Another Raising The Bar Scandal?

[bond007]

Another Raising The Bar Scandal:

There is a growing rumour on the net that the fellow that origially wrote this Half-Life2 book was was removed as author because he put some information in the book that looked bad about Valve such as how the gravity gun idea was stolen from another relatively unknown developer. Is this true because this is certainly Ironic since they had Half-Life2 stlolen 1 year ago? :E

 

[Brian Damage]

I doubt it. A VALVe employee who often posts here said that the guy's still part of the team, and they just decided to take it in a different direction.

Even if they did nick an idea, why would an author being paid to write a book for a games developer put anything incriminating about them in said book, anyway?

 

[groovy]

haha that's so far fetched...

omg, so you're saying valve are the first people to invent a plot where aliens invade earth?!?!?1 0MG0MG0MG

 

[TeckBlade]

we have knowledge of where these aliens come from and why theyre hostile

 

[groovy]

teckblade, you must obviously lack a brain.....

 

[Element Alpha]

If this is true, I'll eat my cat!

Did I say cat? I mean rat. I'll eat my rat.

 

[Clavius]

Well, if he isnt mentioned in the book, how can we possibly know who he was? Sounds like a balony sandwich to me. Wich I would rather like right now. Hmm sandwich.

 

[theGreenBunny]

From what game did they steal it then? Tresspasser? (hah)

 

[groovy]

ahahhaahaha

 

[SoSorry]

Another Raising The Bar Scandal:

There is a growing rumour on the net that the fellow that origially wrote this Half-Life2 book was was removed as author because he put some information in the book that looked bad about Valve such as how the gravity gun idea was stolen from another relatively unknown developer. Is this true because this is certainly Ironic since they had Half-Life2 stlolen 1 year ago? :E

My guess is that you make the comparison to the Half-Life2 stolen code because Valve took an idea from a game or something that is in development and not yet released? LOL! That would be hilarious if Half-Life2 was delayed a year to incorporate this idea into their game since they would have to redesign a lot of levels. Expect a lawsuit on November 15 and a court order to delay the game on that day. LOL!

 

[Homercidal]

HAHAHAHAH!!!!! Looks like another delay for DNF!!

FYI - I think this is baloney sandwich too, but I prefer ground baloney.

 

[SoSorry]

HAHAHAHAH!!!!! Looks like another delay for DNF!!.

You mean Half-Life2. :afro:

Has anyone interviewed Hodgson or whatever his name is, after Valve kicked him to the curb? Maybe that will be in Gamespot's Half-Life2's final Hour interview

 

[Homercidal]

You mean Half-Life2. :afro:

Well, what I meant was that Valve stole the Manipulator from 3DRealms and so now they have to rebuild the game. It was a bit difficult to figure out so don't feel bad.

 

[Peks]

Well, what I meant was that Valve stole the Manipulator from 3DRealms and so now they have to rebuild the game. It was a bit difficult to figure out so don't feel bad.

i figured it out.

 

[bond007]

Looks this rumor might be true after all.

Now where hell is the Half-Life2 SDK or are they holding off on giving it to the public so that certain MOD teams get a head start before the general public mods

 

[mortiz]

Wait a minute, for the Author to know that VALVe would have to tell the Author, and why would VALVe do that when they didn't want it in the book?

Also even if a developer came forward and said "Hey they stole that idea from us" it would be their word against VALVe's.

 

[Feath]

id may as well say that Valve stole the idea of a FPS from them.

or another developer comes along and says that Valve stole the idea for having guns in a game. It's not that big a thing to warrent someone being sacked.

 

[westie]

What is baloney?
Yeah im not american and ive never been there before.

 

[Gergor]

It's actually spelled Bologna. It's a disgustingly delicious processed meat-food that gets it's name from a type of sausage hailing from Bologna, which, if I'm not mistaken, is in Italy. Very tasty on sandwiches with lettuce, cheese, and mayo... Kind of tastes like spam.

 

[westie]

im hungry now and i wanna try some Bologna.

 

[Gergor]

im hungry now and i wanna try some Bologna.

