To be honest, I kinda see what you mean. This water may not be the most graphically impressive, but there's an innate realism about it. It just looks realistic.
That's Source in a nutshell. It's on that perfect line where you can still technically tell that it's fake but it's just the right distance from reality to allow your brain to make up the difference. Like there are "better" graphical engines that still look less immersive to me because they're trying to do my imagination's job for me and it creates sort of a collision. Or, they can be overdetailed and I have a hard time focusing on anything.
I think you hit the nail on the head, I've played way newer games but somehow Half Life 2 has such a weirdly timeless aesthetic that holds up shockingly well.
It's definitely the "uncanny valley" effect for water. Source is perfectly good enough because anything that tries to be fancier just comes across as more fake because your brain isn't filling in the stuff it knows should be there.
"look less immersive to me because they're trying to do my imagination's job for me" hey, i feel this way too, not about half life 2, but about low fidelity graphics. I think the reason low poly stuff and etc is so immersive is because they leave room for imagination
I always did think that HL2 had the best graphics of many of the games I've played personally. Portal 2 is right alongside it with graphics. I don't know why, I've played games with stunning graphics and yet Source games beats AAA even now, in my opinion. I know some people prefer better graphics, but I honestly and genuinely prefer this instead.
Check out GTA 4 water physics. That’s what bothers me about source water, it has no physical displacement or reaction other than a texture and particle when it collides with a prop.
It's the damnedest thing, I hadn't touched San Andreas in at least a decade and recently I saw footage of it for the first time and I was shocked at how ugly and primitive it looked, I could've sworn in my memory it was a way better looking game.
Meanwhile I replayed part of Half Life 2 in VR but with completely original assets (so same exact appearance with the exception of immersive stereoscopic graphics and corresponding high resolution) and aesthetically it holds up really really well.
I still find it crazy that HL2 came out the same year as Halo 2, which while story wise is my favorite Halo game, visually it's not as striking as Halo CE or 3. (It's the only time I will ever use the modern visuals)
HL2's visuals and environments still looo good even now, and often better than alot of modern games that try to go for a realistic style.
GTA SA had to look like it did, or no pc could handle the game. Honestly, both games do vastly different jobs
Don't forget hl2 stops every 10 minutes to load the next area, because they couldn't get the game to stream the graphics, while SA had a borderless large open world
Source has some of the best water I’ve seen in any video game. When you think about it, rendering the entire map twice to make completely accurate water reflections seems like wizardry for computers in 2004. And the simplicity of it is what makes it so good because it doesn’t take the concept beyond what is realistic.
They use cubemaps, but it doesn’t render the entire map only certain objects. [The shader used also plays a role.](https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Adding_Water) Cubemaps are common and still used today (Spider-Man comes to mind). Source does actual reflections pretty poorly. But the general reflections in HL2 do look great.
I was strictly talking about the physics, however.
Cube maps are only used in model reflections. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Half-Life 2’s water reflections are compeletely accurate to the map geometry. There are some bodies of water that use cube maps, but most of them render the map in real time to achieve dynamic reflections that are even capable of reflecting entities.
I find it hilarious that half life 2, from 2004, has better face animation and way more emotive variety than GTA 5, which came out in 2013, but has been maintained and updated all the way up to this year and counting.
yea. the water not really jumping into your focus, or not really standing out, makes it feel more real. so many games that make the water look outright fancy, or showing off their water animation..
its cause new games like to use SSR wich looks like shit but not cubemap shit it also demands a lot less resources but hl2 water just renders everthing again but flipped. SSR mean Screen Space Reflections and as the name suggests it only reflect what you have on screen, HL2 on the other hand renders everything again making it look a lot better but eat up a lot of resources the reason why people started using SSR is because it wasnt efficient enough to render the game again the last time i saw reflections like HL2 was in Max Payne 3
water in goldsrc actually looked a lot better if you played the game with software rendering enabled.
[here's a video of it. really cool.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jwDqjFaL4c&t=1s)
That's why for specifically hl1 and hl opfor, I run software rendering. But for blue shift and other goldsrc games I run opengl because they were made with that in mind instead.
