New Episode 2 Screens

[FAF]

EJ: We've built a system for dealing with multiple cores and threading called hybrid threading. As opposed to using coarse- or fine-grained threading, we take the approach of building a system into the engine that makes the right decisions about how to deal with multiple cores on the CPU.



In Episode Two this will translate in a number of ways, benefiting not only systems that were traditionally CPU based, such as artificial intelligence and physics, but also systems that are on the graphics side. We went with this approach because it scales well over time. Desktop processors are going to have more cores over time for us to take advantage of, so we took the route that requires more work up-front so we can keep pace with our customers' hardware as we move from dual core to quad core and beyond.

Woot!!!

[peagle]

PS. (Obligatory) Enable vehicles in CS for custom maps.

[meowmeow]

milly9 - No where, just a thought.



As for why they're taking their a longer time to release E2, like they said in the article, E2 will be using more processing power than HL2 and E1, graphics will be up'ed up. Me thinks something big is going to happen in EP2, and it might make your PC explode.

[kerosine99]

I feel like those mini striders are gonna be a fun to fight.



And I also feel like your squad NPC's are gonna get outgunned and killed constantly.

[Kotae]

It's looking good for screen shots.



Sigh, I need to get back into this stuff, else I'm going to be doing a lot of watching.. If only I could get that pc built this summer.

[DevgruSeal H.E]

I agree with Zips, higher res textures are a must. What good are particle effects if we're using a max 1024x1024 textures on 2GB DDR2 memory on a quad core machine?

[meowmeow]

Is it just me or is that portal in the sky just fucking gorgeous.

[ma_cherie]

does anyone else notice the really bad transparency on the trees in that first screenshot?

[HACKER HELL STORM]

ma_cherie wrote..

does anyone else notice the really bad transparency on the trees in that first screenshot?

perhaps its just from the screenshot? one would hope anyway...

[Ryosuke T]

i hate the fact that they release these nice screenshots only to tease us and wait forever for the game. =(

[Helkite]

WHAT'S WITH THE POTD?!!!! ZOMG MY HAIRS BRISTLTEE

[kerosine99]

Those broken fingers are pretty unsettling.

[-:Nighthawk:-]

I love the gun clipping through Alyx's wrist. That's hot. I'm also assuming the crazy lines that look like an interlaced DVD freeze frame was just a glitch with the screenshot.



The pic inside the bombed-out warehouse with the mini-stryder is pretty though, nice general lighting going on there.



As far as the textures, I can't remember the name of the pack off-hand, but there is a fan-made high-res texture pack for Half-Life 2 that really does give the game a good kick in the pants if you've got enough memory / video memory to run it smoothly. The texture resolution has definitely been sorely lacking throughout this series. I'd love to see a slider so the lower-end PCs don't choke and die, but please give us the eye candy if we can run it!

[ukHazard]

-:Nighthawk:- wrote..

As far as the textures, I can't remember the name of the pack off-hand, but there is a fan-made high-res texture pack for Half-Life 2 that really does give the game a good kick in the pants if you've got enough memory / video memory to run it smoothly.

You are of course referring to the FakeFactory Cinematic Mod.

[DaRk-AnGeL]

Those screenshots are verging on horrible :/



Hopefully the game looks much better in action.