Half-Life 2 and Sin Episodes Featured in CGW

[Sui]

The next issue of Computer Gaming World, an American publication, will be released in early September- along with the latest info straight from VALVe. We've already got our hands on this great news though, thanks to Iced_Eagle from the Eternal Silence 2 modification.[br]
Unfortunately, it would be Illegal to display scans of the pages, so we've gathered the important information into bullet points.

• The lost Coast, an additional Half-Life 2 level that is designed to put your system to the limit, will be more than just a tech demo; It will also reveal parts of the Half-Life 2 storyline, mainly how Ravenholm was invaded by headcrabs
• The Lost Coast is set to be released extremely soon, with Day of Defeat: Source and Aftermath following thereafter
• The Lost Coast will feature a director mode, where players can access developer commentaries by clicking cues scattered over the map
• Aftermath, the upcoming expansion to Half-Life 2, will feature new AI for working with Allies and collaborative action
• There is talk of a new Half-Life 2 episode being released over Steam every 3 months, in a similar way to Sin Episodes.

[br]As for Sin Episodes, there's also been a large amount of information revealed; including the release date, price, some gameplay features and various innotive ideas from the developers. Read more about it in this news post, taken from the great new fansite SinEpisodes.net.

 

[alphadec]

Sounds very impressive to me.

 

[dogboy73]

[*]There is talk of a new Half-Life 2 episode being released over Steam every 3 months, in a similar way to Sin Episodes.

Now that sounds really interesting :E

 

[Smigit]

I really hope they dont do episodes over steam, I'd much prefer the traditional Expansion packs every 9 months since I doubt they would be making these free and I dont have a credit card. At the very least they should have over the counter cards where you just buy a serial like WOW.

 

[Insano]

I really hope they dont do episodes over steam, I'd much prefer the traditional Expansion packs every 9 months since I doubt they would be making these free and I dont have a credit card. At the very least they should have over the counter cards where you just buy a serial like WOW.

In the article, they state that multiple episodes will be sold together in a retail box after a year or so.

 

[dogboy73]

In the article, they state that multiple episodes will be sold together in a retail box after a year or so.

That's a bit pants for the people that can't buy over Steam though. What about young players that don't have credit cards? I've warmed to the idea of Steam distribution since HL2 was released but if it excludes young players because they have no way of buying then that can't be a good thing surely?

 

[Chris D]

But, once again, you'll get to buy them all in the shop after a certain period of time...

 

[Insano]

If they want to get it sooner, they'll have to ask their parents to use their cc.

That's how I do it.

 

[Smigit]

In the article, they state that multiple episodes will be sold together in a retail box after a year or so.

really, thanks. Sounds good to me then even if I had to wait a while.

 

[Asuka]

Humm, good news and bad news.

I like eps but not to many. 3 is good but if like a Half-Life 3 sometime.

 

[dogboy73]

I hope they release the HL2 expert levels i.e. levels that are actually challenging to veteren players! A new difficulty level just for the existing HL2 game would be nice! If you play most FPS's on HARD they are actually hard! HL2 on hard is still easy!

 

[Cole]

$15 and episode, you bet im gonna go for this.
Depending on the size of each episode, it probably wont be that big of bandwidth for steam since I would think ritual is paying for the bandwidth...i'd say maybe $10 a sale..which is still more than a publisher.

 

[Rebel Racer]

What the hell is an "episode"? A comic clip? A bonus level? Please enlighten...

 

[wilka91]

New AI? Wow, great. Maybe they can match HL1's AI in Aftermath.

 

[SimonomiS]

Bad idea, sets themselves with more deadlines, which they probably won't keep, meaning much more whining and moaning.

 

[ZoFreX]

What about young players that don't have credit cards?

In this country (UK) you can get a debit card pretty early. My bro's had one since he was about 11, IIRC... and it works with steam.

 

[BlackMesaDude]

nah i rather buy that Retail box with all episodes... i cant stand playing through one and wait after thaat forever like we all do for loast coast, but the idea is good but i rather ignore it and buy it and get more episodes instead.

 

[polyguns]

yea, the way valve keeps to deadlines will make waiting on your episides horrible horrible horrible.

one thing i don't understand is why we have yet to see some really great episodes from the modding community. Like the preacher in ravenholm someone should make a sp map telling his story.

hl2 was suppose to be all about the ease of creating lifelike stuff, but it must not be that easy cause theres not many examples of minimods or expansion levels that really create a fun sp experience.

