Mistake Of Pythagoras Is The Strangest Mod I've Played Yet
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- Опубликовано: 18 сен 2024
- Mistake of Pythagoras is clunky, strange, and sometimes frustrating. But its history of being one of the earliest mods for Half-Life 2 gives it a soft spot in my heart. Should you play it or not? Yesno.
It was released in December of 2005, and was solely developed by Koumei Satou. It came out when Half-Life 2 was just 1 year old!
Download:
www.runthinksh...
Additional Info:
developer.valv...
half-life.fand...
Moddb (outdated download):
www.moddb.com/...
❗Links❗
☢2nd Channel:
/ @hazardmusicyt
☢Twitter:
/ radhaz_
#HalfLife2 #Mod
I love the concept that the Combine in this universe aren't evil overlords, and instead probably negotiated a peaceful alliance with Humanity. That's a concept so absurd that I haven't actually seen anyone do it before.
Y'know, that sounds like a really good mod in the making, instead of the Combine invading earth and partaking in the 7 hour war, they instead come in with a peace agreement to stay there with the upside of their technology being given to humanity, and all is pretty well, some skirmishes between the two races, but nothing much as it's just non official disagreements between them, but then another alien enemy comes in and tries to take over the earth, making the Combine and Humanity team up properly to get rid of the new alien threat. Something like that.
@@VicerimusMortem he does something similar in his Half-life mod Peaces Like Us where black Mesa is working together with the lifeforms of Xen including the Nihilanth and the enemy are Marine forces sent by G-Man
@@Feasco something you said about the anime images.
@@VicerimusMortem Race X from Opposing Force returns
@@VicerimusMortem u just described halo3 my buddy
SO:
In the room with the deep hole, you're actually supposed to drop physics objects like crates and barrels and stuff in there. They get suspended in midair, and each object you drop down there gets suspended lower and lower until you can safely climb down by jumping on them. I guess the crane thing was there to give you a place to stand?
For the barrel boss fight, you're supposed to shoot INSIDE it with the rocket launcher, not at the outside. There's lights inside the barrel that you need to destroy.
Lastly, that impassable barrier was a scripted event that you skipped. That white triangle ship was going to do something to you (I forget exactly what happened, it's been a while) and give you the power to blow stuff up by looking at them (which is what that magnetism thing you mentioned was).
Oh gotcha. Unfortunately, I don't think things through while playing and that ruins the experience. But thanks for the clarification.
@@RadiationHazardYT I don't blame you, especially when it comes to the hole. In all honesty I used a walkthrough for the gravity hole.
@@RadiationHazardYT The hints are subtle (the floating APC outside and the way the broken bits of the door are floating), but really, it usually comes down to dumb luck figuring it out (like I did years ago). I don't think anybody would think "lets drop stuff down the big hole with the pully and generator to see if it floats", but what can you expect from obscure and odd mods from that time.
This mod has been one of those stuck in the back of my mind for YEARS often making me question if it was real or just an obscure fever dream, thanks for bringing some of those lost memories back!
Edit: In that last portion, you're not actually supposed to have any weapons (the end of the previous level strips you of your weapons). I believe it also gave you god mode (providing I'm remembering it correctly) and that "key bind" at the end is not an actual bind, but it was a 'line of sight' thing that just killed enemies and make physics objects fly around when you just look at anything. I think you need to stare at part of the combine walls at the end to defeat the "enemy".
@@Mach-2-Fishbed The hole is actually broken! The wall around it isn't supposed to be that tall, you can tell from the pulley awkwardly clipping through it. I'm not sure what happened there but this is how that room is supposed to look: ruclips.net/video/yf6L0tPmzyY/видео.html
I distinctly remember that part being one of my favorites in the mod, there was no way you could have missed that mechanic if the map loaded correctly, such a shame that an update broke it at some point.
Obviously, right?
>Oddly high effort despite seemingly being made on a whim
>Internal logic you just have to "accept"
>Needlessly difficult at times
>References western "classical" stuff
>Generally cartoonish feel
>Obligatory inclusion of magic
>Set in an "alternate reality" from the source material
Yup, it's made by a Japanese guy alright...
I have a feeling that a lot of it is just broken because of engine updates.
