Evolve: from the makers of Left 4 Dead

[Aizawa]

I dont like the main characters in Evolve, why they have to look like that? And some weapons are too scifi for me too.

 

[Born]

I mean, I can definitely relate to this feeling. The spark is dying, and I really hope that Source 2 and their next-gen games will remind us that they are first and foremost an innovative game development studio. But they've obviously transitioned from a focused, small studio, to this huge monolith that seems to have their priorities set on making money through all sorts of different channels. But I guess that's a consequence of them being the proprietor of a large platform like Steam - they're making bank off of it, and they have to maintain it if they want to continue to grow and beat out the competition.

I've basically reiterated what Born said, and others, so it looks like a lot of the older fans do share the same feelings. But I'm going to remain hopeful up until I see their next-gen stuff.

Yeah, this is it. I don't hate Valve. Far from it. I really like the company. I'm just expressing disappointment. I also sincerely hope that their next-gen stuff will shut me up, slap me across the face and say "Yeah, we're still trying to push the boundaries here." I expect this from Valve because of their past record. I don't really care as much about any other developer out there.

And no, this argument of it being "hip to hate Valve nowadays" is not a reflection of my posts. That's just childish.

 

[Born]

Definitely see Viktor's art direction from HL2 in Dishonored. Just now kind of clicked to me. Interesting.

Yeah it's brilliant isn't it. Currently playing through Dishonored again actually.

 

[Born]

I would like to chime in on one thing. I think it's silly to say Valve haven't created anything original since 2007.

Portal 2 is a continuation of a game they made that is based on a game somebody else made, yes. But does Portal 2 resemble at all anything the guys who made Narbacular Drop ever could have imagined? Hell no. The Narbacular guys created a game mechanic, that's about it. Valve created the whole story, atmosphere, and more importantly, characters behind Portal 1 and especially Portal 2. To say Portal 2 is not an original creation of Valve just because it has portals in it (shit, valve even threw in plenty of new mechanics besides portals) is just ignorant.

It's not like Portal 1 and 2 were obvious ideas just sitting there waiting for a company with enough money to make them. Did anyone see that early stages of portal 2 development video? They created a large portion of the game, developing the game as a prequel, before changing their minds and scrapping it all. That right there says it all, to me. You act like they are incapable of original thought or making creative decisions. The only thing Valve appropriated was a game mechanic and a few people. To denounce Portal 2 as unoriginal because of this is just stupid. It's like saying HL1 was unoriginal because it's a sci-fi FPS with aliens.

I agree that Portal 1 & 2 is an exception; they did take an interesting game mechanic and develop a good game around it. But my argument still stands. For me, Portal still wasn't a title that pushed the envelope significantly for Valve - you may agree or disagree.

Look, I'm not gonna bullshit anyone here. I'm expecting something of the same calibre as Half-Life. Something which bleeds passion from all of the hard work that's gone into it. Simple as that. Half-Life is what put Valve firmly on the map and gave the company its innovative essence. Not any of these other titles which - although not bad by any means - quite frankly pale in comparison.

All I ask is that you remember that feeling when you played through and completed Half-Life 1 & 2 for the first time. Be honest with yourself. Has anything come close since? Nope.

 

[Aizawa]

you know what. I think I finally understand what you guys are trying to tell us. The first time I played HL1 and HL2 ... thats a long time ago. And the thing is I was so young that both games scared the shit out of me and I only watched my father and brother play them and still it was a phenomenal experience. Really. Usually I hate watching other people play, but as I said it was the only way to experience those games. First time I played myself was 2007, played all of them, but my brother played the Ravenholm part for me and the underground part in ep1.
But those moments, I know what you mean. I just forgot it, because I played all Half-Life games so much.

But imo Valve didnt do anything wrong except not communicating how it will continue with HL, but Im pretty sure, that they will blow us away with the next HL game, else they wouldnt take so much time. They could just make a 5hour ep3 which was on a high level and finish the series, but they knew they have to make something greater. In the meantime they gave us other games.
I mean other companys cant do something like that, because they need money, when they make a new game, they dont have much time and they must put the effort of all their workers into that project. Valve on the other hand has more than enough money I think xD, so they know, better take your time and make a masterpiece. Thats my point of view.

 

[SpotEnemyBoats]

Aside from Episode 3 being vaporware, they've also screwed up the other HL games with shitty updates that didn't need to happen.

 

[BabyHeadCrab]

They did? What did they do?

 

[SpotEnemyBoats]

There's a pretty big list on that Half-Life/Portal series thread on facepunch.

-hdr only on the coast maps (compared to the 360 where its on all maps)
-broken light maps that have a funny rainbow coloring
-full bright bugs
-buggy is now slower and now can't race the stalker train
-G-man is crosseyed
-Portal 1 stuck on dx8 renderer

Only took Valve a few years to have one guy fix some of the issues with those updates (Alfred), after they broke HL2 with the orange box update. But still quite a few issues remain that they never bothered to fix with the updates.

