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[Eddie-Griffin]

https://game-news24.com/2023/02/03/...ted-in-vr-tyler-mcvicker-reveals-details/amp/

The company was supposed to work on Half-Life 3, which is what the public wanted, but its bosses decided to focus on virtual reality. The most famous in-gamer shared the details.

Tyler McVicker systematically provides behind-the-scenes information about Valves. The whistleblower stayed focused on Half-Life 3 and then, in his opinion, the game took place 20 years after the third of Half-Life.

At the beginning of the story, players had to see a strange dream where Gordon Freeman watched the Seven Hour War, with the death of many important characters in the world (Kleiner, Eli, Alix and others).

The beginning would give the game a dark atmosphere, and then the protagonist of the series would wake up in Aperture Science, which site of Portal that would allow the developers to more combine both projects. Gordon would use a prosthetic arm that could be used to reduce the size and temperature of objects, a mechanic that would be used in many difficult puzzles.

Gordon looks at the ruinous city, still owned by the Alliance. The entire metropolis was to become the prisoner of war camp, where people were raised as raw materials.

This Half Life 3 project was reportedly canceled in 2015 when Valve made a wager that virtual reality was ruining the project.

So it looks like that Valve was working on HL, but changed plans and cancelled it because the leadership decided to take a bet on VR.

While Alyx is seen as a good game, it does make me wonder what we missed given the full AAA HL3 was cancelled for it, and supposedly the Index headset as well.

 

[Moses85]

 

[Spukc]

3

 

[HL3.exe]

I would add 'Disclaimer: All speculation!'



Hearing that it was more systems driven, more stealth based and open-ended sounded cool. And kinda makes sense with who they hired at that time. Doug Church (Lead System Shock, THIEF, Ultima Underworld) and Clint Hocking (Splinter Cell Chaos Theory, Far Cry 2) where hired at that time around 2011. Both Immersive Sim designers. (The design philosophy even coined by Doug Church)

To bad it didn't work out. A Immersive Sim Half-Life sounds like me dream title. :/

 

[Umbasaborne]

F U C K V A L V E

 

[.Pennywise]

Wow, it's been so long since the Half-Life 3's monthly rumors

 

[Guilty_AI]

 

[OverHeat]

Valve you bastard give us H3!!!!

 

[Talkin Hawkin]

why not just make it for vr? like, they can do both right? Half life trilogy in Vr, you know it makes sense

 

[Buggy Loop]

In all honesty, I can’t see the franchise going non VR after the Alyx masterpiece. It’s a game changer. Next half life 3 should be on VR.

 

[TintoConCasera]

why not just make it for vr? like, they can do both right? Half life trilogy in Vr, you know it makes sense

They should, specially after the ending of Half-Life Alyx. They can't let us grab the crowbar in VR just to go back to flat mode for HL3.

 

[Eddie-Griffin]

why not just make it for vr? like, they can do both right? Half life trilogy in Vr, you know it makes sense

Most likely they were too far in, with specific tools used, to integrate it in without starting from scratch anyway at a core level.

 

[Zug]

Flat gamers gonna hate, but Alyx is HL3

 

[Talkin Hawkin]

Most likely they were too far in, with specific tools used, to integrate it in without starting from scratch anyway at a core level.

what the fuck they doin? 2015 was years ago, why the hell aint we seeing more half life vr shit? Alyx sold better than anyone hoping it would. i wanna slap some face huggin dudes with a crowbar in vr

 

[Grildon Tundy]

 

[k_trout]

cant imagine it being any better than alyx

 

[Ristifer]

Flat gamers gonna hate, but Alyx is HL3

 

[SonicVolcano]

 

[ZoukGalaxy]

GOOD.

HL3 as we "know it" is DEAD, get over it. Even the script is leaked since years ago.

VR is the best thing happened to the series, stop trying to initiate a war between VR and PANCAKE, they are both complementary and as there were not enough war already between both..

Valve always said they does thing when there's room for innovation, and this is what motive them, they have not been interested in making an episode that would be copy-paste of the previous ones.

 

[The_Mike]

F U C K V A L V E

I think the right sentence would be

F U C K V R

 

[Umbasaborne]

I think the right sentence would be

F U C K V R

Maybe fuck steam? I feel like steam is responsible for killing any ounce of creativity left at valve. They became super complacent and have basically stopped making interesting games

 

[Sybrix]

Just finish the story. This is the most frustrating thing about Half Life and its not like its a game where the developer went bankrupt and couldn't deliver us the conclusion, it's Valve, one of the most profitable gaming companies in the world.

