Half Life 3 wishes

[Anarchemitis]

I'd like some new Combine soldier baddies. You have Metrocop, Nova Guard, Solder, Overwatch Elite and Mawnk! That's it.
I'd like maybe some kind of cool underwater scuba idea, and maybe a Spyhunter-esque driving sequence against APCs and a new version of the Strider; big as normal, but faster.

 

[knumpify]

1.we need soldiers to react. If you shoot him in the knee, I want him to keel over in pain.
2.bring back the alien shark-thingies from half life one, those were cool.
3.if your suit can make you sprint, you should be able to tackle enemies.
4.a new weapon that fires the same flechettes as the hunters.
5.Yahtzee said it best: stop using the same damn see-saw puzzle, wow valve, you made a physics engine, we're all impressed.
6.alien allies. we've seen people fight with you, I want some green lightning on my side

 

[Swiglett]

To finally explain why the creatures your killing in the original half-life are your friends from the 2nd onwards.

Don't kill off the suited guy... he's the only reason i've stayed even slightly intrigued with the series' story. Kill off Freeman but have Alex get pregnant by him or summat (no sorded sex scene though). I like the idea of cliffhangers like that where the potential exists but the series is left alone. Best example I can think of... The Thing movie, nuf said.

Back to Xen... that'd be sweet!

I dont think it would be a bad adea to use the portal gun but as an unlockable extra or something, think the 'aperture' line at the end of episode 2 suggests the gravity gun anyway. I've found that Half-Life 2, particularly the episodes had practically no replay value, some unlockable extras wouldnt be a bad move.

Vary the puzzles and generally make gameplay more interesting, episode 2 was so slow and dull.

What would be sweet... remake of original half-life! Or even better, Portal 2.... best game EVER!

 

[asdaa]

OP, clearly HF2 isn't for you.

 

[Kayevcee]

A Crowgun - Crowbar ductapped to an SMG.

You know, the first thing I thought when I saw the word "crowgun" was a gun that shoots corwbars. It'd be like the crossbow but with more momentum.

Much as I suspect borrowing pages from the Halo playbook would dramatically change the feel of any future Half-life installments, my own playing experience would be greatly enhanced with a 'melee attack' button. If I open a door and find a Combine soldier on the other side pointing a shotgun in my face, I don't want to start frantically emptying my MP5 into his armoured helmet and hoping for the best- I want to smack him in the teeth or toe him in the balls and get behind a wall while he's recovering so I can switch to something more appropriate for close-range combat.

PropertyofCobra makes a good point about the gravity gun being useful for covering you. Even when it's not souped up, charging at a group of soldiers wielding an empty oil drum is great fun. Having a full-on super-gravity-gun from the word go would indeed break the game and render all other weapons useless (except the crossbow and rocket launcher, I suppose) but it would be nice to be able, in say a large firefight, to chuck the bodies of fallen Combine soldiers back at the rest if only to clean the place up a bit. The GG can handle objects of that weight and if Bioshock taught us anything it's that a properly propelled corpse can be a very effective weapon in its own right. As long as it can't grab live enemies (except headcrabs) the balance can be maintained.

EDIT: How could I forget? As a couple of other chaps have said, bring back the long jump!

-Nick

 

[Melaisis]

Just one wish - I'd like Gordon to finally learn to talk.

I've pretty much resigned myself to the possibility that, at the very end of the game, when the entire Combine have just been defeated by [G-man/Freeman/Force of goodness/Lamarr/pure chance], the credits will roll and then Gordon will come out with the coolest line in videogaming history. Even better than any of Duke Nukem's limited selection of 'wit', or even the whole 'Go to Hell, John' thing from Unreal 2. It is for this very (small) probability, that I continue to play the franchise.

 

[Oirish_Martin]

I really don't think the HL2 control/HUD system needs any overhauling (now that the bloody sprint/flashlight/air supply common power source thing has been fixed).

An AI overhaul would be greatly appreciated.

In general, STOP TRYING TO BE HALO.

