You only have to authenticate once per install, then you can play offline with no problems, as long as you have selected or not selected certain checkboxes. (no big problem) People complaining about having to be online to play singleplayer, just must not have read the little card in the box. (And talking about Singlplayer, thats all there is, there is no HL2 multiplayer)

That true for the DVD version too??

Don't think so, but they seem to be having there share of troubles. Among other things, apparently Some are being asked to insert discs that don't even exist, which would tend to bring things to a screaming hault I would imagine :) 

You could always uninstall Counter Strike - Source after the installation process is complete, If the stench of it is so repugnant to you. I chose to just leave it there, and play with a peg on my nose
But I guess at least HL2 was able to install in the end I guess 

Since some people have mentioned it... I bought the Silver package and Half-Life: Source is OK but not worth worrying about if you feel you're missing out. It's really just the old levels recompiled with 95% less sparkly cracks (those always pissed me off, they were so common in HL), old textures, old models, tarted up with a arbitrary set of detail shaders and specular effects, and a smattering of new sound effects replacing a few of the slightly cacky ones. It breaks a few things - notably, where a music track starts before a load it doesn't continue playing in the next section, there were some set-piece marine vs alien fights I came across where they seemed to be kicking off when the level loaded instead of waiting to be triggered, and aliens sometimes appear before their teleport/spawn effect. The only really cool change I've noticed so far - if you remember the terrifying vertigo-inducing bit in Surface Tension where you pop out of a sewer pipe half way up a cliff, and have to work your way down, around, and up it on tiny little platforms, well, the skybox that used to be below that cliff has been replaced with a more or less identical brushwork version. I didn't try it but I imagine you can fall all the way down...

Silver also includes Day of Defeat: Source, no idea how much of an update that is because it isn't available yet. Hopefully it will be more along the lines of CS:S with extensively rebuilt levels, new models etc. because some of the levels that were in the original DoD had abysmal visuals, even allowing for the fact that they were running on the old HL engine. 

You might want to check today's news on PlanetHalfLife on the subject of Warez.

This from Gabe Newell:

We're running a bit of an experiment. We're keeping track of the accounts that do this and will be shutting them off.

Gone are the days you could fire up the old hexidecimal editor, remove a few lines and have a fully operational game :( 

Cheers for the heads up, Headthump, but I don't warez stuff and have no intention of warezing HL2 - I've ordered it a couple of days ago.

If the Steam stuff was completely intolerable and I couldn't get around it, I wouldn't play it. But that's not going to happen.

On the other hand, I wouldn't object to a no-steam crack... 

That is a classical scare tactic. He claims that they are banning people who use the cracked version from STEAM. Well, how about the fact that all the cracked releases of HL2 out there emulate Steam bypassing any and all things that could make you "get caught"? 

Anti-piracy measures usually end up causing more trouble for the people that get the product through legal channels than those who get it illegally.

For example, how many times have you heard stories of games not installing because the user has a CD copying program on their machine (wtf? you could install the game first and then install the cd copying software, so why bother with that sort of protection in the first place?) There are also plenty of games that have been incompatible with the cd drives of legitimate customers thanks to anti-piracy software on the disc. The old Amiga/PC games that had copy wheels, or manual checks only caused hassle for legit users. There are plenty more examples I could mention.

Still, I suppose the copy protection is just trying to stop casual users copying the disc for their mate or something, and to that extent it does work...

The people tearing apart the security features of new releases and putting the games on the net, and all those people downloading it are hardly affected at all - in fact I'm sure the crackers enjoy the challenge and kudos they must receive.

I hardly suspect it funds terrorism, as cinema warning might have you believe. 

I don't have a huge problem with Steam. It seems ok to me. Downloading several gigabytes of game is a bit daft though, but at least you can buy the game on disc from the shops, albeit in a horrible DVD case with no manual.

