The Orange Box

[Mr. SmartyPants]

Please tell me I'm not the only one who hasn't gotten The Orange Box. XD Anyone else? It's only like the greatest videogame bundle in the history of the world. XD

Excuse me while I spend the rest of my night in front of the computer screen. HUZZAH!

[Slater]

I would buy this so fast if I had a Desktop. Team Fortress 2 looks simply amazing... and Portal? What a concept!

Haven't done HL2E1 yet though.


It costs 400,000 dollars to fire this weapon... for 12 seconds.... AHAHAAHAHAHAHAHA

[Alexander]

Please tell me Portal is as wonderful as I hoped it would be.

If it ever becomes a separate download from Steam...

[Raiden no Kishi]

Now if only my college's Internet filter allowed Steam to access the intarwebz . . .

.rai//

[Mr. SmartyPants]

Please tell me Portal is as wonderful as I hoped it would be.

If it ever becomes a separate download from Steam...

It is.

And It is. XD

[Bap]

I want this so bad for Portal. D: I've also been wanting to get into the HL series, even though I haven't played the first one, I still do want to play the second one. D:

[blkmage]

Portal is making me consider trying out HL2 to see if it'll run on this Macbook.

[Alexander]

It is.

And It is. XD

*prays CPU can handle the game*

Oh, and I need money...

[LorentzForce]

Portal is a wonderful game. I was telling my friends and such about how awesome the game is; I haven't done that since Deus Ex.

A little too short, but it's wonderful. I'm sure there'll be many custom maps in time.

EP2 is awesome too, however I still haven't managed to finish it completely with 100%. Stupid gnome. You'll understand when you play it.

[Etoh*the*Greato]

Please tell me Portal is as wonderful as I hoped it would be.

If it ever becomes a separate download from Steam...

More so. I expected more out of Tf2 though.

[Alexander]

Kyaa. My integrated graphics card can't handle it. -_-

*stares lovingly at the game while I wait to get a new computer 6 years in the future*

[Etoh*the*Greato]

Cake... I will get that cake!

[TriezGamer]

[spoiler=Portal]The cake is a lie![/spoiler]
... :p

Portal was depressingly short. I beat it yesterday in about 2 hours. The advanced versions of the levels took me a few more hours. Last one in particular had me stumped for a while. The challenge modes are decent for extending the life of the game, but it's just too dang short.

And the ending for Portal was epic-level awesome.

[Bobtheduck]

Not sure whether to go PC or PS3... Depends on how well Game newellfullofdonuts and his team optimized it for the PS3... I hate playing PS3 ports of 3 year old PC games that work better on my 2 year old PC than my 1 year old PS3(*coughfearcough*)

[Mr. SmartyPants]

Not sure whether to go PC or PS3... Depends on how well Game newellfullofdonuts and his team optimized it for the PS3... I hate playing PS3 ports of 3 year old PC games that work better on my 2 year old PC than my 1 year old PS3(*coughfearcough*)

Don't be a blasphemer. It's a FPS, so get it for the PC unless you absolutely can't. =p

[Felix]

So wait... does this include the original and the second Half Life as well as the extras, like Portal and stuff? I still haven't played the original Half Lifes, so I wouldn't want to buy this if it didn't have them =o

[Omega Amen]

So wait... does this include the original and the second Half Life as well as the extras, like Portal and stuff? I still haven't played the original Half Lifes, so I wouldn't want to buy this if it didn't have them =o

The Orange Box contains the following:

Half-Life 2
Half-Life 2: Episode One
Half-Life 2: Episode Two
Portal
Team Fortress 2

So no, it does not have the original Half-Life... BUT

A PC mod team is doing a complete remake of the original Half-Life using the Half-Life 2 engine, titled Black Mesa Source. Look at the teaser trailer here. And you can visit the group's website here.

I suggest you just get the PC version of The Orange Box just because this will always be the best deal to get all that content by far (saving about $80.00). Then when the Black Mesa mod comes out, you can play what will be the best version of original Half-Life ever, for free, and you will be able to do so since you bought Half-Life 2 on the PC.

