Episode 3 coming or not?

why cant they just hire more people and work on multiple projects simultaneously?
I guess multi threading is just as hard in meatspace as it is anywhere else.
 
Are we at least going to get that Half Life 1: Source (I think it's called Black Mesa?) this year? I've been hearing about it for years. At least home-brew projects have an excuse to take forever.

Black Mesa Source is supposed to hit this year, and I read somewhere towards 3rd or 4th quarter. Hopefully.
 
First, you stated as fact that Valve and Blizzard are the best. Anyone with some common sense would answer you: No they're not, they're just your favorites.

Now (in what I quoted from your post), it's just your opinion, but in the same sentence you repeat the same fallacy of them being the best. And do you really want to talk about backlog ? Do you really want to compare Valve's backlog to id's, Bethesda's or Monolith's for example ? LOL

id: Responsible for ground breaking games such as Doom and Quake.
Bethesda: The Elder Scroll series alone is enough to include them in any list. And they now have Fallout 3 too
Monolith: I don't think you know who they are and what they did. I'll just give you some examples, since FEAR and FEAR 2 are just the most recent ones: AvP 2, No One lives forever and Blood. All three were a huge success.

No one takes away the success of some of Valve's or Blizzard games away, but to talk down about companies that have given so much (most of them much more than Valve or Blizzard) to PC Gamers, just shows that you don't really know who they are and what you're talking about.

As with everything in life your remembered for your latest and greatest. I've OWNED pratically all the games being discussed and am currently playing Titan Quest IT, and the Witcher. I've been gaming on the PC for a long long time and remember the days of Rail Arena and plenty of other games.

I stand by my statements. All of those companies listed have made forgetable games and will probably release more forgetable games. Most show a complete lack of caring for PC Gamers due to Consoleitis, namely FEAR2, Fallout3/Oblivion, GTA 4, etc.

This all revolves around one thing; releasing games "when they are done" and the whole point I was getting at is that funny enough the only companies that cater to that motto are Valve and Blizzard and low and behold look at those dollars pour in. Going even further the point in general was to mock everyone who throws out those complaints saying omfg when WHEN WHEN etc.
 
why cant they just hire more people and work on multiple projects simultaneously?
They are working on multiple projects simultaneously.

That said, they certainly should be hiring more people... The amount of time it takes them to make a five-hour game is beyond ridiculous.

I realise that Valve do an abnormal amount of QA and playtesting, and this is why their games take so fucking long. But if they did the same amount of testing, and had the same project leads making the same design decisions, but hired twice as many people to do the grunt work of actually implementing these decisions... Wouldn't you have the same game, only a hell of a lot sooner?
 
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bah all i know is i liked half life's 2 storyline, it would be sad if it wont continue till at least 2010.... or at least end the half life 2 story and start a new games so you dont keep me waiting!
 
You mean how they scrapped the Black Box, forcing everyone to buy games they already owned ? I would say that's punishing PC Gamers...

Also, to wait years for a 3-4 hours expansion, that costs half what a full game costs is really not good for anyone, PC gamers or not.

Forced? haha! Valve didn't force you to pay for anything. If you didn't like the $50 Orange Box launch price, you should have waited for it to come down like the rest of us who refused to pay for it. I got it a few months later at $25 and at that price, it was great.
 
You mean how they scrapped the Black Box, forcing everyone to buy games they already owned ? I would say that's punishing PC Gamers...

Also, to wait years for a 3-4 hours expansion, that costs half what a full game costs is really not good for anyone, PC gamers or not.

I never said they were perfect. What I am saying is when they release a game for the PC it is actually built for the PC, not ported to it. Their story lines and game play are consistently well done and enjoyable to play.

Outside of that, they've already stated that Ep.3 will be the longest and most "grandeous" of the series. Though we'll have to wait and see, it will probably be longer then the "3-4 hours" of the first episode.

I'm just as eager as everyone else, especially while seeing all the other stuff get released with no news on Ep.3. Despite that, Valve has not disappointed me yet when they did finally release, so I will continue to be patient until that changes.
 