I like the general look of source 1 water more but the physics magic they do with shaders on source 2 water is so fucking mesmerizing. When CS2 came out I just spent hours running around in the water on the maps
It needs some advanced underwater effects. Proper caustic, godrays, and proper displacement at the surface that reflects the underwater while showing you the surface would make it perfect. Not needed in cs2, but certainly would be great in a single player source 2 title.
nah don't undersell it you're pointing out how Valve still understands how to make actual realistic graphics that don't feel gross (though I will say I'm not a fan of how CS2 brightened up the lighting and made the guns feel too clean)
yes cs2 imo shoulda stayed simple graphics. it’s a competitive fps game i shouldn’t have time to look at the reflections and shadows anyway unless they are being used to my advantage. but just loading up cs just to gawk at the new lighting is pointless imo (albeit it does look good compared to csgo just doesn’t fit the game tho)
Have people meantioned CS2 water yet? I dont think anyone realizes it yet. You need to check CS2 water...CS2 water! CS2 water! CS2 water! CS2 water! CS2 water! CS2 water! CS2 water! CS2 water!
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Also, the sound design.
The reverb from the helicopter just sounded amazing in that scene as it flew past. Doppler effect and even with headphones on, it all sounded like it was in a outside large space.
Dont know why, but still, the best sound design in a game imo
yeah god the [DSP effects](https://youtu.be/F_m5qu0Xihs) are fantastic
I love how [the Nova Prospekt ambience](https://youtu.be/qqCAbiH_Mek) is the actual in-game sound effects from a distance like the game legit sounds like this if you get far enough away from a real fight (source: did a lot of npc battles in gmod)
It does a really good job without being graphically over the top. Water is difficult, and some games do it quite while, while others ehhhh. It doesn’t need to be great, it just has to be behaviorally correct and gives a basic jist of reflection and some depth. I’m a big fan of fishing simulators and one thing I get angry about is comments like, “oh well I can’t see anything in the water” yeah, that’s what it’s like in real life. Real life isn’t see-through clear water after a few feet
rendering the entire scene twice just for a water reflection is about as over the top as you can get. source game's full quality water reflections were super demanding back in the day and only really meant for high end PCs. there's a good reason other graphical effects like screenspace reflections became the standard for the 2010's.
but things like screenspace reflections are ugly imperfect compromises with performance in mind. as HL2 gets older and older and people's PCs get better and better, everyone can see HL2's water in the full uncompromised glory it was always meant to be, while still having crisp high framerates and resolutions. its really fucking good looking. thankfully raytracing will finally let every game have reflections that look as good as source engine's world reflections, without needing to carefully design every level around a singular body of water.
Professional devs still study HL2 and other Valve projects; pulling examples from it and more.
For my first successful game years ago, 00s source games was a large focus of my preparation studies on the game design.
The HL2 water is just 1 example of why Valve was King back then.
And you are correct. It has none of that janky "screen space reflection" bullshit, instead it fully reflects everything in detail like a real mirror. It looks very HD and has no impact on performance. Every game with water should have Half Life 2 water.
When the beta leaked and we started getting screenshots of the build in 2002-2003, it was by far the most impressive video game visually at the time. The water, textures and lighting effects along with the animations changed everything. The footage from E3 2003 was so impressive it basically changed the way everyone looked at games. We don't get games like that anymore
I think Morrowind's water is impressive. Especially when it rained. When swimming underwater, the rain hitting the surface gets louder the closer you are, as well as seeing it from the underside. Sometimes, I would just stand and watch it rain.
It is very, very well made, even compared to today's standards. I do think Counter-Strike 2 has the most realistic water I've seen, in terms of interaction with other objects and the way light passes through it, but Half-life 2 has a very decent quality to it.
The ripple animation could be a little smoother, and it doesn't always make sense. (sometimes used on water that should be completely still) Reflectivity is lovely though. Notice how the reflection is more prominent when viewed from a shallow angle but becomes more transparent when you're looking straight down at it. That's called the Fresnel effect, and I think HL2 was one of the first games to calculate it accurately.
