Glenn the Great
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- Apr 18, 2006
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Tonight marks the 3-year anniversary of the release of Half-Life 2: Episode Two. I'm here to give a bit of a refresher on the situation, a bit of a "State of the Union", and then try to provide some inspiration before we look ahead to the release of Half-Life 2: Episode Three.
Many fans are frustrated with the long development time of Episode Three and the lack of communication from Valve regarding this title. Of the many great things Valve is known for in the gaming industry, communication with the fanbase is not one of them. When it comes to community interaction, Valve is not Activision Blizzard; instead think more along the lines of Square Enix. Valve prefers to keep its inner workings very close to the vest. Most communications with the public are one-way proclamations from Valve to the fans in general, with any two-way communication being very tightly controlled and only exchanged with very carefully vetted interviewers. Recently, learning from some unfortunate slips of information from Doug Lombardi and Mark Laidlaw, Valve has started having multiple employees be present during any interview, as sort of a buddy-system to make sure that one Valve employee doesn't get caught up in the moment and get careless with what he tells the interviewer.
If you sense that you are being left in the dark, the positive side is that your feelings are reliable. Without the slightest hint of an ETA on the title's completion, the fanbase has actually been left in the dark. Even a hypothetical announcement that development has been cancelled or otherwise halted, or perhaps are rough measure of completion would be a glimmer of light in the bleak expanse. Valve has made sure to give reassurance that the title IS still being worked on. The fans ARE literally alone in the dark, and some are scared. I can understand this.
Now, I'm sure just about everyone out there knows not to get their hopes up expecting anything longer than a 6-8 hour adventure from Episode Three when it does finally ship. This isn't our first time at the rodeo, we accept that, and we are okay with that, because we know that it will be a polished experience like none other. Your average development studio takes only 1-2 years to turn out a 10-12 hour expansion or sequel. Valve didn't just begin working on Episode Three once Episode Two shipped. Before work on Episode One began back in 2005, the development team split into cabals so that work could be completed in parallel to increase efficiency. By the time Episode Three ships, Valve will have spent at least 5 years on its development. We can be assured of an experience so polished you might blind yourself if you turn it at the right angle.
The aforementioned polish is one reason why Valve's games are short short yet take so long to produce. Simple math indicates that Valve spends 4-5 times as much effort on each aspect of game development than those other companies. The final product certainly bears out this conclusion, but I think that reality of the situation is actually more complex that most people think.
One thing most fans don't realize is that Valve constructs and then rebuilds the entire game many times over before we ever see a release. Even the original Half-Life 2 featured no less than 5 iterations of the Combine Citadel before we arrived at the version we all loved to fry the Elite Overwatch therein.
Another thing which may be more obvious than the last point, but oft forgotten, is that Valve Corporation is a Privately Held Company. There does not exist the pressure from shareholders to make a release each year. Not only is there no shareholder pressure, there also isn't any monetary pressure, either. Gabe Newell is a "Microsoft Millionaire"; the simple interest he earns from his savings accounts is enough for him to eke out a comfortable existence for the rest of his life, even if Valve never sells another game. Gabe surely is the quintessential playboy!
For everyone employed at Valve who is NOT wealthy enough to coast through the rest of their lives, there is little to worry about. Gabe can afford to pay their salaries, competitive in the industry as they are, year after year after year. The atmosphere at Valve can be likened much more to a family than a traditional company. The men and women hard at work on Episode Three, and all the other Valve hits we enjoy, are really more like extended family to Gabe. As long as they are all enjoying their time and eachothers' company, actually releasing games is just a triviality.
Perhaps some of you have played traditional tabletop RPGs like Dungeons and Dragons with a group of friends. No one intends for the stories and adventures, however great they may be, to become commercialized or otherwise leave the living room. As long as you can have a good time among friends, that's all that really matters. This is very much how it is for Valve: they are a group of close-knit friends, a group of very, very, very talented friends. Marc Laidlaw spins epic yarns of inter-dimensional consequence, and the friends at Valve set to work, designing, modeling, programming, building. Then they playtest their experience, eat drink and be merry, go back home to their families with a nice chunk of change from their salaries, and begin anew the next week.
Whether or not the public shares in the experience doesn't matter very much. We will never get to learn the true stories behind the Half-Life universe which are shared behind closed doors. We will never get to experience the G-Man's background as a young Combine slug who dreamed of becoming a man, yet whose future had already been determined by his father to become an Advisor. The young slug who, in rebellion against his society, cloned Gordon Freeman's father into an appropriate host body for himself, and would go on to spark a war which would shake the multiverse at its foundations.
No, that is for Gabe and his friends to share amongst eachother in private company. And we should not begrudge them this or accuse them of being selfish, because it is not like they hang it over our heads as in the Greek myth of Tantalus. No, for the past 3 years, Valve has never said a word of Episode Three unless specifically pressed for it by the fans, and even then they have gracefully declined to say any more.
What can you do about this as fans? Well, the quickest way to experience Gordon's latest adventures would be to submit a job application to Valve http://www.valvesoftware.com/jobs/ and get hired. Remember that Valve only hires the best of the best, requiring many years of industry experience (at other companies, of course.) The first item on the list, an Artist, only requires 3+ years of industry experience. Chances are good that by the end of those 3 years Episode Three will still not be released, so you will not have wasted your time. The only thing separating you from Valve's inner circle and the Half-Lifey goodness therein is you own motivation and initiative.
If this isn't a direction you can stomach, don't feel ashamed. It doesn't necessarily make you any less of a good fan, you will just need to find some other way to tide yourself over before a release which, lets face it, in a world of Duke Nukem Forevers and Black Mesas, may never ever come about. But don't lose heart, you can still actively participate in the world of Half-Life yourself. The SDK is right before you! Come up with your own story, involve your friends! If you're worried about someone poopoo-ing your story as not being canon, just don't open up to the public about it. Take Valve's lead and politely decline to discuss your private workings.
Either way, be thankful that you were able to gain a footing in the Half-Life Universe, because there are many other great stories throughout time which, unlike Half-Life, will have never left closed doors.
Many fans are frustrated with the long development time of Episode Three and the lack of communication from Valve regarding this title. Of the many great things Valve is known for in the gaming industry, communication with the fanbase is not one of them. When it comes to community interaction, Valve is not Activision Blizzard; instead think more along the lines of Square Enix. Valve prefers to keep its inner workings very close to the vest. Most communications with the public are one-way proclamations from Valve to the fans in general, with any two-way communication being very tightly controlled and only exchanged with very carefully vetted interviewers. Recently, learning from some unfortunate slips of information from Doug Lombardi and Mark Laidlaw, Valve has started having multiple employees be present during any interview, as sort of a buddy-system to make sure that one Valve employee doesn't get caught up in the moment and get careless with what he tells the interviewer.
If you sense that you are being left in the dark, the positive side is that your feelings are reliable. Without the slightest hint of an ETA on the title's completion, the fanbase has actually been left in the dark. Even a hypothetical announcement that development has been cancelled or otherwise halted, or perhaps are rough measure of completion would be a glimmer of light in the bleak expanse. Valve has made sure to give reassurance that the title IS still being worked on. The fans ARE literally alone in the dark, and some are scared. I can understand this.
Now, I'm sure just about everyone out there knows not to get their hopes up expecting anything longer than a 6-8 hour adventure from Episode Three when it does finally ship. This isn't our first time at the rodeo, we accept that, and we are okay with that, because we know that it will be a polished experience like none other. Your average development studio takes only 1-2 years to turn out a 10-12 hour expansion or sequel. Valve didn't just begin working on Episode Three once Episode Two shipped. Before work on Episode One began back in 2005, the development team split into cabals so that work could be completed in parallel to increase efficiency. By the time Episode Three ships, Valve will have spent at least 5 years on its development. We can be assured of an experience so polished you might blind yourself if you turn it at the right angle.
The aforementioned polish is one reason why Valve's games are short short yet take so long to produce. Simple math indicates that Valve spends 4-5 times as much effort on each aspect of game development than those other companies. The final product certainly bears out this conclusion, but I think that reality of the situation is actually more complex that most people think.
One thing most fans don't realize is that Valve constructs and then rebuilds the entire game many times over before we ever see a release. Even the original Half-Life 2 featured no less than 5 iterations of the Combine Citadel before we arrived at the version we all loved to fry the Elite Overwatch therein.
Another thing which may be more obvious than the last point, but oft forgotten, is that Valve Corporation is a Privately Held Company. There does not exist the pressure from shareholders to make a release each year. Not only is there no shareholder pressure, there also isn't any monetary pressure, either. Gabe Newell is a "Microsoft Millionaire"; the simple interest he earns from his savings accounts is enough for him to eke out a comfortable existence for the rest of his life, even if Valve never sells another game. Gabe surely is the quintessential playboy!
For everyone employed at Valve who is NOT wealthy enough to coast through the rest of their lives, there is little to worry about. Gabe can afford to pay their salaries, competitive in the industry as they are, year after year after year. The atmosphere at Valve can be likened much more to a family than a traditional company. The men and women hard at work on Episode Three, and all the other Valve hits we enjoy, are really more like extended family to Gabe. As long as they are all enjoying their time and eachothers' company, actually releasing games is just a triviality.
Perhaps some of you have played traditional tabletop RPGs like Dungeons and Dragons with a group of friends. No one intends for the stories and adventures, however great they may be, to become commercialized or otherwise leave the living room. As long as you can have a good time among friends, that's all that really matters. This is very much how it is for Valve: they are a group of close-knit friends, a group of very, very, very talented friends. Marc Laidlaw spins epic yarns of inter-dimensional consequence, and the friends at Valve set to work, designing, modeling, programming, building. Then they playtest their experience, eat drink and be merry, go back home to their families with a nice chunk of change from their salaries, and begin anew the next week.
Whether or not the public shares in the experience doesn't matter very much. We will never get to learn the true stories behind the Half-Life universe which are shared behind closed doors. We will never get to experience the G-Man's background as a young Combine slug who dreamed of becoming a man, yet whose future had already been determined by his father to become an Advisor. The young slug who, in rebellion against his society, cloned Gordon Freeman's father into an appropriate host body for himself, and would go on to spark a war which would shake the multiverse at its foundations.
No, that is for Gabe and his friends to share amongst eachother in private company. And we should not begrudge them this or accuse them of being selfish, because it is not like they hang it over our heads as in the Greek myth of Tantalus. No, for the past 3 years, Valve has never said a word of Episode Three unless specifically pressed for it by the fans, and even then they have gracefully declined to say any more.
What can you do about this as fans? Well, the quickest way to experience Gordon's latest adventures would be to submit a job application to Valve http://www.valvesoftware.com/jobs/ and get hired. Remember that Valve only hires the best of the best, requiring many years of industry experience (at other companies, of course.) The first item on the list, an Artist, only requires 3+ years of industry experience. Chances are good that by the end of those 3 years Episode Three will still not be released, so you will not have wasted your time. The only thing separating you from Valve's inner circle and the Half-Lifey goodness therein is you own motivation and initiative.
If this isn't a direction you can stomach, don't feel ashamed. It doesn't necessarily make you any less of a good fan, you will just need to find some other way to tide yourself over before a release which, lets face it, in a world of Duke Nukem Forevers and Black Mesas, may never ever come about. But don't lose heart, you can still actively participate in the world of Half-Life yourself. The SDK is right before you! Come up with your own story, involve your friends! If you're worried about someone poopoo-ing your story as not being canon, just don't open up to the public about it. Take Valve's lead and politely decline to discuss your private workings.
Either way, be thankful that you were able to gain a footing in the Half-Life Universe, because there are many other great stories throughout time which, unlike Half-Life, will have never left closed doors.