Or if you are really impatient, you can buy the original Half-Life: Source edition on the Steam store and download it and play it. However, I think it looks too dated now.

[HiddenWoodchuck]

I got it for the 360... it's great of course... played the original and all, but I don't feel like shelling out more money to upgrade my computer, so the console version had to make due. I don't buy PC games anymore anyways, you get more content out of the games, but it isn't really cheaper once you realize all the cash spent on endless upgrades and stuff... at least in my case anyway. The cost of having consoles is bad enough...

[Bobtheduck]

Don't be a blasphemer. It's a FPS, so get it for the PC unless you absolutely can't. =p

Well, I can't do NEW PC fps games with my rinky dink system (though I COULD play HL2 and FEAR), and I can't really play other people I know with PC games, so there are definite benefits to going console. I have a hard enough time lugging the PS3 around... Doing that with my PC and monitor and mouse and keyboard is a frightening prospect indeed. Not really the most massive FPS fan, so I wouldn't want to play this alone, except to play through the campaign once or to practice.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

Well, I can't do NEW PC fps games with my rinky dink system (though I COULD play HL2 and FEAR), and I can't really play other people I know with PC games, so there are definite benefits to going console. I have a hard enough time lugging the PS3 around... Doing that with my PC and monitor and mouse and keyboard is a frightening prospect indeed. Not really the most massive FPS fan, so I wouldn't want to play this alone, except to play through the campaign once or to practice.

Well I was in the same situation. I got a 360 for Bioshock because my computer can't handle it. I can run HL2 just fine so I picked up Orange Box for the PC.

[Etoh*the*Greato]

MSP - adoring the icon.

Also, I beat Portal. I wasn't expecting it to be, but it is far and away my favorite part of the entire set. I'm still listening to the end theme and laughing.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

The more I play TF2, the more I love it.

Seriously, it's becoming so fun. What more did you expect out of TF2, Etoh?

[Cognitive Gear]

I love TF2. MSP and I played together last night, and had a blast. Anyone want to set up a regular CAA TF2 night?

[Omega Amen]

I love TF2. MSP and I played together last night, and had a blast. Anyone want to set up a regular CAA TF2 night?

Great idea. I will gladly put up an announcement and set up an event in the CAA Steam Community.

In other words, start discussing when will be a good night for you guys. Probably the first few nights I might not be able to attend, but at least I can post something up on the event calendar.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

Weekends may be a bad idea for me except for nights. But I'm usually free most days.

I was surprised at myself earlier a few days ago. I generally don't fare too well as a Scout, but I seemed to have done rather well.

During the final round in dustbowl, I noticed that the Reds were going almost offensive for some reason during that round, (I figure they wanted to push the offensive away or something) so I had a feeling that the last capture point wouldn't have been too protected. Voila, when I ran in there, all I saw was an engie running around and a medic trying to kill me.

A winner is me. =D

In another game, I was playing 2fort and me (As an engineer) and two other engineers camped in the intel room and built three sentries. Along with being a with a medic and a pyro, our defenses were practically impenetrable. I was alive for nearly 40 minutes. XD LONGEST game ever.

I'm trying to get better with most classes. I'm finding it particularly hard to excel at being a Spy and a Pyro. I found some good Spy protips, so I'm going to try them out later.

And this video is amazingly win. Watch it right now.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ht5RF5cd2wA

[Etoh*the*Greato]

The more I play TF2, the more I love it.

Seriously, it's becoming so fun. What more did you expect out of TF2, Etoh?

I dunno... Everything it does is great... It's just that... well we've been waiting for so long. A few more maps would've been nice. It is fun. There's just not much of it.

What's everyone's XBL tags? For er... I guess those who play on XBL.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

I dunno... Everything it does is great... It's just that... well we've been waiting for so long. A few more maps would've been nice. It is fun. There's just not much of it.

What's everyone's XBL tags? For er... I guess those who play on XBL.

XD Sorry, but... that would be none of us.

AFAIK, we all play on Steam.

