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Marc Laidlaw reveals Half-Life 2 Episode 3's story synopsis

1

140.85

Cognitive Dissonance, Distilled
Is there any worse case of letting "the perfect be the enemy of the good" in the history of game development?

Let's say EP3 had come out and it was a disaster and a plurality agreed it was a stain on Valve's reputation. What's the worst thing that could have happened? Would Steam crumble? Would people stop playing Dota? What exactly is so bad that the thought of it caused Valve to internally become so horrified beyond the capacity for a rational approach to this property? I'm not sure we'll ever see such a bad case of a developer being afflicted by such paralyzing overthinking, overstrategizing and self doubt ever again. And all for what?
 
P

petethepanda

Member
I feel like G-Man would have been the type of thing left mostly unexplained, even by the end. Not the type of mystery that would really have a satisfying answer.
 
M

Mariolee

Member
140.85 said:
Is there any worse case of letting "the perfect be the enemy of the good" in the history of game development?

Let's say EP3 had come out and it was a disaster and a plurality agreed it was a stain on Valve's reputation. What's the worst thing that could have happened? Would Steam crumble? Would people stop playing Dota? What exactly is so bad that the thought of it caused Valve to internally become so horrified beyond the capacity for a rational approach to this property? I'm not sure we'll ever see such a bad case of a developer being afflicted by such paralyzing overthinking, overstrategizing and self doubt ever again. And all for what?
Click to expand...

I legitimately think they just didn't want to do it because they didn't feel like it. There was no passion in place at least from the heads, and that's as complicated as it gets.
 
Sentenza

Sentenza

Member
140.85 said:
Is there any worse case of letting "the perfect be the enemy of the good" in the history of game development?

Let's say EP3 had come out and it was a disaster and a plurality agreed it was a stain on Valve's reputation. What's the worst thing that could have happened? Would Steam crumble? Would people stop playing Dota? What exactly is so bad that the thought of it caused Valve to internally become so horrified beyond the capacity for a rational approach to this property? I'm not sure we'll ever see such a bad case of a developer being afflicted by such paralyzing overthinking, overstrategizing and self doubt ever again. And all for what?
Click to expand...
I know that a lot of people won't agree, but I had this suspect for a while that Valve isn't really that scared of "reaching perfection", as many love to speculate, as it is of long term commitment.

All their current projects, on both hardware and software, seem to be more of the "conceptual" sort, where single employees can contribute in a limited, confined way and pull out whenever they feel like: UI improvements, little code tweaks, small content additions for existing projects, "modular" games like DOTA or Artifact where they will be able to add a personal touch and then leave, etc, etc.

This is all great on a prototyping phase, when you throw ideas at the wall and see what sticks, but the company as a whole strike me as afraid of committing on any sort of large scale project where years of relentless focus, effort and grunt work would be required.
And NO, I'm not just bitching about single player games.
 
S

sflufan

Banned
Oveja Negra said:
It's nice to see another person feels the same way as me, and oh the coincidence, I'm turning 42 in a month. So I guess that somewhat explains why this game means so much to us, we are basically in the same wavelength (from a generational point of view).

Damn, I'm in a full nostalgia mode right now.

Greetings, pal.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much! I'm glad someone else can commiserate in my "old man melancholy" :p

I thought that sleeping on this would make things a bit better, but I'm still somewhat this combination of angry/sad/resigned.
 
N

Napoleonthechimp

Member
I spoke to my 13 year old nephew about this and he for sure knows plenty about Half Life and recognises the importance of the franchise. So I don't really accept this generational thing.

I mean Doom has been around for donkey's years and people got hyped up about that with the new release.
 
O

Oveja Negra

Member
sflufan said:
Thank you very much! I'm glad someone else can commiserate in my "old man melancholy" :p

I thought that sleeping on this would make things a bit better, but I'm still somewhat this combination of angry/sad/resigned.
Click to expand...

Haha, yeah, me too.

I'm still reading through this thread (too many pages) and the more I read, the more sad I get.
 
N

Neidii

Member
Tainted said:
I doubt they really care. Sure they still own the IP, but they have long abandoned it and have shifted focus to other business models.

I'd really love them to sell the IP to a group that really cares about the franchise such as the Black Mesa guys (Crowbar Collective ).....I could see them doing something awesome with it and if they need the additional funds to do so, I would back them 100%
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If anyone ever legit bought it (if by some miracle Valve would care enough to sell it) I would back that project too. I have never backed any projects ever but with this one I would make an exception.

It's mind boggling how Valve just stopped caring and never revealed anything about the game being dead. It feels so depressing. They went from amazing game developers to whatever it is they do now. Sit in a circle and toss around some cool new ideas for csgo knives, oh and a card game. R.I.P Half-life, at least we finally got an ending
 
C

Corto

Member
anigif_enhanced-12859-1429096419-2.gif
 
S

Surfinn

Member
That Gabe Newell video. Where he talks about episode 3 over the course of a decade.

That's the most depressing fucking thing in this thread
 
B

Betty

Banned
Surfinn said:
That Gabe Newell video. Where he talks about episode 3 over the course of a decade.

That's the most depressing fucking thing in this thread
Click to expand...

I always wonder does he ever have private moments where he yearns to do something artistic or meaningful like another Half-Life.

Or does he just find our suffering hilarious.
 
A

afternoon delight

Member
Betty said:
I always wonder does he ever have private moments where he yearns to do something artistic or meaningful like another Half-Life.

