Half-Life for free!

Ambush Bug · Post by **Ambush Bug** » Sun Jul 13, 2003 7:28 pm

Yes, you heard right--the full version of Half-Life, single-player included, is now free to the gaming public. How can you get this wonderful piece of software? <a href="http://scribers.neondsl.com/~ambushbug/steam.exe">Click here for the installer (~500KB) </a> First things first, this is Half-Life delivered via Valve's new 'Steam' distribution software. It will have you create an account, so you'll need to feed it an e-mail address and a password. I don't know if the list of users is being sold or not, so this is an excellent opportunity to use a throwaway e-mail address if you have one available. Once you've run the installer, it will update itself. (It does not send you any confirmation e-mail, so you may even be able to just spoof the address entirely--haven't tried this) Once that's done, you'll be given a list of games to grab. Just double-click Half-Life and let Steam do its magic. You'll also want to tweak the connection settings in Steam as well, by the way. Second thing, is that this will include the ENTIRE single-player experience from Half-Life. I've been going through it in bits and pieces this weekend, and nothing seems to be amiss save for the High-Definition pack included with Blue Shift. Third thing is that you may or may not need to enable cheats so you can use noclip in places. Particularly, there's an evil little bug that will get you 'stuck' on an elevator if you're still standing on it when it comes to a stop. Ususally you can duckjump a few times to get out of it, but sometimes you have to use noclip. To use noclip, turn on cheats by entering "sv_cheats 1" in the console (without the quotes). Then, after your next map load or loaded savegame, you can bring down the console (~) and type "noclip" to turn it on. Make sure you're in open space (not intersecting any solid object) when you turn it off. Aside from that previous bug, which was in the latest patch for the CD version of Half-Life as well, there is only one other bug I've found. The first shot you try and fire after a map-change usually doesn't work, and you need to hit the trigger twice. After that, shooting seems to work normally. Random Tips for Single-Player: If you've not played the singleplayer yet, here's a few tips to make the experience a little easier on you. Conserve your hand-grenades until you have gotten past the main obstacle in the "Blast Pit" scenario. After that, use as you like. Trust me on this one. <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/smile.gif ALT=":)"> .357 ammo is scarcer than hen's teeth, so save it for those times you really need it. Same goes for the contact grenades for the MP5--I could never get enough of the things. Pay attention to the things you hear from other NPC's. Messages you overhear or things you read on signs tend to be very pertinent to the matter at hand. Marines are easy to kill in singles and pairs. It's when you run into three or more (and you will, numerous times throuought the game!) that you need to put on your thinking-cap and outsmart them instead of trying to brute-force your way past them. They will work to flank you, they will try and draw you into traps (which they are annoyingly good at), and they will, above all, try and flush you out of cover. An excellent time to get good at running gun-battles. Shot placement counts. Does it ever! Aim for unarmored portions of opponents, heads, cockpits and engines when it comes to vehicles. You can be tracked by sound, vision, and scent, depending on your opponent. Being quiet is your best defense when you're going into unexpored territory. The hazard course covers being stealthy to a degree, though you can vastly reduce the noise you put out by holding your 'walk' key and 'crouch' at the same time (SHIFT and LEFT CONTROL, respectively). You will, of course, move like molasses in January, but you'll be able to sneak past almost anything that way. Also, don't run everywhere--it pays to use that 'walk' key and take things slow in places. Don't underestimate the lowly Glock, the first pistol you get. It's one of the few weapons that works underwater. It's accurate, fast, has a pretty huge clip for a pistol, and reloads quickly. It's not much use online against humans, but in the singleplayer, it's one of my preferred weapons. Surprisingly effective against marines at point-blank. Let the security guards (Barneys) do your work for you, if you can. They have unlimited ammo for their Glocks. However, you'll want to keep them alive in some situations, as they can open doors that you can't, and there's several areas in the game that get much, much easier if you let them get you into storerooms and the like. You can, in places, have as many as three Barneys following you around, though you usually just see them in singles and pairs. Pay attention to the environment. Closely. Especially in the levels directly within the Black Mese complex. Switches and buttons are usually labeled, and if they aren't, you can often trace wiring along the walls to see what they affect. Containers of explosives do, in fact, explode when shot, and they are quite useful in places. Running over people with tram cars is quite fatal (to them). <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/happy.gif ALT=":D"> There are lots of things like that, more than I can say here without spoiling anything. Gordon is just a regular guy, not some super-hero. Take a bad fall and you'll break limbs. Your suit will patch you up, of course, but falling damage is one of the few things that your suit doesn't protect you against. Getting caught in machinery is another. (Conversely, falling damage and the like doesn't drain any suit power, either) Your suit, however, does a very admirable job at absorbing bullets and explosions and the like--just as long as it's got power cells to use, though. Without those, you're in big trouble. Above all, atmosphere is king. I've found the game actually gets easier the more 'in-character' I get. Have a very safe, productive day.

Spinning Hat · Post by **Spinning Hat** » Mon Jul 14, 2003 7:27 am

That Steam Software is cool. I just got CS DL'ed and installed in 7 minutes. <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/happy.gif ALT=":D"> Keep in mind that the software IS a beta, but as far a I can tell, it works great. And just ignore the Fileplaet Subscriber screen... It confused me at first, but it doesn't ask for any FP related info. <hr /><div style="text-align:center"> "Never, Never, Never Quit" -Winston Churchill</div>

Ambush Bug · Post by **Ambush Bug** » Mon Jul 14, 2003 7:57 am

Yeah, I finally gave Counter-Strike a try, thanks to this system. I'd never played it before, and when I saw the option for bot players, I jumped right in. Pretty neat. Bots, after all, don't taunt you when you die. Unless they're Tribes 2 bots.

Spinning Hat · Post by **Spinning Hat** » Mon Jul 14, 2003 11:28 am

Very true AB. CS is fun sometimes, but 1.6 seems kinda heavy to me... more with the control, and how fluffy they seem.. Not as solid as T2. <hr /><div style="text-align:center"> "Never, Never, Never Quit" -Winston Churchill</div>

MegaDeath70 · Post by **MegaDeath70** » Mon Jul 14, 2003 1:08 pm

T2 Far > CS i got a copy here i use for a coaster. <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/smile.gif ALT=":)"> <div style="text-align:center"><img src="http://www.limalan.org/images/MegaKiss.jpg"/></div><div style="text-align:center">"An Army Of Kick Ass Playa's !"</div>

Half-Life for free!

Half-Life for free!

Re: Half-Life for free!

Re: Half-Life for free!

Re: Half-Life for free!

Re: Half-Life for free!