FunHaus' Thoughts On Half Life 3 Current Status

[TheAnonymous]

Here is some info for you regarding HL3 status - whether you want to trust me or not is completely up to you.

- In development with a small team of people roughly ~10 or so, Story, Events Script is FINISHED
- Valve is holding it as a trump card
- Other projects also in development
- No immediate plans to release
- VR is the only way to make FPS games revolutionary, nothing else will make HL 3 surpass hype unless it's pure immersion and next leap in both tech, hardware and gameplay experience

- New Technology is on the rise (especially next year for true next-gen GPU leaps ala Nvidia's Pascal 32 GB HBM 2 Ram 7 Billion Transistor Single GPU (spring/mid 2016 release) (http://wccftech.com/nvidia-pascal-gpu-17-billion-transistors-32-gb-hbm2-vram-arrives-in-2016/) Don't forget Windows 10 will also also you to stack SLI Ram Memory, 4 Pascals = 128 GB of HDM 2.

- 1998 - Half Life the game that made what Valve is today.

- 2004 - Half Life 2 used to push steam and new digital platform for Valve (look at where they are now)

- 2015 and beyond - VR is on verge of release, will take a long time to adjust to every household and proven as a good piece of tech. Once VR has a good percentage in market and is a proof of concept to regular consumers, HL 3 will be the game that pushes it to the next level. Trust me.

I'll see you soon, until next time.

 

[ZAXXER]

Isn't pretty much all of this common knowledge?

 

[Spamming Tanks]

Your say-so is not particularly powerful, especially since:

Isn't pretty much all of this common knowledge?

Well... some of it is up in the air.

But what I truly do despise is the thought of a HL3 VR exclusivity. The software would not even have to be limited to VR on a technical level... it would be enough to make the game and some mechanics within be built around VR... such that you can only have the "true experience" if you shovel out cash for a VR headset.

That would be the only thing which would make me not play HL3... at least for years. That might even convince me to pirate out of spite for Valve (or wait till the game is $15 on a steam sale). Because what greater "**** you" could Valve possibly provide? What would I... a person who has no interest in VR whatsoever... do in that situation?

Just shut up and pay up? Or are people like you expecting VR to be cheap as chips by that time? It is OK to de-facto force people to buy gimmicky hardware, as long as it is cheap?

Of course, this is all hypothetical. Nobody actually knows that Valve will do that or that Half-Life 3 is being developed. The thought alone, of course, is enough to make me cringe.

 

[Spamming Tanks]

Of course sitting on Half-Life waiting for VR to "adjust to every household" and "Once VR has a good percentage in market" does not seem much better either.

How long would that be? 10 years? 15? Why would anyone care? Even the dwindling Half-Life fanbase?

At that point you should probably just make a new game.

 

[Omnomnick]

Just going to update this thread by reposting the responses from the duplicate thread before closing it. The original users are free to copy/paste these messages below to continue the discussion.

Post by "unknown".
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I found this on reddit : http://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/3ei2be/halflife_3_will_never_release_heres_why/
link to the video in the thread:

I apologize for bringing up a rumor, but the arguments made by these guys are solid in my honest opinion, and while they have been wrong about things in the past, they have also been right. This for me is dire news, as I don't even want a world record breaking game, just a simple game that gives me closure to the story that I have been waiting and loving for so long. It's really sad if it's true.

Wish you guys a good day, mine is pretty sad.
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Post by "Spamming Tanks".
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As much as I respect Funhaus.... they have made dumb assertions before. Their jobs are to entertain and as a part of that they make stupid assumptions all the time and when they are serious, they are never 100% correct. They are pretty much a comedy group as far as I am concerned.
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Post by "DMGUYDZ64".
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While some of those facts were somewhat correct, Machinima gets no love from me, because of how they treat their talents.
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[Vincent Pride]

It all is just a pure speculation based on believe that Valve are actually interested in profiting from making games based on disruptive technology (innovator's dilema). Yep, HL1 was the first major fps with a deep meaningful story, HL2 was enhanced version of it with emotionally capable characters and gameplay incorporating physics which was rather novel at that time. But that was Valve before digital distribution, that was Valve the game devlopers, not the Steam makers. Then PC gaming went downhill, single player linear shooters became thing of the past, gaming demographics and psychographics significantly changed. To say like a true hipster, shooters are soooo last century. There will be no HL3, deal with it and move on

 

[Flying Tragedy]

The Funhaus video bothered me a bit as the supposed inside source kept making statements that just sounded odd.
If you think about it, he said that management moved people off projects. Valve steers itself, not management. So the team would normally decrease if several people just rolled their desk to another project. That is the one that bothers me the most right now.

