Mysterious Video: Is Valve Going Viral?
- Thread starter Andy Chalk
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Hmm, plenty of thoughts on this but want to throw my own in anyway. Unlikely this is a phone commercial considering it's more than one brand of phone being used in the video. Part of me thinks it may be fan made (albeit a fan with a lot of experience in video production and with the funds and ability to create some fairly neat effects) but with all the empty streets and the like, I'm also guessing professional. The talk of singularities, along with the sound effects and the nature of the weapon that is used by the person in the window all seems very Half-Life-esque.
Plus, the all the large monitors dotted around outside brings to mind City 17. Perhaps this is a view of a different part of the world, also under combine rule to a certain degree.
Or we could all be barking up the wrong tree, and this has nothing to do with Valve at all...
Plus, the all the large monitors dotted around outside brings to mind City 17. Perhaps this is a view of a different part of the world, also under combine rule to a certain degree.
Or we could all be barking up the wrong tree, and this has nothing to do with Valve at all...
Sorry to shoot down everyone that says this fan-made but there is no way in hell this was made by a fan. It not only looks professional but the sheer scope of it as well as all of the red-tape that is involved in shutting down not only a street but almost an entire city is COMPLETELY out of the range of what most amateur film-makers have to spend on a movie.
This looks professional and it looks legit. The question that everyone is still left with is this- What product is this video selling and who made it?
This looks professional and it looks legit. The question that everyone is still left with is this- What product is this video selling and who made it?
Very interesting. The music reminded me of Lost and that shot of his bloody hand reminded me of BioShock.
In my mind I am most set on this being a new Half Life game. Those cg parts are way too good to be fan made, and I don't see what else it could be for. There is a possibility its a fan vid, in which case I am extremely impressed. But it looks like the real mccoy, and it looks like it will be epic.
I think the look of the big portal vortex thing in the sky screams Half-Life, no matter how you cut it. Definitely.
The helicopter thing isn't so far off from the Hunter Chopper we all know and love. It even has the trademark spraying of [whatever Hunter-Choppers use as ammo] all over the place without actually hitting the target.
That little sonic gun thing he uses against the gas mask dudes is pretty Half-Lifey, but it's difficult to say for sure.
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Side note: One of the bags he searches for a phone out on the street says "Black" on it, and looks like it contains some sort of official, hazard-sealed package. I wonder if the other side of the bag says "Mesa". Unlikely, since this is obviously a European city.
The helicopter thing isn't so far off from the Hunter Chopper we all know and love. It even has the trademark spraying of [whatever Hunter-Choppers use as ammo] all over the place without actually hitting the target.
That little sonic gun thing he uses against the gas mask dudes is pretty Half-Lifey, but it's difficult to say for sure.
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Side note: One of the bags he searches for a phone out on the street says "Black" on it, and looks like it contains some sort of official, hazard-sealed package. I wonder if the other side of the bag says "Mesa". Unlikely, since this is obviously a European city.
Agreed. Either a film group with some cash or Valve themselves. As someone mentioned before, its as high quality as Escape from City 17 [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1UPMEmCqZo]. Not sure who http://www.youtube.com/user/Timacious is but he seens to have had this on his profile on 13th March.RebornKusabi said:
Ok, I put up the YouTube vid on HQ and fullscreen and read the news items on the 'Brain interface' ticker.
"Millions feared dead" - "Biggest single collapse in history since Black Mesa" - "No news from the disaster area" - and then back to the start again.
Also, who are 'Babel Research'? The guy seems to be trying to phone them throughout the early video...
Bloody mysterious!
"Millions feared dead" - "Biggest single collapse in history since Black Mesa" - "No news from the disaster area" - and then back to the start again.
Also, who are 'Babel Research'? The guy seems to be trying to phone them throughout the early video...
Bloody mysterious!
Well, Valve's marketing director Doug Lombardi stated that it is not an "official" Valve product and that is was made by the community in an interview with Gamespy. However what he didn't say is more telling as the relationship with Valve AND the community is not simply as cut and dried as it is with most developers. A lot of times it is hard to differentiate between the two and how often have Valve invited members of the community into its LLC? In a nutshell, this interview does not do much to clarify things.
I think it's a new IP that takes place in the Half Life Universe.For one,Babel sounds like a copy of the Citadel,but located somewhere else. Also, the MILLIONS FEARED DEAD is possibly a result of the Citadel's explosion.
We'll find out at the GDC.
We'll find out at the GDC.
Indeed, but won't stop us trying to guessOwned by 3 year olds said:
also, read on the big tele-screen news panel when he exited the building "Initial City " and then what looks like "Quarantine" but it hard to tell.Nah, its not "Escape from City 17"AkJay said:
I've finally decoded the hidden message! it says:
"You stayed up until 11pm on Photoshop fiddling with layer transparencies and colour substitutions when you know you need to be up at 6:30am, and just so you can decode some obtuse Dutch teaser site? Well done"
I think my Profile picture is taking over my mind. Is it just me or is his face moving?
"You stayed up until 11pm on Photoshop fiddling with layer transparencies and colour substitutions when you know you need to be up at 6:30am, and just so you can decode some obtuse Dutch teaser site? Well done"
I think my Profile picture is taking over my mind. Is it just me or is his face moving?
I also get the distinct sense that whoever made this video, hasn't finished it yet. There seem to be a couple of foley effects missing, and it even says on screen that the character's audio is not in place.
We'll keep an eye on it, for we are the Escapist. We see.
We'll keep an eye on it, for we are the Escapist. We see.
I saw this first on another site, and watched the conversation/speculation there. What I've been able to figure out is:
-The video is definitely made in the Netherlands; there's Dutch everywhere and the viral site ends with ".nl."
-There's a definite "Half-Life 2" vibe from the whole video, and not just from the sounds and music: the high-def video of the HUD news crawl says things like, "Millions feared dead - No news from disaster area - Largest single collapse in history since Black Mesa." So it could be set in the HL universe, but where it fits in the timeline is still under debate.
-There's a very strong chance it's not a Valve game at all. The video could just be using sound clips from the HL2 archives because they're easy enough to use. Heck, I did a zombie movie back in college using nothing but sounds extracted from the game.
-EDIT:
Also forgot, the viral site has a lot of credits with "Tim" in them, but one of the credits, "TIMSMIT" brings up the name "Tim Smit" on Wikipedia... apparently a Netherlands' bio-dome expert. Not sure if that has any relevance yet.
-The video is definitely made in the Netherlands; there's Dutch everywhere and the viral site ends with ".nl."
-There's a definite "Half-Life 2" vibe from the whole video, and not just from the sounds and music: the high-def video of the HUD news crawl says things like, "Millions feared dead - No news from disaster area - Largest single collapse in history since Black Mesa." So it could be set in the HL universe, but where it fits in the timeline is still under debate.
-There's a very strong chance it's not a Valve game at all. The video could just be using sound clips from the HL2 archives because they're easy enough to use. Heck, I did a zombie movie back in college using nothing but sounds extracted from the game.
-EDIT:
Also forgot, the viral site has a lot of credits with "Tim" in them, but one of the credits, "TIMSMIT" brings up the name "Tim Smit" on Wikipedia... apparently a Netherlands' bio-dome expert. Not sure if that has any relevance yet.
