Memorabilia
Member
Lol 10/10
Marc Laidlaw reveals Half-Life 2 Episode 3's story synopsis
- Thread starter dex3108
- Start date
Lol 10/10
Actually announcing it now that gamers are finally on the verge of accepting the franchise as dead could generate a ton of hype.
Just look at the Metroid fanbase, yeah? Everyone (in that special hyperbole way that only videogame fans are capable of) thought Other M/Federation Force was the *final* nail in the coffin and that Metroid as a whole was dead.
Then bam a temp logo for Metroid Prime 4. A sequel to a game that released a 1.5 months before Episode 2 did and everyone goes apeshit over it.
TheRedSnifit
Member
So basically, Half Life 3 came out before the Pyro Update.
We will never have "confirmation" of its authenticity, but it was posted on the blog site of the now-retired lead writer of the Half-Life series and the individual who most passionately cared about the Half-Life universe.
Everything about the synopsis -- setting, tone, references to events in the Half-Life universe -- more than indicates that this is certainly a possible way that a theoretical Episode 3 would've played out.
GavinUK86
Member
Was there ever any doubt?
PlumCantaloupe
Member
This overview script sounds quite fantastic. Wow.
Auto-Reply
Member
I thought that maybe he knows now that this specific (his) version is dead and it wont be used and he just wanted to let it be known that when people look back, this was his vision.
It was likely made after he left Valve using ideas he had?
So effectively it's similar to "fanfic", but he was extra cautios to not actually use character names as those have copyright by Valve.
Baleoce
Member
Actually yes, that sounds much more rational tbh.
Sad Affleck
Member
Think about it. What do all the Combine soldiers have in common? They're all wearing headgear. Hats.
It's a long con. Gabe/Valve gives Marc the ok to release this, the community picks it up and completes a game with Valve's ok because Valve cares about the community. Secretly this is Valve's way of getting out of making the direct follow-up so they can move on to HL3 proper, and an entirely new/different direction for the franchise.
Bonus points because Valve gets to test having the community create their games for them.
Lasthope106
Member
Because I can guess that being a Valve employee means you are fairly well compensated before any bonus. I mean they only hire the best of the best. People who were already successful at other studios, companies, etc. Then you can logically deduce that software engineers are well compensated in most companies, so that leads to Valve employees being even better compensated. Not only that, but you work at Valve. That means if you don't like it, for any reason, it is very probable you can leave and get a job at any other top studio, company.
Put all that together, and I think money is the last thing Valve employees need to worry about. Unless they are greedy, which if you go by the products they build is not crazy statement to make.
My guess is that like a lot of software engineers/developers a lot of people at Valve suffer from the "I'm going to change the world" syndrome, and they all want to aspire to create something more than a videogame. They want to be the ones that ushered the era of VR, and game economies. All great things to aspire to, but the one thing people loved from them was their ability as storytellers through the videogame medium. They were masters at it. And now they are done.
That was my take on this as well. Probably the only reason Valve would allow this to happen. Incidentally them moving on from his plans for the series may also be why he left the company.
afternoon delight
Member
We could ask the Black Mesa team but they've already given so much of their lives to Half Life already hahahaha.
But maybe with their profits they'd consider it!
I am truly just glad to hear this version though. It's been a long time.
GavinUK86
Member
Whompa02
Member
That looks gorgeous
JigglesBunny
Banned
But that entitlement isn't justified? Fans were promised, in no uncertain terms, a sequel. Years later, Valve has nothing to show.
LizardSnob
Neo Member
That looks damn gorgeous.
Or worse, Valve has nothing to say
TheLostBigBoss
Banned
That sounds extremely petty and doesn't make sense considering he left only a year ago.
Phoenix RISING
Banned
I wrote a preview of this game almost a year ago.
As far as I am concerned, it is better than the original half-life. The finale before the teleportation to Xen is good enough to be its own ending.
I hated Xen but I am willing to give it another chance.
Same old song and dance that theyre supporting their games as a service, have an influential platform and are making 3 VR "games".
Spoiler by VR games they mean tech demos.
Baron_Calamity
Member
Probably the same reason people defend company's polluting a river. Just business being business. Profit > Ethics.
Who is defending Valve on this? It's shitty they aren't making HL anymore.
