hl2 @ alpha stage...

jonnyapps

jonnyapps

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i hope this doesn't mean what 'alpha' stage usually means for most games: an alpha leak released on the internet.
 
moppe said:
No, idiot. It dosen't.
Click to expand...

No need to be mean.

No, if the interview is real then Gabe just has a slightly skewed terminology for these things.
 
it means the game is basically complete, they just need to tweak certain things...i think.
 
"Alpha" has nothing to do with a leak.

Alpha is a stage in mods/games were the game is finished and just needs tweaking.

this merely means it needs tweaking.
 
Was this really worth another thread, there was another thread discussing this
 
It's really weird what Gabe Newell said.

G.N. Half-Life 2 is currently in pre-alpha fase. It means that the all game content is basicly finished. We are now in the process of fine tuning and balancing the gameplay : The number of enemys, the impact of weapons, the quantity of available healtpacks... We are targetting for a summer release.
Click to expand...

Normally alpha means just the basic things are in the game, like your character and a few guns. If a game would be in alpha stage it would take like 5 months to finish the game, which isn't Half-Life 2's condition. But saying PRE-ALHPA would make it sound like the source code was just started. I really think that who ever copied it over mistakenly put 'pre-alpha' for 'pre-gold'. Saying pre-gold would make A LOT more sense, with all the game magizines talking about how insane the A.I. doesn't make sense if Half-Life 2 is in 'pre-alpha' stages.

Alpha=Basic source code designed, very little capable in game
Beta=More Content added, closer to final product
Gold=Finished, ready to be mass produced, may need a few small changes.
 
Dedatorv... interesting point... and you're right... what we've seen doesn't look like a "Pre-Alpha" at all...
 
Well considering it had to be translated twice... from english to whatever the language it was, and then back to english, it probably got confused for pre-gold
 
MrWhite said:
Well considering it had to be translated twice... from english to whatever the language it was, and then back to english, it probably got confused for pre-gold
Click to expand...
someone email this to gabe. though i doubt he'll awnser it, so that he could watch us squrim :flame:
 
For some reason, I thought "Gold" was when they start shipping the games to stores, everything is finished.
 
RTFMish said:
For some reason, I thought "Gold" was when they start shipping the games to stores, everything is finished.
Click to expand...
Gold means that they have finished the game 100% and it is on a gold disk, from which millions of copies will be made. Pre-gold means that they have the full game, but it still needs polishing and such with where the NPCs are and where all the weapons are, but the main game is complete.
 
guys i was just joking - like the d00m leak etc. :naughty:
 
If it is still in 'pre-alpha' there is no way that it will be out by the end of the summer.

I would think that Gabe has been in the industry long enough not to misuse words like "pre-alpha" and confuse it with "pre-gold." Hopefully it was a mistranslation and HL2 is further along than pre-alpha. Heck, pre-alpha is what stage the leak was in...and that was last september for crying out loud.
 
Didn't that interview come from a Belgium magazine?

Is it possible that the interviewer/editor or translater/poster had the term mixed up?

Half-Life 2 should be in the late beta stages, if not release candidates if it's that big a game and is aimed at summer release.
 
TheWart said:
If it is still in 'pre-alpha' there is no way that it will be out by the end of the summer.

I would think that Gabe has been in the industry long enough not to misuse words like "pre-alpha" and confuse it with "pre-gold." Hopefully it was a mistranslation and HL2 is further along than pre-alpha. Heck, pre-alpha is what stage the leak was in...and that was last september for crying out loud.
Click to expand...

The finished game can be in alpha only a few months before its release, It just means there still making changes to balance certain things out, things like how much ammo you have in one area, or where u have one weapon against what enemy, When they finish that it remains in the beta stage till vivendi and whoever else say its bug free, then it becomes the release stage.

Even if gabe said pre-alpha a month ago, it doesnt mean anything on its own, its useless discussing it untill we know exactly where the game currently is, and valve wont be saying anything till E3.
 
