paperspace
Member
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Marc Laidlaw reveals Half-Life 2 Episode 3's story synopsis
- Thread starter dex3108
- Start date
Good point. I remember a time when that culture supposedly attracted some of the best and brightest in this industry not long ago. As time went on, more talent left and it became evident that maybe their "anything goes" cultures isn't really the ideal model to follow either.
Imagine waiting 10 years for the next chapter and it ends with another fucking frozen in time explosion with Gordon yet again being plucked from certain death by a convenient teleportation event.
Secretly the Half Life story has always been very dumb, it just has funny dialog and endearing characters.
Secretly the Half Life story has always been very dumb, it just has funny dialog and endearing characters.
Whompa02
Member
This makes me want a proper Half-Life 3 even more now. What a fascinating story.
it does very well with very little dialog. It's not "very dumb" it's just simple and effective. It plays to its strengths by telling less.
it does very well with very little dialog. It's not "very dumb" it's just simple and effective. It plays to its strengths by telling less.
I appreciate the joke and the general sentiment but I actually am not so sure this would be the case here. The reactions to the structure of the Episode 3 plot (mine included) actually seem to be quite positive. If they made what Marc posted and it featured the "usual" HL2 gameplay, I think most people would have been more than happy.
Obviously vocal minorities of whiners are inevitable with anything, but I think if they had followed through on this in game form it would have gotten the job done.
testinglol
Unconfirmed Member
heres some info about the half life vr they are doing right now. its the game valvetime talked about
https://github.com/DankParrot/Source2Wiki/wiki
https://github.com/DankParrot/Source2Wiki/wiki
I replayed the Orange Box earlier this year and I'm halfway through Portal 2 at the moment, and it's just so sad that Valve don't make single player games anymore, they were masters of the craft
This isn't a surprise really, they said in 2011 Portal 2 would be their last single player focused game, did you all think they were lying about that?
It's just a shame, Valve do so well they could have turned out a few AAA series' but only released a new game every few years and done the store stuff at the same time
I guess the store stuff is all that matters to them in the end
This isn't a surprise really, they said in 2011 Portal 2 would be their last single player focused game, did you all think they were lying about that?
It's just a shame, Valve do so well they could have turned out a few AAA series' but only released a new game every few years and done the store stuff at the same time
I guess the store stuff is all that matters to them in the end
NotKrankor
Unconfirmed Member
Where and when did they ever say such thing?
MrTroubleMaker
Member
Valve still does both, they just don't produce the content you want. They still make stuff for Dota, CS, and all.
While many (myself included) want HL to come back, saying they don't produce original content is false.
fluffydelusions
Member
What I don't understand is that Valve employees apparently have free reign over what they want to do there...is working on a new half life game off the table? Or Portal? Or whatever happened to those L4D3 leaks a while ago?
completely de-centralized management must be hell for actually pushing any project through a pipeline.
My personal mapping project has inexplicably gotten a lot more ep3-ish today, weird! Weird. Weird. I have so many ideas about how I could make all this work.
I've been playing HL1 co-op with someone new to the game before this news, kinda fitting. Get to relive the magic!
Fave levels:
- Anomalous Materials
- Office Complex
- "We've Got Hostiles"
- Blast Pit
- Power Up
- Questionable Ethics
- Apprehension
- Surface Tension
- Point Insertion
- Water Hazard
- Black Mesa East
- "We Don't Go To Ravenholm..."
- Highway 17
- Nova Prospekt
- Entanglement
- Anticitizen One
- "Follow Freeman!"
- Undue Alarm
- Direct Intervention
- Lowlife
- Urban Flight
- To the White Forest
- This Vortal Coil
- Freeman Pontifex
- Riding Shotgun
- Under the Radar
Papasmurf531
Member
Finally, some goddamn closure. Can't believe we finally know.
Funyarinpa
Member
I have an itch to do the same, myself.
I think when all's said and done my favorite is still Ravenholm.
It was the demo of the game which I played before I got the game (I'm 17 and I played the game 4-5 years ago). Was pretty fucking terrifying lol.
Water Hazard is up there too.
Gabe said in an AMA this year that they are, so this probably isn't true anymore.
Various Artists
Banned
There had been anonymous rumors from a couple years ago (I forget the source, sorry) that basically said, like others have noted, that employees do have free reign over their projects, and at times, groups of employees had tried, but they were never able to get enough traction.
