Info received from Valve ONLY - NO questions/discussion

Hey Gabe,
I was wondering, is there going to be an ingame music player for HL2? I think this would be a great addition to the game, as some people love to play their own custom music any time they see fit. Personally, I think this would be a great idea, as many people love to listen to music and the way we currently do it is a hastle.

Gabe Replied:
It could be done as a MOD, but we aren't planning on doing one.
 
From : Gabe Newell <[email protected]>
Sent : Monday, July 12, 2004 9:13 PM
To : "David Brewer" <[email protected]>
Subject : RE: Teen Rating?

| | | Inbox


-----Original Message-----
From: David Brewer [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Monday, July 12, 2004 8:55 PM
To: Gabe Newell
Subject: Teen Rating?

Hey Gabe, there's a rumor going around that you guys are shooting for a
teen rating for Half-Life 2. Is this true? I hope you guys don't decide
on doing this. The original was M, and I believe Half-Life 2 should be
M. I don't know how you could convey the same emotions in a Teen game as
you could a Mature game. What would have the opening scene in Saving
Private Ryan been like if the movie had been PG-13?

Just a fan among the masses. David Brewer.

-------------------------------
We haven't changed anything to get a teen rating.
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Kamran A [mailto:xxx]
Sent: Tuesday, July 13, 2004 2:47 PM
To: Rick Ellis
Subject: Is it possible to do an RTS mod?

Hello Rick, the subject is pretty self-explanatory. I was wondering if Source can do a RTS-style game (more specifically, C&C-esque) mod for Half-Life 2?

-----------
Kamran A

Sure is. You can do overhead views or a 3rd person RTS. You'll have access to all of the code in the SDK to make this happen.

Rick
Valve

This is awesome news. Now all I have to do is learn to program games. :afro:
 
Subj: RE: Bullets\Penetration\Physics question.
Date: 7/13/2004 3:54:23 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Sent from the Internet (Details)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Monday, July 12, 2004 8:27 PM
To: Gabe Newell; Rick Ellis; Yahn Bernier
Subject: Bullets\Penetration\Physics question.


1. Will mod makers be able to make bullets penetrate wood and not break? In other words picture a wooden board, if I wanted to mod it so you shoot the board and you can see through the board where the bullets went through, sort of the way STALKER does it. Is this possible?
*** While this is possible with code changes, I'd have to ask what gameplay this helps. There are many things we could do in source that we simply don't because it has little effect on the gameplay. Do you have something in mind that would be cool if you could do this?

2. I heard the physics have been exaggerated in CS: S. Is this going to be fixed? Is this an issue in hl2 as well?
*** In CS:Source we have a multiplayer physics system in place that while a bit unrealistic, provides us with the effect that we want without overburdening the network traffic and overall performance.

3. Have you confirmed wheter or not we will be able to basically refer to my first question, except picture sun or light on the other side, would we be able to make the light peer through dynamically? In a mod of course.
*** See my answer to #1 above.
 
From: Alby Frank <[email protected]>
To: Gabe Newell <[email protected]>, Erik Johnson <[email protected]>, [email protected]
Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2004 13:07:40 -0500
Subject: Doom III is gold!
(long message about how big a deal doom III is to us gamers)
-albo





From: Gabe Newell <[email protected]>
To: Alby Frank <[email protected]>
Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2004 11:34:53 -0700
Subject: RE: Doom III is gold!
Reply | Reply to all | Forward | Print | Add sender to contacts list | Trash this message | Show original


Woohoo! Something to play after Half-Life 2 ships.
 
Is there any idea as to when Counter-Stike: source beta will begin
pre-loading? There is mad chaos at the boards with people saying that
CS:s beta will come out tonight, which I know probably isint true.

thanks,

alb



It isn't tonight. It will be closer to the 28th. We'll give people
plenty of warning.

Gabe
 
From: ******************
Sent: Wednesday, July 14, 2004 5:58 AM
To: Gabe Newell
Subject: How's it going?

