MINERVA: Episodic, Single-Player Half-Life 2

Referencing City 44's Downfall -

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Sanjuro357's gravatar

1. Last photo

Posted by Sanjuro357 at 5:31AM, Thursday November 22 2007

I especially like the last photo. I can just imagine a few headcrabs waiting in ambush amongst the rubble and maybe one of those large zombies that carry and throw the poisonous headcrabs at you.

Nice photos, did you take them Adam?

Yar Kramer's gravatar

2. Heh, yeah

Posted by Yar Kramer at 7:31AM, Thursday November 22 2007

In all but the first one, I can practically hear the combine soldiers running around, though yea, the last one does look rather ... Ravenholmed.

MrHappy's gravatar

3. So that's where we're going?

Posted by MrHappy at 8:41AM, Thursday November 22 2007

I've been shamefully absent from this blog for a while now, so please, have mercy on me for stating the seemingly obvious, but Out of Time takes place during the uprising in City 44?

Or perhaps this particular entry has nothing at all to do with the beloved mod.

Sortie's gravatar

4. liek hai2u

Posted by Sortie at 12:24PM, Thursday November 22 2007

The photographs seem rather british to me, or is it just some slum areas of Bruxelles? City 44 is also the highest number I'm yet to hear, I'm at 12 myself. I kinda wish Valve published more information about the numbers of cities available.
As usually, this could fit well for the OOT sequel, but needs some snow. Since it's pretty obivious that Metastasis took place in the authum, I think OOT will take place a few months later, or just in a town long up north, but that wouldn't maybe fit with the photo referances?

Well good to see you're alive, I'm still yet to be able to contact you over our beloved Steam to do that casual 'Hi'.

kast's gravatar

5. comments

Posted by kast at 1:45PM, Thursday November 22 2007

Sortie said: "I kinda wish Valve published more information about the numbers of cities available."

Valve are very averse to letting on anything about their world not contained within an imminent release because, as I understand it, they simply aren't sure what's in it. The entire Half-Life universe is so fluid and open that they're free to do what they like in future games and other media. They found a similar problem after releasing the Episode Two trailer - people had different expectations from the finished version and Valve felt constricted by what they'd done.

Pic 1 - I can imagine that near the City 17 trainstation. It suits the more central, more patrolled regions of the city.

Pic 4 - That door, those fuse boxes, that window... the whole ensable looks like something straight out of the game.

Overall, I wouldn't have been surprised to find any of those photos in Raising the Bar. Which reminds me - I'm wondering if Valve plans to make another concept art book after Episode 3 is released. I hope so. Maybe after Half-Life 3 (I'm sure there will be a H-L3. Certain of it)

Becky (Rebecca)'s gravatar

6. Photos and HL3

Posted by Becky (Rebecca) at 2:06PM, Thursday November 22 2007

I don't think they have been taken in the UK, what eerie photos though.

If there is a HL3, what do you think will happen to Mr Freeman or Alex for that matter in Episode 3? I'd like to hear some speculation...I have my own theories of course but I wonder what others think or know. Do you think they will continue along the same theme?

locworks's gravatar

7. HL3

Posted by locworks at 2:18PM, Thursday November 22 2007

An arguably better place to speculate:
http://www.hylobatidae.org/minerva/forum/viewtopic.php?t=178

It's warmer, has message editing functions and it seems that the grammar police has been less ruthless lately...

Becky's gravatar

8. HL3

Posted by Becky at 2:37PM, Thursday November 22 2007

Was my grammer bad then?

I'll be off then...

fuzz's gravatar

9. UK

Posted by fuzz at 4:48PM, Thursday November 22 2007

The first one isn't from the UK (based on the style of the sculpture, and mostly on the street sign), and the other ones probably aren't, but could be.

Procyon's gravatar

10. How do I configure my router to work with steam?

Posted by Procyon at 4:49PM, Thursday November 22 2007

Steam doesn't connect to internet, and probably is due to this problem...

http://support.steampowered.com/cgi-...hp?p_faqid=246

I have the manual, but I don't know exactly what must I do... I tried using PFConfig, but it doesn't work, because it doesn't has the model I have (ASUS Wireless Router WL-500G Deluxe)


Steam worked fine 2 months ago ( the router is more than 1 year old), and I haven't used it since then.

locworks's gravatar

11. OT: Tech support

Posted by locworks at 5:04PM, Thursday November 22 2007

Procyon, you'll be better off asking on the Minerva forum or, even better, on a general tech forum.

Sortie's gravatar

12. Re: How do I configure my router to work with steam?

Posted by Sortie at 10:10PM, Thursday November 22 2007

Since my work on the Support Wiki, I know the newer Linksys firmware has known issues with Steam. Since you are not using Linksys please disregard this message.

