The Road to the Release Candidate

[Chris D]

We reported yesterday how it has been reported by Doug Lombardi that they will finally send an RC to Vivendi on September 15th. This has lead to an uproar within the community once again about Valve's timekeeping and scheduling abilities.[br]
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However, vigilant forum member, Feath, has posted an interesting thread, detailing quotes from various press releases and e-mails - just showing that this is something we should have expected all along and hopefully his post will set all the confusion straight. Here's a snip:

This quote clearly states that they aren't going to send a Release Canditate till after the CS:S beta has started (or ended). This makes more sense if you consider that there's no point in submitting an RC until you think you have a bug free game. This is an important quote because people seem to ignore it and concentrate on the one quote above. Valve changed their plans, they decided to submit the RC after the CS:S beta started. They are allowed to do that.

You can read the full thread by clicking here.[br]
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Naturally, thanks goes to Feath for taking the time out to set things straight.

 

[madca7`]

nice

 

[FrEaKN3sS]

i like that

 

[staddydaddy]

valve whiney babies suck ass. GO FEATH!

 

[koncept]

You pansies... they can release the game because no matter what you have to play steam in order to play counter strike online. So they can send in the RC unit and then patch it with Steam...

 

[Varg|Hund]

Nice to have that cleared up :cheers:

 

[Hitman47]

You pansies... they can release the game because no matter what you have to play steam in order to play counter strike online. So they can send in the RC unit and then patch it with Steam...

No, because the CS:S beta also is a test for the engine itself. And this is necessary for the singleplayer too, which does not require steam if bought and installed from box version.

 

[No Limit]

What is the average time of when a game is released after the RC is sent to the publisher?

 

[ApocalypseNow]

Wow they said that they were going to send a RC at the end of July.

I wouldnt expect Hl2 until 2005 knowing valve.

 

[Will1967]

Ya just more bullshit, just get on the freaking forum and tell us wtf is going on officially, damnit

 

[wibblemonster]

i'm beginning to think this will be an xmax release u know....

if it means a better game then thats good tho.

 

[henrym]

What is the average time of when a game is released after the RC is sent to the publisher?

Generally about two weeks from Gold to release (thats how long Doom 3 took - 7/14 Gold, 8/03 Release), although this is only from what I've noticed with other releases, and there is bound to be exceptions - CS: CZ took 6 months from Gold to release IIRC :O.

Bear in mind, Valve may go through 2, 3 or more Release Candidates before one is cleared by Vivendi as being OK for Gold.

So we could theoretically be waiting months or years.

 

[OTT]

Mark my words, Sept 15th will arrive and a RC will not be ready. My gut feeling is that Valve will have a fully agreed and bug free RC by early October, leading to a release in November. Funny enough November is the same date which numerous retailers have already issued, but has been rejected by many forum members. My money is on the retailers being right.

 

[geowa]

cz took 6 months from gold ---> w0000000t it was exactly the same as cs (with bots) aswell god knos how long hl2 will take then, and this is valve

 

[Sprafa]

cz took 6 months from gold ---> w0000000t it was exactly the same as cs (with bots) aswell god knos how long hl2 will take then, and this is valve

CZ was a big mess. HL2 won't be like that.

 

[The Mullinator]

Ya just more bullshit, just get on the freaking forum and tell us wtf is going on officially, damnit

You do realize that Valve is aloud to have a change of plans whenever they want right? Besides the majority of people I have seen want Valve to keep their mouth shut and not say anything. Let alone tell us exactly what they are doing.

 

[Dynasty]

guys dont you see??? we'll be lucky if the game hits the shelves in october now! i would expect an early november release, though i would love to be able to 'unlock' hl2 through steam much sooner.

 

[Alec_85]

Valve's timekeeping and scheduling abilities

Alright somebody gotta do this: WHAT timekeeping & scheduling abilities are you talking about?

This never gets old!

 

[BigJack]

i pointed out ages ago that the whole point of the cs beta was to test the source engine. it is therefore logical that they would not release hl2, the main game for the source engine, before it had been fully bug tested by the beta

 

[koncept]

ok how bout this.. half-life2, is never coming out. lmao, it seems so. yeah thats right people, (sarcasm) the game is never coming out, it's just there for us to drool at (unsarcasm). But seriously, since last year i been waiting for this game, and right when i'm in boot camp it's gonna come out. lmao, i'm gonna laugh when i get out of basic training and see halflife2 on store shelves..... no actually i'll be pissed.

[edit] and if it's not out by then, yeah it's definitely not coming out.

 

[LightwarSiX]

I might as well go back to the 3d realms forums and wait for DNF

 

[Kadayi]

CZ was drawn back from release by Valve themselves (rather than the publishers), because they weren't happy with the state of the early reviews the game was recieving in the gaming press.

I think Late October early November is a highly probable release time. It's unlikely that Vivendi are going to find anything significant to complain about if the games been polished and tested for this long. the most they might take issue with are cosmetic aspects. The CS:S beta was more about load testing the game engine with a variety of gaming systems online than anything else.

I suspect Vivendi won't rush to a release, simply because they want to catch people with money in their wallets. Sims 2 comes out towards the end of the month and that is almost certainly going to top the sales charts (and maxis will set up their own country off the profits).