Is Valve scared of progression?

[The Artificially Prolonged]

As has been said Valve is a weird anomaly in the world of video game developers. They have the structure (or lack of rather) and resources to do whatever the hell they want. Also I wouldn't call a company that is trying things like supporting linux gaming, trying to bring pc gaming into the living room and working all kinds of weird biometric stuff as a company afraid of progression, more like a company that views progressions as more than just a straight line of improve game engine and make new games and sequels.

Granted the Source engine is starting to show its age a bit, though I actually think Source engine games have held up quite nicely over the years (well except for that 2012 thing...). I would be surprised if we see the successor to the source engine soon. Though I do find the thought that there is just one guy sitting alone at Valve who really wants to make a new engine and has done all the work himself quite amusing

 

[3asytarg3t]

From a game development stand point I believe Valve is in danger of becoming (or has become already) like id.

One huge difference of course being they have a distribution business that makes them lots of money, so I suppose it doesn't matter if they ever release another game or not.

But, I'd be willing bet Gabe still cares and will keep trying, if (when) they release HL3 and it proves to be a masterpiece, the id comparison falls apart, if on the other hand it releases and it's not, then we're on a glide path to id.

 

[Ragsnstitches]

As has been said Valve is a weird anomaly in the world of video game developers. They have the structure (or lack of rather) and resources to do whatever the hell they want. Also I wouldn't call a company that is trying things like supporting linux gaming, trying to bring pc gaming into the living room and working all kinds of weird biometric stuff as a company afraid of progression, more like a company that views progressions as more than just a straight line of improve game engine and make new games and sequels.

Granted the Source engine is starting to show its age a bit, though I actually think Source engine games have held up quite nicely over the years (well except for that 2012 thing...). I would be surprised if we see the successor to the source engine soon. Though I do find the thought that there is just one guy sitting alone at Valve who really wants to make a new engine and has done all the work himself quite amusing

They already announced the Source Engine 2 (possibly a working title?) though there has been no word of it since. A lot of people assume HL3 (or episode 3?) will be the début title for the new source engine. Though I won't hold my breath on that.

Now completely unrelated... what the hell is your avatar? Its been bugging me for weeks. It looks like the onion shaped armor from Dark Souls (not what its called) with Krang from TMNT piloting it. I have to know or I'll be driven to madness.

OP: Fear of progress is not something one can hold to valve. Personally I don't care when they get around to moving on with their existing titles... as long as they don't change what works for them, I'm happy to wait. They owe me nothing and have given me hundreds of hours of fun times with what they already released. I'll continue to play TF2 and L4D2 until what happens, happens.

 

[The Artificially Prolonged]

As has been said Valve is a weird anomaly in the world of video game developers. They have the structure (or lack of rather) and resources to do whatever the hell they want. Also I wouldn't call a company that is trying things like supporting linux gaming, trying to bring pc gaming into the living room and working all kinds of weird biometric stuff as a company afraid of progression, more like a company that views progressions as more than just a straight line of improve game engine and make new games and sequels.

Granted the Source engine is starting to show its age a bit, though I actually think Source engine games have held up quite nicely over the years (well except for that 2012 thing...). I would be surprised if we see the successor to the source engine soon. Though I do find the thought that there is just one guy sitting alone at Valve who really wants to make a new engine and has done all the work himself quite amusing

They already announced the Source Engine 2 (possibly a working title?) though there has been no word of it since. A lot of people assume HL3 (or episode 3?) will be the début title for the new source engine. Though I won't hold my breath on that.

Now completely unrelated... what the hell is your avatar? Its been bugging me for weeks. It looks like the onion shaped armor from Dark Souls (not what its called) with Krang from TMNT piloting it. I have to know or I'll be driven to madness.

OP: Fear of progress is not something one can hold to valve. Personally I don't care when they get around to moving on with their existing titles... as long as they don't change what works for them, I'm happy to wait. They owe me nothing and have given me hundreds of hours of fun times with what they already released. I'll continue to play TF2 and L4D2 until what happens, happens.

