Episodic format

[fuzzyclutter]

I thought they said that doing these in episodes would reduce production time ? is the person at valves website sleeping , they havent updated that site since febuary , valve seems to be next to non - existent . i even wonder if there is going to be a 3rd installment . valve doesnt seem to be doing anything . a casualty of the economic meltdown ??? who knows ?

 

[MuToiD_MaN]

Yeah, the episodic model hasn't delivered what was presented back before Episode 1. However, Valve is the farthest thing from non-existent. Left 4 Dead 1 and 2 and TF2's updates are things I should direct your attention to.

I'm also disappointed SiN Episodes didn't continue.

 

[fuzzyclutter]

they must use the same technique to update their site .

 

[kineaesth]

they havent updated that site since febuary

they must use the same technique to update their site .

Which site are you referring to?

 

[fuzzyclutter]

this one http://www.valvesoftware.com/

 

[PimpinPenguin]

That's the business site. Steampowered is their main website and is regularly updated.

 

[Hectic Glenn]

Use these instead:

http://store.steampowered.com/
http://store.steampowered.com/news/
http://www.teamfortress.com/
http://www.l4d.com/blog/

They all have recent Valve updates on them. Nothing Episode 3 related, I'll give you that. But they are pretty busy doing other things, although a lot of people wish they weren't doing those 'other' things.

 

[fuzzyclutter]

ahh i see thanks .

 

[ApoJapo]

they must use the same technique to update their site .

hehe

 

[dogboy73]

I'm also disappointed SiN Episodes didn't continue.

Indeed. I'm dissapointed They Hunger: Lost Souls never saw the light of day either ....... well, the last Black Widow update was March 2008 so I think we can safely say that one has bitten the bullet as well SP content for HL2 has been a huge dissapointment in general. Most of the SP mods that promised so much have never actually seen the light of day. Maybe SP content is just to time consuming & difficult to work on. Maybe Episodic content was born of this but even that has been a non starter that even masters Valve have struggled with.

 

[Przemek]

I still believe the episodic format is the right thing. We get a ~6 hours long game cheaper than other games out there with similar (or even shorter) lenght. We get a bit of Half-Life every few years.
I wouldn't want to wait 6-10 years for a Half-Life 3. So I'd like to keep the current formula, but perhaps loose the "Episode" from the titles.

 

[Operational]

Valve have gotten better at being faster in releasing stuff, I doubt a (hypothetical) HL3 would take as long as HL2 did.

 

[flamingdts]

Valve have gotten better at being faster in releasing stuff, I doubt a (hypothetical) HL3 would take as long as HL2 did.

Oh I think you're very off there.

Half Life was the first game to use Valve's GoldSrc engine and Half Life 2 was the first game to use Valve's Source Engine (Well technically the engine debuted with the release of CSS, but there is no doubt that the engine was specifically made to develop Half Life 2).

Now that the source engine is getting old, Valve is most likely waiting for the completion of L4D2 and HL2 EP3 before beginning to develop a new engine. This new engine will most likely be made specifically for the development of Half Life 3, and the time required to do so will probably be at least another 4-5 years.

There is no doubt in my mind Valve plans to achieve the same impact they created with Half Life and Half Life 2.

 

[Barnz]

I'm dissapointed They Hunger: Lost Souls never saw the light of day either ....... well, the last Black Widow update was March 2008 so I think we can safely say that one has bitten the bullet as well

Lost Souls is not dead.

 

[tschumann]

Lost Souls is not dead.

How do you know?

 

[Apiary]

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/h...=convert&om_clk=gsupdates&tag=updates;title;6


"We may at the very end of the year," Ill take that as they have at least 1-2 months time left !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I dont understend why is there nothing at all.We all know they will relese it...just give me trailr or something I know they dont have the game jet I understend that, but trailer...just something

 

[Przemek]

That was, like, a year ago... They better say something about Ep3 soon, or... or else!

 

[Apiary]

That was, like, a year ago... They better say something about Ep3 soon, or... or else!

haha its really 2008 ...ups

 

[Acepilotf14]

Derp.

 

[dogboy73]

Lost Souls is not dead.