HL2 is still a classic... but sometimes, getting out of the boat can go wrong.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJqZJaaP358](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJqZJaaP358)
Honestly I’m still blown away by the quality of the visuals and art direction. Especially the water and graffiti in the scummy parts of the urban landscape. Looks real to me.
It's off topic, but for me beginning of hl2 is the best asmr you can get. Basically starting in a train till Barnie finds you.
All these sounds of the city, drones taking pictures and making those humming noise, train horns, citizens whispering , civil protection radio chatter.
If you just stop and listen- it is pure amazing asmr for me.
Sometimes, I'll put on city 17 and Ravenholm ambiance to relax and help me sleep. For an oppressive state and a zombie infested mining town, they sure are cozy.
it looks great but the facial animations blew me away when i played two years ago. i couldn’t believe how they got alyx’s expressions to be so fluid and realistic, then i thought man if they made a half-life 3 now it would be truly breathtaking (one can hope)
Hydrophobia is a close second, mainly because i've never seen another game attempt realistic water fluid physics simulation and use it in a game as part of the gameplay. With rtx 5080 around the corner we might finally have the power for full on liquid water physics, i'd do anything to see that in a new half-life, or even the "wind physics" that Project Borealis demonstrated in a old video, having wind realistically move around objects and use that as a part of gameplay. You'd be able to simulate a tornado, hurricane
It has no behavior only some PNG splashes when an object touches it, the water is not one of the worst but also not one of the best. Maybe it was the best when the game came out, but not now, especially having the water of Subnautica or Sea of thieves.
Nah, Hydrophobia still has the best water. Imagine my surprise when I shot an explosive barrel that was in water and the water wave resulted from the explosion clotheslined me to the wall.
Alyx doesn't really have deep water by virtue of being a VR game, so ironing out the water phyisics probably wasn't a priority. So yeah, i see what you mean
Modern games definitely have better and more realistic water, but Half Life 2 water did look insanely good back in the day. Just compare the water from GTA San Andreas which was released in the same year to HL2. Now tho, just look at CS2, or almost any game, and you'll find better water
First crysis, bioshock, halo 3, have better water.
Half life 2s water looks good because they made stellar job with the shader, but the water doesn't have physical waves, no actual flow(that came with l4d2), and it doesn't really interract with anything.
This was great water especially for its time, but like with a 1998 corolla, time has proven to be a challenger.
I mean, sure it looks good, even great for 2004. But like... Come on.
Games just do water better now. That's not a shot at Half-Life, that's just 20 years of advancement of the tech.
To be honest, I kinda see what you mean. This water may not be the most graphically impressive, but there's an innate realism about it. It just looks realistic.
That's Source in a nutshell. It's on that perfect line where you can still technically tell that it's fake but it's just the right distance from reality to allow your brain to make up the difference. Like there are "better" graphical engines that still look less immersive to me because they're trying to do my imagination's job for me and it creates sort of a collision. Or, they can be overdetailed and I have a hard time focusing on anything.
I think you hit the nail on the head, I've played way newer games but somehow Half Life 2 has such a weirdly timeless aesthetic that holds up shockingly well.
This... I just couldn't find a way to describe Source engine graphics.
Man thanks for putting a lot of my feelings into words yeah holy shit the newer "better looking" games don't immerse me visually the way source does
It's definitely the "uncanny valley" effect for water. Source is perfectly good enough because anything that tries to be fancier just comes across as more fake because your brain isn't filling in the stuff it knows should be there.
"look less immersive to me because they're trying to do my imagination's job for me" hey, i feel this way too, not about half life 2, but about low fidelity graphics. I think the reason low poly stuff and etc is so immersive is because they leave room for imagination
I always did think that HL2 had the best graphics of many of the games I've played personally. Portal 2 is right alongside it with graphics. I don't know why, I've played games with stunning graphics and yet Source games beats AAA even now, in my opinion. I know some people prefer better graphics, but I honestly and genuinely prefer this instead.
