It's been a while, almost three months since I played Half-Life. I didn't lose interest or get frustrated in quit, certain personal circumstances in my life just made it difficult to play at the moment. I have been playing some other games and have been enjoying them. The purpose in beginning this whole process was to get me into FPS games and to get me away from traditional sports games that I've always played. Well, since I haven't been playing Half-Life, I've been right back into sports games, playing NCAA '09 & '08 on X-Box 360. Previous to this year, I only had a GameCube, so my playing experience was mostly myself against the computer or the occasional visiting friend. Now that I have an X-Box 360, I've been taking full advantage of X-Box Live and have been enjoying every minute of it. I play against a friend in Texas, a friend in Nebraska, and the occasional random X-Box Live player.

I've also been playing Guitar Hero II and III. I really like these games, not so much that I'm really good at them, but they give me the small sense of being musically talented when I am far from it. I really like music, enjoy the songs in the game, and for just a little bit, the game makes me feel that I can actually play the guitar. It seems silly, but this gives me a lot of enjoyment. I hope to upgrade to Guitar Hero: World Tour or Rock Band soon.

Other games I've picked up include Burnout: Paradise which is a lot of fun. I haven't played it as much, but from the demo that I had played before, the racing and crashing was awesome.


So ... even though I've been absent from Half-Life, I have still been enjoying gaming. I have not given up on Half-Life and plan to get back into it soon. I appreciate anyone that still happens to check in with this blog and can't wait to get back to regularly updating.

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.

I played through Unforseen Circumstances in one sitting tonight. To some this might not seem like a big deal, but to me it is a very big deal because it's the first time I've gone through an entire level of Half-Life at one time. I was proud that I remembered a lot more than I thought I would. Some of the puzzles that stumped me the last time, came back to me fairly quickly.

Instead of re-telling the story like I've done in previous posts, I'm going to spend more time telling what I did differently and how I felt about it. Most of the readers wouldn't be here if they didn't already know something about half-life, so re-telling a story that most people know seems a little redundant, especially since I already did that in the beginning.

When I picked up I was right where I left off before finding the crowbar. Yes it was right in front of the door, which I should have remembered. I realize now that the game doesn't provide an obstacle without a way around it. I killed head crabs and aliens with the crowbar. I remembered to go over to any dead or injured guard where I found the pistol and after bashing some boxes continued to get ammunition. I didn't bother trying to kill every creature, as I realize it isn't necessary and a waste of ammo.

There was a part when you head back to the entrance to Black Mesa where you have to crawl into a control room. After seeing a blocked pathway I knew there had to be a way out from that room and I remembered the vent. There was also the part where you have to jump down the shaft and turn on the water. It's to get past a blocked path. I remembered that the purpose was to get the water on to then be able to float back to the top on the other side. From there I had to get past the collapsible bridge, a water way where I had to push boxes in to crawl across, and then use my jumping skills to get across some suspended boxes. These were all things that gave me fits the first time through. Soon after that I was into office complex and very pleased with my progress for the night.

The first time through I honestly never used quickload. I never even knew what the key was. But I made sure to use it, especially if I took an injury hit that I knew I could have avoided. I was careful when to quicksave, mostly right after I re-filled health and not after every little bit.

I felt better about the experience as a whole. I felt like I had a better grasp on what I was doing and didn't get bogged down with stupid things like not being able to find the crowbar. I don't think I'm going to be able to clear levels in each sitting, but I know I can think my way through things instead of getting so frustrated.

I use the "It's a Marathon, not a Sprint" because I know at my skill level, this is a long process ... but with the right training like I feel like I got on my first try, I can perform a lot better.

Here are some screenshots: (I'll still post these as a way to track where I've been)

Well I started playing tonight thinking I was going to breeze right through the first couple of levels. I thought it was going to be a piece of cake and I was going to remember everything.

Here's what I remembered:
- You have to have a guard follow you to give you access to get down to the test chamber.
- You have to push the little robot man into the middle of the thing going on in the middle of the test chamber to cause whatever to happen to happen
- You don't lose any health during the explosion in the test chamber.
- When leaving the test chamber you have to have a scientist use the retinal scanner to let you out.