I do believe that all his mods share some kind of abstract lore, since in Sweet Half-Life, you also take on different Aliens than the ones from Xen, and by the end, the protagonist is actually riding on the roof of the same tram where G-man offered Gordon a job. In general, the themes of abstract puzzle solving, classical music, and enemy spam is kind of his style.
Sweet Half Life is bizarrely the closest to "canon," but yeah.
Mistake Of Pythagoras is legitimately one of my favorite mods.
bowling, Roman?
It’s also one of my favorite moods.
@@benruniko it’s a straight up *mood.*
Oh my god. I finally found it. You wouldn’t believe me, but I got to tell it anyway. It’s been in my mind for so long, I just have to share it.
I bough a physical copy of this mod many, many years ago, way back when I was a kid. Not sure I can pin-point the year easily, but I think mass effect 2 wasn’t out yet because I also acquired a copy of Mass Effect one at the same time, at least as far as I remember. I think this mod was provided together with a copy of half life 2 (high seas), as a “free” addition, and I think it was an early version since some textures looked different to this, almost half baked and strange (strider in particular seemed colored strange, milk-like white, like many other combine tech. elements, or at least that’s how I remember it). I recall being drawn in by the description on the cd box mentioning that combine were the good guys now, actually helping the humanity, accompanied by an old concept art of a metrocop standing around the citizens with his stun-baton in hand, while some alien elements were present along the normal human city street (beta period I think, I seem to remember seeing it in “raising the bar”. This package intrigued me immensely. It was weird as hell and being a teenager, I never finished it. It was a bizarre experience however and I couldn’t help but remember it from time to time, just coming up from the depth of my memory when triggered by something distantly related. One of the things I remember clearly was the beginning of the first chapter , with a very polite metrocop knocking on the door of the apartment/building and proposing to “help”, only for the citizen (a woman) to say no and ask him to get out, which struck me as very rude at the time. This uncommonly obliging metrocop proceeded to leave with almost a heart-warming goodbye. The whole thing struck me as very comic and remained in my memory, surprisingly more than the falling numbers, which I was only able to recall with your video.
I tried looking for the mod much later, but my recollection of it was extremely vague overall, especially since I didn’t get past the 1st chapter that I never came far in my search. I think the game crashed for me when I reached the end and I never came back because the mod didn’t work properly anymore (maybe I messed with it somehow), so things remained somewhat fuzzy until now. Since I was quite young and didn’t really understand how mods worked, I really didn’t care much about it back then, having more pressing things to worry about. However, the whole premise of this mod appeared so strange and intriguing, bizarre as it was, that I kept coming back to it mentally in later years. Since I wasn’t able to find it afterwards and I thought no one would believe me if I tried to describe this strange, off-brand hl2-based, “game” I came to consider it as some sort of weird lost media, a hl2 mod essentially sold commercially in a… less than honest street cd/dvd shop. I thought it was possible that this was a way for the mod creator to monetize his creation secretly, while potentially not sharing it online for free, a strange piece of the past era when such things appeared actually possible. It continued to fascinate me but I was never able to track it down. At that point I understood that it was more probable that some some dishonest people took advantage of the mod-scene being not as prominent back then and managed to make a quick buck off it from people who didn't know better. I lost the cd itself a long time ago or at least I don’t know where it is precisely. I may still have it somewhere but back then it seemed like almost a fewer dream I had as a kid to some extent, so after initial failure I just let it go.
Only for you to finally reveal it to me here. Life is stranger than fiction sometimes. Thank you so very much. Now I will be able to play it once more and relive the old days. I hope my strange story may bring out a chuckle or two, as well as remind people of the old days, when these things, surreal by modern standards, were actually possible (and even common to some extent).
Edit:
I had to type this out originally before I even finished the video, the revelation was that strong for me in the first minutes.I couldn't believe my luck and just kept typing this essay so I could get the stone off my chest. However, having finished it, on further reflection I must add that I think I did reach the 2nd chapter, but almost definitely failed to progress further.
As previously mentioned, I was able to understand that buying a mod was essentially a scam later, but I was in mid-teens back then, so what do you expect. I believe it was around 2009, so some years after it's release, but it's possible that the mod was altered by a third party later, hence the different textures I remember. Finally, I should mention that it was fully localized, strangely well as a matter of fact, which kind of made me think that it might've been made by a "local artisan" for profit. In hindsight, I understand what happened, but back then such things seemed possible to some extent. Weirder things happened.
is there a name for remembering something very specific that it's in the back of your mind but you just can't find it?