Vivendi's UK HL2 advertising and promotion is terrible. The TV ads are selling the game to people who were going to buy it anyway - everyone elses see the ad and says to themselves "what the hell is Half-Life 2?" The promptly forgets about it. The box isn't the worst I've ever seen, but you kind of expect a bit more from such a high profile game... and a proper manual would have been nice. Oh, and we didn't get a collectors edition shop release in the UK (yet, at least) How shit is that?



I have completed HL2 now and thought it was bloody good - certainly compared to Doom 3s anti-climactic, tired retread forgetability. 

Bought the DVD from HMV today. Ran home.

Pop the DVD in the drive and a usual install window appears and I say that I do not want to install CS-S. Install crashes with a can't-find-file message. Try twice, still the same. Third time allow CS-S to be installed and it loads. (You buggers!)

Then monkey around with this Steam thing (I haven't a clue what this is all about) but eventually am asked for my CD Key - enter it and it retorts with 'Invalid CD key'. Try again, and again, and again. Make sure I am not confusing Oh and Zero (why on earth do they insist on using 1, I, O, 0?) I am not confusing it.

Go on the website to see if anyone else is having this problem. Read at least 550,000 pieces of drivel and yes, I am the only one in the world with this problem.

No booklet with the game, so no help-line numbers. I am getting annoyed.

I have read and re-read the CD key umpteen times and checked and re-checked my input. I know I am not an idiot and I know I am keying it right, but I still check it. I am most definitely getting annoyed: I am not a nice person when I am annoyed.

So, I kid you not, I then went and got my magnifying glass and looking like Mr Magoo himself, I re-check the CD key.

For Christ's sake, it's not a zero, it's not an Oh, it's a bloody Q with the shortest tail you've ever seen right next to a bloody X with no space between them. Stand him/her in front of me and I swear I will slap their faces right off their inconsiderate heads. The worst font, inadequate font size and poor printing. You buggers!

Finally, it all runs OK except for the fact that I seem to have to load MeggaBytes of data from the Steam site - so why have I got a DVD? It's frustrating but I am keeping my cool.

So, finally the game is running and I am on a train pulling into a station. It looks great, really Big-Brotherish. I get off the train and follow the workers. Oh, I know it's going to kick-off in a minute. There's a knock on the door. My front door. It's my OAP neighbour. The gutter is blocked and it's flooding her kitchen and would I be SO kind and help her... in the pouring rain... up a rickety step ladder... when I want to play HL2...

Oh, bugger, bugger, bugger!! 

ROFL HAHAHAHAHAH LMFAO.








Ahem. That sucks mate. 

pull out a violin for this guy. ;) 

A lot like my Doom 3 story, only I drove 7 hours that day before I got a working copy of the game.

I understand your frustration, I am with you. 

ROFL HAHAHAHAHAH LMFAO








Ahem. That also sucks mate. 

There's your answer,

"Pop the DVD in the drive and a usual install window appears and I say that I do not want to install CS-S. Install crashes with a can't-find-file message. Try twice, still the same. Third time allow CS-S to be installed and it loads. (You buggers!) "<\q>

Apparently you do have to install CS-S with the DVD Version.

VE VANT CHOO TO PLAY COUNTER STRIKE, YOU VILL PLAY COUNTER STRIKE !! 

The short
Console Commands

net_start
sv_lan 0
deathmatch 1
maxplayers
map (mapname)
restart

The Long
http://hl2world.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=15325 

I have a feeling that very few people who collect warez games actually are interest in playing them beyond the point needed to convince themselves that they can brag to others about having a working copy. Ditto for cracked engineering, desktop publishing etc. That's my impression anyways, I could be wrong. Since I lag technically most of the time, I just end up buying my games for cheap after the hype has worn off. I agree that legit users get the hose and things seem to be getting much worse.

For those who have finished, is the length of HL2 a 1) One night stand, 2) Summer fling or 3) You need a lawyer to split?

Just curious. Until I can play I have to live through you guys. 

Is it legal that if i buy a product iam obligated to have an internet access to be able to play the game? 