I read this article on Gamepost about what you guys at Valve were going through in the lead up to the going gold of Half-Life 1. http://www.gamespot.com/features/halflife_final/

I felt stressed out just reading it. The amount of work some dudes were putting into the game was insane.

Is it anything like that at the moment? Or is it pretty much under control?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We have discovered new and different ways to be stressed.
 
I asked how much the hl2 project cost and when they planned on starting half life 3

Gabe Newell to me
Jul 14

We haven't tallied it up lately. The answer to your first question is
"An awful lot." The answer to your second question is "Hopefully more
than the answer to the first."

We had to think about Half-Life 3 in terms of story in order to finish
Half-Life 2, so in that sense we are already started. Half-Life 3 won't
be another five year project, or the team will kill me.
 
From: **********
Sent: Thursday, July 15, 2004 3:07 AM
To: Rick Ellis
Subject: entertaining thought


With the wonderful physics engine incorporated in the gameplay, I was wondering if it was possible to take life points from an enemy by throwing, say, a small can at him/her/it?

And by the size and mass of the object thrown, would the life points taken away increase/decrease accordingly?

Also, would their bodies be pushed back because of the force of the object, from a collapse to the floor because of a metal barrel, to a slight nudge of their head from an aluminum can?

Thanks for your time and patience Rick!! I'm sorry if you've received this kind of question before. I wasn't sure how to look up the question at the halflife2.net forums.

Have fun with the last couple of weeks of work with HL2, all is well, and pass the love on to the entire team from all of us. THANKS AGAIN!



Rafael


P.S. - The new flashlight design is looking good! People are hinting on the lack of shadows casted by the ant lions in the background, but i'm sure you've got it covered. =])
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Enemies will take HP losses when they are struck by objects. However, just in real life, the object has to be a certain size/mass before it will have any impact on the NPC. You wouldn't get hurt in real life if someone tossed empty pop cans at you. NPC's react to being hit by the same objects. Things like barrels will cause the NPC to move from the force.

Rick
Valve
 
from Gabe, to try and stop all this junk about CS:Source delaying HL2:


The release of CS:Source is basically the Source engine plus CS game
code plus the content to play one map (probably de_dust).

The reason we are doing this is primarily to find out what problems
there are with the Source engine when we give it to a couple of hundred
thousand people.

We're doing this before we RC Half-Life 2 to give us time to fix any
issues that surface (e.g. "on this graphics card with this version of
this BIOS and this video adapter the game won't run in widescreen
modes").

We also get information back from the engine when it crashes, which is
also very useful in evaluating how close we are to being done (one crash
per play year - good! One crash per play hour - bad!).

So don't think of this as a CS:Source beta as much as it is a Source
engine configuration and compatibility test.

CS:Source is in great shape, and I don't see it impacting the RC date.
It is the plan to include it in the regular and collectors edition
boxes.

Gabe
 
It is dynamic. Anything that's animated in the skybox (clouds, planes, whatever) will appear animated to the user.

Rick


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Jeremy B [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Friday, July 16, 2004 12:05 AM
To: Rick Ellis
Subject: Question about 3d skybox


Hello, i just had a quick question on the 3d skyboxes.

Are they fully dynamic (ie... do clouds move slowly across the sky, do they move over the sun and dim it a little like in real life?)

I'm not talking the sort of thing where a cloud goes over the sun and it projects shadows on the ground (don't think we'll see that sorta of detail (or cpu capable processing power) for a number of years.......

Is there a dynamic skybox implemented in the game right now with something like that or is more like far crys where its just a really good artist 3d box?

thanks for your time
 
They are different. We made different decisions about how physics works in the two games.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: ME
Sent: Friday, July 16, 2004 1:26 PM
To: Gabe Newell
Subject: CS:S physics/object interaction?


Hi Gabe,

I was watching the Counter-Strike: Source videos from the Korea demonstration that were hosted on csnation.net, and some of the object interaction irked me. When a player encountered a object like a barrel or crate and ran into it, the object flew out like it was kicked. This is different from some of the other object interaction I've seen. Example: Traptown Bink from E3 2003. When Gordon walked over to the table to block the door, the table moved against his body and didn't fly out.