> this was a way for the mod creator to monetize his creation secretly
If you found the CD in a local "warez" shop then the modder isn't making any cent off of it. It's entirely free. The warez dudes just downloads the files and bundle them in their CDs.
Also this playthough doesn't do this game any justice. Search for Deadwater Gaming's playthrough. You'll enjoy it at least 5 times more.
@@mfaizsyahmi I can't believe how naive this guy is lmao. The mod author is literally Japanese dude, like lol?
@@mfaizsyahmi Yeah I figured it out when I got older. Thank you, I will .
@@samedwards3285 We usually say "it's on the tip of my tongue". For games there's r/tipofmyjoystick where people help each other find games they vaguely recall but can't remember the name of.
This mod is like that one weird dream that you can barely remember when you wake up
As broken as it is in certain spots, it's amazing that the mod has stood the test of time more or less. I remember when it was released. The original website for the mod is actually still around and has hints\solutions to all of the puzzles with screenshots, check the mod's page on the valve developer wiki. From what I understand, the creator has had a pretty decent career in Japan's gaming industry as a level designer over the past 15 or so years.
It clearly broke because RadHaz is being naughty noclipping around, probably skipping essential triggers along the way.
@@mfaizsyahmi No shit, hence the "as broken as it is" part....
@@provenancemachining "As broken as it is" implies that the mod itself is broken, mfaiz is saying that Rad's noclipping broke it. They're contradictory statements.
the website has more than that. a manga. and send the site to the internet archive
I love when hl2 mods are different like this. i usually don't like how hl2 mods look too "stock" source engine, compared to how different hl1 mods looked. This mod uses stock hl2 assets but still manages to be different
what do you mean by stock source engine? like, is the level design similar to valve's?
@@camtubecamtube Stock textures and assets from hl2
I don't know, I can understand sometimes when a mod tries to stick to HL2's stock assets. I remember plenty of mods that looked different somewhat from base Half Life 2.
I don't know why but i have a small feeling that the invisible enemies are not made in purpose, sometimes in vanilla HL2 combine soldiers become invisible with just their weapons showing.
Those specific ones were invisible in my game too, either it's intended, or they were supposed to be slightly transparent like the ones before and were just broken by the updates
@@loztwalker5068 the enemy combine soldiers are definitely meant to be cloaked, they're separate from the regular combine on your side
thats called sleeping
so basically, some soldiers are "sleeping" (not active) unless a certain requirement is satisfied, like starting a scripted sequence
if you noclip alot, only then will you get to see soldiers in that state
in this case though, it was intentional
@@dkskcjfjswwwwwws413 i think i even had screenshots of this bug happening in Highway 17, but it seems that i deleted them from my profile on Steam
I think the invisible combine are supposed to be that way until you pass through the gates, like in japanese legends.
This mod just goes to show that sometimes no matter how stupid or absurd an idea is, if you commit to it and approach it in a smart way, you end up with something brilliant.
EDIT:....or....different...and fascinatingly so....
Is this the universe where the Combine is wholesome
The creator is still active on his blog last I checked. He does 3D modeling now mostly.
and more recntly, on twitter
Oh, and apparently said work ended when they started they were unemployed in 2020
@@lenadams854 That sucks
Gaming
Gamer moment aside, this is an incredibly memorable mod, it just shows how much can be done with stock hl2 assets, creativity and a vision, abstract as this mission might be
Yes
@@rbahiaofc yes
Holy mackerel, I haven't heard someone discuss this mod in ages!
It always comes to mind every once in awhile even now, especially due to that crazy ending.
This mod also got me into neoclassical architecture!
The lonely neoclassical buildings in that strange field are a brilliant touch! This mod definitely inspires me a lot to this day.
13:40 it's so sad that radhaz died of ligma
Ligma balls
@Scratchy ligma balls
@Scratchy ligma balls
@Scratchy ligma ballz
Imagine playing this with Beta Aesthetics. It’d feel like an even bigger source of the phrase “What in the god damn.”
the question is How quickly would Jolly go insane from this mod?
he did play it. it went as well as expected
@@bmd103 did he? did he really?
