I am visiting Valve today!!!

[evil^milk]

Good luck merc, don't get lost

 

[Sai]

man, that would suck if his car crashes or something, i'd feel real bad

 

[SubKamran]

Dammit, is he gonna ask about the screenshots? It's eating me from the inside out.

 

[Estevan]

BRING A FKING VIDEO CAMERA OR A DIGITAL CAMERA! HECK BRING A PHONE CAM!!! we need pictures!!!!

 

[SFLUFAN]

I'm not going to suggest anything to ask that hasn't been already but I do have some advice:

Try not to come off too aggressively when pressing for information, that may just turn them off from being open with you and might result in a less than fruitful visit, just be very calm, ask your questions respectfully, and thank them for their time and efforts with this great game.

If you're super nice they might even give you some souveneirs of your visit and how cool would that be?

 

[riTuaL]

Ask about the contents of the CE, multiplayer if possible, release dates, etc.

 

[x84D80Yx]

ehm.. why are you guys still asking questions about HDR? I thought it was already clear. Its not yet in the game but they will try to add it in before hl2, goes gold and if they wont make it it will be added in at a later date and will be distributed trough steam as a patch. source can be updated as technology evolves and techniques can produce better grafix

cant hurt to ask more about it and get confirmation.

 

[FISKER_Q]

pfft.
why would microsoft and nvidia (companies who make millions every year) take the time to develop it?

Because the adversitising value in something totally worthless sometimes are skyhigh.

The biggest change between SM 2.0 and SM 3.0 is instructions per shader. Problem is no game today use more than half the SM 2.0 limit of instructions. And probably won't be exceeding that limit very soon.

Cause while Nvidia does have SM 3.0 support, it is actually unknown if it can actually render SM 3.0 instructions just somewhat quickly. And i would almost say that if ATi somehow flashed the hardware or updated the drivers to do more instructions that could as well be called a "SM 3.0 graphics card".

The only thing it wouldn't be able to do is the bumpmapping shadow effects. Which is sofar i remember the only other real reason to even use SM 3.0

So ATi probably won't use it until the time is ready.

 

[Tarkus]

when is he visiting valve gmt??

 

[SFLUFAN]

Let me see...PDT is EDT -3...GMT is 5(?) hours ahead of EDT, then it would be GMT -8 or 00:00 GMT

 

[Tarkus]

Let me see...PDT is EDT -3...GMT is 5(?) hours ahead of EDT, then it would be GMT -8 or 00:00 GMT

kk, thanks, i'll check this thread again tomorrow

 

[Iced_Eagle]

Yea it's at the Bank of America location.

Good luck man! Send them <3 from Hl2.net forums!

Oh and say if he releases in August, he gets 2 kegs, one filled with beer for those long nights, and the other filled with.. yes you guessed it... BLUEBERRY MINI MUFFINS!!!

Yea just have a great time, take pics/video whatever. Gotta post here the second you come back home, just so we know when to expect it! Then make a detailed write up

 

[SMT]

Because the adversitising value in something totally worthless sometimes are skyhigh.

The biggest change between SM 2.0 and SM 3.0 is instructions per shader. Problem is no game today use more than half the SM 2.0 limit of instructions. And probably won't be exceeding that limit very soon.

Cause while Nvidia does have SM 3.0 support, it is actually unknown if it can actually render SM 3.0 instructions just somewhat quickly. And i would almost say that if ATi somehow flashed the hardware or updated the drivers to do more instructions that could as well be called a "SM 3.0 graphics card".

The only thing it wouldn't be able to do is the bumpmapping shadow effects. Which is sofar i remember the only other real reason to even use SM 3.0

So ATi probably won't use it until the time is ready.

The Unreal Engine version 3.0, as demoed at E3 2004, almost exclusively utilized Shader Model 3.0 instructions. It ran at about 15-20 frames per second on a GeForce 6800 Ultra. Pretty, but unplayable... that's nVidia's gamble, at least for current generation cards demonstrating next generation game engines (which makes very little practical sense, IMO).

 

[AcousticToad]

I see everyone is staying away from the "Whats the release date?" Questions, thats good. Have fun Merc.

 

[x84D80Yx]

Cause while Nvidia does have SM 3.0 support, it is actually unknown if it can actually render SM 3.0 instructions just somewhat quickly. And i would almost say that if ATi somehow flashed the hardware or updated the drivers to do more instructions that could as well be called a "SM 3.0 graphics card".

