Who remembers when Episodes were called Expansion Packs?

I can't stand it when my friends call these expansion packs in school. its like calling gold shit
 
if they were episodes, halflife2 would be episode one.

theyre mislabeled expansions.
 
If you want to go the HL way, expansion packs like Op4 and BS did not follow the story arc of the main game. The episodes do.
 
There's a clear difference between an expansion and an episode. It's not rocket science.
 
I remember when Episode One was called Aftermath. Then, because Valve actually has intelligent people, they renamed it Episode One.

Not only is it more than a naming convention in terms of content, but a smart decision because unlike Expansion Packs which add to the existing content in the same frame (a la Shepard and Barney running in parallel to the original game), the episodes advance the plot, the technology and the gameplay beyond Half-Life 2 and are integral to the overall series, something that is usually discarded in expansion packs.
 
HL2:AFTERMATH is a full-length expansion pack for the 2004 GOTY.
It will be released as a trilogy of episodes, starting june 2006.
  • Aftermath:EP1 (JUN 2006)
    Discover how the relationship between Gordon and Alyx will evolve during their escape from the collapsing Combine Citadel!

  • Aftermath:EP2 (OCT 2007)
    Find some answers to the many unsolved misteries surrounding the Combine's Earth's colonization! Help the human resistance setting up their desperate counter-attack!

  • Aftermath:EP2 (TBA)
    Fight your way through the Artic, looking for the weapon that will put the Combine Empire to an end! More details will be revealed after ep2 release.





















meh.. They should'nt have scrapped the "aftermath" title... Instead, now we have all this "episodes are HL3" sh1t
 
the 'episode' means that it is a continuation not like more weapons or enemys etc, that is an expansion pack.
e.g. star wars expansion 2, just doesnt have the same ring to it.
 
liPillON said:
HL2:AFTERMATH is a full-length expansion pack for the 2004 GOTY.
It will be released as a trilogy of episodes, starting june 2006.
  • Aftermath:EP1 (JUN 2006)
    Discover how the relationship between Gordon and Alyx will evolve during their escape from the collapsing Combine Citadel!

  • Aftermath:EP2 (OCT 2007)
    Find some answers to the many unsolved misteries surrounding the Combine's Earth's colonization! Help the human resistance setting up their desperate counter-attack!

  • Aftermath:EP2 (TBA)
    Fight your way through the Artic, looking for the weapon that will put the Combine Empire to an end! More details will be revealed after ep2 release.

meh.. They should'nt have scrapped the "aftermath" title... Instead, now we have all this "episodes are HL3" sh1t
Click to expand...

What the shit where did you get those from?
 
Blaargh.

This again.

Valve should just have named them stand-alone expansions. You don't see people whining like this over games like Dark Crusade or the upcoming Soulstorm.
 
Samon said:
Why name them something they aren't, though?
Click to expand...

Well, it'd cut down the whining. Somewhat.

Mind you, then people would whine about how Valve can't be arsed to make full games.

I see that we can not win.
 
Narvi said:
Well, it'd cut down the whining. Somewhat.

Mind you, then people would whine about how Valve can't be arsed to make full games.

I see that we can not win.
Click to expand...

and your the one to complain about whining??

first of all hl2 is not an episode.

also i would rather have these little 5-8hr game released yearly instead of waiting a freaking 3 years for the whole thing to come. also i disagree with you saying how its not a full game.....what is a full game to you??? each episode continues the storyline. i mean look at halo 1-3 do you still call those full game even though they dont complete the story in one game???
 
giant384 said:
and your the one to complain about whining??

first of all hl2 is not an episode.

also i would rather have these little 5-8hr game released yearly instead of waiting a freaking 3 years for the whole thing to come. also i disagree with you saying how its not a full game.....what is a full game to you??? each episode continues the storyline. i mean look at halo 1-3 do you still call those full game even though they dont complete the story in one game???
Click to expand...

Did you read the thread, you twit? I'm not the one complaining.

And Halos 1-3 concluded the storyline. Only 2 had a cliffhanger, as opposed to Half Life's liberal usage of them.
 
Meh, I think they should have called it Half Life: Aftermath. Only because it might limit some unneeded confusion, or perhaps just simpler naming ideas.

The Aftermath Trilogy: Ep1, Ep2, Ep3.

The Half Life 2 Trilogy: HL2, Ep1, Ep2, Ep3.

a trilogy works better if there are three in my books.

