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Torgo
2[H]4U
- Joined
- Oct 16, 2002
- Messages
- 3,149
Previous Parts:
Part I
Part II
Up until this point in the game, the action has mostly been narrative. A bit of action has been thrown in, but the game takes a sudden turn when Route Kanal begins. This third part in a series of game design breakdowns analyzes some design decisions in making this transitions and gives the reader a chance to gain some insight in some of the decisions made in making a AAA game title. As in my previous posts, I'm not a clairivoyent by any means and any observations made are based on my own experience working in the game industry and my gut feel as a player.
The majority of "A Red Letter Day" is exposition explaining the final details of the functionality of the game engine, explain some minor details to the plot and finally send the player packing on to his first official mission. In this area, you'll notice that a lot of detail is given to manipulating objects such as switches and plugs, as well as the basic functionality of the HEV suit. More on that in a second.
When entering the clandestine laboratory, you are greeting by Dr. Kleiner and his pet headcrab Lamar. The use of Dr. Kleiner is important because it gives the player a tie to the previous game. The main difference between the good Doctor and Barney is that the Doctor is a continuation of the character where as Barney is a reinvention. Barney was just a generic drone (or several of them actually) used as a tool. Dr. Kleiner always had personality and was a true character. Note that Valve used the same voice actor for the part. Continuity is always important in design. Players like familiarity; sounds and voices are a part of that.
For the most part, Dr. Kleiner and Lamar are used as a comic foil. They are essentialy the R2D2 and C3PO of the game. I mean that in a good way, because they don't end up being annoying like Jar Jar Binks. Comedy is important in a game. It can be dark or lighthearted. It's important not to carry a joke too far to a point where you just want to throw a brick at the monitor. As they say, less is more.
In this section, scripting is probably at it's best. Sadly it's not used enough. Throughout these next two rooms, there are little hotspots that trigger comments by Dr. Kleiner. Wander over to a picture and Dr. Kleiner comments about it. Wander by some machinery and you'll have Alyx or Barney mention something about it. This allows the game to have this illusion that it's "aware" of everything you do. It also keeps the prop sustained that Gordon doesn't talk. Also, all the bits and pieces here are active. It's like a tiny playground to have recess in.
The designers made it this way on purpose. Several puzzles rely on the gamer to understand how items work in the world in order to solve them. Recharging your HEV suit is one of them. You can't assume that everyone knows what they look like or how to operate them. Of course, Valve could have writen an instruction manual to explain it (and they should) but in-game practice is the best way to learn. There's also a situation where plugs and cables are explained on how they plug in or out providing power to items. Very essential to learn for later in the game. Flip a switch and things work. Ah, now we're ready to move on in the game.
Well, not quite. Let me quickly get into the HEV suit and game design surrounding it. When you first dawn the suit, I admit I got a sly grin on my face. Why? The suit is symbolic of the entire game. Without the suit, Gordon is a ordinary scientist geek. He's just Clark Kent. Put on a HEV suit that resists all but the strongest of radiations and headcrabs and you've got SuperGordon. Gordon is the ONLY thing that's orange and black. The suit is Half-Life 2.
Notice when you put on the suit you immediately hear the Valve jingle. They chose this music for two reasons. First, it's Valve's theme song. They're not about to use a Vivendi jingle or some other sound. They want the suit and game and everything about it to ring "Valve" in your head. For developers, this is part of the turf war. There's always gamesmanship going on between the publisher and developer. When I worked at Ensemble Studios, we were the only developer to get our name on the front of the Microsoft box. Next time you go to the game store, look at the front of the box and see how many developer names are on the front. Not many. Only the big guns can do it, and not every publisher allows it. EA is not one of them. The jingle is part of the larger game.
Secondly, the sound was chosen because you hear it at the beginning of any Half-Life game. Once you've received the suit, it's symbolic that the "game is now on". One of the few times you see your hands do anything other than holding a gun is putting on the suit. You stretch your fingers, feeling the power coming back to you. Yeah, you're ready to go kick some ass at this point.
From this point, the game unfortunately begins to become predictable. You don't need a Magic 8 Ball or Ouiji board to know that Lamar getting into the airducts and you going second through the transporter is going to end up not going according to plan. When trying to go for the unexpected, don't telegraph it. Cliche is an easy trap to fall into. I'll try and point out some of the bigger ones as I go along.
