Stallion Free
Cock Encumbered
HL2 clearly wasn't influential enough because I'm still finding crates and barrels bolted to the floor in far too many FPS games.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Valve's Director of Business has left [GAF Rumor: TF2 Art Lead, SFM Head Gone, More]
- Thread starter BlockheadBrown
- Start date
This is probably true because when you are a fan of something you are less critical, so my opinion is not unbiased, I try my best to be as critical as possible though.
Guns for me felt good, at the time in a single player experience I don't think there was a game handling that part better, but then again how that feels is very subjective and personal.
Sure, but hiding behind a bunch of boxes that fly away when shoot at doesn't make it genre defining.
So, by this statement you say that because no other fps has come even close to HL2 in mostly any aspect or the sum of several of them that means it didn't evolve the genre or tried to?
Woah, I think you had a typo there...
Booter
Member
this man speaks the truth. HL2 was a great game, but it had some subpar weapon sounds.
Max Payne 2 came out in 2003.
Like I said before MP2 didn't do much besides immersion with physics. HL2 involved gameplay with them. 2 different leagues.
Booter
Member
and Wikipedia indicates it also has Havok physics. interesting. well, I never played no Max Payne 2.
Jurassic Park Trespasser. In 1997.
Metal Gear?!
Member
Not really my reading of the game. There were certainly plentiful cranky and glib idiots running around, but none that actively obstructed or imperiled me. In any disaster scenario that's less a sin and more par for the course, I was more than willing to tolerate it provided they actually possessed the barest sense to follow along instead of languishing in rubbish bins or the like. That's a far cry from Valve's original intention of actually having some scientists turn on you and exchange your skin for theirs (which would have been fascinating and welcome by me), but as it is the staff are all either benign idiots or helpful. The game gave me no compelling reason to not trust them, we were thrust into crap together and circumstances never altered those starting conditions.
It's the same for Half-Life 2, even though you can no longer abandon people at the side of the road or put two rounds in their skulls. Is the game a little less interesting for lacking that? Sure, and I'd welcome the next Half-Life titles to restore that. If there are interesting consequences and narrative tonal shifts associated with its inclusion, then awesome.
But if it is as it was in HL1 and there is no blowback whatsoever for being heartless to the people caught in the thick of things with you, then what's the point? You walk up to the Lambda checkpoint as a sterling savior of humanity, regardless of whose blood you have on your hands at that point. You've been railroaded. Maybe your natural disposition is to wave off the Lambda team and escape on your own into the wilderness. Too bad. Your alignment to your fellow man is immutable from the very beginning, you bail out the species and those ties in Lambda Complex regardless of how badly you loathe the species or want to crowbar the planet's only hope into paste.
You want something very specific from a Half-Life game here, and for my part I want it too. But neither HL1 nor HL2 supplied it, truly. You're reading a lot more narrative genius into the first entry than is really there. There are glimmers of greatness there to be sure, but they are as yet unrealized.
GoddyofAus
Banned
The Gaben has spoken. No need to be alarmed any further. Move along, nothing to see here.
He said nothing, he literally didn't expand on any of this news. Nothing has changed or nothing more is known.
Boaty McBoatface
Member
Is this a sign of Valve being a services only company?
No more (big) in-house games?
No more (big) in-house games?
dragonbane
Member
Because Valve doesn't work that way. The official company handbook says, their philosophy is that Gabe is not allowed to decide anything. There is no upper management. Employees decide what projects they work on. If a project fails, the blame is usually taken by the whole company. Employees even decide their salary by voting on each other (what they think employee abc deserves). They usually don't fire people that easily, because the hiring process is very strict. If they hire somebody, they expect this person to be reliable. Their official strategy is "to not make mistakes". Each employee is expected to run the entire company if necessary. There are no leads or roles. If there is, then only because the employees decided it is more convenient at the moment to do so. Valve never hires people just for a specific position. Each employee must be able to change his role on the fly. If Gabe gives an order, the employees have the right to refuse it. Gabe is CEO, because the employees decided it is more convenient this way etc.
They really work this way. The company is entirely employee driven. So you have to fuck-up badly before they fire you. I guess that happened recently.
alexandros
Banned
Expand on what else? He said that no projects have been cancelled (as some people thought about the Steambox). What else could he have said? It's really not appropriate to publicly disclose the reason for a termination.
Rookje
Member
As someone in the industry and part of a company has done something similar, these people who were let go were let go for a reason. Either burned out devs (aka dead weight) or part of a department that was being retired (such as the hardware team).
Just because they at one time did great work doesn't mean they still were performing at that level.