So, are the physics/object interaction different between HL2 and CS:S, or what I saw an example that the physics aren't fully implemented?

Thanks,
Eric
 
well, this is pretty vague but better than nothing :)

We'll see what we can get done.....

-----Original Message-----
From: Kenny Aksentiev [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Friday, July 16, 2004 9:16 PM
To: Jess Cliffe
Subject: Re: question regarding multiplayer

Jess Cliffe wrote:


>>It's really a matter of artist/engineer bandwidth. HL2 and CSS are
>>incredibly complex games to build. We can't do 5 games at once.
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: Kenny Aksentiev [mailto:[email protected]]
>>Sent: Friday, July 16, 2004 8:30 PM
>>To: Jess Cliffe
>>Subject: question regarding multiplayer
>>
>>First off, hello to you, thanks for working on the game of the
>>millenium, etc :)
>>
>>I just have a quick question regarding multiplayer, to settle any

doubt.

>>
>>You said that CS:Source is going to be the only multiplayer packaged
>>with half-life 2. Now, does this mean additional multiplayer,(in
>>addition to half-life2 deathmatch), or the ONLY multiplayer? Or is this


>>non-discloseable just yet? It just seems it would be a bad decision to
>>only have CS for multiplayer, but my friend thinks it is.
>>
>>Thanks hopefully for your reply :)

thanks a lot for the reply :) Its the first one(not that I've sent many)
that I've gotten back so far. So does this mean. That CS:S is indeed the
only one, or is it all depending on how much can get done before the
release?

thanks once again.
 
By shoezer's request, because I am his ever-serving manslave, I post to the forums the latest message I got from cliffe, already in another thread.

BTW, what I'm referring to in this email thread with you is the lack of
DoD: Source information we've been putting out. Most everybody from the
DoD team is busy jamming on CS:S right now. We'll release new DoD:S info
sometime later. A couple people on the hl2.net forums are reading too
far into my statements...

he sent me this at about 2:30 AM... today, technically. PST.

probably the best thing he's said thus far :)
 
Hi Mr Ellis,


I hope you find the time to answer this little question as well, as I know you've got plenty of work at the moment

I wondered if it would be possible in a MOD to have vehicles that are partially destructible AND to have different parts of the vehicle have different functions that'll be disabled when that specific part of the vehicle is destroyed.

For example: A vehicle with a radar dish, if the dish gets shot, you have no more radar display on your HUD.

etc.


Thanks for your time


Yes this is very possible. You can affect the health of the vehicle, disable UI portions of the vehicle, just about anything you could imagine.

Rick
Valve


:D
 
Just a little thing a few of us have been wondering about. I must say, they do have a gift for when it comes to beating around the bush.


Hey Chris,

We've always experimented with taking certain liberties on the weapons to up the "cool" factor. This has been done most noticably on the M4 reload animation. Thanks for your input though -- I will share it with the rest of the team.

Cliffe
VALVe




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Chris Tabone [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Saturday, July 17, 2004 7:54 AM
To: Gabe Newell
Subject: CS:S issue


Sorry if I sent this to the wrong person, t'is my first time emailing you so I'll get straight to it (i bet you are sick of hearing that.. and that.. and that)

http://www.csnation.net/image.php?id=29902

look at that screenshot of CS:S .. you can clearly see that the shell is ejected to the left.. whereas in CS it is ejected to the right (which in my opinion is better because it doesn't bug you). Many people at halflife2.net have commented on this and are wondering whether this will be fixed. Any comments about this?

Thanks for your time
Chris
 
From: Brian Damage [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Sunday, July 18, 2004 2:19 PM
To: Rick Ellis
Subject: A question about the capabilities of VGUI...


Hello once again, Mr. Ellis.

This time I'd just like to ask about the capabilities of Source's VGUI2 system (I think I got the name right).

