Half-Life

Watching some old youtube favorites. Freeman’s mind is cool. Looking at these videos, my immediate surprise was that, wow, guns kill with one shot. That’s so cool when he kills stuff. I think playing Fallout New Vegas is what made me feel like it was the norm that it takes a minute to kill someone with a plasma gun.

I don’t remember the time I played the final fight of Half-Life myself, but it looks quite scary how you have no indication of the HP of the last boss. You can shoot grenades it and not know if you are making any progress (or is there some HUD info removed in these videos, crosshairs at least are not seen?).

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131815/the_cabal_valves_design_process_.php?page=3 About Half-Life design.

This creature was initially designed as a friendly character, but play-testing revealed players’ tendencies to shoot first and ask questions later.

Letting players see other characters make mistakes that they’ll need to avoid is an effective way to explain your puzzles and add tension and entertainment value.