Half Life introduced believable environments and world-building. Half Life 2 upped the ante with incredible facial expression technology, the impact of which still has yet to be fully realized.
Clearly Half Life 3 will have fully independent, strong AI. Capable of holding it's own in a conversation with the player, and even becoming aware of it's own existence within a game. Debates will rage as to whether it is ethical to close the program, or if you must leave it running in order to avoid becoming a murderer.
In what is surely a completely innocent coincidence, and in no way an illustration of the way Valve makes us all dance at its whim like fleshy marionettes, the developer's internal User Picker software was suddenly and inexplicably open to the public last night.
It remained available just long enough for enterprising Reddit users to snatch screenshots of the various internal development groups currently on the Valve roster, including one marked "Half-Life 3" with 46 staff members assigned and one marked "Half-Life 3 Core" with a staff total of 10. Many of the people listed also worked on Half-Life 2.
Then, like a petticoat lowered over a Victorian lady's ankle, the loophole closed leaving the internet in a most unseemly priapic frenzy.
It is, of course, a complete coincidence that this happened the day after Valve registered Half-Life 3 as a trademark, and the week after Valve announced sweeping plans to launch a range of living room gaming hardware. If only Valve had some gaming IP it could use to make such a product an absolutely essential purchase...
Valve has yet to comment, unsurprisingly, but it wouldn't be the first time that a sneaky glimpse of its inner workings revealed a long-rumoured project. Back in August, members of the Dota 2 subreddit on a studio tour snapped images of screens showing both Source 2 and Left 4 Dead 3 as active projects at the famously secretive developer.
There is a picture of said evidence that you can see on EG.
Well I mean, in what ways can they gimp Half Life 3 to run better on SteamOS than Windows? Load times? Textures?
I don't know, it would seem entirely unlike them to do that, but just as Half-Life 2 was the perfect vehicle to get Steam onto everybody's PC, Half-Life 3 would absolutely guarantee the Steambox a foothold in a great many homes. Exclusivity would be out, but if they could demonstrate some kind of massively improved performance, maybe? Or just a huge aspect of the game that we can't even imagine, that will only work on a Steambox (which would contradict the purpose of SteamOS, but, still). I don't know, it's entirely speculation, but if they have a way to do it that won't upset everyone, they will absolutely take that path.
edit: obviously the difference is that Steam was free whereas the Steambox is not, so maybe it'll just have SteamOS-exclusive features, and oh here's a Steambox if you like.
Well I mean, in what ways can they gimp Half Life 3 to run better on SteamOS than Windows? Load times? Textures?
I don't know, it would seem entirely unlike them to do that, but just as Half-Life 2 was the perfect vehicle to get Steam onto everybody's PC, Half-Life 3 would absolutely guarantee the Steambox a foothold in a great many homes. Exclusivity would be out, but if they could demonstrate some kind of massively improved performance, maybe? Or just a huge aspect of the game that we can't even imagine, that will only work on a Steambox (which would contradict the purpose of SteamOS, but, still). I don't know, it's entirely speculation, but if they have a way to do it that won't upset everyone, they will absolutely take that path.
edit: obviously the difference is that Steam was free whereas the Steambox is not, so maybe it'll just have SteamOS-exclusive features, and oh here's a Steambox if you like.
Exclusive content for the SteamOS version
Xbox Live, PSN & Origin: Vacorsis 3DS: 2638-0037-166
Maybe. Again I can't think of a diplomatic way that they could bind Half-Life 3 to SteamOS or Steambox so as to strongarm everybody into taking them up, but that may be because I don't know what direction they're taking the game in. Say, if there were a large, integral, connected element that required some aspect of SteamOS to work best, then that's your selling point. Something that draws information from everyone else playing the game and uses it to shape the experience. Sure you could play a flat, unchanging game on your Windows machine, or you can run it through SteamOS and have the best possible experience that's new every time.
How about it's packed in with retail Steamboxes? PC gaming isn't the juggernaut that console gaming is due to the high cost of entry (I know, you can build a powerful gaming PC for much less than it used to take); a reasonably-priced Steambox that comes with one of the most anticipated PC games of all time would make a lot of sense.