Specifically, what sort of file formats can be integrated into it? What sorts of picture files can we display in the game world? GIF? JPEG? PNG?

Also, can we play .avi and similar files through VGUI, and have them display on such things as monitors in the game world?

Thanks for your time, dude, I appreciate it,
Brian Damage.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Picture formats for the world are proprietary, but images start out as tif files and are then converted using a tool we provide to mod makers.

You could play avi's but I believe some code modifications would be required to do this.

Rick
Valve
 
-----Original Message-----
From: xxxxxxx [mailto:xxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Sunday, July 18, 2004 4:28 AM
To: Rick Ellis
Subject: vehicles in HL2.

Hi Rick,
Hoping you guys best luck for HL2. Can't wait to see your
efforts.
:)
I had a little question, will vehicles be destructible in HL2? if so
will a damaged vehicle be hard to drive?

Thanks,
Lance.

------------------------------------------------------------------------


No, we decided that having vehicles take damage didn't add to the
experience in Half-Life 2 so we decided to not support it in our game.
Mods can certainly take advantage of this however.

Rick
Valve
 
Strength

This isnt a brilliant answer, but then again, this wasnt a brilliant question...

Q. In the ‘Traptown’ Half-Life 2 video, I was a bit disappointed that the guards appeared to be so weak, for example, when Gordon pushes the tables in front of the door and the guard has to resort to shooting through the window. Are they still this weak for game-playing reasons or was the strength toned down for the videos to showcase the AI?

Thanks for reading (and perhaps a response), I'm sure you have more important things to be doing.....

A. They don't resort to shooting him through the window because they can't push the door open, they shoot through the window because they see you...

Rick
Valve
 
From: Trineas [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Tuesday, July 20, 2004 5:53 PM
To: Gabe Newell
Subject: two quick question


Hi!

1) I wonder how big (megabyte) the CS:S Beta will be? If you dont know it exactly, is it more or less than 500 mb?
2) Do you think it is possible that I (CZ Owner) can play the CS:S Beta within the next two weeks? ;)


-Thanks, Andy
Newsposter for www.HLPortal.de

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

300 MB the last time I checked.

August 10th is the day for CZ owners (it will start pre-loading on the 5th).
 
From: jb55 <[email protected]>
To: Gabe N00b <[email protected]>
Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 18:40:18 -0400
Subject: Need comfirmation
Reply | Reply to all | Forward | Print | Add sender to contacts list | Trash this message | Show original

The super-intelligent over at hl2central are saying hl2 is being
delayed once again. Please give me a quote of some kind so I can prove
them wrong and get the news corrected.

Just give me a simple yes or no, is it delayed again? Thank you for your time.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Gabe N00b <[email protected]>
To: jb55 <[email protected]>
Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 15:51:23 -0700
Subject: RE: Need comfirmation
Reply | Reply to all | Forward | Print | Add sender to contacts list | Trash this message | Show original

Right now we are looking at our bug numbers. Each day you fix some bugs
and you find some new bugs. The net number tells you how quickly you
will get to zero.

At our current rate of find/fix bugs, we'll be down to zero bugs in 16
days.
 
This is the old one

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Adrian Clemente Caba [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Tuesday, July 20, 2004 5:17 AM
To: Gabe Newell
Subject: Question about leak


Hello Gabe I'm a fan of half-life but i'm very worry about something that i read in www.hl2central.com is true?

This is the new of hl2central:
CS: Source Leaked!! posted by the_s-man - 3:31 AM
A 100mb pre-alpha file was leaked through the warez community recently of the much anticipated Counter-Strike Source. Our source informs us that the version looks quite early and if this was infact the latest version, Valve was further behind in development that we have been lead to believe. This of course is speculation, for this file could have been stolen long ago and only recently leaked. In order to run the version, our source stated that the Half-Life 2 leaked beta was needed.

In this writer's opinion, as well as that of our source, this just seems like another sad attempt at exposing Valve, but at the same time forcing anticipated Titles like HL2 and CS:S be delayed further and further back into 2004.