I hope these aren't the only way to get expansion maps. I don't like the chapter ideas, or forcing people to wait a year to buy them in the store, by then you have already heard the stories.

sin though wouldn't be bad, caue noone would buy it, so if you were interested your chances of having spoilers is pretty rare

 

[Chris D]

Why would no one buy SiN Episodes???

 

[Asknoone]

I hope these aren't the only way to get expansion maps. I don't like the chapter ideas, or forcing people to wait a year to buy them in the store, by then you have already heard the stories.

Wha???

 

[polyguns]

like if you can't buy over steam and have to wait for a bundled chunk a year after release, you've already seen all the screens, and read about all the spoilers, and had people tell you all the shit thats happened

 

[Chris D]

Doesn't mean it won't be a good game.

 

[SimonomiS]

like if you can't buy over steam and have to wait for a bundled chunk a year after release, you've already seen all the screens, and read about all the spoilers, and had people tell you all the shit thats happened

But theres a difference between all that and actually playing the game.

 

[$kelet0r]

my reaction to episodic games - crap, i want a GAME not a chapter at a time
you cant read a book that way and a computer game should be no different
Valve are starting to treat us like soap opera addicts
well not me, i wont buy them if valve start this shit

 

[Asknoone]

my reaction to episodic games - crap, i want a GAME not a chapter at a time
you cant read a book that way and a computer game should be no different
Valve are starting to treat us like soap opera addicts
well not me, i wont buy them if valve start this shit

It isn't a chapter at a time, it is a game at a time. Or rather, an expansion at a time.

 

[Iced_Eagle]

They made a really good analogy that john3571000 should read

Basically they are drawing parallels to the films industry.

They said right now, every company out there is developing blockbuster movies. However, that's not all there is on TV!

We are now seeing the introduction of TV Shows (aka the episodic games), which means more content over time

 

[WeeViL]

If Valve are bad at anything, it has to be realistic release dates so could they really manage an episode every few month. I mean Lost Coast has been 'just a few weeks' for months. If it was not ready or needed something re-working I would be much happier with done when it is done.

 

[jocky68]

Agreed they would never make it out every 3 months, they are just not able.

 

[polyguns]

They made a really good analogy that john3571000 should read

Basically they are drawing parallels to the films industry.

They said right now, every company out there is developing blockbuster movies. However, that's not all there is on TV!

We are now seeing the introduction of TV Shows (aka the episodic games), which means more content over time

the difference is though iced, tv is free, or well you purchase a package of 100 000 hours of potential tv per month. this is delivering demos that people must pay for. how large is an episodic game? how much does it cost? at minimal, I want at least 20 hours of gameplay, plus multiplayer if im going to pay 40 bucks for a game. if its got 40 hours of gameplay, i don't see mp as that important (re4).

if they are charging 20 dollars for a 5 hour episode, then we're starting to get screwed, and valve is laughing all the way to the bank.

its not that big of a deal, you don't have to buy it, but now its pretty much mandatory when your waiting for hl3, and you missed all this "episodic content"

now, this may actually all play out to what i jsut said. I remember long ago, un some post about the eula, someon made reference that valve can start charging your credit card, possibly for a charge for steam. maybe thats the plan, to have a monthly service fee for releasing these episodes over steam, team it all up with sin, make steam like the tv for games on the net. rather then pay per game, you pay per month to play these tiny little episodes. seems like it could be a good idea, prolly where they're going. now if they could only make steam actually work, and get their product developed on time, they may actually have something there. not anything for 56kers or little kids, but for other people yes

 

[TheMastahC]

Sega TV anyone?

I can't wait.

 

[Smigit]

Why would no one buy SiN Episodes???

I would and perhaps will if it's good. Just not via steam.

I'm currently hanging out for aftermath and F.E.A.R, I think Lost coast will be some 30-40min walkthrough to keep us busy for a night. Shall wait and see.

On this topic, I'd rather they were developing HL-3 at a more full thruttle pace instead of assiging team members to these projects. I wouldnt have a problem with them letting Gear box do another expansion pack, they can oversee the project of course but it would mean we can get HL3 sooner most likely.

 

[A.I.]

Well, if they don't try it we'll never know. Maybe the first episode should be 20$, next 15$ and the last 10 $ and that's it. If you like it, you just pay the next episode, if you don't, don't buy it. Or you buy some other whole game that's crap and then wonder why you didn't instead just burn the damn 50 bucks. It's a fair cop.

 

[A.I.]

Good god

EA is thinking of making a similar system as Steam.

 

[Mountain Man]

With a new episode every three months (allegedly), I wonder if Valve is going to introduce the subscription plan that they talked about ages ago.