@@lenadams854 yep, he played it on stream, here's a VOD of it: ruclips.net/video/YS0LWqY70vY/видео.html
“There is no story” The End.
I loved this one back in the day. So surreal.
This mod is actually kinda impressive.
1, it was released in 2005 when the game was new, there was much less guidance around modding that time, especially on new games.
2, It was made by a single dude from Japan(?). Japan is still very isolated from global community, and hardcore PC gaming only took off in last few years, so I can only imagine what hell this was for that dude to develop. Considering English knowledge in Japan is lacking as well, he definitely couldn't have got much help from the internet
3, it's very creative. Numbers falling out of the sky, an ufo tearing apart a strider, metro cops investigating - it's all something original
I really love these old abstract sourcemods that have no story but at the same time they do not even need a story because they're perfect because of all of the chaos.
*I hope that makes sense*
Honestly after playing this, yeah it does make sense.
@@RadiationHazardYT easter eggs! You can document them in "Stuff I missed in MOP":
Text copypasted from PulseClockPhantom:
Shortly after you get the crowbar and HEV suit you'll find yourself in a canal. The enemy Pythagorean will fly by and you'll have to deal with a number of headcrabs. However, your target is across the broken bridge in the canal. Normally you'd jump into the water in the canal, open a valve, and swim through a vent under the water. Don't do that. Additionally, don't break any boxes. You need to pick 'em up, carry them across the bridge, and stack them against the chain link fence on that side in such a way that you can use them to climb over said fence. Once you're over the fence you should find a switch (maybe?) such that the wall behind the fence will open up to reveal a spiral portal. Go through that and you've found the first hint.
The second hint is way later in the game. It's somewhere in Twisted Space. There's a room where you're carried around in a clockwise motion by an invisible force and there are two points in the room where you have to stop and pull shapes out of the wall, one is of them is a plus and the other is a minus. You use one of those shapes to enable an elevator in the middle of the room. The other (I wanna say it's the plus sign) you might be tempted to discard, but don't do it. Carry it with you on the elevator that appears when you insert the minus sign. After an elevator ride you should eventually reach a room bisected by a wall with a small gate in it. You'll end up in a room just outside of one of the hangar-like rooms where one of the white Pythagorean compass ships will kamakaze dive into a door to open the path for you.
Now, prior to that room there should be a place in the wall where that plus sign you carried with you will fit in. Insert the plus sign and the wall will open up to reveal another spiral portal, behind which you will find the other hint.
THE NUMBERS RAD! WHAT DO THE NUMBERS MEAN- wait wrong game
This is an old but gold one! I remember being absolutely enraptured by the expansive vistas with lonely classical architecture, the friendly allies every step of the way, and the strange and impersonal type of rival you have (can we even call it enemies? sometimes it feels like they arent even aware of us). A classic, and still a huge inspiration to me.
This reminds me of Hylics and Hylics 2 for some reason, not for any reason. It's abstract, weird, yet perfect in a way.
This mod heavily radiates liminal and weirdcore aesthetics
I really love these surrealistic Hl2 mods. I want to see more of them.
Agreed!
Another great RUclipsr tragically taken away from us by ligma. Rest in Pythagoras, Rad.
NOOOOO HE IS DEAD :(
8:30 you supposedly figure out that if you drop a objet in the hole it will stop in the air, one more close to the floor than the other. And you have like 3 o 4 items to create a stair down to the floor
the "boomerangs" are drawing compasses. I remember having to use them in geometry where the Pythagorean theorem is used alot. the other flying things, I have no idea.
At the time this mod made me discover ledoux architecture, many buildings are modeled after his designs
The concept was really interesting in the beginning those numbers falling from sky... damn what an idea but as it was progressing towards end things started getting messed up. Btw you made a great video though... keep it up looking to see more such videos well done :)
playing this on synergy with friends is a blast
It feels oddly nostalgic, in a way. Imagine what a remaster of this mod could look like.
I'm really glad this channel was recommended to me. HL2 is one of my all time favorite games and you've introduced me to a lot.
Rest in piece Radiator Hazmatsuit :(
we will miss you
One of the first HL2 mods I ever played and still one of my favorites. Nice to see more people discover it even if it was incredibly frustrating to see the fantastic power trip psychic powers section get completely misinterpreted.
