3D Realms’ CEO Scott Miller Talks.

[Cole]

The price of 3 episodes is not, I repeat is not the price of one full game.
3x20=60 hl2 cost 50, how hard is that.

Actually you can usually get the episodes cheaper than there intended price. For example, I got episode 1 for $14 at walmart. 14 x 3 = $42 < $50 = Great Deal. This was in the first week of being sold.

 

[halem111]

what is this dude on, i think he needs to stfu because he hasnt a clue what he is going on about.
by his definition a sequel should have better graphics and be a long experience......by that definition all ea games are amazing....they have new shiny graphics and are quite long.....even though its the same thing over and over again eg tiger woods your trying to put the ball over and over may be a different course but its basically the same thing, fifa nice graphics and hours of gameplay repetitive gameplay which gets boring after a few hours.

I could go on and on about games that have nice graphics and hours of gameplay but in the end are a poor game because there is little to no innovation.
ep1 had the first friendly ai that is worthy of being called friendly ai, i dunno about anyone else but i kill 'bots' if i can because they get in my way are annoying and many other reasons, alyx on the other hand i actually loved every minute i spent with her. It also moved the story along and i didnt have to wait 4 years for that to happen.
Like ryan said half life 2 like many games pro longed some sections, and these sections turned out to be some of the most boring sections because they were the same thing for so long, i mean still awesome but just after a while got a little boring, many many games do this ala doom 3 (go into dark room, scary monster pops out at you, shoot scary monster, flick switch, open door, go into next room and repeat) where as episode 1 was different and very varied, basically hl2 was filled with amazing parts and filler parts, episode 1 was filled with amazing parts and no filler parts..........im not gonna say any more because you obviously dont appreciate quality games and would just prefer to play games like fifa for 40 hours

also duke nuken forever still at the least 1 year away *sigh* and potentially up to 3 years omg this is crazy

 

[Gray Fox]

Sigh.. how exactly is Episode 1 a mappack? By that definition of a mappack, HL1 was a mappack and so was HL2.

EP1 is not a ****ing mappack, it advances the story, on which Episode 2 will continue.

And you can't say that because the price of all episodes added up is higher than HL2 and in total the same length, it has a lower value for money. EP1 had a much higher quality density than HL2, EP1 never suffered from sections that were too long (like the boat and buggy and some of the city fighting in HL2) it never stretched a chapter further than needed just to increase the length. They could have easily made it a couple of hours longer, by simply adding more of the same but that wouldn't have made it any better, and probably worse.

Saying the value of a game = (price/playtime) is wrong. It's ((quality/hour)/(price/playtime)). Where quality/hour is a subjective value. And I think EP1 had much more quality per hour played than HL2, which is a direct result of episodic content.

Hl2 is by no means a mappack, it had a completly new engine, completly new worlds, a lot of new characters, pretty much all ep1 added was a few levels, which constitutes a mappack.
And hl2 gameplay was a lot more fun imo, because of the buggy or boat scenes, they were great and added variety.

 

[Tamer17]

Episode 1 isn't a map pack , that's just not true. Ep1 took the franchise of Half-Life and the genre to new places. Namely with a *good* NPC AI and just took aspects of HL2 and furtherd them more , in terms of gfx and gameplay as well.

Proper sequles tend to recycle the gamplay of the first game with just new tech. You basiclly say that if the dev. throws out new enemies , enviorments and so on , you'll be satisfied no matter of how the gameplay is or how the new additions impact the gameplay , if at all.

Valve could have easily just throw bunch of stuff and people would still buy it , but they want to keep pushing the gameplay and experience - and tell you what? they are doing it and puting the "proper" games to shame.

 

[Gray Fox]

Episode 1 isn't a map pack , that's just not true. Ep1 took the franchise of Half-Life and the genre to new places. Namely with a *good* NPC AI and just took aspects of HL2 and furtherd them more , in terms of gfx and gameplay as well.

Ep one did not introduce any new gameplay elements, the AI was good but alyx still used a lot of scripted sequences, + overall the AI of Fear was much better, Ep1 was infact less diverse then hl2, it reduced a lot of gamplay elements. You never got a new vehicle or anything like that, no new innovatieve weapon. It did not have a new engine, no new environments even, they reused HL2 textures, 1 new enemy, it was exactly like a mappack.

Proper sequles tend to recycle the gamplay of the first game with just new tech.