Is it leagal that if I buy a car, I am obligated to have fuel to be able to drive the car? 

I have only done decompliation touch up work to old games like Crusader and Shadowwarrior that are no longer available commercialy or that I could not get to function on my system otherwise.
For me, I just like to play old games.

Besides, though you are probably right that for some people it is an ego tripping matter, I see nothing to brag about being able to read a hexidecimal text parser and delete the offending code; it is hardly a work out for the gray matter.

Coding a 128 kilobyte fully functioning third person shooter, now THAT blows my mind! 

considering that you are posting that question on an internet message board, I think it answers itself.

Anyway, as far as Valve's concerned, there would be only a miniscule amount of people interested in HL2 and dont have access to the internet. 

[1]is it better than half-life 1?
[2]and if so, why? 

My vote would be Yeah, it's better, Having said that, although Half Life was a good game, it wasn't good enough to make me want to finnish it. Half Life 2, I can see myself finnishing it a number of times, that's of course if it doesn't die in the arse between now and the end.

Why, it looks very good, maybe the 'quality' of the graphics aren't up to the standard of say DooM3, but some of the environments surely are, and more. Some places look absolutely beatiful, and believable. Best looking water I have ever seen. The weapons, well the weapons I have come across so far are all good. The shotgun is extremely satisfying to use, as is the sixgun thing. The feel coupled with the sound of the weapons is just so satisfying, it just leaves me with a smile. I don't want to give to much away, but the gravity gun is awseome, the ways you can kill with it, lol, the things you can do with a sawmill blade :). And there is something to be said for killing your adversary with a plastic milk crate, or a besser block/brick for that matter. The physics are simply awesome, and put to good use. It's sure got some nice water.

While the sound doesn't provide you with the same type of emersion that I got from DooM3, it is still very good, I am using a 7 point surround system, and its just a treat. What can I say, so far the game has been a pleasure to play, a blast, fun, fun, fun, and at the end of the day, after all the graphics, physics, sound, etc, etc, isn't that the most important thing? Fun and enjoyment. And the water sure does look good.

Half Life 2, it's a hoot!! 

I have only played an hour or two so far, but I'm loving it so far. What a wonderful game!

I bought the silver package via steam... apparently the only way to get the rights to play the new Day of Defeat is to get silver or gold from steam (which is pretty dodgy, but anyways). Also, I never did buy or play through the original HL, so I figured I might as well grab that and have a play after I'm done with HL2.

I have to say, I'm pretty damn pleased with how painless it was to buy the game and grab it via steam. I already had steam installed and had my own account, so all I had to do was log on and click the HL2 thingy, choose silver, enter my credit card details and hit 'download'. That was it! Took me less than 5 minutes to get it started...

Very painless, it took quite a few hours to download of course, but I just set it off before I went to bed and came back in the morning, and it was ready to go. I was able to un-check the boxes to make sure I didn't download camperstrike and all the other shit I didn't want (I'll download HL:Source at a later date).

The whole process was surprisinly easy, and it certainly sounds like I had a smoother run than some of my friends at work who bought the boxed copy (takes an hour to install off 5 cd's, 40-60 minutes to 'unlock' or authenticate or whatever... arse!)

Who really cares about a box and a CD? You can back up the game files if you're paranoid (or if you need to wipe your drive), but you can also just log on to steam (from anywhere) and download the game again if you lose the data. Sure, if Valve goes out of business and steam dies you're screwed, but that's life huh!? 

You'd be screwed if you had the cd copy and Steam went under anyway :) Of course, that won't happen, but supposing it did, I'm sure Valve would release a no Steam / cd patch.

I do agree about Steam in that it's quite good when it's working, although it does suck if you have no internet access or a slow connection. 

Nitin: It's true that almost everyone has internet access nowadays, but i don't like the idea that i am obligated to do certain aditional things apart than buying the game to play it.... but anyway i think i finally will have to do it, it's HL2

VoreLord: Ah no no man, you know that it's not the same, although it's a very good response =).