Ben-DutkaWe've often thought that every employee at Valve is deathly allergic to the number "3."
It's why we haven't seen Half-Life 3 , Left 4 Dead 3 , or Portal 3 . Still, that doesn't mean such games will never arrive, and at least it appears that the developer is also working on the next Source Engine iteration.
According to fan site ValveTime , an internal project tracker has revealed a 42-employee mailing group for a project entitled "Half-Life 3." The screenshots also show a 68-person mailing group for "Left 4 Dead 3." Numerous groups are devoted to "Source 2," including Artists, Builds and Proto-games. Other project titles include "Steam Box," "SteamMMO," "Return to Ravenholm" and "Piston Test." Therefore, we have reason to hope.
Okay, so there's no Portal 3 (the only one I really want) but at least Valve is working. They're not over there staring at the walls, picking their noses and counting the minutes. It has been over eight and a half years since Half-Life 2 launched but hey, they work at their own speed. Kinda like the old 3D Realms. How long did we wait for Duke Nukem Forever …?
Honestly, in an industry where more and more publishers are all about annual installments (because SHAREHOLDERS!) of the biggest game series, it's nice to see a company that says, "when it's ready it's ready, and not before then." I think the company has such a hard time counting to 3 simply because their part 2s have all been so freaking great. Where do you go from there? Take your time, bounce ideas around, when the time is right to come back you'll know.
Having said all that, PLEASE let Half-Life 3 be coming soon…
Oh, I'm all for the "when it's ready" philosophy. I'll take that any day over the "pump out a new one every year" approach.
But as Bethesda just said, a decade is a little TOO long to wait for a sequel in any franchise.
Can't argue with that. Let's hope the Portal 3 wait isn't that long…
I think what happened with Half Life was something similar to what happened with versus. They must have some vision that the current source engine couldnt handle and so they went to make a new engine.
Perhaps Halflife 3 is going to be something insanely special and never before seen and not just like another half life.
If none of that is the case though, then I don't know what is taking them so long :
Cool. I like how Valve waits for significant advancements in hardware tech before making a refresh.
They're quite the contrary to EA, Ubisoft and Activision.
Not bashing but what's so great about Half Life? I tried to play it but it was uber slow and never got to any action and I eventually just left.
Why does it take so long for PC developers to do anything? Their games are always less advanced.
It's definitely one of those games that wasn't just good when it came out, but "important." It was one of the first to "show" the story — you observe and hear so much throughout the game, cut scenes are nearly non-existent — than just "tell" it. I actually agree that it hasn't aged particularly well, but I see its fingerprints all over tons of game design for all sorts of genre's today. For a lot of people who played it when it came out (I'm not one of them), I think it was just so groundbreaking and unique at the time that it holds a special place in their heart.
Last edited by telly on 6/20/2013 12:36:24 PM
"Why does it take so long for PC developers to do anything? Their games are always less advanced."
I've been wondering that for 15 years. The PCers never seem to have an answer.
World, Half Life came at a time when near every FPS meant being dropped into a maze and shooting droves of one track minded AI. That is to always be aware of your presence and attack you head on.
It was very arcade'like and nearly plotless.
Half Life revolutionized that. This was pre-PS2 and I believe pre-Dreamcast mind you so the tech is majorly dated. But what it did was offer a level of immersion and scripted events that was unprecedented for it's time. You were an ordinary working-class engineer showing up to work every day doing ordinary stuff. The game didn't rush you into the action. It set the stage for drawing you into Freeman's reality. The military AI later introduced in the game was also revolutionary for it's time. The helicopter part with the rocket launcher was a major talking talking point for years to come amongst gamers.
Ben, many PC devs are now co-developing on consoles so big "pc exclusives' these days look like Blizzard games, RTS, and simulators and indie titles. The advent of the mmorpg really caused a change. Cliffy B. John Carmack, Warren Spector, Ken Levine, Peter Moleuneax, and Gabe Newell, Bungie, Infinity Ward, the Bethesda game studio teams for The Elder Scrolls and Fallout, and Bioware's teams have all been heavily involved with consoles since Xbox. The bridge opened during that gen. The hard drive and RAM and MS's shepherding was when the bridge formed. They were the movers and shakers of the PC scene. They're now bigger than just PC but global game makers for all major platforms and their vision and games dominate the console scene these days.
