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              <p><font color="#0000FF"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000CC">volume 
                1, issue 16</font></b></font></p>
              <p><font color="#0000FF"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000CC"> 
                </font></b></font></p>
              <p>  <p><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><b><font color="#339900" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Today 
                in loonygames:</font></b></font></p>

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        <p align="LEFT"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0022A8"><b><a target="" href="../../reviews/index.html"><font size="-1">Off 
          the Shelf</font></a><font size="-1">:</font></b></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="+3" color="#0022A8"><br>
          The Top Shelf</font></p>
        <p align="right"><font color="#804000"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">By 
          Rowan &quot;<a target="_self" href="mailto:sumaleth@frag.com">Sumaleth</a>&quot; 
          Crawford</font></b></font></p>
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        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">This variety in <b>Half-Life's</b> 
          gameplay as you progress through the episodes is very significant because 
          you never really get a change to get bored of the gameplay, nor to get 
          into a gameplay rhythm that sees you playing almost on autopilot. In 
          <b>Half-Life</b>, there is always something new to keep you interested, 
          more so than any game I have played before.</font></p>
        <dl> 
          <dt><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">A possible drawback is 
            that changes in gameplay of this nature can mean that some players 
            may only enjoy particular sections of the game. This is particularly 
            true in the case of the gameplay and environmental changes from episode 
            3 to episode 4 that are quite significant. If you're really enjoying 
            the fire-fights with the human soldiers of episode 3, and have very 
            little interest in puzzles and killing aliens, then episode 4 may 
            well be a big disappointment. It's a tough prospect for game designers 
            wanting to make something for everyone.</font></dt>
        </dl>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">From my own point of view, 
          I thoroughly enjoyed the game right from beginning to end. Well, perhaps 
          I had a touch of reservation with episode 1, but it was still well designed 
          and kept things moving along nicely. Some of the fire-fight set pieces 

          of episodes 2 and 3 were, without a doubt, remarkable and as much fun 
          as anything I've ever seen in a FPS game. I also found episode 4 to 
          be thoroughly enjoyable, and the atmosphere it managed to get across 
          was fantastic. </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Technically speaking, <b>Half-Life</b> 
          is right up there near the cutting edge. Where it lacks features seen 
          in <b>Unreal</b>, it makes up for in other areas. With the <b>Quake</b> 
          engine as a foundation, the only way was up, and the Valve Software 
          coders have done fine work adding some impressive features to the id 
          Software code base.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The main addition to the 
          engine is the skeletal system used for model animation, whereby the 
          models are deformed via animated bones (ie. a skeleton) rather than 
          the technique used by most other games where each frame of movement 
          is a different model. The upcoming <b>Max Payne</b> uses a similar system, 
          but <b>Half-Life</b> is the first to the shelves using this animation 
          approach. The question is; can this change in animation technique be 
          seen in the game?</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I have to say that if it 
          can be seen then the effect is very subliminal. There isn't a lot that 
          couldn't have been done using the old method, although that’s not to 
          say that, under the hood, the use of skeletons hasn't had many hidden 
          benefits such as faster load times. Many of the animations in the game 
          lack the realism and 'weight' seen in, for example, the 'frame' based 
          <b>Quake 2</b> animations, and it's hard to know whether it was a limitation 
          of the skeletal system or other things.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Another major addition to 
          the <b>Quake</b> code is in the area of artificial intelligence, as 
          mentioned earlier, an addition that is <i>definitely</i> noticeable. 
          The soldiers in <b>Half-Life</b> make significant inroads into the world 
          of game AI, proving to challenging and even realistic, while never being 
          annoying, frustrating, or even out of place.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">This AI is mostly noticeable 
          in the soldiers of episodes 2 and 3 - the other baddies (particularly 
          the alien ones), in general, follow more standard gameplay rules (at 
          least this was the appearance). This combining of near bot-like AI with 
          very well designed low-intelligence attack methods actually proves to 
          be a perfect combination. Players love deathmatching, but they also 
          love to lay waste to large collections of polygonal critters with a 
          minimum of fuss, so having baddies that follow both schools of thought 
          proves to be the perfect way to merge both varieties of gameplay. The 
          other major feature of <b>Half-Life </b>is the heavy use of in-game 
          cinematics. The term 'heavy use' doesn't really describe it; the cinematics 
          almost <i>are</i> the game. The entire first episode, right from the 
          initial introduction cinematic right up to the point you see grenades 
          being lobbed at you, almost plays out more like a little interactive 
          movie that what you </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">might traditionally call 
          a FPS game.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">In-game cinematics have been 
          used in a number of other games, the first map of <b>Unreal</b> being 
          a particularly good example of its use, but the guys at Valve have attempted 
          to take the concept a step further by both the large number of them, 
          and the addition of character interaction. Early on in the game you 
          find yourself walking around the building with many of the other scientists 
          talking to you, and even reacting to what you do.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">These cinematics keep the 
          game interesting, there's no doubt about that. There are just enough 
          of them spread out through all 112 maps to perk your interest level 
          up just as it may have seemed like time to go visit real life. As much 
          as I'd love to talk about all the cinematics that I particularly liked, 
          to say <i>anything</i> more would be to ruin the surprises, and it's 
          definitely worth being surprised.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Half-Life's</b> in-game 
          cinematics are actually quite simple, it's just the sheer number of 
          them and the very clever uses that lift <b>Half-Life</b> way above other 
          games. These cinematics drive the main plot along, a plot which, when 
          you look back at it after completing the game, is also very simple and 
          doesn't really appear to resolve itself. This may be to allow room for 
          a <b>Half-Life 2</b>, but it still seems to be a very limited attempt 
          at a plot (even if you aren't really aware of the fact during the game).</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">There are problems with the 
          cinematics; the conversations are all quite limited, are one sided, 
          and are repetitive from time to time. I know it's hard on the game makers, 
          but the first time you hear a phrase repeated tends to be the time the 
          illusion is lost. The same can be said to an even higher degree, of 
          the lack of different NPC models used in the game; there are only a 
          few scientists and a <i>single</i> security officer (AKA Barney) model. 
          Considering the large number of times you come across scientists and 
          security guys in the game, this lack of variety seems to have been a 
          large oversight and seriously ruins the overall effect.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">When the NPC talk, their 
          lips actually move in time with the spoken lines, and they will turn 
          their heads to look at you as you walk around. Nice touches, and hopefully 
          the sort of details we'll be seeing more and more of in the future. 
          </font></p>
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    <td><i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-2"><b>Credits:</b> 
      Bargain Bin logo illustrated and is &copy; 1998 Dan Zalkus. This edition 
      of Top Shelf is &copy; 1998 Rowan Crawford. All other content is &copy; 
      1998 <a target="_self" href="http://www.loonyboi.com">loonyboi productions</a>. 
      Unauthorized reproduction is a majorly hostile gesture.</font></i></td>
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