[eraser]

Will we have to pay for the update or will it be free.

I assume it'll be free.

 

[DEATHMASTER]

plz tell me I just (basically) read "HL2 will have HDR on xbox AND PC"?!!!!?

 

[SpotEnemyBoats]

I hope they put the higher poly Alyx model from ep1 into regular HL2.

 

[kupocake]

Will we have to pay for the update or will it be free.

The only way I can see them charging money for it is if only Episode Two purchasers are entitled. But I can't see Valve hosting two versions of two of their games just for that.

 

[ríomhaire]

I think it would be pretty ridiculous if they didn't. If Valve is worried about everybody DLing it at once and taking up their bandwidth (without paying extra) they should just limit how fast people can get it. (maybe 30K/s or something)

If they do update the levels with HD for the PC version I would hope they
A: Put the updated levels on the EP2 CD or
B: Make the download optional.
I everyone was forced to download it it would mean someone buys a new copy of HL2, installs it, goes to register it and is hit by a f*cking 500MB update to download. I would hate for that to be my first impression of Steam. People with slow interent connections like myself would also be force to commit suicide.

 

[pATCheS]

500MB? More like 3-4GB... It'll be easier if they release the upgraded content with HL2 Ep2, and also offer it as an optional download on Steam.

 

[Jintor]

So an Episode 2 pack is starting to look like Episode 2 + Portal + Team Fortress + HDR Upgrades + Half-Life Deathmatch + Half-Life2 Deathmatch.

Big.

 

[Cuthbert]

So an Episode 2 pack is starting to look like Episode 2 + Portal + Team Fortress + HDR Upgrades + Half-Life Deathmatch + Half-Life2 Deathmatch.

Big.

That's true for XBOX360 version.

 

[kupocake]

That's true for XBOX360 version.

No it isn't. 360 won't get the Deathmatches. I also don't see why Valve would bother putting them in yet another PC episode pack either.

500MB? More like 3-4GB... It'll be easier if they release the upgraded content with HL2 Ep2, and also offer it as an optional download on Steam.

So the map files, currently 800mb, will grow to 3-4GB, just because the addition of HDR? I don't think so somehow.

 

[blck_prod]

So an Episode 2 pack is starting to look like Episode 2 + Portal + Team Fortress + HDR Upgrades + Half-Life Deathmatch + Half-Life2 Deathmatch.

Big.

For Xbox360....

PC version = PORTAL+EP2+TF2 (wich still rocks )

Eventually we'll get the HDR and other updates for HL2. Probably for free...

 

[ríomhaire]

If they do have them I hope to christ they're on the EP2 disc.

 

[pATCheS]

I read something a Valve employee wrote somewhere that that's about how big the update would be. It's more than just the maps. All the maps would need HDR lightmaps computed, and most of the textures and skyboxes would need to be updated. It may not amount to 3-4GB, it was just a rough guess and it's based on my recollection of something I read a while back, which isn't necessarily good It would almost certainly be >1.5GB though.

 

[kupocake]

All the maps would need HDR lightmaps computed, and most of the textures and skyboxes would need to be updated.

Skyboxes are included in the maps. If you've ever no clip around a Source map, you see them floating around. I'm not covinced that textures would need to be updated to take advantage of HDR. Surely the HDR Algorithms (already available in the shared Source files?) take care of things largely. Unless the Console versions specifically have higher detail textures and shaders, which I'm sceptical Valve would do.

 

[SPARTACVS]

So, from what I've heard:

PC
Half Life 2 $60- 2004
Half Life 2 Episode 1 $20- 2006
Half Life 2 Episode 2, Portal, Team Fortress 2 $40- 2007

Xbox 360
Half Life 2 (upgraded to look as good as episodes), Half Life 2 Episode 1, Half Life 2 Episode 2, Portal, Team Fortress 2 $60-70- 2007

 

[Danimal]

I would like this upgrade thingy to be optional if it's implemented.

*Kicks shitty computer*

 

[kupocake]

So, from what I've heard:

PC
Half Life 2 $60- 2004
Half Life 2 Episode 1 $20- 2006
Half Life 2 Episode 2, Portal, Team Fortress 2 $40- 2007

Xbox 360
Half Life 2 (upgraded to look as good as episodes), Half Life 2 Episode 1, Half Life 2 Episode 2, Portal, Team Fortress 2 $60-70- 2007

1/ No Pricing has been announced for any Episode 2 pack. You are entirely fabricating those prices because we haven't "heard" anything, other than that the PC version will be priced somewhere between Ep 1 and Half-Life 2.
2/ Not only was Half-Life 2 only $50 through Steam at launch, the $60 pack netted you the entire Valve back-catalogue, as well as the forthcoming DoD: Source. This package was surely somewhat equivilent to the console package due to emerge.
3/ The chances that Valve and/or EA will come out with a package superior to or equivilent to the Console package are very high, yet you neglect to mention them, or that due to the large difference in RRPs, buying that package for the PC will be cheaper. Even if no such package exists, it is irrelevent to bemoan paying $50 for Half-Life 2 two and a half years ago. Half-Life 2 no longer costs $50. We paid extra so we could play it two and a half years earlier, back when it was still cutting edge and OMFG awesome.

edit: also, it has been said that it is likely that the PC will get the Half-Life 2 upgrade, and one only needs to look at Half-Life Source to get an idea of how absolutely minimal and superficial the upgrade will be. (Or watch the video on IGN and tell me how exactly it looks so much better? only the lighting has improved).