It's not the fact that were missing out on another potentially amazing game, its the fact the story was left on a cliff-hanger....

I dont even care if Valve release a graphic novel or 30 min Source Film short to complete the story, just show us how the Half Life saga ends.

 

[Adam_802]

Wasn't this known for a long time already. EP3/HL3 was started, rebooted, and cancelled multiple times after 2007.

 

[Guilty_AI]

why not just make it for vr? like, they can do both right? Half life trilogy in Vr, you know it makes sense

they sort of did with Alyx

 

[Eddie-Griffin]

Alyx sold better than anyone hoping it would. i wanna slap some face huggin dudes with a crowbar in vr

Valve posted numbers? What were the sales?

 

[Eddie-Griffin]

Wasn't this known for a long time already. EP3/HL3 was started, rebooted, and cancelled multiple times after 2007.

Based on this info they were far into it before the shift to VR, when you look at more of this particular guys stories about it.

 

[Wonko_C]

Glad they did. I was never able to enjoy any of the Half-Life games until Alyx came out. Now I'm playing through HL2 with the recent VR mod without getting bored out of my mind in the first hours.

 

[Robb]

Ugh what a waste. VR was a mistake.

 

[Dick Jones]

Maybe fuck steam? I feel like steam is responsible for killing any ounce of creativity left at valve. They became super complacent and have basically stopped making interesting games

He just wants to find a way to shit on anything remotely Sony. Leave him at it.

 

[winjer]

What a fucking stupid decision.
To cancel one of the most awaited and hyped games of all time, to make product for a niche market.

 

[keraj37]

Flat gamers gonna hate, but Alyx is HL3

If Alyx is HL3, why Alyx is not HL3? In name at least

 

[Eddie-Griffin]

If Alyx is HL3, why Alyx is not HL3? In name at least

It seems in the article that in cancelled Half-Life 3, Alyx was supposed to be dead, so if anything the focus on VR had them change whatever storyline they originally came up with.

 

[Talkin Hawkin]

they sort of did with Alyx

we the people want more though, right? more half life and more vr and more half life vr!

 

[nkarafo]

This game would never meet expectations. It's going to be spinoffs like Alyx but you'll never see a game with "Half-life 3" as the title.

 

[Syphon Filter]

They shouldn't do one at this point, it wont be what its supposed to be by now.

 

[The_Mike]

Maybe fuck steam? I feel like steam is responsible for killing any ounce of creativity left at valve. They became super complacent and have basically stopped making interesting games

Steam is the best thing ever happening to PC, so no.

We dont know how much they have actually invested in VR.

They have made their own headset, which means they have wasted alot of money and time in it, and if they already back then wanted to focus on a Half Life 3 in VR, then the focus has been there instead of just making a traditional game.

We are so many years into the VR adventure and the only thing mentioned as being a VR seller is HL Alyx, which Valve has made.

The rest of the VR games are mediocre bargain bin material.

 

[sono]

Well VR worked well for them

 

[Sleepwalker]

I feel bad for the people that have been waiting on this for forever, but personally I don't care about the franchise so it's whatever.


Alyx was magnific though and I do hope they make more VR games.

 

[Crayon]

That was the best decision. The people who will never stop asking for hl3 are old and spoiled and implacable. Valve has a part in that but what's done is done. Alyx was the best way forward.

 

[Eddie-Griffin]

Well VR worked well for them

Depends on if you are talking about critic ratings or game/Index headset sales.

 

[Patison]

Guys, this info is coming from Tyler McVicker, a person who's notoriously wrong about everything and, IIRC, got only one thing right - the existence of HLVR which turned out to be Alyx... and his source of info wasn't some rogue insider but a file leak. He had a video about the alleged Alyx plot which turned out to be bullshit and, again IIRC, he either deleted it when people caught it or said something along the lines of 'yeah things change in development'. His newest and hottest topic is the Citadel project with the source being a file leak and his wild imagination. Not to mention he's a megalomaniac - when Alyx was revealed, he focused so much on himself LEAKING IT ALL AND BEING RIGHT ALL THOSE YEARS AGO instead of, you know, a new Half-Life game actually releasing.