Things I didn't remember trying to play tonight:
- How to get the crowbar. I got owned by my first head crab and felt stupid about it.









This does not look good.

Some of you may see this image and wonder what I'm talking about. I've made a decision that may lose me some blog readers, but it was something I felt like I had to do after reading some of the responders to my last post. I started Half-Life over.

After the God Mode fiasco and thinking over these many months of struggling with this game I debated on whether or not to scrap the whole idea of playing and moving on to Half-Life 2. I considered stopping this game all together and moving on to something else. I also considered just forgetting FPS and going back to my console sports games that I love like NCAA Football 2009. But then I realized it's August 2008. I've devoted 8 months to learning to play FPS games and Half-Life. Now granted I wasted a lot of time, cut corners, didn't play with audio sometimes, used the keyboard wrong. In essence I don't think I learned the right way.

So, I played through the training level again. This time I was using all the correct keys and I moved through it with great ease when last time it took me several days.

I also started Analmous (sp?) Materials over with playing on medium. I got the hazard suit in a matter of seconds after watching the train ride all the way through again. I want a greater appreciation for this game by going back through and seeing how much I actually learned the first time through.

For some of you that wanted to see me finish, well this may have set me back a lot of time, but it's still something I'm determined to do. I think this time through will be more fun because I'll remember things that frustrated the heck out of me the last time. And I'll get to the end levels, eventually, after playing through the first half of the game all over again.

For those of you that read this post and understand my decision I appreciate it. I had lost sight of what I was actually doing and was just playing to be playing. That's why I could go 3 weeks without a post and not think anything of it. Now I can take the game in small steps, get through sections a lot faster, and hopefully have an overall better gaming experience.

I hope most of you who read stick around. I promise to make it exciting.

I've gotten myself into a bit of a quandary with the whole "God Mode" issue. Now that it's on, I'm not quite sure how to turn it off. Now I've read and respect the opinions of the lifelong gamers on here and those that told me I should turn it off. But I've actually kind of enjoyed it. I've been able to play closer attention to what I'm doing and the story going on, instead of constantly getting owned by flying worms, stationary guns, and soldiers. I will turn it off once I figure out how, but what's wrong with just moving right on through and picking up what I can of the story.

I learned today that I'm on the 9th chapter of 18 total. I'm into my seventh month of playing this game and I'm only half way done. I don't want to stop playing (although it seems like I do when I take such long breaks between postings). I want to finish and perhaps just moving on through with invincibility is the way to go. I will listen to any arguments for or against this idea.

As for my play tonight, I moved through the first little bit of apprehension. It should be dubbed water world because that's all it seems to be. It's very detailed, lots of places to go, doors to open, things to figure out, plus the obstacle of swimming. Of course with god mode on I'm not dying, but I can only imagine how painful it would be for me to try and move through this level having to constantly go up for air.

Here are my screenshots:











The flying wormy squid things provided and interesting challenge. I noticed while swimming that there were several options as far as doors to go in with crates in the floor like similar places earlier in the game. I realize this is another puzzle level that I'm going to figure out. I just hope it comes easier than some of the previous chapters.

More to come ...

My intended long attempt at playing tonight was shortened by technical difficulties. But I did, finally ... get out of On a Rail. What I thought was to be a brief easy level turned into another two month journey.

At first I had one of my brain fart moments when I tried to back track and couldn't figure out exactly where I was to go next. I headed in what ended up being the correct direction, but thought that was where I had been. I guess that's a hazard of having such long breaks between playing.

So I left the open air area, found my way down a long ladder, into a room with some much needed ammo and on a train car that went whizzing through an area (into Apprehension) and then down into some water. I managed to quickly find my way into a tunnel and up some stairs. That's where the technical difficulties came in ... just as I'm getting a grove going, we lose our internet connection. So that was the end of my play session.

Here are a few screen shots. I'm thankful to be out of On a Rail and can only imagine what fun a level called "Apprehension" has in store for me.







