CS:CZ MARCH - HL2 Summer?!
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Jadewolf5675
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Keeson
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:dork: As far as HL2 coming out in the summer, well, it ain't gonna happen....
The whole CS:CZ development cycle and its numerous delays and screwups should tell you all you need to know about what will happen with HL2's development.
We will all get to watch Valve fumble the HL2 football time and time again in the coming months and perhaps 2 years after it was announced we may finally get the game.
HL2 release date: April 2005 mark it down on your calendars!!!! :bounce:
The whole CS:CZ development cycle and its numerous delays and screwups should tell you all you need to know about what will happen with HL2's development.
We will all get to watch Valve fumble the HL2 football time and time again in the coming months and perhaps 2 years after it was announced we may finally get the game.
HL2 release date: April 2005 mark it down on your calendars!!!! :bounce:
Keeson
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PvtRyan said:
Well I could have inserted TF2 in place of CS:CZ as that was developed in house 100%. But why bring up TF2 again, why beat a dead horse?? This thread has CS:CZ in the title so I stuck with that as an example of Valve's mismanagement.
But in fact Valve did spend some time developing the CS:CZ project in-house as well as extensively managing the project and testing the final game.
Here a nice summary of the CS:CZ development courtesy of Fragmaster:
After undergoing one of the most convoluted development cycles in the history of video games, Counter-Strike: Condition Zero is finally finished. Almost. We think.
Here's the recap: in early 2001, word got out that Rogue Entertainment was working on a single-player Counter-Strike game. In May 2001, Counter-Strike: Condition Zero was officially announced, but it was no longer in development at Rogue: Valve was now working on the game in-house. Within a couple of months, Valve switched developers again and handed the project off to Gearbox Software, makers of both official Half-Life mission packs. This September 2001 preview had all sorts of details, but by the time this December 2001 preview was published, key elements of the game's design had changed. CS: CZ was shown at E3 2002 with Gearbox still at the helm, but by the end of the year, Gearbox was out of the picture and Ritual Entertainment was brought in to finish the game. As hinted at in this December 2002 preview, there was some sort of dispute between Gearbox and Valve which resulted in the change in developers. This E3 2003 write-up reports that, "Condition Zero is nearly finished: a release candidate has been shipped off, and it's possible the game could be on store shelves as early as June [2003]."
Obviously, that didn't happen. Counter-Strike: Condition Zero was pulled from Ritual a few months later, and Turtle Rock Studios (with Valve's help) finished the game. On October 10th, Valve announced that CS: CZ had gone gold and would be in stores November 18th. But by November 5th, there were rumors that something was wrong. A launch party for CS: CZ was held December 16th in San Francisco.
Here we are in February 2004, and CS: CZ still hasn't shipped. Vivendi says that they're, "in the process of localizing the game in multiple territories for a world-wide simultaneous ship, and will be officially announcing a ship date in the coming weeks." They did, however, send us an official, final (or at least near-final) build of the game which we were able to play completely through. So maybe they're serious this time.
Here's the recap: in early 2001, word got out that Rogue Entertainment was working on a single-player Counter-Strike game. In May 2001, Counter-Strike: Condition Zero was officially announced, but it was no longer in development at Rogue: Valve was now working on the game in-house. Within a couple of months, Valve switched developers again and handed the project off to Gearbox Software, makers of both official Half-Life mission packs. This September 2001 preview had all sorts of details, but by the time this December 2001 preview was published, key elements of the game's design had changed. CS: CZ was shown at E3 2002 with Gearbox still at the helm, but by the end of the year, Gearbox was out of the picture and Ritual Entertainment was brought in to finish the game. As hinted at in this December 2002 preview, there was some sort of dispute between Gearbox and Valve which resulted in the change in developers. This E3 2003 write-up reports that, "Condition Zero is nearly finished: a release candidate has been shipped off, and it's possible the game could be on store shelves as early as June [2003]."
Obviously, that didn't happen. Counter-Strike: Condition Zero was pulled from Ritual a few months later, and Turtle Rock Studios (with Valve's help) finished the game. On October 10th, Valve announced that CS: CZ had gone gold and would be in stores November 18th. But by November 5th, there were rumors that something was wrong. A launch party for CS: CZ was held December 16th in San Francisco.
Here we are in February 2004, and CS: CZ still hasn't shipped. Vivendi says that they're, "in the process of localizing the game in multiple territories for a world-wide simultaneous ship, and will be officially announcing a ship date in the coming weeks." They did, however, send us an official, final (or at least near-final) build of the game which we were able to play completely through. So maybe they're serious this time.
The relevance for HL2 fans as that the relatively undemanding, mediium sized project CS:CZ proved to be a very daunting project management task for Valve. HL2 represents an even bigger challenge, with of course the possibility of even bigger screwups. (already some big screwups - release date fiasco, source code leak)
Shuzer said:
Well back in Summer 1998 Valve said HL would be released in the summer and it slipped to November 1998, so I wouldn't hold my breath for HL2 making it.
Everybody needs to sit back and chill :cheers: and see if CS:CZ actually hits retail by end of March and if Steam can take it. I for one will be holding on tight to my cable modem and my cat
at the end of March - we could be in for a rough ride!! Hold On!!! :dork: I hope Valve doesn't crash the whole internet!! :dork: We can all judge Valve's success/failure with CS:CZ and then a new round of HL2 release date predictions can commence based on that experience.
PvtRyan
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Keeson said:
TF2 isn't a relevant example, since it was only removed out of the public eye because it's engine was changed from HL engine to the then not yet revealed Source engine. That had nothing to do with mismanagement.
I think the problem with CZ lies in tough communications with the different developers and them doing things Valve doesn't approve of. But since HL2 is developed fully inhouse, that's not a problem anymore.
And from what I've heard, the part Valve has done with CZ is good, but the developers who took over the job screwed up the game.
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