HL2 Feb 24th?

[Edcrab]

Bullshit. You're telling me if Valve came out tomarrow with an official statement like: "Alright guys, we're just finishing up on play testing now. Half-Life 2 will go gold late March with the SDK about three weeks before that." That you wouldn't believe it?

No. I said that people don't believe half of what Valve says. Or, to be more fair, half the people don't believe what Valve says. Just look at any given gaming forum, packed full of community members jumping to conclusions based off the most Spartan details, often ignoring what little facts (or confirmed rumours, anyway) are actually present. Hell, look at the whole reaction over pay-to-play. An option, not a damn enforcement charge, and people get the wrong end of the stick and expect HL2 to cost the world $10 a month or some shit... and still wonder why Valve keep quiet about details. I guess they just can't win.

I don't mind them missing the September release. I mind Doug Lyingbastardi keeping nice and quiet about it all at that European convention thing and letting Gabe n' Co. announce the delay barely two weeks before the 30th. Bah. Guess I got no right to wonder why people take such statements with a grain of salt...

 

[Top Secret]

Ofcourse only 1/2 the people trust Valve. And, in my opinion, they need to grow up. They've missed the release date ONE time for Half-Life 2. And seeing as how just about ever game has at least 1-2 delays, they're doing good. And if you give a second release date, it has a much higher chance of making it. It's like, for example, on August 25th 2003, Valve found a bug in the physics system with the vehicles and a bug having to do with the AI.

Alright, so what do they do? They do what they should do, they delay the game. But now, it's not "Ok, we have too make half the levels, six new enemy's, and finish the PS2.0 shaders for Source, we'll shoot for Sept 30 2003".

NOW it's "All right, we've got everything done, we just need to fix the glitch with the vehicle physics, and re-write part of the AI code." And, since there is less to do, they release date has a higher chance of being true. It's all variables. Look into anything, you'll find the same pattern.

For example, if you build a motor engine, and there is only one part that can go wrong. Let's say.... a piston ring. The rest of the engine is perfect, made of un-breakable stuff. But the piston rings, are normal. There are less things to go wrong, therefor less things will go wrong. It's all statistics.

 

[Edcrab]

I'd agree with the above but we're still yet to see an official date. I for one am getting confusing signals with trying to calculate what to believe; I've seen estimates varying through February, March, April, May, June, July, August... um, all of the calendar come to think of it.

It's better for Valve to work on and complete a fine game then it is to commit themselves to releasing a low quality product on time though, right?

 

[Dougy]

Ofcourse only 1/2 the people trust Valve. And, in my opinion, they need to grow up. They've missed the release date ONE time for Half-Life 2. And seeing as how just about ever game has at least 1-2 delays, they're doing good.

thats not why half of us lost faith in valve.


its becuase numerous times right up untill a Week from release they said they would be on schedule, Doug lombardi even told magazines that where published right before the deadline that Hl2 would be in stores on time.


then complete silence, then they tried to blame the leak for the Delay, then they actualy acted like grown ups and admitted it would have been delayed anyway.


The point is for a game to be delayed MONTHS it would have been very apparent and they would have known about this well in advance.


so for a period of several weeks its evident that Vlave had lied to their fans about the release and Several community members upgraded/preorded for the 30th.

 

[Crusader]

Aye Dougy, that's exactly what I was annoyed about..

 

[Top Secret]

It's better for Valve to work on and complete a fine game then it is to commit themselves to releasing a low quality product on time though, right?

Bingo.

thats not why half of us lost faith in valve.


its becuase numerous times right up untill a Week from release they said they would be on schedule, Doug lombardi even told magazines that where published right before the deadline that Hl2 would be in stores on time.

You still aren't getting it. Shit happens. It could have been 3 days before release and they found a huge bug. Re-read my post.

The point is for a game to be delayed MONTHS it would have been very apparent and they would have known about this well in advance.

Wrong. Very very wrong.

so for a period of several weeks its evident that Vlave had lied to their fans about the release and Several community members upgraded/preorded for the 30th.

See above. Just because the game wasn't out September 30th like they said it would be, does NOT mean Valve lied. I think people have a very hard time grasping that.

