Mod interest?

[Seattleite]

1. Let me clarify: I don't think you should make all the damage multipliers the same. Just the arms and the chest, because the hitboxes often detect the bullets as hitting their arms a lot of the time, so it can get annoying when I'm clearly hitting them in the torso from as far as I can see, and yet still have to shoot them over two dozen times. I don't have any problem with the legs/abdomen multipliers.

 

The arm's hitbox is, like, 5% wider than it looks and the extra space is on the top, and they're usually in front of the chest because that's how you hold a gun. That's not a big deal.

 

2. I can, but only if I'm so close that I may as well just sprint towards them and one-shot them with the crowbar. Which is why I recommended changing the arm multiplier, and only the arms.

 

Shoot from above or below. From below or above, hitting the chest is pretty easy, especially from below since their arms are held up high and the hitbox issues are the little space above the arms. When I fight CPs, I either go for their head or I crouch and shoot up into their chest or head if they have the high ground.

 

-The Hunter-Chopper is really, really fragile (at least when you shoot it with an autocannon). I'm pretty sure that was intentional, but it really turns the boss fight of Water Hazard into an anti-climax. Is this a matter of realism? 'Cause the Hunter-Chopper is a completely sci-fi piece of technology.

 

This is a combination of the new headshot multiplier and the raw power of the airboat's main gun. I'll increase the heath of the APC and hunter-chopper to make them function better.

 

-The zombies are also really, really fragile. Ravenholm is a joke with this mod. Even the poison zombies, whose main strength is supposed to be soaking up a lot of damage, go down with one good hit from the crowbar. I'd recommend boosting them in the next version of the mod (or nerfing the crowbar... or both).

 

Wait. Did they die in one 9mm bullet to the head, or two? Because if the former, I can totally increase their health by 25% because that means the headshot multiplier works in HL2 (didn't in Black Mesa). If the latter... Well, there's not much I can really do. They already have enough health the headcrab on their cranium inexplicably takes two shots to kill instead of one.

 

Also, yeah, I need to power up the poison zombies a lot, I know that. I'm thinking double health (80) and damage (50/100), and also doubling the health of the poison headcrab (20, from 10) to make that not insane. (If the multiplier worked, this will leave them with 100 hit points instead of 80 as they'll also increase 25%.)

 

As for nerfing the crowbar, I can lower its damage back to 40, but no lower. If I remember, in Half-Life 2 your attack rate is MUCH slower than in Half-Life or Black Mesa, which was why I gave it more power, but I haven't gotten to Half-Life 2 in my current playthrough and I haven't played in long enough I could be mistaken.

 

-The Hunter-Chopper autocannon, APC pulse machine gun, and APC rockets all do a very small amount of damage. I know the rockets are bugged, but what about the other two? Also, the console lists the APC rockets as doing 15 damage.

 

The hunter-chopper autocannon does the same 25/pellet as the airboat and APC cannons. Freeman's armour is highly resistant to pulse weaponry, as evidenced by him surviving combine energy balls that disintegrate everyone else. Also, the emplacement guns are tied to another convar. Can't remember if it's the hunter-chopper, airboat or pulse rifle.

 

EDIT:

The APC's cannon is tied to the hunter-chopper, so no matter which the stationary gun is tied to it's stuck where it is.

 

Also, what convar are you checking? The one that was in the .cfg file for the APC's rockets doesn't work, I didn't know there was a second one.

 

-The shotgun is really weak, even against wildlife. It was OP in the original, but now there's really no reason to use it rather than the crowbar or SMG.

 

Actually, no, it isn't. The shotgun is actaully REALLY strong if you use it right. The shotgun fires 7 pellets, each does 3 damage. That's a total 21, or 4.2x the damage of the pistol and 5.25x the damage of the SMG. That's enough to kill a zombie in one hit to the chest, or the poison zombie (present version) in one double-blast, without getting close. On normal, it doesn't even need all of its pellets to hit. Further, the shotgun does 15 damage per pellet with a headshot, enough to instantly kill a CP with only 5 hitting, which means you can do it from a short distance. The double-blast isn't accurate, but since it fires 14 and you only need 10 to instantly kill a combine overwatch trooper it makes the shotgun an instant-death ambush weapon against them if you can take them down in one. It can even instantly kill an overwatch elite with a single headshot if you are at absolute point blank and all the pellets hit their head.