We're at the point where in the game the Lamar causes the transporter to fail. As with any transporter that fails, like in the first game, you are wisked away to different parts of the universe before your signal is finally stablized. This is also known as a "sneak preview" for the gamer. You're totally meant to see these things flashing before you as a precursor of the action to come. You're here, there, taking mental notes of "Wow, I can't wait to go there!" and "Oh, that looks hard". If you ever decide to use this technique, be careful on how you do it. Reveal too much and you spoil the plot line. For instance, you appear in the office of Dr. Breem. Gee? Think I'll end up in his office at the end of the game? You bet. If you want the player to be in the dark, don't show him anything. Personally, this is the second time in as many games this has happened. I can only imagine that it'll happen yet a third time in the next sequel. Star Trek has enough episodes surrounding failing transporters as it is. (Two weeks ago in fact was one.)
Once you're signal has been stablized you find yourself outside and wander over to the side of the building. Barney greets you and throws a old friend to you: the crowbar. He saved it for you from the first game. Two nitpicks. First, Barney, couldn't you have thrown me a gun as well? Gee, thanks. But how in Sam Hill did he get it since in the last game, I had the darn thing with me the entire game until the end when I stepped in the tram car with The G-Man? Whatever. The crowbar is a nice throwback to the old game. It's the one unique weapon that the game HAS to have. Doom has the chainsaw, Quake the railgun, Unreal has the uh... whatever. Half-Life has the crowbar. Able to pry open a crate and a skull with a clever swing. Note you never really crow or pry anything with it. Just swing it and bash things. It's really more of an ax. The point I'm trying to make is, every game has a signature weapon. When designing your own original game, come up with your signature weapon. It has to be original or used in a novel way. It doesn't have to be all powerful, but be used in a way that identifies with your game.
Now comes the action. Weapon in hand, you charge the evil wooden planks stopping you from going forward. Yeah, steel feels good in your hand. There's no real reason for the planks to be here other than quickly teaching the player that wood can be broken and you use the crowbar to do it. Seriously, you'd be surprised at some players who can't figure that out. Better to do it before the Combine soldiers start coming at you.
Too late, already they start attacking. This is the first glimpse of the AI in action. While they aren't the smartest recruits in the Combine yet, they're fun to watch. They do try to run and gain position on you and try to stay behind cover. One thing they don't do is press an attack against you.
Quick note about game AI. Most of the time, it cheats. It cheats big time. The simple reason why is that there are few good AI programmers out there. It's easier to program the all-knowing AI rather than do a good one. An all-knowing AI will know how much health you have, how much ammo you have and where you are located at all times. The AI will know when you're reloading and pick that time to attack. Once spotted you can never hide. It also knows that charging you when you're down to 10% health is the best time to attack. They also have perfect aim.
An educated AI is different. They make reasonable decisions based on what they see. They're much harder to program because they have a large decision tree and it does suck up some CPU time. Valve does a fairly good job with the Combine AI. The tend to be a bit timid, but they do fairly well to avoid your fire. The one point of realism that they fail on is unlimited ammo. That "feature" is there to avoid a passive stance by the player. Staying put until the enemy runs out of ammo then running up and putting a hole in his chest from three feet away. Remember, when designing a game that hyper-realism isn't all that fun. You need to take some liberties with reality to ensure a game remains enjoyable.
Let me stop down and make one quick art comment. One of the reasons that the Combine soldier is so great is that they are all generic. They're the anti-stormtrooper; all black and anonymous. Wait, why is this a good thing? Put yourself in the shoes of the art director when first learning about these guys. Gabe Newell has a twinkie in one hand and a pen in the other writing out what these guys are doing. "Yeah, they're everywhere and run everything. Hundreds of these guys! (munch munch) They're all dressed in black and have these cool weapons." The art director is sinking in his seat thinking, "How am I going to make all these guys? Are they all white guys? Maybe a latino or two? Any females in the bunch?" And then Gabe says, "Yeah, and they all were these cool (munch) black gas masks! Yeah, and maybe the eyes glow in the dark or something. They all talk through a radio and..." The art director smiles because he doesn't have to make a face for these folks.
Yes. The great thing about the Combine is that they don't have a face. Facial features are the hardest thing for an artist to create. Our brains are hardwired to recognize faces. We know instantly when a face doesn't look right. Even when we cheat by mapping scanned facial textures into a machine, we still know that something just ain't right. Slap a gas mask on that guy and you've got hundred of thousands of faceless minions! Suddenly, the art department sighs a breath of relief. Instead they have to work on the handful of rebel soldiers which do require faces. Always a bit weird when later in the game as in "Follow Freeman!" you end up with a set of triplets helping you. Not only does the Combine look great and dark with their outfit, but it also solves the problem of coming up with hundreds of facial models. Remember that next time you have a game with faceless minions. They're that way on purpose.
