RipTen Videogame Blog » Half-Life-2

29,000 Valve Fans to Play Half-Life 2 Simultaneously on Saturday

Sam Naylor — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:00:12 +0000

Members of the Steam group “A Call for Communication” will be playing Half-Life 2 simultaneously this Saturday to send a message to Valve.

The group, which is asking for Valve to release some sort of confirmation or information about Half-Life Episode 3 (or Half-Life 3, if that is the case), will be playing from 11:00am until 11:30am PDT (7:00pm-7:30pm GMT) on February the 4th, this Saturday.

The mass-playing is done in the hope that Valve will notice their efforts through positive means rather than just complaining.

Instead of focusing efforts in a negative and disrespectful way, we have decided to gain Valve’s attention by delivering a basic message: Your oldest and longest running fanbase would like better communication.

Why not join them? There’s nothing to lose. You get to play a fantastic game, one of the best ever made, and feel solidarity with your gaming community. It’s a great idea and I’ll be trying my best to join in.

Via [PC Gamer]

Awesome Half Life Fan Film “Escape From City 17″ Part II Finally Released

Dave Oshry — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 05:55:17 +0000

Back in 2009, The Purchase Brothers made a short film based in the world of Half Life 2 called Escape from City 17:

Filmed guerilla style. No crew. First two episodes made on a $500 budget, not including previous capital. Valve flew the brothers out to Seattle before it the release, and mentioned they were ‘blown away’ by the project on Steam.

1.5 Million hits in three days. 2 million in a week. 4,700,000 hits total before modified the cut a little.

#1 Top Rated video of all time on YouTube in one day. Stayed at #1 for a month.

Well, the long awaited second part of Escape from City 17 has finally been released, and it does not disappoint.

If you haven’t seen the original, watch it first:

Here’s Part II

It was made on a $250 budget, previously owned/donated software, time, and a HVX200 camera.

Pretty powerful stuff for such a small budget, eh?

Do you want a Part III? I know I sure do.

New Dishonored Screens Look Damn Good

Dave Oshry — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 14:21:06 +0000

Dishonored just keeps looking better and better.

Arkane Studios and Bethesda‘s upcoming stealth/action FPS is looking to really differentiate itself with it’s unique gameplay features and retro-futuristic setting that we’re not allowed to call steampunk.

Check out the latest screens:

You know what’s got us excited? The world of Dishonored was envisioned (and drawn) by Half-Life 2 art director Viktor Antonov

What’s also got us excited is the fact that the guys behind Dishonored have also worked on Thief, Deus Ex and Dark Messiah (hey, we liked it) and the gameplay so far seems to be a mix of all three. It’s also giving us a total BioShock infinite vibe.

Did we mention that the game also lets you summon and possess plague rats? Yeah, there’s that…

Look for Dishonored in 2012 and stay tuned to RipTen for continued coverage of all things Bethesda and Arkane.

Beloved Half-Life Sound Designer, Face of Gordon Freeman Has Left Valve

Dave Oshry — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 07:51:55 +0000

Before you go any further, I highly recommend that you listen to this song while you read this story:

In a bit of surprising news, it has been reported that Kelly Bailey, the senior sound producer who has been with Valve since the original Half Life… is no longer with the company.

Kelly composed all of the sounds and music for Half-Life and Half-Life 2, as well as episodes 1 and 2.

His face was also used as the model for Gordon Freeman in Half-Life 2.

Kelly Freeman a.k.a Gordon Bailey

It’s safe to say that Kelly was an integral part of the Half-Life series and the fact that he possibly has not and will not be involved with Half-Life 3 (Episode 3) is disappointing to say the least.

However, his successor appears to be Mike Morasky. The talented Morasky composed all of the music for the Left4Dead series as well as Team Fortress 2 and a good portion of Portal.

Apparently, Kelly left the company late last year, but his fans hadn’t noticed until now that his name no longer appeared on Valve’s employee list.

Whatever the reasons for his departure, we are sure we have not heard the last sonata of Kelly Bailey.

Half-LifeVania: Half-Life 2 Castlevania Mod

Chad Lakkis — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:05:24 +0000

If you remember the 80s, there’s a good chance you spent some quality time with Konami’s Castlevania for the NES. You probably also had a cool Sony Walkman and ate lots of spooky Ghostbusters cereal while watching He-Man cartoons on the TV in your brightly colored Jams, but that’s not the point of this article.

Thanks to modder and YouTube user, M0rtanius, you can play the classic 2D side scroller in glorious Half-Life 2 3D. Get a glimpse of the level in the video below and download the mod here if you’re interested.

Half-Life 2 modder replaces all sounds with his own voice

Sam Naylor — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 21:50:07 +0000

Yes, this is as brilliant as is sounds. This mod, made by user “-Trase-”, does exactly as it says on the tin- replaces all the sounds (well, nearly all) with sound clips he’s recorded himself. I particularly like the machine-gun fire noises he’s made.

This is why I love modding communities so much. It’s not often you play a game where the guns literally go “pow” and the bombs literally go “ka-pow”. The mod also works in Garry’s Mod, so you can play around with the sounds all you like. You could listen to those incredibly satisfying submachine-gun or shotgun noises forever and ever.

Via RPS

The Orange Box On Sale This Weekend

Dylan Duarte — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 02:20:35 +0000

To those of you who haven’t picked up The Orange Box in some form or another, shame on you. Now’s your best chance, as The Orange Box is on sale this weekend for 66% off. That’s a measly $10 for Half-Life 2, Episodes One and Two, the glorious Portal, and the love of Sam Naylor’s life, Team Fortress 2. That’s $2 a game! Hop on Steam and buy it now! If you remain unconvinced after all of my yelling, check out our review of the, in my opinion, inferior Xbox 360 port of The Orange Box.

