EuroGamer Interview

Very interesting. Gabe basically says that we have HL3 now. Episodes One to Three, together, constitute Half-Life 3.

I like Gabe's attitude towards the HL movie.

Steam sends back data on what weapons are used and where we get stuck in the game? I'm not a fan of that if it's not optional. Just on principle.
 
Gabe said:
Eurogamer: Talking of Hollywood, has anyone from the movie world come up with a decent Half-Life movie script yet?

Gabe Newell: They all sucked!
Click to expand...

Haha. Gabe speaks truth.

Oh, and when he talks about the Ultra mode, does that enable itself automatically? I didn't see an option for it. AFAIK, it is considered on the 'high end' scale. The 7800GTX?
 
It would be curious if VALVe decides to pull off a full-length game again. Probably not if the episodic strategy proves to be a great success. :) Also nice to see the possibility of new tech demos along with no HL movie yet. :D
 
Yeah, Gabe for President...


Laidlaw for supreme leader of the universe, and all parallel universes beyond!...and whatever else there is out there.

:p
 
TST_Devgru Seal said:
Oh, and when he talks about the Ultra mode, does that enable itself automatically? I didn't see an option for it. AFAIK, it is considered on the 'high end' scale. The 7800GTX?
Click to expand...

I was wondering about that too.
 
What I liked was that Gabe didn't rule out the possibility of non-episode expansions for HL2. As he said, expansions would take a look at the story from a different character's perspective, and I think it's a very interesting style, I liked it a lot for HL1. Seeing the events of HL2 from a perspective of a Resistance fighter or even a Combine soldier would be great.

I also still hope they'll do a full-length HL3. Gabe says the episodes are HL3, but I'd want a long game simply because full-length games have that epic feeling. No matter how good, a 4-hour episode can't feel like a big, epic adventure the way a 22-hour game feels like it.

Go G-Man!
 
Good interview.

Can't remember seeing this area, I guess it was cut or probably redone, resembles the train station a bit actually.

ss_preview_striders.jpg
 
Solver said:
I also still hope they'll do a full-length HL3. Gabe says the episodes are HL3, but I'd want a long game simply because full-length games have that epic feeling. No matter how good, a 4-hour episode can't feel like a big, epic adventure the way a 22-hour game feels like it.

Go G-Man!
Click to expand...
Like they said, to keep up the amount of detail and effort they want to maintain, HL3 would come out when they are all retired.
 
Loke said:
Good interview.

Can't remember seeing this area, I guess it was cut or probably redone, resembles the train station a bit actually.
Click to expand...

Yeah it's an early version of the trainyard.
 
TST_Devgru Seal said:
Haha. Gabe speaks truth.

Oh, and when he talks about the Ultra mode, does that enable itself automatically? I didn't see an option for it. AFAIK, it is considered on the 'high end' scale. The 7800GTX?
Click to expand...

Thinking the same thing. I have a 7800GTX and i dont see a ultra setting..Even tho the game looks insanely good. Dunno if im getting it all.
 
Cliffhanger interview!

It was good anyway. =p
I'm not sure but I think he just mentioned "HL3 - Episode 1" to give you a better idea of what Episode 1 was in relation to HL2. It was moving forward and not an expantion. Obviously it is still named HL2 Episode 1. And I'm sure there will be an actual HL3.
 
It sounds like the Half Life 2 Episodes = Half Life 3 in small portions. After the third (and final) episode is released, Valve will probably make some expansion packs similiar to Op4 / Blueshift based on the Half Life 2 story arc.
 
Solver said:
Steam sends back data on what weapons are used and where we get stuck in the game? I'm not a fan of that if it's not optional. Just on principle.
Click to expand...

They're watching us play?! Alert the ACLU!
 
I don't think it's a case of cutting things out and trimming them SHIPPI, I think it's just a case of refinement.
 
Perhaps you mean the Hydra? That wasn't working, and they had alot of gameplay built around it.
 
SHIPPI, even when they trim stuff based on beta-tester feedback, it's fitting to do so. The way beta testing is done, they really take feedback from numerous people, and if 19 people out of 20 feel a sequence is too long, it's too long. The original Kleiner's lab sequence was very long, and ticked even Gabe off. I personally wouldn't mind if the sequence was a bit longer, but if it's 20 minutes, that can break the dynamic of the game.

It's way weird when you test games. You see something that obviously doesn't work, it gets cut. Later, people start wondering about why that thing isn't in the game. And you're one of the few people to know that it just totally didn't work, but not only you can't convince anyone, you're not even allowed to say that.
 
Solver said:
What I liked was that Gabe didn't rule out the possibility of non-episode expansions for HL2. As he said, expansions would take a look at the story from a different character's perspective, and I think it's a very interesting style, I liked it a lot for HL1. Seeing the events of HL2 from a perspective of a Resistance fighter or even a Combine soldier would be great.

I also still hope they'll do a full-length HL3. Gabe says the episodes are HL3, but I'd want a long game simply because full-length games have that epic feeling. No matter how good, a 4-hour episode can't feel like a big, epic adventure the way a 22-hour game feels like it.
Click to expand...

I agree

SHIPPI said:
Though I don't like how they keep cutting stuff out, making things easier, and shortening sequences because of playtesters. Part of what I loved about HL1 was the long introduction sequence which immersed you in the world. In HL2 I was hoping to see some more of the world on the train - the 'countryside', the creatures, the ruins of City 17 as you approach it.. I admit, that did disappoint me. And I hoped the introduction for Ep1 would be longer, but what they did have did work very well.
Click to expand...

I agree :)
 
I like Gabe and Valve's approach. He's right, development cycles for AAA games are getting to be insane. It'll come to the point where a developer will only be able to work on 3 or 4 AAA titles in his or her career.

The Source tech will be continually updated, I'm pretty confident that when Half-Life '4''s episodes are released it'll be able to keep up with the best of them in terms of Graphical quality. Episode 2 is due for release later this year and Episode 3 early next year, by then UT2007 will have only just been released.
 
TST_Devgru Seal said:
A continuation of the interview:
http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=65391
Click to expand...

Cool. :thumbs:


I'm surprised that the Hovercraft sequence was so contested by the community. That was one of the most heart-racing moments of Half-Life 2. :(

It's also interesting how they feel about the exploration that other games offer. I never would have guessed that they were so against it. :O
 
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