Yar Kramer's gravatar

13. City 44?

Posted by Yar Kramer at 12:36AM, Friday November 23 2007

I may have missed it. Where *is* City 44 referenced?

U-Mu-La-Mah-Ri's gravatar

14. Hmm

Posted by U-Mu-La-Mah-Ri at 2:26AM, Friday November 23 2007

The second picture just SCREAMS to me.

I picture several rebel citizens lined up against the wall, and a combine firing squad ready to do the dirty work, when our good bastard Perseus storms in and crowbars some skulls open

Procyon's gravatar

15. Solution... is perseverance

Posted by Procyon at 2:41AM, Friday November 23 2007

I reinstalled steam, but the updating percentage went to 30% and then it crashed... and then I restarted steam. Every time it restarted, a bit % was updated. I was doing that the entire day, until I got the 100%...

Now I'm loading HL2: Ep 1 &2 and portal.
I have only 2 days to play portal, ep2 and minerva.....

finally I will be able to play them!!!

Captain Planet!'s gravatar

16. wow

Posted by Captain Planet! at 5:24AM, Friday November 23 2007

That first picture is just awesome, that very iconic yet aged statue really strikes me as something we'd see in the Half-Life universe.

The last one feels like Ravenholm, which could be cool with the snow environment Adam is doing for OoT.

Nesretep's gravatar

17. Interesting...

Posted by Nesretep at 5:34PM, Friday November 23 2007

Those photos definitely will make some great reference material for a city scene. I thought it a bit unusual that Adam made no comments, he usually says *something*...

U-Mu-La-Mah-Ri's gravatar

18. noticed

Posted by U-Mu-La-Mah-Ri at 7:14PM, Friday November 23 2007

anyone notice Adam's name in the last picture?

Naurgul's gravatar

19. Familiar

Posted by Naurgul at 11:46AM, Saturday November 24 2007

Strangely, these photographs strike me more as familiar than eerie. It's probably because there are lots of places like these where I live. By the way, nice work, as always, Adam. Where is this place, really?

Elyscape's gravatar

20. High res?

Posted by Elyscape at 6:23PM, Saturday November 24 2007

These photos are amazing. Would it be possible to get higher or full resolution versions? Please?

Ace's gravatar

21. Re: Familiar

Posted by Ace at 8:17PM, Saturday November 24 2007

I'd guess his comment here http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/?p=632#comments means it's Warsaw. Not sure why we didn't get that info here though.

U-Mu-La-Mah-Ri's gravatar

22. Sweet home....

Posted by U-Mu-La-Mah-Ri at 8:48PM, Saturday November 24 2007

somone make me a mod about Chicago, NOW!

locworks's gravatar

23. The Warsaw

Posted by locworks at 1:16PM, Monday November 26 2007

...pact of silence?

Sortie's gravatar

24. Re: Sweet home....

Posted by Sortie at 7:44PM, Monday November 26 2007

Sure. If I wasn't busy making my own city.

Vahagn's gravatar

25. Re: Familiar

Posted by Vahagn at 8:03PM, Monday November 26 2007

I also must say that I'm quite familiar with places like these. Which is a problem: sometimes I must watch my back, fearing there's a combine soldier, or some moaning zombie behind me...

Anyway, is it possible to post photos on the blog? Maybe Adam could find them useful for inspiration, even if I think he already figured out most of it, and needs (or wants) little help... who knows?

locworks's gravatar

26. Photo-matic

Posted by locworks at 8:36PM, Monday November 26 2007

Create a Flickr or a Picasa Web album and post the links/small previews to this topic on the forum. (or not.): http://www.hylobatidae.org/minerva/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1381#1381

vecima's gravatar

27. some very nice reference material

Posted by vecima at 9:53PM, Monday November 26 2007

Out of Time should prove quite a contrast in setting to Metastasis.

sorry to have neglected this site for so long, but i've been occupying all of my own time on hl2 mod related projects. good to see the regulars are still in tow.

Vahagn's gravatar

28. photo-frenzy

Posted by Vahagn at 9:55PM, Monday November 26 2007

Wow, good idea, I didn't expect so much! I'm going sightseeing tomorrow... Even if it is unneeded, I think it's going to be fun!

GreggVeka's gravatar

29. Warsaw

Posted by GreggVeka at 10:03PM, Monday November 26 2007

Yes, it's Warsaw. As you can see on the first photo we have: "Srodmiescie poludniowe, ulica Marszalkowska" which means Southern Dowtown, Marshal's Street. In the last photo we have an interesting grafiti - HWDP. It should CHWDP - "Chuj w dupe policy", which means in other, more polite words: "FUCK THE POLICE". Everyone knows that.