And don't give me that "Valve lied and said they delayed because of the Source leak" bullshit. Yeah, maybe it would have been delayed anyways. I don't ever recall Valve specifically saying "We're delaying because of the leak." You're simply fallowing speculation. All Valve ever stated was that 'Part of the source code was stolen'

 

[Crusader]

Do you have any experience of software development? Generally speaking, after the usual 3 months of quote: 'playtesting, playtesting, playtesting' there isn't much room for *huge* bugs to appear out of thin air. I'm not saying it didn't happen, I'm just saying it's not as likely as you make out. It'd be the exception, rather than the rule.

Also, for HL2 to be released on the 30th, they'd have had to have gone gold BEFORE they said it was delayed, so they certainly didn't tell us it was delayed when they found the news out themselves.

Thirdly, as Gabe himself said, 'debugging is easy, fun is hard'. That doesn't sound to me like a man that has just had his game delayed by half a year by a bug of epic proportions suddenly creeping out of nowhere.

Just my 10 pence worth

 

[Top Secret]

Do you have any experience of software development?

Tough question. Rough answer: Yes. I'm a part of a HL2 mod team (Can't take any experience from that yet). I helped work on a few Half-Life mods, and am one of the developers of "Mysteria Legends" an online RPG.

It'd be the exception, rather than the rule.

Oh, trust me, it's the rule.

Also, for HL2 to be released on the 30th, they'd have had to have gone gold BEFORE they said it was delayed, so they certainly didn't tell us it was delayed when they found the news out themselves.

Why would they need to inform the public immediatly? And why give a date if you're not sure? Sept 30 was a date, certainly. But at the time they were sure. And I'm sure, that when they're sure again, they'll give us another date.

'debugging is easy, fun is hard'. That doesn't sound to me like a man that has just had his game delayed by half a year by a bug of epic proportions suddenly creeping out of nowhere.

Ofcourse it is! This problem that is holding the game back is of little significance (Providing it was a major flaw) compared to what they've already done. Gabe was speaking of Half-Life. I mean, look how many developers actually get it right.

 

[Striker]

iv got to agree with Top Secret here...

 

[Dougy]

top secret:

you dont get it, They were saying up until 6 days from release that the game was coming out on time.


Now most companies that want to release a game will have it gold well before a week of the luanch and the majority of copies will already have been made.

by your bug theory valve would have been making the CD's for them not to have lied to the community.


thats several thousand CD's requiring major time and $$$, so are you saying that not one guy that was indapendant from valve noticed the CDs being made?


if the CD's werent being made there is no way in hell they could have made the dealine yet they continued to say it would = they lied.


since we know production takes longer than 6 days we can safely assume that they knew the game would be delayed and yet they continued to say "it will be out on time" doug lombardi said it would make the release several times to several magazines/fan sites.


then 6 days from releases valve go silent. we dont know why but if you think it was because they found a bug in the middle of the production of the CD's then i feel sorry for you but No.

 

[Top Secret]

top secret:

you dont get it, They were saying up until 6 days from release that the game was coming out on time.

Hehe, are you telling me that instead of staying silent for (Hold my hand guys) SIX WHOLE DAYS, if Valve had said "It's delayed" you wouldn't be mad at them. Is that what you're telling me? That because Valve had you wait SIX WHOLE DAYS before announcing a delay, you're mad at them? I'm sorry, but the world doesn't work that way.

by your bug theory valve would have been making the CD's for them not to have lied to the community.

One thing straight before I continue, the bug thing isn't my 'theory', it was an example.

I suggest you re-read my post. I said that yes, maybe they knew it was delayed, but what is the most important rush to inform us? If I remember correctly, I don't remember Doug saying on September 29th that they were 'good to go'. Valve was pretty much silent. And you say you're source is from a magazine? How long do you think it was between interview and actual publishing + time until September 30th?

you dont get it

I think I do.

 

[Dougy]

Hehe, are you telling me that instead of staying silent for (Hold my hand guys) SIX WHOLE DAYS, if Valve had said "It's delayed" you wouldn't be mad at them. Is that what you're telling me? That because Valve had you wait SIX WHOLE DAYS before announcing a delay, you're mad at them? I'm sorry, but the world doesn't work that way.



I think I do.

no, im telling you Valve lied.

if they had just said its delayed when they knew it was then lots of people wouldnt have upgraded just at the wrong time.

 

[Top Secret]

I edited my post while you wrote yours. Read mine.

*Edit*


HOLY SHIT! There is NO F-ing way you can blame people upgrading on Valve! NO WAY! It was THEIR CHOICE. Don't even start on that bullshit. It's Valve's fault that people upgraded? That's like saying it's God's fault I own cleanex because he gave me snot in my nose! You CAN NOT blame them for that, and, if you do, that's your own fault.

by your bug theory valve would have been making the CD's for them not to have lied to the community.

