I think Valve might just have had an excellent plan...

[Mr.Wotsit]

Hi everyone, I'm new here and this is my first post so be gentle...

Anyway, Valve have been making this excellent game for a long time now and I think it's safe to say that the single player mode is a thing of beauty. Polished to the extreme, you can feel every moment that they have said, "Okay, he thinks he's safe: RELEASE HELL!" I love it, it's brilliant.

That's good and all but that's not the clever part...

They've released HalfLife:Source too and apparently there is some kind of seemingly intentional HL2 multiplayer included. But these features are only skeletons of what they could become.
And here comes the clever part!

Valve know that, if they put in place the barebones elements of things like HL:S and HL2 multiplayer, mod teams will swarm to them and build these games for them! I mean, already there are multiple teams vowing to redo Half-life:Source with more care and attention than Valve has reason to apply. There are also those who were planning to try and implement multiplayer HalfLife2 even without having half the job already done for them.

So basically, they know that they will have these features added to their product for free without having to face any responsibility for the quality of the finished products as well as it not impacting their development time!

I honestly think it's a bloody intelligent move if they did it consciously and it makes a lot of sense - everyone's a winner!

So what does everyone think? Am I reading into things a bit too much? Should this be encouraged?

 

[Slainchild]

I agree totally, Valve has created a masterpiece that will be modded, prodded and probably <insert rhyming word> to death

 

[Hectic Glenn]

Its a fair point, if i remeber correctly counter strike was first made in this way, then valve took it over and made it official. So perhaps they are planning a similar move...either because they are lazy, tired or in a giving mood. I dont think we'll ever know, they give nothing away do they! Yeah Cliffe i know you are reading this :dozey:

 

[Mr.Wotsit]

Well Counterstrike was a totally original and independent venture.
Here, what I think is really clever is that they have done the work that needs to be done in the engine - sure Halflife Source was only done as a tech test or something like that but, by including it, they just know that somebody out there is going to continue and do that time-consuming bit; production of content while the most obstructive bit has been done for them!

 

[tobe]

Hi everyone, I'm new here and this is my first post so be gentle...

Anyway, Valve have been making this excellent game for a long time now and I think it's safe to say that the single player mode is a thing of beauty. Polished to the extreme, you can feel every moment that they have said, "Okay, he thinks he's safe: RELEASE HELL!" I love it, it's brilliant.

That's good and all but that's not the clever part...

They've released HalfLife:Source too and apparently there is some kind of seemingly intentional HL2 multiplayer included. But these features are only skeletons of what they could become.
And here comes the clever part!

Valve know that, if they put in place the barebones elements of things like HL:S and HL2 multiplayer, mod teams will swarm to them and build these games for them! I mean, already there are multiple teams vowing to redo Half-life:Source with more care and attention than Valve has reason to apply. There are also those who were planning to try and implement multiplayer HalfLife2 even without having half the job already done for them.

So basically, they know that they will have these features added to their product for free without having to face any responsibility for the quality of the finished products as well as it not impacting their development time!

I honestly think it's a bloody intelligent move if they did it consciously and it makes a lot of sense - everyone's a winner!

So what does everyone think? Am I reading into things a bit too much? Should this be encouraged?

Yeah sounds great, but it would be great if Valve could resolve the sound issues first. Then, it would be a polished game.

 

[Mr.Wotsit]

Um but this isn't something that requires them to do anything, it's already done...

Which means they can fix the sound issues right away while the mod teams get on with building around these things Valve have started. Which is my point...

Nice one, eh!

 

[kenyo]

I agree totally, Valve has created a masterpiece that will be modded, prodded and probably <insert rhyming word> to death

modded prodded and... GODDED!
(as in the game of the gods)
the gods looked down and saw a game made by humans that was werthy of gods so they godded it!
and the gods told valve that they'ed be back when hl3 is out.