well ... I did a little better than I thought I would and I cleared Power Up! it seems.

I started the night at the top of the same elevator that I was trying to clear after my last post:



After killing some soldiers with my revolver I kept backtracking to see if I could figure out what to do next. When I ended up at the monster again I sought shelter in the control room I was stuck in at two posts ago. After hitting a lever I saw this middle platform rotating. The monster didn't seem amused and rather annoyed. I decided to jump down into the room and run for it and when I did I saw that one opening that was blocked by a cage before was now open so I jetted down that hallway. It led to what seems to be an endless supply of power rooms. When I got to the end I found a ledge with another lever to turn on, and when I did, boom, more electricity with some cool blue rays. With that on I went back towards the big monster and of course he came after me. When I went down the same hallway, something completely unexpected happened ... He was completely destroyed by the "blue rays of shock" and that was that. Although it was a complex way for him to die ... I certainly was surprised that it was somewhat easier to accomplish than the damn three headed monster in Blast Pit. But that was that ... here's a pic post-destroyed monster:



Still not knowing what to do next I went back to the main room I started. There was a train car/people mover type thing that I got on and it worked this time. When it moved forward and stopped I remember that the lever in the first control room made the middle platform move, so I went back and re-engaged that again and off went on the train car ... ON A RAIL!

I got to a security guard with a down gate. After picking up two health packs, I got past the gate and moved forward. After riding the tracks for a good five minutes I suddenly realized I was in another level and maybe that was part of the puzzle. I didn't know at what point I was supposed to get off and explore or was I just supposed to stay on the train and figure that out?

Here are some shots from the train car:





I guess I have a new level to explore and perhaps will get some hints as to what I'm supposed to get out of On a Rail.

A new day brings a new motivation to play and I think I made some serious progress tonight while realizing some continued shortcomings in my game play.

I'm going to start the post with my two screenshots, the only ones I was able to get. They are my starting point and a picture of a new weapon, a trip mine.





My shortcomings lie in my reaction times to fast moving enemies (i.e. soldiers & turrets). Seems like I'm always dead or seriously hurt before I get my weapon in place and ready to fire. I am playing with the keys and the mouse. I cured my desire to use the arrows many weeks ago.

At my starting point tonight, I took the advice of a blog reader and took out the turret with a grenade, I threw the grenade and was smart enough to back off to let it detonate. Fortunately it took out a soldier or two. I was able to kill another solider using my handy dandy revolver and pick up some new ammo (much needed) and health.

Moving down a long hallway I had to kill some more soldiers and that's where I picked up the trip mines. I was trying my best to brace myself around some corners in order to kill the soldiers without getting killed. After powering up again I went down an elevator and had to kill some shockwave alien creatures. Down through some stairs I found my way to a power station. I assumed this was a good things and something I was supposed to turn on, but it wouldn't turn on. Remembering what happened in Blast Pit I didn't consider this a dead end ... I just moved on. Back down the hallway was a maintenance station and some water with these little slug like creatures that kept taking some energy away. At the end was this turbine looking thing. It didn't do anything until after I crushed some boxes. It turned on and the water drained.

Back at the Power station it turned on! Guessing this was a good thing, I avoided the power surge and made my way backwards since I couldn't find a way to go forward. I stopped back at the original ladder that had taken me down. There were soldiers that kept pwning me and when I killed them and tried to go up I kept dying and for some reason it felt like I was being killed by the same trip mines that I had gotten from the soldiers at first. This is where I ended tonight.

I'm going to keep at this. When I have nights like tonight when I feel like I'm making progress, it energizes me to keep going. So expect some more game play and posts tomorrow and the next night. Who knows? Maybe I can actually clear a level in a week!

I don't know if I've hit a rut or what but I'm only able to take Half-Life in small doses these days. I guess the cumbersomeness (if that's a word) of the levels is more than I care to take on for more than a few minutes at the time. Tonight I tried to get a little farther into Power Up. I re-started not on my quick save but at the previous save before that because my last quick save had me at no ammo and only "4" health.

I can't even remember a lot of details as I wasn't able to get any screen shots to work. Basically, I darted through the room with the mini boss, past some head crabs, aliens, electric shooters ... etc. I found myself in a toxic room and up a couple of ladders. Some soldiers and the stationary laser shooters were owning me as I made my way up. But I did see a soldier getting dragged under a crawl space by something with crab arms. The next level up I couldn't get past one of the stationary shooters before giving up.

I consider it progress because I saved in a different place than where I started. I know it's slow, but it's still moving forward.

Perhaps I'll get my motivation back soon.

Today was my first attempt at moving into power up, starting here:



I realize that this new monster will be difficult to kill, similar to the three headed monster from Blast Pit. So I didn't stop and waste my ammo trying to kill it. I moved forward through the room, to the left I noticed a track with a flat-bed car that wouldn't move when I tried to engage it. So I made it to another opening and killed a few creatures that shot electricity in previous levels.

After killing some of them I found a room with a collapsible walkway.



