Neither of those games are ever going to be developed to completion or published by Valve.
You are never going to get to play them.
Seasons greetings!
Counterpoint: Employees at Valve can work on whatever they want and Valve can do pretty much whatever it wants. It's a statistical improbability that absolutely no one at Valve is a huge fan of Half-Life, ergo the likelihood of someone working to bring about a new Half-Life game is pretty high. And they probably aren't working alone.
Counterpoint: Valve loves solving challenges and isn't it a fantastic challenge to figure out what a new entry in a beloved franchise (and one that is so near and dear to Valve's history) would take the shape of in this day and age, especially with how much the first person shooter landscape has evolved over the last 10 years?
I don't know how many times I've said this, probably in this very thread, but it is my belief that Adam Foster is making Half-Life 3 by himself, and that's why it's taking so long.
Actually, you know what? This is probably the most interesting thing to happen in this thread since that guy was complaining about L4D2, so let's run with this.
What would Half-Life 3 even be at this point (obviously HL3: Ep3 isn't happening at this point; it's been seven years)
There's basically two kinds of "triple a" FPS's these days.
The linear, level based FPS (Like Call of Duty, or the recent Wolfenstein) that gives where the game is broken up into distinct levels with obvious goals and fairly victory conditions. There's some variation, like Wolfentsein giving you multiple paths to the goal, and Black Ops 2 giving you branching campaign elements, but ultimately it's stll the same basic concept from back in the Doom days.
The other is the open world style which... does any series besides FarCry really do that? Have a big open, continuous world with tons of side content that you can tackle at your own pace? Anywho, there's that kind of FPS. I"d say it was the future, but it's basically just a less visibly "gamey" packaging of the same kind of stuff.
(As an aside, man I would love if it somone made a complete clone of FarCry 3/4 and just swapped out everything with HL2 stuff. Running around the outskirts of City 17, liberating outposts from the Combine and harvesting parts frrom all the Xenofuana to get new upgrades and powers.. It wouldn't be a good Half-Life 3, but it be damn sweet as a spinoff!.)
One thing that a LOT of FPS's have these days is a growing emphasis on character growth and/or rpg elements. hings like Perks and Upgrades. It seems to be pretty ingrained into what an FPS is these days.
Anywho, so that's where things are right now, what does Valve do then?
While HL was never quite as discretely level/objective based as other games, that DNA is very much a part of the series as it has existed. I can't see them goin the open world FarCry route and just calling it a day, but I don't think a transition like HL1->HL2 will cut it these days. Even if it looks good and has fantastic mechanics, I think people want a little more than an overall linear singleplayer cooridoor shooter these days. Wolfenstein was great, but I don't think anyone thinks it's terrible groundbreaking, just highly polished. The new movement of Titanfall and Advanced Warfare have captured peoples attentions, but Titanfall dropped off the damn map and I can never tell how much of CoD's popularity is just momentum at this point. Will people care about movement a year from now? Especially when CoD almost certainly does a non-future installment?
Meanwhile, Valve has experiments out the ass right now, but none of them seem to target (or even be condusive, in some cases) to a singleplayer FPS. TF2/DOTA2's monetization, the continued focus on multiplayer (both versus and coop), digging deep into new hardware (consoles, controllers, new control schemes, VR)
I'm super uninterested in most of those trends you mentioned. I think there's a lot about the play style of HL/2 that could still be incredibly compelling if just sort of improved upon. I love the combat that lets you sprint around and jump shit and slide into cover far more readily than most FPSs. The linear stuff is fine, though I'd welcome a little more openness within that, if ya know what I mean. I guess more HL1 than 2 style level design.
I think that there were some really fundamentally great ideas in the development of 2 that ended up being thrown away for various reasons, or could be taken much further now. Like the way they were envisioning it as a linear experience full of emergent experiences to do with the physics and stuff - the e3 ravenholm-before-it-was-called-ravenholm video where you're knocking dumpsters and girders onto guys and blocking doors with physics objects and stuff, there's nothing about that that's difficult to do anymore. At the time it was a performance issue, which I think is why there ended up being so little of that, but it's not anymore.
Basically I would love a Half-Life 3 that was just traditionally Halflifey but with more cool optional emergent physical stuff, and better AI (soldiers who can step down off a foot-high ledge would be nice)
Essentially, I always see Half-Life as more of a puzzle game than a first person shooter. The point wasn't that it was great to shoot things in it, that was just a nice bonus at times, it was that...