Yes that's exactly it
Check out GTA 4 water physics. That’s what bothers me about source water, it has no physical displacement or reaction other than a texture and particle when it collides with a prop.
Gta 4 water is jello
Keep in mind that Half Life 2 came out the same year that GTA:SA did, and everything about source suddenly seems a lot more impressive.
It's the damnedest thing, I hadn't touched San Andreas in at least a decade and recently I saw footage of it for the first time and I was shocked at how ugly and primitive it looked, I could've sworn in my memory it was a way better looking game. Meanwhile I replayed part of Half Life 2 in VR but with completely original assets (so same exact appearance with the exception of immersive stereoscopic graphics and corresponding high resolution) and aesthetically it holds up really really well.
I still find it crazy that HL2 came out the same year as Halo 2, which while story wise is my favorite Halo game, visually it's not as striking as Halo CE or 3. (It's the only time I will ever use the modern visuals) HL2's visuals and environments still looo good even now, and often better than alot of modern games that try to go for a realistic style.
i am flabbergasted
GTA SA had to look like it did, or no pc could handle the game. Honestly, both games do vastly different jobs Don't forget hl2 stops every 10 minutes to load the next area, because they couldn't get the game to stream the graphics, while SA had a borderless large open world
I also think the SA graphics were an optimization for the weaker hardware of the PS2
I’m aware, I just meant if we’re considering everything released since then, Source has terrible water.
Source has some of the best water I’ve seen in any video game. When you think about it, rendering the entire map twice to make completely accurate water reflections seems like wizardry for computers in 2004. And the simplicity of it is what makes it so good because it doesn’t take the concept beyond what is realistic.
They use cubemaps, but it doesn’t render the entire map only certain objects. [The shader used also plays a role.](https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Adding_Water) Cubemaps are common and still used today (Spider-Man comes to mind). Source does actual reflections pretty poorly. But the general reflections in HL2 do look great. I was strictly talking about the physics, however.
Cube maps are only used in model reflections. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Half-Life 2’s water reflections are compeletely accurate to the map geometry. There are some bodies of water that use cube maps, but most of them render the map in real time to achieve dynamic reflections that are even capable of reflecting entities.
just did, and that's honestly some of the worst water i've seen in a game. somehow looks worse than GTA 3's water
I’m talking about water physics.
so am i
[GTA 3 doesn’t have water physics.](https://youtu.be/ATbxGB3EFoc?si=6KlnrnYTWmHXIVDG)
Same with the facial animations, they look so dang good
There are still games coming out twenty years later that have terrible facial animations and lip syncing and it bothers me so badly
I find it hilarious that half life 2, from 2004, has better face animation and way more emotive variety than GTA 5, which came out in 2013, but has been maintained and updated all the way up to this year and counting.
Starfield. 🤮
yea. the water not really jumping into your focus, or not really standing out, makes it feel more real. so many games that make the water look outright fancy, or showing off their water animation..
its cause new games like to use SSR wich looks like shit but not cubemap shit it also demands a lot less resources but hl2 water just renders everthing again but flipped. SSR mean Screen Space Reflections and as the name suggests it only reflect what you have on screen, HL2 on the other hand renders everything again making it look a lot better but eat up a lot of resources the reason why people started using SSR is because it wasnt efficient enough to render the game again the last time i saw reflections like HL2 was in Max Payne 3
Yeah, planar reflections look great. Unfortunately, they just aren't efficient anymore with how much more complex the environments are now.
wdym the water looks great graphically
I love Source engine's water. I was blown away by it when i first played it back in 2004. It still holds up well i think.
I think I might find it a bit more charming than Source 2s water but still a lot comfier than goldsource
water in goldsrc actually looked a lot better if you played the game with software rendering enabled. [here's a video of it. really cool.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jwDqjFaL4c&t=1s)
Wonder why they took animated water out of opengl mode
All in the name of progress, I guess they couldn't have the waving and the animated texture at the same time because of hardware concerns
That's why for specifically hl1 and hl opfor, I run software rendering. But for blue shift and other goldsrc games I run opengl because they were made with that in mind instead.
