Source innovative?

[ShaithEatery]

All my friends say that Source is nothing but havok, and since I know nothing about how games work or anything of that nature, I usually end up loosing the argument. Can someone explain to me how Source is innovative and all that good stuff?

I know this is a n00b post, and for that I apologize

 

[Phlek]

Source’s animation system brings expressive characters to life with an unlimited palette of facial expressions that allow them to convey a message without having to say a word. In addition, these characters possess the industry’s most advanced artificial intelligence, making them extremely capable allies and foes.

These characters populate beautifully rendered and physically simulated worlds. Next generation applications will require the use of a physics simulation to provide realistic and responsive environments. This will allow developers to break from authoring the pre-scripted events featured in previous generations of games, and open the door for the creation of completely new styles of play.

Source contains robust networking code, providing support for 32-player LAN and Internet games, and inclues a complete toolset for level design, character animation, demo creation, and more.

That's a quote from http://www.valvesoftware.com/sourcelicense/. Basically it's saying it has the best artificial intelligence, facial animations, and it's the most midifiable engine yet.

 

[zul]

Yes the physics in HL2 use the licenced havok physics engine, but the innovative part about HL2 are the way its used in the game. No other game out yet has gameplay relly so much on the physics. I mean weapons and enemies and vehicles all impact the gameplay really heavily and its all tied in with the physics engine. Other games simply use physics for ragdoll deaths or the random box you can shoot around. I cant wait to solve puzzles with the physically stimulated environment - Manipulator, here i come!

 

[Crash Happy]

They bought in Havok when they first started work on the new engine and added in their own code to do stuff that it couldn't cope with. I'd imagine that saying Source is just havok is even less accurate than saying HL was just Quake.

 

[koopa]

It's not very innovative. It's just really well done (so we hear).

 

[Phlek]

I'd imagine that saying Source is just havok is even less accurate than saying HL was just Quake.

I concur.

 

[poseyjmac]

think of it like unreal engine though(started at unreal and now at ut2k4), it'll constantly get revisions over time. valve didnt just make a new engine from the groundup and then abandon work on it.