I guess we could call it a quadrillogy, but that sounds kind of rediculous.



Episodes are different from expansion packs, for the simple reason that the story is incredibly incomplete without them. You can complete the story with vanilla without the expansions, and come to a satisfied resolution.

Expansion packs also introduce new features that were not in the game before. These are usually big features that you can play around with and enjoy, rather than simply graphics improvements. The episodes however, do not introduce very many new gameplay features, rather than simply focus on unfolding the very rich story.

In my books, Portal is more considered an expansion. It is a side story, introduces new physics and a new gun. The story is still an addition, but it is not nessessary to completion.
 
Narvi said:
Blaargh.

This again.
Click to expand...

Yeah, well, some thing just don't go together: teqilla and root beer, zombies and haiku, prolonged semantic debates and game fanship.

Personally, I liked "Aftermath," and I'm against the episodic trilogy being considered Half-Life 3. When you think of how different 1 and 2 were, it just wouldn't make sense.
 
Well, HL2 was done in a series of episodes wasn't it? Or where those chapters...don't recall. If they where episodes the answer is right there.
 
Wikipedia:
"An episode is a part of a dramatic work such as a serial television or radio program. An episode is a part of a sequence of a body of work, akin to a chapter of a book."

"An expansion pack is an addition to a ... video game. These add-ons usually add new game areas, weapons, objects, and/or an extended storyline to a complete and already released game."

Both descriptions fit. I look at it like this: the additions to Half-Life 2 are three episodes which together make one hell of an expansion pack for Half-Life 2.

Narvi said:
as opposed to Half Life's liberal usage of them.
Click to expand...
What all two? Maybe three depending upon how Episode Two ends.

RNEvermore said:
The Half Life 2 Trilogy: HL2, Ep1, Ep2, Ep3.
Click to expand...
How about:

Half-Life
Half-Life 2
Half-Life 2: Episodes Trilogy: Ep1, Ep2, Ep3

In my books, Portal is more considered an expansion. It is a side story, introduces new physics and a new gun. The story is still an addition, but it is not nessessary to completion.
Click to expand...
Portal has totally different gameplay - in my view that means it is a new game rather than expansion of HL2.
 
I always considered an expansion pack as needing the original game to play, hence the expansion. With the episodes you can play those seperatly from HL2.
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expansion_pack

"An expansion pack is an addition to an existing video game. These add-ons usually add new game areas, weapons, objects, and/or an extended storyline to a complete and already released game."

That description pretty much fits the bill ...



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Episodic_games

"Episodic games are those produced and sold in small units that build into a recognisable series. Such a series may or may not have continuity, but will always share settings, characters, and/or themes."

... clearly so does this one.


Episodic content is just another name for something that's been around for quite some time in gaming. Since the days of Doom infact. It's all about marketing. By suddently calling this type of content 'Episodic' it implies something new. It's really just new marketing terminology that we've not come across in gaming before. It's not as if Valve invented the idea of episodes.

By the way. Anyone know what's happened to SIN: Episode 2??
 
Episodic content is not the same as expansion packs. Quoting from Wikipedia does not make what you're saying fact.

Also, the first Sin episode sucked so bad they cancelled the rest. I'm not sure what Ritual are doing now...working for Mumbo Jumbo?
 
It didn't suck, and apparently it made enough money to cover its own costs, but Ritual were having trouble for some reason or another, I can't remember the story. It's on their ex-QA guy's blog.
 
Shields said:
It could be argued that Halo 3 ends in a cliffhanger as well.
Click to expand...

no halo 3 didnt end in a cliffhanger. its just not alot wasnt explained in halo 3 but in no way was the ending a cliffhanger.
 
Shields said:
It could be argued that Halo 3 ends in a cliffhanger as well.
Click to expand...

More of a sequel hook than a cliffhanger. The game explained and concluded quite a few plot points.
 
giant384 said:
no halo 3 didnt end in a cliffhanger. its just not alot wasnt explained in halo 3 but in no way was the ending a cliffhanger.
Click to expand...

Uh, they're floating in space and MC is in stasis. How is that not a cliff hanger?
 
Narvi said:
All three Valve-made games end in cliffhangers. As opposed to only one of the three Halo games.
Click to expand...
I don't consider then ending for HL1 a cliffhanger. HL2 and Ep1 end on points of high drama making them cliffhangers.
 
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