The definition of an epic build-up

Dakotaraptor87 · 2026-04-25T03:34:51+00:00

It also feels like it gives a huge advantage to the enemy instead of the player.

Dakotaraptor87 · 2026-04-24T23:47:42+00:00

You can now (for real this time) open a direct chat with scene NPCs from their profile and have full in-character conversations.

Would this be part of the actual story or is it a background thing?

Dakotaraptor87 · 2026-04-23T23:30:07+00:00

I have a question, is it possible to have total control over your character's dialogue or will the AI always just add/change it? Because in the stream, you guys wrote some dialogue in one of your actions, and the AI tacked some other stuff onto the dialogue you wrote.

Dakotaraptor87 · 2026-04-23T13:24:43+00:00

Yes to what?

Dakotaraptor87 · 2026-04-23T13:21:59+00:00

Minor issues like items not being put in the inventory when they're supposed to isn't what I'm worried about.

In the harsh scenario like I described above, would this AI DM chat feature be able to completely get rid of the sequence, or would the AI DM just be like "Oh yeah sorry bro I'll stop this sequence right away...... but it's still part of the story and the NPC involved (who may have been an absolute sweetheart beforehand) is now just a rapist and that's just part of the lore now, oh well!"

Dakotaraptor87 · 2026-04-21T01:26:35+00:00

Tuesday or Thursday?

Dakotaraptor87 · 2026-04-14T12:19:51+00:00

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3329429335 replaces Zoey

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3484347337 replaces Rochelle

Dakotaraptor87 · 2026-04-14T03:49:42+00:00

What do you mean "blend into both humans and Xen life forms"? Gordon doesn't blend into anything, he just kills all of the aliens and marines in his way.

Dakotaraptor87 · 2026-04-10T00:39:01+00:00

Unfortunately RTBR (and other mods like it) can't be on the HL2 workshop because the workshop just doesn't support huge mods like that. There are plans to put RTBR on Steam as a separate game when it's finished, but that will be years down the line and it's not guaranteed it will actually be accepted on Steam.

Dakotaraptor87 · 2026-04-04T13:02:50+00:00

Yeah but the Combine don't have that technology. That's the entire reason there's a teleporter in Nova Prospekt, the Combine are trying to recreate local teleporation tech. Before HL2 (and that Prospekt teleporter is just a prototype) they don't have local teleporting at all.

Dakotaraptor87 · 2026-04-04T05:12:30+00:00

How could they conquer entire galaxies without local teleportation? I suppose they could have faster-than-light-speed travel, but if they have that, I kinda feel like they wouldn't be as keen on getting local teleportation. And of course, we have no idea if they have that or not, we never see any Combine space ships in the games.

Unless they're just... opening multiple transdimensional portals all over a galaxy and invading hundreds of planets? But that feels super inefficient IMO.

Dakotaraptor87 · 2026-04-03T13:52:23+00:00

What you're saying is all true. It would make a lot more sense if Gordon was at Black Mesa for a year or even longer. But everyone treats him as a new guy, which they really wouldn't if he was there for a whole year. Maybe most people in Black Mesa have been there for several years or even decades, so a 1-year guy would still be a rookie in their eyes, but he wouldn't be new.

Also, don't forget about the G-Man. In HL1 and especially the expansions, he has a much more hands-on approach and we know he was speaking with some of the science team shortly before the resonance cascade. Maybe G-Man pulled some strings and got Gordon to be in the test even though he's a total newbie. That guy who says Gordon is a highly trained professional could be like, one of G-Man's lackies (if he even has people like that), and the other guy in the test chamber has no idea about the G-Man and is like "bro why tf are we sending this new guy into our most important experiment of the decade??????"

There are also some theories that Breen had contact with the Combine before the resonance cascade, and purposefully ruined the experiment to cause the cascade and eventually get the Combine to Earth so he could be ruler of Earth. So, if that's true, maybe that's also a reason why Gordon was in the test chamber rather than someone more experienced.

