Gabe Newell

[Munro]

As we draw ever closer to Half-Life 2's release (whenever that may be), many questions
still remain surrounding Gordon's next adventure. For the answers, we decided to
skip the gossip and head straight to the Source. All game-engine puns aside, Mr
Bond talked Half-Life 2 with Gabe Newell, co-founder and managing director of Valve
Software.[br]
[br]
Halflife2.net: First off, how would you compare the HL2 development process
to that of the original? Has the expectation of an amazing sequel been more of an
anxiety or a motivation?

Gabe Newell: With the original, we were trying to create the company at
the same time we were building the game. In the sequel, we have to live up to
the expectations of the community. It seems like any project we do has its own
set of challenges. With the first game we were a year late on a product that was
only supposed to take a year. With the sequel we have the whole DX9 benchmark
imbroglio. Once HL-2 goes out the door, we're going to try to do some simpler
and saner projects for a bit.

Halflife2.net: The detail apparent in urban scenes from "City 17" is especially
impressive. What amount of work goes into creating an environment like this? Can
mod developers hope to imitate this level of realism?

Gabe Newell: We were concerned about this as well. Part of what we will
deliver to MOD authors are a bunch of snap-together level geometry which will
allow them to focus more on building interesting gameplay and less on figuring
out which lintel goes with which baseboard.

Halflife2.net: The compromise between detail and time constraints is an increasingly
significant issue facing game developers as new technology facilitates deeper and
more complex textures, models and game mechanics. How significant has this issue
been in HL2's development, considering the versatility of the Source engine?

Gabe Newell: The increased demands on art direction and production are
certainly one of the challenges. Scalability of content is another. How can you
make it look great and take advantage of all of the latest bells and whistles
on the high-end, while still looking good enough and run fast enough on a TNT-2.

<p>
Halflife2.net: The AI in Half-Life was groundbreaking at the time and was
the subject of many good reviews. What specific abilities of the enemy AI in HL2
are you most proud of? </p>

Gabe Newell: The way that the AI and physics (the simulated content)
interoperate with the authored content seamlessly. That's what the real key is
to pulling off the experience we want.

Halflife2.net: You've mentioned on a number of occasions that Gordon has
a set mass within the game world. What effects will this have on gameplay - say,
if you jumped on a headcrab, would it squish?

Gabe Newell: Off-hand I don't remember how much of a force it takes to
significantly damage a headcrab, but the point is that Gordon is no different
than any other object with the same mass (well, and shape). If you step on a teeter-totter,
it's going to teeter. If you weight too much for something to hold, it will break.

Halflife2.net: With all the different possibilities that HL2 has opened up,
how difficult has it been to decide when to take risks with something completely
new (for example, Steam distribution or the close integration of the physics system
into gameplay) and when to stick to the proven status-quo (say, HL2's linear single
player story)?

Gabe Newell: There are a couple of ways we tried to manage risk. Even though
we have Steam, we still have our partnership with Vivendi for retail packaged
goods distribution. We have a new engine, but we didn't announce the game until
well after we had all the systems integrated. The fundamental way to mitigate
risk is to have the best people in the world working on it, and deep enough pockets
to see it through to the end. If you give guys like Jay Stelly or Ken Birdwell
or Yahn Bernier or Tom Leonard the time and the resources they need, they are
going to do something spectacular.

Halflife2.net: The choice to release HL2 in three different packages (SP
only, standard and collector's edition) is quite unique among recent major PC games.
What prompted this decision?

Gabe Newell: It's basically a &quot;good, better, best&quot; strategy which is pretty
time tested in a lot of fields. The main driver was wanting to work with the mass
merchants like Wal-Mart to have what's called a value SKU at launch rather than
having to wait a year. Many people will go into the Wal-Mart's and end up buying
the middle SKU rather than the SP-only SKU after they've had a chance to think
about the decision. Some people who buy the single-player only SKU will be tempted
to try out multiplayer, and we can upgrade them using Steam if that's what they
want to do. [br]
[br]
It's less of an issue for the core gamer and more of an issue about reaching out
to the casual gamer or the non-gamer and making it easier for them to check out
this game Half-Life 2 they've heard about but which they don't want to drop $50
if there's a cheaper way for them to try it out and see if they like it.

Halflife2.net: Can you tell us any details on how the weapon inventory system
will work in the single player?

Gabe Newell: Nope.

Halflife2.net: How significant a role will vehicles play in HL2 single player?
What else can we expect to pilot apart from the buggy we've already seen?

Gabe Newell: Yes, there are other vehicles, but we're trying to keep a
bunch of details quiet so players get to have the fun of learning about them through
playing rather than through the press.

Community submitted questions:[br]
[br]
Athlon7 asks: The Steam delivery method is sure to be very popular for the
nearing HL2 release. Are you confident that the server infrastructure in place will
be able to handle the massive amounts of bandwidth required by the thousands downloading
HL2 via steam?

Gabe Newell: This issue scares the pants off of us. Every time we think
we understand the aggregate demand that can be created by the community, we find
that we have underestimated it catastrophically.

Vino asks: With regards to some technical details on models in HL2: Are the
facial controls done with the skeletal structure, or otherwise? How difficult will
it be for mod makers to create realistic lip-synching like we've seen with the G-Man
and Alyx? And to what extent can the ragdoll physics system be customized - are
the physical constraints of the body (e.g., a leg cannot bend backwards) built into
each model?

Gabe Newell: Bone-based facial systems are something we looked at early
on and discarded. They tend to be inflexible and the quality is low. For MOD authors,
there's a tool called FacePoser, which really is a scene generator that let's
you author content in the range from individual expression sub-components (e.g.
&quot;open the mouth this much over this period of time while pulling the eyebrows
this much over this period&quot up to the equivalent of stage blocking (this character
moves to this point and faces this entity while looking at this entity and blending
in this gesture). It's a pretty easy tool to get started with, and it looks a
lot like movie editing tools like Premiere.

LoneDeranger asks: In hindsight, are you guys glad that you let the word
out on HL2 in May? Would it have been easier to get work done without thousands
of fans emailing you? Or was the communication with the fan community helpful to
the game design process?

Gabe Newell: It's a lot easier to have the community involved than it was
to be silent.

Halflife2.net: To finish up, it's been quite a while since you told everybody
there was an easter egg hidden in the preview movies yet not even the most dedicated
HalfLife2.net forum lackey among us has been able to find it. Would you be willing
to give a subtle hint to the loyal fans so that they might have some better luck
in the upcoming weeks?

Gabe Newell: Nope.

Thanks for your time, Gabe. Now get that game released![br]
[br]
Unfortunately, Gabe couldn't reveal anything about HL2's closely guarded multiplayer.
No doubt we'll find out soon enough.

 

[Acepilotf14]

 

[L3N!N]

Why? D:

 

[Eejit]

Holy shit, Munro's gone mad.

 

[diluted]

 

[Darkside55]

When the HL2.net forum came alive and took control of Munro's account, it was...

THE DAY THE NEWS RECYCLED ITSELF

 

[Shakermaker]

Such an exhilarating yet boring day. Ambivalence overload.

 

[Qonfused]