HAHA My avatar is actually from a concept art from the cancelled Timesplitters 4 game. Sir Chimpsalot, a monkey piloting a giant medieval mech suit.

 

[Maximum Bert]

I'm not sure they ever really innovated to begin with. I know for a fact that Portal 1, and the ideas and mechanics for portal 2 came from the final projects of groups of students at the game design school I went to (DigiPen). They simply hired those students and gave them money and time to make the game. Since then, I've not really heard of anything those people have made or done there, but I know most of them still work there. From what I've heard from someone who works there, almost all of their IPs are simply based on mods made by users, or projects made by game design students that they then buy using their ludicrous amounts of income from steam. It all seems a bit lazy to me.

My sentiments exactly for a studio that apparently allows such freedom of design why do they always seem to have to hire outside people to get any games made as well as get original ideas? Also how many different genres have they dabbled in, not many really and most are from the first person perspective.

HL1 may have broke new grounds in first person story telling but mechanically it wasnt that innovative HL2 made great use of physics but apart from that it was more of the same they were good but the innovation between each wasnt huge especially over the given time.

Really if it wasnt for the success of steam I dont think they would be around now. I await what they bring to the table with the steambox but I really fail to see the market for it PC gamers can get steam on their PC while console gamers would get a PC if they wanted to get games on steam, it could bring something revolutionary but I doubt it.

For transparency sake I dont mind Valve but dislike Steam so my opinion is coloured by that.

 

[verdant monkai]

I honestly don't think anyone understands valve

As for their aversion to sequels I think it would be an excellent idea if they had some of their IP's confiscated. Confiscated then given to a team who will make sequels, Valve would still get money (more money than if they didn't bother with it) and the fans should be happy because they get more games (more games than they would have if Valve kept the games).
Valve is a great company that does good things I know that, but I hate how smug they are about not bothering with sequels, just seems like a slap in the face to their customers. And I'm not even a Half life fan I don't care all that much if HL3 is never made, I just want that Left 4 Dead 3 please Valve enough with the hats 'n' shit make L4D3!

 

[verdant monkai]

So I guess you guys didn't hear about the imminent HL3 announcement.

http://i.imgur.com/cjAWDUd.png
http://www.pixelenemy.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Screen-Shot-2013-03-29-at-12.46.07-PM.png

What else could it be?

Hey Spy boy!

Remeber E3 when the Valve guy had a HL3 shirt on? Valve are a bunch of assholes when it comes to dick teasing and trolling.
Stuff like this Twitter post happens every week, 99% chance this is just the bald guy attention seeking.

 

[Techno Squidgy]

Valve has barely any corporate structure. It's just a group of game designers doing whatever the hell they want for the most part. The fact that they don't stick to sequels and such is because they just don't feel like it. They probably get bored of doing that and instead just do whatever they're interested in.

Hit the nail on the head here.

The source engine has aged remarkably well and Valve have certainly taken good care of it with constant tweaks and improvements. However, I draw your attention to this article http://uk.ign.com/articles/2012/11/12/valve-working-on-new-game-engine.

I can't wait to see what Valve's next move is. I'm also very excited for the steambox, the one Valve are making themselves, not Piston.

 

[bug_of_war]

Re-using and constantly updating the source engine was a brilliant move on their part. It let them make more games faster, and with an engine that has always done what they needed and runs on the majority of computers. I'm sure they'll come out with a new engine or complete overhaul of Source when they feel the time is right (probably in the next couple of years), but they've been much smarter about managing their technology than a lot of other companies. As for re-using audio files and textures, I have to wonder why this matters? Why make something from scratch every time you need a rock when you've already made a perfectly good rock in the same engine for a previous game? Wasted time and money unnecessarily duplicating effort just seems silly to me.

