PCC-Richard
03-01-2004, 11:59 AM
Half Life 2
As gamers wait with baited breath for what is being touted as the biggest game of 2004, there's those of us who get a little worried.. And for good reason! Check out those screenshots (http://www.planethalflife.com/half-life2/screenshots/)! Before trying to run Valve's recent brainchild on my home kit, I'd be sure to invest in a fire extinguisher, because I'm fairly certain my home machine would explode in a fiery ball of death.
So here's what we know:
Half-Life 2's Software Development Kit for mod designers will be released prior to the game's launch.
Like the original Half-Life, Valve currently has no plans for a pre-release demo, sorry!
ALL objects in the game world are affected by the physics.
There will be drivable vehicles in both single and multiplayer.
Valve is apparently already working on a Half-Life 2 expansion pack.
Half-Life 3 is said to be on the drawing board, so expect another cliffhanger ending.
System Requirements:
Valve is claiming that this game is designed to scale to lower-end machines. However, they recommend the following:
CPU: at least 2ghz
Memory: 256mb
Video Card: GeForce4 or better
Free Disk Space: 4gb
According to some beta testers, that recommendation is woefully low. This game is said to run decently with only 256mb of RAM, but it's currently missing a significant amount of textures / sound files, etc.
It begs for more CPU speed though. If you're shooting for 50+ FPS, (more than enough for smooth, enjoyable gameplay) you'll want to be running around a 2.4ghz CPU.
This game is a real vid. card killer. If you're interested in the eye-candy associated with today's top-end games, you'll want the best video card you can buy. With the variables cranked up, I'm told you can actually FEEL the pavement with your eyeballs. If you're one of those wacky people than can live without seeing each particle of alien space-slime, then you can get by with a mid-level consumer card. However, if you're a detail freak, you'll want to take a good hard look at the Radeon 9800XT (http://www.ati.com/products/radeon9800/radeon9800pro/index.html).
I'd also count on needing a bit more than the suggested 4gb of disk space free.
Check out this system (http://www.pugetsystems.com/gaming.php?symbol=w) if you're looking for an economical way to get into a Half-Life 2 kit.
Check back here for news and discussion on HL2!
As gamers wait with baited breath for what is being touted as the biggest game of 2004, there's those of us who get a little worried.. And for good reason! Check out those screenshots (http://www.planethalflife.com/half-life2/screenshots/)! Before trying to run Valve's recent brainchild on my home kit, I'd be sure to invest in a fire extinguisher, because I'm fairly certain my home machine would explode in a fiery ball of death.
So here's what we know:
Half-Life 2's Software Development Kit for mod designers will be released prior to the game's launch.
Like the original Half-Life, Valve currently has no plans for a pre-release demo, sorry!
ALL objects in the game world are affected by the physics.
There will be drivable vehicles in both single and multiplayer.
Valve is apparently already working on a Half-Life 2 expansion pack.
Half-Life 3 is said to be on the drawing board, so expect another cliffhanger ending.
System Requirements:
Valve is claiming that this game is designed to scale to lower-end machines. However, they recommend the following:
CPU: at least 2ghz
Memory: 256mb
Video Card: GeForce4 or better
Free Disk Space: 4gb
According to some beta testers, that recommendation is woefully low. This game is said to run decently with only 256mb of RAM, but it's currently missing a significant amount of textures / sound files, etc.
It begs for more CPU speed though. If you're shooting for 50+ FPS, (more than enough for smooth, enjoyable gameplay) you'll want to be running around a 2.4ghz CPU.
This game is a real vid. card killer. If you're interested in the eye-candy associated with today's top-end games, you'll want the best video card you can buy. With the variables cranked up, I'm told you can actually FEEL the pavement with your eyeballs. If you're one of those wacky people than can live without seeing each particle of alien space-slime, then you can get by with a mid-level consumer card. However, if you're a detail freak, you'll want to take a good hard look at the Radeon 9800XT (http://www.ati.com/products/radeon9800/radeon9800pro/index.html).
I'd also count on needing a bit more than the suggested 4gb of disk space free.
Check out this system (http://www.pugetsystems.com/gaming.php?symbol=w) if you're looking for an economical way to get into a Half-Life 2 kit.
Check back here for news and discussion on HL2!