1) It didn't break character perspective.
2) It didn't hold my hand to solve a puzzle.
3) The various kinds of monster AI was just on that fine edge of believably self preserving, antagonistic to the player's goals, and possible to outsmart despite being out gunned - they were a puzzle that was emergent.
These things were just as true in HL1 as they were in HL2.
This is why even though there wasn't shooting one's enemies as a main tool in Portal and Portal 2, other than engine it fit with Half-Life stylistically. It taught us the basic functionality of its tool set than ceased to hold our hands in solving puzzles with that tool set.
So why do I need Half-Life 3 to break new ground really when its already gotten those 3 elements so well from the get go?
The way it could truly 'break ground' for me in the series would be to go more open world like the big end battle in Half-Life 2: Episode 2. Yes, go more Far Cry or Borderlands but really, if its true to not holding my hand like previously, it would be nothing like Far Cry or Borderlands suffering from giving the player no subtlety in solving puzzles by handing them the answers to the test with way points.
And personally, no Episode 3 is unacceptable for one simple emotional reason: Alyx Vance crying; I (as Gordon Freeman) must help her avenge her father's death, with violent theoretical physics that some how overcome the telekinetic powers of the those damn Overlords.
Agreed, I'm quite saddened that they never managed to finish that Episodes project. It was an awesome storyline and Ep. 3 would've been a great finisher to the whole HL2 ip. After that they could've taken as long as they'd like to finish HL3 with a new engine and everything.
I've been wondering the same thing; what the series will look like now in our modern world. The last time the formula was updated was 10 years ago, but in a way it was developed slightly through Portal and Portal 2. Ultimately it was level design, for me, that made it so special. The way they led you from point to point down a corridor, but they made it feel like it wasn't just a corridor. The designers created set pieces that made you want to turn this way or that way, and it caused me to get lost only very rarely.
Other series these days just get confused in their level design. Half the time, I have no idea where the objective is unless they give me a waypoint, which most series now have. It would change too much of what Half Life is to add waypoints or objective points. I want to figure that out on my own, you just give me a shove in the right direction and I'll be fine if the level design is fine.
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Dark Raven XLaugh hard, run fast,be kindRegistered Userregular
Sometimes I think HL3 would need some huge new gimmick like HL2's gravity and related gravity gun to feel like a worthy successor, but then I played Wolfenstein New Order, and it's about as basic as a shootemup can get, and it's easily one of my favourite games of the year. There's absolutely nothing "special" about it, it's a very refined, very clean and basic FPS game. And it's great. Doesn't hurt that it had a very engaging cast n' story tho. :P
I wouldn't mind a portal gun making an appearance as a weapon tho. Maybe restrict it to certain set piece battles, but it'd be cool to see a portal gun with the safety off, cutting guys in half, throwing em off tall ledges, just reinventing it as a hella destructive tool.
They do have a very inventive team, to be sure. It makes me wonder if something like a time warp would make an appearance. They've messed with the bounds of physics enough to be able to play with time, and it wouldn't clash with their established world of Half-Life and the Combine and overlords and such.
No idea though, but I'm getting tired of waiting and speculating.
They do have a very inventive team, to be sure. It makes me wonder if something like a time warp would make an appearance. They've messed with the bounds of physics enough to be able to play with time, and it wouldn't clash with their established world of Half-Life and the Combine and overlords and such.
No idea though, but I'm getting tired of waiting and speculating.
I'm down with the idea of Gordon being his own grandpa.
I kind of feel like at this point the delay is more due to the fact that they just don't know where they want to take the storyline than anything else.
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HardtargetThere Are Four LightsVancouverRegistered Userregular
I don't get why people want to play half-life 3, like who fucking cares
Now, HL2: Ep 3, holy shit that's another situation. I need that in my blood asap.
I'm pretty sure a lot of that sequence breaking is solely to screw with Half-Life fans who have played the game a million times and want to know how he's going to get past part X. Answer? He's gonna skip it!
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DrakeEdgelord TrashBelow the ecliptic plane.Registered Userregular
Am I the only one on the Internet who doesn't really like Freeman's Mind? I guess I just don't find the guy funny. Everyone else seems to love it though and I can't tell if I'm alone or if there are other people like me who just haven't spoken up yet either.
Am I the only one on the Internet who doesn't really like Freeman's Mind? I guess I just don't find the guy funny. Everyone else seems to love it though and I can't tell if I'm alone or if there are other people like me who just haven't spoken up yet either.