 

[BabyHeadCrab]

That's too bad. I guess I haven't played any of those in quite some time so I didn't know.

 

[Aizawa]

really? I play Half-Life 2 like every half year or so and didnt really realized stuff you mentioned except that you cant race the stalker train anymore, I thought I remember the solution to that wrong, but apparently its a bug.

 

[Omnomnick]

On that note I am done with this thread because people like Nick and other staff members will only facilitate stupid, undying love for Valve like a bunch of shills.

You clearly have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, but it's not like that's at all surprising.

I speak to the majority of the staff on a regular basis, and I can tell you every single one of them can easily name problems and issues (rather significant ones at that) with both Valve and their products, some way more than most. There are a whole host of perfectly good reasons to explain why the majority of the gaming community (the staff and members of this site included) respect Valve and their employees, which has nothing to do with having "stupid, undying love" for them.

It's true that you can have your own opinion, and you're more than welcome to post them, but to be perfectly honest, your ranting and uninformed bullshitting have become about as predictable as those I'd expect from Bill O'Reilly.

 

[SpotEnemyBoats]

I like what Kadayi said a few weeks back on neogaf (i'm sure you older members remember him), those that needlessly defend Valve would probably be the first to jump down EA, Beth or Ubisoft throat if they did the same stuff Valve has been doing the last few years.

really? I play Half-Life 2 like every half year or so and didnt really realized stuff you mentioned except that you cant race the stalker train anymore, I thought I remember the solution to that wrong, but apparently its a bug.

There's a reason why Filip Victor is making that update mod to fix Valve's laziness.

 

[Aizawa]

There's a reason why Filip Victor is making that update mod to fix Valve's laziness.

or maybe you guys are just exxagerating as always?

 

[SpotEnemyBoats]

or maybe you guys are just exxagerating as always?

Yeah, people would post in the github respository and make a mod to fix issues that don't exist. We just imagined these issues.

 

[Aizawa]

Yeah, people would post in the github respository and make a mod to fix issues that don't exist. We just imagined these issues.

did I say they dont exist? I just said imo you people are exxagerating and those bugs arent as fatal as one thinks. In fact I didnt realised any of them as I said. Next time I play HL2 Ill be more careful I promise

 

[Schru]

While many maps indeed don't have HDR and Source 2013 defaults to DirectX 8 on certain systems (thus causing Half-Life 2 to use fullbright on some maps), some of the problems mentioned here aren't bugs:

• The lightmaps always had coloured spots; it's probably a side-effect of low-bit compression which replaces some grey areas with such coloured spots;
• as far as I know, it was a design decision to make the buggy slower with the release of the Orange Box on consoles; it is still possible to race with the train, but the turbo key must now be held down rather than pressed once to maintain the speed boost;
• the G-Man no longer looks cross-eyed; this issue was addressed in the summer;
• Portal is not stuck in DirectX 8; this problem can happen in Half-Life 2 as well, but only on certain systems.

All this is not to say that Valve shouldn't address all the remaining problems, but there's a lot of misinformation here and elsewhere as to the current state of the game.

Seeing as the engine changes have permitted the same versions of Valve's games to be run on and receive the same updates on three platforms, I think they have been beneficial. What's more, all six of their older singleplayer games use the same engine now, which should make it easier to maintain their compatibility in the future. Finally, the updated renderer has made Half-Life 2 look better than the original version, except for some instances of overly shiny surfaces.

 

[SpotEnemyBoats]

The lightmaps always had coloured spots; it's probably a side-effect of low-bit compression which replaces some grey areas with such coloured spots

I've talked to a few source modders about the subject and the lighting is due to the maps not being compiled with $final, it's not intentional its a bug. Why does the 360 verison doesn't have this rainbow colored shadows and actually has working hdr on the other maps?

as far as I know, it was a design decision to make the buggy slower with the release of the Orange Box on consoles; it is still possible to race with the train, but the turbo key must now be held down rather than pressed once to maintain the speed boost;

you and I both know that will never be fixed for hl2

the G-Man no longer looks cross-eyed; this issue was addressed in the summer

Thanks to the community, just like the breen still sitting bug.

Portal is not stuck in DirectX 8; this problem can happen in Half-Life 2 as well, but only on certain systems.
All this is not to say that Valve shouldn't address all the remaining problems, but there's a lot of misinformation here and elsewhere as to the current state of the game.

Portal is stuck in dx8 for me, and many others so you're wrong.

Finally, the updated renderer has made Half-Life 2 look better than the original version, except for some instances of overly shiny surfaces.