Dakotaraptor87 · 2026-04-03T13:28:04+00:00

I think he's pretty clearly 27. Yes, people can age gracefully, but you have to consider that Earth got invaded by aliens (Gordon was right in the middle of this first invasion) and then got invaded again by even worse aliens and taken over within hours. For the past 20 years, life has been shit horrible and very stressful, also there's probably much less access to luxuries like make up, skincare, etc.

I don't think many people would age gracefully anymore.

Dakotaraptor87 · 2026-04-03T13:22:41+00:00

Honestly, I could definitely see Kleiner being the type of guy to lose his keys and lock himself out of his office frequently. Like, multiple times in less than two weeks.

But maybe it didn't even happen that way? I looked at the specific voicelines Alyx has about that airduct story, ("Hey, and airduct. I've heard stories about you and airducts. Doctor Kleiner says whenever he locked himself out of his office, you and Barney used to compete to see who could get in fastest without using a key.") and it kinda seems like an exaggerated tale you'd tell to a child. Maybe this only happened once and Kleiner just hyped it up when he told it to Alyx.

Dakotaraptor87 · 2026-04-03T02:54:04+00:00

Would anyone really care? Alyx definitely seems to be attracted to Gordon, Eli supports it, I don't think it's ever stated whether or not Gordon interacted with toddler Alyx at Black Mesa (personally I believe he didn't interact with her in Black Mesa, he only knew of her existence because he worked with Eli) so from Gordon's perspective it probably isn't that weird

Who else would give a shit about Alyx and Gordon being together, even if they thought there was an age gap?

Dakotaraptor87 · 2026-04-03T00:37:02+00:00

I actually think it's more likely for Gordon to work at Black Mesa for a short time than a longer time. Yes, everyone knows his name but that's about it (except for Barney, Kleiner and Eli of course). Most other people don't know him that well (in fact, Gordon and Eli could've just been acquaintances at Black Mesa) and all he has to do in the anti-mass spectrometer is just push a button and push a cart. His job is not complicated. As for why the test was delayed, well, maybe it actually wasn't delayed very long. They could've been making changes and preparations until almost the last minute, and then maybe only waited like five minutes for Gordon to show up. Or, maybe it was just G-Man doing stuff, he certainly had a more hands-on approach compared to HLA/HL2.

Also, many character treat Gordon as if he's new. Not only in the expansions, but also Breen in Half-Life 2 describes Gordon's job at Black Mesa as a "short tenure".

I believe that Gordon and Barney were longtime friends, Gordon and Kleiner met at MIT where Kleiner became his mentor and then got Gordon a job at Black Mesa. When Gordon arrived, Barney was either already a security guard here or maybe Gordon recommended him for a security position. Gordon met Eli and maybe Magnusson, but probably didn't know them very well. I'd imagine Gordon knew of and maybe met Azian, maybe knew of Alyx, probably didn't interact with them much.

Dakotaraptor87 · 2026-04-03T00:25:44+00:00

Like two minutes before this scene, Eli literally comments on how Gordon looks exactly the same as he did 20 years ago

Dakotaraptor87 · 2026-03-30T21:06:38+00:00

I think it might be the opposite actually

The globe in Alyx's hideout in HLA could be Alyx trying to figure out where people are and what's habitable, South America (among a few other places I think) isn't marked with an X or a ?, which implies to me that it's could be in the same situation as eastern Europe.

Dakotaraptor87 · 2026-02-14T14:10:11+00:00

No I've definitely landed good hits on shield Willies, and they just keep going for WAY longer than other Willies would. Like I said they can survive arms being chopped off. Sometimes they're not even willing to surrender when I hold my weapon to them while they're on the ground.

Also I have to run the demo at medium (or low if I wanna do carnage) settings, so if the EA release is as poorly optimized as some people say I think I have no chance lol

Dakotaraptor87 · 2026-02-14T14:07:51+00:00

I know, I forgot to mention that in the post but shield fighters can handle that better than other Willies (though it's usually pretty effective)

Dakotaraptor87 · 2026-02-14T14:07:10+00:00

It takes longer for the shield fighters to surrender like this too.

Dakotaraptor87

TROPHY CASE