Mod interest?

[BTGBullseye]

Sounds interesting... Try Sandy for the girl's name, and Brandon for her brother.

[Seattleite]

Alright, I'll go with that. Now I just need a name for the guy she spends most of the game with.

 

Oh, and a few questions.

 

1. Do you think I had the right number of G-Man sightings?

2. What do you think of changing armour twice? (Once from no armour to rebel armour, then from rebel armour to a PCV?) Keep in mind that this means the way armour points work for you changes twice. (Once from "you can't have any" to "recovers to x% when finding a vest" and again to "recharges with batteries and chargers as normal".)

3. What do you think of having a weapon, the tau cannon, with a limited supply of ammunition you can never replenish?

4. Ammunition is fairly scarce, to the point where a weapon having more available ammunition or using less ammunition than others can make it of more value than other weapons even if it is by far less powerful. There's also no infinite ammo sources in this mod. Even ammunition crates now have a limit on how much they can provide, equal to the most you can carry in reserve. Opinion?

5. Are there any plotholes you can see, keeping in mind this is meant to not conflict with the canon of Half-Life?

[BTGBullseye]

1. Goodly number, but not too much.

2. Perfectly normal sounding, not all that dissimilar from HL2. (first no suit, then suit, then citadel suit)

3. Considering what the tau cannon is, it would be better IMO for it to have a very slow ammo regen. (just a slower version of the Hivehand with more power)

4. In real life, you come across one of the small HL2 ammo boxes, (the ones depicted for picking up the SMG ammo at ~2 clips each) and it'll be able to have up to 840 rounds for 5.56mm, 200 for .50cal... The ammo boxes delivering 2-3 clips of 9mm can actually hold up to 200 rounds of 7.62, 105 linked .50cal, (that's with the links for the M2) and upwards of 1200 9mm rounds. Imagine that info when you're looking at this massive crate full of those boxes, and there are only 4-8 clips left...

5. I don't see any.

[Seattleite]

1. Goodly number, but not too much.

2. Perfectly normal sounding, not all that dissimilar from HL2. (first no suit, then suit, then citadel suit)

3. Considering what the tau cannon is, it would be better IMO for it to have a very slow ammo regen. (just a slower version of the Hivehand with more power)

4. In real life, you come across one of the small HL2 ammo boxes, (the ones depicted for picking up the SMG ammo at ~2 clips each) and it'll be able to have up to 840 rounds for 5.56mm, 200 for .50cal... The ammo boxes delivering 2-3 clips of 9mm can actually hold up to 200 rounds of 7.62, 105 linked .50cal, (that's with the links for the M2) and upwards of 1200 9mm rounds. Imagine that info when you're looking at this massive crate full of those boxes, and there are only 4-8 clips left...

5. I don't see any.

 

3. Except that in the first game, it had a limited uranium ammunition supply and I'm keeping that. It's also game-breakingly powerful, and I want them to really only be able to use it in the one part of the game that demands it, but do so in a way that doesn't seem as contrived as taking it from them when it's over, and would even reward them for finishing that section efficiently.

4. I am aware of how much they hold. But keep in mind that those crates are being used by more people than just you, and there's no reason the ammo boxes laying around would be full. I always assumed you were just collecting the ammunition left in mostly empty ammo boxes, and the amount was only consistent for technical reasons.

[BTGBullseye]

3. Ok, makes some sense... You might want to see about a few locations with effectively 'unlimited' ammo though, just so people have an ability to use it, or save it for later, and not just see a nice gun that's practically useless.

 

4. How many people are using it, and never getting it refilled? In a well traveled area it would most likely be well stocked so as to actually be useful if a group comes through and needs to fend off a Combine attack. In a less traveled area, they would likely send a refill after it's reported below half/quarter full. (still, around 5k 9mm rounds at 1/4 the crate)

 

For the small ones that you find lying around, maybe 1/4 full would be a good idea, but that still does 3-4 magazines for most of the weapons you're going to use, and 2-3 mags for the rest. If you're assuming that the ammo has already been put into magazines, then the game default for most of the mid-grade weapons would be about right for a full box. (it'd be 2-3 clips low for a 9mm, and a lot lower for the Pulse Rifle)

[Seattleite]

3. Ok, makes some sense... You might want to see about a few locations with effectively 'unlimited' ammo though, just so people have an ability to use it, or save it for later, and not just see a nice gun that's practically useless.

 

You only need it for one segment. That segment has three striders that you need to kill. Each takes two fully charged shots to defeat. (The Tau is a great strider-killer on account of not giving a damn about armour.) Each fully charged shot consumes 10% of your ammunition pool. Assuming perfect accuracy, you should be left with 40% to use in the next section if you choose. That's enough for 40 uncharged shots, each of which does enough damage that a single headshot should kill any infantryman. If you decide to use your rocket launcher to defeat one of the striders (all you have ammo for if you're on hard) you can carry a bit more. It's not useless. You're just unlikely to have any ammo for it after leaving the citadel, because as overpowered as it is the citadel is pretty dense with tough enemies and you're likely to be liberal with your ammo because it's all made to look like it's going to be the last level of the game (even though it's not).