The only thing it wouldn't be able to do is the bumpmapping shadow effects. Which is sofar i remember the only other real reason to even use SM 3.0

So ATi probably won't use it until the time is ready.

rofl where do you get your info. bumpmapping has nothing to do with SM 3.0
you might be thinking of displacement mapping.

and you cant just flash the hardware to make it sm3.0, its in the hardware. its one reason why nvidia's card has 60million more transistors. you cannot just 'flash' things like that

theres alot of things that SM3.0 can do that you obviously dont know about, and its not just IQ things. ill hand it to you to research on what you dont know. :upstare:

Have fun Merc.

agreed. have a good time bro :smoking: :naughty: :smoking:

 

[SMT]

theres alot of things that SM3.0 can do that you obviously dont know about, and its not just IQ things. ill hand it to you to research on what you dont know. :upstare:

Well, not too much more, really. There's displacement mapping, of course; that's the big payoff with Shader Model 3.0. However, parallax mapping (aka virtual displacement mapping), while not quite as convincing, is a comparable (and very viable) solution for Shader Model 2.x platforms like ATI's X800 lineup. Apart from that, SM 3.0 brings the ability to write more intricate shader code. As has been previously stated, developers seem to be a bit slow on the uptake regarding complex shaders (although things are ramping up nicely with the advent of CG and HLSL), so SM 3.0 remains a feature whose attractiveness is contingent on its widespread early adoption by developers, which historically isn't likely. In a couple of years it will be a different story. But, again, in a couple of years the current generation of flagship cards will cost $150.

The bottom line is that either the GeForce 6800 or the ATI X800 will run top-notch games at playable framerates for the next year or so.

 

[PowerLlama]

all thse upside down avatars are screwin w/my head...

on another note, i hope merc is off gettin some good info for us slobbering fans!!

 

[cliffe]

Uh oh, Merc's coming for a visit. Quick boys, hide the slip 'n slide.

 

[Vegeta897]

Uh oh, Merc's coming for a visit. Quick boys, hide the slip 'n slide and the crocodile mile.

I KNEW IT!!

Isn't he there yet?
Hope he made it safely!

 

[Lethal8472]

Great cliffe, now I have an image of Gabe in a bathing suit going "WEEEEE!!!!" as he slides across the floor. :cheese:

 

[Gunner]

Hey Cliffe!

 

[iamaelephant]

Heya Cliffe! Can you tell us if he got the address right? The Bank of America building?

 

[SFLUFAN]

I'm hoping against hope that he's not gonna ask "So when's the release date?" because that just might get things off on the wrong foot.

 

[Grimresfa]

jesus.... this threads been open for like 2 hours and we already have 10 pages.

 

[evil^milk]

I think he left already, heh

 

[Xcellere]

Hey cliffe! Hope everything is good with you guys.

 

[FoxDie]

I think he left already, heh

Well I would hope so, it's 3:50, and his tour is at 4. So unless he lives on the floor above the Valve offices, I think he left already

75th Post :thumbs:

 

[x84D80Yx]

The bottom line is that either the GeForce 6800 or the ATI X800 will run top-notch games at playable framerates for the next year or so.

true. but i wasnt really going for a nvidia vs ati debate. i just wanted to know more about hl2 w/ SM3.0. (if it will even happen or what not).

but you put up some good points.

 

[SMT]

true. but i wasnt really going for a nvidia vs ati debate. i just wanted to know more about hl2 w/ SM3.0. (if it will even happen or what not).

but you put up some good points.

Oh, I agree completely... I think such debates are silly.

I guess the main question is, what would change / improve if SM 3.0 were introduced into Half-Life 2? In my opinion, not much. There's plenty of low-level shader quality tweaking to be done within SM 2.x limits, and it's likely that Valve is probably putting most of their efforts to work here for the time being.

 

[blahblahblah]

Uh oh, Merc's coming for a visit. Quick boys, hide the slip 'n slide.

It's these little, meaningless posts that create all of the hype for HL2. Now I am all excited for HL2. :bounce:

 

[SFLUFAN]

(twiddles thumbs until Merc's return)

 

[disruptioN_]

Great cliffe, now I have an image of Gabe in a bathing suit going "WEEEEE!!!!" as he slides across the floor. :cheese:

Now that is sexy.

 

[Black-Falcon]

Loading colt, incase merc doesnt return

 

[lans]

true. but i wasnt really going for a nvidia vs ati debate. i just wanted to know more about hl2 w/ SM3.0. (if it will even happen or what not).

but you put up some good points.

Sorry I didn't read the whole thread- too BIG.

SM 3.0 and SM 2.0 have bearly any difference, with the exception of more shader instructions. As far as I know, the bottom line is that HL 2 will look as good as anyother game using SM 3.0 for a good while.

 

[FoxDie]

If Merc doesn't return, we will have to assume he was caputred snooping (and asking too many questions before the snooping) by the Valve team, and is being held hostage. We all have to deny any knowledge of his existence or mission. Quick, somebody delete his account!

 

[Ames]

Loading colt, incase merc doesnt return

You can't kill someone who you don't even know where they live. :O

You should just head out to Valve now and stalk anybody who appears to be merc. Then, you can go shoot him if there isn't anything from him.

 

[Black-Falcon]

No no no, you're mistaken. Its not for merc.

 

[FoxDie]

Thanks for sigging me Black-Falcon :thumbs:

 

[RogueShadow]

Hmm.. I'll be dissappointed if there aren't enough pictures to do a full rendering of all of Valve.

 

[Black-Falcon]

Lol anyone seen those Quicktime 3D things
that'd be cool if someone could make one of VALVe