 

[AngryMan]

*I'm quoting the OP here*

1: no
2: yes
3: yes
4: no
5: no
6: no
7: no
8: no
9: no
10: uhmmm


let me qualify the "no"s:

1: For me, one of the most fun sections in the entirety of HL2 was the airboat. There is something about using a cobbled-together piece of shit that even the deepest, darkest Florida redneck would steer the hell clear of to run away from a numerically superior foe who have a helicopter that is following you dropping bombs and firing a high-caliber rapid-fire plasma minigun, while bits of the terrain periodically explode or catch fire around you that is... I dunno.... INTENSELY FUCKING AWESOME?

4: don't fix what ain't broke

5: Sorry, I don't feel terribly comfortable with the idea of being able to use the ultra-powerful superweapon all the way through the game. It'd be a bit like playing Metal Gear Solid only they give you the stealth system and the infinite ammo right at the start of the first play through, thereby completely killing off any challenge the game might present. Sure, grabbing Combine and using them to kill other Combine is immensely fun, but having the super gravity gun all the way through an entire game would just be silly, unbalanced, and far too easy. I want a challenge.

6: so all those non-explodey barrels, bits of terrain, logs, walls, and the like that you can stand behind and press the "crouch" button don't count as cover, then? Besides, including an active cover system would turn the game into something it's not. Gears of War is awesome and all, but let's not try and turn every game in the world ever into its clone.

7: Halo is.... popular despite its mediocrity and all, but let's not try and turn every game in the world ever into its clone.*

8: I'm sorry, the Gravity Gun is "standard fare"? An unlimited supply of insect pheromones is "standard fare"? An assault rifle with an alternate fire that launches balls of searing dark energy that disintegrate anything stupid/unlucky enough to be in the way is "standard fare"? I know the bulk of the weapons in the Half-Life games are pretty conventional - pistol, SMG, shotgun, explodey thing - but you can't tell me that Valve don't mix it up a little with things like the gauss gun, muon cannon and Snarks thrown in for variety.

9: If they're over-done, it's because Half-Life did it first. I could understand this point of view if it were a newer, less well-established title, but Half-Life has always had the same pump-action, six-shell shotgun with the option to fire single or double shots - let's keep it that way, if only for the sake of continuity. Again, don't fix what ain't broke.

10: I do want to know more about the G-Man, but his death? Characters like that - who can STOP TIME IN THE MIDDLE OF AN EXPLOSION - don't die. I'd feel let down if he was killed. Like he was all bark and no bite.




*no, really. let's not.

Sorry to disappoint, Jakub, but it certainly looks like Portal is going to become an integral part of the main Half-Life storyline.

While it's fair to say that Portal is definitely SET in the Half-Life universe, that does not mean to say that the plot and events of the game will infringe upon the adventures of Doctor Freeman. You won't need to have played Portal to understand certain plot points in Episode 3, for example, because they already explained the relevant ones - that Black Mesa's rival, Aperture Science, lost a research vessel called the Borealis somehow and that there's stuff aboard it that could help the Resistance - in Episode 2.

I strongly doubt that you'll be running into crazy-haired orange jumpsuit lady and her trusty hand-held portal device at any point during the events of any of the Half-Life games. Except maybe as a side-note that has no significance to the plot.

 

[shadow skill]

It's nice to see people suggest that in order to allow people to pick up other man ized entities in the game we would have to make the gravity gun "supercharged" Are you seriously suggesting that every single moveable crate in Half Life 2 magically weighs far less than every single other fucking enemy in the game? Grown people will probably weigh no more than 300 pounds if they are healthy (Extremely muscular individuals might be able to push 400 without serious problems.) so anything in the 100 to 200 pound range would be a safe bet. I would THINK that a tool designed for heavy lifting would at least be capable of that much. Especially since a human being can most definetly lift something that is 300 pounds as long as he or she is able to get his or her arms around the object. As it stands now the gravity gun is just a tool for solving the boring puzzles they put into the game. If anything all you have to do is say which enemies can and cannot be picked up, there is no balancing issue.