I reckon it is. I doubt it will see the light of day. Lost souls by name, lost souls by nature. The HL2 SP mod scene has been a huge dissapointment. Even the commercial SIN:episodes fell down after Episode 1! Offcial Valve SP content has been painfully slow whilst multiplayer games are being churned out. And the less said about Black Mesa Source the better. A huge effort & fantastic work on the part of everyone involved but no actual mod to play. Minerva has been the only SP mod that has been any good. If anyone knows any different please pass the information on.

 

[ChiliFan]

Minerva has been the only SP mod that has been any good. If anyone knows any different please pass the information on.

Research and Development

 

[Story]

Episode 3 is definetely overdue.

 

[ríomhaire]

All three Half-Life Short Stories mods look good (from the little I've seen at least, plus Samon's one of the devs and we know what high standards he has). I really hope they don't turn to vapourware.

I think the problem with SP modding is standards have have been set too high. People expect mods with the quality of the games. HL was made of square corridors and so it wasn't hard to make maps that matched up to that. Maps these days are much more complex and people expect much more detail. Because of this MP is easier to do and looks more impressive, because one SP map takes a half hour or hour (if it's as dense as Minerva) to play through and then it's pretty much used up (unless it's one of those hold off against waves of enemies maps but those are really old hat too) but a MP map can be enjoyed for hours on end and generally needs less scripting than a SP map. Effortwise, SP takes much more time for much less gameplay which is why both Valve and modders are slower with it.

You also can't itterate SP like you can with MP. You can release a half-finished MP game and then build on it. You can't do this with SP or else people will play the half-finished game and then not care about the full one when it's done (of course the episodic approach can help this a little).

 

[Paulaner]

Valve is the farthest thing from non-existent. Left 4 Dead 1 and 2 and TF2's updates are things I should direct your attention to.

Valve is far from non-existent, but it lacks new ideas and intellectual properties. Portal is a distant memory.

 

[ríomhaire]

Valve has never had new IPs! Half-Life (and the non-existent Prospero) is the only one. Counter-Strike, Team Fortress, Left 4 Dead and Day of Defeat were all bought. Portal (which is part of the Half-Life universe anyway) may count as a new IP but it's concept game from Narbacular Drop.

Valve have never been ones for creating new IPs (Half-Life was very heavily influenced by the Mist and Doom) but what they do is develope IPs. Compare the depth of story that exists now in TF2 and L4D/L4D2 compared to when they were first released.

 

[Paulaner]

Compare the depth of story that exists now in TF2 and L4D/L4D2 compared to when they were first released.

What do you mean by story? I don't see any story in TF2 or L4D (generic zombie apocalypse is not a story to me). Valve is very good at developing multiplayer games, but for people like me who like sp games, Valve hasn't much to offer. To be fair, I'll say that Valve is to mp games what Bioware is to sp games.

 

[ríomhaire]

What do you mean by story? I don't see any story in TF2 or L4D (generic zombie apocalypse is not a story to me).

The update pages and the Meet the Team videos for TF2 really flesh out the characters and story. Is this shit isn't a story what is?

Similarly the setting of L4D2 is much more fleshed out than L4D. The virus now has a name, the wall writing gives more insights into how people were coping and shows more CEDA involvement. Even the Midnight Riders' website shows more of the story and how everything is handling the Green Flu.

 

[Eejit]

All three Half-Life Short Stories mods look good (from the little I've seen at least, plus Samon's one of the devs and we know what high standards he has). I really hope they don't turn to vapourware.

Lost in Translation: The Game: In Three Parts

 

[ríomhaire]

Ha! Samon's only doing one of them though. I think Pi is doing one practically on his own.

 

[wilka91]

I would have rather had Half-Life 3 in 2010 than those short episodes once every 2 years.

HL1 : 1998
HL2 : 2004
HL3 : 2010 ?

we don't even know if HL2 E3 will come out in 2010.

episodic format : epic failure

 

[henno13]

To be honest, the episodic game plan went out the window during the development of EP2. Learn to be patient. Not even Valve can rush a game and achieve absolute perfection, which EP3 should be. I would much rather wait for a close to flawless game that I would enjoy playing over and over again rather than recieve a buggy mess that was released becasue the fans couldn't wait any longer.