I miss him every day.
I think that was the first videogame mod I've ever played, got it from a PC gaming magazine DVD back when I was a kid. Possibly the weirdest introduction to modding one can have. Seeing it now brings all kinds of memories, thank you for showing it.
At the part where you saw that combine mask, it was supposed to spawn alyx and a few other allies, but the game bugged (to fix, delete the mod dir, put version 1b, then the 1c patch, then the source sdk 2013 patch).
you also had to use the rocket launcher to destroy those flying stuff that spawns headcrabs.
yeah, the mod is something else. Still remember playing it a year ago, sick with a cold and unable to sleep, the fact that it was made with the old engine made it clunky, but it's still rather charming, and pretty challenging, with many enemies and ammo scarce enough that you feel the pressure but never actually run out, which is very good - Entropy: Zero is similar
Anyways, the lore as I understand it - we do some sort of experiment which seems to have literally broken the laws of mathematics and physics in another dimension, making the locals - the strange triangular prism machines - very, very pissed. They invade as a result, but they seem to have a civil war of their own between two factions, the anti-war Whites vs the pro-war Blacks. You travel to their dimension and fix whatever was broken, but the Blacks are unwilling to stop the invasion, so the dying White machine bestows some sort of psionic power on you to defeat the Black leader. Everything returns to normal afterwards.
Btw the alien worlds with the fancy architecture are all based on these paintings by a French architect, but I forgot the name
Anyways, another old mod I really recommend - Strider Mountain, though beware, there is something weird about it because I could never play for too long without getting a headache and a feverish feeling
Not related to the video but i did this icebergify thing and it turns out your music is like the least known music i listen to. Still every track you make is lit af.
Great vid ! Been nice seeing you go from about 6k to nearly 27k subs in a relatively short period of time
This is the 2001: A Space Odyssey of HL2 mods.
Your videos are always great, but this one is a home run. Thanks for doing what you do, RadHaz
This feels like a game Synergy, Inc would have made in the 90s, but as an FMV adventure kinda like Gadget: Past as Future or even something like Garage: Bad Dream Adventure. Odd, creepy Japanese surrealism with off beat western aesthetics is my favorite non-genre of game.
RIP Radiotron Hazmaticus.
Finally had one too many aneurysms from nonsense.
Mistake of Pythagoras one sentence pitch: What the actual fuck: The game
Your game broke. Probably because you skipped some triggers when you merrily noclip around. Barney, Alyx, and company should have been with you towards the end, specifically from the point with the floating metrocop mask part forward. You shouldn't blame Satou-san for that.
Also, it's just the Japanese Nintendo-influenced gaming culture or mindset that posits that more challenge means more enemies spammed your way. You see it time and time again with Japanese and Russian modders of any game. You shouldn't single out Satou-san for that.
To see a playthrough that does justice to this mod, see Deadwater Gaming's. They're two people who swap control of the player every map change, and one even has to remote into the the other's computer, yet they pull it through. And Alyx and Barney were there, and the banter makes up for any shortcomings.
This mod does a lot of new things like the spaceships they at least seem like they were made specifically for the mod
i was Saying "What" "hun" "the Fuck" non stop while watching the vid
OK SO.
This mod makes us really curious and hypnose us cause, due to the old, due to what the fuck is going on, that it looks like, really weirdly done that makes us wanting to watch this, like if it was a dream.. And btw Radiatior Hazard x)..
Great video don't change !
Wtf this mod waaaaaa
Also great video
This mod was quite fun in coop on obsidian conflict
I miss the hell out of that mod tbh
8:34 you're supposed to drop barrels down and they float in the air IIRC
I love this mod, along with "Pieces Like Us" for Half-Life. Must have played through that one half a dozen times.
Sweet Half-Life is nuts, but worth it
Attenboro no kaijin
You can tell the way Radiation was reading his script he was questioning if he was going insane during his review
It's so sad that Radiation Hazard-chan died from Ligma. At least he was freed from the incoherent hell that it was this mod.
pythagoras is the taxidermied antlion in the ‘mansion’ and nobody can convince me otherwise
It's one of the mods ever made.
Bruhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh looking at this mod, it made me realise that Hunt Down The Shephard Mod took some of the elements from this mod and placed them in there mod Jesus no wonder why things are familiar
what? the soundtrack?
