Slashdot Mirror
Half-Life 2 Writer On Plotting Freeman
Thanks to Planet Half-Life for their interview with Marc Laidlaw, writer on both the Half-Life games, who answers questions about Gordon Freeman's (and other less cipher-like NPCs') genesis, suggesting "...some of the character creation process is very analytical... but a large part of it remains intuitive", and goes on to point an admonitory finger at Joseph Campbell's Hero With A Thousand Faces: "I have great respect for Campbell, who never intended to create a boilerplate for insecure storytellers, but the mythological hero has been done to death." Above all, Laidlaw hopes you have a good time come Half-Life 2's September 29th appearance, saying: "I think the only sector of the audience likely to feel any disappointment are those fans who adored long-jumping between bits of floating rock on Xen."
Freeman isn't a character. He never says anything. He never interacts with anyone. You only see him on the game box.
All the scientists and stuff talk to YOU (yes, they call you Gordon. But that doesn't make him a character). Half-Life is about immersion, and they made Freeman a non-character to help draw you in.
It pissed me off when Gamespot or IGN or someone named Gordon Freeman the coolest game character ever or something. Because he's not an actual character!
no thanks
One of the most interesting aspects of the original Half-Life is that Gordon Freeman never spoke - all of the lines written by Laidlaw were generic enough that you could imagine yourself asking the question or making the comment which provoked the line. It drew you into the story even further by making you project your own dialog into it. It's strange that very few other games have tried this technique, as it seems to have worked very well.
"But there will always be those who believe the story was born in a single gush from the spigot in Valve's forehead on September 29th" Didn't PlanetHalfLife just post an editorial about how they were 99% positive HL2 would not be delivered in September? -etone
Back on topic, I'm not sure I ever thought that there needed to be that much writing to go with Gordon Freeman himself. The writing was mostly in what Cigarette Smoking Man said and what all the people around him said.
And I'll go ahead and say it now: if Gordon speaks in HL2, then it will ruin the very quality that the parent comment to this one spoke about.
Curmudgeon Gamer: Not happy
It says Freeman still doesn't speak, and that if he did "it wouldn't be Half-Life".
-etone
"I think the only sector of the audience likely to feel any disappointment are those fans who adored long-jumping between bits of floating rock on Xen."
It was kind of hard to do, but still somehow neat, I think. The one letdown was that I didn't have 3d-glasses.
True confidence comes not from realising you are as good as your peers, but that your peers are as bad as you are.
Is it really coming out September cause good ole ebgames.com is saying sometime in November...5 059.asp
Any word on a demo?
link:http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/product/23
when Push Comes to Shove
Long jumping from a flying rock to a flying manta-thing was extremely frustrating. It was the only part in the original game where I ever considered giving up on beating the game (you don't beat a game if you cheat). The final fight was to damned hard and frustrating with all that jumping and the teletransportation portals the boss shot to you every god damned second. I only finished when I learn read that you can shoot the flying portals and make them teletransport your bullets instead of you
I'm glad they are ditching that 'gameplay' out.
16,777,216 comments ought to be enough for any forum!
Doom3 > halflife2
After being attacked by japanese hentai tentacle aliens and having his ass hunted down by the army, it's no wonder he's so silent. He's one tough mother, with the developers being so cruel killing all his temporary barney friends, even if they do all look the same... I'm suprised he doesen't cry everytime he makes a new friend who looks so much like his deceased allies...
FYI, Killing the boss is easy with one simple trick: the alien "bee" gun shoots little bees which are actually considered monsters, and get teleported by the teleportation shots, neutralizing them. The rest of his attacks are a cakewalk.
Only the thing here is that you as a gamer are expected to fill in the blanks yourself. Whereas the game author creates a framework where the character lives, and provides "personality hints" such as in the reactions of the other characters, clues in the game etc, YOU take the last step in forming the character.
:-)
Compared to traditional role-playing for instance, your freedom in forming the character of Freeman is indeed rather limited, but nevertheless I think the comparison is relevant.
In a way, I suppose the name "Half-Life" could well refer to this character-building approach. It's half-designed and half-life
Mario does this, Link does this, Deus Ex, GTA3, KOTR, all have bland main characters. This is an old technique and I think I could keep naming characters indefinately that follow it.
I think this is explored in the book Game Over. They have a lot of great examples that are nintendo-focused on character development (or lack thereof).
It drew you into the story even further by making you project your own dialog into it.
Oh, you mean like when I'd say "no witnesses" or "you did this to me!" before gunning down those nerdy scientists.