One thing straight before I continue, the bug thing isn't my 'theory', it was an example.

I suggest you re-read my post. I said that yes, maybe they knew it was delayed, but what is the most important rush to inform us? If I remember correctly, I don't remember Doug saying on September 29th that they were 'good to go'. Valve was pretty much silent. And you say you're source is from a magazine? How long do you think it was between interview and actual publishing + time until September 30th?

no, im telling you Valve lied.

Just try and prove that.

 

[RickCain]

You're simply fallowing speculation.

It's following not fallowing.

Yes, Valve lied and should have admitted the game was no where close to ready, which is very clear.

 

[Top Secret]

Oh, thanks. Let me go change that.

*Edit*

Damn, past the edit time.

 

[Top Secret]

Yes, Valve lied and should have admitted the game was no where close to ready, which is very clear.

When was the last time Valve said Half-Life 2 would make the deadline? No, it's not 'very clear' because really, we don't know what the hell is going on.

 

[Crusader]

Hmm, your method of quoting people and making remarks that do not address the issue contained within amuses me...

 

[Ricebowl]

How about considering the fact that we heard straight from the mouths of VALVE that HL2 would be released on September 30, 2003.... and it didn't happen. So how can we trust what ANYBODY has to say, even if it was leaked from VALVE... or even if VALVE says it themselves?

 

[Shuzer]

Someone track John Titor down and ask him when HL2 gets released.. if it doesn't come true, than he's not from the future!

Joking aside, I'd love to believe this date, but it'd have to go gold very soon in order for it to hit the 24th..

 

[MadMechwarrior]

Well not really, it doesnt take a month to print CDs, most games do it in a week, blizzard does it in a week. Theres no reason for it to take a month, so if it went gold on the 17th theres no reason they couldn't make the 24th

 

[Jackal hit]

here's two links from ATI that shows it...

http://www.ati.com/gitg/promotions/asus/index.html

and

http://www.asus.com/products/vga/r9800xt/LimitedEdition.htm


Maybe the release is closer then we expected.....

those links don't actually mean anything. i got the asus radeon 9800xt... it already comes with all that stuff(except not that carrying case). one of the links says it comes with halflife2, well mine came with halflife2... just not physically a cd. i'll get to dl it like everyone else once the game is out. i don't think those actually mean anything as far as valve meeting the feb24 release rumor. hope it's not a rumor though

 

[MultiVaC]

Aww, why didn't I get a carrying case? I could've walked around like the G-Man.

 

[Top Secret]

How about considering the fact that we heard straight from the mouths of VALVE that HL2 would be released on September 30, 2003.... and it didn't happen. So how can we trust what ANYBODY has to say, even if it was leaked from VALVE... or even if VALVE says it themselves?

I really don't understand this about the Half-Life community. It really annoys me. Why is it, that when any other company says a date, and they miss, people just whine. But when Valve misses it, suddenly Valve lied.

*Edit*

If I'm not mistaken, that is the fact that's being considered.

 

[clarky003]

lol, very good point, Valve have got there reasons. and it probably most likely isnt any lie, but all that matters is they know the truth, because if their as confused as we are then its gonna be a longish wait. I dont wanna know, Its Out when its out, we cant do jack about it. i guess moaning about it makes us feel more envolved or somthing, like we are really all that special just for wanting a game, lol. although a very good looking one at that

 

[Frosty]

Well, nonetheless, I like that date, seeing as it's two days before my birthday. Unfortunately, I doubt that ATI would be referring to a worldwide release date. Everything takes longer to get to Australia.

 

[clarky003]

you never know frosty could be there for your B day , but dont get your hopes up

 

[Frosty]

Nah, I'm looking forward to Far Cry, which has a release date set sometime in March, and most likely it will make the release date, as the developers are preparing everything. Hell, a demo has been released, so it can't be to far off.

 

[B_MAN]

man i dont know what to believe anymore
even if they do announce a release date, it could be just to throw us off
another marketing ploy
OMFG

 

[vacs]

I really don't understand this about the Half-Life community. It really annoys me. Why is it, that when any other company says a date, and they miss, people just whine. But when Valve misses it, suddenly Valve lied.

The problem is not just about valve lying to their customers but the main problem is the complete lack of communication between valve and the ones who pay their salaries!