I played this mod around its release and it still holds a place in my heart. I really loved what it did and how deep it was. It’s not the same looking at it from 2022 but at the time it was the best mod I’d ever played for HL2. Mods tend to just reuse the same everything from the game it’s modding but this had story. It had custom models. The numbers were so crazy to see at the time and that house/museum place was amazing.
Your experience of the mod was not how it used to be. I don’t remember too many enemies and the bits you got stuck. Also the end power was amazing. You could move large objects and interact with the world. There is a story of light vs dark and hidden elements that you need to unlock or can do in a 2nd play through.
There’s so much more to this mod but engine updates stole your experience away from you.
Thanks for making a video about this
An easy way to kill the Antlion Guard that I saw in Deadwater Gaming's video is to lure the beast into the power lines and turn it on while it's still inside, thus electrocuting it. It works surprisingly well, even for players like Timbles and Mahogany.
you stirred some memories with this, man. this mod felt like someone else's dream. Day Hard next, maybe?
I’ve been having a lonely/rough day and seeing a new HL video was much needed
All I had to hear was “creator of pieces like us” and I knew this was gonna be a trip
Saw Deadwater Gaming play through this a while ago, awesome to see you cover it now too.
I loved this mod when it came out.
rip radiation hazard he was one of the darkest and grittiest youtubers around
I love this mod. It's so unique and I like the architecture.
Phythagoras was a greek antlion that made a mistake on the number 5
checkers with thousands of lil spiders it's like a bad trip
RIP bozo he played mistake of Pythagoras and got ligma poor sap
"14 years in the looney bin"
Oh, so this is the mod in the "Welcome to Retsuprae" video! Huh, curious thing to find out after 15 years.
10:45 damn, I laughed so hard at that part!
This mod was hilarious, what an entertaining video, thank you!
i think the mod dev was partaking in the herb
I recall playing this ages ago in the distant time when PC magazines ruled and the worthy recrvied a disc of various utilities and goodies.
"It just works" - Radiation Howard 2022
OMG! I used to play this, sweet half-life and pieces like us back in the day :D
Maybe I shoulf replay it again
They made a manga named "Attenborough's Phantoms".
Maybe a part 2 of this mod, including koumei satou's work?
Yeah might cover Sweet Half Life and Peaces Like Us in a video.
@@RadiationHazardYT If you're wondering why there are anime images in the mods, it's because that's their artistic license.
@@RadiationHazardYT and they're still active on twitter
@@RadiationHazardYT And they are apparently a fan of the band In the Nursery. replace the directory of "mop" with "itn".
Never played this one, but Sweet HL was amazing. A bit forgotten and underappreciated mod.
I'm just shocked that RadHaz stands for "Radiator Hazmatsuit"
Speaking of strange asian half-life mods: try G-String
"most strangest"
Woops. Didn't realize I made that mistake. Gon fix it rq.
the designs in this map look really cool
There is no pulley. There's also no reason to think there's no pulley. It doesn't tell you what the real solution is, but if you experiment you'll find that dropping props down the hole makes them freeze in midair at different points, which you can use to create a staircase.
8:12 Holy crap that's my dad!
My dad's on the TV!
Reminds me of a 90's adventure game like Myst.
this mod is totally playable with synergy on one of the servers that have it
in the maze you are supposed to be followed by alyx who opens that gate
I love the design of the space ships
All jokes aside mate your 51 years old oh damn damn what what the actual fu..
I am watching a youtuber who is younger than my dad in just 30 years
I played a few of this guy's mods some years ago and wasn't really sure what to make of them, and after watching this I still don't.
I found out about this mod cause of Deadwater Gaming. It's such a trip of a mod.
This Mod Looks to me Like a Zombie Escape map
His mistake was to invent triangles
I'd definitely recommend looking at Sweet Half Life too. It's a pretty weird mod (Like, it has two endings) but it was fun nonetheless and the same surrealness that permeates Mistake of Pythagoras is there in spades.
and a manga.
radiator hazmat suit
ah yes
man ima put ya in me car, im pretty sure you can cool down my cars engine better than that chinese 10 dollar radiator from that store over the street
Rebels 🔫 Combine
*numbers fall out of the sky*
Revels 🤝 Combine