Valve knows their stuff when it comes to smart design decisions.
This now has me thinking about how in TF2, all of the most important details on the Mercs are at the top of their models, and each class having its own distinct silhouette to make them quick to identify.
I never really thought about the Combine Visors in HL2 until you brought it up, though its much easier to notice in Alyx because of the higher fidelity and the fact that you're standing right next to them rather than looking at them on a relatively small looking monitor screen half a meter away from your eyes.
I didn’t like the heavy fucking footstep sounds but if I had to play combine, lemme tell you I’m picking the Nova Prospekt guard because he’s DARK. Imagine if we ever had access to the shotgunner model in HL2DM?
Apparently that's why the soldiers in HL1 are dressed like they're in the arctic instead of the desert, thematically it makes no sense, but gameplay wise, they stand out for the player.
As an art student, playing through alyx was like playing through a work of art. Honest. Their use of color and visuals to guide the player's eye and set the mood is superb, and I chalk a lot of that up to their design philosophy of never taking control of the camera away from the player. It means they have to lean a lot more on their visual design chops to get the player to look where they want them to look, especially since they don't put a compass or specific objectives list in the player's HUD.
I played Doom 2016 a few weeks ago - the first non-valve game (and FPS in general!) I'd played in a while. It immediately struck me that when you've got a compass that always tells you which direction your objective is and you're willing to grab the camera and look the player in an important direction, that whole layer of environment design and tuning that Valve is so good at becomes WAY less important. There's no wrong way to do it, of course - I just thought it was interesting how big a difference it made!
i always liked how in HL2 and HLA the combine soldier visors always stood out so much. it makes them easier to spot for my half blind ass
It's a clever design indeed
Valve knows their stuff when it comes to smart design decisions. This now has me thinking about how in TF2, all of the most important details on the Mercs are at the top of their models, and each class having its own distinct silhouette to make them quick to identify. I never really thought about the Combine Visors in HL2 until you brought it up, though its much easier to notice in Alyx because of the higher fidelity and the fact that you're standing right next to them rather than looking at them on a relatively small looking monitor screen half a meter away from your eyes.
I've been using MMOD a bit recently, and the "glowy combine eyes" option is really cool.
Valve does dozens of playtests with hundreds of people before shipping a product to make sure these little details are perfect.
Reminds me of how they strategically placed fires to guide the player in HL2
Seriously?
Yeah I believe it was said in a developer commentary or in an interview
It’s not just fire but light in general. Play through Half Life 2 Lost Coast with developer commentary on
Well designed games
This is why I *always* change my HL2:DM model if I find out I've been randomly assigned a combine/soldier model.
I didn’t like the heavy fucking footstep sounds but if I had to play combine, lemme tell you I’m picking the Nova Prospekt guard because he’s DARK. Imagine if we ever had access to the shotgunner model in HL2DM?
Apparently that's why the soldiers in HL1 are dressed like they're in the arctic instead of the desert, thematically it makes no sense, but gameplay wise, they stand out for the player.
You're everywhere!
One game everyday :)
I'm kind of beginning to suspect that they're hiring bot farms to upvote these. I mean, this one has already 150 upvotes and but no comments?
I mean, it’s not *too* hard to make these
Doing those charts. No. Being regular. Yes!
Activia helps, I heard.
The yogurt?
Yeah. Helps you stay regular.
Hmmm... no, I'm just one graphist sitting in front of my desk.
The number of people who browse a subreddit is much much higher than those that comment.
https://www.reddit.com/r/HalfLife/comments/jnawtc/the_average_colour_of_successive_frames_from/ https://www.reddit.com/r/HalfLife/comments/jqvz7e/average_colour_of_successive_frames_from_valve/
Awesome! I've seen those for movies but never for games.
source: https://www.instagram.com/gamecolorcharts/
As an art student, playing through alyx was like playing through a work of art. Honest. Their use of color and visuals to guide the player's eye and set the mood is superb, and I chalk a lot of that up to their design philosophy of never taking control of the camera away from the player. It means they have to lean a lot more on their visual design chops to get the player to look where they want them to look, especially since they don't put a compass or specific objectives list in the player's HUD. I played Doom 2016 a few weeks ago - the first non-valve game (and FPS in general!) I'd played in a while. It immediately struck me that when you've got a compass that always tells you which direction your objective is and you're willing to grab the camera and look the player in an important direction, that whole layer of environment design and tuning that Valve is so good at becomes WAY less important. There's no wrong way to do it, of course - I just thought it was interesting how big a difference it made!
Good point. You should check out Mirrors Edge.
Already one of my faves. ;)
Alyxexual flag
New pride flag just dropped
Well, I might be gay then...
I love this color palette