miscellaneous updates
Aug. 2nd, 2005 12:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alexxkayNow *that* was a proper thunderstorm! After lots of promises/threats that came to nothing, we finally got some decent pyrotechnics over Dorchester last night. Interfered some with my sleep, but well worth it. (Especially as, being durng sleeping hours, I was at no risk of being out IN it...)
Added incentive to come to Melville Keep tomorrow night: On her way out,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
dreda left behind two more boxes of Free Stuff, mostly books. They have had some picking over already, but there's still lots left.
A couple more Half-Life 2 observations that have occurred to me since I wrote yesterday's post:
The vehicle sequences were mildly amusing, but to some extent felt, ultimaely, like a bait and switch. I kept seeing parked enemy "tanks" and, since the game clearly had vehicle usage, I was looking forward to some day getting to drive one -- but was never given the opportunity.
One thing that keeps HL2 from uber-awesomeness, especially as compared to, say, the GTA games: lack of "playground". They keep introducing you to new systems and tactics, but rarely give you the opportunity to re-use old tactics after they've become "old hat". GTA, in contrast, gives you a big, wide-open world full of things to do and see. It has the same gradual introduction of systems, but each system remains alive and useful for the rest of the game. Hopefully, BioShock will also pull this off; it's certainly one of our design goals...
Added incentive to come to Melville Keep tomorrow night: On her way out,
dreda left behind two more boxes of Free Stuff, mostly books. They have had some picking over already, but there's still lots left.A couple more Half-Life 2 observations that have occurred to me since I wrote yesterday's post:
The vehicle sequences were mildly amusing, but to some extent felt, ultimaely, like a bait and switch. I kept seeing parked enemy "tanks" and, since the game clearly had vehicle usage, I was looking forward to some day getting to drive one -- but was never given the opportunity.
One thing that keeps HL2 from uber-awesomeness, especially as compared to, say, the GTA games: lack of "playground". They keep introducing you to new systems and tactics, but rarely give you the opportunity to re-use old tactics after they've become "old hat". GTA, in contrast, gives you a big, wide-open world full of things to do and see. It has the same gradual introduction of systems, but each system remains alive and useful for the rest of the game. Hopefully, BioShock will also pull this off; it's certainly one of our design goals...