SteamVR Announced! (26th Feb 2015) - ValveTime News Round-Up

[Omnomnick]

In this week's Round-Up, we're discussing the reveal of one of Valve's most ambitious projects to date - SteamVR, which will be shown off at GDC 2015 next week! We're also checking out a few recent updates for Dota 2, TF2, and CS:GO!

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[Sidedraft]

"Just be careful where you get your news" I see what you did there

 

[Emnu]

Man I just wish Valve would focus more on the game development and less on stuff people really don't care about. I'll be honest, I'm losing a bit of faith in Valve with all this waiting time, they haven't released a proper game for a while (last one was Portal 2 in 2011, thats 4 years ago).

Hmmm btw... 26th of February? I have 26 bottles in my home, from which 3 are filled. Half-Life 3 confirmed.

 

[Omnomnick]

Man I just wish Valve would focus more on the game development and less on stuff people really don't care about. I'll be honest, I'm losing a bit of faith in Valve with all this waiting time, they haven't released a proper game for a while (last one was Portal 2 in 2011, thats 4 years ago).

They're well aware that new technology like virtual reality will only help the gaming industry and their own advancements in the future.

Plus, you'd be correct in saying they haven't released a singleplayer game since 2011, but they've released both Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (2012) and Dota 2 (2013) in the meantime, both of which are now Valve's most successful titles ever.

 

[rikt]

Man I just wish Valve would focus more on the game development and less on stuff people really don't care about. I'll be honest, I'm losing a bit of faith in Valve with all this waiting time, they haven't released a proper game for a while (last one was Portal 2 in 2011, thats 4 years ago).

Hmmm btw... 26th of February? I have 26 bottles in my home, from which 3 are filled. Half-Life 3 confirmed.

Actually they seem to have kept very busy with many things, especially multiplayer games. It's just that HL3 is simply not a priority to Valve now.

Valve makes ridiculous amounts of money selling other peoples games with Steam, so it's not like they need to pop out sequels for the money. Which in a way is a good thing because rushed products to earn an easy buck don't tend to end well in the long run.

I'd love to see HL3 soon but the reality, even with all the seasonal hypes, is that it most likelly won't be coming out in the next years. They still have to prioritize all the multiplayer games with Source 2 which brings them subtantially more attentions and cash, especially with the yonger audiences who never heard of half-life, as well as work on the hardware to conquer living room space from consoles and VR, etc. So I think they just decided to take it slow and work on HL3 as they feel like it.

As for the rest of us who want HL3....TOUGH!!

 

[Omnomnick]

Actually they seem to have kept very busy with many things, especially multiplayer games. It's just that HL3 is simply not a priority to Valve now.

Pretty sure you're jumping the gun here. How do you know Half-Life 3 isn't a priority within Valve for some people?

The company has around 450~ employees which are split into a huge number of different, occasionally intersecting teams. Just because they're currently talking about hardware to the public while focusing on the upkeep of content for their unholy trio of multiplayer titles doesn't mean the singleplayer level designers known for Half-Life 2, Portal, Portal 2, etc, are sitting around twiddling their thumbs all day waiting for directions. We're seen plenty of evidence pertaining to Half-Life 3's development, from JIRA database, to employee/ex-employee profiles, to unearthed code. It's happening, just not quite yet. Games take a LONG time to make, just be patient.

 

[Mididda]

All of these VR googles just seem.... kinda useless and pointless to me, the entire "IT'S DA FUTURE" thing just doesn't buy me. People seem to like them however, and they work pretty well, and they are selling like hot buns.... I can't really follow that, but it might just be me. I'm not really into modern technology and I am more of a retro gamer, even though most of my favourites are more recent games. Like many things, I just don't know, perhaps if I had a chance of actually trying it out on a convention or something, I would change my mind. I still hope they won't be a disaster, tho, that would be just painful to watch. ( literally, hehe )

 

[rikt]

Pretty sure you're jumping the gun here. How do you know Half-Life 3 isn't a priority within Valve for some people?

The company has around 450~ employees which are split into a huge number of different, occasionally intersecting teams. Just because they're currently talking about hardware to the public while focusing on the upkeep of content for their unholy trio of multiplayer titles doesn't mean the singleplayer level designers known for Half-Life 2, Portal, Portal 2, etc, are sitting around twiddling their thumbs all day waiting for directions. We're seen plenty of evidence pertaining to Half-Life 3's development, from JIRA database, to employee/ex-employee profiles, to unearthed code. It's happening, just not quite yet. Games take a LONG time to make, just be patient.

Yeah I meant not a priority in terms of public announcements and releases, I guess I didn't make that very clear. As you say we have had what appear to be evidences that it is being developed.

 

[Omnomnick]

Yeah I meant not a priority in terms of public announcements and releases, I guess I didn't make that very clear. As you say we have had what appear to be evidences that it is being developed.

Well, why should they talk about a game or announce anything when the project is clearly far from finalised? Long-term Valve fans know EXACTLY what can happen when they announce things too far ahead of time. Here's a few examples of early announcements building people's expectations before releasing something totally/somewhat different.

Half-Life 2 - Basically the whole game.
Half-Life 2: Episode One - "Aftermath" being the original name, its core concept, length, etc.
Half-Life 2: Episode Two - Vehicle design, final battle concept, etc.
Half-Life 2: Episode Three - Game was cancelled.
Left 4 Dead - Environments, enemy/character designs.
Portal 2 - Pneumatic Diversity Vent gameplay element.
Dota 2 - A lot of the beta content (although this worked to Valve's advantage given feedback, etc).
Team Fortress 2 - Weapon and Character designs.
Team Fortress 2 (Older versions) - Pretty much three entire games and their visual styles, gameplay, etc.

Do you really want Valve to announce Half-Life 3 as a "priority" title two or three years before its released, when we all know it will look completely different once its finished? Just let them get on with it and have them announce it six months before release when things are more or less concrete.

 

[rikt]

They could just say "we are working on it", instead of keeping dead silent and then tease/troll the fans with stuff no one cares about like this, or this. If I'm not mistaken they won't even confirm that someone is working on it, right?

As you mentioned before we know, or think we know, they are working on it thanks to "JIRA database, to employee/ex-employee profiles, to unearthed code". So essentially because some of us were digging around. Valve would probably prefer that none of that was even known to the public.

Of course I also understand they don't want to talk too much about something that changes a lot, or even completely, through time and that the fans can be annoying.

But as you say, everyone just needs to be patient. For me trying to find out what's the status of HL3 has now become almost a yearly thing, then I forget about it completely. Hopefully in time it just won't matter anymore and the hype will move on to some other game.

 

[tomemozok]

I actually saw the whole demo of half life 2 shown on e3 2004. It looks a lot like the final version.
The leaked files weren't from them,and shouldn't be taken as an announcement from valve. They were true to their word when they did show us gameplay more or less.
The Supressor shutdown is exactly the same, the street fights are a lot like in the final game, and the openning is the same(apart from one line from the gman missing which he says in the end)
Give it a look

I would like if they could do this kind of a demo for hl3 before they release it so we can have a sneak peek and see how will the engine behave and whatnot.

 

[Omnomnick]

I actually saw the whole demo of half life 2 shown on e3 2004. It looks a lot like the final version.
The leaked files weren't from them,and shouldn't be taken as an announcement from valve. They were true to their word when they did show us gameplay more or less.
The Supressor shutdown is exactly the same, the street fights are a lot like in the final game, and the openning is the same(apart from one line from the gman missing which he says in the end)

E3 2004? Sure, it's pretty much exactly the same. That's because the game was nearly content locked and only had a few months to go until launch. Now check out stuff from 2002 and 2003. I'm sure you've already seen our various Database episodes on old, cut content.

They could just say "we are working on it", instead of keeping dead silent and then tease/troll the fans with stuff no one cares about like this, or this. If I'm not mistaken they won't even confirm that someone is working on it, right?

What if they say "We're working on it, it's coming" then have to end up cancelling it for whatever reason? People would be exceptionally pissed off.

 

[Emnu]

What if they say "We're working on it, it's coming" then have to end up cancelling it for whatever reason? People would be exceptionally pissed off.

First of all, if the said "We're working on it, it's coming", I'd shit my pants. Now if they would end up cancelling it or delaying it I wouldn't mind as long as a proper reason is given.

I really hope they are working on something big regarding the number 3, it's been too long. I understand that they are making Source 2 which will take a lot of time depending on how much features they will add. (They would need to make new textures, sounds, technology, mapping tools and more). Valve has earned their reputation, but I feel like they've lost their grip. They focus on TF2, CS:GO and Dota 2, but let's be honets: It doesn't take 450 people to add a couple of hats or weapon skins.

The last I regained some hope towards Valve was when the Source 2 images leaked. Time passed and Valve has no further comment. Maybe, just maybe, they are working on a huge surprise.

Also I agree with Mididda. The VR seems kind of pointless, I really can't see myself buying the goggles and in my opinion Valve is just wasting their time with this "Steam Universe". I'd love to see me proven wrong tho!

 

[tomemozok]

To reiterate i meant i want them to do that,and just that. No prior announcements.
When they lock the game, they should show it,not prior to that. Maybe show the engine,but no game,just tech demos and stuff.
The more i think about it, the more logic it makes for them to announce something on a game centered fair, not game development.

On a side note:
http://i.imgur.com/6MEjOEQ.png
Valve giving a speech on the 3rd of march,at 3 pm,and it's the 3rd speech on gdc for physics. HL3 CONFIRMED!

 

[rikt]

On a side note:
http://i.imgur.com/6MEjOEQ.png
Valve giving a speech on the 3rd of march,at 3 pm,and it's the 3rd speech on gdc for physics. HL3 CONFIRMED!

lol I hadn't notice that yet.

 

[Omnomnick]

lol I hadn't notice that yet.

Valve gave two talks last year with the same title, and they're giving two this year. It's honestly not that important to anyone who doesn't understand high-level maths or programming.

 

[rikt]

Agreed, but it's still funny

 

[Mr. Sir Shpee]

March 3rd at 3 p.m. was also when Gabe's Reddit AMA was scheduled to start, and ended up being delayed to the next day.