Minor Episode 1 Update

[CSN NewsBot]

There was a tiny update released tonight for Episode 1. The 90 byte update fixes an issues where the game would default to "Easy" difficulty instead of "Normal" when starting a new game. The update will be applied the next time you restart Steam.



How's everyone enjoying the game so far? I've already started a second play through earlier tonight with the commentary. Some of the pieces shed a great deal of light on the design choices in the game and also provide some hints as to what to expect in Episode 2.

[Gpig]

[zazenXhagakure]

I've been running into several bugs, unfortunalty. I tried posting at steams forums but I'm in queue apparently... In the citadel I had missing textures b/c the old purple and black checkers wound up in a lot of places. Later in the game, a scripted sequence went missing and I couldn't get Alyx to open the next door to let me continue. After that, all the dialogue went silent, leaving people with nothing but hand motions to convey their speech. Lastly I couldn't board the train at the end to GTFO, the floor I needed to stand on went "ghost" on me, and I simply fell through.....I verified the media about 6 times, defragged cache same amount. I'm just going to delete all that media I spent months waiting to unlock and try redownloading it to see if that fixes it for me...BTW I was able to beat the game regardless.

[Syx]

No bugs for me.

I've been having to play it 30-45 minutes at a time because of the whole motion sickness thing.(Only happens when there's no NPC's for some reason)



I think I got a map or two left until it's finished.



I like the soundtrack for episode one, even though it's like 3 songs.

[zazenXhagakure]

Just redownloaded everything, replayed the end, train still has "ghost platform" so I guess no fix just yet. I'll hit up valve support.

[meowmeow]

3rd times a charm, re-install and see what happens

[rizzuh]

I really wish you could play through with commentary and still be able to, you know, get shot and stuff. Hopefully next time.

[Zips]

rizzuh wrote..

I really wish you could play through with commentary and still be able to, you know, get shot and stuff. Hopefully next time.

You mean, you can't? I've been taking the approach that I'll listen to the commentary nodes from a ways away or after the fighting in order to listen without interruption. Didn't know they put you into God mode.

[DevgruSeal H.E]

Well some of the time when you listen to the nodes your not in any action anyway..

[Simplex]

Somebody here tell me if it's worth 20 bucks. I don't have the fastest computer in the world, so the extra graphic blah blah blah won't really affect me, but I do love a good story, and I really enjoyed HL1 and HL2.

[WooFerPPK]

Simplex wrote..

Somebody here tell me if it's worth 20 bucks. I don't have the fastest computer in the world, so the extra graphic blah blah blah won't really affect me, but I do love a good story, and I really enjoyed HL1 and HL2.

Its great, and i say it’s worth $20 because of all the work they did to the engine and animations, sound, etc… But be prepared for a very, very short game. Its like 1/8th of HL1 and HL2 (seriously i just ran through the game in 2 hours) I also recommend you play it on hard. So you die a bit and give yourself a challenge. (I kind of found hard to be easy =/)



However I think valve should have added a bit more to the game because it really does feel very short.

[zazenXhagakure]

Hehe, I can't ask valve for help, it says "After searching through the FAQ, if you don't see your problem you can press the ASK A QUESTION tab." But there is no "ask a question" tab! Nice trick valve, nice trick. And I can't post in the forum b/c I'm still in queue...

[Zips]

Simplex wrote..

Somebody here tell me if it's worth 20 bucks. I don't have the fastest computer in the world, so the extra graphic blah blah blah won't really affect me, but I do love a good story, and I really enjoyed HL1 and HL2.

Personally, I'd say it was worth it. Like I said, I beat it on Normal in about 4 hours. Those rushing through it will say it's too short, but it felt about right to me for an episode given how much action there was packed into the game. Replaying it through for the commentary is surely worth it. There's just a great deal of insight there and I'm still near the "beginning."



If you enjoyed HL1 and HL2, you'll enjoy this. I found this one to be a lot better, more polished and a bit more interesting than HL2.

zazenXhagakure wrote..

Hehe, I can't ask valve for help, it says "After searching through the FAQ, if you don't see your problem you can press the ASK A QUESTION tab." But there is no "ask a question" tab! Nice trick valve, nice trick. And I can't post in the forum b/c I'm still in queue...

It should appear after you've done a search and looked at a FAQ item, as such:





It'll appear at the top once you've done a search and clicked on any FAQ.

[zazenXhagakure]

Ok, I'll go back and give it a try, thanks.

[Syx]

I ran into a little bug, actually. Near the end when that strider is trying to kick your ass, it sort of knocked over one of the shipping containers and it lagged and nearly froze for 10 minutes because of it.



The graphics are good, thanks to the hdr and animations, but they're not "omg amazing" like they were in 2004.

They need to add bump offset mapping and dynamic shadows to Source.



Overall it's worth the $18, but really, really short. The commentary gives it replay value though.