 

[DEATH eVADER]

I'm hoping that the water effects on Highway 17 will get a more dynamic look. For the Sea it looked pretty boring.

As a matter of fact I think Highway17 actually needs a makeover.

 

[SpotEnemyBoats]

I would like the increased poly count that was in Ep1 to be in HL2, the more advanced facial expressions that was ep1 & the HDR.

 

[SPARTACVS]

1/ No Pricing has been announced for any Episode 2 pack. You are entirely fabricating those prices because we haven't "heard" anything, other than that the PC version will be priced somewhere between Ep 1 and Half-Life 2.
2/ Not only was Half-Life 2 only $50 through Steam at launch, the $60 pack netted you the entire Valve back-catalogue, as well as the forthcoming DoD: Source. This package was surely somewhat equivilent to the console package due to emerge.
3/ The chances that Valve and/or EA will come out with a package superior to or equivilent to the Console package are very high, yet you neglect to mention them, or that due to the large difference in RRPs, buying that package for the PC will be cheaper. Even if no such package exists, it is irrelevent to bemoan paying $50 for Half-Life 2 two and a half years ago. Half-Life 2 no longer costs $50. We paid extra so we could play it two and a half years earlier, back when it was still cutting edge and OMFG awesome.

I put the price for HL2 vanilla as $60 because that's what I thought the price was when it came out, which I also thought would be when most of us got it. I wasn't trying to post this to show that the console gets a better deal.

"The chances that Valve and/or EA will come out with a package superior to or equivilent to the Console package are very high, yet you neglect to mention them"
Link please? Otherwise don't accuse me of negligence.

"No Pricing has been announced for any Episode 2 pack. You are entirely fabricating those prices because we haven't "heard" anything, other than that the PC version will be priced somewhere between Ep 1 and Half-Life 2."
YES. You say I fabricated them, and then quoted where I got that price from. $40 is REASONABLE and REALISTIC for a PC package of Episode 2, Portal, and TF2, and is also BETWEEN HL2 AND EPISODE 1.
As for fabricating the X360 price too, it has been said that it will be 5 games for the price of one retail 360 game- 60 TO 70 DOLLARS. Geez.

 

[kupocake]

Link please? Otherwise don't accuse me of negligence.

Don't demand links for things which clearly say "chances are". You said you HEARD, not that "you believe".

$40 is REASONABLE and REALISTIC for a PC package of Episode 2, Portal, and TF2, and is also BETWEEN HL2 AND EPISODE 1.

It is unreasonable as a medium between a $20 item and an item you wrongly priced.

As for fabricating the X360 price too, it has been said that it will be 5 games for the price of one retail 360 game- 60 TO 70 DOLLARS. Geez.

I never said - or at least, meant to say - that your console price was fabricated. Worth bearing in mind that the retail prices of PS3 games aren't concrete, while we're on the subject.

I'm hoping that the water effects on Highway 17 will get a more dynamic look. For the Sea it looked pretty boring.

As a matter of fact I think Highway17 actually needs a makeover.

Indeed. The quality of the Buggy section is one of the oldest criticisms of the game (though not really heard among the fanbase). I think most of the otherwise shining reviews noticed a quality drop in that section. Of course, the ideal is that every single map along that coast looks as good as Lost Coast. With Episode Two's focus on larger outdoor areas, perhaps Valve have something very special geared up for that section... but then, as I pointed out earlier, HL: Source suggests we'll be wise not to expect too much from an overhaul.

 

[Iced_Eagle]

Skyboxes are included in the maps. If you've ever no clip around a Source map, you see them floating around. I'm not covinced that textures would need to be updated to take advantage of HDR. Surely the HDR Algorithms (already available in the shared Source files?) take care of things largely. Unless the Console versions specifically have higher detail textures and shaders, which I'm sceptical Valve would do.

Part of their HDR is all about exposure levels. You cannot get the appearance of different exposures with one single skybox. So each skybox must have I think its like 3 or 4 variations depending on exposure, and Source figures out which version to display at any point in time (they change but obviously you can't tell )

HDR lighting is a lot more work than people think. Lots of things need to be taken acount of. It's not just pure-code that you can run in any old level.

 

[SPARTACVS]

Don't demand links for things which clearly say "chances are". You said you HEARD, not that "you believe".