Valve is rather going to CNN to tell them that HL2 won't be available for another couple of months than tell it directly to their fans. Valve doesn't care at about their fans in contrast to almost all other game companies. They only care for us when they need our help (see source code theft), for the rest of the time we don't exist for valve.

 

[jimbones]

crap I have to force myself not to read those rumor posts ever again..

 

[Xenome]

Nah, I'm looking forward to Far Cry, which has a release date set sometime in March, and most likely it will make the release date, as the developers are preparing everything. Hell, a demo has been released, so it can't be to far off.

And why are you telling us that?

you can't compare far cry to a game like halflife2... but ok, nice to know :]

 

[Kadayi]

The problem is not just about valve lying to their customers but the main problem is the complete lack of communication between valve and the ones who pay their salaries!

Valve is rather going to CNN to tell them that HL2 won't be available for another couple of months than tell it directly to their fans. Valve doesn't care at about their fans in contrast to almost all other game companies. They only care for us when they need our help (see source code theft), for the rest of the time we don't exist for valve.

Idiot

CNN or the BBC news are professional companies. They are paid not only to deliver news, but insure the validity of the information they deliver. No one questions the facts when a site like CNN delivers news, because they know it is based upon a legitimate source of information. Even when gabe has posted here, the moderators have had to validate the posts with Valve because of some peoples scepticism and distrust.

Also CNN gets a lot more hits than any HL² fansite forum, thus the information gets spread quicker across the net without people endlessly speculating 'is is legitimate?' If you are making big announcements it makes sense to deliver them to those sort of news sites. It makes sense to go to the Fansites about the source theft because undoubtably the hacker was/is a hard core HL² fan and has been following the project for some time, so it is likely that they have been a part of, or are still a part of one of the HL² fanbase communities somewhere.

Please no more posts containing the 'They lied!!' 'They don't Care!!' 'We pay their wages!!' crap, it grew tiresome by the end of October. If those lines are the full extent of your repertoire please feel free to find another site to haunt. We are frankly bored shitless with you here. :dozey:

 

[PvtRyan]

The problem is not just about valve lying to their customers but the main problem is the complete lack of communication between valve and the ones who pay their salaries!

Valve is rather going to CNN to tell them that HL2 won't be available for another couple of months than tell it directly to their fans. Valve doesn't care at about their fans in contrast to almost all other game companies. They only care for us when they need our help (see source code theft), for the rest of the time we don't exist for valve.

Just for the fun of it, take a quick look at this thread:
http://www.halflife2.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1298

Over 400 emails answered. And you say they don't give a shit? They even added stuff to the source code because fans asked or gave a suggestion....

 

[Top Secret]

The problem is not just about valve lying to their customers but the main problem is the complete lack of communication between valve and the ones who pay their salaries!

Actually, they're self employed and they paid for HL 2 out of their own pockets.

*Edit*

Man, vacs' gettin' romped on for that post.

 

[vacs]

Idiot

Nice to meet you, my name is vacs!

Please no more posts containing the 'They lied!!' 'They don't Care!!' 'We pay their wages!!' crap, it grew tiresome by the end of October.

The reason you grew tiresome it's not because what I said is wrong nor that you are old and grumpy but simplay because you can't accept the truth Seems to be quite a widespread disease here.


To the one who said that valve financed HL2 through their own pockets I can only wonder where they got that much money from? GOTY Awards? Interviews? Fansites? No, of course not, they could finance HL2 through their own pockets because they cashed into with the help of the HL sales. And guess who paid for thise HL copies?

 

[Kadayi]

....because you can't accept the truth

Since when has emotive supposition been regarded as the truth? Please enlighten us all as to how you arrived at that theory?

 

[Edcrab]

Um… gamers who bought a popular game of their own accord?

I don’t get “they owe us” attitudes of any sort either- you paid your money, you got their product. No where in the EULA does it say “We will treat you with respect and give regular quality releases.” For example: they didn’t have to nurture the mod community- it just gave them more money.

 

[DEATH eVADER]

I'm damn, hoping this release is accurate, I get paid on the 20th ( and I won't be spending it on booze)

 

[Crushenator 500]

omfg, if this is real, ill go out in the street wearing a h.e.v suit giving out free copies of half-life2

edit: changed i to e

 

[marksmanHL2 :)]

h.i.v.....






lol Do you mean H.E.V suit or am I missing something....