Orange Box!

[f!ver]

First off I am a new member here but have been watching TRS for quite a while now and I'd like to say thanks to the guys for being so rAd.

Anyhow I'd like to talk more about orange box now before they go into it more on the next show like Jeff said he will. I purchased orange box for the sole reason of episode 2, but when I opened up the other games I realized how much of a value this thing is! Fist off episode 2 is a great third part to the story and really pushes the story deeper...I wont say any details cause I dont want to spoil it. Team Fortress 2 is like OMG.....was TF1 as good as this game and why haven't I played it the gameplay is sooo much fun! BTW I have a dedicated server in Portland and I have a 24 man TF2 server running on it
(Vagrant | West Coast TF2 - Recruiting 12.180.48.83:27015). Last but not least is portal....AMAZING!!!! Very funny, new concept, and brilliantly pout together make this a very stunning game that came in under the radar! Also when u beat it..listen to the song...ROFL!!

With all that in mind I'd like to talk about the technical aspects of the game that I dont know if you all have heard about, but its the new Source engine. TF2, episode 2, and portal all use it, and it will be comming to CS : S is the comming days with a new SDK. Here is a list of the changes they have made to it, and the reason why episode 2 and TF2 look so damn good without performance impact: Ability to take advantage of multi core systems and servers..new particle effects..motion blur..upgraded physics engine..and more! The first of those is the greatest reason why its alot better and it handles the graphics and physics alot smoother, if you played the first 5 min of episode 2 you will know. (When the bridge collapses behind you) If there is anything more you would like to add I will be checking back daily to read, and I hope this info will also help out with the show as Jeff said he is going to go more in depth talking about it. And Jeff if you read this....plz refrain from letting Dan have an opinion and stutter about it for 5 min and waste the whole segment..its a game and he tries to get too philisophical. (however its spelled)

Thanks and happy fragging!

[DarthEnder]

The most important thing about Orange Box is how Portal is going to open up endless new porn possibilities for people using Gary's mod.

You can literally go **** yourself!

[f!ver]

Look what they already done, and what I have been saying since the release or portal. I have a very strong feeling that HL3 will have a portal gun and bring a whole new aspect to the game, and that this was merely a testbed to see if the community approval was there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKg3TUPQ8Sg

[darknessgp]

Actually, Episode 2 and Portal take complete advantage of the new engine's multi-threading. but TF2 only uses multi-threading for particle effects. just FYI.

Oh and you got an official statement saying the new engine is going to be pushed to any existing source games?

[satori]

The only technical thing that I think is worth mentioning on Orange box is HDR, everything else is already out there. HDR is out there, but HL2 does it quite well, but they spent a lot of time refining that. It's low on system requirements which is nice. Beyond that this game pack is really all about level design, and that's something that they do extremely well.

[f!ver]

I'm trying to delete this post but dont know how..plz disregard this.

[f!ver]

Oh and you got an official statement saying the new engine is going to be pushed to any existing source games?


http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=172835

About halfway through the interview Gabe says the new multi core functionality will be comming to CS Source

Ive also read somewhere that they have written the code to even take advantage of 3 cores if you have a quad core, and will support up to 8 when those hit the market.

And Satori...the HDR isnt a huge deal...its nice that they refined it to take less of an impact and be less intrusive, but IMO I think the use of multi core is a much bigger aspect of it, thats why they have to recode source and its going to be a mammoth update. Another big technical aspect is the new particle engine..I've seen demos and screen shots such as rain effects and it looks awsome! Also somethin that really hasn't been mentioned is the motion blur, you really see it when you play TF2 as Pyro with your flamethrower.