Continuing on, the player is dodging bullets going through a train yard. One thing you should remember is that when you put locations or objects in your game that you should be familiar with those items you're putting in the game. You should have at least an idea of how a trainyard or switchyard works. There's going to be someone (maybe like me) who knows more about the subject than you and will nitpick something to death. It's usually pretty easy to justify a decision by stating, "For gameplay purposes and for fun, it's better that we do it this way." That isn't always the case as some game makers have found out. When making Age of Empires, we had to be careful when creating our civilizations. One mistake could cause your game to be banned in a country for offending them. (Yes, this happened. Long story I'll share later.)
When it comes to trains, Valve is pretty good at making boxcars. It's fairly hard to screw them up. As a puzzle element, they tend to be pretty simple. Open door. Find ladder, climb up. Jump from one to the next. At this point, it's pretty evident that the game is very linear in nature. There's only one direction to go and the path is fairly evident. If ever lost, just look for the Lambda symbol.
I was going to save this for the next part, but I'll include the design thoughts around the use of the symbol and wrap up part III. I'd rather end on a good note rather than continue on to the disappointment that Route Kanal ended being . (That's called foreshadowing folks. Part IV will be a bit more critical than I have before.) The use of the Lambda symbol has origins in the past. Now, I'm not talking about it's use for gay pride, but I'm referring to the use of symbols to mark territory, safe haven or passage. Since biblical times, symbols have been carved into walls and caves marking areas safe to sleep or marking a place to find water or supplies. In modern American history, the Underground Railroad used quilts to signal safe places. In Ohio where I once lived, there was a house down the block that was part of the Railroad. In large cities, you can find signs of warchalking, areas marked that have a wireless hot spot available for people to use. You just need to know what to look for.
Gangs mark their area with graffiti. Neighborhoods mark their area with walled sections with large signs stating "Green Terrace" or "Rosewood Estates". Hungry? Just look for the Golden Arches. When I lived in Turin, Italy I was "friends" with the crazy guy that spraypainted "Zeus, Ti Vede". It included the all-seeing eye, the triangle with the eye in the middle. The guy really was crazy and called himself Zeus and he painted it everywhere so he could keep tabs on the city by using the eye. I only tell that to show you that symbols come in all sizes and types, but they hold significance to those that know the meaning.
In Half-Life 2, the Lambda symbol is used as a symbol of the first game (the Lambda Complex) and as a symbol of hope and of Gordon. Much like the ancient Christians used symbols symbolizing Christ and a safe haven, the rebels have used the Lambda symbol as a place to resupply and as a reminder of the apparent savior that is Gordon Freeman. In fact, Gordon is perhaps the last "Free Man" as noted in Dr. Breem's speech later on.
From a design standpoint, the player can instantly recognize the symbol and it's meaning... that is if you played the first game. You might catch on if you've never played the first game by realizing that the symbol is used on the cover of the game and every friggin' game menu. As the game wears on, you'll see the symbol increasingly and soon the player will make a beeline for the symbol knowing that the direction to go is towards the sign because the exit lies ahead or a crate with supplies is available. It's these visible clues that give direction to the player rather than have a big flashing sign or radar signal saying "Hey stupid! This way!" It's rather subtle and makes the player feel good because he assumes that he found it on his own and in charge of his destiny. That feeling of control is good to have with the player. Only take away that sense of control when you really want to sock it to him hard.
It did occur to me that the darn things are so obvious that Dr. Breen must need Laservision correction to not notice them. If you spray something in yellow paint and do it in a 2' x 2' square section, someone is bound to notice. It does become a plot hole, but a necessary one. The designers had to go with a large symbol so the player could quickly see where to go. Make it too small and the player spends too much time looking for the darn thing rather than killing Combine soldiers. It's big so the player can see it easily and get on with the game. If you were going for realism, the player would need to know ahead of time the general area of the symbol so he could look for it. This was a necessary choice. Remember, designing a game means making sacrifices in realism to have a fun game.
It's late. I hope you've enjoyed Part III. Part IV will be out in a few days and I'll cover Route Kanal in greater detail and Water Hazard. I'll be tough on it since I found this the low point of the entire game. Want to know why? You'll just have to wait.
