Ellen McLain goes back to the studio

[-smash-]

John Lowrie, Ellen McLains husband and voice talent for Valve, said on Twitter that Ellen would be going back to Valve's studios today to work on "a new game and more Portal work."
[br]
Jinkies! It's a mystery! As you all know, Valve is still actively working on Dota 2, so his tweet about this new game could very well be referring to that project. Or maybe she'll be working on an entirely new, unannounced title from Valve!
[br]
Do I dare say this has to do with Episode 3? Yes, I do dare. We reported to you that Bill Van Buren, a 3D animator at Valve, recently sat down with John and Ellen for dinner and they did touch upon the topic of Episode 3. Perhaps this event is tied to today's news.
[br]
What do you guys think?

 

[Arto572]

Obvious HL3/EP3 voice actor hired.

*rant* We just want Kelly Bailey back! *rant*

 

[DEATHMASTER]

That topic is quagmire around these parts.

 

[Omnomnick]

Do it Valve, DO IT. Just do it god damn it D:

 

[-smash-]

That topic is quagmire around these parts.

Giggity.

 

[Lobster]

There are a LOT of characters in DOTA2, so it could easily be more voice work for that.

 

[-smash-]

There are a LOT of characters in DOTA2, so it could easily be more voice work for that.

Very true! But Dota 2 is an announced title. Why wouldn't he just say "dota" as opposed to "new game"?

 

[ríomhaire]

There are two possibilities:
It's the next Half-Life
It's some other game

I don't see much to discuss here.

I do wonder how much that family's income comes from Valve though.

 

[Stylo]

The first bit of tantalising news that genuinely could be about work on HL3/HL2: EP3 or unannounced Portal related material. Let's not take a big crap on it.

Come on, guys. I know there's been tonnes of purely speculative and annoying threads about theories and when Half-Life's next installment will come out but at least this is actual news and not just some baseless "THIS IS I WHAT ARE THINK ABOUT HALFLIFE EPISODE 3" thread. Even though it could be for DOTA 2 or another game, it's still nice to think of the possibilities.

 

[Kyzr]

If it is for episode 3, then that means we have another solid year of waiting, which I frankly don't care about. If its something else, which in my opinion is the case, then that's also very good news. Or it could just be portal 3.

Or l4d3. Dun Dun Dun

 

[mrmrmr8]

Well, Ellen McClain IS the over watch announcer for the combine, so she already has a role in ep3.... There is no conformation, but the new game being Ep3/HL3 is already a big possibility. Although it is ONLY a possibility.

 

[ríomhaire]

If it is for episode 3, then that means we have another solid year of waiting, which I frankly don't care about. If its something else, which in my opinion is the case, then that's also very good news. Or it could just be portal 3.

Or l4d3. Dun Dun Dun

Valve have to bring all their series up to 2 before they can release a 3. So prepare for CS2, DoD2, AS2 and Ricochet 2.

 

[Hectic Glenn]

The most exciting thing about this news is the use of 'Jinkies!' by smash, it made my day.

Ellen and John better watch their back. First they leaked Dota 2 would be coming this fall (and it turned out to be true) and now they're spreading news of new Valve titles via twitter. Doug 'The Hitman' Lombardi will be sharpening his cheese wire as we speak...

 

[Shakermaker]

I guess Mrs. McLain means DOTA2 with "new game". One can always hope though.

 

[The RaDaMaNt]

I hope it's something brand new.

 

[TheOneFreeMan]

Could be a new Portal 2 DLC for the latter.

 

[Arto572]

Ellen voiced Combine Overwatch, i doubt it's dota 2.

 

[MFL]

Doug 'The Hitman' Lombardi

-_-

Why bring up that name...Thought I told him to stick outta this bar. Don't you get it Doug? You're the antagonist now. You're the G-Man. YOU'RE THE HOLDER OF SECRETS... and we all do the same thing in our heads to you as we do to him in game whenever your twisted silhouette blacks out the sunshine. Pump you full of lead... to no avail... to no avail... *sobs into drink*

Much love, the fanbase.

 

[rjthrog]

You've forgotten that Valve doesn't do anything with "3" in the title.

If it is for episode 3, then that means we have another solid year of waiting, which I frankly don't care about. If its something else, which in my opinion is the case, then that's also very good news. Or it could just be portal 3.

Or l4d3. Dun Dun Dun

 

[Ennui]

Soooo... what's the surprise here exactly? The "new game" is either her voicing Dota 2 characters, or returning in her role as the Overwatch announcer in Half-Life... none of you really think Valve hasn't been working nonstop on Ep3/HL3 since 2007 or even before do you?