Thanks as always for reading.

Well ... I'm back to Half-Life after a few weeks of moving.

When I left off last time I thought I was at the end of On a Rail, but apparently I have a little bit more to go. These first two screenshots are where I started.





coming down this large ladder, I got to a very difficult section. There were the laser mines that went across the door way and on the other side were three of the stationary guns that just kept owning me. Straight across was a room with two aliens but the gunshots were coming right through the glass and owning me as well. I was at 28 in health and no matter what I could do I was getting owned. Forgetting some basics I got really frustrated. That basic skill was "ducking" - it never crossed my mind and I just couldn't get my fingers going in the right direction to figure out the right combination to get my out of there.

So ... gaming confession ... I turned on God mode. A shacker let me in on how to do that and to me it was just like playing NES with the game genie. I just went right past. Today in hindsight I feel bad for doing it, but I tell you, it's nice to get past that section and see what comes up next.









Finally, the first time in a while that I've seen the "outside" - more soldiers, a big hole and a lot of action. I killed some of the soldiers with the shot gun, which I've learned is such a better shot that the machine gun, but also used alt-fire a few times. There was also my own stationary gun that I got to use, which was good, but my aim on that wasn't good. After moving up a little ways I encountered some made my way into a control room.









I saw a familiar site in the control room, a bright red button which I knew to push. Some windows closed and some rumbling happened and low and behold a rocket launched!! This would of been more dramatic for me had I not spent so long in this level and hadn't forgotten what the soldier had told me what back at the beginning of the level. But that's what happens I guess when you get stuck in a rut in a game.

After the control room I ended up in another room with soldiers and this bright yellow spinning globe. I thought by chance I had finished On a Rail, but apparently this is finally the end of the level. So now, not being able to figure out an exit from this room, I'm going to back track and see what I'm supposed to do.

The God mode issue, opens a can of worms I haven't faced in Half-Life yet. My previous gaming experiences have been on similar terms, playing the NES with the game genie, getting infinite lives and being invincible. Playing sports games like NCAA Football on Junior Varsity or Rookie level and not facing much challenge. I'll have to admit it was nice moving through and getting something accomplished, but it's a little sour considering I had to use a "cheat" to do it. As soon as I cross into the next level, "God" mode is going off and I'm finishing the game the right way. (Unless Xen is actually as bad as I've heard).

A little game play with a lot of excitement today. The room where I left off last time was quite a doozy, but I got through it a lot easier than I thought I would. First, some screenshots:











I got through that room with a little luck and what I like to think is some skill that I've picked up. I braced myself against a wall to keep from getting owned by the soldier firing the stationary gun (barracaded). I was able to launch a grenade and take him out. There were some other soldiers in the area and luckily I was able to take them out as well and get some health. Moving on through the path, there was some obstacles involving some more mines that go across the track ... but I was able to take them out without dying. There was another area, two of them in fact with some moving boxes traveling overhead. Some soldiers decided to sneak up from up ahead but the grenades they launched bounced off an overhead box and ended up killing them. I ended in an area where the track ended and a big hole. I went down a big ladder and immediately got owned by some stationary guns some aliens. I don't know if I've entered a new level or not but I hope so.

This will probably be my only post this week as I'm in the middle of a move. But as soon as I'm up and running again I'll have more game play and posts.

Sometimes what seems to be so complicated to me in this game ends up having the easiest solution that if I had just thought about it, instead of getting frustrated, I could have just moved right on through the obstacle. Of course crouch/jump was the way around the boxes in my previous post. After re-learning how to do that I moved right on past the boxes, up the stairs, killed some soldiers, got some more ammo, upgraded my armor, and moved a lever which raised the bar on the tracks below.

Screenshots:









I'm in a bit of a quandary again, I've come upon a large room and another one of those stationary guns with a soldier behind a barricade. My health is only at "3" so it's going to take some tremendous "skill" to get past here with such low health.
(I hope this is that final room that one of the last blog responders mentioned, because I really want out of this level).