I don't agree at all, thats what EA does and it's one of the reason it's such a shitty company. HL2 is a very good example of a good sequel. It hardly recycled gameplay elements, instead it introduced so many new elements, it was simply very original. There was so much more to hl2 then new tech, and even the new tech like the physics were incorporated in to the gameplay very well.

You basiclly say that if the dev. throws out new enemies , enviorments and so on , you'll be satisfied no matter of how the gameplay is or how the new additions impact the gameplay , if at all.

Nonsens I never said something like that at all, nor did I suggest it.

Valve could have easily just throw bunch of stuff and people would still buy it , but they want to keep pushing the gameplay and experience - and tell you what? they are doing it and puting the "proper" games to shame.

They put some games to shame, not all. There are a shitload of better games, besides again, So what!!!! So what! If they had given us a proper full length game we would have gotten a lot more for our money, so what if other companies make shittier products, that is no reason to support episodic content. Episodes simply giver you less for more money, that is an undeniable fact.

what is this dude on, i think he needs to stfu because he hasnt a clue what he is going on about.
by his definition a sequel should have better graphics and be a long experience......by that definition all ea games are amazing....they have new shiny graphics and are quite long.....even though its the same thing over and over again eg tiger woods your trying to put the ball over and over may be a different course but its basically the same thing, fifa nice graphics and hours of gameplay repetitive gameplay which gets boring after a few hours.

I could go on and on about games that have nice graphics and hours of gameplay but in the end are a poor game because there is little to no innovation.
ep1 had the first friendly ai that is worthy of being called friendly ai, i dunno about anyone else but i kill 'bots' if i can because they get in my way are annoying and many other reasons, alyx on the other hand i actually loved every minute i spent with her. It also moved the story along and i didnt have to wait 4 years for that to happen.
Like ryan said half life 2 like many games pro longed some sections, and these sections turned out to be some of the most boring sections because they were the same thing for so long, i mean still awesome but just after a while got a little boring, many many games do this ala doom 3 (go into dark room, scary monster pops out at you, shoot scary monster, flick switch, open door, go into next room and repeat) where as episode 1 was different and very varied, basically hl2 was filled with amazing parts and filler parts, episode 1 was filled with amazing parts and no filler parts..........im not gonna say any more because you obviously dont appreciate quality games and would just prefer to play games like fifa for 40 hours

I never said such a thing, nor did I suggest I think like that, how you came to your numerous false insights is beyond me. Oh and don't argue innovation when mentioning Ep1, HL2 was innovation, Ep1 is rehashing of 2 year old gameplay, while still ahead of 90% of what is out there. Valve could have done a lot more. A proper sequel would have been as much ahead of hl2 as hl2 was and still is ahead of the rest of the pack.

 

[Asknoone]

the AI was good but alyx still used a lot of scripted sequences

Oh look, wrong. She used them when she was supposed to, very rarely in combat - if ever.

Episode 1 is not, in any way, shape or form, a mappack. You can't argue that it is, because it isn't. It added more than just a 'few levels'. Not to mention it contained a groundbreaking NPC companion that puts pretty much every other game that has attempted to implement one to shame.

Do you even know what a mappack is? You musn't, because you seem to think that Episode 1 is one. It didn't have a new engine? I ask - so ****. I don't expect games to have new engines, infact, I could care less. Why a new engine when you can just upgrade? Folly.

Ep one did not introduce any new gameplay elements.

Pure and utter bullshit.

 

[Gray Fox]

But all it did was add new levels, Alyx wasn't that far ahead of the npc in hl2.
Thats basicly what a mappack does, 95% of Ep1 was made by mappers. It had hardly any new models, and needeed little new programming. To me it's basicly a mappack. It doesn't come nowhere near as what hl2 offerd in comparison to it's prequel, to how many new things it introduced.
A new engine is not per say necesairy, many games use the same UT or quake engine, but again they have new worlds, new models, new weapons, new gameplay elements, new atmosphere.

When I played Ep1 I was like, wow cool puzzle, and smart leveldesign. When I played HL2 it was just WoW at everything. The whole new world, the weapons, the characters, the AI, and especially the gameplay. And it was relativly cheaper. Why would I want Valve to go episodic on me when episodes clearly give me less for more of my money. The time spent on Ep1 could have been spent on a proper full length sequel that would have done what hl2 did.

 

[Asknoone]

95% of Ep1 was made by mappers.

Wow, look at that. Wrong again!