Homefront getting a sequel is the dumbest shit ive ever seen.
Marc Laidlaw reveals Half-Life 2 Episode 3's story synopsis
- Thread starter dex3108
- Start date
Homefront getting a sequel is the dumbest shit ive ever seen.
Visualante2
Member
heart breaking for two reasons. i could imagine playing some of the sequences while reading it. and secondly, because it would have been possible if valve had the inclination. it sounds like it would have been very doable with the technology and talent valve has.
Looks like the passion and motivation is missing from the equation
And what a shit ending it is.
SpaceDrake
Member
If you've paid attention to their interviews over the years, a lot of the older members of Valve burned out hard working on HL2. It wasn't a remotely pleasant experience in the end, particularly The Hack and all the surrounding drama about it. And then expectations just kept getting jacked higher and higher with the episodes, and you had this frankly kind of uninspired-sounding outline for Ep3...
If I was Gabe & co., and I discovered I'd cracked the code on digital distribution and had provided a platform for tons of developers, big and small, to reach people, and simultaneously began supporting this young team that then made something interesting (Portal & Portal 2), and then also began supporting the creation of the updated version of one of the most popular games on the planet (Dota2), you bet I'd drop my old project with a lot of painful emotional baggage attached to it like a hot potato and not look back. They maybe could've been a little better about communicating how they felt, but it's not hard to see how things evolved the way they did.
Agree with this post..
But the bolded is the understatement of the decade
And yeah, they got burnt the fuck out but I never imagined they were just quietly like "welp, fuck HL" over the years
What a way to go out.
SpaceDrake
Member
For what it's worth, as someone who's had a somewhat similar experience, I am not surprised in the slightest. When there's that much actual mental (and physical!) suffering and emotional baggage attached to something, you just want to get away from it as much as possible.
Those fans will be discarded like the rest of us...in time.
Meanwhile, enjoy the announcer packs.
Fucking Duke Nukem Forever even got it's release.
But.. clearly they love and are passionate about HL (or were) because of how great HL2 turned out.
I didn't think the passion would disappear. Just that they'd take a break and change the developmental process to make things easier for everyone. Clearly episodes didn't work, and they were still experimenting, but I've never known Valve to just quit on great projects
Lmao, this is so incredibly true
You've articulated why this has made me vastly more upset than it reasonably should. This "closure" from Marc (and I really do appreciate him for doing it!) represents something deeper for me, a closing of an unfinished chapter of my life.
It was near the release of Half-Life 2 that I got really active on IGN's PC General Board and got wrapped up in the excitement and anticipation for its release. Hell, we had a riot on the forum on the night when it unlocked when Steam shit the bed. And from that board, I've gotten to know people that I'm still friends with to this day. We even got our own Team Fortress 2 server that we filled religiously for many years. We've since moved on from IGN to another forum that we founded (and still operate) or we started posting on here.
But it was Half-Life 2 that started all of that in a way. I was 28 years old when Half-Life 2 released and now I'm 42. That's one-third of my life that was influenced by Half-Life 2 in a very tangible way. So this very bittersweet for me too.
Jesus Christ that's a staggering fact
That'd be my guess.
A small chuckle, maybe even a quizzical word or two, before zooming down a hallway on his wheeled desk as he awaits his latest Dota queue.
The Hermit
Member
Do you have a source? I love discovering what lengths some shitty companys will go to rip us off.
I think I remember reading that a lot of companies do this. I want to say that I remember Bungie doing this for Destiny.
He'll probably ask Marc to repost it with a fake ARG and watch the internet burn
He hates HL and its fans THAT much
Angry Fork
Member
The only excuse is the employees don't want to make it, which makes me think the only people still there just want to do VR shit and show off how well they can code.
Half Life died for a card game and gyromotor sensor precision rocket fuel pythagoras theorum to the 9th quantum power packaged into $800 peripheral to play ugly tech demos. (I know about the price drop, just saying).
funkystudent
Member
Heck they currently have a opening for one over at
http://www.valvesoftware.com/jobs/job_postings.html
Nothing damning in the job spec but you should know how much work goes into the money making machine.
FatCatAttack
Member
For those of you familiar with old usenet personalities even self-proclaimed neanderthal Cleve Blakemore's Wiz 7 clone Grimoire came out and it's been in development since 1997.
RenegadeXV8
Banned
I remember reading from ex-employees that the reason projects like HL2:E3 or HL3 don't get off the ground anymore is simply because they can't get enough people to agree to work on them, since most engineers and designers would rather work on something else that has proven results in order to look better during their performance reviews. Even then, it seemed like the work environment at Valve is cliquey as hell and you could quickly be ostracized if you go against the grain.
KirbKirb30
Member
Man, I never thought this day would come. My jaw dropped when I saw the headline.
It feels weird to know that we finally got the closure we were hoping for. But man, I just feel even more upset at Valve after reading it. A game of this scale with Valve's signature gameplay polish would have been totally possible in 2008. And even then, it seems like the ending would have been building up to a Half-Life 3 that likely would have never seen the light of day, so we'd have just been back at square one, anyway.
It feels weird to know that we finally got the closure we were hoping for. But man, I just feel even more upset at Valve after reading it. A game of this scale with Valve's signature gameplay polish would have been totally possible in 2008. And even then, it seems like the ending would have been building up to a Half-Life 3 that likely would have never seen the light of day, so we'd have just been back at square one, anyway.
Marc.....
Lol
Lightning_Roller
Banned
So valve is basically the mean girls clique. Makes sense.
dgrdsv
Member
Marc.....
Sure, Marc.