Or does he just find out suffering hilarious.
Click to expand...
He's probably convinced the studio's other efforts will be better remembered- with Steam, I'd say so.

He can go fuck himself. There is literally no excuse (money, time, intent) that we never received the conclusion.
 
I

Instro

Member
Surfinn said:
Damn, it's still not out? Haven't they been working on that mod for like ten years? I know it's a huge project but damn that wait is killer
Click to expand...

Well it's out and available on Steam with everything complete up until Xen. The issue with the latter is that they are completely redoing it from scratch, and expanding it to what they think Valve would have done. Admittedly I haven't touched the game as I am waiting for Xen to be complete, but from what I've read it's an excellent remake.
 
S

Surfinn

Member
Instro said:
Well it's out and available on Steam with everything complete up until Xen. The issue with the latter is that they are completely redoing it from scratch, and expanding it to what they think Valve would have done. Admittedly I haven't touched the game as I am waiting for Xen to be complete, but from what I've read it's an excellent remake.
Click to expand...
Yeah I played it up until the end. It's a solid remake.
 
E

Easy_G

Member
Surfinn said:
At this point, why not hire an outside team to do HL3, like they did for portal and counter strike? Hire the most passionate and dedicated modders and writers. Or just sell the IP to a professional team.

Just not gearbox
Click to expand...

I played the gearbox expansions (blue shift and opposing force) without any knowledge of reviews, but I liked them. Do most people not? Either way it's not like gearbox is at all the same company at this point.

Maybe I'll start replaying all the games again soon and forget there's no ending.
 
T

tesqui

Member
Surfinn said:
At this point, why not hire an outside team to do HL3, like they did for portal and counter strike? Hire the most passionate and dedicated modders and writers. Or just sell the IP to a professional team.

Just not gearbox
Click to expand...

I'd prefer that, but realistically I feel like this is the only outcome we're going to get. Best case scenario for me would be if the Black Mesa team were up for it. It'd take a good while, but I think they would at least update us with info throughout that time (Unlike valve)
 
T

traveler

Not Wario
Retro Studios + Marc Laidlaw + Kelly Bailey would be a godsend. Get Nintendo on the horn ;they know a thing about reviving dead hardcore fanbase franchises. This one will even be profitable....
 
R

Randdalf

Member
tesqui said:
I don't think I'd mind. Source seems pretty out dated at this point. I guess it could detract from the overall feel if they don't replicate the gameplay correctly though.
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It's old but it's very well understood as a modding platform. There's also the not insignificant aspect of having easy access to all the assets used in Episode Two and prior. Using UE4 because it's "easier to use" and because "Source is old", seems like a shortsighted decision to me. As much as you can have decisions in the early chaos of a community modding project.
 
S

Surfinn

Member
Easy_G said:
I played the gearbox expansions (blue shift and opposing force) without any knowledge of reviews, but I liked them. Do most people not? Either way it's not like gearbox is at all the same company at this point.

Maybe I'll start replaying all the games again soon and forget there's no ending.
Click to expand...

Oh I love the expansions. Just thinking of CURRENT Gearbox.

tesqui said:
I'd prefer that, but realistically I feel like this is the only outcome we're going to get. Best case scenario for me would be if the Black Mesa team were up for it. It'd take a good while, but I think they would at least update us with info throughout that time (Unlike valve)
Click to expand...

If the BM team did it it'd take half a century

Best bet honestly I think is to hire a super competent team that would clear their schedule to get this game made.
 
H

Harpoon

Member
traveler said:
Retro Studios + Marc Laidlaw + Kelly Bailey would be a godsend. Get Nintendo on the horn ;they know a thing about reviving dead hardcore fanbase franchises. This one will even be profitable....
Click to expand...

A Nintendo-made Half-Life would certainly be... surreal.

But hey, this entire situation of Episode 3 coming out as a blog post is surreal, so I guess anything can happen!
 
S

Surfinn

Member
The ignorant optimist in me wants to believe they want to make it look totally dead then hit us with a completely different game/story out of the blue

But it's dead
 
E

Easy_G

Member
Surfinn said:
Oh I love the expansions. Just thinking of CURRENT Gearbox.
Click to expand...
Cool, so I'm not crazy for liking them.




You know what annoys me as well? That Valve put in the effort to tie the Portal story in with Half Life as well, while not actually furthering the story. So now we have even more loose ends and hopes to think about.

I'm still hoping deep inside that something is being worked on. I've got to.
 
S

Surfinn

Member
Easy_G said:
Cool, so I'm not crazy for liking them.




You know what annoys me as well? That Valve put in the effort to tie the Portal story in with Half Life as well, while not actually furthering the story. So now we have even more loose ends and hopes to think about.

I'm still hoping deep inside that something is being worked on. I've got to.
Click to expand...

Yup, Borealis shoved in Portal 2, among countless other hints and nudges to keep fans crazed.

Fuck Valve.
 
S

Surfinn

Member
Randdalf said:
To be fair Portal 2 less than four years after Episode Two. Who knew what the future held at that point.
Click to expand...

They were doing hints and nudges up until like the last 3 or 4 years. Portal 2 was actually a pretty mild example considering all the shit they pulled
 
J

JasonUresti

Member
petethepanda said:
I feel like G-Man would have been the type of thing left mostly unexplained, even by the end. Not the type of mystery that would really have a satisfying answer.
Click to expand...

I always felt he was an allusion to Nyarlathotep from the works of HP Lovecraft. Just one of his many forms, and just a tiny piece of the whole.
 
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