Will the original Half Life be ported to the android?

[Ssully]

Any word of this becoming a reality??? if not this needs to happen!

 

[Dan Fury]

Then do it. Gogo Ssully!
Honestly, just requesting a game won't make it happen and since all these FPS Ports suck, because they weren't planned for lousy touch screen controls, nobody would do it to play these games like this, because they aren't that much fun. It would be just a programming exercise and there are way more useful (read commercial) ways to waste your time with programming.

 

[Forge94]

A more plausible port would be Unreal Tournament.
But if the iPhone one isn't up to scratch then I don't think the Android version will be coming any time soon.

 

[Ssully]

Hey if you don't ask you don't receive, with a "properly" ported game I would pay the $5 to have it on my driod. There is money to be made on projects like this especially with the graphics chip supplied in the current Droids, IPhone and Samsung Galaxy. So it would not be a waste of time in programming, and a good thing about these projects is the content of the games are done, you need licensing and talent... I'm not a programmer so I can't help, but if I can inspire some one to do it then great, better for us.

 

[imtoomuch]

A more plausible port would be Unreal Tournament.
But if the iPhone one isn't up to scratch then I don't think the Android version will be coming any time soon.

UT would be so hard to play on a phone! The game just plays too fast. That's one of the reasons that I never understood how Halo took off and UT floundered. Halo is so SLOW and boring unlike UT.

 

[amd7000]

Then do it. Gogo Ssully!
Honestly, just requesting a game won't make it happen and since all these FPS Ports suck, because they weren't planned for lousy touch screen controls, nobody would do it to play these games like this, because they aren't that much fun. It would be just a programming exercise and there are way more useful (read commercial) ways to waste your time with programming.

Thats what bluetooth,etc gamepads are for.

 

[StuartTheFish]

Halo is so SLOW and boring unlike UT.

That's WHY it took off. Console ***** were actually able to control it since the game wasn't fast paced, whereas UT was too hard for them.

FPS games are NOT what gamepads are for, why do you think piss poor games like halo took off? Because slow paced games like halo, golden eye, etc were about the only FPS games at the time that were manageable with a pad. Even the more recent call of duty games are poor to control when compared to a proper PC FPS game. You need a keyboard and mouse for a full range of movement, and at any pace. Even console games with support for mouse and keyboard restrict movement so you don't have an advantage over joypad players. But play a game on a console and then again on a pc and you'll see the difference...

For example, do this on a touchscreen or joypad:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSajUI1R4ns&feature=related

 

[amd7000]

I beg to differ I love playing modern warfare with a gamepad!

 

[flukeSG2]

Yeah, I'd have to say I also disagree, I prefer gamepads over mouse and keyboard. Never understood what the fascination with having to hit 30 spaced out keys and use a mouse was about, I have all the same control in the palm of my hands with my gamepad. I used XPadder for my 360 controller to play COD4 on my PC and I beat the pants off all those people on there.

But, to each his own I guess, I prefer the consoles over pc for a more social interaction with friends.

 

[StuartTheFish]

But, to each his own I guess, I prefer the consoles over pc for a more social interaction with friends.

You ARE aware that online gaming started on PC's first aren't you?

And you don't use all 30 keys of the keyboard, just W, S, A and D for forwards, backwards and strafing, space for jump, and the mouse for looking around, aiming, shooting, changing weapon, etc. Flicking a mouse as fast or slow as you like gives you a faster way of changing direction than an analogue joystick on a joypad. As shown in that video above. That will NOT be possible on a joypad.

Try it and see for yourself.

 

[Nodders]

Yeah, I'd have to say I also disagree, I prefer gamepads over mouse and keyboard. Never understood what the fascination with having to hit 30 spaced out keys and use a mouse was about, I have all the same control in the palm of my hands with my gamepad. I used XPadder for my 360 controller to play COD4 on my PC and I beat the pants off all those people on there.

But, to each his own I guess, I prefer the consoles over pc for a more social interaction with friends.

Thus speaks someone who has obviously never played in a social environment on a PC, or even played on a PC at all come to think about it (30 keys??? - yeah right). The only reason I can think of for coming out with such utter twaddle anyway.

 

[amd7000]

Nope still not convinced. 95% of main stream games are designed for consoles(gamepads) first then ported to pc. Modern warfare is designed to be played on a console end of. A keyboard has a less direct feel, imo.
I agree you have more buttons on a keyboard but thats about it

 

[StuartTheFish]

Modern warfare is designed to be played on a console end of.

So was Deus Ex 2, which is why it absolutely blew compared to the original one which was game of the year IIRC.

 

[amd7000]

Yea, that game was rubbish!

Hope they manage to sort out their problems on deus ex 3 for the ps3 next year.

 

[Nodders]

Nope still not convinced. 95% of main stream games are designed for consoles(gamepads) first then ported to pc. Modern warfare is designed to be played on a console end of. A keyboard has a less direct feel, imo.
I agree you have more buttons on a keyboard but thats about it

Who cares if you are convinced or not? Most people prefer FPS and RTS in PC, if you don't then well done, that's up to you.