 

[Spamming Tanks]

I lol'ed at that "inside source".

A mysterious inside source is indistinguishable from a lair having a laugh.

 

[-smash-]

Bwahahahhahaa!

 

[UndeadScottsman]

I like this idea that Mass Effect 3's backlash scared off Valve.. but EA and Bioware powered on through and have even revealed the next Mass Effect game. Plus Steam gets all kinds of hate for their terrible customer service anyway. I mean, hell, they made DOTA2. I'd be far more worried about pissing off DOTA fans than HL fans.

Also, if the JIRA leaks from 2013 are accurate, the HL3 team actually grew between June and September of 2013, so that doesn't make a lot of sense if "management" (Who is this management anyways? Doesn't Valve tout the fact they have flat management? Is Gabe rolling up and saying no here?) was removing people from the project.

HL3 having 100 people in 2009 is weird given they were still talking about Episode 3 that year.

But the biggest complaint I have with this rumor is the idea that Valve is motivated by money, or more accurately, their lack of want for money, and THAT'S why they won't bother making HL3. Like, Valve JUST released Source 2 for free. Like, not having to worry about money is a point in HL3's favor, IMO. Means they have the luxury to work on it for as long as they want.

 

[Skyace65]

While I do think that them holding it as a trump card and the small team are very questionable considering the JIRA leak. VR doesn't sound too far off from the truth.

While I don't think it's going to be VR exclusive. I think the games going to be built in a way that it's heavily designed as a world for people to experience(not saying they'd dial back shooting though). Valve already focused on the little details in Half-Life 2 but now I think it's going to be even more pronounced, maybe those papers we always see littered on the floor might actually mean something and be worth looking at. Hell look at how much detail they put into the Portal VR demo.

And another thing I've been hoping we'd get for a while, that seems like something they might try to do. is procedural loading so we don't have load screens, keep people completely immersed as much as possible.

 

[DevonWC]

From /r/halflife, can't confirm if it is legit tho.

 

[Omnomnick]

Marc Laidlawing down the laidlaw.

I'd be far more worried about pissing off DOTA fans than HL fans..

Welcome to 2013.

 

[unknown]

From /r/halflife, can't confirm if it is legit tho.

That sadly does not mean much, because he basically did not deny anything that was said, just saying someone is trolling doesn't mean that half life is an important project, so things are somewhat unchanged. 1% extra hope to see Half Life 3, that's all there is to it.

 

[ZAXXER]

That sadly does not mean much, because he basically did not deny anything that was said, just saying someone is trolling doesn't mean that half life is an important project, so things are somewhat unchanged. 1% extra hope to see Half Life 3, that's all there is to it.

Of course he would not deny anything said, that would just get people excited.

 

[Omnomnick]

just saying someone is trolling

Basically a simple way of saying it's bullshit without breaking his contractual agreement.

 

[UndeadScottsman]

Yeah, there's a limited way he could address things here.

He basically denied that Valve would make decisions based on fear, addressing the "Valve is too scared of potential backlash if they screw up HL3." That's an easy enough thing to say, because it doesn't address whether or not they're working on HL3, just that their decisions at the company aren't based on fear of fans getting nasty.

Beyond that, he can't say "We have not removed people from the HL3 team" because that's basically saying "Hey, we're working on HL3." and if Valve wanted to say that, they would have said it already. Despite code references, JIRA leaks and on-the-sly references to Ricochet 2, Valve still hasn't outright said they're working on it.