So, you say "chances are", that "Valve and/or EA will come out with a package superior to or equivilent to the Console package are very high, yet you neglect to mention them.". You say not to ask you for a link, but if you don't have a source, then on what grounds can you say that there is more than a 50% chance of it happening? I can't neglect to mention something that VALVe/EA never said. If you can correct me, and show that they DID say it, then give me a link. I can't neglect to mention something that is just your gut feeling, and which has no backing from the people actually making the decision, so why would I even think of it? I can't read your mind.

 

[Dr. Zoidberg]

Part of their HDR is all about exposure levels. You cannot get the appearance of different exposures with one single skybox. So each skybox must have I think its like 3 or 4 variations depending on exposure, and Source figures out which version to display at any point in time (they change but obviously you can't tell )

HDR lighting is a lot more work than people think. Lots of things need to be taken acount of. It's not just pure-code that you can run in any old level.

Well you could just make a HDR display (http://www.brightsidetech.com/) and instruct the game to use the new light values.

 

[bigburpco]

Some things are widely presumed to happen. There is no official annoucement beforehand.

In some cases, they still do.

 

[kupocake]

then on what grounds can you say that there is more than a 50% chance of it happening?

Try common sense.

The issue is nothing to do with neglecting to mention something that is certain to happen, but neglecting to mention the distinct possibility that it can happen in order to service your arguement.

Part of their HDR is all about exposure levels. You cannot get the appearance of different exposures with one single skybox. So each skybox must have I think its like 3 or 4 variations depending on exposure, and Source figures out which version to display at any point in time (they change but obviously you can't tell )

HDR lighting is a lot more work than people think. Lots of things need to be taken acount of. It's not just pure-code that you can run in any old level.

Interesting, but I don't see that giving us the radical growth in file-sizes that some are forecasting. Skyboxes are after all fairly non-complex affairs even in this day and age.

 

[SPARTACVS]

The issue is nothing to do with neglecting to mention something that is certain to happen, but neglecting to mention the distinct possibility that it can happen in order to service your arguement.

Well, until VALVe says anything on the subject (which they haven't), there is a 0% possibility that it will happen. Wait for VALVe to make an announcement.

I really don't want to argue about it anymore, though. I see where you're coming from, but I just thought it was silly that you were acting as if it was set in stone when there has been zero news about it. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

 

[kacation_man]

I'm hoping that the water effects on Highway 17 will get a more dynamic look. For the Sea it looked pretty boring.

As a matter of fact I think Highway17 actually needs a makeover.

I agree, however i think that one of the biggest things that need to be completely redone is the radio active "water" and a lot of the npc rebels... they simply look like shit compared to the other main characters and i feel they bring the whole feeling the game down, from a distance they look ok, but when you get up in their face its pretty disgraceful. As for the radio active "water" its flat and doesnt move, it just plashes, it needs animation of some sort, it would even look better if they just took the regular water and made it a dark dingy yellow and kinda made it glow or something... Its just one of the small graphical draw backs among very few in the game that i thought valve could have put a little more effort into.

 

[capteeni]

Try common sense.

The issue is nothing to do with neglecting to mention something that is certain to happen, but neglecting to mention the distinct possibility that it can happen in order to service your arguement.

Interesting, but I don't see that giving us the radical growth in file-sizes that some are forecasting. Skyboxes are after all fairly non-complex affairs even in this day and age.

you have to download all maps again. now that IS RADICAL. Just accept that. HDR's Weight is at minimum 800mb.

as much as an elephant whose over 1000KG. It just is that.:flame:

 

[kupocake]

you have to download all maps again. now that IS RADICAL. Just accept that. HDR's Weight is at minimum 800mb.

How is 800mb big at all? The Company of Heroes demo is 1.75gb. HL2 is titchy, and HDR isn't going to increase filesizes nearly as drammatically as people think it is.

 

[blck_prod]

Djeezes ppl...

You all (Some of you) act as spoiled children on this tread. XBox gets everything for the price I paid for HL2 and it even looks better they should update our HL2 also and I want my money back. Not fair, not fair...nag, nag, nag.... This is another signal that we gamers only care for graphics and not for gameplay or story.
Really you should appreciate what Valve does. They are by far the most modest and best game-developpers around. They'll probably give us the updates later for FREE...Know any developer who would do the same???...

Always the same...give m something and they want more...

Sometimes you gamers make me sick...
Always nagging and critisizing but most of you haven't even tried creating something for themselfs :flame:

You should try it...doing something...really fullfilment is sweet

 

[Jintor]

Please lecture us, don't nag us. Also, spell. And for the love of Gabe, don't look down on us.

 

[ríomhaire]

How is 800mb big at all? The Company of Heroes demo is 1.75gb. HL2 is titchy, and HDR isn't going to increase filesizes nearly as drammatically as people think it is.

All the bsp files of HL2 put together are over 600MB. All the maps with added HDR would be more than that.