Part I
Part II
Up until this point in the game, the action has mostly been narrative. A bit of action has been thrown in, but the game takes a sudden turn when Route Kanal begins. This third part in a series of game design breakdowns analyzes some design decisions in making this transitions and gives the reader a chance to gain some insight in some of the decisions made in making a AAA game title. As in my previous posts, I'm not a clairivoyent by any means and any observations made are based on my own experience working in the game industry and my gut feel as a player.
The majority of "A Red Letter Day" is exposition explaining the final details of the functionality of the game engine, explain some minor details to the plot and finally send the player packing on to his first official mission. In this area, you'll notice that a lot of detail is given to manipulating objects such as switches and plugs, as well as the basic functionality of the HEV suit. More on that in a second.
When entering the clandestine laboratory, you are greeting by Dr. Kleiner and his pet headcrab Lamar. The use of Dr. Kleiner is important because it gives the player a tie to the previous game. The main difference between the good Doctor and Barney is that the Doctor is a continuation of the character where as Barney is a reinvention. Barney was just a generic drone (or several of them actually) used as a tool. Dr. Kleiner always had personality and was a true character. Note that Valve used the same voice actor for the part. Continuity is always important in design. Players like familiarity; sounds and voices are a part of that.
For the most part, Dr. Kleiner and Lamar are used as a comic foil. They are essentialy the R2D2 and C3PO of the game. I mean that in a good way, because they don't end up being annoying like Jar Jar Binks. Comedy is important in a game. It can be dark or lighthearted. It's important not to carry a joke too far to a point where you just want to throw a brick at the monitor. As they say, less is more.
In this section, scripting is probably at it's best. Sadly it's not used enough. Throughout these next two rooms, there are little hotspots that trigger comments by Dr. Kleiner. Wander over to a picture and Dr. Kleiner comments about it. Wander by some machinery and you'll have Alyx or Barney mention something about it. This allows the game to have this illusion that it's "aware" of everything you do. It also keeps the prop sustained that Gordon doesn't talk. Also, all the bits and pieces here are active. It's like a tiny playground to have recess in.
The designers made it this way on purpose. Several puzzles rely on the gamer to understand how items work in the world in order to solve them. Recharging your HEV suit is one of them. You can't assume that everyone knows what they look like or how to operate them. Of course, Valve could have writen an instruction manual to explain it (and they should) but in-game practice is the best way to learn. There's also a situation where plugs and cables are explained on how they plug in or out providing power to items. Very essential to learn for later in the game. Flip a switch and things work. Ah, now we're ready to move on in the game.
Well, not quite. Let me quickly get into the HEV suit and game design surrounding it. When you first dawn the suit, I admit I got a sly grin on my face. Why? The suit is symbolic of the entire game. Without the suit, Gordon is a ordinary scientist geek. He's just Clark Kent. Put on a HEV suit that resists all but the strongest of radiations and headcrabs and you've got SuperGordon. Gordon is the ONLY thing that's orange and black. The suit is Half-Life 2.
Notice when you put on the suit you immediately hear the Valve jingle. They chose this music for two reasons. First, it's Valve's theme song. They're not about to use a Vivendi jingle or some other sound. They want the suit and game and everything about it to ring "Valve" in your head. For developers, this is part of the turf war. There's always gamesmanship going on between the publisher and developer. When I worked at Ensemble Studios, we were the only developer to get our name on the front of the Microsoft box. Next time you go to the game store, look at the front of the box and see how many developer names are on the front. Not many. Only the big guns can do it, and not every publisher allows it. EA is not one of them. The jingle is part of the larger game.
Secondly, the sound was chosen because you hear it at the beginning of any Half-Life game. Once you've received the suit, it's symbolic that the "game is now on". One of the few times you see your hands do anything other than holding a gun is putting on the suit. You stretch your fingers, feeling the power coming back to you. Yeah, you're ready to go kick some ass at this point.
From this point, the game unfortunately begins to become predictable. You don't need a Magic 8 Ball or Ouiji board to know that Lamar getting into the airducts and you going second through the transporter is going to end up not going according to plan. When trying to go for the unexpected, don't telegraph it. Cliche is an easy trap to fall into. I'll try and point out some of the bigger ones as I go along.