Sorry Yerli for forgetting Crytek in my list =p
Last edited by Temjin001 on 6/20/2013 2:04:34 PM
I see, so it was like a sea-change for FPS in becoming more than a blast n go experience. It's just a shame the loading times are so long on Dreamcast (I have a copy), I wouldn't mind giving it another shot some time.
Last edited by WorldEndsWithMe on 6/20/2013 2:23:42 PM
Yes, Half-Life was a real game changer. It's not that it wasn't thee only non-blast and go style game but it offered a setting and level of immersion that was very unique. It inspired many FPS games from there on out. In fact, I think I remember reading that the original Duke Nukem Forever incarnation was scrapped because of games like Half-Life.
btw, games like Hexen, using non-polygonated tech, was a good fantasy FPS that wasn't exactly like the mold either and it was pre-Half-Life.
Last edited by Temjin001 on 6/20/2013 2:33:17 PM
The more I think about this the more I believe it's great that the indie scene is supported. Many of the great minds we have today started in a grass roots open platform environment. Over time their experience and vision was nurtured and shaped into the visionaries we have today. We need these guys driven by the passion of making games without big budgets to become our industries future giants.
I know all that, Temjin. Doesn't change the fact that PC-oriented developers, whether they're involved with consoles or not these days, seem to move a LOT slower than everyone else.
And I've always said Half-Life 2 was vastly overrated. But that's just me.
Last edited by Ben Dutka PSXE on 6/20/2013 3:40:37 PM
If I was an indie dev and wanted to make an FPS I would go for something that makes it seem even more like you are controlling a human being. Put the camera where a head would be, give the player some physics like Nate Drake has in his movement so you aren't on multidirectional skates, put the arms in a normal position, react to bullet strikes, that sort of thing.
I loved half-life 2 and I think it deserved all the praise it received as most critics do.
I don't know who you are talking about Ben. The only Dev I can think of who takes an obscene amount of time is Valve. Well actually they are weird with their time tables. For example Left for Dead 2 came out I think a year after Left for Dead 1, or was it 2 years? Half Life is the only PC only franchise with really long dev cycles, other than MMOs. Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2 I guess could be other cases but Diablo 3 there is a lot of rumors that that game was actually rushed out with being worked on for less than 2 years and I wouldn't doubt it. That game was trash. Starcraft they didn't make the sequel because Starcraft 1 was so popular and still is, they didn't see a need too.
Other than those mentioned no other PC devs take 5 to 10 years to make games. They take about 3 usually which I personally think is the perfect amount of time for a game to be developed. 2 Years feels rushed to me, and anything over 3 years unless it is extremely ambitious seems to be a perfectionist thing.
I see games coming out on steam every week, from indie devs to big devs and not all of them were in development for years. So I kind of think you are lumping PC game devs in the same category as devs who are known to take insane amounts of time like Valve, and Blizzard.
Duke Nukem forever doesn't count because it wasn't actively being worked on for 12 years it was a mess of a game switching hands and engines for those 12 years.
As for why is Half Life so good? Well if you played both of them when they came out they did things that games weren't doing. Half life 1 had smart AI, a great story, script, voice acting, and it had really great pacing with combat and puzzles.
Half life 2 had the gravity gun, and a physics engine which made fighting enemies just so interesting because we hadn't see that sort of thing before. It also had a great story, and set pieces, and clever environmental puzzles.
They definitely aren't everyones cup of tea and there are shooters I like more than it, but it deserves the praise it got from critics and gamers alike.
Hoping to see some more Playstation/Steam crossover games. Portal 2 worked so well, i bet the ps4 and steam could work even better.
oh joy another day another half life 3 rumor.
sorry, but until the day valve comes out and actually puts the game in my hand personally, its dead!
in fact im wondering if it ever did exist, or was it just some sort of cruel sick joke?
i hope we dont see another L4D, i mean how many zombie games do we need?
whats the difference between L4D and dead island and dead rising?
no, seriously?
we have MORE than enough games that let me take a chainsaw to a undeads neck!
lets put that talent to better use, IE portal 3, or god forbid maybe a new IP!
if were going to do portal 3 though, first we have to find some way to bring wheatly back from the moon because it just wont be the same without him!
gotta be one of the best video game characters ever created!
and funny enough the other one is in the same game……