Things like crouch/jump and straffing were certainly things I learned in the training room at the beginning of the game, but are not things that I've mastered moving through the game. It was hard enough trying to learn WASD but that seems like second nature now. I guess I just need to force myself to use them and they will become second nature as well. It's like I need to re-play the training course between levels. That probably wouldn't do me any good since it's taking me about 6 weeks to finish each level. Oh well ... at least I'm still playing.

I was hoping I was about to find the end of On a Rail, but I've hit a spot that I can't get out of.

Here are the screenshots:





In the second shot, I'm in an area with a moving cart. I can't move forward because there is a gate that is down and no way to make it go up. From above some soldiers are owning me with ammo and grenades. In the first shot are boxes that I cannot jump over or destroy with grenades or stationary trip mines. On the other side of the boxes is a staircase that I think would somehow lead me up to where the soliders are and perhaps will give me some way to get past the downed gate.

Somebody experienced with Half-Life help me out here please!

I have no screenshots, but I did want to make a post since I did play some this past weekend. However, we are in the process of moving, so my access to the computer and significant play time has been limited.

Still moving through On a Rail, hoping this level will end soon, it's starting to have a Blast Pit type of feeling, but perhaps I'm getting towards the end. There were two particular spots I got bogged down here. The first was involving a soldier firing continuous shots at me from a stationary gun, behind a fortified wall. I used the "det pack" here and although it took me a couple of practice runs, I finally made it through.

After clearing this I got through a big double door into a room with a big rocket which I had run into before. I'm sure this is a key element to this levels storyline, but I haven't quite figured that out yet. After making my way down the ladders around the rocket, I got back on one of the moving carts. This led me down some tracks to another area where I kept getting owned. Another soldier was at this stationary rocket launching station that was shooting some fast moving powerful ammo at me. This was one of those areas that I managed to get past strictly as a fluke. Moving quickly past while ducking I was able to avoid the ammo and kill the solider. I made a post on shacknews about this, concerning whether I should have gone back and figured out how I was supposed to kill that guy, or just move on. I decided to move on. I didn't make it much further due to coming up on a place with several of those "electricity" shooting creatures. I wasn't able to get my shots off fast enough without dying so I stopped there.

I will keep playing this week as I get time. I know 6 months is a long time to devote to a game, but I am determined to get through this. More posts as I play.

I'm still in On a Rail, but I actually had a fun gaming experience tonight as I did some exploration, used techniques I've picked up a long the way, and figured some things out on my own.

Here are tonight's screenshots:













After not playing for over a week, it took me a little while to remember where I left off. I died a few times after encountering some soldiers, but I practiced bracing myself against a wall and shooting around instead of just walking right in front of a soldier and letting him steal my energy while trying to kill him.

I also continued to use alt-fire which is great until you run out of grenades. I picked up a new weapon which the shack has identified as a det-pack. I'll have fun trying to figure out how to use these. After moving around a while I found my way back to a moving cart and took it around. I came upon some of those trip minds, now the old me would have just run right through them and died, but I stopped the cart, stood back at a distance and shot them, detonating them and not dying.

After taking the cart to a dead end, I found three agressive soldiers that I was able to kill with a grenade toss.

I stopped at a point where a solider is barracaded behind a wall and is shooting me with this stationary shooter. Perhaps this would be a good time to use the det-pack?

We shall see.

I hope readers can tell that I'm enjoying the game although my chances to play are few and far between. A lot of my frustration in the beginning was shear in-experience and not really knowing what I was doing. But the more I play and the more I figure out on my own, the more fun the experience is becoming.

To those of you still interested in my half-life adventures, I thank you for your patience with me. I'm actually going to stop mentioning the blog on shacknews because I really hate hearing the comments about my ineptness and how long it's taken me to get to this point. Some people don't realize that I had a life before I started playing this game and have had a hard time working playing games into my everyday activities. So I play in small doses and recently these adventures haven't come too often. But I played tonight, didn't get very far, but I got my wheels turning again and I hope that leads to more game play more often.