 

[Xanadu84]

1) No cut scenes, don't make Gordon talk, don't give away details about the G-Man in any way except slowly, with even more questions cropping up as there answered. The awesome action could be stand alone, but its held together by a sparse yet high quality story that leaves you with questions to hypothesize with your friends about. Basically keep it up, but for the sake of my sanity, please have a significant revelation in Ep 3 about what forces are at play, cause im dieing to know
2) Stop showcasing the physics engine, and just use it. In Half Life 2, the engine was unprecedented in quality, so showing it off is fine. Now, make it feel like your just making a awesome game with the engrossing experience of realistic physics. Gordon Powered Rockets breaks the suspension of disbelief.
3) Your not a vehicle driving game, but you do push the envelope. Try to use driving more sparsely, to mix things up instead of changing the formula. Think of driving like a mini game.
4) Give us a hint of Xen. I would love to see it in the Source engine, and would return the sense in Half Life 1 of a truly alien existence out there. Half Life currently feels a bit too terrestrial.
5) Add more Alien monsters and weapons. Again, Ive almost forgotten that were dealing with a strange alien world with things on the edge of imagination. I miss the Egon cannon, the Gauss Rifle, the Hornet Gun, and strange, intelligent aliens that are trying to murder me in strange, alien ways. Opposing Force has some great inspiration. And excellent job on the hunters, but even they feel more like advanced, totalitarian government technology instead of an alien menace.
6) Add weapons that arn't of the, "Its in my sight, pull button, and its dead" vein. Bugbait was great. Tricky things like satchel charges and remote mines really enrich the experience for me
7) The Black Ops enemies were awesome. They scared the crap outta me, and I had to get truly clever to overcome them. Any chance on seeing them again?
8) Don't make a context sensitive cover system. Just do it manually, where your less likely to get hit if you peek out just far enough to see your enemy whose not hiding.
9) I hate to go against something thats such a classic HL thing...but fix the flashlight. Flashlights don't have 30 seconds of power, nor do they recharge like that. Theres scary situations with it, but it feels contrived. Maybe the light sways wildly when your being attacked in melee?
10) If what I say seems wrong, ignore me. You guys are professionals, artists, and generally awesome.

 

[AngryMan]

It's nice to see people suggest that in order to allow people to pick up other man ized entities in the game we would have to make the gravity gun "supercharged" Are you seriously suggesting that every single moveable crate in Half Life 2 magically weighs far less than every single other fucking enemy in the game? Grown people will probably weigh no more than 300 pounds if they are healthy (Extremely muscular individuals might be able to push 400 without serious problems.) so anything in the 100 to 200 pound range would be a safe bet. I would THINK that a tool designed for heavy lifting would at least be capable of that much. Especially since a human being can most definetly lift something that is 300 pounds as long as he or she is able to get his or her arms around the object. As it stands now the gravity gun is just a tool for solving the boring puzzles they put into the game. If anything all you have to do is say which enemies can and cannot be picked up, there is no balancing issue.

Picking people up and throwing them about is pretty much the only thing that makes the supercharged GG unique though. That and its under-utilized ability to shunt far bigger things than the regular GG.

Give it the ability to pick people up from the word go and you're just giving people the super GG in terms of function, even if you don't call it that. no thanks.

oh, and:

re you seriously suggesting that every single moveable crate in Half Life 2 magically weighs far less than every single other fucking enemy in the game?

Yes, yes we are. All of those crates are hollow shells of cheap balsa wood that I could probably lift with one hand, and all the barrels sound hollow. I'm yet to see the GG be able to naturally pick up anything more than about 80Kg or so - the sort of stuff you'd have to put your back into, but nothing beyond the realm of an ordinary human.

The reason it's a "heavy lifting tool" is that it can pick up heavy stuff without transferring the carried object's weight to the user, not because it's capable of lifting incredible weights.

 

[Pocket Apocalypse]

Right, I'm posting this as someone who is very unlikely to shell out for any more Half-Life games (after having been gifted a friend's spare copy of H-L 2 from Orange Box). While I enjoyed most of Half-Life 2, there were many sections which I really thought were poorly conceived (and if it helps you to consider me a prejudiced moron, then yes, I prefer Halo).