We're at the point where in the game the Lamar causes the transporter to fail. As with any transporter that fails, like in the first game, you are wisked away to different parts of the universe before your signal is finally stablized. This is also known as a "sneak preview" for the gamer. You're totally meant to see these things flashing before you as a precursor of the action to come. You're here, there, taking mental notes of "Wow, I can't wait to go there!" and "Oh, that looks hard". If you ever decide to use this technique, be careful on how you do it. Reveal too much and you spoil the plot line. For instance, you appear in the office of Dr. Breem. Gee? Think I'll end up in his office at the end of the game? You bet. If you want the player to be in the dark, don't show him anything. Personally, this is the second time in as many games this has happened. I can only imagine that it'll happen yet a third time in the next sequel. Star Trek has enough episodes surrounding failing transporters as it is. (Two weeks ago in fact was one.)
Once you're signal has been stablized you find yourself outside and wander over to the side of the building. Barney greets you and throws a old friend to you: the crowbar. He saved it for you from the first game. Two nitpicks. First, Barney, couldn't you have thrown me a gun as well? Gee, thanks. But how in Sam Hill did he get it since in the last game, I had the darn thing with me the entire game until the end when I stepped in the tram car with The G-Man? Whatever. The crowbar is a nice throwback to the old game. It's the one unique weapon that the game HAS to have. Doom has the chainsaw, Quake the railgun, Unreal has the uh... whatever. Half-Life has the crowbar. Able to pry open a crate and a skull with a clever swing. Note you never really crow or pry anything with it. Just swing it and bash things. It's really more of an ax. The point I'm trying to make is, every game has a signature weapon. When designing your own original game, come up with your signature weapon. It has to be original or used in a novel way. It doesn't have to be all powerful, but be used in a way that identifies with your game.
Now comes the action. Weapon in hand, you charge the evil wooden planks stopping you from going forward. Yeah, steel feels good in your hand. There's no real reason for the planks to be here other than quickly teaching the player that wood can be broken and you use the crowbar to do it. Seriously, you'd be surprised at some players who can't figure that out. Better to do it before the Combine soldiers start coming at you.
Too late, already they start attacking. This is the first glimpse of the AI in action. While they aren't the smartest recruits in the Combine yet, they're fun to watch. They do try to run and gain position on you and try to stay behind cover. One thing they don't do is press an attack against you.
Quick note about game AI. Most of the time, it cheats. It cheats big time. The simple reason why is that there are few good AI programmers out there. It's easier to program the all-knowing AI rather than do a good one. An all-knowing AI will know how much health you have, how much ammo you have and where you are located at all times. The AI will know when you're reloading and pick that time to attack. Once spotted you can never hide. It also knows that charging you when you're down to 10% health is the best time to attack. They also have perfect aim.
An educated AI is different. They make reasonable decisions based on what they see. They're much harder to program because they have a large decision tree and it does suck up some CPU time. Valve does a fairly good job with the Combine AI. The tend to be a bit timid, but they do fairly well to avoid your fire. The one point of realism that they fail on is unlimited ammo. That "feature" is there to avoid a passive stance by the player. Staying put until the enemy runs out of ammo then running up and putting a hole in his chest from three feet away. Remember, when designing a game that hyper-realism isn't all that fun. You need to take some liberties with reality to ensure a game remains enjoyable.
Let me stop down and make one quick art comment. One of the reasons that the Combine soldier is so great is that they are all generic. They're the anti-stormtrooper; all black and anonymous. Wait, why is this a good thing? Put yourself in the shoes of the art director when first learning about these guys. Gabe Newell has a twinkie in one hand and a pen in the other writing out what these guys are doing. "Yeah, they're everywhere and run everything. Hundreds of these guys! (munch munch) They're all dressed in black and have these cool weapons." The art director is sinking in his seat thinking, "How am I going to make all these guys? Are they all white guys? Maybe a latino or two? Any females in the bunch?" And then Gabe says, "Yeah, and they all were these cool (munch) black gas masks! Yeah, and maybe the eyes glow in the dark or something. They all talk through a radio and..." The art director smiles because he doesn't have to make a face for these folks.
Yes. The great thing about the Combine is that they don't have a face. Facial features are the hardest thing for an artist to create. Our brains are hardwired to recognize faces. We know instantly when a face doesn't look right. Even when we cheat by mapping scanned facial textures into a machine, we still know that something just ain't right. Slap a gas mask on that guy and you've got hundred of thousands of faceless minions! Suddenly, the art department sighs a breath of relief. Instead they have to work on the handful of rebel soldiers which do require faces. Always a bit weird when later in the game as in "Follow Freeman!" you end up with a set of triplets helping you. Not only does the Combine look great and dark with their outfit, but it also solves the problem of coming up with hundreds of facial models. Remember that next time you have a game with faceless minions. They're that way on purpose.