Edit : Ah, here was the article. Wasn't as long ago as I thought.
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2017/01/11/searching-for-half-life-3.aspx
I think Starcraft 2 is the even better analogue. what a trainwreck that was
Well a lot can change in 6 years
I would imagine they only care about SP again because of VR, and once/if VR becomes widespread they'll go back to a MP only microtransaction pushing model
Also I seem to remember reading in one of the big expose on Valve's corporate culture that an employee's pay was proportional to the revenue generated by the game/service he worked on. Hence why most of them were inclined to work on stuff like Dota and CSGO.
I could be totally off-base though.
spootime
Member
My understanding from former employees is that your bonus is tied to the project you work on (your "value" produced for the company). If I'm at valve and I've got a family to provide for you can bet that I'd be working on CSGO or Dota. Why take the risk?
The "We only do things when we really want to" culture at Valve just makes things look like a mess figuratively and literally.
Baron_Calamity
Member
Only with our hearts and minds. Now excuse me as i need to finish my Barney Calhoun fan fic
Possibly, who knows. Maybe the original comment wasn't as definitive as it seemed, or simply pointed to an intent to add at least an sort of online content to all titles. Regardless they are are weird company, so it's hard to guess at what is going on there.
The "We only do things when we really want to" culture at Valve just makes things look like a mess figuratively and literally.
What exactly is wrong with this photo? It looks like any typical open space game studio area.
They don't owe us anything No, but there is also this thing as proper business and respect. Major artist and bands when they quit they have the decency to Let their fans know they're calling it quits.
Valve just keeps producing skins and hats while ignoring the question die the gazillionth time.
I disagree with Valve's "cabal" system in general so this is more of a personal gripe than anything else. If that system has moved to other studios then I'm glad I don't work in game development.
Rellik
Member
I wouldn't think he needed to. This is basically fan fiction to them.
TheEndOfItAll
Neo Member
Agree wholeheartedly. It's been too long now, and it would most certainly be underwhelming as the hype train created by fans for years has created expectations that would never be achievable.
modernmalady
Member
I wonder what would happen if the Black Mesa devs started working on this. Would Valve stop them? Would Valve stopping a fan project mean "we're still doing HL3" or "it's not your IP."
Or
If valve didn't stop them what would THAT mean?
Or
If valve didn't stop them what would THAT mean?
Demon Lizardman
Banned
This is an important read for everybody here.
https://venturebeat.com/2017/02/21/valve-cares-about-pc-gamers-but-sucks-at-showing-it/
https://venturebeat.com/2017/02/21/valve-cares-about-pc-gamers-but-sucks-at-showing-it/
A bunch of desks in an open space = Valve's cabal? No offense but that's hilarious.
SciencePilot
Member
This is really nice of him to do. Good read!
Various Artists
Banned
I would think that the Black Mesa Devs have forged enough of a relationship and good will with Valve at this point that they could go to them ahead of time to try and work something out either based on this script or not. It makes much more sense than to start something for a few years and then get shut down. Perhaps Valve would even help with additional resources, but who knows.
Are fans really that hyped? Most would just be happy that the game exists. Half Life 3 was never constantly teased through the years of being the next best thing ever. There are no expectations that would be out of reach. People just want to play the game.
GavinUK86
Member
Reading about the Borealis phasing through different timelines makes me think of the Mansion level in Dishonored 2 but without the player controlling the jumps. That would really be something to experience. Back then, I don't think, technically, you could pull it off. With today's game engines, it could be glorious. But, alas, it's something we'll never see.
Memorabilia
Member
Do we have confirmation this is authentic?
On a side note, it seems to me Valve needs an influx of new talent to push single player games...but for whatever reason the open ended structure doesn't seem to encourage those kinds of people to work at Valve anymore.
This would appear to at least offer some hope of actual project management driving development of something other than microtransaction bullshit....
Sad Affleck
Member
What we need is a courageous developer/HL fan who will infiltrate Valve pretending to want to work on DOTA hats and organize a resistance against the Hat Combine from the inside.
I'd write it so Gordon ends up in a huge field where he sports a woman in red pants and a white tank top. Then the two could spend the rest of their mute lives together.
The G-Man is...Gabe?
fluffydelusions
Member
I guess it makes sense when put like that.