Is Cinematic Mod for HL2 series worth it?

nintari

[H]ard|Gawd
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Since I got my Samsung S23A750D I have been going back and playing through some of my games, Half-Life 2 (and episodes) being one of them. The 3D adds quitte a bit and I am loving it, but I recently remembered there was a Cinematic Mod for this series and was wondering what others opinions are on it before I start the massive upload.

Looking at some of the videos and screenshots out there I get mixed feelings about it. Some of it looks great... other pieces look... well...off to me.

But then other clips and screenshots alex looks either jacked up, or like a completely different person... It seems kinda like watching a TV Show or Movie and the next series they fired all the actors and got new people lol, so you just feel kinda alienated. I don't know... just getting others opinions before I do this massive download and go start messing things up lol.
 
Some of the textures are really amazing, but many times the character models seem over done and too high of a contrast. Then there are the Alyx models...where they shave off 45 pounds, add said 45 pounds to her chest, and she looks like her spine and ribcage would collapse under the weight. Then add about 2 inches of clothing distributed over her body, and it just looks wrong.

I did a replay through with cinematic mod, years ago, so perhaps it's gotten better.
 
the cinematic mod makes it look like trash.

I admire the guys effort, but he should of kept it looking closer to the original textures. As you mentioned, Alex and most of the NPC's look really bad. The original textures still look petty good IMO, especially with all the eye candy turned up.
 
It looks OK but I agree, they really make Alex look trashy and you kinda feel bad for the guy who is so pathetic to get off on that sorta thing. You could probably find some videos on Youtube.
 
Keep in mind there are 11 different versions of the Cinematic Mod. You can pick which one you like most, or if you sniff through the forums you can find out how to mix and match. I happen to like Cinematic Mod, and am quite impressed that one man did this. I don't think he is pathetic at all.
 
If I remember correctly the Alex model is entirely optional.

I think there are different kinds too, some being more faithful to original? Never installed the cinematic mod though so I am not sure, just checked it out quickly...
 
Keep in mind there are 11 different versions of the Cinematic Mod. You can pick which one you like most, or if you sniff through the forums you can find out how to mix and match. I happen to like Cinematic Mod, and am quite impressed that one man did this. I don't think he is pathetic at all.

If I remember correctly the Alex model is entirely optional.

Yes you can also mix and match which is definitely a strength of the mod.
 
lol @ people bashing this guy.

he made the game look 100x better in his spare time, for no money, and released it for free to the public.

If someone gave some of you a sack of gold, you would complain that it is too heavy. Get a grip
 
Not bashing him, just an honest assessment of the work. The majority of the non player model textures are very good. However, (and again this was at least a few years ago) his player models needed a lot of work. Their textures were too "sharp" and unnatural looking, and the hi-res textures he used actually highlighted it even further making the "mistakes" even more glaring.
 
My biggest problem with CM is LIGHT.

Or rather levels of light and darkness, which are way off.
And no amount of fiddling with monitor/driver/in-game gamma brightness can fix this.

It's not game braking, but it bothers me enough to be pissed about it.
 
Many people have brought up the character models already... it's not like it's an unaddressed thing. He's simply said if you don't like it don't use it, which is his right. (at least in the past, I haven't followed it recently)

I'm not a fan of the character models either... especially Alyx. I'm also not really a fan of the music that was added. The environment upgrades are very nice though... and really there's no harm in trying it. You either like it or you don't. It is free afterall.
 
I wasn't crazy about some of the default music in half life 2 anyway lol
 
I wasn't crazy about some of the default music in half life 2 anyway lol
Yeah it was hit or miss for me. A couple of the tracks were really good though. I'm happy that Kelly Bailey left Valve, as the new guy did an awesome job with the Portal 2 soundtrack.
 
well I started downloading it last night (10.90) and will give it a try. I may not use the character mods.. I dunno, might play and look might not do a thing with them.
 
just now getting around to installing this.... man it is taking for freaking ever (this is on a secondary RAID 0 two 7200 RPM 1TB drivesin RAID 0 )
 
Can't hurt to try it.
Last version I played was 10, and it really spruced up the environment. Sometimes too much though. In places, it lost the eastern Europe 20 years after a cataclysm feel that the vanilla HL2 portrayed so well imho.

The character pimper let me choose the ep2 models, which were basically just higher res versions of the hl2 models.
I thought the slut versions of Alex were kind of cool myself. Good for a laugh at least. Inappropriate clothing and guns are always cool imho. Bikinis and bayonets, thongs and thump guns, and the outrageously sexy, lingerie and laser sights. lol....
 
lol @ people bashing this guy.

he made the game look 100x better in his spare time, for no money, and released it for free to the public.

If someone gave some of you a sack of gold, you would complain that it is too heavy. Get a grip

I wish that there were a clapping smiley. I completely agree with you. Not only did he do this mod for free but spent quite a bit of money making this mod. I think that it looks great. I just use the Valve models which I'm pretty sure have been enhanced as well(its been a while since I last played vanilla HL2) and remove the gameplay tweaks. You can even remove the music, but I like what he did there.

I really like the cinematic mod, I think that it makes the game look as good as anything out there.
 
Finally DL'd all of it. Works like a charm. Great update. Now off to DL the Morrowind update. Interestingly, Part 2 has DL'd before part 1.
 
so far I do like some aspects of the mod, it does add to the game. However I cant play the game in 3D now even though I created a new profile.

The charecter models I'll skip on though, they are too different from the originals :( Don;t get me wrong I love me some adriana lima and all but.... it just feels wrong :D
 
so far I do like some aspects of the mod, it does add to the game. However I cant play the game in 3D now even though I created a new profile.

Yeah, this mod relies on HDR which doesn't work properly in 3d with HL2 sadly. I would love to use this mod in 3d too.

:(
I thought he added in a few alternate models at some point?

There is as has been stated several times in this thread.
 
I enjoyed CM10, some of the gun models were overdone but overall the textures and npcs were higher rez.
 
Cinematic Mod was great until they started making the female models look slutty and whore'ish and going overboard. It went from simply being an "upgrade" of Half-Life 2 graphics and models to sort of being a stupid thing of its own.
 
Cinematic Mod was great until they started making the female models look slutty and whore'ish and going overboard. It went from simply being an "upgrade" of Half-Life 2 graphics and models to sort of being a stupid thing of its own.

OMG, YOU CAN USE THE FUCKING VALVE MODELS FOR THIS MOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Do some research before you post or at least try the fucking mod.
 
Does anyone know if you can use this mod with Synergy Co-op or another co-op mod?
 
Was it part of the mod that made Highway 17 or whatever it's called a night map? If so, that's my least favorite part of the mod. I never get eye strain but trying to see in the dark for that long and with the shitty friggen battery on the flashlight gave me a big headache. Other than that and the avoidable character models, it's a good upgrade if you feel like the game could use it.
 
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