Obvious HL3/EP3 voice actor hired.

*rant* We just want Kelly Bailey back! *rant*

I love Kelly Bailey more than life itself, but I'm sick of seeing people say this because tbh Mike Morasky has done a ****ing incredible job so far and I have complete faith in him. Let's wait to judge him after HL3/Ep3... because Portal 2's sound design was quite frankly stunning.

Doug 'The Hitman' Lombardi

I chuckled a lot. Chortled, even. Guffawed. All his super-friendly press emails were naught but a disguise for his truly devious self!

 

[hakojo]

Am I the only one who got excited because this might mean an extended Turret Opera for Songs To Test By vol. 3?

Yes?

Okay.

 

[David.Seth2]

Am I the only one who got excited because this might mean an extended Turret Opera for Songs To Test By vol. 3?

I'm hoping for this too!

 

[JUL3]

If this is Half-Life might it be bad news? If they're only doing voice recording now, how far back in development does that make it? (Seriously, is voice recording done in early or late stages of game development?)

 

[Avoidist]

If this is Half-Life might it be bad news? If they're only doing voice recording now, how far back in development does that make it? (Seriously, is voice recording done in early or late stages of game development?)

Usually quite late in development since the script (and hence vast majority of the game) has to be locked in beforehand. Until the script is finalized they usually have people from the office filling in (see Richard Lord as Wheatley, the Meet the Medic outtakes etc). This is so they don't have to go through the effort of bringing the actor back when they might be involved in other projects.

It might be an exception in the case of Ellen though, since she's involved in so many projects at Valve they would probably get her to read early versions of the script just to get a feel for it.

 

[Omnomnick]

If this is Half-Life might it be bad news? If they're only doing voice recording now, how far back in development does that make it? (Seriously, is voice recording done in early or late stages of game development?)

And along with what Avoidist said, Ellen doesn't actually have a massive voice role in any of the Half-Life games, I actually recall her having 4 voice lines in Episode 2, and probably even less in Episode 1. It isn't like she's recording for GLaDOS, where her voice takes up the majority of the game script, which takes a couple of sessions over a year period to record, we're talking about a few simple Overwatch lines I would imagine.

We can hope.

 

[Tony]

Regardless of the new game, this hopefully means more involving Portal 2 DLC instead of simple challenge maps. I wonder if they'll get her to record lines for community projects like they did with the L4D cast.

 

[ChiliFan]

If this is Half-Life might it be bad news? If they're only doing voice recording now, how far back in development does that make it? (Seriously, is voice recording done in early or late stages of game development?)

Does anyone really think that the next installment of Half-Life is particularly far along in development anyway?

 

[Shem]

Does anyone really think that the next installment of Half-Life is particularly far along in development anyway?

Uh, it's been over three years since Episode Two. Pretty sure it's far along in development at this point.

 

[Hectic Glenn]

Uh, it's been over three years since Episode Two. Pretty sure it's far along in development at this point.

Heh, a very optimistic opinion. Ricochet has been in the dark for 11 years, the sequel must be even further along!

 

[Omnomnick]

Ricochet doesn't have an open ending or announced trilogy arc though does it? And god help us all if it does get one.

 

[hool10]

F-STOP maybe?

 

[Tony]

Wasn't F-STOP some unknown feature that was supposed to be used in Portal 2?

 

[Taco Wiz]

"More Portal"

 

[hool10]

Wasn't F-STOP some unknown feature that was supposed to be used in Portal 2?

According to "The Final Hours of Portal 2" it was supposed to be the best thing since sliced bread and was supposed to replace portals.

 

[MuToiD_MaN]

Withholding excitement. I'm not giving it up until I see the ring, metaphorically speaking.

 

[Stylo]

Ricochet doesn't have an open ending or announced trilogy arc though does it? And god help us all if it does get one.

Yeah but Portal 2 recently came out. Pretty sure time and resources would've been focused on that.

 

[ríomhaire]

Wasn't F-STOP some unknown feature that was supposed to be used in Portal 2?

No it was a mechanic that was to be used in a prequel to portal that was shelved when they released people just wanted more GLaDOS and portals. We still don't know what it is.

 

[Barnz]

f-stop is/was like Incredible Machines.

 

[JUL3]

Yeah but Portal 2 recently came out. Pretty sure time and resources would've been focused on that.

Valve aren't a single team company anymore - not all their devs work on one project at a time. They have a Portal team, TF2 team, etc.