DigiQ8
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Interview with Greg Coomer
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ScRaTcH-A-HoLiC
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[ Exclusive Interview with Greg Coomer ] - [ 10/21/2004 2:14:24 AM ]
¬ Posted by: vudu
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I recently had a chance to "sit down" with Greg Coomer from world renowned Valve Software located in Bellevue, Washington. Read along as I explore some hidden features in Half-Life 2 as well as what is next for VALVe.
Recently, Greg had a chance to visit Japan for a symposium for the computer entertainment industry, TGS 2004. Greg gave a talk entitled "New-generation Game Development Skills and Distribution found in Half-Life 2 and Steam." (Quite a mouthfull I realize.) During IDGA-sponsored event, HL2 was shown to the crowd. Greg also talked about some of "the technical design decisions that the team has mad along the way."
Greg also clued me in to one of the features of HL2 which hasn't been shown off yet. This is the Bird AI found in the game. Adrian Finol spent a considerable amount of time creating realistic birds for the Half-Life 2 engine. They fly and react to their environment just as a bird in the real world would. I recall from my playtest at VALVe birds flying off of a cliff in one area of the game. I didn't realize they were there until I made noise and they flew away. It was quite amazing to say the least.
You won't find Greg playing CS these days as he has switched primarily to CS:S. He plays online sometimes along with a few other VALVe employees, but due to Repetitive Stress Injury, he has to play left-handed which leads to "sucky playing."
Despite the delays, Greg is optimistic about the upcoming release of HL2. He says "the anticipation for HL2 does not seem to have waned over the course of the past year." Although there are some fans fairly upset with VALVe, so far they have received better than excellent reviews. "As Doug Lombardi said, it's always nice to hear nice things about your baby."
So what's next for VALVe? "TF2 is definitely one of the next things on our plate." There is also a MOD expo planned for Seattle (expect WhutDuFuk.com to have full coverage of that). The SDK is planned for release shortly along with tweaks CS:S.
I would venture to say that despite Greg's (feigned?) ignorance, VALVe will go ahead and start production on Half-Life 3 as well. Who's to say what's in store, however. I do know one thing. I'm ready to walk around City 17 and start a whole new adventure.
Comments go here
-- Steve "vudu" Tauber
[Entirety of Interview]
====================
From: Steve Tauber Reply-To: Steve Tauber To: Greg Coomer Date: Wed, 29 Sep 2004 14:46:29 -0700 Subject: whutdufuk.com
Well first off, how was Japan? You gave a talk entitled: "New-generation Game Development Skills and Distribution found in Half-Life2 and Steam" Could you give me a summary of that?
Also, back in May you posted some screenshots. The fans decided to view the source and found your ASCII bird that you place on all your webpages. First off, what's your fascination with birds?
Thirdly, was the G-Man ascii art always there (on the screenshot page) or was it added later? There have been a few puzzles since then. Were you behind these?
Fourthly, how often do you say you play CS? Do you find other VALVe games more fun?
That's a pretty good start. Thanks again,
-- Steve Tauber
====================
From: Greg Coomer To: Steve Tauber Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2004 09:43:39 -0700 Subject: RE: whutdufuk.com
Sorry! Been sort of busy.
Japan was fantastic. I was there to attend an IGDA-sponsored game developer's conference happening concurrently with the Tokyo Game Show. I showed HL2 and the Source engine to a pretty large crowd, with a 45-minute talk. It was fun. I talked some about the technical design decisions that the team has made along the way -- reasons for building the Source engine and the important pieces of technology it contains. I focused a lot on the physics behavior of the engine, but spent quite a bit of time also covering rendering, AI, etc. I'm not an engineer, so I'm really only able to give a high-level description of these topics - more from a designer's point of view. But I think the audience appreciated that. Also, I'd never been there before. One city block in the various neighborhoods in Tokyo were more interesting than most whole cities.
Re: Birds... I'm not sure why, but I'm compelled to include them in everything. Just to relate your question back to HL2 (even though you weren't really asking it that way), my favorite feature of the game is the birds. Adrian Finol here at Valve wrote a bunch of special AI code to make them act and fly convincingly. For a while, it was unsure whether there would be any birds in the game... I'm really happy they didn't get cut. It's fun to mess with them.
Re: the Gman, the tests are his doing. I know nothing more about it.
Re: CS, I play pretty often, but not enough to get good. I've only been playing CS:Source lately. I like to blame my lack of skills on having to mouse left-handed due to RSI, but my sucky playing is really only because I'm just no good at the game. That usually doesn't keep me from enjoying myself, but when I jump on a server with Robin or Adrian, let's just say I try to put myself on their team rather than suffer recurring shame round after round.
-Greg
====================
From: Steve Tauber Reply-To: Steve Tauber To: Greg Coomer Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2004 13:23:38 -0700 Subject: Re: whutdufuk.com
Is your IGDA talk online?
Many fans are very excited for the release of HL2. There is a growing group, however, which is disappointed with the delays. They feel that HL2's graphics and physics engine won't "blow us away" like it would have had it been released earlier in the year. How much damage do you think these delays have caused VALVe?
I've seen the game when I came in to playtest and it is visually spectacular. Do you think it will recieve the coveted PC Gamer "Game of the Year" award?
What's next for VALVe? Obviously TF2 is still in production. Is there talk of Half-Life 3?
Thanks again,
-- Steve Tauber
====================
From: Greg Coomer To: Steve Tauber Date: Fri, 8 Oct 2004 16:43:14 -0700 Subject: RE: whutdufuk.com
No, the IGDA talk is not online. I decided to not use slides, and recording of the talk was strictly forbidden (although I'm not sure why).
I feel confident, because everyone continues to be very impressed when we show them the game. The delays have been frustrating for everyone but I think people will still be happy with their experience (despite the lateness of the game's shelf-date). As for damage, it's hard to say -- the anticipation for HL2 does not seem to have waned over the course of the past year.
Have you seen the PC Gamer review yet? I've heard that it has started to show up in subscribers' mailboxes. I'm pretty happy with their writeup. As Doug Lombardi said, it's always nice to hear nice things about your baby.
TF2 is definitely one of the next things on our plate. We're going to have a MOD expo here in Seattle, and spend some effort for a while getting the SDK in shape and working with the MOD community. Continuing support and content for CS:S is also high-priority. What's Half-Life 3?
¬ Posted by: vudu
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I recently had a chance to "sit down" with Greg Coomer from world renowned Valve Software located in Bellevue, Washington. Read along as I explore some hidden features in Half-Life 2 as well as what is next for VALVe.
Recently, Greg had a chance to visit Japan for a symposium for the computer entertainment industry, TGS 2004. Greg gave a talk entitled "New-generation Game Development Skills and Distribution found in Half-Life 2 and Steam." (Quite a mouthfull I realize.) During IDGA-sponsored event, HL2 was shown to the crowd. Greg also talked about some of "the technical design decisions that the team has mad along the way."
Greg also clued me in to one of the features of HL2 which hasn't been shown off yet. This is the Bird AI found in the game. Adrian Finol spent a considerable amount of time creating realistic birds for the Half-Life 2 engine. They fly and react to their environment just as a bird in the real world would. I recall from my playtest at VALVe birds flying off of a cliff in one area of the game. I didn't realize they were there until I made noise and they flew away. It was quite amazing to say the least.
You won't find Greg playing CS these days as he has switched primarily to CS:S. He plays online sometimes along with a few other VALVe employees, but due to Repetitive Stress Injury, he has to play left-handed which leads to "sucky playing."
Despite the delays, Greg is optimistic about the upcoming release of HL2. He says "the anticipation for HL2 does not seem to have waned over the course of the past year." Although there are some fans fairly upset with VALVe, so far they have received better than excellent reviews. "As Doug Lombardi said, it's always nice to hear nice things about your baby."
So what's next for VALVe? "TF2 is definitely one of the next things on our plate." There is also a MOD expo planned for Seattle (expect WhutDuFuk.com to have full coverage of that). The SDK is planned for release shortly along with tweaks CS:S.
I would venture to say that despite Greg's (feigned?) ignorance, VALVe will go ahead and start production on Half-Life 3 as well. Who's to say what's in store, however. I do know one thing. I'm ready to walk around City 17 and start a whole new adventure.
Comments go here
-- Steve "vudu" Tauber
[Entirety of Interview]
====================
From: Steve Tauber Reply-To: Steve Tauber To: Greg Coomer Date: Wed, 29 Sep 2004 14:46:29 -0700 Subject: whutdufuk.com
Well first off, how was Japan? You gave a talk entitled: "New-generation Game Development Skills and Distribution found in Half-Life2 and Steam" Could you give me a summary of that?
Also, back in May you posted some screenshots. The fans decided to view the source and found your ASCII bird that you place on all your webpages. First off, what's your fascination with birds?
Thirdly, was the G-Man ascii art always there (on the screenshot page) or was it added later? There have been a few puzzles since then. Were you behind these?
Fourthly, how often do you say you play CS? Do you find other VALVe games more fun?
That's a pretty good start. Thanks again,
-- Steve Tauber
====================
From: Greg Coomer To: Steve Tauber Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2004 09:43:39 -0700 Subject: RE: whutdufuk.com
Sorry! Been sort of busy.
Japan was fantastic. I was there to attend an IGDA-sponsored game developer's conference happening concurrently with the Tokyo Game Show. I showed HL2 and the Source engine to a pretty large crowd, with a 45-minute talk. It was fun. I talked some about the technical design decisions that the team has made along the way -- reasons for building the Source engine and the important pieces of technology it contains. I focused a lot on the physics behavior of the engine, but spent quite a bit of time also covering rendering, AI, etc. I'm not an engineer, so I'm really only able to give a high-level description of these topics - more from a designer's point of view. But I think the audience appreciated that. Also, I'd never been there before. One city block in the various neighborhoods in Tokyo were more interesting than most whole cities.
Re: Birds... I'm not sure why, but I'm compelled to include them in everything. Just to relate your question back to HL2 (even though you weren't really asking it that way), my favorite feature of the game is the birds. Adrian Finol here at Valve wrote a bunch of special AI code to make them act and fly convincingly. For a while, it was unsure whether there would be any birds in the game... I'm really happy they didn't get cut. It's fun to mess with them.
Re: the Gman, the tests are his doing. I know nothing more about it.
Re: CS, I play pretty often, but not enough to get good. I've only been playing CS:Source lately. I like to blame my lack of skills on having to mouse left-handed due to RSI, but my sucky playing is really only because I'm just no good at the game. That usually doesn't keep me from enjoying myself, but when I jump on a server with Robin or Adrian, let's just say I try to put myself on their team rather than suffer recurring shame round after round.
-Greg
====================
From: Steve Tauber Reply-To: Steve Tauber To: Greg Coomer Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2004 13:23:38 -0700 Subject: Re: whutdufuk.com
Is your IGDA talk online?
Many fans are very excited for the release of HL2. There is a growing group, however, which is disappointed with the delays. They feel that HL2's graphics and physics engine won't "blow us away" like it would have had it been released earlier in the year. How much damage do you think these delays have caused VALVe?
I've seen the game when I came in to playtest and it is visually spectacular. Do you think it will recieve the coveted PC Gamer "Game of the Year" award?
What's next for VALVe? Obviously TF2 is still in production. Is there talk of Half-Life 3?
Thanks again,
-- Steve Tauber
====================
From: Greg Coomer To: Steve Tauber Date: Fri, 8 Oct 2004 16:43:14 -0700 Subject: RE: whutdufuk.com
No, the IGDA talk is not online. I decided to not use slides, and recording of the talk was strictly forbidden (although I'm not sure why).
I feel confident, because everyone continues to be very impressed when we show them the game. The delays have been frustrating for everyone but I think people will still be happy with their experience (despite the lateness of the game's shelf-date). As for damage, it's hard to say -- the anticipation for HL2 does not seem to have waned over the course of the past year.
Have you seen the PC Gamer review yet? I've heard that it has started to show up in subscribers' mailboxes. I'm pretty happy with their writeup. As Doug Lombardi said, it's always nice to hear nice things about your baby.
TF2 is definitely one of the next things on our plate. We're going to have a MOD expo here in Seattle, and spend some effort for a while getting the SDK in shape and working with the MOD community. Continuing support and content for CS:S is also high-priority. What's Half-Life 3?
Vinnie_NL
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That bird AI soulds really interesting, I already thought of the birds after I saw the birds flying away in the Docks Bink video, about how scripted that would be. This is much better than those birds in Far Cry which are only flying rounds. And I think the birds in HL2 fall realistic to the ground if you shoot them, instead of the vaporising birds from Far Cry.
rumblefish
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cool interview
rf
rf
Vegeta897
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It's always good to know that there are intelligent birds in the game you are playing.
But seriously, that sounds really cool.
I remember a bunch of reviewers saying how fun it was to just spend HOURS in City 17 chasing birds.
But seriously, that sounds really cool.
I remember a bunch of reviewers saying how fun it was to just spend HOURS in City 17 chasing birds.
iamaelephant
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So they had time to program complex AI for a bird but the combine still don't react to being shot? Comforting...
Sashswash said:Hmm...cool interview. I'm looking forward to that "bird AI". That should be pretty cool.
"What's Half Life 3?"
lol
They used that exact phrase when someone asked about Half Life 2 (after they started development and before they announced it). I think that line was intentional, and they are most likely going to come out with hl3.
iamaelephant
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Valve have already registered the domain "halif-life3.net" so I think it's fairly likely we will see HL3.
MoD
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a) http://www.halflife2.net/forums/showthread.php?t=45581 omg
b) valve alredy said that in order to properly create the hl2 story, they had to write most of hl3... they mentioned hl3 lots of times, I'm sure most of the people here can quote them on that, so this must be a joke just like DrEvil says.
b) valve alredy said that in order to properly create the hl2 story, they had to write most of hl3... they mentioned hl3 lots of times, I'm sure most of the people here can quote them on that, so this must be a joke just like DrEvil says.
R
redpoints
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ScRaTcH-A-HoLiC said:
"See those birds? At one time a program was written to govern them, a program was written to govern the trees, the sunrise and sunset..." the Oracle, Matrix Reloaded.
Half Life 2 is the beginning of the end. Woot!