Freeman's Mind was funnier when he was just a snarky asshole, but he's sorta descended into a full blown psychotic and it's a bit less entertaining. Also, the joke of making fun of qualities of Black Mesa and it's residents that exist because it was a 1998 video game and not real life was funny at first, but got kinda stale.
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NocrenLt Futz, Back in ActionNorth CarolinaRegistered Userregular
I'm guessing I haven't gotten that far yet in the backlog. I just hit up 40 or so with the conveyer belt factory and that outrage but was great.
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HardtargetThere Are Four LightsVancouverRegistered Userregular
Am I the only one on the Internet who doesn't really like Freeman's Mind? I guess I just don't find the guy funny. Everyone else seems to love it though and I can't tell if I'm alone or if there are other people like me who just haven't spoken up yet either.
I've never liked it but i think it's neat he's still doing it
It hasn't lost its charm for me. But then again, I love the idea of Freeman being a sociopath. It kinda explains how he survived in the first place. Also, the gradual shift to a darker tone makes sense due to the unending parade of horrible suffering Freeman goes through. To me, it seems like a perfectly valid character arc.
"I see everything twice!"
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NocrenLt Futz, Back in ActionNorth CarolinaRegistered Userregular
Also I think 44 is the best episode. Or whichever one has him doing Modern Major-General and adding a new verse that both fits the song, situation, and character.
I can't wait to see what happens. Wonder if the guy has any plans for HL2/Blue/Op4?
He has specifically said that he's not doing any more after Freeman's Mind is done. There was a thing for Op4 that a fan made that has been recognized by Ross, though.
That's amazing, the comments at the end especially had me busting a gut.
So now what are we going to post about in this thread? Perhaps how I or one of us should just go ahead and learn how to mod Half-Life 2 because on the off chance we make a Half-Life 2: Episode 3 mod before an actual game comes out?
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KadokenGiving Ends to my Friends and it Feels StupendousRegistered Userregular
I hope he picks up civil protection again. Then maybe after a few years of that and game dungeon he could do HL2. That first ending made it seem like it was possible.
Posts
Episode 3 is never coming.
Half Life 3 is never coming.
Neither of those games are ever going to be developed to completion or published by Valve.
You are never going to get to play them.
Seasons greetings!
Counterpoint: Employees at Valve can work on whatever they want and Valve can do pretty much whatever it wants. It's a statistical improbability that absolutely no one at Valve is a huge fan of Half-Life, ergo the likelihood of someone working to bring about a new Half-Life game is pretty high. And they probably aren't working alone.
Counterpoint: Valve loves solving challenges and isn't it a fantastic challenge to figure out what a new entry in a beloved franchise (and one that is so near and dear to Valve's history) would take the shape of in this day and age, especially with how much the first person shooter landscape has evolved over the last 10 years?
Counterpoint: Pllllllbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbtttttttttttt
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
What would Half-Life 3 even be at this point (obviously HL3: Ep3 isn't happening at this point; it's been seven years)
There's basically two kinds of "triple a" FPS's these days.
The linear, level based FPS (Like Call of Duty, or the recent Wolfenstein) that gives where the game is broken up into distinct levels with obvious goals and fairly victory conditions. There's some variation, like Wolfentsein giving you multiple paths to the goal, and Black Ops 2 giving you branching campaign elements, but ultimately it's stll the same basic concept from back in the Doom days.
The other is the open world style which... does any series besides FarCry really do that? Have a big open, continuous world with tons of side content that you can tackle at your own pace? Anywho, there's that kind of FPS. I"d say it was the future, but it's basically just a less visibly "gamey" packaging of the same kind of stuff.
(As an aside, man I would love if it somone made a complete clone of FarCry 3/4 and just swapped out everything with HL2 stuff. Running around the outskirts of City 17, liberating outposts from the Combine and harvesting parts frrom all the Xenofuana to get new upgrades and powers.. It wouldn't be a good Half-Life 3, but it be damn sweet as a spinoff!.)
One thing that a LOT of FPS's have these days is a growing emphasis on character growth and/or rpg elements. hings like Perks and Upgrades. It seems to be pretty ingrained into what an FPS is these days.
Anywho, so that's where things are right now, what does Valve do then?
