First bit of Episode 3 news!

[Asuka]

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=175321

"We're going to try and do something pretty ambitious for that project", he continued on Episode Three. "We don't want to over commit."

"If you look at the Episode Two trailer that we shipped with Episode One there's some pretty radical difference between what you see there and see in finished game.

"That's really an artefact of making a trailer for a product that's still in heavy production. You just don't know where you're going to end up."

MY HEART IS PUMPING RIGHT NOW. Its like they new what i wanted to hear. "ambitious " Key word. When Valve does that we know what happens!

 

[dogboy73]

"If you look at the Episode Two trailer that we shipped with Episode One there's some pretty radical difference between what you see there and see in finished game. That's really an artefact of making a trailer for a product that's still in heavy production. You just don't know where you're going to end up."

So all that stuff about Episode 3 being developed in parallel with Episode 2 was horse s**t then?

 

[Atomic_Piggy]

Sounds like something pretty awesome to me...

 

[anamnesis]

Exactly how is this news? Wow, Valve said that EP2 changed over the course of development and that EP3 is going to be big. Get the presses fired up, I can see the headline now:

OMG VALVE CHANGED EP2 AND IS AMBITIOUS OVER EPISODE THREE, FILM AT ZOMG!!!1!eleven!!

 

[Asuka]

So all that stuff about Episode 3 being developed in parallel with Episode 2 was horse s**t then?

Im sure they were working on it, still doesnt mean its close to being finished. If they are planning on doing some HUGE then im sure they were working on some test ideas and technology.

 

[FrostXian]

Well, the game will end the current arc, it has to be long and they probably see it as their current "masterpiece".
Give them all the time they need, it's done when it's done, just like Duke Nukem Forever.
Oh shi-

 

[Crazy_killer]

It's propably going to be a videogame with 80% storyline, that's ******* awesome ofcourse but I don't wan't it to end.

I want answers, and with those answers I want new questions.

 

[Cheomesh]

So all that stuff about Episode 3 being developed in parallel with Episode 2 was horse s**t then?

Damn it!

 

[Xendance]

Wow!!

 

[Asknoone]

So all that stuff about Episode 3 being developed in parallel with Episode 2 was horse s**t then?

No. Where'd you gather that?

 

[kupocake]

When Valve does that we know what happens!

We don't see it for upwards of half a decade?

 

[Asuka]

We don't see it for upwards of half a decade?

Lol.:cheers:

 

[scotland1]

Finally something. Hopefuly the ep3 trailer will be more accurate than than ep2s :thumbs:

 

[DEATH eVADER]

Finally something. Hopefuly the ep3 trailer will be more accurate than than ep2s :thumbs:

Actually, good point. We all expected Alyx to be injured or dead from the massive drop, turns out she was never hanging from the bridge.

 

[jpventoso]

"We're going to try and do something pretty ambitious for that project", he continued on Episode Three.

It will probably be what Crysis couldn't be at the end, environmentally speaking...

 

[Bad^Hat]

Actually, good point. We all expected Alyx to be injured or dead from the massive drop, turns out she was never hanging from the bridge.

You hear about this in the commentaries. They said they always had the intention for Alyx to become gravely injured, but seeing her fall off a bridge disconnected you too much from the experience or something - plus Alyx has always been built up as being very agile. So, they decided to just impale her instead.

Valve are such bullies.

 

[Absinthe]

Yeah, they abandoned it for quite a few reasons.

1.) Starting off the game up high on train tracks proved to be too difficult for the very beginning.
2.) It seemed lame for Alyx, who had been previously depicted as fairly agile, to become injured in such a manner.
3.) Changing her injury to the hunter attack allowed them to showcase their new enemy in a significant way.

 

[kupocake]

but seeing her fall off a bridge disconnected you too much from the experience or something

I assume they meant the fact that Gordon would at least be trying to pull her up. In a FPS game, you're rarely more than a walking camera, and looming over Alyx as she falls would just feel a lot like you're doing nothing to help her, you're just sadistically watching her fall.

 

[Cheomesh]

I assume they meant the fact that Gordon would at least be trying to pull her up. In a FPS game, you're rarely more than a walking camera, and looming over Alyx as she falls would just feel a lot like you're doing nothing to help her, you're just sadistically watching her fall.

But she was of no further use to me :|

 

[soulslicer]

It makes me wonder. Now that the portal and tf2 team are sort of idling, they should be working on some new games to add to the next "box"

 

[Asuka]

It makes me wonder. Now that the portal and tf2 team are sort of idling, they should be working on some new games to add to the next "box"

TF2 guys are working on TF2 updates including maps and a new game mode. Its been confirmed many times. But i am sure its probably not the full team. Portal dudes on the other hand i have no idea what they are doing. Turtle Rock is coming back to Counter-Strike Source once they are done with left4dead plus that will be seeing updates. Id say most of the team is on Episode 3 right now. Some dudes working on a project Valve probably doesn't have announced and some dudes working on source engine that will blow us away in half-life 3.....

Anyway its all true but the end...even tho its possible.

 

[Omnomnick]

I doubt there will be another box, it'll just be like episode 1 shipped by itself, because Portal reveals as much storyline as they can without saying 'Hey, Gordon Freeman, lets go to the borealis' and TF2 is by far not finished, have you guys not heard about the new class there invented sometime in the future, along with 3 or so new maps.

 

[dogboy73]

So all that stuff about Episode 3 being developed in parallel with Episode 2 was horse s**t then?

No. Where'd you gather that?

