Comments - Koranis

Very nice pics Milton! I will stick with 1.5 however ;) I don't fancy new backgrounds very much, they are nice but it's a matter of taste! :)

Sounds nice! Can you post some Black-label exclusive images? I have your Ultima Ratio 1.5 version + special effects addon and I love it. In fact so much that I need some convincing if I'm to upgrade :)

I often see comments like this, "it's obvious you didn't see Leon's previous work". Lol. Like if it mattered. I judged The Closure for what it is, not for its author and his previous work. That's because I'm not biased. I played it, sadly I didn't like it, and I expressed my opinion about it, even had a civilized discussion with some folks at RTSL, some of whom didn't agree. Do you have a problem with that?

I even posted a review after 11 hours of gameplay, so if you're implying I'm a troll, you're way off the mark, mister. I realize you see all this negativity and it you hits hard, maybe because you're the biased one.

You don't have to defend or justify this mod, I've already made my opinion after playing it. Grabbing a pitchfork just because people don't agree with you will you achieve you nothing.

"Oh and another thing, a few pages back you asked for a way to remove the custom weapons. Someone told you just delete the 3d models, and you were like "wow who would have thought""

You sure don't recognize sarcasm when you see it. That guy's answer was rude, he treated me like an idiot so I answered with a sarcastic remark. Some other people would have done worse.

EDIT: And one more thing: sadly I don't have that passion for the modding scene of Half Life, so I don't play every single one at its release, I only check those that end up becoming famous for one reason or another. Now, what I don't understand is when you decided it was a good idea to bash me for it.

Apart the use of some strong, uncalled for, words, his review is sound, Leon, and contains valid criticism.

I still have to see you accept any kind of criticism, by the way. You keep thanking thos who review it positively and dismiss those who have something negative to say about it. Remember, every feedback is factual. The fact that the player feels lost in your mod is not the player's fault.

What is that supposed to mean? lol. Does it mean "You should have expected something along the same lines"? Maybe, if I played any other Leon's mod I would either hoped something improved since the last mod was released or simply would have not bothered at all.

But if what you mean is "You don't understand Leon's art" then, well, I envy you your low standards.

I just saw your post on "RunThinkShootLive", and read this:

"Let me start with that this mod doesn’t follow the HL(2) universe".

This is the first time I read something like this. It obviously changes things and puts the mod in a different perspective. It is odd though as everything else I've read of you so far pointed to a "direct sequel to Episode 2" instead.

Honestly I did not enjoy it, and now that I have the confirmation it's not Episode 3 for HL and it never intended to be, I'm sure it's just not my cup of tea, but I thank you for all your labor and love that you put into it nonetheless and for giving me the opportunity to try it.

Sorry for that, Leon. I imagine you would like to see only positive comments, but this is what I saw having played your mod for 3 hours and that was my experience. As a game designer said recently "Every feedback is factual". You can't really say it's not true that you have a collection of models that are lore-unfriendly in a mod called "Episode 3". A good mod is not only judged by the quality of the architecture.

From your comments I gather you still don't realize how high you set the bar for this mod by calling it "Episode 3" alone, and how low this mod has delivered in the eyes of some people who expected a proper "Episode 3". Can you really blame them? As others have said, it's really a problem of information, not of the mod per se. You have created a mod that you like and you shared it with the world, but newcomers to your work (like myself) will have different expectations and standards than people who know and enjoy your usual work.

But since you don't want to see this kind of comments I'll refrain from posting further. Can't say the same about some other people though.

Wow, thank you. Who would have thought.

Does anyone know how to remove custom weapons and models? The models come from a mod hosted on gamebananana.com. I know SPY-map got the permissions to use it but personally I don't like those.

He will have to release it first, you know.

Hopefully he came to upload the mod!

It was, but you were not there, nor your mod unfortunately.