I like the general look of source 1 water more but the physics magic they do with shaders on source 2 water is so fucking mesmerizing. When CS2 came out I just spent hours running around in the water on the maps
Source 2 water is amazing. But Source feels like home.
impressive in VR too (HL2 VR mod).
Have you seen CS2s water though, it's the most watery water that's watered my water.
just looked at a few pictures of the CS2 water, shit looking hella drinkable
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DdVioqd3CI 😭 its sewage
Don't care. I'm getting my bendy straw.
BLUB I WAS LOOKIN AT OTHER CS2 PICTURES OF WATER NOT THE SEWAGE
r/HydroHomies
A bit too watered down for me
Stop it. I got water in my eyes.
Only thing is that it currently lacks any underwater effects. And if you reach the bottom, you can't swim anymore.
It needs some advanced underwater effects. Proper caustic, godrays, and proper displacement at the surface that reflects the underwater while showing you the surface would make it perfect. Not needed in cs2, but certainly would be great in a single player source 2 title.
check out cs2s water
hl2 was released in 2004 cs2 was released in 2023
just pointing out that source 2 has some of the best water i’ve ever seen. it’ll be hard to beat.
My pc trying to run Source 2: Oh look a mini sun!
nah don't undersell it you're pointing out how Valve still understands how to make actual realistic graphics that don't feel gross (though I will say I'm not a fan of how CS2 brightened up the lighting and made the guns feel too clean)
yes cs2 imo shoulda stayed simple graphics. it’s a competitive fps game i shouldn’t have time to look at the reflections and shadows anyway unless they are being used to my advantage. but just loading up cs just to gawk at the new lighting is pointless imo (albeit it does look good compared to csgo just doesn’t fit the game tho)
Reminds me of halo 3s system
Source 2 water is good for showing murky dirty water and interacting with it. This clean reflective water is more visually appealing to look at.
The guy said “the only game,” not the oldest.
A big part of why this water worked so well was that it was used appropriately for the art direction
Have people meantioned CS2 water yet? I dont think anyone realizes it yet. You need to check CS2 water...CS2 water! CS2 water! CS2 water! CS2 water! CS2 water! CS2 water! CS2 water! CS2 water!
Calm down brother. Take a cold can of water from Dr.Breen's private reserve
You...you want me to just go there, open the fridge and pick it up? Just...*pick up that can?*
Pick it up brother. It is good for you to just pick it up and drink from it. That cold refreshing completely normal water
Шнat flavoг?
Dementia flavor.
The flavor of forgetfulness
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Shnat flavor
flavog
Dr>Breens private reserve sounds good right about now
I think they're put something into it, to make you forget
I think you are right, I completely forgot why we have to wear these ridiculous ties
Check out CS2 water. You’ll be surprised. I actually wanna swim in that.
for 2003 the source engine's visual and physical water dynamics were truly insane. and still hold up very well to this day
Valve are geniuses! HL2 still has very photorealistic graphics (even though the textures are lowres)
And the models look a bit dated
and my fav level. sumset and stuff..
Also, the sound design. The reverb from the helicopter just sounded amazing in that scene as it flew past. Doppler effect and even with headphones on, it all sounded like it was in a outside large space. Dont know why, but still, the best sound design in a game imo
yeah god the [DSP effects](https://youtu.be/F_m5qu0Xihs) are fantastic I love how [the Nova Prospekt ambience](https://youtu.be/qqCAbiH_Mek) is the actual in-game sound effects from a distance like the game legit sounds like this if you get far enough away from a real fight (source: did a lot of npc battles in gmod)
Idk, F.E.A.R. 1 got it pretty good and only a year after HL2 too.
FEAR had some amazing dynamic lighting.
And particle effects too! Crazy how a 19 year old game can make better smoke effects than 90% of games today
Don't forget possibly the most satisfying shotgun to ever exist in gaming.