Please don't post Valve and ask about this. Really, they need no more emails asking about the game's status or release dates...At least wait what they're gonna tell at E3

Just in case: No sarcasm in there
 
Lobster said:
The finished game can be in alpha only a few months before its release, It just means there still making changes to balance certain things out, things like how much ammo you have in one area, or where u have one weapon against what enemy, When they finish that it remains in the beta stage till vivendi and whoever else say its bug free, then it becomes the release stage.

Even if gabe said pre-alpha a month ago, it doesnt mean anything on its own, its useless discussing it untill we know exactly where the game currently is, and valve wont be saying anything till E3.
Click to expand...

Possibly, but it seems to me that the accepted use in the game industry is that alpha is the stage where some objects are in, the engine is mostly done, and the real work begins. Beta is mainly bugtesting, followed by playtesting.

Pre-alpha is like planning stages according to the "accepted" use of such terms (unless I am grossly mistaken). So unless they started over from scratch, I am thinking this was simply a mixup, or Gabe honestly does not know/use the terms that most people think of when talking about the game industry.
 
I would laugh if the gold disc they make the millions of copies from got scratched in transit to the publishers. Til I realised it meant my copy of HL2 was fubar.. :/
 
Well all the magazines pretty much got the same info, and every one of them has said the game is in the tuning/debugging/balancing stages, and in normal game terms the "beta" leak was alot further along than Pre-Alpha, although its really up to the developers themselves what they call it.

Just best to ignore the paranoiar inducing painfully slow 10 day count down to E3.
 
They probably meant that they have an FC (Feature Complete) build. It would be consistent with the other information (tweaking the gameplay, all game features complete). If thats true we could be as little as a month away from a release, though it would probably take 3 for a game that size.

But if someone could get me the original unaltered dutch text I can retranslate and recheck it. I speak dutch.
 
MrWhite said:
Well considering it had to be translated twice... from english to whatever the language it was, and then back to english, it probably got confused for pre-gold
Click to expand...

No actually it did say PRE-ALPHA (in english) there is no dutch word for this... (I translated it) I could even scan the "word" to show you (If I had a scanner that is :p)

I'll quote :

PCGP: Hoe ver staan jullie op dit ogenblik met het spel, wanneer mogen we het in de winkels verwachten?
G.N.: HL2 bevindt zich momenteel in een pre-alpha fase. ...
Then afterwards he explains the pre-alpha thing as "tuning" the game.

It's dutch. I translated it with a online translator (Wordlingo) :

"HL2 are themselves at present at pre-alpha a stage."

In good english that means :

HL2 is at the moment in pre-alpha fase.
 
Cutey_Kaite said:
Can someone make a countdown (or fine one ) to e3?
Click to expand...
http://download.com.com/3000-2350-10246558.html?tag=lst-0-1

Countdown Timer 1.0

"This utility allows you to count down time with an alarm. It's great when needing to be reminded of a specific event such as checking the roast cooking in the oven, checking the water level when filling your hot tub, or what ever else you can concoct. Features include playing any multi-media file on the alarm such as a movie, music file or sound file."

should be just what you need
 
DelaZ said:
G.N.: HL2 bevindt zich momenteel in een pre-alpha fase. ...
Click to expand...

Then i'd guess that they misunderstood. The leaked beta was definately a pre-alpha. If the game is still in the same state... we're screwed :frown:

Maar is inderdaad nederlands jah ;)
 
Synthaxx R-or said:
http://download.com.com/3000-2350-10246558.html?tag=lst-0-1

Countdown Timer 1.0

"This utility allows you to count down time with an alarm. It's great when needing to be reminded of a specific event such as checking the roast cooking in the oven, checking the water level when filling your hot tub, or what ever else you can concoct. Features include playing any multi-media file on the alarm such as a movie, music file or sound file."

should be just what you need
Click to expand...
wow thanks, but i dunno, u think it has spyware? :angry:
 
I have a HL2 timer i havnt used in ages ! ima set it to E3 rofl
 
Synthaxx R-or said:
http://download.com.com/3000-2350-10246558.html?tag=lst-0-1

Countdown Timer 1.0

"This utility allows you to count down time with an alarm. It's great when needing to be reminded of a specific event such as checking the roast cooking in the oven, checking the water level when filling your hot tub, or what ever else you can concoct. Features include playing any multi-media file on the alarm such as a movie, music file or sound file."

should be just what you need
Click to expand...

