progressing a little more
I only had a very short amount of time to play yesterday, but I was still pleased with what I did given the short amount of time. When I left off I had just entered Office Complex. It was dark and there was electricity coming from the ceiling. I didn't immediately remember what path I was to take but I did remember some surrounding offices and storage rooms that probably had clues that I needed. After a brief little bit I found an electrical switch and remembered that this was something that tripped me up last time. So after turning the power off I was able to move through with relative ease. I found some much needed health and continued on a little bit but my play was interrupted.
What I'm most pleased about is I don't spend more than a few seconds worrying about an obstacle. When I enter a room, if things don't immediately lay out in front of me, I'm immediately looking for doors and crawlspace openings. This has certainly helped to speed things up. Certainly helps in easing frustration.
Also, something else I didn't remember was whether or not it was good to break every box I see. I know in office complex I'll need boxes to be moved in order to get through some areas by climbing. But in the first part I just went about leisurely breaking boxes to see what was in them. I'm pretty sure I'm safe there in the beginning but I'll be a little careful the further I get.
No screenshots today because I didn't get the chance to send them to myself.
I hope to get to play again tonight.
What I'm most pleased about is I don't spend more than a few seconds worrying about an obstacle. When I enter a room, if things don't immediately lay out in front of me, I'm immediately looking for doors and crawlspace openings. This has certainly helped to speed things up. Certainly helps in easing frustration.
Also, something else I didn't remember was whether or not it was good to break every box I see. I know in office complex I'll need boxes to be moved in order to get through some areas by climbing. But in the first part I just went about leisurely breaking boxes to see what was in them. I'm pretty sure I'm safe there in the beginning but I'll be a little careful the further I get.
No screenshots today because I didn't get the chance to send them to myself.
I hope to get to play again tonight.
Labels: fps, half-life, overcoming obstacles, progress
12 Comments:
Bear in mind that a Valve game will never let you do something that will make progression impossible. Whenever the game requires you to stand on a box there will be an indestructible box around nearby.
Being aware that you're in a video game and that it isn't as cruel as real life can really help ease the stress of playing, but the obvious downside is that immersion is broken. Sometimes the developer wants you to feel stressed or scared, but they can't, because you keep telling yourself that it's a video game, and there are rules.
Break any box that doesn't say "Explosives" on the side. (;
How are movement and combat feeling, this second time through?
Combat has really been minimal at this point besides some head crabs and aliens. Movement is pretty easy, mouse + WASD. At the beginning of Unforseen Circumstances I caught myself subconsciously using the arrows, but I caught myself quickly. I know there's a lot harder sequences coming up so we shall see.
It's good to see you're getting the 'game-logic' of Half-Life, you'll find that the 'look for a vent/movable object/NPC/big gun' instincts you're developing will serve you well in the future.
I started on HL myself way back in '98, and now WASD is the default position of my left hand on any keyboard, for any reason. I can't help it :)
PS: Do you use CTRL or C for crouching? I forget what the default is but CTRL is by far the better.
To add upon what nick said...if you see an unbreakable box, that's a pretty good clue as to what the solution to the puzzle is going to be...there's probably some obstacle around that you have to or can climb over.
In your past journeys, I don't remember you saying much about moving boxes, so be aware that you can push or pull (using the "use" key) boxes to get them in position to climb over.
While it is impossible to 'break' progression through th level, thee are some things lke health and ammo caches that can only be gotten by moving breakable boxes into positions and jump-ducking onto them.
Ack, I haven't been keeping up! I'm glad you restarted, Papa - from your recent posts it seems like you're enjoying the game itself a lot more, now. Is that true?
Looks like all you learned from the first partial completion is finally moving into instinct.
2 things, and quite late on the first one: Jason says "All you learnt..." While its a damned impressive thing for a non-gamer to move instinctually. The first time I found about this blog (You were before where you are now, in your first play through), I decided to replay the game and discovered how hard it really was, despite knowing the tricks and traps, and being an experienced gamer.
Also, any chance of an update, even if it's just to say "I can't play for (x) long, because of (y)", where y may be left out if it's too personal, and x could just be a minimum time? I'm sure there are plenty of people anxiously waiting for the next post.
Wait, just realised I read jason's thing wrong. It was pretty much the opposite of what I read it as, and works along the exact same lines as what I tried to correct him to. Knowing my luck and timing, you'll probably be playing right now, too...
Next time I'll read things more thouroughly, I promise.
So, is this blog dead or are you still planning on coming back to it and the game at some point?
I'm coming back very soon.
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home