CuNi
Member
Marc.....
JESUS CHRIST, JUST LET IT REST FOR A SINGLE DAY
*sobs*
It can't start anew.. the circle.. must be broken..
chrominance
Member
Marc.....
On the one hand, he's absolutely right.
On the other hand, if they're not using his treatment, and Valve pretty much has no other writers to produce a new treatment...
dgrdsv
Member
Well, I mean, the fact that there's an unproduced HL2Ep3 script from Marc Laidlaw being published on the web yesterday - this fact doesn't spell doom for the HL franchise, of course.
However, the fact that it was TEN FUCKING YEARS since Valve has been bothered to make anything with the franchise, even just say anything on its future or current status, does spell the end of the HL franchise in my books. They are just too interested in making hats these days.
However, the fact that it was TEN FUCKING YEARS since Valve has been bothered to make anything with the franchise, even just say anything on its future or current status, does spell the end of the HL franchise in my books. They are just too interested in making hats these days.
D
Deleted member 22576
Unconfirmed Member
I... still have hope somehow.
Random Human
They were trying to grab your prize. They work for the mercenary. The masked man.
.
modernmalady
Member
I've been thinking about HL all day today. It may seem a bit silly to say but this affected me more than I thought it would when I first read the news before going to work this morning.
Random thoughts below
First off i'd like to thank Marc for the closure that this has given me. I remember being in middle school when I finished up Ep. 2. I was mesmerized by the idea of Portal (a game that had just swept me off my feet) also being an important part of the HL story. I remember thinking about the Borealis and speculating on what secrets it may hold. I remember following the people online who had dedicated their time to breakdown whatever clue or interview Valve/Gabe/Etc. did in order to try to see what Ep. 3 was going to be about.
Well...
Months turned to years. Speculation turned into frustration. Fan projects turned into "last hopes."
Middle school turned into High School and into College and now i'm working a steady job.
All in all I am still very much confused, not with HL, but with Valve. The way Valve and Gabe seem to be okay with joking around the number 3. Okay with the way fans "break open" every single file Valve releases and finds references to some secret HL project. The coy "these things take time" remarks. It's all very confusing.
Why not just say something? Just say it's on hiatus. Just say a delayed game is good forever or some shit like that. Just say it doesn't exist anymore. Just say something.
I half expect Valve to just release their HL related project without any celebration. Just one day, it's up on Steam.
Random thoughts below
First off i'd like to thank Marc for the closure that this has given me. I remember being in middle school when I finished up Ep. 2. I was mesmerized by the idea of Portal (a game that had just swept me off my feet) also being an important part of the HL story. I remember thinking about the Borealis and speculating on what secrets it may hold. I remember following the people online who had dedicated their time to breakdown whatever clue or interview Valve/Gabe/Etc. did in order to try to see what Ep. 3 was going to be about.
Well...
Months turned to years. Speculation turned into frustration. Fan projects turned into "last hopes."
Middle school turned into High School and into College and now i'm working a steady job.
All in all I am still very much confused, not with HL, but with Valve. The way Valve and Gabe seem to be okay with joking around the number 3. Okay with the way fans "break open" every single file Valve releases and finds references to some secret HL project. The coy "these things take time" remarks. It's all very confusing.
Why not just say something? Just say it's on hiatus. Just say a delayed game is good forever or some shit like that. Just say it doesn't exist anymore. Just say something.
I half expect Valve to just release their HL related project without any celebration. Just one day, it's up on Steam.
It implied they were hiding something, that there was a reason they couldn't talk about it. That there was some kind of secret. That fuelled hope.
Any company with a sense of decency towards the supporters that helped build it would just come out and honestly say, no, we're not working on it. The way Valve handled this is not normal, especially. So why the secrecy? Goes back to the original point you took issue with: they strung this on as long as possible to avoid backlash.
Demon Lizardman
Banned
The fact that you never beat the combine kind of pisses me off. In a movie, it's fine because you are watching the protagonists doing it without any of your input. But in a video game you are playing the silent protagonist and now that I know that none of what I have done matters in the first place, I might as well not play this series ever again, because I know that the villains win in the first place. I hate that shit so much. Fuck off with that.
ThoseDeafMutes
Member
Valve is always secretive but the most likely explanation is that it was being worked on for a long time at a low level. Even now there might be a few people here or there prototyping for a sequel, even though it's highly unlikely to get the full momentum required to ever ship.
The twist of the Combine being infinitely more bigger than originally thought is what makes the ending so good though. It would be nowhere near as effective if it was more hopeful and victorious.
Tainted
Member
I think it's almost a given the talented mod makers out there will release an EP 3 mod in the future based on this story outline. In fact, they are probably working on it now
ZombieSupaStar
Member
now that we know the plot, theres nothing but time, and talent stopping that.
Oveja Negra
Member
It's nice to see another person feels the same way as me, and oh the coincidence, I'm turning 42 in a month. So I guess that somewhat explains why this game means so much to us, we are basically in the same wavelength (from a generational point of view).
When I think about Half-Life I can remember vividly spending time with my brother, taking turns to play it while the other was watching, laughing at how smart the marines acted, dropping a grenade that exploded just when you approached him to collect the ammo. The times when I gathered with a bunch of friends, and were talking about the story during hours, speculating about G-Man, etc. etc.
Damn, I'm in a full nostalgia mode right now.
Greetings, pal.
you make it sound like it isn't a common practice like...i dunno...the entire marketing industry. it's not good but it's not unusual either.
people seem to have built this strawman of valve that it's some kind of worker run co-operative not interested in profit like every other company