I'm not sure if that's quite what he ment
 
pre alpha means a long time away. serious. beta is a lot closer but if it aint even alpha yet (pre) then we are screwed. maybe an e-mail would'nt be such a bad idea to gabe.
 
DelaZ said:
No actually it did say PRE-ALPHA (in english) there is no dutch word for this... (I translated it) I could even scan the "word" to show you (If I had a scanner that is :p)

I'll quote :

PCGP: Hoe ver staan jullie op dit ogenblik met het spel, wanneer mogen we het in de winkels verwachten?
G.N.: HL2 bevindt zich momenteel in een pre-alpha fase. ...
Then afterwards he explains the pre-alpha thing as "tuning" the game.

It's dutch. I translated it with a online translator (Wordlingo) :

"HL2 are themselves at present at pre-alpha a stage."

In good english that means :

HL2 is at the moment in pre-alpha fase.
Click to expand...

Thanks for clarifying that it wasn't a translation error. Still is questionable of why he had said 'pre-alpha'. It's obvious it is a mistake though, someone somewhere goofed up.

The countdown timer only goes up to 23hrs 59mins and 59secs. We need something that can allow you to select a date instead of manually putting in the time left.
 
Crusader said:
I would laugh if the gold disc they make the millions of copies from got scratched in transit to the publishers. Til I realised it meant my copy of HL2 was fubar.. :/
Click to expand...

Ha! I thought that, but I'm sure they could make another copy quite easily. That'll teach Gabe for carry the Gold disc and sandpaper in the same pocket!

The pre-alpha thing could be a misquote by the mag. Not a lie, just someone not concentrating when typing up the transcript. Perhaps Gabe said post-alpha meaning they're almost there but he doesn't wanna be too specific and get people's hopes up.
I have a feeling (seeing as he's mentioned playtesters before) that they've tested it a lot which hints at a late-beta stage. Given that a game like HL2 requires tonnes of testing just to make sure everything is accounted for in such an open world, this still may mean a long way to go.

As much as we can take an educated guess, I think e3 holds the key!
 
THANKYOU Godcat. All you other people were giving software, meaning it will close when you turn off your computer, and no one else can see it! What were you thinking?

Yes, DEFINATLY (sp?) some kind of error, but I frankly don't care what he calls it, it's just a word. What matters is that he said all they have to do is tweak, which is simple moving stuff around, or changing a number. Definitly this summer babaaay!
 
Gabe obviously has the terms screwed up. They are most likely in the middle/end beta stages doing the really small things, that make a big difference in gameplay and those are things that take a while unfortunately. Beta testing a single player game is so much harder than beta testing MP games (if anyone has tested a SP game, they know what I"m talking about) because it will affect the playing style, like if you put too many health packs in a room the player will be tempted to run and gun everything down and if that is in a stealth game, it's not a good idea.

Anyways, we'll find out more in 9 days :D
 
Dedatorv said:
It's really weird what Gabe Newell said.



Normally alpha means just the basic things are in the game, like your character and a few guns. If a game would be in alpha stage it would take like 5 months to finish the game, which isn't Half-Life 2's condition. But saying PRE-ALHPA would make it sound like the source code was just started. I really think that who ever copied it over mistakenly put 'pre-alpha' for 'pre-gold'. Saying pre-gold would make A LOT more sense, with all the game magizines talking about how insane the A.I. doesn't make sense if Half-Life 2 is in 'pre-alpha' stages.

Alpha=Basic source code designed, very little capable in game
Beta=More Content added, closer to final product
Gold=Finished, ready to be mass produced, may need a few small changes.
Click to expand...


there in PRE-alpha now?!?! loooool its now blatantly obvious that last years e3 was a complete lie and so was 'were playtesting it now' the leaked alpha contained ALL of the content they had at the time of e3 (basically the levels shown at e3), deny all you want fanboys but it was no where near complete 4 days before sep 30th last year and all valve do is friggin lie! all the goddam time
 
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