VALVE!!!!!......STOP IT!!!!!
- Thread starter Nehari
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Oh, I disagree haha, me and a couple friends got a lot of people into Half-life by gifting our extra Orange Box copies over Steam, it's almost like some kind of viral marketing.Khushal said:
Well my post was harsh because your OP was harsh haha, I'm just really sick of people whining about Half-life release dates, most people are too young to remember that it took SIX YEARS for Valve to make Half-life 2 after the first one. Working on different projects is probably a good thing, just working on sequels to the same game leads to a stagnation of quality. Valve's had a lot of time to experiment with stuff like A.I. directors, I guarantee you'll see a lot of interesting ideas implimented in Episode 3/Half-life 3 when it's released in 2073.Nehari said:
Half Life 2 was released in 2004, it's 2010 now so they've passed that 6 year point.Blind Sight said:
the gripe that I have is not that they're taking so long, but it just feels like they almost forgot about Half Life. because we just don't see anything about it anymore. hopefully that'll change with portal 2
I still much prefer a 'it's done when it's done' mentality rather then a scheduled timetable. Bear in mind, none of actually know what Valve actually has planned for Half-life 3/Episode 3, if they're aimming for innovation then it's naturally going to take longer because they want to make sure it works. Hell, the only news I can remember about Episode 3 is that they're experimenting with a deaf character who uses sign-language, that's got to be hard to work into a narrative.KSarty said:
Episode 1 was released in 2006 and Episode 2 in 2007, they've supplied a good ten to fifteen hours of extra content during that time.Nehari said:
It has nothing to do with forgetting Half-life, more just keeping the press out of it. Half-life 2 was just a rumour until 2003. Guess what happened when Valve announced Half-life 2 at E3 2003, when they scheduled a September release date? Valve's internet network got hacked and their source code was illegally released, resulting in them having to push the date back to 2004. If that ever happened to my company, I'd be way more careful the next time I announced something innovative or important.
Having three years between titles kind of eliminates the point of having episodic content, doesn't it? I mean the whole reason behind it is to release games cheaper and more often. They've got one part of that down, but good lord. Even if they're striving for excellence, there is a point where you have to shoot for 'good enough' instead of perfection. If you don't, you leave your fans waiting in anticipation so long that some of them jump ship.DazZ. said:
Nehari said:
*wonders how everyone conveniently misses people like this when ranting about Halo fanboys*
1) Learn to paragraph. It makes massive blocks of text much easier to read if they're split into smaller blocks.
2) It's Half-Life 2 episode 3, not Half-Life 3. By the time that comes around, there will be 13 games set in the HL universe overall. I don't imagine Valve would milk their games to that extent, they'd be on par with Final Fantasy.
3) I don't think Vindictus was made by Valve. Perhaps it was one of the many Source engine games.
4) It's perfectly within Valve's rights to make games that aren't part of the Half-Life universe. Just as it's perfectly within Bungie's rights to, after all these years, stop making Halo and move onto a new IP - which they have done. Actually, a better example: just as it's perfectly within Dan Abnett's rights to make books that aren't part of the Gaunt's Ghosts series - like he has done, several times in the past. I suspect Valve plan to return to the Half-Life series at some point, but they can do it at their leisure.
5) "spectacularly amazing" is definitely pushing it, from what I played of Half-life 2.
There was a SIX YEAR gap between the conclusion of Half Life 1 (which ended on a cliffhanger of Freeman going into service for G-Man) and Half Life 2 continuing the story.Nehari said:
It has only JUST turned 3 years, stop being so damn impatient.
All the main story arcs of Half Life 2 have been wrapped up (mainly revolving around the Citadel, City 17 and the fallout from its destruction), the Borealis is just a teaser and sorry my impatient friend but I wouldn't be expecting a sequel till at least 2011.
Half Life 3 likely means a brand new engine, and that is likely to take a long time, probably not till Valve at least have gotten a sniff of the next gen of console hardware so they don't end up unable to perform on the new tech.
I'm not suggesting they rush it, I'm only saying that other developers seem to be able to deliver a polished game in a much shorter amount of time so the polish argument doesn't buy them any slack in my book.Blind Sight said:
I'll grant them the innovation, but if they wanted to really do something completely different than they made a mistake deciding to go episodic.
Disagreed. I'd prefer to wait than get something that they only deem as "good enough" rather than the best they can do.Wolfenbarg said:
We have enough games being forced out the door, I'm happy a few developers are taking their time to do the best they can.
Getting it sooner wouldn't make the experience any better.
you'd have to have a bear in your mind to fiddle with that idea. But, fighting my own point, there is a much smaller developer which is remaking the original game using the Half Life 2 engine, and they've been working on it for years now too, and they're working on the game with a pre-set story and with a pre-made game engine, so it's not entirely too much to ask, for us to wait. but with that same bear in your mind (though I don't know how he got there) as a previous point was made, making the episodes between releases is kind of pointless by this time. because liek I said earlier they're 6 years between the release of half life 2 and 3 years between the release of epsiode 2Blind Sight said:
You seem to be misunderstanding me, I never promote a game company to just force a game out the door. However, there comes a point where you just have to call a game done and move on. Making people wait this long for an adventure that can be completed in a day hardly seems worthwhile.DazZ. said:
One thing I'd suggest is checking out the developer commentary on some Valve games like Episode 1 and 2 (it's in the option menus I believe), the amount of playtesting they do is INSANE, while a lot of other companies would just take a broken concept and roll with it (ala akimbo shotguns in Modern Warfare 2 or Obsidian's 'hardcore' mode in New Vegas), Valve often completely scraps ideas they feel don't work. It leads to a longer development time, but it greatly increases the chances that the game will be polished on release.KSarty said:
and look what issues it causes, in half life 2 you're able to jump on objects you're holding causing you essentailly to be able to fly, also if you time your jumps you're able to gain enough speed to travel faster than any other object. half life 2 had loads of problems and loads of issues no matter how much play testing they did to prevent it.Blind Sight said:
Thats still my not my point though. My point is that time spent does not equal quality. I specifically mentioned that other developers seem to be able to release polished games in a much shorter amount of time. Mass Effect 2 came out just over 2 years after Mass Effect, and while plenty of people still prefer ME1 there are few arguments to be made that ME2 was lacking in polish. We're talking a full sequel here, not just an expansion.Blind Sight said:
Thinking of it like an engineering concept. When you're building a bridge, do you make it structurally sound so you'll please your investors and the people who will drive on it, or do you try to reinvent the Golden Gate every time? Spending 3+ years with no information on a game that can be completed in a few hours isn't wise resource management, and it stinks of neglect.DazZ. said:
Valve makes great games. However, they've released a title every year since the Orange Box came out, and there isn't so much as a whiff of information on episode 3. Either they're overworking on the title, or they've got a skeleton crew working on it.