I titled this post "Fun with Alt-Fire" because for the first time I actually used right-click several times when faced with soldiers and other enemies like the electric shooter thingies. I could not get my reaction time down to successfully shoot the enemies without losing a ton of health, and all it took was a right click to clean house. I also practiced bracing myself against walls to throw grenades instead of just standing out in the middle of a room like a sitting duck.

Here are some screenshots from tonight's action:









... and my personal favorite part of the night (forgive me for forgetting the names of certain creatures) but I actually took out one of those electric creatures with the crow bar. If you keep hitting fast enough you can take out anything.



Right after this my energy was low so I stopped. But I'm interested in playing again so I hope to get some more game play in later in the week.

/stay tuned (seriously)

After a 3 week layoff I started moving through On a Rail tonight. I think with this post I'll be doing a little less re-telling of the story, which I know most of the readers of this blog already know, and tell a little more about my experience and some continuing issues.

First, my screen shots:







Basically I rode around a little bit and sometimes when I saw directional signs (orange arrows) I would shoot them. I killed some poison spitters, eyed some dead soldiers and was able to add to my weapons and get some help. Things I'm still not doing well is reacting quickly, figuring out what weapon to use for which particular enemy, and reacting quickly. I said that twice on purpose because that's my biggest problem. I ended tonight with Gordon and the cart going up an elevator and getting pwned by a soldier up ahead. I could not shoot quick enough and reload to be able to kill the soldier without getting killed.

I was able at an earlier point to be able to kill one of those stationary laser shooter thingies that used to pwn me by tossing a grenade and backing away.

Now that I'm typing this, maybe alt-fire would be good here. I only ever use it when
I right click on accident. Perhaps even if I don't play that much should blog more. Just by typing out my thoughts, I'm thinking through things better than when I actually am playing.

Perhaps this is the motivation that I'm lacking ... we'll see.

More later.

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.

It's been several days since I actually sat down and played. Part of that has to do with other things going on in my life and part of that has to do with sheer frustration at how difficult Blast Pit has been for me. But actually thinking about what I'm doing has given me a plan on how I'm going to complete this level.

After turning on the electricity I began to back track with a big problem of health. For some reason I decided to walk through some electrified water and lost a lot of health. But I got back across this collapsible platform:



This put me right back near the room with the Green Monster. I went back up a level, careful to crawl my way through and not die. Back on the second level I found another door and fortunately was able to break it with the crowbar and get through it without dying. After killing an alien I found a couple of boxes that had some much needed health. After a couple of ladders I realized I was down near the fuel room. I got down a long ladder resembling a manhole in a NYC street. I found my way down to some long pipes surrounded by water. There were some bullsquids and several blocked passages.

Yes, I know I'm still in Blast Pit, but I feel like I finally have a sense of direction. I'm going to find my way to turn on the fuel and then make my way back to the original control room, and send that Green Monster into orbit.

The one picture was the only screenshot I was able to get. I thought I had some other good shots but apparently I didn't. More to come very soon.

Here's a couple of screenshots from my last adventure in Blast Pit.

My post will be without pictures tonight, I have several, but blogger is not being cooperative, so I'll try to be as descriptive as I can.

When I left off I was still in Blast Pit. I had somehow made it past the Green Monster without killing it. I had made it to the bottom of the big room and through a few collapsing bridges. I made it past another room or two that had pools of the radioactive ooze. I was on a lift that was unsteady, jumped across to a ladder and went to the bottom.

Basically now I've climbed a few ladders in a similar type room that the monster was in. There are some fast moving platforms that keep going from one side of the room to the other. At the top of the room is a suspended platform that sort of looks like a spaceship. There is a scientist stuck at the top and on either side is a red button that launches some long metal arms that come towards the tower, there is also lightning/lasers that shoot out from it.

Now what this has to do with anything, I'm not sure. I don't know how to get down or if I'm supposed to get back and kill the monster. Frankly I'm a little frustrated and don't know where to go next.

Any assistance or suggestions will be appreciated.

When I left off, I had just seen a scientist demolished by a 3 headed scary green monster.



