Poll Question 110 – Do you prefer to walk or drive?

7th February 2009

Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Walk or drive?

Whilst the Half-Life series never really went crazy with regard to vehicles there have always been fun things to drive or ride. I know a lot of players really enjoy them but I don’t.

Imagine you are a beta testers and there are two tunnels; one which must be traversed with a vehicle and the other which can only be passed on foot. Each offer different gameplay aspects and skills.

Which would you recommend to be kept in the mod/game?

Poll Question 110

20 Comments

  1. civanT

    I’d drive. Since HL is an action game and driving action could be more fun than just walking. You know people don’t walk that much in real life (i’m an exception). They simply drive. Of course people don’t shoot hundreds of bad guys in an avarege day but still some driving brings new tipes of actions. Doing the same thing over and over again is boring for even HL standarts. It sure adds to reality and feel of involvement.

    (By the way, poll keep asking me and I keep voting. Guess I shouldn’t do that.)

  2. (By the way, poll keep asking me and I keep voting. Guess I shouldn’t do that.)

    No, It’s set to block via a cookie.

  3. LoneWolf65

    Actually, I enjoy both! Driving with a Tau cannon on the buggy is a lot of fun. Of course this applies to all vehicles equipped with weapons on other games as well.

    Since I like stealth in missions, I prefer walking and practice my humble skills…

    I voted for walking btw!

  4. its to hard to drive 😀

  5. Kyouryuu

    In some sense, it depends on what I was doing before then and the context. If I just walked through miles of tunnels, I’d welcome a vehicle. Otherwise, I’d probably walk it unless there was some compelling reason why I needed to move quickly.

    It’s curious how Half-Life 2 handles the case of not using the vehicles when you are supposed to, especially on level transitions. But even when you are just walking through the canals, the game’s pacing is messed up without the airboat. In a mod that supports vehicles, I wonder how others handle the player who chooses not to use them.

  6. Anonymous

    In a mod that supports vehicles, I wonder how others handle the player who chooses not to use them.

    Toxic slime is a good option.

  7. Driving airboat or buggy is fun, so I think it must be short or it could became boring.

  8. Senator33

    Well, now…if I can take a nice, leisurely stroll with Miss Alexandra Vance, I will definitely decline your kind offer of a ride…

  9. Gypsy Jim

    (The cookie so doesn’t work with Firefox….But I go with the spirit of the polls….no really, life’s too short.)

    I like both, but the thing that bugs me is, after playing a mod “no-cheat” sometimes I like to “ch_createairboat” but can’t find a way to spawn one with the cannon….any ideas, anyone?

    One of the main things about HL2 vanilla was that you did both, and absolutely had to walk at times, to clear situations & enemies & negotiate various other puzzles. It worked, but doesn’t necessarily in many of the mods that feature the vehicles…

  10. Jeff

    As a rule, I prefer the freedom of walking. I’m a terrible driver, and I’m always afraid my noisy vehicle will give the combine advance warning. HL2 balanced vehicles and walking pretty good, but it’s usually a bad sign to see a buggy or airboat in a mod.

  11. SolidFake

    Well, I prefer walking instead of driving.
    Why you aks? I just enjoy to walk around and investigate places and kill enemies in the tactic hide and shoot mode.
    Don’t understand me wrong, I like a cool ride with a vehicle which adds a lot of adrenaline and a variety to gameplay.
    But I am happy that there weren’t vehicles in e.g. Morrowind, I really loved to explore the world bit for bit.
    But vehicles aren’t just egoshooter. Well maybe Rage will change that.

  12. Aniline

    There have been times when the buggy and boat were provided, but I just went on foot or swam (insofar as the mod allowed). I guess it’s walking for me. I don’t like to think of missing anything – be it a secret or a piece of well mapped architecture.

  13. Gonome

    I like to drive and to walk both.

  14. Ade

    Well, obviously, both are needed.. What should I vote in this case?
    You need to walk for things that are nearby in a map and don’t need teleportation or a map change to reach them..
    You need to drive to make things more realistic.. In real world, you don’t have all the places/buildings just lined up, one after another, or separated by a 2 minute walk tops. And creating a new map for each new location which is far far away isn’t fun, either.. you’ll have plenty of loading screens, plus it’s not even necessary and practical because the size of one map was pretty big even in hl1. I for one loved the trains, trams and trucks in hl1 and the buggies in hl2. If the author wants the player not to miss important stuff like supplies and awesome mapping – while driving – then he should make them noticeable just in time for the player to stop and explore them 🙂 The supplies, for example, could even appear on a radar, like in hl2: ep2, if I’m not mistaken.
    I’m looking forward to the invention of a flying machine in hl3, something like a backpack, jet thingy 😀 so you can admire the mapping as an ensemble, as well.

  15. Count_de_Monet

    I like both, but as a maniac for british pre-war specials, I love to drive fast and use the ballistics possibilities of the airboat. So I voted “drive”

    CdM

  16. Redsight

    I prefer to walk so I can take in all the details. but If a map is huge or has vehicle battles, then I’d prefer to drive

  17. Neuromante

    Well, as somebody had said before, it depends of the context.
    For example, in HL2, in my oppinion, the buggy part it’s a bit forced, and the player uses the car because the game told you to use it -as with the boat. That part I think it was more like a source tech demo (“Look! The engine can handle vehicles”) than a game itself, and sincerelly, it got me BORED. I wanted to kill combines, not driving along deserted beaches/streets for days, that’s not Fallout 3, after all xD
    But then comes the Episode 2, where the game tells the player the necesity of use a car to reach it’s destination, where the action it’s better distributed -it has one of the best action moments in all the franchise: The Combine ambush in the big house-, and where the maps are just amazing. You want to get the new looks-like-the-mad-max-car and drive around that beautifull scenery passing over combines, whose ragdolls perform funny tricks.
    Where I can get? Simply: If the situation -context, history, etc- justify it, a car would be just awesome -even mandatory- to use. Putting a car, in the other hand, just for the player can use it, could destroy the level and bore the player.

    So, which option? None. Sorry ^^u

  18. GeorgeC

    I would walk; you get to explore every nook and cranny and there is more atmosphere rather than fast action – which is what I like most of the time.

  19. If I’m driving, then I want to JUST be driving, and not be expected to get out and shoot at crap every 10 steps. If that ends up happening I’d rather just walk and skip the vehicle.

  20. For me walking give one a chance to have a better look around, sneak up on hostiles. I have spawned an 82&83 just to ride around for fun, but walking up to a situation where the program is expecting a vehicle if great fun. I still think some one needs to create a Harley though..lol

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