GreggVeka's gravatar

30. Another thing...

Posted by GreggVeka at 10:13PM, Monday November 26 2007

The name Adam does not mean anything, like we write on the school desks 'I love her'.

locworks's gravatar

31. Warsaw (cont.)

Posted by locworks at 12:22AM, Tuesday November 27 2007

Well spotted, GreggVeka. I'm glad finally someone took the time to analyze the pictures. (C)HWDP can be identified, even if you are not a native Pole. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HWDP.

Ace's gravatar

32. link

Posted by Ace at 1:40AM, Tuesday November 27 2007

Watch out for periods at the end of url's there locworks:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HWDP

Cargo Cult's gravatar

33. What it actually stands for ...

Posted by Cargo Cult at 10:18AM, Tuesday November 27 2007

... is 'verisimilitude'.

I still think it's referring to Civil Protection.

kast's gravatar

34. What it's missing...

Posted by kast at 1:22PM, Tuesday November 27 2007

The last location needs a resistance sign sprayed on it. Lambda, 'born' hand or the Combine and baby combination.

locworks's gravatar

35. Spraying signs...

Posted by locworks at 3:49PM, Tuesday November 27 2007

...on a territory claimed by some of the fiercest football supporters in Poland? I don't think so.

Nesretep's gravatar

36. Re: Spraying signs...

Posted by Nesretep at 6:29PM, Tuesday November 27 2007

One could always photoshop a sign on the wall...

Yar Kramer's gravatar

37. Or!

Posted by Yar Kramer at 7:29PM, Tuesday November 27 2007

Make a level based on that and add the signs yourself! ;)

Sortie's gravatar

38. Or!

Posted by Sortie at 7:38PM, Tuesday November 27 2007

Do nothing at all, and wait until the real invasion. Then the football 'fans' wouldn't complain if you drew then real-life, but uploading the pictures would be rather complicated.

Phil's gravatar

39. heh

Posted by Phil at 2:33AM, Wednesday November 28 2007

The first picture is a couple of hundred meters from my local pub :-)

Damn you for not meeting me for beers!

GreggVeka's gravatar

40. Replies

Posted by GreggVeka at 10:32AM, Wednesday November 28 2007

It's always a good thing to find out that your own place will be used in some kind of a project, locworks. But I never thought that someone would explain to the world, what HWDP is. It's amazing, but also odd. "fiercest football supporters" - where did you hear that? :-).

locworks's gravatar

41. Footie

Posted by locworks at 12:19PM, Wednesday November 28 2007

See http://www.hylobatidae.org/minerva/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1394&highlight=#1394

Let's take the footie thing to the relative safety forum, shall we?

Nesretep's gravatar

42. Reference numbers

Posted by Nesretep at 6:05PM, Friday November 30 2007

I just noticed the alt tag information on those pictures Adam took. Adam: Did you really take *that many* pictures?

Cargo Cult's gravatar

43. Not *that* many...

Posted by Cargo Cult at 6:47PM, Friday November 30 2007

It's actually the image counter on my camera, which I've had for nearly two years. I think I'm past 12,000 photos since spring 2002, when I got my first digital camera - which isn't all that many, relatively speaking.

Warsaw was about 500 photos. Including a couple of a terrifying monster!

Sortie's gravatar

44. 0 hours of Source SDK? Blasphemy!

Posted by Sortie at 9:16PM, Friday November 30 2007

Hey Cargo person. Been trying to say Hi to you via Steam for almost a month now, last attempt made you permanently offline to me. According to your profile however, you're online now featuring 0 hours of SDK.

So. Either accept me or decline me, or alternatively join that group chat thingey you once founded.

bai2u

Ace's gravatar

45. Sortie...

Posted by Ace at 11:43PM, Friday November 30 2007

http://www.stalkingbehavior.com/
think, contemplate, reflect.

Sortie's gravatar

46. Re: Ace...

Posted by Sortie at 2:21PM, Saturday December 1 2007

When your SDK crashes with a DX9::Present() bug and it refuses to start again, TF2 gives the same error, you're forced to reboot, just to discovered that your HL2 copy is corrupted and disabled SDK, and no content servers is willing to help you out. What's left than the stalking behavoir. :P

Sanjuro357's gravatar

47. Think, contemplate, reflect....

Posted by Sanjuro357 at 12:42AM, Sunday December 2 2007

"In other words, a stalker who harbors delusions that the victim is in love with him performs behaviors that are often similar to an ex-partner who seeks revenge for being rejected."

Cargo Cult's gravatar

48. Oi

Posted by Cargo Cult at 1:24AM, Sunday December 2 2007

I think the stalking going on is my continued playing of the gratuitously-punctuated S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - yes, I am bleddy difficult to get hold of, and frequently forget to reply to emails... ;-)

Sortie: every time I start Steam, I'm confronted with half a billion friends requests things, and I'm too soft to say no to anyone. But I haven't plucked up the courage to say yes to many either.

Please, nobody take offence if I have a cull - and be reminded that email is probably a better way of contacting me!

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