Orange Box Question

[ghosstt]

So, I'm probably going to go get The Orange Box today, but I've got a few questions.

1. I've never played half-life 1.. Am I going to be lost in HL2? I'm assuming they explain whats going on, etc.
2. What order do I play the HL2's in?
3. Is there DLC for TF2? Is it free?
4. Can you play against PC users in TF2?
5. It's worth it right?

I'm probably going to go pick up TOB and Bioshock today, since they are only $20 each now.

[thewise1]

1. Even if you play half-life 1 you may get lost. New stuff was added to half life without any explanation. But anyway, you should be able to catch on to the story.
2. Hal life 2........half life 2 episode 1...........half life 2 episode 2 (hopefully episode 3 comes out this year)
3. On the pc there are tons of servers where people make their own maps. But officially there are just patches. Unless you count the paks for new weapons for each class
4. TF2 is online multiplayer, but I'm not sure how to play against bots though
5. Oh yeah, it's worth it!

[Harshboy]

The 360 Version of The Orange Box is terrible compared to the PC Version. I have the 360 Version and the PC Version, and the PC Version gets much more updates and there are always people playing TF2 online on the PC.

The 360 has like 2 people online, that's it.

If anyone here is going off their experience with the orange box on a PC, they'll love it, but the Console version is lacking. If you have a PC which can play TF2/HL2/Portal, you should probably just stick to it on PC since it is so much better.

[ghosstt]

So the console versions still get all the updates for weapons and stuff right?

Turns out gamestop closes at 6.. Guess I got to go to target and hope they have it for $20.

[bicostp]

1. Nope. Basically you rise and shine, wake up and smell the ashes, and promptly get thrown into the future. The entire experience is new to Gordon Freeman too, since he was in a 20 year stasis between Half-Life and Half-Life 2. (You'll be able to play the 'Black Mesa' fan remake of HL1 for free because you'll have Source engine games.)
2. HL2, Episode 1, Episode 2. Hurr.
3. YES. A MILLION TIMES YES. Every class update (of which there have been several) has been 100% free. Valve gives you the Source SDK when you buy The Orange Box (or basically any official Source engine game), so there are hundreds upon hundreds of free custom maps of varying quality. (Some like Badwater Basin are so good that they were officially adopted; some like any of the Orange maps are so bad that they're mocked by everyone but newbies and 12 year old Counter-Strike kids.)
4. No. TF2 does have bots, but it has no AI so they're really only useful for machinima and target practice. You can't play realistic games against them.
5 YES!!!11!2

PC TF2 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Console TF2. With payload, arena, payload race, new weapons, and custom maps, it's like a completely different game. The 360 might get a pay-for update pack sometime in the future (they said just the launch TF2 was pushing the 360's memory limits), and to my knowledge there are absolutely no plans of releasing the DLC on the PS3 because Valve doesn't have internal PS3 developers and EA (who ported it in the first place) won't work for free. You also add to the value when you get the PC version because you get access to dozens and dozens of free Source engine mods. (Garry's Mod is great too and it's only $10 but you need a Source game to play it.)

In other words:

PC Orange Box =

Console Orange Box =

[ghosstt]

Bic, I can't play it on PC, so I figured I'd just go get the 360 version. So there are no updates/patches for the 360 version? Or there are?

[bicostp]

Currently the only updates they've pushed for the 360 are bug/exploit fixes. (Stuff like "fall through a hole in the map and build sentry guns under the floor" and "get blown up through the skybox and walk around on top of it). The 360 currently does not have the class updates, new game modes, new maps, custom maps, sprays, new weapons, or in-game voice commands (it does have voice chat, though). Even when they do release that (for a fee), you still won't have access to the plethora of third-party content and game SDK.

What are your computer's specs? As long as the processor is halfway decent (and it doesn't have Intel graphics if it's a laptop), you should be able to get it running with at most a new video card.

[ghosstt]

Crappy Intelgrated graphics card, as well as 512 mb of ram. I'm running a P4 2.75GHz(I think thats right about the Ghz) and my PC only has PCI slots. It's pretty crappy. I'm not buying it JUST for TF2 though. I'd like to play through HL2 and stuff, so as long as TF2 works, I'm fine with that.

[mikeyg]

I have only seen tob on ps3 once and that was right before the circut city near me got closed. so, what do you mean they haven't released it for the ps3.

[bicostp]

I said they have no plans of releasing the DLC (updates) for the PS3.

[Jongamer]

Actually TF2, on Consoles is not that bad. play it quite a bit, even though I have the PC version, but the console one I play is mainly for achievements, which I still have a few to get, but I still will pay for the update for the console regardless. Oh and Harshboy, your wrong, the server searching system just blows, you have to search for games more than once before you find servers filled with people. Normally I can find like 4 or 5 different servers with 16 people in them. Though the PC is better, the Console version is no where near bad. Though there are still some exploits people pull off every once in a while to build sentries in skyboxes above the map.

send me a PM with your Gamertag, and I will send you a friend request. That is if you even have Live gold to play TF2 online .

[Harshboy]

4. No. TF2 does have bots, but it has no AI so they're really only useful for machinima and target practice. You can't play realistic games against them.

They're also great for getting achievements and unlocking new gear

[ghosstt]

Well, I'll probably just get it for 360 since valve said they are going to be giving out the patches to 360 users. (From what I've heard, they wanted to do it free, and M$ said no, so they are going to be giving out multiple patch packs to justify the prices)

[nevermind1534]

Crappy Intelgrated graphics card, as well as 512 mb of ram. I'm running a P4 2.75GHz(I think thats right about the Ghz) and my PC only has PCI slots. It's pretty crappy. I'm not buying it JUST for TF2 though. I'd like to play through HL2 and stuff, so as long as TF2 works, I'm fine with that.

I think that might actually run it on low(er) graphics settings. Garry's mod is only $5 when you get it in a bundle from Valve.

[ghosstt]

Nope. I've tried before. It laggs like crazy