Mod DB’s mod of the year announcements

Sam Naylor — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 17:34:33 +0000

Mod DB have announced their mods of the year today, with both editor-chosen and player-voted categories. This year’s player’s choice award has gone to Project Reality, a mod that changes Battlefield 2 into a more realistic and complete experience. Hit the just for the full list of winners.

Editor’s choice categories:

* Most Innovative Multiplayer: Celestial Impact
* Best Original Art Direction: Delta Sector
* Best Upcoming Mod: Curse
* Best Upcoming Indie Game :Zeno Clash
* Best Indie Game: Mount & Blade
* Best Singleplayer Mod: The Ball
* Best Multiplayer Mod: Project Reality

Player’s choice categories:

* Best Upcoming Mod: Dead before Dawn
* Indie Game of the Year: Mount & Blade
* Mod of the Year: Project Reality

Study: Violence doesn’t affect enjoyment of a game

Sam Naylor — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 22:18:46 +0000

Researchers at the University of Rochester have surveyed 2,670 frequent game players, as well and over 300 undergraduates, and found that violent content has no real effect on the appeal of a game. Using Half-Life 2 and a dev kit, the researchers made two scenarios for the participants: a “violent” one where the player had to kill things with a shotgun, and a “non-violent” on where psychic powers were used to do the same thing, although it was “more like a game of tag” than a deathmatch.

Guess what? The groups had no real difference; there’s very little to suggest that increasing violence increases enjoyment. The lead researched adds that this should be noted by game developers: making a game more violent won’t necessarily make it more fun.

Of course, violence is still fun- if, for example, Left 4 Dead’s zombies simply disappeared as opposed to tearing apart in a bloody mess, I’m sure there would be plenty of complaints. Likewise, the VATS messiness in Fallout 3 certainly adds something to the game. Still, the researchers have it on the nose- good game first, violence second.

Metronews via Kotaku.

Half Life 2 D0g Papercraft

Chad Lakkis — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 16:27:14 +0000

Two weeks time, nearly 50 hours of labor intensive paper crafting precision, and what do you get? A 12-inch high papercraft replica of Half Life 2′s D0g. The work is that of 4chan.org user, chamoo232.

Great work, but I really want to see a full size, ten foot version, strong enough to pick up large objects like cars, dumpsters, and Dennis Dyack’s ego. I kid, I kid.

Have something you think we should show on Geeked-Out? Email it to us.

Source: 4chan.org (via: qj.net)

No Half-Life 2: Episode Three at E3

Dylan Duarte — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 04:50:52 +0000

A couple days ago, we reported that Valve would be showing the next Half-Life installment at this year’s E3. It wasn’t just us, either. The internet was abuzz with the story. Well, now it looks like that isn’t true.

According to Doug Lombardi, Valve’s marketing director, the news is simply a “misprint” and Half-Life 2: Episode Three will not be making an appearance at this year’s E3. Instead, the developer will be focusing heavily on Left 4 Dead, including a playable build in a Valve-hosted suite.

Source: Next Gen

Nvidia Users Get Portal: First Slice

Dylan Duarte — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 11:50:28 +0000

Nvidia and Valve have joined forces and to kick it off they’re handing out exclusive games to Nvidia users.

If you use Nvidia, you can download Portal: First Slice, a Peggle Extreme demo, Half-Life 2 Deathmatch, and Half Life 2: Lost Coast for free via Valve’s distribution service, steam.

In a statement from Valve’s VP of marketing, Doug Lombardi said:

“More Steam gamers, including myself, play on NVIDIA hardware than any other GPU. That’s a testament to the company’s long history of innovation and quality. By working together with NVIDIA to expand our development, distribution, and marketing efforts, we’re increasing our ability to serve the millions of NVIDIA customers logging onto Steam and help us prepare for our next generation of content.”

Roy Taylor, Nvidia’s VP of content relations, gave a nice little “right back ‘atcha” with:

“Valve’s endorsement of our technology and tools is yet another example of how the world’s leading gaming companies are working with NVIDIA. Portal is the hottest new, award-winning title from Valve, and we’re delighted that Valve will offer First Slice exclusively to GeForce customers.”

For those of you who have already beaten Portal, Portal: First Slice is simply a demo of the game which encompasses the first ten levels. The Peggle Extreme demo is a lot of fun, even if you’ve already played Peggle, due to its hilarious “twist” using Valve properties. Half-Life 2 Deathmatch is arguably the sweetest offering, given that it’s a $10 value. Finally, Lost Coast is a fun – albeit short – little ride, but it’s already free to those who own Half Life 2.

All in all, it’s nothing mind-blowing, but free is free. Go here to claim your games.

Via GameIndustry

The Orange Box Demo (HL2: Ep2) on Xbox Live Marketplace

Patrick Steen — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 08:24:59 +0000

A demo of Half Life 2: Episode 2 has hit the Xbox Live Marketplace. There’s no excuse for not trying out this beauty now, and maybe just maybe the demo will tempt you into buying The Orange Box this weekend. Details about the demo after the link.

Demo: The Orange Box: HL2 Episode Two
Content: The Orange Box: HL2 Episode Two Demo
Price: Free
Availability: Not available in Germany, India or Japan
Dash Text: [ESRB: M (Mature) ALCOHOL REFERENCE] Download the demo.
Size: 723.93 MB