Jan, "When is Episode 3 going to be released?"
Feb, "When is Episode 3 going to be released?"
Mar, "When is Episode 3 going to be released?"
Apr, "When is Episode 3 going to be released?"
May, "When is Episode 3 going to be released?"
Jun, "When is Episode 3 going to be released?"
Jul, "When is Episode 3 going to be released?"
Aug,"When is Episode 3 going to be released?"
Sep, "When is Episode 3 going to be released?"
Oct, "When is Episode 3 going to be released?"
Nov, "When is Episode 3 going to be released?"
Dec, "When it is f******* done damnit!"
 
1, June 1, 2006
2, October 10, 2007
3, Unknown Unknown, ~2010

When I think of the word episodic, I think Valve

It was six years between HL and HL2. Is it really any surprise it's going to take them six years to finish the next major chapter?
 
It was six years between HL and HL2. Is it really any surprise it's going to take them six years to finish the next major chapter?

Well, they had to build the Source engine from scratch to support HL2. They developed Source and HL2 in parallel, but realistically it would have required close to 2yrs of work on the engine before they could get any game design on HL2 done, and even then they would have had to deal with primitive and buggy development tools, as those would also be developed parallel to HL2 and Source.

So far they've introduced incremental upgrades to the Source engine with every episode. The only reason HL2 Episode 3 has been so delayed is b/c people in the company are busy working on TF2, L4D, L4D2, and supposedly Portal 2.
 
im so glad valve arent doing the next season of lost/heroes, id be dead by the time the grand finale came out lmao.at long so whats the excuse??
on topic, l4d2 doesnt seem to have taken th
 
They have been upgrading the source engine for each game that has come out. I believe Orangebox had better facial animations type stuff. L4D had better muti-thread support etc. Each time source is upgraded for a game it gets applied retroactively to all the games before it. This is why source is a great engine. If they are doing major updates then it will be as a test bed for HL3.

Valve always pushes the envelope they just push a little at a time. Just relax as I too want ep3 but it will come out when it comes out. Go play some Tf2. :)
 
They have been upgrading the source engine for each game that has come out. I believe Orangebox had better facial animations type stuff. L4D had better muti-thread support etc. Each time source is upgraded for a game it gets applied retroactively to all the games before it. This is why source is a great engine. If they are doing major updates then it will be as a test bed for HL3.

Valve always pushes the envelope they just push a little at a time. Just relax as I too want ep3 but it will come out when it comes out. Go play some Tf2. :)

But HL2 nor anything released since then has pushed the envelope at all.
 
id: They have not released anything relevant to jack and shit in over 10 years.
How was Doom 3 not "relevant", exactly?

First, you stated as fact that Valve and Blizzard are the best.
That's not what he stated.

why cant they just hire more people and work on multiple projects simultaneously?
I actually think it's wise that they don't. There seems to be a certain way that Valve approaches projects that seems to work consistently well. If something works well, odds are messing around with it too much is going to be disastrous.
 
Valve really may have screwed themselves by announcing L4D2 at E3 instead of announcing Episode 3. Instead a lot of people are now looking at Valve asking really? Why in hell did you do this. Good job Gabe Newell. And to look at how to add new material look at Bethesda, at least that is something they do right.
 
Just came back from Best Buy, got myself HL2 episodes 1&2 pack for $9.99... Sometimes later I'll give 'em a go to see what's this all about, seemed like a great value.
 
Well, they had to build the Source engine from scratch to support HL2. They developed Source and HL2 in parallel, but realistically it would have required close to 2yrs of work on the engine before they could get any game design on HL2 done, and even then they would have had to deal with primitive and buggy development tools, as those would also be developed parallel to HL2 and Source.

So far they've introduced incremental upgrades to the Source engine with every episode. The only reason HL2 Episode 3 has been so delayed is b/c people in the company are busy working on TF2, L4D, L4D2, and supposedly Portal 2.

Left 4 Dead was an outside studio Valve bought while the original game was very late in development,
portal was likewise an outside property (admittedly much less farther along than Left 4 Dead).

Valve has no doubt spent considerable resources on games that are not Half Life, unlike the period between HL and HL2, but they are also a much larger developer than they were when they started on HL2.

I would also say the source engine in its current iteration bear little resemblance the the 2004 HL2 version. Immediately after Hl2 was released, Valve spent considerable time upgrading the source engine to a more modern graphics engine. It was almost a full year between HL2 and the Lost Coast update that added HDR and other features.