In the room was some much needed ammo. Through another door was a hurt soldier and some much needed armor. Unfortunately there was no health :(



At the other end of the room was a lever that moved when I engaged it and there stood the monster. So I'm assuming the lever did something, something perhaps that the dying soldier was to have told me. Unfortunately I wasn't playing with sound tonight which I know will get me lots of ribbing from blog readers. I'm not out of the room yet, but I will go back and listen to what the soldier has to say as I'm sure it's an important clue.

This is where I stopped:



I hope for more game play tomorrow.

I'm not just blindly playing this level. I'm sure there are multiple parts to it like Blast Pit, so I'm keeping an open mind. I don't have much health so I hope I don't have to go a long way like I did in Blast Pit on a small amount.

Thanks to lots of wonderful advice from blog readers and shackers I finally finished Blast Pit! While this is nowhere near the end of the game I know, as long as it took me to finish and as much trouble as I had, I feel this to be a tremendous accomplishment.

I started the night here, back in the control room:



I realized when I got there that I had done something wrong because only one light was lit up, only electricity had been turned on. Once I learned that the fan was a help, not an obstacle, I had to find my way back there. So, I did and up I went to the top of the fan room. I crawled my way through a vent area and down into the room that had the fuel and oxygen maybe? (I can't remember).



I killed some head crabs and aliens and turned on the last two things needed to TEST LAUNCH and kill the three headed monster. All this time I had been playing with energy at "1" and virtually no weapons or ammo. I made my way back to the control room, "test fired" and the monster was killed!! I was all "take that bitch" "oh yeah you like that" "bout damn time you monster freak" - I was so glad it was done I basically expected Gordon to be magically teleported into the next level.

That didn't happen.

So I go exploring and went down to the bottom where the monster disintegrated. Down the hole I went straight into some water.



This wasn't easy since my health was so low so it took some practice. I did find my way up to a dead security guard that had a awesome revolver. I wonder who I'll get to pump full of lead with that thing! After swimming down I was able to find dry ground. I went down a ladder and entered a room with a lot of toxic going on.



I found some much needed health & armor so I filled up and enjoyed every second of it!

I figured that I wasn't supposed to swim in the toxic liquid so I went back up and found some piping. Knowing how it went earlier in the game I followed it around some corners and then across to a hole in a metal grate. This wasn't easy so it took a few times to make the jump. Once I did I was thrilled!



Down another tunnel I went that ended up collapsing. I took a big hit health wise which killed me a handful of times before I realized that I was going to fall just right to salvage some health. Once I did this, I had to kill some head crabs and found two health packs and some ammo.

Once this was done, down a hallway I went and -- I was out of Blast Pit!!

Power up Ahoy!



I went around a corner and immediately spotted this:



I stopped here and figured this challenge was better suited for another night.
I'm excited to be out of Blast Pit. I never meant for it to take two months, but it did and I hope that the following levels aren't as tedious. I really want to finish this game, I know I have a long way to go, but getting to this point sure feels good. Thank you to everyone who has given me great tips and hints. I welcome comments and suggestions at anytime.

I picked up a little momentum, but still don't think I have all the tools in place to get out of blast pit. I know some people have asked if I read the blog comments, well I do. I know that there are three things that I need to turn on before I can kill the three headed green monster. Tonight I got what I think is one more.

I finished last night still stuck down in the area with the water and the pipes. Following the advice of a blog reader I found a second staircase that got me up to an area where I thankfully found some more grenades. Unfortunately there was no health.

After killing a few aliens I found a gigantic room with a BIG fan:



After moving my way down I was able to flip a switch and turn on the fan, then move my way back up:



I made my way up without getting chopped up by the fan, made my way back through the tunnels with the pipes and water and all the way back to the room with the green monster. I ended up back in the control room and only the power light was lit up. There were two other lights that weren't lit up.

This leaves me with the following questions:

1) What was the deal with the fan and was that not something I was supposed to turn on?

2) What in the world is the 3rd thing I need to turn on and how do I get to it?

3) Am I going to have the patience to get out of Blast Pit and remotely have a chance to finish this game?

More game time tomorrow ...

Thank you to those of you that have been patient during my hiatus. I was on vacation some, and for a while I lost my interest in half-life I'm sorry to say. Tonight I sat down I tried to pick up where I left off, but I think it's going to take some practice and dedication to do it.

This was my starting spot tonight:



I am STILL in blast pit, trying to find the next thing to turn on to go back and kill the big green monster. I killed some aliens after going down the stairs ahead and started down the following grate:



At the bottom of the grate were some long pipes and water, as well as several metal bars blocking passages:



After killing some bullsquids and moving back and forth during different passages I really don't know what to do next. Most passages are blocked by metal bars and I don't have any grenades. I'm sure this means that I must back track to find some, but re-starting tonight I really didn't get back into it full force.

I pledge to work on playing more this week and by the end of the week I hope to get out of blast pit. I think if I do this, the game will pick up in excitement for me.

Thanks again to those that have stuck with the blog during my time away.