 

EDIT: That's on hard. On normal, this is all easier to pull off and more likely to work, making the shotgun even MORE powerful.

 

The shotgun is used in two ways. One way is as an ambush weapon, for killing enemies instantly with a single point-blank headshot. Otherwise, it's a way to save on more valuable ammunition because you can carry an almost absurd amount of shotgun ammunition and it does a lot of damage per shot. The shotgun carries enough ammunition to do more damage than any other gun. It carries enough ammunition to do more damage than all the ammo of the pistol, magnum and submachine gun COMBINED. There's no risk of running out of shotgun shells, and since it makes a good ambush weapon it's also good for taking enemies out safely without losing health or armour.

 

The only thing the shotgun isn't good at is fighting at range. That's it.

 

-The CPs can take several shots from the Emplacement Gun before falling. I know that there's likely no way to change its damage, and it doesn't make much of a difference gameplay wise anyway, but it's just a bit weird that the Combine equivalent of a .50 BMG takes so many shots to kill regular cops in soft body armor (in the original, it took only two shots, 'cause the CPs had way less health).

 

I can't fix that.

 

EDIT 2:

 

WOW. It has been a long time since I played Half-Life 2. (Nothing against Half-Life 2, but I usually play Black Mesa, Episode 2 and Opposing Force instead.) I found the convar for the stationary gun, I THINK, and increased its damage to 50. It's the convar for the main gun of the dropship, and I THINK they are linked. With Valve it's kindof a crapshoot which convar is tied to which weapon, but I THINK I got it. I personally won't know for sure until I get there in my present playthrough, and I do sequential playthroughs so it might be a while. (I'm in "Questionable Ethics" in Black Mesa. I have the rest of Black Mesa, then Opposing Force, and THEN I get to Half-Life 2. And I'm also playing Dark Souls, Fallout: New Vegas and Skyrim right now.)

 

EDIT 3:

I also just nerfed the crowbar back down to 40, and doubled the health of the poison zombie. Waiting for a word from you on whether it took one 9mm or two to kill the regular zombies before I change their health.

[Seattleite]

Alright. So, I just finished my rapid-fire editing for the night, and made a short list of changes to HL2's skill.cfg file.

 

1. The dropship gun (and, hopefully, the stationary gun) now do 50 damage.

2. The poison zombie now has double health and deals double damage. The poison headcrab is also up to double health, and its damage to NPCs in episode 2 is also doubled.

3. The hunter-chopper has double health, the APC and dropship container are up 50%.

4. I THINK I fixed the APC missile damage, but I WILL have to check in-game to be sure. See, the convar that was in the unmodified skill.cfg file doesn't work. But I noticed another convar listed in skill_episodic for Episodes 1 and 2. I copy+pasted that in and set it to 500. I don't know if it works, but it's worth trying.

 

That's all I'm going to do tonight. I'm going back to Questionable Ethics, and I'll stop editing my posts now.

[RandomGuy]

The arm's hitbox is, like, 5% wider than it looks and the extra space is on the top, and they're usually in front of the chest because that's how you hold a gun. That's not a big deal.

 

Shoot from above or below. From below or above, hitting the chest is pretty easy, especially from below since their arms are held up high and the hitbox issues are the little space above the arms. When I fight CPs, I either go for their head or I crouch and shoot up into their chest or head if they have the high ground.

 

Not a huge one, but I just think that modifying the arm damage multipliers to be the same as the chest would solve a lot more problems than it causes. You don't suddenly become four times as resistant to all bullets shot at your torso by holding your arms in front of your armored chest. The game isn't DIFFICULT, as hitting the head is easy, especially with CPs, but it just bugs me when the average cop is taking dozens of bullets to kill unless I shoot them in the face. That's just by feedback. I have no problem with the leg or abdomen multipliers, just the arms.

 

This is a combination of the new headshot multiplier and the raw power of the airboat's main gun. I'll increase the heath of the APC and hunter-chopper to make them function better.

 

A Hunter-Chopper increase would be welcomed (like, a big one; it's not a boss anymore), but the APCs are fine as they are.

 

Wait. Did they die in one 9mm bullet to the head, or two? Because if the former, I can totally increase their health by 25% because that means the headshot multiplier works in HL2 (didn't in Black Mesa). If the latter... Well, there's not much I can really do. They already have enough health the headcrab on their cranium inexplicably takes two shots to kill instead of one.

 

They take two 9mm bullets to the head on Normal.

 

Also, yeah, I need to power up the poison zombies a lot, I know that. I'm thinking double health (80) and damage (50/100), and also doubling the health of the poison headcrab (20, from 10) to make that not insane. (If the multiplier worked, this will leave them with 100 hit points instead of 80 as they'll also increase 25%.)

 

That'd still be a bit low IMO. In base HL2, they're over three times more durable than a soldier. Not saying that you need to give them 500 health, but that should be a good indication of what their purpose is in-universe and in gameplay.

 

As for nerfing the crowbar, I can lower its damage back to 40, but no lower. If I remember, in Half-Life 2 your attack rate is MUCH slower than in Half-Life or Black Mesa, which was why I gave it more power, but I haven't gotten to Half-Life 2 in my current playthrough and I haven't played in long enough I could be mistaken.

 

Just saying, even when nerfed down to 40 damage the crowbar's kinda broken, killing CPs in 1-2 hits and sending them flying, killing Overwatch soldiers in 2-3, killing zombies in one, and making antlions explode with a single hit.

 

Also, what convar are you checking? The one that was in the .cfg file for the APC's rockets doesn't work, I didn't know there was a second one..

 

For the rockets? I just checked the console in-game.

 

Actually, no, it isn't. The shotgun is actaully REALLY strong if you use it right. The shotgun fires 7 pellets, each does 3 damage. That's a total 21, or 4.2x the damage of the pistol and 5.25x the damage of the SMG. That's enough to kill a zombie in one hit to the chest, or the poison zombie (present version) in one double-blast, without getting close. On normal, it doesn't even need all of its pellets to hit. Further, the shotgun does 15 damage per pellet with a headshot, enough to instantly kill a CP with only 5 hitting, which means you can do it from a short distance. The double-blast isn't accurate, but since it fires 14 and you only need 10 to instantly kill a combine overwatch trooper it makes the shotgun an instant-death ambush weapon against them if you can take them down in one. It can even instantly kill an overwatch elite with a single headshot if you are at absolute point blank and all the pellets hit their head.

 

The thing is, if you're close enough for that many pellets to connect, there's not a lot of reason not to two-shot them with the crowbar or shoot them in the head with another gun. As for conserving ammo: the pistol and SMG both have more common ammo, and the crowbar works just fine at that job.

[Seattleite]

They take two 9mm bullets to the head on Normal.

 

Then the health of the zombie stays exactly where it is.

 

That'd still be a bit low IMO. In base HL2, they're over three times more durable than a soldier. Not saying that you need to give them 500 health, but that should be a good indication of what their purpose is in-universe and in gameplay.

 

Remembering that every change I make to the health of the poison zombie I also have to make to the poison headcrab, the most hated enemy in the game, exactly how high do you really think it should be?

 

Just saying, even when nerfed down to 40 damage the crowbar's kinda broken, killing CPs in 1-2 hits and sending them flying, killing Overwatch soldiers in 2-3, killing zombies in one, and making antlions explode with a single hit.

 

Look, the issue with nerfing the crowbar is mostly that the crowbar rides a very delicate line between "useless" and "overpowered". If I nerf it even a little bit, it has a big impact on how useful the weapon actually is. Just from 60 to 40, I doubled the number of hits it takes to kill a metrocop on easy and normal (it was already 2 on hard) and increased the number of hits it takes to kill an overwatch trooper by 1 on all difficulties. If I drop it just down to 30, its value from the very first version of this mod, it'll take 2-3 hits to kill a CP and 4-6 hits to kill an overwatch trooper.

 

I know the way Gordon swings a crowbar is just about the worst way to swing it and it looks weird for it to work, but you're basically requesting I cripple a weapon that is realistically very powerful and make it an emergency weapon only. But fine, if it'll make you happy, I'll cripple the crowbar.

 

For the rockets? I just checked the console in-game.

 

Convar stands for console variable, you have to type in a convar to check anything in-game. I'll ask again, what convar did you type in?

 

The thing is, if you're close enough for that many pellets to connect, there's not a lot of reason not to two-shot them with the crowbar or shoot them in the head with another gun.

 

Actually, there is. And it's simple: Speed. The shotgun kills in one hit, so you can do it right away and not be exposed for more than a fraction of a second.

 

As for conserving ammo: the pistol and SMG both have more common ammo, and the crowbar works just fine at that job.

 

The pistol and SMG are also both needed for fights where the shotgun isn't effective. Using up your pistol and SMG ammo then getting into a fight with the combine wouldn't end well.

 

And really, what does it take? I mean, you do realise you are arguing that a one hit kill weapon is underpowered, right? What more can I really do to fix that? Do you want more damage? I guess I can make the pellets do 4, instead of 3, but it's ALREADY a one hit kill, what is more damage going to accomplish? And you haven't even gotten to the point later on where you start running out of ammo (the longer firefights with the overwatch later really hammer that point home).

 

And it's really a strain on my suspension of disbelief for the shotgun to be as powerful as it is already, making it stronger will only make that worse. It's a fucking SHOTGUN. A shotgun doesn't penetrate worth a damn and would be realistically worthless against most of the stronger enemies in the game. The combine, the antlion guards and even the CPs should all be able to take buckshot all damned day and not even feel it through their armour. Am I supposed to rationalize it as using flechettes or something? Because that's all I have left at this point.

[RandomGuy]

Then the health of the zombie stays exactly where it is.

 

That's good if you're going for realism, but just remember that it makes all of the levels where they're the main enemies kind of a joke.

 

Nothing on the arms/chest things, huh? That's cool.

 

Remembering that every change I make to the health of the poison zombie I also have to make to the poison headcrab, the most hated enemy in the game, exactly how high do you really think it should be?

 

While, logically, it makes no sense for the poison zombie to absorb so many bullets before it dies when you could just shoot the poison headcrab controlling it, that's just the way the game has it. I don't think this enemy was designed with the idea of simply being able to shoot the headcrab off in mind.

 

Look, the issue with nerfing the crowbar is mostly that the crowbar rides a very delicate line between "useless" and "overpowered". If I nerf it even a little bit, it has a big impact on how useful the weapon actually is. Just from 60 to 40, I doubled the number of hits it takes to kill a metrocop on easy and normal (it was already 2 on hard) and increased the number of hits it takes to kill an overwatch trooper by 1 on all difficulties. If I drop it just down to 30, its value from the very first version of this mod, it'll take 2-3 hits to kill a CP and 4-6 hits to kill an overwatch trooper.

 

I know the way Gordon swings a crowbar is just about the worst way to swing it and it looks weird for it to work, but you're basically requesting I cripple a weapon that is realistically very powerful and make it an emergency weapon only. But fine, if it'll make you happy, I'll cripple the crowbar.

 

Realistically, is the best option in a firefight to run up to someone, ignore their bullets, and send them flying by hitting them with a crowbar?

 

I wouldn't say it's underpowered even in vanilla, it's just not a primary weapon. If you want to make it realistic, then go ahead, I'm just pointing out that, partly due to the physics system and the animations, making it do that much damage appears to have the opposite effect.

 

Convar stands for console variable, you have to type in a convar to check anything in-game. I'll ask again, what convar did you type in?

 

sk_apc_missile_damage 15

 

The pistol and SMG are also both needed for fights where the shotgun isn't effective. Using up your pistol and SMG ammo then getting into a fight with the combine wouldn't end well.

 

And really, what does it take? I mean, you do realise you are arguing that a one hit kill weapon is underpowered, right? What more can I really do to fix that? Do you want more damage? I guess I can make the pellets do 4, instead of 3, but it's ALREADY a one hit kill, what is more damage going to accomplish? And you haven't even gotten to the point later on where you start running out of ammo (the longer firefights with the overwatch later really hammer that point home).

 

And it's really a strain on my suspension of disbelief for the shotgun to be as powerful as it is already, making it stronger will only make that worse. It's a fucking SHOTGUN. A shotgun doesn't penetrate worth a damn and would be realistically worthless against most of the stronger enemies in the game. The combine, the antlion guards and even the CPs should all be able to take buckshot all damned day and not even feel it through their armour. Am I supposed to rationalize it as using flechettes or something? Because that's all I have left at this point.

 

I wasn't complaining about the shotgun being underpowered, as I'm aware that's the most realistic option, just pointing it out.

 

Actually, I guess in-universe the shotgun has to be firing something abnormal. Normally I'd just dismiss its insane damage as a gameplay convenience, but in-universe, Alyx picks up a shotgun rather than an SMG or Pulse Rifle in the hospital, and the Combine give shotguns to the squad leaders (who wear a Combine Elite armband).

[Seattleite]

You know what? I'm going to do a little something, if that's how you want it. Mind restarting? Because the difference will be rather... Stark. Don't worry, everything you wanted will be in there except for the arm multiplier. And if that's what you really, really want then let me know and I can do that too. But if you give me an hour I'll make some changes that will fix not only the issues you have with the mod but an issue I have as well. Namely, that I have gotten too good at it and need to increase the difficulty again.

[RandomGuy]

The arm multiplier thing would be nice. Unless it's just way more realistic for CPs to take dozens of bullets to kill when they're holding their arms out to fire guns. I'm not sure if it is.

 

Damn, that sounds ominous.

 

I'm not annoying you by this point, am I? I try to respond as much as I can because you said you'd appreciate feedback.

[Seattleite]

The arm multiplier thing would be nice. Unless it's just way more realistic for CPs to take dozens of bullets to kill when they're holding their arms out to fire guns. I'm not sure if it is.

 

Their arms are still armoured. The armour stops the bullets. Their armour stopping the bullets means only their arms take any damage. It takes quite a bit of effort to kill somebody with minor arm fractures.

 

Damn, that sounds ominous.

 

Freeman's armour will now only divide incoming damage by 2.5, instead of 5. That means Gordon will take twice as much body damage as he used to. Incoming non-locational damage, like all creature melees and explosions, will also be doubled by this change. I am also nerfing healing stations 20% for the first game (and Black Mesa), and reducing the amount of ammunition available in the second game and episodes. Melee weapons will also be nerfed by 10 points.

 

I will have to test the new versions of the GoldSrc games before I know if the changes worked properly, since what damage is locational and what isn't is REALLY arbitrary.

 

Annoying? No. Not really. I am a bit irritated about the shotgun thing, and the arm thing, but the rest outweighs it.

[RandomGuy]

Their arms are still armoured. The armour stops the bullets. Their armour stopping the bullets means only their arms take any damage. It takes quite a bit of effort to kill somebody with minor arm fractures.

 

Their arms are armored? So, in reality, the best survival tactic in a gunfight like this is to armor your arms, hold them out in front of you, and let them absorb bullets? That's what the CPs do here, and it more than doubles their durability if you aim for the torso. In any fight with them or the Overwatch, the default response becomes to aim solely at the head, because shooting them anywhere else does next to nothing, which is... a bit unrealistic, as far as I know.

 

Freeman's armour will now only divide incoming damage by 2.5, instead of 5. That means Gordon will take twice as much body damage as he used to. Incoming non-locational damage, like all creature melees and explosions, will also be doubled by this change. I am also nerfing healing stations 20% for the first game (and Black Mesa), and reducing the amount of ammunition available in the second game and episodes. Melee weapons will also be nerfed by 10 points.

 

You're nerfing the amount you require per box, or the max amount you can carry?

Edited October 20, 2014 by Guest (see edit history)

[Seattleite]

Their arms are armored? So, in reality, the best survival tactic in a gunfight like this is to hold your arms out in front of you and let them absorb bullets? That's what the CPs do here, and it more than doubles their durability if you aim for the torso.

 

It's an extra layer, actually two layers, of armour between your vital organs and your enemy's bullets.

 

You're nerfing the amount you require per box, or the max amount you can carry?

 

The amount per box. Infinite ammo sources will still be overpowered as shit, feel free to abuse them.

 

Expect Ravenholm to be more tense now, since you have to use the traps or you WILL run out of ammo.

[RandomGuy]

It's an extra layer, actually two layers, of armour between your vital organs and your enemy's bullets.

 

So, yes? In real life, wearing armor on your arms and holding your arms in front of you makes you several times more durable in a firefight involving soft body armor, and in a firefight between guys in hard body armor, the default response should always be to aim for the head, because shooting the enemy in the torso with your assault rifle is useless?

 

Also, now that I think about it, where you getting the CPs being armored everywhere on their torso, rather than just the chest? You'd think that if the CP uniforms were so protective, the rebels would take the whole thing rather than just the thick vests.

 

The amount per box. Infinite ammo sources will still be overpowered as shit, feel free to abuse them.

 

Expect Ravenholm to be more tense now, since you have to use the traps or you WILL run out of ammo.

 

The only concern I'd have is running out of AR2 ammo quickly when fighting the Overwatch... Ravenhom should still be a trivial matter if the crowbar can one-shot zombies.

[Seattleite]

So, yes?

 

In much the same way that covering your head is the best way to survive a mauling, yes. The only issue is you have to fight back at SOME point. But in their case, that's fine. They can fight back and protect their chest at the same time, so why not?

 

The only concern I'd have is running out of AR2 ammo quickly when fighting the Overwatch... Ravenhom should still be a trivial matter if the crowbar can one-shot zombies.

 

Oh, don't worry, it'll totally run out.

 

And as for Ravenholm, remember that poison zombies are now 100 (yes, that's the number I finally decided on) hit-point damage sponges that will deal 20-40 damage to you with each hit and take four crowbar hits to die, and even regular zombies may be killed in one hit (I rationalize that as Gordon now having enough experience with zombies to aim for the headcrab) but they still deal 10-20 damage per hit and come in swarms. Now go ahead and say you want to duck and weave in a melee fight with them, and risk losing a lot of health in a level with NO health chargers.

[RandomGuy]

In much the same way that covering your head is the best way to survive a mauling, yes. The only issue is you have to fight back at SOME point.

 

The CPs and Overwatch, by default, hold their arms out in front of them to shoot their guns. That's how they always are in combat. In reality, assuming this position while in a firefight would make someone many times more durable to bullets? Again, is there even any evidence that the CPs are armored in their arms? If the CPs were armored anywhere other than their chests, where the thick vests are, I'd assume the rebels would wear the whole thing, and the CPs would be more durable than the rebels.

 

In reality, is the default response in every firefight involving properly armored combatants to aim straight for the head, because any amount of fire to the torso would be worthless unless you want to burn whole magazines just to kill one guy?

 

But in their case, that's fine. They can fight back and protect their chest at the same time, so why not?

 

That's the thing though... if it's that simple, why isn't this everybody's default tactic in real life? If putting armor on your arms and holding them out in front of you enhanced your survival chances in a fight astronomically, as it does in the mod (where the CPs and Overwatch soldiers hold their arms out when firing, causing bullets to their torso to hit their arm hitboxes instead and do next to no damage), everyone should do it.

 

And as for Ravenholm, remember that poison zombies are now 100 (yes, that's the number I finally decided on) hit-point damage sponges that will deal 20-40 damage to you with each hit and take four crowbar hits to die, and even regular zombies may be killed in one hit (I rationalize that as Gordon now having enough experience with zombies to aim for the headcrab) but they still deal 10-20 damage per hit and come in swarms. Now go ahead and say you want to duck and weave in a melee fight with them, and risk losing a lot of health in a level with NO health chargers.

 

Since they're so slow, ducking and weaving shouldn't be hard. I don't think I got hit at all in Ravenholm, and I mostly just used the crowbar.

[Seattleite]

The CPs and Overwatch, by default, hold their arms out in front of them to shoot their guns. That's how they always are in combat. In reality, assuming this position while in a firefight would make someone many times more durable to bullets? Again, is there even any evidence that the CPs are armored in their arms?

 

In reality, is the default response in every firefight involving properly armored combatants to aim straight for the head, because any amount of fire to the torso would be worthless unless you want to burn whole magazines just to kill one guy?

 

That's the thing though... if it's that simple, why isn't this everybody default tactic in real life?

 

See, here's the issue with this in real life:

 

KEVLAR SLEEVES DON'T STOP RIFLE FIRE.

 

In-game, what weapons do you have? Two pistols, a submachine gun and a shotgun, a crossbow of some sort in each game. An energy weapon that fires bolts that explode on impact in the second game. That's all your standard weapons that deal locational damage. Guess what ALL of these weapons have in common. That's right, they don't penetrate worth a shit. They'll be stopped by a layer of III-A body armour just fine, and assuming the armour of heavily armoured soldiers and scifi future-cops is at least III-A everywhere isn't a stretch at all. All these weapons will be stopped by the arms of a combatant.

 

In real life, though, people have these things called "rifles". Funny thing about rifles, they don't care much about most forms of armour. They'll go right through an NIJ III-A sleeve just fine, out the other side just fine, and still hit the chest. Sure, the two layers of III-A armour will weaken them a lot, but they'll still go through.

 

And so you know, the standard military tactic for dealing with armoured infantry is to have multiple soldiers concentrate fire on a single target in about the same place (not hard, all troops are trained to aim for centre mass, so they'll all be trying to hit the same place naturally) in hopes of breaching their plates through repitition. This works pretty well as long as the soldiers are wielding appropriate weapons.

 

Since they're so slow, ducking and weaving shouldn't be hard. I don't think I got hit at all in Ravenholm, and I mostly just used the crowbar.

 

Okay, Cassius, if you say so.

[RandomGuy]

See, here's the issue with this in real life:

 

KEVLAR SLEEVES DON'T STOP RIFLE FIRE.

 

In-game, what weapons do you have? Two pistols, a submachine gun and a shotgun, a crossbow of some sort in each game. An energy weapon that fires bolts that explode on impact in the second game. That's all your standard weapons that deal locational damage. Guess what ALL of these weapons have in common. That's right, they don't penetrate worth a shit. They'll be stopped by a layer of III-A body armour just fine, and assuming the armour of heavily armoured soldiers and scifi future-cops is at least III-A everywhere isn't a stretch at all. All these weapons will be stopped by the arms of a combatant.

 

In real life, though, people have these things called "rifles". Funny thing about rifles, they don't care much about most forms of armour. They'll go right through an NIJ III-A sleeve just fine, out the other side just fine, and still hit the chest. Sure, the two layers of III-A armour will weaken them a lot, but they'll still go through.

 

I'm aware of that, but of the rare firefights that cops get in, they almost never involve rifles.

 

I really think you're underestimating the Pulse Rifle. The Combine automated turret (which fires weaker projectiles than the Pulse Rifle) split a zombie in half at one point, and the Pulse Rifle can kill the hard-plate wearing Combine Overwatch soldiers in a few shots. I never got the impression that it was just way, way weaker than a modern, real life rifle, otherwise the Combine would have just grabbed some rifles rather than wasting their time developing a useless piece of shit of a weapon system.

 

And again, are their arms even armored? If that were the case, the rebels would wear the whole CP get-up rather than just the vest, and the developers wouldn't have given rebels and CPs the same amount of hit points.

[Seattleite]

I'm aware of that, but of the rare firefights that cops get in, they almost never involve rifles.

 

And most cops don't have armour on their arms, legs or head at all. The CPs and overwatch are fully armoured.

 

I really think you're underestimating the Pulse Rifle. The Combine automated turret (which fires weaker projectiles than the Pulse Rifle) split a zombie in half at one point, and the Pulse Rifle can kill the hard-plate wearing Combine Overwatch soldiers in a few shots. I never got the impression that it was just way, way weaker than a modern, real life rifle, otherwise the Combine would have just grabbed some rifles rather than wasting their time developing a useless piece of shit of a weapon system.

 

1. IT EXPLODES ON IMPACT. It absolutely cannot penetrate objects if it explodes on impact. The pulse rifle IS powerful. In fact, it's one of the most powerful weapons in the game. (And more powerful post-update, so you know. That's not a good thing for you.) But that doesn't change the fact that it explodes on impact and thus putting an arm in front of it would make your arm take the explosion. The arm is not nearly as vital as the chest.

2. I was under the impression that they had the pulse rifle before they came to Earth, just like they did the synths.

 

And again, are their arms even armored? If that were the case, the rebels would wear the whole CP get-up rather than just the vest, and the developers wouldn't have given rebels and CPs the same amount of hit points.

 

1. And have issues with IFF? I don't think so. Besides, who's to say that they didn't and their baggy clothes aren't being worn over the CP jackets to make them easier to distinguish from their enemies?

2. Quoting the health values the developers gave them is pointless. These are the same developers that think an unarmoured woman is more durable than heavily armoured super soldiers. Seriously, Alyx has more health than combine elites. In case you forgot, they have the same health in the chapters when they're wearing unarmoured jumpsuits. The rebels have as much health as CPs because they're the player's allies and being fragile would make them die too fast.

[RandomGuy]

And most cops don't have armour on their arms, legs or head at all. The CPs and overwatch are fully armoured.

 

Right, but if that was SO effective, wouldn't they?

 

1. IT EXPLODES ON IMPACT. It absolutely cannot penetrate objects if it explodes on impact. The pulse rifle IS powerful. In fact, it's one of the most powerful weapons in the game. (And more powerful post-update, so you know. That's not a good thing for you.) But that doesn't change the fact that it explodes on impact and thus putting an arm in front of it would make your arm take the explosion. The arm is not nearly as vital as the chest.

2. I was under the impression that they had the pulse rifle before they came to Earth, just like they did the synths.

 

1. It either explodes or there's some teleportation fuckery going on with it, which seems to be implied by what other Combine weapons do to people, as well as the small teleporter in Kleiner's lab having the same particle effect as the Combine weapons. Either way, it's definitely not weaker than a modern rifle, even if you ignore the feat of a turret using a weaker pulse projectile than it ripping a zombie in half.

2. Why would they have it? It's clearly a weapon designed for humans, who weren't part of the Universal Union prior to the war. Moreover, why would they even make humans use it if all the other guns they had were more effective?

 

1. And have issues with IFF? I don't think so. Besides, who's to say that they didn't and their baggy clothes aren't being worn over the CP jackets to make them easier to distinguish from their enemies?

2. Quoting the health values the developers gave them is pointless. These are the same developers that think an unarmoured woman is more durable than heavily armoured super soldiers. Seriously, Alyx has more health than combine elites. In case you forgot, they have the same health in the chapters when they're wearing unarmoured jumpsuits. The rebels have as much health as CPs because they're the player's allies and being fragile would make them die too fast.

 

Their clothing isn't really baggy enough to fit those thick coats under.

 

Alyx was given that health for game play reasons. If it was just a matter of them wanting the rebels to be more durable, they could have just modeled their costumes to give them armor on their arms and abdomen. Or just give them moderately less health than the CPs. Honestly, either way, it wouldn't matter, as 90% of the time they die to stuff that'd one-shot them regardless of whether they had 30 health or 40.

[Seattleite]

Right, but if that was SO effective, wouldn't they?

 

NO, FOR THE EXACT REASONS I JUST SAID.

 

1. It either explodes or there's some teleportation fuckery going on with it, which seems to be implied by what other Combine weapons do to people. Either way, it's definitely not weaker than a modern rifle, even if you ignore the feat of a turret using a weaker pulse projectile than it ripping a zombie in half.

2. Why would they have it? It's clearly a weapon designed for humans, who weren't part of the Universal Union prior to the war. Moreover, why would they even make humans use it if all the other guns they had were more effective?

 

I DID NOT SAY IT WAS WEAKER. I SAID IT FUCKING EXPLODES. THIS IS THE SECOND TIME I HAVE SAID THIS. THERE WILL NOT BE A THIRD.

 

I really, REALLY hate repeating myself. I especially hate it repeating myself because somebody just COMPLETELY FUCKING IGNORED SOMETHING I HAVE SAID. I hate it even more when somebody completely fucking ignores something I have said in order to keep trying to pretend I hold a particular position that I DO NOT HOLD in order to keep arguing against that position THAT I DO NOT HOLD. You are doing that. STOP DOING THAT.

 

Alyx was given that health for game play reasons. If it was just a matter of them wanting the rebels to be more durable, they could have just modeled their costumes to give them armor on their arms and abdomen.

 

Valve has never, EVER been concerned with realism, they are concerned with aesthetic design. Giving them the vest makes sense, it makes them look more like rebels since they're scavenging enemy equipment. Giving them the full CP jacket, however, is too much visually because it would have made them look too much like their enemies. There would have been very little difference in their silhouettes and so much of them also being the same colour and texture would have made them look like a CP on first glance. Even Barney, established to BE a CP, has a different colour armour to make him look different and was placed in an area with no other CPs in it to make sure you didn't get him confused with them. Remember, you could shoot your allies in early versions of Half-Life 2. They needed to make them visually distinct on first glance.

 

The update is done, by the way. I'm going to go back to Blue Shift and get my ass kicked until I calm down.

Edited October 20, 2014 by Guest (see edit history)

[BTGBullseye]

Have you considered doing a mod like this for SMOD Standalone? (http://bsnooch.com/forums/index.php?topic=1360.0)

[Seattleite]

Given that I don't know what SMOD Standalone is, I don't think I have.