Another believer... muahahaha :naughty:

 

[DEATH eVADER]

Another Raising The Bar Scandal:

There is a growing rumour on the net that the fellow that origially wrote this Half-Life2 book was was removed as author because he put some information in the book that looked bad about Valve such as how the gravity gun idea was stolen from another relatively unknown developer. Is this true because this is certainly Ironic since they had Half-Life2 stlolen 1 year ago? :E

An idea of a sci-fi weapon that manipulates gravity have been around for about 100 years, It is called borrowing it, not stealing the idea

 

[SoSorry]

If I ordered the book I would cancel my order of "Raising the Bar" as soon as I found out it was going to be a sugar coated view of how the game was made. There is no other reason for Valve to remove the 3rd party author and remove his work from the book entirely. I really don't by the user feedback argument given by Valve for such a drastic change....

I want the view of someone outside of Valve to tell the truth or at least have some objectivity.

 

[PvtRyan]

A scandal without the words "affair", "oral" or "married" isn't a scandal.

 

[Feath]

If I ordered the book I would cancel my order of "Raising the Bar" as soon as I found out it was going to be a sugar coated view of how the game was made. There is no other reason for Valve to remove the 3rd party author and remove his work from the book entirely. I really don't by the user feedback argument given by Valve for such a drastic change....

I want the view of someone outside of Valve to tell the truth or at least have some objectivity.

You're getting pissed off by something they may not have done. For all you know David Hodgeson may have typed in capital letters and had a tendancy to call Gabe "TEH FAT ONE". How do you know it's a sugar coated view? In fact, could you tell me how a book on the making of a game would be sugar coated? It's not as if they have to cover any murders up or anything?

 

[iamaelephant]

You're getting pissed off by something they may not have done. For all you know David Hodgeson may have typed in capital letters and had a tendancy to call Gabe "TEH FAT ONE". How do you know it's a sugar coated view? In fact, could you tell me how a book on the making of a game would be sugar coated? It's not as if they have to cover any murders up or anything?

 

[epmode]

and seriously, why the hell do you think valve owes us a hard-hitting account of what went on during the game's production? it's a promotional book, for god's sake. tell-all exposes are for the press.

 

[SoSorry]

You're getting pissed off by something they may not have done. For all you know David Hodgeson may have typed in capital letters and had a tendancy to call Gabe "TEH FAT ONE". How do you know it's a sugar coated view? In fact, could you tell me how a book on the making of a game would be sugar coated? It's not as if they have to cover any murders up or anything?

Are you sure about that? A lot of programmers and level designers have disappeared during the development of Half-Life2.

and seriously, why the hell do you think valve owes us a hard-hitting account of what went on during the game's production? it's a promotional book, for god's sake. tell-all exposes are for the press.

Maybe because I think I remember Valve said they would include such accounts including the reason behind the delay and so forth. Now they boot Hodgeson and rewrite the book because he stumbled across some incriminating evidence

 

[epmode]

Maybe because I think I remember Valve said they would include such accounts including the reason behind the delay and so forth. Now they boot Hodgeson and rewrite the book because he stumbled across some incriminating evidence

guess what. you'll get that very same information in gamespot's in-depth article that's going to go live when the game launches. for free, even.

and beyond that, can you imagine any company actually printing "incriminating evidence" in their own promotional materials? don't be an idiot.

 

[UndeadScottsman]

Uhh, where were you guys a few days ago.. Cliffe cleared thsi stuff up. David Hodgson wasn't "kicked the curb," and Valve didn't alter the book to cover stuff up. They changed the format according to what they thought people would perfer to see. The stuff that was cut out was mostly crap about games nobody but myself cared about (Gunman Chronicles ) and stuff they felt would be better to let people like Gamespot talk about in their "Final Hours" and "Post-Mortum" articles. (Like the delay and sourcecode leak)

Please read this thread, and remember that Cliffe was the guy who broke the news that the author was changed.
http://www.halflife2.net/forums/showthread.php?t=46335&highlight=cliffe

Here's the key quote

Anyway, people are getting pretty worked up about this without need. All decisions for the book were based on external feedback. Sections that were boring (HL mac, HL PS2 were trimmed while adding much more content on what people thought was cool). David has been great and has continued to contribute to the project and work with me, the whole time. There was no fallout and he is still a key member of the book team. He was fine with wanting to concentrate on "making of" elements and was happy with the decision. Any content that was cool from the earliest drafts of the book was brought forward and remains. Things like the source code leak and release dates are more appropriate for other venues (eg Gamespot). This is a "behind the scenes, making of" coffee table book with a lot of art, not a novel.