My main issue is this. I like my first-person shooters to be first-person shooters. Pushing the envelope is all well and good, but if I want a puzzle game I'll go play a puzzle game (probably some species of Zelda, even if the puzzles are a bit predictable) and if I want a platforming game I'll play a game with a third-person viewpoint. The sections of Half-Life which were actually first-person shooter sections varied from the merely good to the excellent (and the addition of some sort of context-sensitive cover system would remove a lot of the fun of finding cover in what were generally beautifully well-designed environments); the feeling of satisfaction that comes from rounding a corner and totalling three combine dudes with three shots from a shotgun (yes, I'm a wuss and played it on easy) was really rewarding.

What I didn't like about HL2 was everything else; particularly any time I was required to stack stuff up or somehow construct bridges across stuff. These sections would have been improved if there was a control that let me rotate the objects I was carrying, for example getting barrels the right way up so that they stack (if there was a control for that, I missed it, I apologise. That would have made things marginally less tedious). The sections where I not only had to do that, but then jump across them while under zombie assault or the threat of antlions (which wouldn't have been a problem if only I could have traded my humoungous ammo reservoir of smg bullets for a few more shotgun shells), were tedious beyond belief. Precision jumping isn't sensible in first-person, and the sections designed for it really tested my suspension of disbelief, as did many of the set-piece puzzles.

The reason I prefer Halo (and, admittedly, I've only played the third one - maybe the other two suck) is that it's all about the combat and, while the set-pieces are sometimes a little contrived, they don't break the overall pace of that combat, which is imho the core aspect of a first-person shooter game.

As to the vehicle section controversy, I disliked the vehicle sections in HL2 (particularly the buggy; there were some cool bits on the hovercraft) because of the handling, but Halo's handling isn't much better. The point that the vehicles shouldn't handle well because they're cobbled together out of junk doesn't cut it for me; they should handle at least well enough that you don't miss the same damn jump three or four times in a row. Extreme realism like that should be second to making the game enjoyable and not frustrating.

I liked the whole static health gauge thing - particularly with the additional armour rating (reminiscent of DOOM?). I was a bit unclear what the difference between the two was supposed to be, though; if I was to make a suggestion on this score to Valve, it'd either be to unite them into one, or to have distinctly different effects based from low health and low armour - maybe some attacks (eg. poison) bypass armour, or maybe you get shock setting in if you take a lot of health damage (it wouldn't have to be much, just something like the way you briefly go part-deaf if you're too close to an explosion - that, I'll admit, was a brilliant idea).

I have a bunch of minor niggles with HL2 as well (shotgun aside, I didn't like most of the weapons; they all felt fairly insubstantial), but most of those are personal taste things. I'm happy for Valve to keep doing what they do provided I'm not going to be treated like some sort of quasi-literate moron because I prefer Halo (also, if I get word that they bring bug-bait back in a big way, I'm there. That was far and away my favourite section of the game).

 

[Cush1337]

I signed up to post in here.

Jakub, it is a Portal refrence since they are the same company and it is a ship which uses portal technology -.- Im pretty sure there will be at least some sort of link between the two stories. Take the ending of Portal for example, you are still alive and GlaDOS is still alive which is a hint.

In reply to the first post, I also think the ideas are pretty rubbish.

Every FPS that comes out now is way too much like others Q_Q The whole 'futuristic combat' and 'special powers' ideas are being worn down to a stump at the minute. A bit of alternate universe is a nice change Thats why so many people like Half Life, it doesnt just jump on the band wagon like all other shooters, it has its own story and its own style of gameplay. Not to mention the physics :O (I remember downloading the cracked Beta a few months before HL2 was initally released and I was like *ORGASM* at the ragdolls as it was the first time I had ever seen that sort of thing in a game)

WTF is up with the regenerating/shield thing too!? It kinda wipes most of the realism and difficulty away when one second you are bleeding heavily and near death, so you crawl into a corner and wait 10 secs which makes you perfectly healthy again :/
A health bar stops you being able to just charge in like a maniac knowing that if you kill everyone you can just rest for a few secs and be back at full health, it puts pressure on you to do certain areas while losing the least health possible so you dont put yourself in a situation where you are against 5-10 enemies with only 10 health left.

Ever since Halo 1 games seem to be bleeding the whole 'Regenerating health/shields!' thing to death, maybe it was cool in Halo but its just so boring and unoriginal now.