Not saying his version of events surrounding HL3 is entirely incorrect, just keep in mind that he has no inside sources so those speculations are at most (un)educated guesses.

 

[Sybrix]

Didn’t HL Alyx end with it being obvious there would be a sequel?

 

[Philfrag]

I don't buy this. Mostly because the description of what was meant to happen in HL3 sounds so fucking lame. It always looked like Portal and HL were eventually going to combine but "Gordon would use a prosthetic arm that could be used to reduce the size and temperature of objects, a mechanic that would be used in many difficult puzzles." Sounds pretty terrible. You would think the approach to a new half life would be something more....cutting edge, not just temperature puzzles. If this is in fact true then Valve were smart to cancel the project.

 

[Companion Cube]

Guys, this info is coming from Tyler McVicker, a person who's notoriously wrong about everything and, IIRC, got only one thing right - the existence of HLVR which turned out to be Alyx... and his source of info wasn't some rogue insider but a file leak. He had a video about the alleged Alyx plot which turned out to be bullshit and, again IIRC, he either deleted it when people caught it or said something along the lines of 'yeah things change in development'. His newest and hottest topic is the Citadel project with the source being a file leak and his wild imagination. Not to mention he's a megalomaniac - when Alyx was revealed, he focused so much on himself LEAKING IT ALL AND BEING RIGHT ALL THOSE YEARS AGO instead of, you know, a new Half-Life game actually releasing.

Not saying his version of events surrounding HL3 is entirely incorrect, just keep in mind that he has no inside sources so those speculations are at most (un)educated guesses.

Quoting since people should be aware of this. Nothing personal with him, but I followed his posts on YouTube and Twitter long enough to see nothing he says holds any weight and he has childish fits when people push back on being strung along.

 

[AeonGaidenRaiden]

Quoting since people should be aware of this. Nothing personal with him, but I followed his posts on YouTube and Twitter long enough to see nothing he says holds any weight and he has childish fits when people push back on being strung along.

Agreed. I remember back in the day I subbed to him because I thought he was THE guy to get me the latest HL info but then I realized I know just as much as him with forum posts, he has a channel to cover HL news and since theres barely any HL news he just makes random videos of speculation to keep his viewerbase. He never leaked anything nor say something we didnt know before. Like I said if you follow certain forums, you have just as much info on the game he does...the betas, cut content in Ravenholm etc.

 

[SF Kosmo]

https://game-news24.com/2023/02/03/...ted-in-vr-tyler-mcvicker-reveals-details/amp/


So it looks like that Valve was working on HL, but changed plans and cancelled it because the leadership decided to take a bet on VR.

While Alyx is seen as a good game, it does make me wonder what we missed given the full AAA HL3 was cancelled for it, and supposedly the Index headset as well.

This extremely poorly written article doesn't really provide much insight into the development, although it's a bit hard to penetrate some of what is meant. The story details are interesting though as we haven't had much of that for this particular iteration of HL3 and it differs a lot from the earlier versions.

The project was not cancelled in favor of Alyx, Valve doesn't really "cancel" projects, they just start a lot of projects that never really make it fully off the launch pad. Because people at Valve work on whatever they want they will drift onto "more exciting" projects as they see fit, but it isn't like someone made the decision to drop one for the other.

The fact is this version of HL3 never made it out of the pre-production and prototyping phase, and the main reason it never got momentum is the same as the reason a lot of earlier attempts didn't -- because Source 2 was itself in development hell and hopelessly broken and no one could really make a game with it.

Alyx was able to get over the hump and reach full production for two main reasons: Source 2 finally got to where it was usable/done and the Campo Santo buyout injected a large group of people who gravitated to the project.

 

[Secret of Evolution]

"Until Valve confirms the legitimacy of a project, everything discussed should be viewed as speculation."

lul

 

[diunxx]

All that for a gimmick that most of the market don't care about.

 

[SirKicksalot]

I've been hearing about this dumbass robot arm game for so many years now I'm not even sure where it all started.
Imagine a Valve dude trying to sell the game like "yeah so now Gordon has a robot arm that changes the temperature of objects". It sounds so stupid lmao

 

[poppabk]

Most likely they were too far in, with specific tools used, to integrate it in without starting from scratch anyway at a core level.

Just some guys made an almost perfect HL2 VR mod. This just sounds like sour grapes bullshit to me.