Remember, at launch, Doom 3 and UT2003/2004 looked as good, if not better in many respects (the dynamic lighting particularly in Doom 3) than Source did. It has been no small investment of time since the release of HL2 for Valve to keep Source consistent with what gamers expect out of a AAA FPS.
 
That's not what he stated.

Oh really ? Here's a quote for you:

next-Jin said:
Very few other companies even come close to them. I mean really Relic, and Infinity Ward maybe but between Counter-Strike and World of Warcraft they have PC locked down.

"They have PC locked down"
"Very few other companies even come close to them" (with the very funny mention of infinity ward in those very few...)

And he didn't state they were the best ?? Must be some outrageous hidden meaning then...:rolleyes:
 
So... they need a co-op HL for 3 people so you can play as gordon, shephard, and barny and do what the G-man wills..
 
I heard a rumor that its going to be announced at PAX or comic con. The rumor was

Portal 2
L4D2
Episode 3

= Orange box 2

and that each one would be announced at the top 3 conferences (E3, PAX, CC) . Probably just wishful thinking though wouldnt that be awesome!
 
I heard a rumor that its going to be announced at PAX or comic con. The rumor was

Portal 2
L4D2
Episode 3

= Orange box 2

and that each one would be announced at the top 3 conferences (E3, PAX, CC) . Probably just wishful thinking though wouldnt that be awesome!

Which obviously includes HL1, HL2, Episode 1, Episode 2, Portal, TF2 and L4D for $150!!!!!

With the option of getting each individually at Steam for $50, except maybe HL1!
 
And he didn't state they were the best ?? Must be some outrageous hidden meaning then...:rolleyes:
I believe you're allowing your seething hatred toward Valve cloud your interpretive judgment on this one, Silus. That's all I feel needs to be said.
 
I believe you're allowing your seething hatred toward Valve cloud your interpretive judgment on this one, Silus. That's all I feel needs to be said.

Come on, phide...You know I don't "hate" Valve. But I do have a lot to say against their latest practices, especially their definition of Episodic Content (which milks HL2 and asks us for half the price of a full game for a 3-5 hour expansion, that takes years to make...) and the canning of the Black Box.

And concerning my last post, I really don't see any other meaning other than he said they were the best (Valve and Blizzard).
 
seriously.. Valve... instead of making a crappy game called Left for Dead 2, why don't you make Half Life 2 Episode 3 for those that have been waiting since Christmas 2007.... :mad:
 
I bet we see HL3 instead...

They've commented a few times how the episode thing didn't work out quite the way they anticipated...
 
OP, Valve is not in the business of pulling a Duke Nukem Forever.

They are too good a team of developers not to make Episode 3 (or HL3, whichever it's going to be called).
 
HL2 = Nov 2004
Ep1 = June 2006 (~20 months)
Ep2 = Oct 2007 (~16 months)
Ep3 = ??? (20 months and counting)

It's not really that far out of wack at the moment but it will only get worse. Though it really seems like a long time for just a little bit of extra content in each episode. Tough I have no idea how deep/involved the engine updates are that they did for each episode.
 
Valve have several different teams working on different games.

There are people in Irvine, California (Valve South) working on Left 4 Dead 2; around 10 people are working on Team Fortress 2; the rest are working on other projects such as Portal 2 and Half-Life 2: Episode Three in Bellevue, Washington.
 
Best case scenario/my bet:

They are taking this long to make the game since it will be more like a genuine "Half-life 3" than an episode. Graphics better than the current scource engine, a lot more gametime than EP 1 or 2, and alot of complex story with physics and portals
 
seriously.. Valve... instead of making a crappy game called Left for Dead 2, why don't you make Half Life 2 Episode 3 for those that have been waiting since Christmas 2007.... :mad:

Damn L4D2 is already out? You have any links for reviews of the game?
 
Given that Ep.3 is supposed to be the conclusion of the HL story (as we currently know it, spin-offs are a possibility), I suspect that this game will be much longer than the previous two episodes. Maybe almost full length. After all, Valve has quite a few loose ends to tie up...

*Edited to clarify what I meant by "the conclusion of the HL story."
 
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