Interview with Gabe Newell (PC Gameplay Belgium)

[Jarman]

One example is the crane scenario that is also mentioned in PCZ; transporting the buggy to the opposite side of the canal by using the crane arm magnet is a bonus rather than a requirement, simpy knocking the arm against the bridge suffices to bring it down and allow passage.

This is the spoiler I have avoided to mention in my report about the Italian article.

Yeah, but even if Gabe eats a couple of boxes of donuts a day, it still does not amount to $40M...

A couple of boxes? You're underestimating Gabe!

j/k

 

[Gorgon]

Thats hot. thanks a million

 

[FictiousWill]

Is that first post a direct copy of the interview text? Gabe Newell doesn't spell that poorly. Are you guys sure of its authenticity? Now I'm off to read X-Vectors post.

 

[blahblahblah]

PCGP : When can we expect Half-Life 2 to be released?

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.

Okay lets assume a september release date. That is five months. Is that enough to go through Alpha and then beta testing in that time? I wouldn't count on it. I guess we will have to wait and see.

 

[Lobster]

Is that first post a direct copy of the interview text? Gabe Newell doesn't spell that poorly. Are you guys sure of its authenticity? Now I'm off to read X-Vectors post.

The interview was conducted live, Either the thread starter or the writer of the article is at fault lol.

And 40 million is just a sign of production values in the future, John Carmmack said at the GDC he expects games to enter the 100 million stage in just a year or two, its all in the software licensing.

A single copy of Softimage costs a couple of thousand.

 

[kaf11]

just think about that 40 million dollars. if valve were truely greedy, they could have released an unfinished piece of shit months ago and saved a lot of money, but theyre willing to spend the money on US, so as to give us the best gaming experience possible. youve got to love them for that.

 

[DelaZ]

Is that first post a direct copy of the interview text? Gabe Newell doesn't spell that poorly. Are you guys sure of its authenticity? Now I'm off to read X-Vectors post.

I translated it. My english isn't that good.

 

[FictiousWill]

That's cool - We had a few made up interviews a few months ago, so I was just making sure. Thanks for taking the time to translate it over for us!

 

[Sprafa]

w00t.

Although I must say - pre-alpha ???? Summer??

 

[Lobster]

Pre-alpha could mean anything, who knows what valve call an alpha or a beta, some people call an alpha a finished engine, others call it a completed game, Its useless us making an asumption about there wording, only 10 days left to E3, then we should find out more on the subject.

 

[Majestic XII]

Hmm... isnt it alpha (the first playable build) -> Beta (Most stuff is in the game but with bugs) -> Gold (Release)?

 

[moppe]

w00t.

Although I must say - pre-alpha ???? Summer??

I will assume that VALVe has atleast 5 people on playtesting.
Each one is given a part of the game to realy go into detail on and check if something isn't wrong.

Then each one will go through the entire game with checking and so on.
Gabe said that the game can be done in 40 hours. Then we could assume that those 40 hours extend into 150 when they test the whole game.

It isn't so much...

 

[Ruroni]

Ground Control II was in alpha stage, and quickly went to beta testing, and will hit stores soon enough. HL2 I figure will be the same with the "summer" talk.

 

[Lobster]

Theres more than one thing in a games development life that goes through alpha and beta stages, in this case alpha probbally just means the game itself is complete and put together , then beta would be the finalised game, and between that and release would be bug fixing.. but either way its impossible to tell, best to just ignore it

 

[Jarman]

Hmm... isnt it alpha (the first playable build) -> Beta (Most stuff is in the game but with bugs) -> Gold (Release)?

Yes. Testers don't play alphas, just betas as far as I know.

 

[Jadewolf5675]

PCGP : Did you add special moves to the game? Like duck away or the famous bullettime?

G.N. : Many of those special moves and special effects were added to the game, but they were quickly removed. They didn't match with the typicall Half-Life environment and they took to much attention of the player.

Umm....I'm thinking not. They would never put any of those types of moves into the game to begin with.

 

[Lobster]

Maybe we can file this one under 'L' for Lost in Translation.

 

[Feath]

Umm....I'm thinking not. They would never put any of those types of moves into the game to begin with.

Erm, Why not?

 

[Sai]

well if lombardi said they were gonna announce a release date at e3.....then he have no choice but to think it will be atleast two months afterwards

 

[KurtCobain]

They took the bullet-time outa Max Payne one 2 times before deciding to use it.

What makes u so sure they didnt do same things with HL2

 

[DelaZ]

Umm....I'm thinking not. They would never put any of those types of moves into the game to begin with.

smartass

Thats what Gabe said... BUT NO! I GUESS HE'S LYING AGAIN EH!!!

 

[Feath]

Yes. Testers don't play alphas, just betas as far as I know.

You are thinking of Beta testers. Beta is when it's almost complete just with bugs.

They'll need to test through-out the developement process. That includes Alphas.

 

[RTFMish]

But doesn't Alpha come before Beta?

 

[Lobster]

But doesn't Alpha come before Beta?

Yes, But I believe he was refering to the game content, which can go through alpha, beta, and release stages in a matter of months, depending on balancing and bug issues.

 

[DelaZ]

Never heard about alpha testers?

 

[CrazyHarij]

This "Alpha" thing makes it sound unfinished.. ;(

 

[Lobster]

It means nothing! Ignore it! You'll find out clearer info at E3.

 

[synth]

This is some nice information... really has increased my interest. Now we'll wait and see what good stuff comes out of E3!

 

[dat_monkey]

I was worried too when they said "PRE ALPHA" im like.... god damn it... Then i read on and they say "Summer" release... If it does come out this summer it will be like september 30th or something.... something ****ing retarded like that

 

[Seppo]

I was worried too when they said "PRE ALPHA" im like.... god damn it... Then i read on and they say "Summer" release... If it does come out this summer it will be like september 30th or something.... something ****ing retarded like that

So now it's scientifically proven. It takes five pages until someone comes up with the September 30th or some stupid "L0l it's not coming out thsi year theyer teh lyers" shit.

Can Vave actually do anything right? First you beg for the release date, and when they give one you're acting like that. Jeez people what do you want?!

 

[Lobster]

couldnt u have just let this post die, instead of catapulting it back to the top of the board !

 

[kanette]

But doesn't Alpha come before Beta?

I got it from a marketing book. Alpha means product to be tested by insider of the organization.
Beta means product to be tested by outsider such as us.

 

[Crusader]

Funny, this time last year they said they only had 'Playtesting, Playtesting, Playtesting' left to do... Seems things have gone backwards since then ^^

 

[No Limit]

Children please, remember this is from a German magazine. Computer terms mean different things in different languages so pre-alpha could mean beta. I simply wouldn't worry about it, the translation is probably wrong or Valve uses different terminology for their programming. Take this as very good information because it is. I hate it when people must turn every piece of information Valve releases into some giant conspiracy theory.

 

[SpoBo]

They only have 4 whole months left to get it from alpha to gold :/ Should work I guess .. besides they'll prolly be working extra hard at the end to make the release date (I hope )

 

[dat_monkey]

Can Vave actually do anything right?

No. And "Summer" is not a real release date.

 

[Seppo]

So you're a real smart ass aren't you. It seems to me you're more of a Valve-hater than a fan (or whatever) of Half-Life.

 

[Crusader]

"Pre-Alpha might mean Beta in german" roofles

 

[A.I.]

40 million bucks!

 

[Caminante]

Maybe Valve is planning to release the game on Sept the 30th? Now, t hat will be really something.