While HL was never quite as discretely level/objective based as other games, that DNA is very much a part of the series as it has existed. I can't see them goin the open world FarCry route and just calling it a day, but I don't think a transition like HL1->HL2 will cut it these days. Even if it looks good and has fantastic mechanics, I think people want a little more than an overall linear singleplayer cooridoor shooter these days. Wolfenstein was great, but I don't think anyone thinks it's terrible groundbreaking, just highly polished. The new movement of Titanfall and Advanced Warfare have captured peoples attentions, but Titanfall dropped off the damn map and I can never tell how much of CoD's popularity is just momentum at this point. Will people care about movement a year from now? Especially when CoD almost certainly does a non-future installment?
Meanwhile, Valve has experiments out the ass right now, but none of them seem to target (or even be condusive, in some cases) to a singleplayer FPS. TF2/DOTA2's monetization, the continued focus on multiplayer (both versus and coop), digging deep into new hardware (consoles, controllers, new control schemes, VR)
I dunno, what are your guy's thoughts.
believe
I'm super uninterested in most of those trends you mentioned. I think there's a lot about the play style of HL/2 that could still be incredibly compelling if just sort of improved upon. I love the combat that lets you sprint around and jump shit and slide into cover far more readily than most FPSs. The linear stuff is fine, though I'd welcome a little more openness within that, if ya know what I mean. I guess more HL1 than 2 style level design.
I think that there were some really fundamentally great ideas in the development of 2 that ended up being thrown away for various reasons, or could be taken much further now. Like the way they were envisioning it as a linear experience full of emergent experiences to do with the physics and stuff - the e3 ravenholm-before-it-was-called-ravenholm video where you're knocking dumpsters and girders onto guys and blocking doors with physics objects and stuff, there's nothing about that that's difficult to do anymore. At the time it was a performance issue, which I think is why there ended up being so little of that, but it's not anymore.
Basically I would love a Half-Life 3 that was just traditionally Halflifey but with more cool optional emergent physical stuff, and better AI (soldiers who can step down off a foot-high ledge would be nice)
Essentially, I always see Half-Life as more of a puzzle game than a first person shooter. The point wasn't that it was great to shoot things in it, that was just a nice bonus at times, it was that...
1) It didn't break character perspective.
2) It didn't hold my hand to solve a puzzle.
3) The various kinds of monster AI was just on that fine edge of believably self preserving, antagonistic to the player's goals, and possible to outsmart despite being out gunned - they were a puzzle that was emergent.
These things were just as true in HL1 as they were in HL2.
This is why even though there wasn't shooting one's enemies as a main tool in Portal and Portal 2, other than engine it fit with Half-Life stylistically. It taught us the basic functionality of its tool set than ceased to hold our hands in solving puzzles with that tool set.
So why do I need Half-Life 3 to break new ground really when its already gotten those 3 elements so well from the get go?
The way it could truly 'break ground' for me in the series would be to go more open world like the big end battle in Half-Life 2: Episode 2. Yes, go more Far Cry or Borderlands but really, if its true to not holding my hand like previously, it would be nothing like Far Cry or Borderlands suffering from giving the player no subtlety in solving puzzles by handing them the answers to the test with way points.
And personally, no Episode 3 is unacceptable for one simple emotional reason: Alyx Vance crying; I (as Gordon Freeman) must help her avenge her father's death, with violent theoretical physics that some how overcome the telekinetic powers of the those damn Overlords.
Other series these days just get confused in their level design. Half the time, I have no idea where the objective is unless they give me a waypoint, which most series now have. It would change too much of what Half Life is to add waypoints or objective points. I want to figure that out on my own, you just give me a shove in the right direction and I'll be fine if the level design is fine.
I wouldn't mind a portal gun making an appearance as a weapon tho. Maybe restrict it to certain set piece battles, but it'd be cool to see a portal gun with the safety off, cutting guys in half, throwing em off tall ledges, just reinventing it as a hella destructive tool.
No idea though, but I'm getting tired of waiting and speculating.
I'm down with the idea of Gordon being his own grandpa.
I just really want some new HL. Some of my most replayed games ever.
Now, HL2: Ep 3, holy shit that's another situation. I need that in my blood asap.
I guessing he'll finish in 3-4 more episodes (4-5 if he pulls out the gman stuff into its own entry)
And I love how he acts with the dialogue.
I don't care for it.
Gettin' close!
So now what are we going to post about in this thread? Perhaps how I or one of us should just go ahead and learn how to mod Half-Life 2 because on the off chance we make a Half-Life 2: Episode 3 mod before an actual game comes out?