 

[amd7000]

Who cares if you are convinced or not? Most people prefer FPS and RTS in PC, if you don't then well done, that's up to you.

But thats the point, MOST people PREFER to play games on a gamepad, not a pc keyboard, thats one of the reasons consoles are far more successful.

Yea agree, play with what you prefer.

 

[Nodders]

I think you're over simplying massively. Most people (IMO) prefer some games on a console, others on a PC. It's not a black and white argument. However, if all comes down to personal preference so its a bit irrelevant - and totally off topic as well of course.

HL on android? Not for a generation or two I think.

 

[imtoomuch]

The whole console vs. PC debate is so stupid and so old! Why does it bother people if somebody prefers one over the other? Just STFU and play! I play on both the PC and consoles and love it. Stop bickering and have fun.

 

[Ssully]

Well here's the deal, for the android we don't have a controller and we don't have a keyboard and mouse (well maybe a keyboard) standard. All I'm talking about is fun. Whether your commuting home from work or in the big yellow bus from school or sitting in a doctors office. Obviously most games were not developed with the intention that they would ever be played with just touch screen controls, Portal is defiantly one of them. This does not mean that "some" games can't be ported for the sake that thy might actually work for the touchscreen platform. I think the use of the gyroscope with the IPhone and the Samsung Galaxy are going to have huge implications on FPS with touchscreens in the near future.

As far as I'm concerned a keyboard and mouse is the best combination for accuracy in fps. This is evident when Microsoft merged the "live console" between PC and X-box to test the waters. They found out the PC players we obliterating the console players and decided never to merge them permanently.

 

[StuartTheFish]

Exactly. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't trying to start a debate, I was merely using the control methods as an example as to why fps on a touchscreen really won't work. It was bad enough when fps games were bastardised to be played on consoles! Put it this way, quake 2 and quake 3 have already been ported to android, and look at how bad they are simply because they lack any proper control method.

And yes, I agree that some games are better suited to consoles, racing games, platformers, fighting games, etc, which is why over the years I have had a megadrive, snes, all generations of playstation, n64, xbox, and so on. But from experience fps games do NOT work well on them, and only people who don't know any better would disagree.

I actually played my first fps game on ps1, doom. Thought it was great at the time, and then I got a pc capable of playing quake, and I soon learned how fps should be played. How hard is it to rocket jump with a joypad for example? Just one flick of the mouse while firing for me.

And as for the stupid comment about them always being ported from console to pc, would you care to tell me which console doom first came out on before it's pc release? Same goes for duke nukem 3D, quake, unreal, deus ex, half life, etc etc. Console ***** seem to think fps games were invented for bloody consoles. Kids nowadays...

 

[TheAndroidWorks]

Unfortunately it will probably be a while before Valve's Half Life engine makes it to Android. It is probably one of the most successful longest running FPS game engines ever. I can't wait for the day to get back into some multiplayer TFC or Counterstrike, hahaha. A great reason to get that HID bluetooth keyboard and mouse support going through CM6 sooner than later!

 

[StuartTheFish]

Half life actually used a modified quake1 engine, so it could be ported, it just won't have any decent control method.

 

[Forge94]

I reckon Assault Cube would be easier to port
I'm just guessing, since its open source and all.
But the graphics may be too heavy for a phone. I've never played the original half life so I wouldn't have a clue about the graphics compared to Assault Cube.

 

[gwlaw99]

Wish Baldurs Gate type games were ported.

 

[msqar]

Hey guys,

The problem with Quake engine based games to be ported to smartphones is not because of how difficult would be the programming, but for how to distribute all the buttons on the screen, for example, in games such as Half-Life, Counter-Strike 1.5 and 1.6, etc... you need to have:

The red ones are needed for Half-Life, and everything for CS.

The movement pad (would replace A,S,D,W)
Shoot 1 (shoot, drop grenades)
Shoot 2 (silencer, burst fire, etc)
***
Ok, that looks "easy" so far.
But then?

Crouch (Ctrl)
Jump (Space)
Walk (Shift)
Reload (R)
Change weapons (0-9)
Use / Defuse (E)
Flashlight (F)
Graffiti spray (T)
Buy (B)
Equipment (O)
Let's skip the "voicerecord" key

If you wanna play online, you can't avoid these below:
Say (S)
Team Say (U)

Radio talk:
Z
X
C

Change side (M)

Does it sounds like you can distribute easily around 27 buttons on a 3.5" to 4.5" screen? Sounds difficult xd
Without mentioning that you need to save at least 30% or 40% of the screen for aiming.
Or............ just add another pad for it >_>

Oh, almost forgot.... what about the radar? (in CS case) you need to add that hahaha

Have i answered your question about porting HL engine based games to smartphones?

Bye.

Mariano.


P.D: I will be creating, how the screen would look like, for a game like Half-Life 1.