/vr/ - Retro Games

[Anonymous No.5258698]

What is it about GoldSrc that made it so comfy? How come Half-Life and all of its mods have aged like blue cheese?

[Anonymous No.5258828]

>>5258698
Imo, the reason GoldSrc feels comfy is because all the objects look like toys or miniatures. Brings you back to the Lego & road rug days.

Also probably something to do with the sound design, as to what I can't specifically pinpoint.

[Anonymous No.5258834]

For me it's what >>5258828 said, mixed with the lighting and desert theme
I love the setting of Half-Life because I also grew up in New Mexico so a lot of the settings feel very homely to me

[Anonymous No.5258876]

>>5258834
>very homely

[Anonymous No.5259989]

>>5258828
>as to what I can't specifically pinpoint.
8-bit 11KHz glory.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYRgKp2AwH0

[Anonymous No.5260104]

>>5259989
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYRgKp2AwH0
>take a bunch of samples from a sound library
>bitcrush them to shit
>retro nerds get wet pants

got it

[Anonymous No.5260124]

>>5258698
Some people like it when a game looks less realistic because it helps make it feel like a unique world. I like some HL2 mods and other games that used the engine, but as games started trying to look more realistic I found them less interesting.

[Anonymous No.5261980]

>>5260104
not him but the ambient sounds in half life are most of what gives its atmosphere real texture and depth. i don't care if all the sounds weren't created by gaben farting into a microphone. the sounds they picked from libraries and mixed, along with the compression evokes half-life entirely in of itself

[Anonymous No.5262170]

>>5258834
The desert textures do have a warm inviting glow indeed.

>>5260124

> but as games started trying to look more realistic I found them less interesting

I feel ya, bro. You put it nice and succinct. The death-march to realism has been a dividing force, and early gfx games do a good job at being their own little worlds. Although, you could argue these games were on the realism train back then just as they are now, but there was a threshold that was crossed and now we're starting to experience its fallout.


>>5260104

>8-bit 11KHz glory.

Ah yes, thanks for pointing out a necessary aspect for me. It may well be the frequency range where it's in the middle of this doesn't-sound-adlibbed-but-not-too-real valley. Also could be, to use the same analogy I stated in my previous post, sounds that elicit a sense of familiarity, but have this chunky lo-fi quality to them that would emanate from a toy of sorts with a speaker.

>>5261980

>not him but the ambient sounds in half life are most of what gives its atmosphere real texture and depth. i don't care if all the sounds weren't created by gaben farting into a microphone. the sounds they picked from libraries and mixed, along with the compression evokes half-life entirely in of itself

Yeah, the sounds that are arranged definitely have a signature in their own right, being an aspect of the entire half of the game that's fully experienced, but never articulated, nor considered when thinking about the game as a whole. Same goes for plenty of other games as well.

[Anonymous No.5262213]

>>5260104
I think the sound quality actually did help the effects in some of these old games. For instance, everyone loves the sounds in Doom. But people have made high-quality sound packs, using the original samples but in higher quality. But they actually sound a lot worse this way, much more tinny and abrasive. Perhaps the low sound quality brings out the bass more?

[Anonymous No.5262254]

Sound Effects
Attention to detail
Low poly graphics

[Anonymous No.5262373]

>>5258698
the right ratio of texture resolution to polycount, and the consistency of it
also the lighting - the base game as well as mods apply colored lights excellently. for example on de_vertigo, the warm sun brightness outside is nicely countered by the cool fluorescent lamps in the indoor sections
and the sound, not only the effects used, but also the way sound is implemented. even without A3D, the sound is very precise in location, so it attracts your view accurately

[Anonymous No.5262735]

>>5262373
That clamped lighting ruins it a bit.

[Anonymous No.5262740]

Source ruined everything. GoldSrc was the fucking king.
RIP fun mods.

[Anonymous No.5262745]

>>5262735
Yeah, who doesn't love totally blown out highlights

[Anonymous No.5262775]

ITT: nostalgia goggles

[Anonymous No.5262852]

GoldSrc was already a piece of shit when Half-Life came out. Unreal and Quake 3 introduced far superior engines only about a year later.

[Anonymous No.5262861]

>>5262745
Bottom is how it's supposed to look. Software mode retains the overbrightening that was also present in Quake. Notice how light blends from a pure white to the dark shade with an odd yellow in between. That's an artifact of the clamping that Steam versions have.

[Anonymous No.5262868]

>>5262852
>Unreal
>Good

[Anonymous No.5262880]

>>5262868
I don't remember it being too slow on my Pentium III 450 with a Nvidia TNT (first one). Surely the detail level must have been set to Insane for this benchmark.

[Anonymous No.5262891]

>>5262880
Bots do drag it down, but the API overhead also gets in the way. Glide runs significantly better.

[Anonymous No.5262902]

>>5262775
Cringe

[Anonymous No.5262903]

>>5262852
>>Unreal
Tech demo

[Anonymous No.5262915]

>>5262902
Exactly

[Anonymous No.5262921]

>>unrealfags still seething

[Anonymous No.5263484]

>>5258698

> How come Half-Life and all of its mods have aged like blue cheese?

Try Half Life:Echoes. It's probably the best HL expansion since OF.

[Anonymous No.5263540]

>>5263484
>"HD" models
ugh

[Anonymous No.5263862]

>>5263540
the hd models look great

[Anonymous No.5263942]

tfw no generic military team fortress 2

[Anonymous No.5263968]

>>5258698
Just finished playing TFC on Avanti in software

[Anonymous No.5264053]

>>5263942
>generic military TF2
I still unironically think this looks comfier than the cartoon they ended up releasing, and I wish it had actually come out

[Anonymous No.5264102]

>>5263968
Really wish avanti was in tf2

[Anonymous No.5264652]

>>5263968
Software would have been perfect if it had a 24 bit mode

[Anonymous No.5265835]

>>5264102
This, Avanti was my favorite map. Wish Rock2 and hunted had made it to tf2 as well.

[Anonymous No.5266793]

>>5263484
Still waiting on The Core. I feel like its going to blow everybody away

>>5263540
HD models look great when the mapwork is HD

[Anonymous No.5267369]

>>5264053
but the servers would be empty after an year probably