I heard through the grapevine that I wasn't going to be able to kill this monster by traditional means of using my ammo. I was also determined to figure this one out on my own, so I did my best to escape the wrath and enter the room. Of course after about half a dozen times of dying, I had to really analyze what the heck was going on.



It seemed like every time I launched a grenade the creature would move and if I was crawling or crouched, it didn't seem to bother me. I kept going down levels because I saw a bunch of ladders. The bottom level had a door way so I aimed for that while continuously launching grenades. I crawled to the next to the bottom level and ran for the door way.

So I escaped the creature but I don't think that can be considered a success because I didn't kill it. I got a little further around some falling pathways by running and making long leaps, and also killed a few small creatures.



After clearing a couple of doors and killing a bullsquid, I got to this room with a lift.



This is where I ended the night.



The lift takes you down, but there doesn't really seem like a way to escape. There is a ladder on the far wall, but you'd have to climb on a ledge of the lift and try to make a jump and that didn't seem to work.

I really feel like I missed something. I'm also out of rifle ammo and grenades :(

/perplexed

Most of the time when I stop playing Half-Life it's when I'm "stuck" at a point and can't go any further. Usually this comes with frustration and I struggle to know what exactly I was to do next. This was the point I had left off the last time.



I was scaling pipes and moving around, trying to avoid the radioactive ooze and trying not to get killed by bullsquids. I couldn't quite reach a platform that I was trying to jump on, but finally figured out that I was jumping from a lower pipe and needed to be jumping from a higher pipe. So after a nice running jump I had made it to the desired platform.



After getting some ammo and health packets I made it to another big open room with a pool of ooze and another bullsquid or two to kill. After scaling a long pipe I made it to a moving lift that took me a long distance upward. I was careful to look for falling headcrabs, but there were none to speak of here.

I can't remember the exact sequence of events but this wasn't an area where scientist were having a good time.





After rounding another corner I had my first truly "holy shit" moment of Half-Life up until this point.



After being totally shocked by another poor scientist being owned, I stopped. I haven't faced a monster like this before so I don't know if or how I will kill this one or if I can just escape like I've done so in the past. I'm currently out of machine gun ammo, but still have some shotgun shells and grenades.

Speaking of mechanics, I comfortably played with WASD and think this was the first time that I wasn't really thinking about the keys and how to move. I was just doing it and that let me focus a lot more on the game, instead of how to play it. I'm really looking forward to what's coming next.

So, it's been several days since I've gotten to play. I thought I'd get going with Blast Pit and have an easy go of it. For the most part it was. I got past some pesky head crabs and into this large open room with a platform and an elevator that leads down a large empty shaft.



As I was traveling down the shaft (um ...) I was careful to watch for falling objects. I assumed it would be like the last time and I would have to deal with falling head crabs. Luckily not the case. I did however have to make my way down a very long path that looked like an abandoned train line.



I took care of some head crabs and the bullsquids that shoot the green ooze. I was impressed that I had gotten better with my weaponry. I didn't have much trouble flipping between weapons and remembering to reload.

After what seemed like several minutes of walking I came upon a large area with a pool of green (at least I hope it's supposed to be green, the colors on my monitor could be bad) ooze that I remember from training was not something I wanted to go swimming in.




I crawled around on some pipes, moving up and down some ladders. Killed some more of the ooze monsters.



I got to a pipe and saw a platform that looked like the way out but I couldn't get over to it. So as I do most times, I got frustrated and stopped.

It was a small amount of progress, but at least it was some. I think I have the keys down, not perfect, but a lot better than it was. I still used WASD tonight and used the left side cntrl key for crouching. I'm also much better looking around with the mouse. Having the mechanics down sure goes a long way for increasing the enjoyment of the game.

As always ... a lot more to come!

I played Half-Life last night and I did my best to stick with WASD for movement and the mouse to look around. For the most part I think I did ok, but I know it's going to take some more work. I had left off right outside a shaft where a helicopter overhead was dropping soldiers and grenades and an onslaught of artillery fire was coming.



I would be lying if I said I got through the shaft without dying. But once I was careful I was able to kill some soldiers, make my way down the shaft and into a crawlspace.