The anticipation is almost palpable! :P

I just have doubts regarding the 3rd person view cutscenes, which are very "unValvy", so to speak. There is a precise reason why Valve doesn't use them, both stylistical and technical: source is not a particularly cinematic engine and the 3rd person view cutscenes tend to seem silly. Plus it takes the player out of Gordon and out of control something that is completely contrary to Half Life and Valve's philosophy. It's one of the things that made Half Life unique, so adding the 3rd person cutscenes to the mod on a certain level deprives it of the "half-life style" continuity. I hope I'm making sense with this, I'm not sure. But I'm sure it will be a very special mod, just unconvinced that it will be a proper Episode 3 people hope it is.

Great stuff!

Sadly the textures quality is average at best, mediocre at worst, despite visible good intentions and direction. The textures might be higher res than the original ones but are hardly of HD quality - it's just a rework.

The lack of proper art direction is visible also in the changes of the interface - those were put together like a collage of different images without offering a truly different UI experience and resulting in something that's absolutely distracting. A change for the worse. Thankfully it's optional.

The installer is the final nail in the coffin: pretentious and invasive, considering that its only purpose is to install a bunch of textures and script files, something that it's even easier to do without it (copy and paste of the folder without overwriting anything). Instead the installer also modifies the registry - I mean, what's the point? Plus its fuctionality is wonky - if you customize your install instead of installing everything then you'll be lucky if you can uninstall it again.

As I said, I can see the good intentions but the changes are just that: changes, not improvements. Stay clear if you're a purist, but you might enjoy it if you just want something different in your game.

Great! If this is going a satisfactory closure to HF2, I will name my firstborn after you. :)

Ohhhh, great. You can always release an "enhanced" edition afterwards if you feel inspired and there's demand for it. ;)

Finally, the game needed something like that! :) Good job!

I stopped tracking it long time ago, as soon as I realized the author just keeps making promises without actually keeping them.

Ehm... how "soon"? I still have to figure out how fast time flows in your universe, because it surely flows quite slowly in ours. ;)

They just keep posting artworks, as they've been doing for years. The artworks are great but the game is still little more than vaporware.

So yeap, it's pretty dead.

The best way of waiting for it is to stop following this mod and forget it completely. This way the author can take all the time he wants to put it together and release it when it's ready. And when he does, it will be a nice surprise for all those who are waiting for Godot right now :)

Well, you can just look at all the images and videos posted here. Those and a modicum of intelligence is all that's required to undestand in what direction the narrative style it's going. Everything else is a matter of preferences.

I saw the videos and I'm disappointed by the fact that the cutscenes are all in 3rd person. Unless you have completely remade your mod since you posted those videos, I don't think I need to play it before I can say "I'm disappointed by the fact that you didn't follow the good example HF2 has made with subtle 1st person setpieces and that you opted for distracting 3rd person cutscenes instead, something that this engine is not even good for." The fact that I'm even posting this should assure you however that I'm very much interested in your mod and that I will play it regardless, thankful that it exists, however harsh I might sound. As you said it's personal, and while some people care only for good gunfights and explosions, I care for other things. And we know well that while a gun in the preview videos might have been changed in the final build, the style of the narrative won't be: it's present in all the videos, in all the images you posted here and anyone with a minimal gaming experience knows that it's more difficult to remake cutscenes than swap gun models :) That's why I don't need to be "lucky" and having played the game beforehand.

Again, we agree that it's personal, and thanks for answering my question: you like it and that's it! :)

Those with a good taste.

Why there are so many distracting 3rd person cutscenes?? What does a 3 second cutscene add to the story, apart from interrupting the gameplay flow?

I'm sending you a truck full of pills and medicinals to keep you healthy and productive, mate :) Don't you worry!

27 maps?? man, take your time with this. Bugtesting such an amount of levels must be a nightmare. Don't rush it, your creation is not worth it. At this scale it deserves all the attention to detail and patience you are capable of. Otherwise you will be leaving all the effort you've put into this going to waste.

People swearing at those who put their own free time and effort into modding are really not worth the time nor attention of anyone. If I was a LA member I would just show those swearing ******** a middlefinger and be done with them.

But you're right, SPY-maps should take his time with this, but for the right reasons, not because of the reaction of people.