Thks for spend your time reading my email.
 
From: Nate Rathbun
Sent: Tuesday, July 20, 2004 6:13 PM
To: Gabe Newell
Subject: HL2 Info

Gabe, two quick questions, know you're busy!

Q. Recently it was announced that the current RC was aiming for a "Teen"
rating by the ESRB. From the videos we've seen, the game at least
appears to have a "Mature" rating. Has it been toned down?

No. Nothing has been changed.

Q. Throughout Half-Life we never hear Gordon speak, in order to maintain
the idea that you ARE Freeman. With the new details available in HL2,
will we ever see Freeman, either in mirrors, water, or other reflecting
objects?

No, you won't see Gordon.
 
-----Original Message-----
From: *********************
Sent: Tuesday, July 20, 2004 6:04 PM
To: Rick Ellis
Subject: AI questions

Hi there,

This response you gave got me wondering:

Q. In the 'Traptown' Half-Life 2 video, I was a bit disappointed
that the guards appeared to be so weak, for example, when Gordon
pushes the tables in front of the door and the guard has to resort
to shooting through the window. Are they still this weak for
game-playing reasons or was the strength toned down for the videos
to showcase the AI?

Thanks for reading (and perhaps a response), I'm sure you have more
important things to be doing.....

A. They don't resort to shooting him through the window because they
can't push the door open, they shoot through the window because they
see you...

Rick
Valve​

In Traptown, the combine wants to get to Gordon inside. Does he think
'the usual entrance is impeded, I'll try the other access points (doors
and windows for either following or shooting at Gordon)'. I imagine this
is possible for AI in the engine--associating node points with access
points--but is this how it actually works? The cheap way is of course,
'combine gets stuck at door, runs around like a chicken with his head
cut off, happens to see Gordon when he runs past a window, fires'. Is
there a special node in the editor for good shooting points like windows
('go here and you'll have line-of-sight there'?

BTW, the original question was asking, 'shouldn't the combine be able to
push that wussy little table?'

Thanks!

When there are obstacles in the way, the AI will try to avoid them. If
at any point the enemy comes into view they will of course begin to fire
at the enemy. I think this is what you see happening is that while they
are trying to avoid the obstacle (closed door) their first course of
action is to try to avoid it (maneuver around it) and they see Gordon
through the window and begin firing on him. You see that they do in
fact eventually break the door and I think that's because one of the
AI's is blocked from moving to the window spot (there's already an AI
there) so it takes the next path in the AI process which is to knock the
door down.

[I had two other AI questions he didn't answer :(]
 
- VAC 2 will be released with HL2. It will be created for general use among mods and HL2.

- Collecters Edition will be available over steam as a "Special Version"

- There are some new bink videos they showed us. They were trailers with collections of all footage from the E3's, etc, and a new promotional trailer. They all looked awesome. These will be released prior to HL2 and will be in publications at first, then will be available for download.

- The SDK will be released the same time the game is released.


Thanks to gh0st, from his trip to Valve..
 
that's the plan



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Tyler Murphy [mailto:T******@aol.com]
Sent: Thursday, July 22, 2004 9:50 AM
To: Gabe Newell
Subject: HL2 Coupon


Hello,

Just a quick question. In a response to an alleged email from you, you gave the response that HL2 coupon holders would also recieve the CS:S beta: Here is a copy of your response. Could you please clarify if this is true? Thank you very much for all that you do. I am anxiously awaiting the release of HL2.

Best Wishes,

Tyler Murphy
 
Multiple Monitor Support in Engine

Hi Matt,

There's currently no support for dual monitors in HL2 however it's on
the list of features to consider once the game releases.

Thanks,
Rick
Valve


-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
Sent: Thursday, July 22, 2004 2:28 AM
To: Rick Ellis
Subject: HL2 Multiple Monitor Support - halflife2.net

Hi Rick,

My question is about multiple monitor support in HL2.

Is it possible - (either currently or with a Mod) - to use 2 monitors
within the game. I.e. using the first monitor to play the game as
normal, AND the second to display something else - perhaps showing
feedback from a camera the player may have set up inside the map ? - To
provide a steady fps - the 2nd monitor would only show the engine using
low textures.

Or would it be possible to provide a widescreen mode - Instead of just
stretching the display - to show more of surrounding game environment ?

My first email to Rick and he answered ! Cool -
 
Just a reminder of the rules we set for this thread nearly 13 months ago:

Apos said:
As the thread title says, please only official info in this thread: emails from Gabe or other confirmed Valve sources about the game and engine. And please check to make sure there are no duplicates. The point of this thread is to have easy readable access to confirmed answers on HL2 questions about the engine and game mechanics NOT the game's story, NOT what Gabe had for breakfast this morning (even if Gabe emailed you about it), and NO spoilers.

Remember: if you want to discuss them, use OTHER threads that raise a specific topic, or start your own thread. Don't clutter up this one.

Also, PLEASE try to put only the Valve answers in bold if you know how. And if you're copying someone else's posted email, remember to credit them so they don't get mad.

Message from Munro, halflife2.net admin:

No one here is guaranteed to get answers from Gabe. If he isn't answering you, he isn't necessarily going to answer because several people spam him the question for you.

Again: this isn't a thread for begging people to ask questions: it's a thread people can go through and read the ANSWERS to.

Again: DON'T post questions that you've sent to Gabe that he hasn't answered yet. That's NOT the point of this thread.

Any off topic posts will be deleted and the user banned if repeated.
Click to expand...

Thanks.
 
I was confused, so wanted to clear it up for others who might be.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

No, it won't be Steam only.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: David [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Thursday, July 22, 2004 1:59 AM
To: Gabe Newell
Subject: Collectors Edition Steam Only??


Dear Gabe,

I read on the Promised Land mod website that the HL2 Collectors Edition will be a "Special Version" released over Steam. I have full intentions of buying the Collectors Edition, as I am a HUGE fan of Half Life. But I want to have the box and all the documentation that comes with it. So will the Collectors Edition be available at retail as well?

I'm sure you guys are working really hard right now. Are you getting excited about releasing the game soon?

Thank you,

David (Cunni in halflife2.net forums)
 
Nothing to worry about. The X800 is really really fast.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Tyler Murphy [mailto:T******@aol.com]
Sent: Thursday, July 22, 2004 8:38 PM
To: Gabe Newell
Subject: Benchmarks


Hello,

After the release of the Doom 3 benchmarks, I'm getting rather nervous regarding my X800Pro that I bought for HL2. From what I'm hearing, the 6800 GT will out perform the ATi cards due to their better performance with Open GL. If anyone can reassure me that my Pro will kick some Nvidia ass come Half-Life 2, it would be you.

-Tyler Murphy
 
Not yet. Currently if a file is out of rev, it will be replaced in it's
entirety. This is largely due to how we store the files, however this
will likely change in a future version of Steam.

Rick
Valve

-----Original Message-----
Sent: Friday, July 23, 2004 2:01 AM
To: Rick Ellis
Subject: "Delta patching" in Steam

Dear Rick,
I'm sure you're quite busy tending to the final hours of HL2's
development but I hope you can spare a few minuets to answer a question.
I was wondering, does Steam use "delta patching" to update only the
/parts/ of files which have changed, or does it simply update the
entirety of all files which have been changed in some way? Thank you
for you time and I wish you the very best of luck with HL2.
 
Not likley, we're just pushing for the beta.

-----Original Message-----
From: Brad P [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Tuesday, July 20, 2004 11:34 AM
To: Erik Johnson
Subject: CS:Source Movies

Hi Erik,

Will Valve be releasing any Direct Feed movies of Counter Strike Source
before the beta test or official release? I've seen some videos taken
from a camcorder, and the E3 presentation movie, and the game looks
pretty damn good, but I think some direct feed Bink movies or such would
generate more popularity.

Regards,

Brad Porter
 
Hi Paul,

See my answers to your questions below.

Thanks,
Rick
Valve

From: Paul Miller [mailto:p@hotmail.com]
Sent: Friday, July 23, 2004 1:55 AM
To: Rick Ellis
Subject: MORE HL2 Questions!

Dear Rick,
First of all, I originally sent this e-mail to Gabe, but he must have been busy or something, so I'm tryin' you, hoping that you'll be a good reliable guy. So, like every other respecting person sending you e-mail upon e-mail, I would like to thank you for actually responding to so many questions. I seriously have no clue of how you do it, however, keep up the good work! With that note, keep up the good work on Half-Life 2, also. It looks great.

So, to the questions, you knew it was coming, so here it is...

1. I was just remembering all the weapons in the original Half-Life and thought about the crossbow... Will there be a crossbow in Half-Life 2 (If you cannot answer this, that's fine)?
*** Yes there's a crossbow in HL2, although it's been beefed up a bit.

2. If so, will the arrows stick into the models? Like, if I shot a character model, would the arrow stay in that same location that it hit, and if they moved around would it too, move realistically?
*** What usually happens is the enemy is pinned down to something with the arrow, and yes the arrow does stay in the world.

3. I'm sure that it's possible to make a crossbow in a mod too, so I was wondering... What about a harpoon, or something similar? I'm sure this would require a bit of code, but is it possible to make a harpoon type weapon in which you shoot an arrow with a rope attached to it's backside, so that you've got the critter on a line? Maybe you could even fling him around... I'd find that to be barrels of fun.
*** No weapons like this exist in HL2 currently but it's certainly something that you could do with a mod.

4. This isn't necessarily a question about the game or source, yet a question of distribution and such. I was actually wondering if you could clarify the deal w/ the simultaneous mods of Half-Life 2... I am very confused. What mods will ship, with no extra charge with Half-Life 2, and what mods will be sold sperately with Half-Life 2?
*** I can't comment on this, you'll have to be patient and wait for our announcements.

Thank you so much, I can't wait until Half-Life 2 comes out! I'm getting a new computer for it, and I will for sure buy it as soon as possible. Unfortunately, however, I will not be able to play it the day of release... That day is reserved for the crying.
*** Thank you for your interest in HL2, we hope you enjoy it as much as we've enjoyed making it.

Sincerely,
Paul Miller


Wow... When I realized that I actually got a response... I was so happy. I literally jumped jumped around for a sec. and then ran up to my brother to tell him the news :). God, I love VALVE!

My new official valve hero is Rick Ellis. He's nice, smart, and responds to my e-mail... I guess Gabe hates me... :( hah

Hopefully this information does some of you good. :cheers:
 
1) How about you come to Seattle and playtest the whole game now?

2) We get about 2.5X the money for Steam sales, if I recall correctly.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Jade [mailto:Jadrie@ :imu:
Sent: Wednesday, July 21, 2004 6:45 AM
To: Gabe Newell
Subject: Hey Gabe


Thanks in advance for answering this,
I must say I'm impressed you don't just close your email account down with the torrent of emails coming at you, and that you answer all these questions.

Now my little questions..

1) So, as you mentioned a while back, bribery works on you.. would authentic Maine Lobster get me the game a bit earlier? or perhaps a shirt? gotta love how lobster is dirt cheap here =D

2) another thing I've been debating, whether to buy the boxed game so I have it to gloat over, or to get from Steam, and be able to play sooner, and give more of the money right to you guys. How much cash is lost in the process from the boxed version to you guys, compared to steam?

Thanks for listening to the community!

...a trait other game developers should pick up on.

-Sam
 
Gravity Gun and Oxygen-Type Tank

1) Depends upon how strong the tank is. The player is physically simulated, which is what I think you are trying to get at.

2) Sure. Building lots of variations of this would be fun for the MOD developers. We used to weld tanks to opposite sides of a car and launch it into space with Ted Backman's corpse inside. It was ... perversely entertaing.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From:
Sent: Friday, July 23, 2004 4:07 PM
To: Gabe Newell
Subject: Grav. Gun and Tank


Dear Gabe,
I was on a drive home from a theme park, which took about 4 hours, so I had plenty of time to think. I heard somewhere that on an E3 video, an oxygen-type tank was shot, and the tip blew off and the tank was propelled around like a rocket. So I have 2 questions for you:

1.) If you were holding the oxygen tank with the gravity gun thing, and somebody shot off the tip of the tank, would the tank act like a rocket and "pull" you with it, or would it just keep expelling gases while you stand there with no movement whatsoever?


2.) If you were holding the oxygen tank with the gravity gun (or holding it no matter what), if you smacked the tip of the tank against a solid surface (wall, ground, etc...) would the tip break off and begin to propel as if it were shot off? (I hope that was stated correctly, in other words, is there any other way to knock the tip off without shooting it? Like smacking it against a wall, or dropping it on the tip end from up high.)

Thank you for your time! :)
 
Sent:

"Mr Newell,

I just watched a video of the 2004 E3 presentation of the apartment scene.

I just wanted to tell you that as far as I could tell from the video it looks like you have created the best looking game ever.

Perhaps some would argue a more spinny, shiny, lets specular map everything approach is more appealing. Mentioning no games here. ;-)

However I am so glad you took a more realistic and interesting approach with your graphic design. The subtleties and depth of the visuals really seem a giant leap forward towards photo-realistic gaming to me.

I was going to attach a screenshot and comment on how it looks like a photograph, but then I though to myself you must know what your own game looks like =)

Anyway, I think the apartment scene looks particularly cinematic, it's nothing I have ever seen or thought I would see anytime soon in a game before.

Well, keep up the fantastic work, I can't wait to play Half-Life 2. Just from the videos of the game in action that I have seen, I cannot possibly see how it could not turn out to be the best game of all time. Damn it looks fun! :)

Yours gratefully,

Anthony"

Received:

Thanks, Anthony. We always are willing to be(t?) on the sophistication of the core audience, and your mail confirms that.

Gabe
 
The server simulated objects should be fairly deterministic whereas the
client simulated objects can vary significantly.

Yahn

-----Original Message-----
From: Gabe Newell
Sent: Monday, July 26, 2004 1:29 PM
To: 'Ross Gallagher'
Cc: Yahn Bernier
Subject: RE: Question on demo playback + Physics

It will vary.

-----Original Message-----
From: Ross Gallagher [mailto:p[email protected]]
Sent: Monday, July 26, 2004 11:57 AM
To: Gabe Newell
Subject: Question on demo playback + Physics

Hi, my name is Ross Gallagher. I have a question about demo recording
and physics.
When a demo is recorded, when you play it back via the engine, will the
physics playback be exactly the same each time, or everytime you view
it, will objects act slightly differently?

Thanks for reading this and im really looking forward to HL2, thanks for
all the hard work you've put in! :)

Ross
 
Yes.

Still on target for zero bugs on the 5th.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Kees Voesenek [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Monday, July 26, 2004 2:02 PM
To: Gabe Newell
Subject: Ricochet


Hi there,
Will there be a Ricochet:Source?

Good luck with bugfixing (how many days left?)
Can't wait to play the game..

I will see your answer up ahead :p

Kees Voesenek
 
Cheeez said:
Not likley, we're just pushing for the beta.

-----Original Message-----
From: Brad P [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Tuesday, July 20, 2004 11:34 AM
To: Erik Johnson
Subject: CS:Source Movies

Hi Erik,

Will Valve be releasing any Direct Feed movies of Counter Strike Source
before the beta test or official release? I've seen some videos taken
from a camcorder, and the E3 presentation movie, and the game looks
pretty damn good, but I think some direct feed Bink movies or such would
generate more popularity.

Regards,

Brad Porter
Click to expand...

Hi Cheez,

We released the CS Source bink on Fileplanet.

Cliffe
 
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