Valve also has a historically lax/forgiving atmosphere which can work well if everyone is equally brilliant, but if you have "leeches" it lowers the morale of everyone else and can be toxic.
To say "Valve's empire is crumbling" is laughable.
Just because they at one time did great work doesn't mean they still were performing at that level.
Valve also has a historically lax/forgiving atmosphere which can work well if everyone is equally brilliant, but if you have "leeches" it lowers the morale of everyone else and can be toxic.
To say "Valve's empire is crumbling" is laughable.
nephilimdj
Member
Alot of what you said goes against Kim Swifts Portal 1 talk at GDC
Surprised people still take the handbook as fact.
New employees have a mentor system, they are encouraged to make mistakes and are forced to find there own solutions most of the time. Also portal 2 book on steam shows Gabe does have power over ideas.
Then what's the point of commenting at all? If Gabe wanted to tame the speculation and such he would disclose better information then what he gave, people want to know what's going on at Valve, and he didn't answer that question at all.
dragonbane
Member
I'm just referring to their handbook. They are pretty serious about it too. Of course the actual situation is maybe not quite like that. The handbook even mentions this at one point.
sacrificengineer
Member
Even despite I don't really care about Steam and Valve's current activities, I'm shocked that so many HL2 staff gone. HL3's fate is the only thing I'm worried about. Valve must not fall apart anyway.
alexandros
Banned
I would imagine to stop the tide of "omg steambox is dead" speculation that seemed to spark out of nowhere. Valve is pretty secretive anyway, most of the time they don't talk about the company's internals.
efyu_lemonardo
May I have a cookie?
Nice, very nice
I am ok with this explanation. Panic levels down to normal. Assuming non-fetal position.
Valve will always have opposing forces, we'll always be left for dead when it comes to this stuff.
alexandros
Banned
Any attempt at getting more information will just ricochet off the Valve team's fortress. I'm so sorry.
TheVoidDragon
Member
You're right, Half life 3 hasn't started development yet. Episode 3 however, has. Gabe has said they are working on it.
ARG?ARG. Definitely. Mark my word-- buuhuhwaaaaahh
Kageshinzo
Member
Oh man, Robin Williams would be spot on to play Gabe in a movie.
Holy shit this thread. The internet, ladies and gentlemen!
So after Irrational collapsing earlier it's Valve's time. Whenever gaming press marginalizes and patronizes fans on the internet I will be remembering this thread and keep myself from getting angry. Because we kind of deserve it.
So after Irrational collapsing earlier it's Valve's time. Whenever gaming press marginalizes and patronizes fans on the internet I will be remembering this thread and keep myself from getting angry. Because we kind of deserve it.
FatalMuzza
Banned
Working with an increasingly volatile individual like Gabe can't be easy. But his erratic state of mind can be contributed to one factor.
Lets face it, the stagnant overlong console generation has helped the PC platform flourish immensely. But with 2013 its time for the console to be back in the limelight. And any self respecting gaffer knows that they will be loaded to the hilt with functionality and games to impress. Any PC advantage will be significantly eroded.
There is absolutely no disputing that Valves relevance will take a substantial hit. Most companies grow with time, but this one will see a substantial negative impact for years to come. Sinking ship? You bet. Well see if all the hairbrained schemes of steamboxes and hate mongering against the competition will pull Valve through somehow.
A steam box may have had a chance, but it's 1-2 years to late I'm afraid. Intact, there will be no steambox, that ship has sailed.
Lets face it, the stagnant overlong console generation has helped the PC platform flourish immensely. But with 2013 its time for the console to be back in the limelight. And any self respecting gaffer knows that they will be loaded to the hilt with functionality and games to impress. Any PC advantage will be significantly eroded.
There is absolutely no disputing that Valves relevance will take a substantial hit. Most companies grow with time, but this one will see a substantial negative impact for years to come. Sinking ship? You bet. Well see if all the hairbrained schemes of steamboxes and hate mongering against the competition will pull Valve through somehow.
A steam box may have had a chance, but it's 1-2 years to late I'm afraid. Intact, there will be no steambox, that ship has sailed.
Reading the nonsense in this thread.
>lol
Edit: To expound a bit and not appear like an asshole. A bunch of people are fired from Valve. "Steambox cancelled!" "Valve will not make any more games!" "Hostile work environment!" "Blah, blah, blah." Newell comes out and outright says that nothing has been cancelled. Tweets that this is performance evaluation season in Valve and such things are expected come out. "Steambox cancelled!" "Valve will not make any more games!" "Hostile work environment!" "Blah, blah, blah." It's like watching stampeding cattle. And similar nonsense happened with people leaving Irrational not that long ago. These are not GAF's proudest accomplishments.