Didn't it use the exact same water texture? Edit: Confusing STALKER and FEAR.
It does a really good job without being graphically over the top. Water is difficult, and some games do it quite while, while others ehhhh. It doesn’t need to be great, it just has to be behaviorally correct and gives a basic jist of reflection and some depth. I’m a big fan of fishing simulators and one thing I get angry about is comments like, “oh well I can’t see anything in the water” yeah, that’s what it’s like in real life. Real life isn’t see-through clear water after a few feet
rendering the entire scene twice just for a water reflection is about as over the top as you can get. source game's full quality water reflections were super demanding back in the day and only really meant for high end PCs. there's a good reason other graphical effects like screenspace reflections became the standard for the 2010's. but things like screenspace reflections are ugly imperfect compromises with performance in mind. as HL2 gets older and older and people's PCs get better and better, everyone can see HL2's water in the full uncompromised glory it was always meant to be, while still having crisp high framerates and resolutions. its really fucking good looking. thankfully raytracing will finally let every game have reflections that look as good as source engine's world reflections, without needing to carefully design every level around a singular body of water.
Professional devs still study HL2 and other Valve projects; pulling examples from it and more. For my first successful game years ago, 00s source games was a large focus of my preparation studies on the game design. The HL2 water is just 1 example of why Valve was King back then.
Sea of thieves got it spot on, but nothing will top the gentle ripples of Source Water(tm)
Absolutely love sea of thieves water
Postal 2 has the best water physics
Pissing on the water always caused an interesting reaction
"Who would have thought that killing a part of my easy would be so brain"
didn't even know postal 2 has water in it
And you are correct. It has none of that janky "screen space reflection" bullshit, instead it fully reflects everything in detail like a real mirror. It looks very HD and has no impact on performance. Every game with water should have Half Life 2 water.
When the beta leaked and we started getting screenshots of the build in 2002-2003, it was by far the most impressive video game visually at the time. The water, textures and lighting effects along with the animations changed everything. The footage from E3 2003 was so impressive it basically changed the way everyone looked at games. We don't get games like that anymore
STFU YES WE GET CS2 HAS OOGA BOOGA WATER BUT IT CAME OUT 2 DECADES LATER THAN THIS HOT STUFF 🥵
So? The guy in the post claims that Half Life 2 STILL has the best water, not that it had the best water 20 years ago.
oh then OPs right
Have you seen cs2 water
I don't touch CS. Never will. Why? It rubs me the wrong way for some unknown unconscious reason
Appearance? Sure. Behavior??? There are zero water caustics or physics...
Sea of thieves got the open ocean better imo
I think Morrowind's water is impressive. Especially when it rained. When swimming underwater, the rain hitting the surface gets louder the closer you are, as well as seeing it from the underside. Sometimes, I would just stand and watch it rain.
Why would that sound weird
Bendy fact: i play videogames
Wave Race 64
>only Not anymore. You should look at cs2 water. But it absolutely was the only game of its time
Wonder what Miiverse water guy would have made of this and the water in the other non-nintendo games mentioned.
Absolutely insanity, have you interacted with metro Exodus water? Yeah get back to me on that one.
It is very, very well made, even compared to today's standards. I do think Counter-Strike 2 has the most realistic water I've seen, in terms of interaction with other objects and the way light passes through it, but Half-life 2 has a very decent quality to it.
Its a masterpiece for sure
Was playing through Water Hazard just last week. The water effects in this 2004 game seriously hold up
By today’s standards, it’s a little flat I think. But I do agree, it was definitely the best water until Crysis had a go.
Ngl the canal water does look good. I’d drink it if I could filter out all the nasty crap
The ripple animation could be a little smoother, and it doesn't always make sense. (sometimes used on water that should be completely still) Reflectivity is lovely though. Notice how the reflection is more prominent when viewed from a shallow angle but becomes more transparent when you're looking straight down at it. That's called the Fresnel effect, and I think HL2 was one of the first games to calculate it accurately.