 

[Aizawa]

I like how you give him "funny", because there is no negative thing you can give
and imo you exxagerate so much that I could use the same GIF for you

 

[Schru]

I've talked to a few source modders about the subject and the lighting is due to the maps not being compiled with $final, it's not intentional its a bug. Why does the 360 verison doesn't have this rainbow colored shadows and actually has working hdr on the other maps?

I'd assume it's because the 360 version had its lightmaps recompiled using newer standards, while the non-HDR (maybe all) maps in the PC version still use the old ones. The colour spots have always been there; I remember them distinctly because they always annoyed me too. They are much harder to make out on a CRT monitor or a low-contrast LCD, which may lead some people who used to play the game on such monitors to remember it looking different.

you and I both know that will never be fixed for hl2

I said that it's most likely an intentional design change, so I wouldn't expect them to fix anything there. I can't test if that's how it works in the 360 version, but you can try it in the PC version for yourself, just hold down Shift until you're off the tracks.

Thanks to the community, just like the breen still sitting bug.

No. The G-Man's facial animations were readjusted by a Valve employee.

Portal is stuck in dx8 for me, and many others so you're wrong.

I said it can happen 'only on certain systems', so no, I am not wrong.

Try playing the pre-engine-change Half-Life 2, if you can, and see for yourself. The new renderer has caused many things to look different, and there's a serious problem with citizens' facial animations, but overall the game looks much better.

 

[SpotEnemyBoats]

I said that it's most likely an intentional design change, so I wouldn't expect them to fix anything there. I can't test if that's how it works in the 360 version, but you can try it in the PC version for yourself, just hold down Shift until you're off the tracks.

Intentional for the jalopy for Ep2, which wasn't meant to race stalker trains but not intentional for HL2. The best bet is to pull back and wait for the train to pass. The buggy now has the car physics of the jalopy, so that means that the buggy can just avoid all the traps post update and ram the APC during the highway sections.

No. The G-Man's facial animations were readjusted by a Valve employee.

Pepper basically fixed it, so no.

Try playing the pre-engine-change Half-Life 2, if you can, and see for yourself. The new renderer has caused many things to look different, and there's a serious problem with citizens' facial animations, but overall the game looks much better.

Other than Alyx's new face, the game is worse off. Animation clipping with Alyx, texture problems, missing decals, etc.

The episodes have some issues as well (fog seams around citadel and missing sound scapes), but hl2's issues are bit more glaring. Thankfully Filip Victor is fixing the game where Valve haven't bothered too, but it won't fix the many broken mods thanks to the port.

 

[Schru]

Intentional for the jalopy for Ep2, which wasn't meant to race stalker trains but not intentional for HL2. The best bet is to pull back and wait for the train to pass. The buggy now has the car physics of the jalopy, so that means that the buggy can just avoid all the traps post update and ram the APC during the highway sections.

You can still race the train, just hold down Shift. I also realize that the changed behaviour broke gameplay elements such as having to push aside wrecked cars with the G-Gun and I agree that it's a bad thing. Nevertheless, it doesn't mean that it mightn't have been an intentional design change -- they just didn't put much effort into it.

Pepper basically fixed it, so no.

Pepper did not fix that, you can ask him yourself. The facial animations did not match the new model because it was taken from Episode Two, so another employee joined in to fix it.

Other than Alyx's new face, the game is worse off. Animation clipping with Alyx, texture problems, missing decals, etc.

All NPCs are lighted better, new shaders on NPCs and weapons, normal maps are rendered with much better illusion of depth, and all the other content and features that were introduced in Episode Two.

 

[Tollbooth Willie]

You clearly have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, but it's not like that's at all surprising.

I speak to the majority of the staff on a regular basis, and I can tell you every single one of them can easily name problems and issues (rather significant ones at that) with both Valve and their products, some way more than most. There are a whole host of perfectly good reasons to explain why the majority of the gaming community (the staff and members of this site included) respect Valve and their employees, which has nothing to do with having "stupid, undying love" for them.

It's true that you can have your own opinion, and you're more than welcome to post them, but to be perfectly honest, your ranting and uninformed bullshitting have become about as predictable as those I'd expect from Bill O'Reilly.

The first sentence you start with sounds pretty condescending, but it's not like that's at all surprising.

I'm aware that people love Valve for good/genuine reasons and I can see them, but the fact still stands that the vast number of people who defend them are shills and fanboys that make The Beatles fans look sane.

 

[Omnomnick]

The first sentence you start with sounds pretty condescending, but it's not like that's at all surprising.

That was intentional. I also think it was fair, based on the fact you used your post to call me and some of the other staff "shills" with "stupid, undying love" for Valve, which is discussing a topic you actually know very little about.

Also, I thought you were...

done with this thread.

 

[kineaesth]

Well, I'm certainly done!