Sincerely,
Jeremy Dunn

 

[mortiz]

Are you sure about that? A lot of programmers and level designers have disappeared during the development of Half-Life2.

Like who, and what's "a lot"?

 

[Feath]

Thanks, UndeadScottsman. I've been in Edinburgh without net access for a month so I'm a little behind. It's disappointing that some stuff has been changed. (I prefer word to art myself), but I'm still really looking forward to this.

 

[Feath]

and seriously, why the hell do you think valve owes us a hard-hitting account of what went on during the game's production? it's a promotional book, for god's sake. tell-all exposes are for the press.

I don't remember saying that.

 

[SoSorry]

and beyond that, can you imagine any company actually printing "incriminating evidence" in their own promotional materials? don't be an idiot.

Of course not. That's why they gave Hodgeson the Axe. . Gamespot never spent several months with Valve and will only just report exactly what Valve wants them to report. Hodgeson was able to infiltrate Valve and became one of "them" , until they read what he wrote about them in the book

Uhh, where were you guys a few days ago.. Cliffe cleared thsi stuff up. David Hodgson wasn't "kicked the curb," and Valve didn't alter the book to cover stuff up. They changed the format according to what they thought people would perfer to see. The stuff that was cut out was mostly crap about games nobody but myself cared about (Gunman Chronicles ) and stuff they felt would be better to let people like Gamespot talk about in their "Final Hours" and "Post-Mortum" articles. (Like the delay and sourcecode leak)

I read Cliffe's post and already commented on it. I don't buy that explanation. Cutting boring shit like the Gunman Chronicles is far different from trashing almost everything that Hodgeson wrote.

 

[SoSorry]

Like who, and what's "a lot"?

This is really a question for the FBI

 

[Feath]

I read Cliffe's post and already commented on it. I don't buy that explanation. Cutting boring shit like the Gunman Chronicles is far different from trashing almost everything that Hodgeson wrote.

Erm, you wanna stop making stuff up now? You have no idea what David Hodgeson wrote or how much he wrote.

 

[SoSorry]

Erm, you wanna stop making stuff up now? You have no idea what David Hodgeson wrote or how much he wrote.

Obviously he wrote a substantial amount. Enough to be called the author of the book. Then Valve removed enough incriminating material , so that he is no longer the author. Gabe probably paid him off big time to keep his mouth shut. Just like O'reilly paid that woman to keep quiet

 

[UndeadScottsman]

Of course not. That's why they gave Hodgeson the Axe. . Gamespot never spent several months with Valve and will only just report exactly what Valve wants them to report. Hodgeson was able to infiltrate Valve and became one of "them" , until they read what he wrote about them in the book



I read Cliffe's post and already commented on it. I don't buy that explanation. Cutting boring shit like the Gunman Chronicles is far different from trashing almost everything that Hodgeson wrote.

Have fun being paranoid, then. Seriously. I don't buy your theories. Had Hodgeson written something Valve didn't want printed, they would have just edited it out (Quick and easy to do) rather than rewrite the entire book (Takes longer and is more expensive). And if that entire piece of work was stuff they didn't want printed (If even that much stuff exists) then the book would have been axed a LONG time ago.

But you go right on making conspiracy theories and rumour-mongering. Whatever floats your boat, dude.

Sincerely,
Jeremy Dunn

 

[cliffe]

You mean they cut out the part where they exposed who was on the grassy knoll?

What was in the book about the release date issue, was this: http://www.halflife2.net/forums/showthread.php?t=46956 And you don't have to pay for this one.

 

[UndeadScottsman]

Since when did Richard Simmons work at Valve?

Sincerely,
Jeremy Dunn