Valve's GDC 2013 Sessions

[-smash-]

Valve's going to next week's 2013 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, so we've compiled a list of known sessions that some of their developers will be participating in. Their developers Mike Morasky, Michael Abrash, Dirk Gregorious, and more will be covering topics like sound design, virtual reality, and game physics.

March 26​

Physics for Game Programmers with Dirk Gregorius and other developers from the industry​

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March 27​

G.A.N.G. Demo Derby: Sound Design with Mike Morasky and other designers from the industry​

Behind the Scenes: Optimizing Far Cry 3, Left 4 Dead 2 and Assassins Creed using AMD's GPU PerfStudio2 with Rich Geldreich and other developers from the industry​

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March 28​

Why Virtual Reality is Hard (And Where it Might be Going) with Michael Abrash​

What We Learned Porting Team Fortress 2 to Virtual Reality with Joe Ludwig​

Porting Source to Linux: Valve's Lessons Learned with Rich Geldreich and Sam Lantinga​

So that's the lineup this year, but GDC 2012 was pretty interesting. Erik Wolpaw and Chet Faliszek gave a presentation called "Portal 2 - Post Mortem" where they revealed an alternate beginning to Portal 2, and Gabe Newell appeared in a video for Intel.

And developers are always announcing stuff at GDC, so mild speculation won't hurt... Two days before the "Physics for Game Programmers" session, Havok's going to be revealing their next-generation physics engine - an earlier version of this physics engine was used in Half-Life 2 and it was one of the most innovative aspects of the game. Both a Valve and Havok developer are speaking at this session, so there's a small possibility we'll be seeing an announcement of their next-generation partnership (or even a Source 2 demo??).

Anyways, we haven't found any information about live streaming, so we'll keep you posted.

 

[MFL]

If there is a Source 2 demo I will quite literally shit bees.

 

[tabernumse]

If there is a Source 2 demo I will quite literally shit bees.

http://cdn.fd.uproxx.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Oprahs-Bees.gif

 

[MFL]

That is exactly what I have in mind.

Excepting, of course, that the container is my bum.

 

[trunk_slamchest]

If there is a Source 2 demo I will quite literally shit bees.

the Havok engine has been used in 500+ video games since its initial release. it is so much more important for the greater good of the industry than HL2 or Valve...that hoping for a source2 demo to come out of GCC proves how desperate valve has left their community for HL news. because everyone knows with a source2 demo, HL3 SHOULD be around the corner.

but just because Valve and Havok are at the same conference, doesnt mean they have anything to do with each other. wait for Steam for Linux and the Steambox to be rolled out before you start looking for a source2 demo.

only when valve can show off the fruits of their labor with all 3 products working together, will any more "official" news come to the surface.

realistically, valve pushing out a physics demo with Havok's new engine being released 2 days earlier...is stupid.

it would cause the proverbial shit storm of rumours just like any other possibility of an HL3/S2 announcement, more so because every HL fan knows that valve loves physics and tech demos. rumours valve would have to deny and denounce, which pisses off HL fans even more.

it would pretty much...rain on Havok's parade. everyone would say "OH WOW LOOK AT THE NEW SOURCE2 PHYSICS!" not "OH WOW LOOK AT THE NEW HAVOK PHYSICS ENGINE." regardless if the havok engine is proprietary, it just does not make sense.

valve is showing off the Oculous Rift since TF2 just got ported to it. why even.....overshadow that with a source2 demo?

if you are valve....why make any announcement when you can just stay zip lipped, and quietly go about your business like you have been doing for the last year?

/derp

 

[Krynn72]

I'm not sure I entirely understood that rant, but you do realize that the new Havok engine could BE the Source 2 physics engine, right? Just like it was in Source 1. Thereby making the Source 2 announcement an advertisement for Havok.

Also the "why would they do this when they want to promote this" argument is also a bit silly to me. Valve is never not doing something new. At some point they're going to announce their next engine and even their next Half Life game, and they're still going to be working on other things too, meaning those other projects get overshadowed by the big announcements. Its going to be unavoidable with Valve unless we hear complete radio silence from them for like two years and nobody knows what they're doing. Also, much of the stuff Valve does ends up interconnected with their other projects. For example, announcing Source 2 won't overshadow the Oculous Rift project if Source 2 is shown to be supporting the Oculous Rift natively.

This isn't to say I expect any announcement or reveal. I'm just saying that a lot of the stuff you just said doesn't make much sense, assumes only binary possibilities, or is simply baseless conjecture.

 

[-smash-]

Two former employees have noted on their LinkedIns that they've been working with Source 2 since 2010. Tom Leonard and Roger Lundeen.

it would pretty much...rain on Havok's parade. everyone would say "OH WOW LOOK AT THE NEW SOURCE2 PHYSICS!" not "OH WOW LOOK AT THE NEW HAVOK PHYSICS ENGINE." regardless if the havok engine is proprietary, it just does not make sense.

No way, it would be enormous publicity for Havok.

 

[trunk_slamchest]

...you do realize that the new Havok engine could BE the Source 2 physics engine, right?

._.

thats rather obvious.

