Aftermath: A word on 'episodic content' and HL2

[Cons Himself]

Dear mods : I hope its ok to put this here as it kind of involves both aftermath and HL2....


Anyway, my point basically is this:

We have heard Aftermath being called an 'Episode' in the HL2 story and a lot of people have therefore made connotations between the 2 original HL expansions (OpFor and BlueShift) and Aftermath.

From what I read on the scans (norty meh hehe) of the PCG preview article, it seems that Aftermath is going to be Steam only. This obviously cuts costs for Valve but it raises some interesting questions about HL2 and its future in general...

What is the difference between an 'Episode' and a traditional expansion?

Obviously the first difference seems to be that distribution will be online only. Does this mean we will have to pay for it? Well im not sure. Traditional expansions (OpFor etc) tended to be about half the length timewise of the original game with new features, MP modes, enemies, weapons and AI. Ie, a total overhaul of everything except the graphics engine (though BlueShift included the HD pack, the engine wasnt changed).
However, traditional expansions often take at least a year to a year and a half to develop. This may give us a clue as to why Aftermath has been called an 'Episode' rather than an expansion. It will be SP only, and a LOT shorter than a traditional expansion. As I see it the cost element depends on the length of the gameplay and the freshness of the gameplay.
As Im sure many of you will remember, we were all happy to shell out 25 quid on OpFor cos it was like a breath of fresh air at the time: more HL gameplay, yes, but sufficiently different to avoid being repetitive.
I hope Aftermath will be like OpFor in this respect but something tells me its just going to be 'more of the same' with no real changes, and without the length of a proper expansion. Like an extra few levels if you like. Which there is nothing wrong with, believe me, ill be the first one in that Steam line gagging to DL it!


Will the announcement of Aftermath preclude future development of traditional expansions from different viewpoints for HL2?

Probably yes: Valve has indicated a preference for Steam distributed 'episodic content' in interviews stretching back over a year back to the announcement of HL2. Hell, they didnt even include a proper manual for the Retail version of HL2 which shows that they really do see Steam only distribution as the way of the future, although they didnt have the balls to try it with HL2 given the market conditions at the moment, the extra content seems like it will all be online only.

Will this mean more content?

I hope so yes, because if Valve will be cutting costs through Steam only distribution, hopefully we can expect some kind of meaningful episode every 8 months or so, whether it be DoD: Source, Aftermath, The Lost Coast or the fabled 'Alyx Back-story'. We've already had HL2DM, and numerous expansions to CS:S, so heres to the future on the official content front. However, the content will probably come through in 'drips and drabs' rather than a big expansion every couple of years (as it was with HL)...

Anyway those are my thoughts, like to see what everyone else thinks.

 

[SFLUFAN]

Valve indicated to someone from HLFallout who visited them last year that the "episodic content" would either be free or at a very low cost.

 

[Cons Himself]

Well that makes sense with the theory that Aftermath will in fact be shorter and perhaps dare I say it, less of an overhaul than a traditional expansion?

 

[Fliko]

Good post... I believe this belongs over, at the Aftermath section thought :/

 

[Cons Himself]

thanks, but i think it belongs here because as I said it discusses issues about Aftermath itself, and HL2 expansions and future content in general.

 

[Mechagodzilla]

Well that makes sense with the theory that Aftermath will in fact be shorter and perhaps dare I say it, less of an overhaul than a traditional expansion?

Well, there is guaranteed to be both new enemies and new maps in Aftermath.

All the 'traditional' expansions had new maps, but Opposing Force was the only expansion that had new enemies.
Blue Shift and Decay only had about two new friendlies each.

So, Aftermath is definitely going to be more of an overhaul than Blue Shift and Decay combined.
And if there are new weapons, which I consider to be rather likely, it should be on par with Opposing Force as an expansion.

As for the game's length, it's a toss up. All expansions so far have been shorter.
But on the other hand; with all the pre-prepared HL2 textures, characters and such ready to go; Valve definitely will be much more capable of focusing on making many maps, and more maps means a longer game.
They have quality already done, so now they just need to work on quantity.

 

[Cons Himself]

Ok I accept what you say about BlueShift and Decay being short too, mind you those were both atypical PC expansions in that they were both designed to be short little extras for console conversions of the original HL - Blue Shift for the DreamCast, and Decay was for the PS2, although BS was released on the PC when the DC went to shit.

But OpFor was a large traditional expansion.
2 New MP modes: OpFor CTF and OpFor DM
New Friendlies with new skills: The medic, The engineer to open doors, the HW grunt with the SAW machinegun, and the new barney with the donuts and magnum
All new RACE of enemies (Race-X) with all new attributes and models (as well as the revamped Grunt and Black Ops models).
Completely revamped arsenal of weapons (I think all except one or two were different from HL).

Yes it was shorter than HL, but I think it took me about 60% of the time it took to complete the original HL which is a hefty chunk of gameplay - a good 15 hours. I doubt that Aftermath will be anywhere in the region of 15 hours simply because it is just that - an 'Episode' in an ongoing series of episodic content, if you read the PCG article...