 

[WEL$H_GANGSTA_99]

yep the know video is bullshit I do not know why people take it seriously without doing some research into what they are saying.

 

[Duracell]

I always thought they'd hold on to a finished script until they could release it using hardware that'd make it a big leap forward the FPS genre, I think their VR headset is probably that.

 

[Omnomnick]

I always thought they'd hold on to a finished script until they could release it using hardware that'd make it a big leap forward the FPS genre, I think their VR headset is probably that.

There is no finished script and Half-Life 3 will not be a VR exclusive.

 

[WEL$H_GANGSTA_99]

Always take an anonymous source with a grain of salt.

 

[WEL$H_GANGSTA_99]

http://i.imgur.com/BWrxXuu.png those funhaus guys just don't know when to stop.

 

[Fatikis]

http://i.imgur.com/BWrxXuu.png those funhaus guys just don't know when to stop.

To me this sounds like HL3 isn't being worked on.

 

[WEL$H_GANGSTA_99]

To me this sounds like HL3 isn't being worked on.

I dunno to me it sounds like Marc Laidlaw had enough of them.

 

[UndeadScottsman]

Yeah, that was a masterclass of "Not taking the hint."

 

[Aizawa]

you know what works best for me? Just wait. Every second day there is a new HL3 rumor, one day it is cancelled, one day it is almost finished.

 

[Fatikis]

I don't get the whole trying to make an employee talk about something he shouldn't mentality. Trying to get Valve in general to talk or Gaben is one thing trying to make an individual employee is just kind of dickish. It lowers the chance of positive communication between that employee and the community in the future.

 

[Omnomnick]

you know what works best for me? Just wait. Every second day there is a new HL3 rumor, one day it is cancelled, one day it is almost finished.

Gabe has a split personality and can't make up his mind.

 

[UndeadScottsman]

Followup video, if anyone cares.

Rather than taking Laidlaw at his word, they do everything they can to try to twist what he said to play nice into their existing narrative.

One thing I'm wondering is why is it that these guys out of the ENTIRE industry are the ones to get this info? Potentially one of the biggest news stories of the year (in a year that had a FF7 remake announced even.) and it goes to a website I've never even heard of? You'd think one of the biggest sites would have gotten wind of this awhile ago.

 

[Fatikis]

One thing I'm wondering is why is it that these guys out of the ENTIRE industry are the ones to get this info? Potentially one of the biggest news stories of the year (in a year that had a FF7 remake announced even.) and it goes to a website I've never even heard of? You'd think one of the biggest sites would have gotten wind of this awhile ago.

I don't watch them but they are actually pretty popular. I think they are part of Rooster Teeth.

Biggest news story? I don't see any additional information. Just some people annoying Laidlaw and making up bullshit while claiming to have a source. Typical American journalism.

 

[Vi-Pe]

I don't watch them but they are actually pretty popular. I think they are part of Rooster Teeth.

Yes, that is true, but they used to be part Machinima (Inside Gaming) but they quit and made Funhaus which is part of Rooster Teeth.
Their channel is amazing but these "anonymous source" news should be taken with notice.

 

[UndeadScottsman]

I don't watch them but they are actually pretty popular. I think they are part of Rooster Teeth.

Biggest news story? I don't see any additional information. Just some people annoying Laidlaw and making up bullshit while claiming to have a source. Typical American journalism.

I'm not saying it is the biggest news story, I'm saying it potentially is. Which is would be if it's true, and that is the premise the creators of the video have put forth and subsequently was the premise I was using to deconstruct its validity.

 

[WEL$H_GANGSTA_99]

Followup video, if anyone cares.

Rather than taking Laidlaw at his word, they do everything they can to try to twist what he said to play nice into their existing narrative.

One thing I'm wondering is why is it that these guys out of the ENTIRE industry are the ones to get this info? Potentially one of the biggest news stories of the year (in a year that had a FF7 remake announced even.) and it goes to a website I've never even heard of? You'd think one of the biggest sites would have gotten wind of this awhile ago.

Wow I am just speechless. They are not dropping this anytime soon.