The Replay Experience Experiment

29th May 2012

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

I have started replaying Half-Life and Half-Life 2 a couple of times since I first completed them.

I got a few chapters in and suddenly something shiny would come along and the next thing I knew it was a few weeks since I last played and then I just couldn’t be bothered to continue from where I finished.

After the relative success of 100 Days of Summer Nostalgia last year, I decided that I wanted to run some sort of event this year.

I didn’t want the commitment of having to post something every day all through the summer and this seemed like the perfect time to replay the games at my own speed, but with the added motivation of being part of an event.

How it Will Work

Starting 1st June, I will post details of each distinct chapter of the games in order. Each post will be similar to a map or mod post: a thumbnail, a factual description and some screenshots. In addition, I may include some trivia and other interesting information.

Then I will post my thoughts and feelings as a comment. There is no posting schedule but I estimate I will add a new post every 3 or 4 days.

I am hoping that the event will generate some serious and interesting discussion about how games have changed, how well the games stand up to our memories and how our experiences since finishing those games affect our replay impressions.

Participate

Once I have made the post and added my comment, all readers will be able to do the same.

To include screenshots to illustrate your points, please use a hosting service like imgur.com and link to the image in your comment.

I will then download the image, create a thumbnail and approve your comment.

If you have any questions, suggestions or comments, please use the commenting system below or email me directly: [email protected].

Visit The Replay Experience Experiment homepage

Just watch the video instead!

24 Comments

  1. Unq

    Nice, looking forward to playing along!

    Hard to believe you’ve not played through the games more than once! No wonder you were floored when I mentioned some detail or other in We’ve Got Hostiles and I expected you to know exactly what I was talking about. I assume we’ve all played the games multiple times, being Half-Life lovers after all this time.

  2. William

    Can’t wait to contribute. I will be doing let’s plays of the chapters and include them in the comments. It’s gonna be a fun and busy event!

  3. Aaaaaahhhhhhh! I’m being subjected to Half Life heaven (try to save me and I’ll bite your sensitive bit’s off!).

    For those who visit PP, but have not yet played Half Life from the start, this is the perfect gaming history lesson and unlike school history lessons, is going to be BIG FUN.

    Get your first HEV suit, get your first crowbar, never look at an airvent in the same way again and importantly try to resist crouching when you are exiting a lift (elevator).

    BTW! Phillip, what happened to the Gordon Freeman style beard and tash?

    1. Unq

      Agreed, in honor of this new summer event we should all grow Freeman-style goatees.

      1. I’m almost tempted to do this. Best goatie wins a prize.

        1. I only said it as an of the cuff observation. But this could be the start of a ” Life of Brian” moment, so lets go out and paint the walls with ” Combine go home” (Miscere domum (according to Google Translate into Latin)).

  4. that’s really a great idea, I like it 🙂

  5. Slightly on & off-topic, but since the last but one Steam update I simply cannot find any way to get either HL1 or Blue Shift to get beyond the initial background screen before crashing. OpFor on the other hand works just fine. (Just revisited for the dozenth time, at least) Until I find a way to get this fixed, and believe me I’ve never spent so long on the “Steampowered” forums (& several others) searching for anything else before, I’m going to have to sit this one out….. (It’s at times like this that I really really miss the PP forum as I know there are some real experts here!)

    Back on topic though, I’ll watch from the sidelines until you get to HL2, which in spite of some missing textures, bizzarely since the last AMD update, I at least can still manage to play…

    Go chaps, have fun. Let me know how it goes……

    1. Unq

      Bummer, Jim. I doubt there is much I could suggest if you’ve been through the forums a lot.

      Do you have Half-Life: Source? That’s always an option to play along.

      1. Gypsy_Jim

        (Still no joy with researching this issue..) But, yes I have the Source version and happily replayed the Hazard Course last night…

        Joy to find the odd place where you can jump off into the water and take a tiny bit different route to the one intended….

        (Sorry didn’t reply straight away, just saw this in my reader.)

    2. i had a similar problem with HALF LIFE after one update… however it was a direct x issue… I ran the game using open Gl ,no probs…. also run the game and once the error occurs “restart steam” and run the game straight away …..
      that said you may of allready tried these ….. hope you get them working …..
      The Replay Experience Experiment should be interesting.. infact ive just started playing HL2 for the 25th time …. you can never get enough of the best pc game ever made !

