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Highlighting HL2 Episode One's Commentary Track

Via GameSetWatch, an article on Waxy.org highlighting the great audio commentary for Half-Life 2: Episode One. The article includes a few excerpts from the experience, via flash movies. From the article: "Most of the game's 115 nodes are audio only, pointing out interesting tidbits about the scene you're currently in, such as the visual design, character dialogue, or gameplay. Some of the best examples discuss the iterations a stage or puzzle went through, why original versions didn't live up to expectations, and how they reached their final design. It's a fascinating glimpse into the minds of the developers, very much like sitting next to them as you play through at your own pace. But a few commentary nodes do much more, taking over the player's view to show them something hidden or entirely new. I've captured video from some of my favorites." Completely worth it to play through a second time to experience.

4 of 44 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Do you have to install this? by Dr.+Eggman · · Score: 5, Informative

    Nope, its part of the package. Extracted from 1.19 GB GCF, for my out of game listening enjoyment, however it's only 68.4 MB. Not massive and I suspect the GCF has some sort of compression that means it's not really that much space.

    --
    Demented But Determined.
  2. Re:Do you have to install this? by lolocaust · · Score: 3, Informative

    It's part of the game's data files. I'm sure they're compressed highly, since I've compressed (to MP3) voice only sounds to really low bitrates with little perceptable loss in quality. tbh, it's probably nothing compared to the rest of the gamedata.

    --
    Why does my post history abruptly stop? I want to laugh at the stupid things I posted as a kid.
  3. Re:Do you have to install this? by Southpaw018 · · Score: 2, Informative

    HL2 shows as 841 MB on my HD; EP1 shows as an additional 606 MB (the games are independent of one another, and when you delete a game, you're free to download it later).

    The Source engine core is probably another 2.5 GB. All told, my SteamApps folder, which includes Valve's ENTIRE catalog (19 games, including the entire HL and CS series) + 2 3rd party games is 15.2 GB.

    Direct answer to your question: as others have said, no. This is included with the game.

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    ACs are modded -6. I don't read you, I don't mod you, I don't see you. Don't like it? Don't be a coward.
  4. Re:Commentary by l33t+gambler · · Score: 3, Informative

    How about playing it with a slow-motion button so you can study the physics in greater detail?

    http://jooh.no/clips.html

    Just add this
    bind "g" "host_timescale 1.0"
    bind "q" "host_timescale 0.3"
    to
    Steam\SteamApps\username\half-life 2 episode one\episodic\cfg\config.cfg
    You may need to enable cheats, add a sv_cheats "1" line too.

    If this is software then I'm really excited about what a PPU like Ageia PhysX can do. Wreak havoc with explosive projectiles and bullet-time ability among hordes of monsters with no dip in framerate or realism. Of course, as business must grow, GPU makers like nVidia and ATI doesn't want consumers to shift focus on a dedicated physics processor and discover the fact that GPUs aren't much more then antialasing and texture effects. Gameplay is king, imagine Battlefield 2 with improved physics and twice the framerate.
    Sorry off topic but us single-issue activists love to have our hot buttons pushed.

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    Teasing the nobles, and rightfully so!