I enjoy the linear gameplay of HL2 because you are being constantly guided through the storyline and watching it unravel unlike some other games where you are doing the main bit then suddenly you are thrown off onto a side quest or forced to choose between a few different paths which just confuses the player further. Valve do a great job with the game in general, they have very professional level designs, great voice acting, a good solid storyline and original/unpredictable gameplay.

*EDIT*

If the Portal gun were to be placed into HL3, they obviously wouldnt just allow you to roam around outside with it. I can imagine it being in a controlled environment such as inside the Borealis where you need to solve Portal style puzzles and possible use it in fights (HL2 would be great with Dark Messiah style ragdolls, when NPCs turn into ragdolls when they are knocked over but if they dont die they get back up again) So possible NPCs could be knocked through portals so they turn to a ragdoll...All kinds of fun could be had

I heard news a while back of a Portal 2 being made though, I dont know yet. Maybe you will meed Chell at some point in Half Life, and learn what/who she is and what Aperture Science is which is probably what will happen in the next episode.

 

[sirdanrhodes]

i just have one wish, Don't keep us waiting another nearlly 10 years for a sequal!

 

[Pocket Apocalypse]

I'm yet to see the GG be able to naturally pick up anything more than about 80Kg or so - the sort of stuff you'd have to put your back into, but nothing beyond the realm of an ordinary human.

Weren't the exploding barrels full of oil? I dunno what the weight of that size barrel of oil is, but it can't be any less than a barrel of water (where I think you're talking something like 120-180 kilos; anyone who knows better feel free to correct me on this), and the gravity gun can toss those things around like tennis balls.

 

[Cush1337]

Its a gravity gun...Look at the name

You should be able to pick up dumpsters and stuff with that thing :<

*EDIT*

And to add to my previous post (3 up) im yet to see a working water system in a game. I know it would be extremly laggy as every drop of water would be an object but there has to be some sort of way. Possible 'jelly' like water - When drops touch they merge into a blob which only counts as one object, so a large body of water wouldnt lag up so much. It opens so much more possibilities in game when something from real life is implemented into the game.

 

[Lametta]

Imo the problem of hl2 and all the episodes is that they are build with the same scheme
First you only got a crowbar then a pistol etc etc after that you later get a car drive sum get arocket launcher to fightstriders and that on every episode
I mean we got it by now i guess
Imo thats just boring and thats why all episodes of hl2 sucked (except the original hl2 game ;o)

So how about Hl3 not being like out of a construction kit and being some more original ;o

 

[mathias53]

Indicisivegamer's Half Life 2 thread got me thinking "What do I want from Half Life 3?"

Most of the stuff that came to mind dealt with the game interface and some minor gameplay tweaks here is what I came up with:

1. No more driving segments they sucked. They really fucking blew, I wanted to kill myself during the boat segments especially.

2. No more contrived puzzles they are just annoying after the fourth or fifth one

3. No more "Platforming segments" they always end up sucking in games not intended to actually be platformers Half Life is no exception.

4. A redesigned weapons selection UI, Crysis has a pretty good system and one I think is worth emulating. There should be an option to have the game pause while you are in the menu.

5. The gravity gun should be able to pick up people from the start of the game.

6. A cover system because lets face it, it's lame to see a shooter that does not really let the player use the environment to absorb some of the bullets flying in your direction and still shoot back without stepping all the way back into the line of fire.

7. A hybrid regenerating health/shield system. Resistance Fall of Man is a great example of what I would like so see though I would prefer carrying the health packs with me like in Black.

8. Assault rifle and shotgun combo (This is a real system.) weapon. The guns are a bit too muh of standard fare something like that would be something you almost never see in games.

9. Auto-shotgun, just beause pump action shotguns are overdone.

10. An answer to G-man's angle and hopefully his death if it does not happen by the end of episode 3.

What are your wishes for Half Life 3?

I disagree with everything you said. All you listed is what made Half-Life great.

NO COVER SYSTEM
NO RECHARGING HEALTH
DONT STOP THE PUZZLES
NO AUTO SHOTGUN
KEEP THE WEAPON SYSTEM THE SAME

thats what I want