    3. Hmm! I had a problem not unlike this a while ago with HL2 and EP1, however I now have them back up and running.

      Before I go into what I think got them back I’ll describe the symptoms I had:

      From Steam I tried to launch them, but before the game started it dropped back to the desktop. If that is what is happening to you, let me know and I’ll let you know what I think I did to get them back. If that is not what is happening for you then what seemed to work for me, at this stage would probably be irrelevant.

      1. Thanks, that is exactly what is happening. As I said though I don’t understand why OpFor is ok, but neither BS or HL1 are. Strangely I can run BS Unlocked, but with no start menu, I just have to run it from the console.

        I’ve deleted and reinstalled HL1 from Steam, though in a box in a shed somewhere at my parents” home I am sure I still have the original CD…..

        Any help would be hugely appreciated!

        1. Bolx

          Ok! First let me say, I cannot guarantee this is the solution but as I’ve said somewhere along the line it worked for me, I just can’t be sure which did it. So only use what I say as a last resort.

          First look at your local content (on the assumption you a running Vista/Win7 and Steam) for Half Life

          C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\username\half-life

          Now look at your games that are working. Does the content of the above look right when compared. If not you have nothing to lose by trying this. Delete the local content locally not through Steam, by that I mean go to the half-life folder and nuke it!!!!!

          Now restart Steam and let it re-download the content.

          If this works there’s no point in me going further, if it doesn’t then it starts to get weird and potentially a different video card and a long explanation of events.

          Ok! I wasn’t logged in but it is me!!!!

          1. I’m on a 12 month old Dell with Win 7 (Home Premium 64) and I’ve already tried that without any success.

            I’ve also tried in the launch options -d3d and -gl as well as varying the screen aspect with -w1360 and -h768, as well as -autoconfig and I don’t know what else, but all to no effect.

            I’ve even tried to replace the config file with the ones from OpFor and BS unlocked to see if that helped…it didn’t….

            My ATI Radeon HD 4200 drivers are fully up to date.

            I’ve verified the game cache files via Steam.

            The Half Life Mod Residual Life works perfectly well, which is odd if it’s running off the same engine, which it must be, surely??

            All I can think of is to submit a ticket to their support and see if they have any suggestions, but I really had hoped it was a simple matter and one that I could find a way around. Thank you very much for your help though, appreciated.

            1. Unq

              This couldn’t be a problem with the Win 7 UAC, could it? (User Access Control)

              The first time I run a game sometimes I get a pop-under about allowing access. It never seems to pop on top of the Steam or game window. I wonder if maybe you said “no” accidentally and that is preventing it from launching?

              1. 2muchvideogames

                had a similar problem caused by steam update that caused my win7 to have blue screens. :\

  6. Hec

    I know is going to be interesting, but I probably wont try to replay at all, I mean I think i’m not in the mood, and I don’t feel like to replay the whole chapters and review them as mods, I mean I better will play so much mods I haven’t tried this summer.

    1. Aww! C’mon Hec!

      I don’t think I’m out of place saying that Phillip respect’s your opinion, after all, he did award you with a personalised ratings tag. I for one will miss your views if you don’t contribute to the event.

      1. Unq

        Seconded! I see this not as reviewing them as mods but offering reactions, opinions, nostalgic tales, and possibly insights. I also intend to add a small note highlighting a technical aspect of interest in each chapter, at least for the Goldsource games.

        Hope you’ll play along!

        1. Hec

          Yeah ur right guys, i’ll do it when I see chapters that really move my nostalgia and i’ll surely remember my reactions and i’ll share them here, sure it’ll be interesting what Phillip and you guys think about those old maps we once visited as Gordon Freeman!

  7. Sounds good, another pretty idea Phillip!
    Finished HL so often already, but need to refresh memories of OP4, Blue Shift and HL2 and it’s Episodes.
    Yep, I made it through all of it (what a surprise, eh?) but especially HL2 and EP1+2 are sort of new to me as I’ve only played these titles this year due to finally having a fast enough PC (yeah I’m as nostalgic lol)

    To be honest I actually was “worried” about no 100 DoN-like event this year, and it’s a pity I missed it last year 😛
    BUT now with the TREE event it’s gonna be pretty cool fun!
    So I’m up for it too! 🙂

    P.S. What’s the blue bottle in the background? 😀

    1. What’s the blue bottle in the background?

      A bottle of mineral water called Solan de Cabras.

  8. Hey!! Slow the boat down, I’m swimming to catch up as fast as I can!!

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