Well, the comments suggest that the project is still in early stages - "We're going to try & do something pretty ambitous for that project". Pre-tense i.e. they haven't done it yet. Also, "If you look at the Episode Two trailer that we shipped with Episode One there's some pretty radical difference between what you see there and see in finished game. "That's really an artefact of making a trailer for a product that's still in heavy production. You just don't know where you're going to end up". Still in heavy production? Not knowing where it's going to end up? To me this also strongly suggests that much of the work is still to be done.

It makes me wonder. Now that the portal and tf2 team are sort of idling, they should be working on some new games to add to the next "box"

Well, hopefully, as the evidence suggests in the comments made re: EP3, they'll be concentrating on making EP3 a spectacular experience that surpasses all that has come before it. I reckon Valve will introduce lots of new stuff & also make the game quite a bit longer than what we have come to expect from the previous two episodes. That's what I think we should have to make up for the fact that this is not going to be Orange Box 2!

.

 

[GM)Paravin.]

I would do anything for a ton of spoiler videos, screenshots..ANYTHING!!

 

[Jintor]

Would you wait?

 

[Crazy_killer]

^ epic respond

 

[Stene]

I have a feeling that Portal team might be working on the Borealis levels for Ep3.

And Valve maybe doing the other environment, which we have no idea of.

 

[GM)Paravin.]

Damn, I got owned..

 

[Cavalry]

Yeah, they abandoned it for quite a few reasons.

1.) Starting off the game up high on train tracks proved to be too difficult for the very beginning.
2.) It seemed lame for Alyx, who had been previously depicted as fairly agile, to become injured in such a manner.
3.) Changing her injury to the hunter attack allowed them to showcase their new enemy in a significant way.

but I still want to know how she got out of the train and how gordon ended up inside the middle car when they were at the very back

 

[kupocake]

Lol.:cheers:

Sarcasm aside, when Valve mentions 'ambitious' I eventually get round to thinking about the 'Weather Control' vignette in Raising the Bar. Big, chaotic warzone type stuff... obviously minus Captain Vance, who is now

Spoiler

twice as dead

My next thought is that they're moving further from Episodic with the next release, ensuring that Episode 3 is the longest / most content packed release at the expense of the tighter release cycle, because that's the way their releases have tended anyway. It would also justify releasing Episode 3 standalone on Consoles if it was more like a normal retail game.

"That's really an artefact of making a trailer for a product that's still in heavy production. You just don't know where you're going to end up"[/B]. Still in heavy production? Not knowing where it's going to end up? To me this also strongly suggests that much of the work is still to be done.

Yes, but they're talking about Episode 2's original trailer being made at what is a comparable time to Episode 3's current project status. That means that both Episode 2 and Episode 3 were developed concurrently with their predecessors, but with Episode 3, they're simply not going to make the mistake of showing off what they've done.

but I still want to know how she got out of the train and how gordon ended up inside the middle car when they were at the very back and how the citadel is now at a lower elevation, and how the train has clearly turned a corner and how Gordon has a flashlight separate from his other Aux functions and how he managed to mislay all his weapons

You missed a few mysteries

 

[Absinthe]

but I still want to know how she got out of the train and how gordon ended up inside the middle car when they were at the very back

Getting flung the hell around.

It really doesn't matter.

 

[Frraksurred]

I read this and was relatively pumped as well.

At the moment, I imagine Valve is taking a well deserved break. If anything, they are primarily focusing on bugs and having round tables for how they want to go about Ep3. I'm sure some of the things they knew they were going to use have already been in the works, but since they haven't even mentioned what new tech they want to put into the next episode, there is only so much they can do and remain efficient. Since migration to Vista is still incredbly slow (for good reason), I imagine they will still stick to a DX9 environment (since most DX10 tech can be hacked into DX9) for at least one more episode and perhaps work on the atmospheric effects and expand cinematic physics as much as possible.

Time will tell.

 

[Operational]

Ep3 is in production because that is where the Chopper battle came from, they were playing with the gameplay and it worked so well they decided to move it to Ep2 (see the commentary at that point).

 

[Doorhandle]

let's hope it doesn't turn out like Bioshock then (what with it being totally non-linear, ha bs!)

 

[Omnomnick]

In episode 3, it is going to be Barney (more likely) or Alyx that will die, if Alyx doesnt I think we might be seeing a new vance generation in the next game, maybe Barney and Alyx, lol

 

[Absinthe]

I have full confidence that Alyx will not die. It's much too expected and she's such a great character that I'm sure she'll make it into the next game.

Her fate may be left ambiguous at the end of the third episode, though.

 

[leib10]

Agreed. The G-Man will almost certainly have to do with the survival of his "investment". She will definitely be seen in future installments.

 

[Doombringer]

Ambitious - the HL2 episodes have been doing this right along. Ep 1 was an engine technology and Alyx AI update, Ep 2 was storyline and 'cinematic physics' ...

And I believe Ep 1 and Ep 2 were developed at the same time, Ep 3 may be separate. However you could still say they were developed in tandem as many elements from Ep 1 and 2 will be reused in Ep 3, technology wise.

 

[akrippler]

In episode 3, it is going to be Barney (more likely) or Alyx that will die, if Alyx doesnt I think we might be seeing a new vance generation in the next game, maybe Barney and Alyx, lol

Barney... ehhh maybe. If Alyx dies I'm comin for you.

 

[Druckles]

In episode 3, it is going to be Barney (more likely) or Alyx that will die, if Alyx doesnt I think we might be seeing a new vance generation in the next game, maybe Barney and Alyx, lol

Omg! You spoiled the whole game for me!

Like... no.