[Cognitive Gear]

I suppose we need to be sure that everyone clearly defines themselves. I am a PC TF2 player.

[Etoh*the*Greato]

Well dang. XD

[Mr. SmartyPants]

I backstabbed Omega Amen more times than I could count last night.

It felt goooooooooood. XD

I think I'm getting better as a spy.

For some good spy protips that I use, check this out

Protips for spy: disguise as enemy spy. No one ever suspects their own spy. Also, make sure you are fully cloaked before you pop into an open area, don't just pop it and immediately run out.

To convince engies you're on their team, if they have a guard, kill that guard out of the engies sight and then disguise as that class. They'll be none the wiser.

If someone starts spy-checking you, there's nothing you can do. Just turn to face them, then turn away from them again, unless you're sure they know you're a spy, in which case pull out the pistol and blast away.

Never disguise as medic. People always look at their medic when they see them, and if they see a medic standing there with his healgun out NOT healing someone they know something's wrong.

To make effective use of cloak, turn it on, make sure you're fully cloaked, then run way behind the enemy line. Uncloak in a hidden corner, then run up to their line. If you just appear in the room they're in, you'll probably get spychecked.

For sapping: just spam the heck out of it and try to shank the engies when they go to heal the sg. Alternative: If the engy isn't in sight of the sg, sap it, then immediately cloak. Wait for the engy to come fix it, then stand around. He'll probably leave the area for a second to get more metal. Stab him, re-disguise, then sap the turret. If your team is pushing a room, just run in and spam sap. Having the sgs down for a few seconds makes a huge difference.

On hydro: on the cap point where it is in the middle of the sattelite dish in a small bunker with windows, you can easily backdoor cap. Disguise, fully cloak, run into the bunker, uncloak, and undisguise (just stab your knife). Sentries most likely wont be able to hit you, and if you have a couple spies doing this one after another you have a really easy cap.


More protips to come when I think of them.


[edit] If you're going undercover as a heavy class for some unknown reason (soldier, heavy (demo?)) wait until you are already almost where you want to be. These disguises slow down your walking speed. Disguise as spy, sneak/cloak your way in, then cloak and change disguise.

Sniper is a good disguise for camping a battlements. Everyone expects a sniper to be just standing there holding his gun anyways. You can also peek back and forth like a real sniper to make it more realistic. Just hope for your sake that the sniper who's name you took doesn't see you doing this.

As spy, sap a sg then blast it with your pistol. It'll die a lot faster. This guarantees an absent engy won't be able to return in time to repair it.

RiotingNerd presents: A Spy's Guide to Spy Checking

Most important way to spy check: if you run into a teammate and stop dead, it's a spy. Sometimes there are sort of clipping issues with teammates, so if you're not sure, just run into them again. If I see a teammate apparently retreating from the front lines, I ALWAYS run into them to see if I clip or not.

After that, its basically just situational.

What to spy-check:
(note: these all assume you have not seen the person fire a gun since they entered your screen. If they have shot, they are obviously not a spy)

All engineers not actively swinging a wrench.
All medics not healing.
All spies not wearing a mask.
-Note: All spies wearing masks are friendly. Don't waste your time spy-checking a mask-wearing spy.
Demomen/Soldiers near turrets.
All pyros.
Scouts moving slowly/that you haven't seen double-jump since they entered your screen.
Anyone using a dispenser who you haven't seen fire a shot.
Any sniper running around not near a resupply or sniper spot.

If you shoot a teammate, they will usually turn around and look at you for a second. If, however, they STARE at you, they are almost certainly a spy. Kill them. This is why good spies, as I posted earlier, just carry on their business as if the shot didn't hurt them. If they're gonna keep shooting, they're gonna keep shooting, no matter what.

What to not bother spy checking:
Heavies. Only really really bad spies will disguise as heavy because of all the speed they lose.
Snipers standing still, unless you notice one of the snipers on your team just got backstabbed.

This video also covers many spy tips: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-qD30EOO-o

Absorb all this knowledge and you will be better than 95% of all the other spies in the game.