 

4. How many people are using it, and never getting it refilled? In a well traveled area it would most likely be well stocked so as to actually be useful if a group comes through and needs to fend off a Combine attack. In a less traveled area, they would likely send a refill after it's reported below half/quarter full. (still, around 5k 9mm rounds at 1/4 the crate)

 

For the small ones that you find lying around, maybe 1/4 full would be a good idea, but that still does 3-4 magazines for most of the weapons you're going to use, and 2-3 mags for the rest. If you're assuming that the ammo has already been put into magazines, then the game default for most of the mid-grade weapons would be about right for a full box. (it'd be 2-3 clips low for a 9mm, and a lot lower for the Pulse Rifle)

 

Dude, I'm just rationalizing something that is purely for gameplay purposes. If it's that big of a deal, I can find other ways to minimize the amount of ammunition available.

[BTGBullseye]

4 is just my biggest pet peeve about video games that show ammo boxes. They never put a full amount of ammo, and don't have any form of explanation for why there's less ammo.

[Seattleite]

I can probably just make the ammo boxes act as the limited ammo crates I mentioned earlier, and just erase full ammo crates from the game. Maybe I can search the GMOD forums (they're compatible, both Source) to find the models and textures for individual magazines to take the place of ammo boxes in other circumstances. That way there's the amount of ammo I was looking for without having the mostly-empty ammo boxes that you hate.

[BTGBullseye]

Sounds good to me.

 

If there's a Combine outpost anywhere along the trip, it'd logically have a full large crate somewhere there, despite you desiring a low-ammo run. Just a thought. I seriously doubt the Combine would understock any of their outposts or security stations.

[Seattleite]

Well, remember how little you actually see combine stations in this game. The closest is the attack on the citadel, and you don't exactly visit the armoury there. You do, however, get a chance to fully restock over and over while you're at the big rebel base, and should leave fully stocked no matter how much fighting you do there.

[BTGBullseye]

You also said Nova Prospekt, which, considering it's a high-security prison, should have a decent stockpile of weapons and ammo. (despite being contested, both sides would likely be putting enough weapons and ammo to last a single user several years, or multiple users months)

 

Good that there is at least one location for a full restock location. You might want to consider setting up a dispensing station, like the HL2 food dispenser console you see in the lobby of the train station, except it serves ammo. If the engine allows it, maybe set it up to give you a certain amount of ammo per kill, essentially picking up the combine's ammo requisition credentials, and using them for your own ammo gathering needs when you get to an ammo station. It'd make it a bit more rewarding to kill the enemies efficiently, and a little less 'scripted' feeling to the progression of the game. Also, see if you can make the ammo received from the dispensers an option for which ammo type to receive, instead of just a random pack, or one type per dispenser.

[ThePest179]

(despite being contested,

 

Not to nitpick, but NP is not contested. The rebels mount some raids that are beaten back, and from what we hear in-game, the only rebels that have seen the inside in-universe are some Vortigaunts and the people slated for conversion into stalkers or overwatch soldiers.

 

Minor point though.

[Seattleite]

I'm going to address you both at once:

 

This is, remember, a week after the attack on Nova Prospekt. The prison guards have been fighting antlion and zombie infestations for a week now. (That's what BTG and I mean by contested, Pest.) That takes a LOT of ammo. And once more, they only have a few weapons and a little ammo at their security stations, most of it being in a central armoury from which those stations are periodically restocked. Further, the sections you're in the combine have, more or less, lost. They still have control over the rest of the prison, and have re-enabled the restrictors around the perimeter to help re-secure the prison, but they've yet to manage to take over completely *and* the rebels are making grabs at the prison. This means in the areas you travel through, they haven't been restocked the checkpoints since before Freeman came tearing through here. There's a good reason why ammo is so scarce.

[ThePest179]

This is, remember, a week after the attack on Nova Prospekt. The prison guards have been fighting antlion and zombie infestations for a week now. (That's what BTG and I mean by contested, Pest.)

 

*headdesk*

 

I need to read the damn posts in the threads I go into before I speak. That's the third fucking time in a row I did something like that.

 

That does clear everything up, in any case. (Although, I inferred that after Freeman went through NP, the Combine lost control of it really badly, with the base itself destroyed. Just my interpretation of HL2 events, I don't have much evidence for my claims.)

[Seattleite]

I can't even make fun of that.

[BTGBullseye]

Ok, good clarification of the exact situation and area layout. Understandable low ammo situation too. I like it when things are adequately explained.

[Seattleite]

As do I, of course.

[ThePest179]

I can't even make fun of that.

 

What?

 

 

 

Actually nevermind. I probably missed another detail. Again.

[K4_Kydure]

I'm defiantly interested in playing this mod. Would love to play some Half-Life related things again.

 

On a modding note. Has there ever been a mod from the perspective of a pro-combine human? I'm not a fan on how they're always the bad guys. I'm pretty sure Civil Protection is called such for a reason, like how Mike and Dave are cops who are just trying keep the peace. It would also be interesting to see pro-combine citizens since I doubt every last person is a rebel.

[Seattleite]

Which one are you interested in, specifically? The .cfg mods presently existing for the Half-Life series, or the total conversion mod?