ABSTRACT

Before getting to the level-design developments that Half-Life uses, this chapter briefs the platforming mechanics at play in the game. Jumping and momentum are—relative to the traditional platformers this game borrows from—a little wonky in Half-Life. On the one hand, the conservation of momentum in Half-Life makes for some fairly realistic interactions when making jumps with multiple vectors in 3D space or firing the tau cannon. On the other hand, most platformers are utterly unrealistic. The biggest problem with platforming in this game is that Freeman's momentum can easily carry him over the edge of his target. Half-Life does not provide that level of precision in movement control; even when trying to walk precisely, players will often step farther than they want and careen off a cliff. Later, in Half-Life 2 and Portal, the insistence on realistic physics makes sense because those physics permeate everything in the game.