Half-Life 2: Lost Coast

• Platform: PC
• Published by: Valve
• Developed by: Valve
• Release Date: Fall 2005
• Genre: Action
• Multiplayer: No
• Online: No

Screenshot Gallery

Trailers and Footage

A Day at Valve Continued..

The Lost Coast

So all of this description really doesn't mean much without a game to show it off, and that's what Lost Coast is for. It's worth saying right up front, however, that there isn't all that much game there. The amount of time you'll reasonable squeeze out of the single level is better measured in minutes than hours, and even then you won't have to measure much. The level can be completed in about fifteen minutes from start to end, although it looks gorgeous enough that you might want to spend some time admiring the water and moving in and out of dark places to induce auto-exposure. Plus, there's always the commentary track.

Yep, there's a commentary track. It's a great way to add extra value to an otherwise straightforward gameplay experience. When you have commentary mode enabled, there are rotating speech bubbles scattered at key places throughout the level. Moving onto one and pressing the use key will begin a recorded message by any one of several members of the Lost Coast development team explaining a particular technique or design feature that went into the level's creation. The first one, introducing the player to the level, begins "Hi, this is Gabe Newell, and welcome to the Lost Coast. In this tour, we're going to be talking about a new graphics technology we've been developing called High Dynamic Range, or HDR. We'll also be giving you some insight into the design and production challenges we faced during the construction of the Lost Coast..."

It's a pretty unique thing to include in a professionally-designed game, but it makes perfect sense given the popularity of DVD commentary tracks. In fact, Valve enjoyed working on the feature and plans to include it in future game releases as well if player response is positive. In Lost Coast, much of the commentary is devoted to the HDR technology, being the primary reason for the level's existence, but there's also discussion of general Valve design philosophies and artistic techniques.

For example, the fisherman NPC in Lost Coast is a new direction for Valve's modelling techniques. Unlike just about all the characters in Half-Life 2, he is not based on a specific human model or composite of models. Rather, he was designed from scratch, resulting in a very organic and specific look. He is also much more detailed than most of Valve's models, with a greater level of detail as well as being specifically designed to take advantage of HDR. In fact, Valve says there's a big different between designing LDR and HDR content; you can't simply bolt the technology on to existing levels and models, because there are many lighting issues that must be taken into account.

As far as the actual game content of Lost Coast, you find yourself on the shores of a beach where you encounter a lone fisherman. He explains that the Combine have set up a large gun in a nearby church, and of course it's up to you, as the legendary and heroic Gordon Freeman, to take care of business. You travel up some cliffs overlooking Ravenholm--which ties into the very small story presented in Lost Coast--before arriving at a gorgeous Byzantine church (the commentary points out that, unlike basically every other video game that has ever contained a church, this is in fact not in the Gothic style). The church is a wonderful display of the technology Valve has been working on for the last few years, and there are all sorts of reflective surfaces, stained glass windows, dark and light areas, and all sorts of other design elements that take advantage of well-lit goodness.

Despite the technology-focused slant of Valve's presenation, I did make a point to ask Gabe Newell if he had anything to say about the gameplay and atmosphere of Lost Coast distinct from the visuals. After thinking for a moment, he responded cryptically, "There's a reason the cathedral is important. You can't really know why yet." Sadly, he gave the impression that further questioning would get me nowhere. At least part of the explanation of that statement is revealed in the game, but it sounds like there might be more.

I'm a bit reluctant to say too much more about Lost Coast, simply because it's short enough (and free enough) that you might as well just not have what's there spoiled. As long as you aren't expecting anything more than a single beautiful level, you won't be disappointed.

Day of Defeat: Source

Fans of Day of Defeat have been awaiting the Source update for a while now, and now that the game has begun preloading over Steam, the wait is just about at its end. DoD is an online World War II team-based action game. It's a more realistic experience than many online PC shooters, though unlike in games such as Counter-Strike, players still respawn in the same round after dying. Players represent either American and British troops or German troops, and choose from a variety of classes, which determines the type of weapons they will be using in that round: machine guns, close range-oriented weapons, sniper rifles, and so on. Gameplay objectives range from various scenarios based around offensive and defensive goals, to maps requiring both teams to try and capture more flag-marked territories. The map being demonstrated during the presentation was one based around territory control.

So that's all old news. The biggest addition to Day of Defeat: Source is, quite simply, Source. The game looks worlds better than its predecessor, and it sports the latest iteration of Valve's engine. The textures are very detailed and the level being played, which was modeled quite successfully after a small Italian town, was a pleasure to observe. Valve noted that one of the artists who does textures for roads and tiling and so on models them first as actual geometry, then renders then in 2D and normal maps them for realistic effect.

The graphical improvements of course include the new HDR rendering, which was deliberately toned down a bit from its implementation in Lost Coast. The most striking way to see the improvements made to Day of Defeat is to see it running with and without HDR (which can be toggled in the video options), because it does not feature as many huge blown-out bloom effects and other obvious such displays that are present in Lost Coast. One theme running throughout the presentation is that since HDR is a technology that adjusts lighting in real-time depending on where the player is moving and looking, it greatly impacts game design. Thus, in a precision-oriented multiplayer game such as Day of Defeat, it makes more sense not to overwhelm players with blindness and outrageous bloom when they're trying to make a solid headshot. That said, all of the Source improvements to the game are very attractive and often subtly tasteful, and though it doesn't seem that the actual gameplay is evolving greatly, Day of Defeat: Source should provide a nice visual update for a game that's getting up there in years.

The game will be available to play September 26 with four maps. When asked about plans for additional maps, Valve simply responded, "More of them." They indicated that they would be releasing new content on a periodic basis, and also expect to see great things from the mod community.

Continue to the next page for some final tidbits from Valve.

Page One   Page Two   Page Three   Comments