It is smart, but it is also lazy and makes them appear as though they are scared to take risks or change things up. I am a big fan of "if it aint broke, don't fix it" however to truly move forward and innovate one must be willing to jump blind and try for a new approach. Using a different engine and creating a different engine is not a waste of time or money, especially when the engine is used well and creates a unique experience. Every time I load a Valve game I just think, "Oh look, same sounds, same graphics, nothing that exciting" which does seem as though the have stagnated some what.

The funny thing about audiences is that they're incredibly short sighted and you're probably better off not listening to 90% of them 90% of the time. If the fans had their way, we'd have Episode 3 instead of L4D, Portal 2, etc. And it wouldn't be a big change over Episode 2 and the original Half-Life 2. Basically, we'd be missing some great games in favour of the stagnation of the HL series in the same way COD and other series have repeatedly stagnated with quick release schedules. It's ironic to say that because they used the same engine and haven't made the sequel their fans constantly ask for they've stagnated when the truth is the exact opposite happened.

It is unwise to listen to your fans when it comes to creating a game, but in terms of releasing a game that is being begged for by fans it is more short sighted of the company. Fans shouldn't dictate story or gameplay, but they should have a voice in what they would like to have released and to dangle a cliff hanger right in front of the audiences nose and then never satisfy that demand shows that the company care less about their consumers. Valve would still be able to release games such as Left 4 Dead and Portal 2 even if they did make HL3 as both games are relatively short (both games can be finished in about 4 to 5 hours) and they have already shown they can do this when they released the Orange Box. The Half Life series is already stagnated because of this delay and releasing a sequel would bring life back into the series.

I don't think they even make the items anymore with the workshop being a thing that exists. Even if they did, they've released at least a game a year since TF2 game out making this statement objectively wrong.

I never said they didn't make games, I said that they spend more time making items for TF2. Yes, they have released 1 game per year since TF2, however considering that each game released uses the same engine and can be finished in literally 5 hours shows that they don't spend as much time as they could on their games. They rely too much on the multiplayer aspects of their games to increase the longevity of their product (just like COD).

When I see this argument, it really sounds to me like "Valve hasn't released sequel after sequel to the same game using the same basic mechanics instead of making new and interesting titles that actually push boundaries." It really seems like you're asking them to go the COD route instead of innovating and I have to wonder if you actually know what stagnation means at this point.

Valve hasn't stagnated. In fact, they're probably the least stagnant company in the business right now. They are always willing and able to use the copious amounts of money they have to simply go off and do whatever they want whenever the mood strikes them rather than chasing COD levels of sales by making COD every year.

I never said they were the most stagnant company, and I never said that they should take the COD route. What I meant is that Valve's progression has seemingly remained mostly placid, and that with game series such as Half Life lacking a sequel when a sequel was heavily hinted at in the previous instalment tells me that they have stagnated. It appears as though they have halted progression and are simply throwing out new IP's/updates of Counter Strike so as that people can't say they aren't doing anything. From where I am standing it really looks as though they have come to a halt and are now scratching their heads trying to figure out what to do.

 

[bug_of_war]

I also imagine that they are spending a lot of their time working on the Steam box as well, designing and making a console from the ground up is no small feat.

I'm sort of on the fence about the Steam Box. On one hand it'll be cool to see a new brand console on the market, but on the other hand is it too late for them to make the transition? They've dominated the PC market for a long time, and to come out and release a console around the same time as the PS4 and XBOX 720 seems quite risky. I'm sure they've done their research, but it's unlikely to get people whom don't know much about Valve to buy their console when Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft have already gotten a firmly established foothold in the console market. Now, this is just my opinion, and I accept the knowledge that this could be entirely wrong/biased/based on little facts, but from personal experience people are more likely to buy from brands they know than brands they don't. So in that sense, the majority of Steam Box owners would likely be fans of Valve whom already would use Steam on their computers. Then that poses the question as to whether or not a PC gamer would buy a console.

So yeah, whilst they could be slowing down for the Steam Box (and that is a fine reason) I just don't think the Steam Box is the answer to their seemingly stagnated appearance as of late, if anything it seems like they're now trying to play catch up to the Wii U, PS4, and XBOX 720.