Also the "why would they do this when they want to promote this" argument is also a bit silly to me. Valve is never not doing something new. At some point they're going to announce their next engine and even their next Half Life game, and they're still going to be working on other things too, meaning those other projects get overshadowed by the big announcements. Its going to be unavoidable with Valve unless we hear complete radio silence from them for like two years and nobody knows what they're doing. Also, much of the stuff Valve does ends up interconnected with their other projects. For example, announcing Source 2 won't overshadow the Oculous Rift project if Source 2 is shown to be supporting the Oculous Rift natively.

the oculous rift is not commercially available yet, with the pre-order of its SDK's set at $300. its an experimental technology that is not aimed at a wide base of steam users like the source2 engine/steambox is. the oculous rift R&D valve is doing isnt essential to the longevity of the company, like the success/failure of say...source2/HL3/SFL/SB does. while it could prove to be a fruitful endeavor in years to come...all anyone can do with it right now is sit back and wait.

also, source2 was confirmed ages ago (valvetime found the clues in SFM lol). its relatively old news. theres no real point to "officially" announcing something that has already been confirmed to be in development, until its primed for release.

you dont have to tell me Valve is never not doing something new, and that their projects always interconnect with each other, because valve's bread and butter is building development platforms. if i didnt have a basic understanding of valve's business environment i wouldnt be pulling strings and connecting dots like i do.

making the connections between all of valve's projects, figuring out what they are doing next and where said projects are going to fit within the grand STEAM of things is the fun part.

This isn't to say I expect any announcement or reveal. I'm just saying that a lot of the stuff you just said doesn't make much sense, assumes only binary possibilities, or is simply baseless conjecture.

doesnt make sense? maybe.
assuming binary possibilities? well...yea. the point im making is black & white
baseless conjecture? only to the less informed.

Trunk I didn't realize you were a Valve employee and you knew what their plans were! There was so much wrong with your post that I'm not even going to address it.

if i worked for valve, i wouldnt be posting. i speculate, then wait for valve to see if im right. in order to make sure TF2Pricecheck (a website i own) keeps up with valve's developments & stays competitive within the Manncon-O-Sphere...a job of mine is to absorb, understand, and decipher news and information released by Valve, then fill in the blank parts about where the company is headed.

im batting at about .750

No way, it would be enormous publicity for Havok.

they dont need the publicity if the engine is widely used throughout the industry. take a look at the games that have used previous builds of the Havok Engine. it is an advertisement in and of itself.

 

[-smash-]

Half-Life 2 gave Havok a great amount of publicity when the game was revealed, so that particular argument is invalid IMO. I'm not saying it's happening; it's mild speculation. I'm just excited in general that Havok's revealing their new engine, and I hope Valve is partnering with them again.

 

[Krynn72]

This post you just made contradicts half of what you said in the first post. You're even more full of shit than I am. You remind me of that guy who posted in another news article saying how he runs a website, knows so much shit about Valve and their business strategy, and how he and his friends are super important to Valve's longevity. After I post this, I'm going to have to try and find that article again to see if you are actually that fool.

EDIT: Ok, you are the same person. Thank god, for a minute I thought there were two of you out there.

 

[Lobster]

It's also possible that Valve are moving away from in-house game design entirely, and that Source 2 has been cancelled for weeks. Choosing instead to become the wise sage of the industry, contributing only ideas and theory while getting fat off Steam cash and fan worship.

I don't believe that myself, but the jigsaw pieces can be arranged to make all manner of images. That's why its not worth making grand statements about anything until there is something worth making grand statements about. Unless the grand statement is on the nature of grand statements themselves, in which case its completely fine..

 

[MFL]

ALL THE SPECULATION ALL THE TIME!

 

[trunk_slamchest]

Half-Life 2 gave Havok a great amount of publicity when the game was revealed, so that particular argument is invalid IMO. I'm not saying it's happening; it's mild speculation. I'm just excited in general that Havok's revealing their new engine, and I hope Valve is partnering with them again.

im not doubting that HL2 helped spring board the Havok Engine. the argument could even be made that HL2 & The Havok Engine single handedly pioneered in-game physics to where we are now. from 2000-2004, roughly 33 games were released using Havok. a few notable titles (max payne 2, halo, painkiller...) were using it, but nothing substantial. then HL2 was released on Nov 16th, 2004 and sure enough, from 2005-2006, the number of games released using the havok engine almost doubled to 65, while the quality of titles using the engine skyrocketed.

but what valve, and the video game industry, was doing in 2004 is worlds apart from where we are now. and thats the thing...im way more excited to see what Havok has been developing than what valve might announce.

This post you just made contradicts half of what you said in the first post. You're even more full of shit than I am. You remind me of that guy who posted in another news article saying how he runs a website, knows so much shit about Valve and their business strategy, and how he and his friends are super important to Valve's longevity. After I post this, I'm going to have to try and find that article again to see if you are actually that fool.

EDIT: Ok, you are the same person. Thank god, for a minute I thought there were two of you out there.

lets clear up a few points.

1.) my second post details the occulous rift and the source2's vitality, and reiterates my point that there wont be a source2 announcement at GDC.

