'Valve Corporation'

[Evo]

Craig Lager from Gaming Daily has created a brilliant article entitle Valve Corporation. In it he takes a look at several stages of Valve's game development and in turn, every game Valve have released ranging from Left 4 Dead to Ricochet. If you like to read about Valve stuff, then check it out.

 

[JUL3]

This is pretty cool.

 

[FoxFire]

A wiki snip from each game followed by short commentary.

I was hoping for something new.

 

[Avoidist]

I was hoping for something new.

Don't worry, you'll get that very soon. Possibly as little as 7 hours in fact.

 

[tschumann]

I wonder why there's no mention of Deathmatch Classic.

 

[Barnz]

You can't talk about DMC here, shh.

 

[Sheepo]

A wiki snip from each game followed by short commentary.

I was hoping for something new.

"And as discovered in a recent playthrough, if you deny the Gman's offer at the end of Half-Life and win the impossible battle then your computer automatically begins downloading HL2: Episode 3 and Portal 2."

 

[Lizardizzle]

I wonder why there's no mention of Deathmatch Classic.

woah, I didn't notice that. Shame on them.

 

[Krynn72]

Meh, from what I read of it (I'll admit, I only skimmed) it seems like nothing but already apparent information that anybody with an interest in Valve would already know. That, and, for whatever reason, some quotes from random people who played the game and have nothing really significant to add.

There was also a lot of typos/words missing/grammar issues in it as well as bits with wonky wording. Could have been better edited. All in all, I can't say I'm impressed. But nice effort.

 

[flamingdts]

The good old Ricochet.

I remember I had the game confused with Redemption, and I thought there was a massive change in game design/gameplay.

 

[Vegeta897]

"I play it because I can get 45 kills in 5 minutes on a server with 150 ping."

Is he trying to say 150 ping is bad or something? That's not even near unplayable.

 

[flamingdts]

"I play it because I can get 45 kills in 5 minutes on a server with 150 ping."

Is he trying to say 150 ping is bad or something? That's not even near unplayable.

Actually 150 is the absolute limit for shooters, at least for me. I tend to go for games below 100 ping, leaving a +/- 50 ping degree of error. Some modded servers tend to kick players above 150 ping.

 

[Danimal]

Anything over 100 ping is noticeable (Assuming we're talking about FPS) and therefore not wanted, personally.

 

[Colonel Kernel]

I'll be honest, I did expect interviews with Valve and some more behind-the-scenes, but it's a good read though.

I would also say that I noticed the number of grammar issues.. quite said in the begining.

 

[Solaris]

I enjoyed it as a read. My only problem was the punters they interviewed for CSS and DODS. It seemed like they'd never heard of, never mind played Cs and Dod 1.6/1.3.

Although this is to be expected, as their source counter-parts are certainly inferior games.

 

[Otto-Grainer]

Although this is to be expected, as their source counter-parts are certainly inferior games.

That's all well and good, but your opinion isn't fact.

 

[flamingdts]

That's all well and good, but your opinion isn't fact.

Can't say he is completely wrong though.

Source versions of the games are basically remakes. There are minimal differences between the two games, thus all credit still goes to the originals. I wouldn't call them "inferior", but they are no where near as successful as the originals.

 

[Mr-Fusion]

The source version of day of defeat is a bare bones game compared to the hl1 engine powere 1.3.

It is missing so much content it's not funny. No it's funny.

Counter-strike source received much better treatment from valve

Dod:s was just cobbled together then thrown out with 4 maps. YET the gameplay still gave the content-dry game a pulsing life. Then all the developers were thrown onto other valve projects and dod:s was forgotten about.

Now valve remind us of how shitly they support it by breaking it everytime a team fortress 2 update is released.

This guy said it beautifully.

DoD was love. It was a long, hot summer of great games with good friends. Giggling to each other on skype as we stood around in the Wehrmacht spawn hitting That Damn Pole with our inexplicable attack spades. To borrow a phrase beginning to bump up against cliche, DoD was (is?) tight. Coming at it another way, DoD was nicorette patches, close enough to CS to get me my fix but different enough to transition me onto less hardcore shooters. It was the same blend of extremely lethal gunplay at hyperspeed with weapons that you had to think about, learn and master. The crucial difference being: DoD got you back into the fight right away and without penalty. Exactly the kind of high concenctration, brutal speed-violence (see also: Battlefield Bad Comany 2, God Hand, Dawn of War) that grabs me by the head, or slaps me round the face, and makes me pay attention for a long, hot summer.