 

[Mechagodzilla]

It is true that Op4 had quite a lot of stuff to it, but it sort-of had to because of the different POV.
The marines had to be turned into allies and the new black ops needed to be added in their place.
Also, most of the additions were by exclusion. Many of the HL1 aliens were reduced to cameo appearances, and instead of just adding new weapons, most of the original lineup was replaced.

For Aftermath, Valve have already stated their intention to take the enemies and stuff we've already seen and elaborate on them with different combinations of forces in different situations (like Alyx versus an antlion guard in city 17, which is a new combination in all respects). This also means that enemies we didn't see much of, like the hunter-chopper, will likely re-appear.

You're still Gordon, so your allies are still going to be the rebels and your enemies will still be the combine. There's no need to replace them.
But you can bet that the vortigaunts are going to factor into combat now (they're already fully coded and ready to go) and in the first sneak preview we've already been shown two new humanoid enemies. I think it's a safe guess that the Icthyosaur, the two synths and the cremators will also enter gameplay.

Op4 had
-four new allies
-seven new enemies (two of which were one-time bosses).
-nine new weapons

Aftermath has, at least:
-one new ally (two, if you include the fisherman from the lost coast)
-two new enemies, with six being a safe medium estimate.
-an unknown number of new weapons. I'd estimate upwards of three.

And that's just the stuff we know about from a few hints and one screenshot.

So by remixing the original content, things that were almost done, and a few new guys, there should be plenty o' freshness.

 

[Lincoln]

I think that Aftermath is a full on expansion.

It's just that they're treating Half-Life as a kind of series, where each game is an episode. Things like OP4 and Blue Shift are short-lived spinoffs.

 

[Qhartb]

Mechagodzilla, could you specify who the new ally and two new known enemies are?

I know about the fisherman and the stalker...

 

[Marx! II]

I'm sorry, fisherman?

 

[eatbugs]

I'm sorry, stalker?

 

[CrazyHarij]

Moved the thread, it may still be about Aftermath AND HL2, but that's what the Aftermath forum is there for.

eatbugs: The stalker is a type of slave used and also seen in the citadel when you venture through it in HL2, they are former resistance that are captured, having their limbs and inner organs removed to become brainwashed workers for the combine.

Marx! II: The fisherman is a character in the Lost Coast map which is about to be released by Valve, it's sort of a highly detailed map where they show off the Source engine's capability for HDR and a high amount of effects and such.

 

[Naudian]

Im guessing/hoping that Aftermath will be available to sliver/gold users. Bronzers have to pay the 10 bucks to upgrade
That makes sense, eh? AmIrightoramIrightoramIright? Right?

 

[Docm30]

I sure hope not, I dont have a credit card, And i will kill everyone at valve if i cant get it.

And i should hope the expansion has atleast 3 new weapons., (Hopefully) 10 hours of gameplay...atleast (they owe it to us for halflife 2's so called 25 hours), And a whole bunch of new enemies, But that is probably asking [far] too much.

 

[UndeadScottsman]

Im guessing/hoping that Aftermath will be available to sliver/gold users. Bronzers have to pay the 10 bucks to upgrade
That makes sense, eh? AmIrightoramIrightoramIright? Right?

Wait, so you want a free expansion on top of HL: Source, DoD: source and Valve's entire back catalog that 10 bucks got? Greedy little thing, aren't you.

 

[GonzoBabbleshit]

How do you know it will be a LOT shorter than the traditional expansion?

 

[GonzoBabbleshit]

Im guessing/hoping that Aftermath will be available to sliver/gold users. Bronzers have to pay the 10 bucks to upgrade
That makes sense, eh? AmIrightoramIrightoramIright? Right?

And no that doesn't make sense! You've got what you paid for already...how long do you want that Silver/Gold package to be strung out for?!

There's no way you'll get it for free

 

[AIDisabled]

I don't mind paying a few extra bucks. What I would mind is sacrificing quality in favor of low costs. You know, just because it's not a CD-Rom release, just because it's low-cost, just string up a couple of levels and let 'em rip, rake in the moolah.

Now I know Valve won't do this.

All I'm saying is that I'd rather have a solid follow up to Half Life 2, even if it means a few extra bucks, than seeing a stupid hack job riding on the wheels of its predecessor's success.

That said, Valve, I want a sniper rifle, dammit!

 

[Cons Himself]

Im GUESSING based on the balance of probabilities that it will be shorter than OpFor simply because: The fact that the development time seems to be in the region of 6 months whereas OpFor took about a year and a half with a full development studio (Gearbox) working on it. Finally Valve havent called it an expansion, theyve called it an 'Episode' in an ongoing series of episodic content. That conjures up a mental image of a shorter more fast paced collection of levels, than the word expansion.

Also when you clicked New Game in HL2 - werent those different levels like 'Nova Prospekt' simply called 'Episodes'?

Point to ponder on. Im not syaing Aftermath will be as short as a single HL2 Episode (about 3 hrs on average), but im just saying dont get your hopes up for as much new content as OpFor had. In the longrun im sure well see many such episodes however.

 

[Cunni]

I would gladly cough up say 30 bucks Canadian for an episode, because I know part of the money would go towards building upon the Source engine, and developing HL3, new episodes, new games etc.