Something as simple as getting into a crawlspace posed a new challenge when trying to use WASD. I wanted to crouch without moving my right hand off the mouse. My default setting has been the cntrl key but I think may move it over to the mouse some way or maybe use the A key and switch the movement keys to ESDF. Who knows? It's a work in progress.

After getting out of the crawl space I encountered a scientist who gave me some information. I was in a control room with much needed health and armor. There was a big red fire door, and elevator, and a silo door. At first I had no idea which way to go, I shot the scientist, and tried to make my way back into the elevator. As I explored a little more I found a big button back in that control room and I pressed it. That opened the way into BLAST PIT.

Finally out of We've Got Hostiles, I was thrilled to be in a new level. I didn't get very far into it because it was getting late. But I did slay a few headcrabs, and got to this big open area where a creature was throwing green goo at me.



This is going to be an interesting world to explore. I didn't cheat and use the arrows at all last night, so I'm actually getting excited about playing more. I guess maybe playing the right way is a good thing.

More to come ...

These past few days have been all about learning the right way to play Half-Life and games in general. I spent a few hours on Saturday with pupismyname at his house and we loaded my quicksave game on his machine and I began to play with him watching over my shoulder. When I left off the last time I was experiencing my first encounter with the soldiers. One lucky grenade launch later and I had cleared the room of them. I took that slow opportunity to practice my movement. I thought I showed improvement, but one glaring weakness is that I'm too wrapped up in movement to really look around and pay attention. I was too concerned with getting two clips of ammo that I didn't see a grenade launched at me (I died). As I made it up an elevator shaft I got outside to an area with helicopters and a ton of soldiers, with much of the same results. I was too wrapped up in my movements to watch out for a bombardment of soldiers and grenades.

This is where practice comes in and I am focused at the moment on getting these moves down. I may back track in the game, do another round in the training facility, or even start the game over to sure up these movements. Regardless, I want the full experience of half-life instead of just "getting by" so I'm going to do what I have to do.

Sorry there aren't any screen shots of the latest action, but I wasn't playing on my machine. There will be more soon as I play again.

An awesome shacker that goes by changejar419 heard my cries of weakness as far as my movement in half-life and recommended to me that I play a game like Unreal Tournament. So he sent me UT2K4 in the mail.



and this awesome letter ...



I have no idea what this game is about, but it's worth a shot. If it can help me learn to play the right way, I'm game.

more to come ...

First off, I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, but a lot of the screen caps I'm trying to take turn out all black when I go to retrieve them from the file. I was able to get one screen capture, which is where I started off play tonight.



As I noted with my last post, I haven't really been using the correct keys for my movements + weapon usage. My first encounter with the soldiers saw me quickly die a few times at the hands of their guns and grenades.

So I ran ... yeah I know that's not going to get me out of every situation in this game, but with this particular obstacle it helped. I was able to shoot and run, but I'm just not good at aiming and shooting, and figuring out which weapon is best for which enemy.

After passing the first block of soldiers, I did kill some with the rifle. (and if I mis-name some of the weapons, please ignore) I recognize the pistol of course and the shot gun. So I assume the other weapon is the rifle.

After moving up some stairs I navigated two moving tracks. I thought they would be harder to move on, but the were easier than I thought. I passed some scientists running around, and along the way I picked up some much needed health and ammo.

I left off in another section with more soldiers and platforms.

I know I have to get better with movement, aim, weapons selection, and shooting, if I'm ever going to get through this. But I'm confident as I get further along that it will begin to come more naturally.

I must preface this post with a little confession. During the initial training for this game I don't think I really got the hang of the controls. Instead of WASD, I've basically been playing one handed using the arrows. When it comes to using weapons, I take my right hand off the arrows and move to the mouse to use whatever weapon I'm using. In the beginning, when the action has been slow, this wasn't that bad. But now that I'm in "We have Hostiles" and the action is picking up, it's becoming a bit of a problem. I know I should have conquered this before I got so far into the game, but I didn't and now I'm struggling.

So, when I left off last time I was here: