FREEMAN'S MIND 2: EPISODE 1

[Space Hunter M]

I appreciate the use of the original, pre-Mac update engine.

[Woah_G!]

I'm so glad I logged into some website, which had this streaming on one of its channels and found this wonderous morsel of video goodness. What a nice unexpected surprise!

 

I think I'll watch it again.

[Tuskin38]

I appreciate the use of the original, pre-Mac update engine.

 

Pre-Mac update?

 

The Engine was from the 360 version of the game, so its more like Pre-console.

[MartinX]

I'm starting to think more and more that this is going to be legit - take a look at the end of the video description: "Donations welcome! I'll make more videos either way. http://www.accursedfarms.com/donations/"

 

I checked his previous Game Dungeon videos from months ago and none of them have a direct donation link. Now, tell me all you faithful forum dwellers who have been following Ross for as long as I have - do you think Ross is the type of person who would literally try to capitalise on a cruel joke?

 

I think it's really happening guys!

[Jeb_CC]

April Fools? I ain't even mad! I would have been mad if the first minute was actual content and the remaining 9 minutes was just a black screen which I was kinda expecting.

 

Also I've watched Freeman's Mind so many times now I actually managed to predict what Freeman would say when Kleiner spoke to him.

"Great Scott! Gordon Freeman!"

"You know it!"

[Space Hunter M]

I appreciate the use of the original, pre-Mac update engine.

 

Pre-Mac update?

 

The Engine was from the 360 version of the game, so its more like Pre-console.

True, but the PC version didn't follow suit until the Mac update.

[andx0r]

Is this the real life?

 

Is this just fantasy?

[Box Tactics]

I wonder if this inspired the stunt Adult Swim pulled today with the Rick And Morty premiere. Haven't had a chance to watch it yet but everyone seems to be saying it's legit.

[Descriptor]

Oh hey, Rick and Morty just stole your joke. They're also doing the whole "Surprise new season premiere" thing. Good for you!

[Toozdays Child]

You have no idea how unreasonably happy it made me to hear you call the camera drones Servo Skulls.

 

ROSS SCOTT 40K NERD CONFIRMED

[Frostiken]

This is probably the most meta April Fool's joke I've ever seen.

[GordonFreeman]

Why the hell did Freeman want the G-man to teleport him to Hawaii? As far as he knew, he was still wanted by the U.S Military.

[K0Z]

For an April fools video it certainly has gotten a lot of views...

[Otto]

Haha, guys honestly, what's the joke? We got an episode, what would dictate whether this is "real" or not? Getting more episodes? We know he plans to make S2 eventually, right? So do you mean more now? More "soon"? More before the movie? If that's the specific concern, you gotta find the right words.

 

Cuz I'm just sitting here enjoying an awesome episode at 1080p, and everybody's feeling reserved excitement; just let it out, guys!

 

 

Ross, from a concerned viewer:

Will we know if this is real tomorrow?

Case in point, man, what exactly do you want him to say tomorrow?

 

 

 

Edit: Meh, I rewatched it and its fine, I'm probably just being stupid. I guess this was never really an issue with the older episodes either, I have no clue, I'm really tired these days, I'll leave my post up instead of deleting it though if it helps in any way.

 

I think it might just be me finding motion blur a bit unnatural and I'm also used to a high field of view but I'm not sure why but the video felt "heavy" when I watched it for the first time.

I rewatched it again and it looks fine now. Feel free to talk shit about my post either way.

Nah I won't talk shit, that was an interesting reaction and I'm curious. I was definitely quite sleep deprived when it was out but I never have motion sickness problems. Remember that motion blur is applied, and it would naturally look different in HL2 than it does in HL1 just because of the graphic upgrade, but I wonder if tiredness really affected it, if so then good to know. Did you watch in 1080/720p by chance?

 

 

 

I will say this is not only a good April Fool's Joke but a good way of indirectly testing the waters to see how exactly many people actually are interested in seeing Freeman's Mind go on to Half-Life 2.

Haha, good point. Agree on that.

 

 

 

It's actually real simple, HL speedrunners do it all the time. He just backed up all the way to his corner, and aimed for a certain spot on the texture of the wall.

It's just the prep of determining where to aim that probably took a few hours.

Yah, and even then you can learn it in minutes, no camera cut was necessary. The only reason you saw the screen jump was because of the level loading. Though I never noticed the trash on the floor disappearing before, you'd think Valve wouldn't be that clumsy in an opening transition...

 

 

 

Ross! Thank you so much! My eyes are moist with happiness! Awesomeness! Someone just posted on youtube for this video "I swear to God, if this is an April fools joke I will murder you all. This is all I have left so don't fuck with me!" You have made so many people happy, we are your biggest fans! Time to donate!

Wow, people really feel affectionate about the show. Very nice of you to donate, I wonder if Ross just received a boost from the community about now.

 

 

I appreciate the use of the original, pre-Mac update engine.

Umm, it's not? I believe this is the 2007/2010 SteamPipe version. Notice NPCs don't blink? G-Man's eyes are glowing?

[wixelt]

I feel like this is a real episode, and Ross just posted it today to mess with us.

Now the real question is whether or not he's gonna keep up with the series from here on out, or if this is just a little thirst quencher before a distant-future series?

 

I'm of the opinion that this is a "preview", and that the joke is that it's not really coming back properly yet. Still loved and can't wait though.

[danielsangeo]

Also, it's weird to me how Gordon recognized Kleiner, but not Breen. Wasn't Breen his boss?

 

Well, remember in Episode 34 of Freeman's Mind, the best doctor in the world got the crap kicked out of him by the HECU and thrown into the trash compactor. When Freeman woke up in Episode 35, he had amnesia. It's entirely possible that Freeman would forget Barney but not Kleiner. After all, Barney was simply a coworker, even if they were close enough to share beers with. Kleiner was Freeman's mentor and they had a friendship together back at MIT. Kleiner, a well-respected scientist and kinda-celebrity (his photo appearing on the cover of Popular Scientist) is the one that got Freeman the job at Black Mesa.

 

Kleiner was a lot closer to Freeman than Barney was.

 

As for Breen, it's possible that Freeman never saw a photo of Breen and never cared enough to look it up. Breen was the administrator, not Gordon's boss, per se. Alyx will ask if Freeman recognizes Breen, but Freeman doesn't say anything. I'm hoping there'll be something to fill that gap. I know that in my previous job, I couldn't tell you what the CEO looked like. I know what the CEO looks like in my current job because he's kind of a celebrity (I'll keep where I work private for now), but not in my previous jobs. I could pass them on the street and not recognize them.

[AP_Pastor]

Guess we'll have to wait for Ross's announcement on the next video chat about this.

 

EDIT: When Ross said writing around the dialogue in HL2 makes it easier for writing, or something similar to that, I can tell it helped.

[Great_Destroyer]

Man, this is fucking cruel from ya you know.

[Average Internet Guy]

Damn, this episode really has all the older users coming out of the woodwork.

[Reverend_UshankaCat_]

[...]

I don't know, that's probably the logical explanation, but I like to think that Barney is just acting like "Oh yeah, I'm best mates with Gordon Freeman!" to impress people, while in reality the only interaction they've ever had was Barney opening airlocks for Gordon, who never really noticed him.