Saying they don't make games anymore is false.
ZombieSupaStar
Member
Because the glacial pace that they "update TF2" is supposed to be commended I guess.
Last I played it was the mod version. It was great but the balance was a bit busted, and I think they had simplified Blast Pit in a way that really irked me.
poppedcollar69
Member
the fuckin.... sea crab monster things
I do feel like Half-Life could return, but I'm convinced it would be in the form of a VR title, and take an episodic approach more akin to what they attempted a decade ago -- in other words, it would be something a small team could tackle. That structure didn't work out for them back then, but it's much more likely to succeed today.
TheThreadsThatBindUs
Member
It would have worked out fine if Valve had proper management. Their "anybody can do anything!!!1" approach to development creates too many conflicts of interests, which seems to be the main reason EP3/HL3 didn't happen. The only thing is seems Valve employees can agree on is that they can make easy money by selling pink tiger stripe knife skins and other low-effort, high-reward bullshit. They didn't have anyone with the authority to keep development on a coherent path. This plot summary is probably one of many very different summaries.
stan423321
Member
Naaah.
With how open Laidlaw is about what this actually is (instead of doing some spiritual successor winking), it's clear he's not covered by an NDA which would prohibit him just sharing these details in the open (as in, "I imagined that Gordon would have flied to Arctic..."). He didn't go for that, but he could have. Why did he write this letter thing instead? Because he wanted to set up an analogy between out-tempored Freeman and himself in a way that wasn't completely blatant. This necessitates leaving in enough context for reader to reasonably allow making the connection between Fremont and Freeman, at the same time it's off enough that it's not straight trademark infringement.
Valve could potentially make a lawsuit out of this, especially depending on NDAs if any, but it's not like they have to, since the similarities are left on a very abstract level. Valve likes keeping their PR good. Another possibility is that NDA simply does not cover concepts which Valve denied one way or the other. (I remember that one of Mass Effect writers shared his vision of ME3 ending relatively fast after the actual thing exploded. I imagine that if that was to be actually implemented later in the series he would keep his mouth shut.)
AcceptableGhost
Member
Portal 2 came out in 2011.
Frozenprince
Banned
People don't care about the distinction and really at this point other than to enthusiasts like us it really kinda doesnt matter.
Neither will ever exist again.
Unless they had a real-time time-bending/changing mechanic that was amazing and it came into play while on the Borealis, that honestly didn't sound all that interesting from a gameplay standpoint. Not sure I would be a fan of Alyx turning heel like that either, as it seems very unlike her character in the previous two games. Other than those two things, interesting, if a little unfulfilling conclusion to hl2's story.
That said, if this is the end of Freeman's story, fuck Valve and Gabe and everything that led to this being a fucking blog post. The hype inflated because the company refused to make any comment on it at all. Anything at all, even 'it's not being worked on' or 'yes, it's in active development right now.' would have deflated things, but nooo. Gotta fall back on memes and jokes and popping up in videos for other kickstarters to try and keep people guessing and actively hoping for no reason. Bullshit. Keep your VR and multiplayer, I don't want them.
That said, if this is the end of Freeman's story, fuck Valve and Gabe and everything that led to this being a fucking blog post. The hype inflated because the company refused to make any comment on it at all. Anything at all, even 'it's not being worked on' or 'yes, it's in active development right now.' would have deflated things, but nooo. Gotta fall back on memes and jokes and popping up in videos for other kickstarters to try and keep people guessing and actively hoping for no reason. Bullshit. Keep your VR and multiplayer, I don't want them.
Indeed. I'm straight up done with valve now. I don't like the idea of being lied to for years when it looks like they could have announced cancellation a long time ago if this short story is any thing to go by.
You would call those people "Corprate Shills" yes? I came very close to throwing that around despite the fact I don't really like the word.
I've seen several posts saying that making half life 3 is gamer entitlement and I personally think that is hot dumster fire garbage. They purposely lead us on for as long as possible so they wouldn't have to deal with the backlash.
I remember going back and being disgusted with the experience bar stuff. Even when they do "update" tf2 it's usually the community made maps hats and items right?
FantasticMrFoxdie
Mumber
Well i guess the good thing about this is somewhere around the world someone is probably creating this game story mod for us to play in 10 yrs
half life, 3 confirmed