Continuing on, the player is dodging bullets going through a train yard. One thing you should remember is that when you put locations or objects in your game that you should be familiar with those items you're putting in the game. You should have at least an idea of how a trainyard or switchyard works. There's going to be someone (maybe like me) who knows more about the subject than you and will nitpick something to death. It's usually pretty easy to justify a decision by stating, "For gameplay purposes and for fun, it's better that we do it this way." That isn't always the case as some game makers have found out. When making Age of Empires, we had to be careful when creating our civilizations. One mistake could cause your game to be banned in a country for offending them. (Yes, this happened. Long story I'll share later.)
When it comes to trains, Valve is pretty good at making boxcars. It's fairly hard to screw them up. As a puzzle element, they tend to be pretty simple. Open door. Find ladder, climb up. Jump from one to the next. At this point, it's pretty evident that the game is very linear in nature. There's only one direction to go and the path is fairly evident. If ever lost, just look for the Lambda symbol.
I was going to save this for the next part, but I'll include the design thoughts around the use of the symbol and wrap up part III. I'd rather end on a good note rather than continue on to the disappointment that Route Kanal ended being . (That's called foreshadowing folks. Part IV will be a bit more critical than I have before.) The use of the Lambda symbol has origins in the past. Now, I'm not talking about it's use for gay pride, but I'm referring to the use of symbols to mark territory, safe haven or passage. Since biblical times, symbols have been carved into walls and caves marking areas safe to sleep or marking a place to find water or supplies. In modern American history, the Underground Railroad used quilts to signal safe places. In Ohio where I once lived, there was a house down the block that was part of the Railroad. In large cities, you can find signs of warchalking, areas marked that have a wireless hot spot available for people to use. You just need to know what to look for.
Gangs mark their area with graffiti. Neighborhoods mark their area with walled sections with large signs stating "Green Terrace" or "Rosewood Estates". Hungry? Just look for the Golden Arches. When I lived in Turin, Italy I was "friends" with the crazy guy that spraypainted "Zeus, Ti Vede". It included the all-seeing eye, the triangle with the eye in the middle. The guy really was crazy and called himself Zeus and he painted it everywhere so he could keep tabs on the city by using the eye. I only tell that to show you that symbols come in all sizes and types, but they hold significance to those that know the meaning.
In Half-Life 2, the Lambda symbol is used as a symbol of the first game (the Lambda Complex) and as a symbol of hope and of Gordon. Much like the ancient Christians used symbols symbolizing Christ and a safe haven, the rebels have used the Lambda symbol as a place to resupply and as a reminder of the apparent savior that is Gordon Freeman. In fact, Gordon is perhaps the last "Free Man" as noted in Dr. Breem's speech later on.
From a design standpoint, the player can instantly recognize the symbol and it's meaning... that is if you played the first game. You might catch on if you've never played the first game by realizing that the symbol is used on the cover of the game and every friggin' game menu. As the game wears on, you'll see the symbol increasingly and soon the player will make a beeline for the symbol knowing that the direction to go is towards the sign because the exit lies ahead or a crate with supplies is available. It's these visible clues that give direction to the player rather than have a big flashing sign or radar signal saying "Hey stupid! This way!" It's rather subtle and makes the player feel good because he assumes that he found it on his own and in charge of his destiny. That feeling of control is good to have with the player. Only take away that sense of control when you really want to sock it to him hard.
It did occur to me that the darn things are so obvious that Dr. Breen must need Laservision correction to not notice them. If you spray something in yellow paint and do it in a 2' x 2' square section, someone is bound to notice. It does become a plot hole, but a necessary one. The designers had to go with a large symbol so the player could quickly see where to go. Make it too small and the player spends too much time looking for the darn thing rather than killing Combine soldiers. It's big so the player can see it easily and get on with the game. If you were going for realism, the player would need to know ahead of time the general area of the symbol so he could look for it. This was a necessary choice. Remember, designing a game means making sacrifices in realism to have a fun game.
It's late. I hope you've enjoyed Part III. Part IV will be out in a few days and I'll cover Route Kanal in greater detail and Water Hazard. I'll be tough on it since I found this the low point of the entire game. Want to know why? You'll just have to wait.
