There was a lot going on tonight game wise. I got through a lot more than I was expecting, discovered new things, and learned some things about myself that I didn't quite realize. First and foremost, it seems like my reflexes are a joke. When there is a lot going on in the game, I struggle with my ability to recognize what I need to do and react to the situation. Simply moving around, then trying to choose weapons, shoot, kill what I'm aiming for, and getting past things is quite a challenge.

My first priority tonight was to back track from where I left off and find myself some energy. I was playing with only "4" so getting back to what I needed proved to be difficult. I was able to go back to the room with the laser gun, get past it to a side area where I picked up a rifle and ammo.



I got back to the room with the laser gun and plotted my way to get the gun turned off and get to the health station. I crawled far enough to get under the platform and turn off the power to the gun. But the health station was up on the platform and I couldn't jump up to get it. So, I back track even further and find a small box to push to the laser gun room so I can jump my way up to the health station.

As I mosey on a little further, I battle some more aliens and get to play with the rifle. I see an interesting box that I didn't bother to read at first and then realized why I should be more careful.



If the picture doesn't come through clearly, the box says "explosives" and I wacked it with the crowbar and subsequently died.

As I moved on to another area I find a blocked door, and after killing some head crabs and aliens I use my crowbar to make it through.



After this it looks like I've made it to a refreshment station of some sort. I did find a health station and ended up in what looks like a freezer. Lots of "meat" hanging around and produce boxes. A scientist is nice enough to give me a shot of something. I kill some more interesting creatures, pick up a grenade or two, try to explore the room, but most of the boxes are empty.



In the freezer I did pick up a few grenades, and at one point launched this overhead moving platform that has something on it I need to get. This was the point where I finally stopped for the night because I couldn't figure out how to get up on the platform or how I was supposed to get past the freezer. I'm assuming that there is a way out other than backtracking. The bad part is that I seem to have wasted a lot of my weapons, so I hope there is more to pick up, or at least some ammo soon.

When I finished off the last time I was faced with this moving platform. I figured out how to pull the lever and move my way over to the platform as it slowly descended into the unknown. As the platform lowered, it was raining head crabs. I was able to shoot a few but most ended up at the bottom.

When I got off the platform I realized there was a medical station nearby but with a health number of only "5" I couldn't make it very far. I was getting crab raped!



I decided to run for it and I turned a corner and quickly died after falling off of a collapsible bridge.



After dying a few dozen times I stood at the edge of the bridge and pondered my way out of this situation. This, perhaps, was one of those cases where the bridge was not my way out. I looked to my right and saw some pipe so I jumped up on the pipe, made my way around the room, crouched, used the crow bar to break open a vent and crawled through. I even figured out how to break open another vent and ended up on the other side.

Some boxes that I found had some ammo in them after I decided to bash a few with the crowbar. With this new discovery, no box is safe in the future.

I come to another room and see some sort of questionable creature that was a little bigger than a headcrab.





I am able to get over to him, kill him and finally find a room where there is a medical station. I stop here but look ahead to see another interesting passage.

I was told that the trick the vent was the kind of puzzles that I'm going to face more of as I get more into Half Life. The last few times I've played was more of a quest for survival for me. I tried to just move around with dying and without getting mauled by crabs. Now that I've gotten to this point I feel I can try and survive while also noticing more about my surroundings and grasping the whole picture.

As always, more to come ...

It seems like I'm only making it through this game a little at the time, but I feel like I'm learning as I go and I consider that a positive thing. When I left off yesterday I was planning my strategy of getting out of the hole with water. My strategy was to find the entrance that would get me on the other side of the gate as seen here:



The first time I tried this I found the opening, opened the valve to release the water and I swam towards the opening. I swam up and ......... ended up at the exact same place. I get so excited when I get through an obstacle and I quickly hit "quick save". At first I didn't know how I was going to get back in the hole since it was filled with water, but I overcame that and was able to find the correct opening and ended up on the correct side of the gate.

I move around some more, excited that there are no head crabs on my heels. I find a new room to explore:



I walk up to explore and find what looks to be a chute of some sort. I accidentally take a plunge, die, and start back over again. I take another careful peek down:



On top of the ramp is a lever to pull and after trying to pull it, the platform I was standing on started moving down the chute ... so I figure this is my next way out. Now to just figure out how to pull the lever and get back to the platform.

As always, there will be more to come.

My years of exclusively playing sports games are causing some pretty frustrating challenges in this my first FPS experience. I had a good hour or so to play tonight but really didn't get as far as I was wanting to. I did make a little progress, getting around by climbing in some lab windows, even moving a chair to climb up a ledge and get through a vent. I was able to re-charge my energy a couple of times, wack a few aliens with the crowbar, and found another distressed security guard to get another gun.

As I got through a few broken doors I came upon some small crab-looking alien creatures that jumped around and shot some more laser-ring beams that kept zapping my energy. My trouble came with trying to jump/shoot/move without getting myself killed. I didn't have much ammo, so I didn't know whether to waste it on these small creatures, or just try to run away from them. I would concentrate on shooting but couldn't move out of the way of the lasers, and would get zapped. I tried moving around but while I was trying to find my way out of the area I'd wait too long and get zapped.

Although my progress wasn't as much as I was hoping, I did manage to think a little and get around in more unconventional manners. I thank the shackers and blog readers for their continued good advice. I'm going to get the hang of this game!