2.) i speculate about the inner workings at valve. SPECULATE. i can take countless snippets out of said articles ive posted on and rehash them here.

you might want to re-read these:

everything is interconnected. the f2p + microtransaction business model that valve pioneered with TF2 has completely changed the way valve approaches their business, and is changing the entire video game industry as we post.

^apparently i understand what you tried to explain to me before

quite frankly, i have no idea what would happen if they flat out announced that HL is dead. neither does valve. i am merely speculating lol there is no need to take my words as facts.

^very important

no, but community developers, which is what valve thrives on, might jump ship because they dont feel the time and energy they are spending generating content for valve's games is worth it anymore. there is always a vaccuum created after valve stops actively releasing updates for a specific game, where the community has to pick up the slack to keep modding and developing the game, or everything starts to implode.

^"me and my friends that are super important to valves longevity."

with that being said, i have spent the last 6 or so years founding and developing 3rd party communities and websites for TF2 and CSS (notably TF2Pricecheck & Steamworks) in my spare time. i have alot of experience listening and reacting to community feedback, as the success of my endeavors rely on it. TF2PC generates roughly 1.6 million page views from 90,000 users per month. people have told me that Tribute, a CSS movie i produced (http://www.themovievault.net/video/tribute), has been regarded as one of the best CSS movies of all time. i dont believe i am grossly underestimating, but its possible.

^once again....i dont believe i am grossly overplaying my role in valve's business landscape, but its possible.

if youre not going to atleast...read my posts...dont try to argue with me.

 

[SpotEnemyBoats]

I doubt Valve will show anything soon on the gaming side of things, other than Dota 2.

That is unless Valve were to reveal Day of Defeat 2 or Left 4 Dead 3.

 

[Krynn72]

lets clear up a few points.

1.) my second post details the occulous rift and the source2's vitality, and reiterates my point that there wont be a source2 announcement at GDC.

I'm not arguing the point of your argument, we are in agreement there. I'm arguing that the reasons for your conclusion don't make sense.

2.) i speculate about the inner workings at valve. SPECULATE. i can take countless snippets out of said articles ive posted on and rehash them here.

And my point is that your speculations are flawed and based on poor interpretations of data provided.

^apparently i understand what you tried to explain to me before

And yet you still draw stupid conclusions...

^very important

And entirely irrelevant to this discussion.

^"me and my friends that are super important to valves longevity."

I'm not clear on what you're trying to prove with this one.

if youre not going to atleast...read my posts...dont try to argue with me.

You realize that I did not recognize you initially right? So why would I have thought to reread your previous posts in a completely separate, couple month old thread? Which isn't to say it would have mattered, everything you say is still baloney.

 

[trunk_slamchest]

I doubt Valve will show anything soon on the gaming side of things, other than Dota 2.

That is unless Valve were to reveal Day of Defeat 2 or Left 4 Dead 3.

day of defeat....now that....that is a franchise i could see valve rebooting with a new engine + freemium business model & item store...like TF2. if you couple that with the immersive back stories and character development that valve is famous for (which feels fairly lack luster in DOD:S to me)...soak it in WWII era goodness...a reboot of DOD would be a massive hit. the over saturation of WWII shooters than happened a few years back has left the genre completely empty.

all valve has to do is repeat the success they have found with DOTA2 and TF2.

the only updates DOD receives now are universal engine updates, or minor bug fixes. DOD is no longer actively developed by valve like L4D, TF2, DOTA2 or CS is. there might be a reason for that. a proper reboot might be a card valve has in their deck, as DOD's potential and profitability continues to be relatively untapped.

and if you want to throw around teh lolz....DOD is the only game that has not had the number 2 attached to it yet, (OPFOR & Blue Shift dont count) meaning DOD2 wouldnt break the #1 rule of valve. No 3's.

DOD might be dead in the water and im just being optimistic, but it feels plausible. in part because bringing destructible environments to DOD would be industry defining. it would also be a game mechanic to perfectly showcase for Havok's new physics engine.

krynn, im done ranting for today. i dont argue on the internet to prove that im better than anyone else like you seem to believe.

 

[SpotEnemyBoats]

I'd... rather DOD not go F2P like TF2 and Dota 2. Turning DOD into a hat simulator wouldn't do it justice. I just want all content available to me from the get-go.

I hope they CSGO the series. With steam workshop, new gamemodes (like TF2 payload and maybe a co-op campaign mode w/ AI director) and atop a new engine Source 2.

 

[trunk_slamchest]

I'd... rather DOD not go F2P like TF2 and Dota 2. Turning DOD into a hat simulator wouldn't do it justice. I just want all content available to me from the get-go.

I hope they CSGO the series. With steam workshop, new gamemodes (like TF2 payload and maybe a co-op campaign mode w/ AI director) and atop a new engine Source 2.

very true. i guess i just come from Hat Land and thats how i think haha.

when i look at how valve developed CS:GO and DOTA2, i always compare one with the other because they could have "CS:GO'd" DOTA2 as well, or "TF2'd" CS:GO, and visa versa, if that makes sense.