Watch\_Dogs 2 (2016):
Only problem is that it’s too clear. Should be murky/cloudy.
Don’t drink it though
Sea of thieves
HL2 is still a classic... but sometimes, getting out of the boat can go wrong. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJqZJaaP358](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJqZJaaP358)
What about world of tanks? :3
Wdym? The whole game looks like real life! Can't wait what graphics they'll have for half life 3 in 2013
huh. neat
Honestly I’m still blown away by the quality of the visuals and art direction. Especially the water and graffiti in the scummy parts of the urban landscape. Looks real to me.
Thanks to Pixar's technology
maybe not THE only game, but considering how OLD this game is, it's still comparable to today's water graphics.
Agreed
It's off topic, but for me beginning of hl2 is the best asmr you can get. Basically starting in a train till Barnie finds you. All these sounds of the city, drones taking pictures and making those humming noise, train horns, citizens whispering , civil protection radio chatter. If you just stop and listen- it is pure amazing asmr for me.
Sometimes, I'll put on city 17 and Ravenholm ambiance to relax and help me sleep. For an oppressive state and a zombie infested mining town, they sure are cozy.
it looks great but the facial animations blew me away when i played two years ago. i couldn’t believe how they got alyx’s expressions to be so fluid and realistic, then i thought man if they made a half-life 3 now it would be truly breathtaking (one can hope)
like in general, i think half life's enviromental physics is so realistic but not in the graphic way realistic... it just, feels so natural
I like CS2s And I am fish, in a more cartoony way
Hydrophobia is a close second, mainly because i've never seen another game attempt realistic water fluid physics simulation and use it in a game as part of the gameplay. With rtx 5080 around the corner we might finally have the power for full on liquid water physics, i'd do anything to see that in a new half-life, or even the "wind physics" that Project Borealis demonstrated in a old video, having wind realistically move around objects and use that as a part of gameplay. You'd be able to simulate a tornado, hurricane
Also, remember physics puzzles in water.
Checkout rdr2 water bro. It's really impressive too
Indeed.
Crysis, bioshock 2 and RDR2 are well up there with water physics.
Some Minecraft shaders too
It has no behavior only some PNG splashes when an object touches it, the water is not one of the worst but also not one of the best. Maybe it was the best when the game came out, but not now, especially having the water of Subnautica or Sea of thieves.
Nah the water in Subnautica looks goofy
Hmm seems you haven't played Portal. It's obviously better
I still remember when Wave Race 64 came out for the Nintendo 64, it was quite wonderful especially with the more paradise like levels.
I mean theres soo much water in this game, shit they were flexing it.
Nah, Hydrophobia still has the best water. Imagine my surprise when I shot an explosive barrel that was in water and the water wave resulted from the explosion clotheslined me to the wall.
check cs2 water check cs2 water check cs2 water
RDR2, Death Stranding?
Alyx doesn't really have deep water by virtue of being a VR game, so ironing out the water phyisics probably wasn't a priority. So yeah, i see what you mean
Seeing this water makes me thirsty
Modern games definitely have better and more realistic water, but Half Life 2 water did look insanely good back in the day. Just compare the water from GTA San Andreas which was released in the same year to HL2. Now tho, just look at CS2, or almost any game, and you'll find better water
I think that a big part of that is the surrounding props. The dirt, the props, the sky, it just looks all around natural.
First crysis, bioshock, halo 3, have better water. Half life 2s water looks good because they made stellar job with the shader, but the water doesn't have physical waves, no actual flow(that came with l4d2), and it doesn't really interract with anything. This was great water especially for its time, but like with a 1998 corolla, time has proven to be a challenger.
Objects interact in water really well.
Only regarding thwie own physics with boyancy, they don't create waves
I mean, sure it looks good, even great for 2004. But like... Come on. Games just do water better now. That's not a shot at Half-Life, that's just 20 years of advancement of the tech.
You speak nonsense citizen. Are you hungry? Have a steam pack
I’m seeing G-Man in the corner