They don't need to use Half Life 3 to push Steambox because the Steambox doesn't really exist. It's just a standard, a set of many devices all under the same generalized banner. Valve need to use Half Life 3 to push SteamOS, not the Steambox. And that's a software solution which is their stock and trade.
I expect there will be an 'early beta' or some kind of consumer performance test that is exclusive to the SteamOS long before it reaches Windows/Mac platforms. They'll use Half Life 3 to get SteamOS a foothold just as they used Half Life 2 to get Steam itself into people's houses.
Valve have always banked on the stickiness of their product. Usually it is good enough that people will spread it themselves without the need for marketing pushes. Especially in the PC space which, I'd wager, is comprised of generally more informed and passionate consumers just by its very nature.
They don't need to do what Microsoft or Sony do, which is overwhelm consumers with ads and exclusives. All they need to do is get a small, hardcore assembly of fans to use their product and like a virus it will spread from there, from person to person, evangelized by the most informed and influential members of the community. That's what happened with Steam.
The real money is in the OS, not the hardware. The hardware standard is just a trojan horse to get the SteamOS into living rooms. Steam as a platform is independent from devices, it exists on the internet and is exactly what the console manufacturers have been wanting all along. It is no surprise that the Xbone and the PS4 took massive leaps in the direction of Steam.
Sorry but as huge a fan as I am of Half-Life, HL3 being exclusive to Steambox means I would probably be skipping HL3....at least until it came to PC.
There doesn't seem to be any reason they would make it entirely exclusive to steam box. That would fragment their user base. Their motto seems to be the more the merrier when it comes to operating systems being able to run their games.
Yeah I'm not saying I think they would release it as exclusive to the Steambox standard or even SteamOS, just that, as Half-Life 2 was/is exclusive to Steam and that was used as a way to get Steam onto millions of PCs, they have a new free platform coming out and a game that is probably the most feverishly anticipated thing on the internet, that is probably in development. If they have some way to marry the two in a way that demonstrably benefits the end-user, that means SteamOS gets installed on the computer of everybody buying Half-Life 3, they will do that.
Whether that's making it exclusive to all forms of SteamOS, or something less aggressive, that's for them to decide.
steamos is free and the site does mention any pc can be turned into a steambox/machine. (dual booting!) so not sure that really makes it an "exclusive" and require shelling out for a separate steambox.
I dunno. HL2 EP2 is what 5 years old at this point?
But I still felt it was better to err on the side of caution
Alrighty, tags it is.
I feel like too much time has passed for Eli's death to have any real resonance in 3. Shit, I feel like too much time has passed in general for 3. I've wrapped up the entire story arcs of Mass Effect, Assassin's Creed, and Gears of War in the time between 2 and 3.
I'm not saying I won't check it out, but by now it's an idle curiosity instead of a must have.
Yeah I'm backing away from the 'exclusive to steambox' angle because as Scarab pointed out, that's not what Valve are about. SteamOS though, is absolutely what they're about. Gabe's been banging the anti-Windows 8 drum for a while now, and SteamOS is clearly their response. They want everyone to have that on their PC, either their existing one or a shiny new Steambox. It's free to get and if they can make it painless to install, they'll bind it to Half-Life 3 in an instant. Nobody wanted to install Steam but they did it anyway when HL2 came out.
They don't need to use Half Life 3 to push Steambox because the Steambox doesn't really exist. It's just a standard, a set of many devices all under the same generalized banner. Valve need to use Half Life 3 to push SteamOS, not the Steambox. And that's a software solution which is their stock and trade.
I expect there will be an 'early beta' or some kind of consumer performance test that is exclusive to the SteamOS long before it reaches Windows/Mac platforms. They'll use Half Life 3 to get SteamOS a foothold just as they used Half Life 2 to get Steam itself into people's houses.
Valve have always banked on the stickiness of their product. Usually it is good enough that people will spread it themselves without the need for marketing pushes. Especially in the PC space which, I'd wager, is comprised of generally more informed and passionate consumers just by its very nature.
They don't need to do what Microsoft or Sony do, which is overwhelm consumers with ads and exclusives. All they need to do is get a small, hardcore assembly of fans to use their product and like a virus it will spread from there, from person to person, evangelized by the most informed and influential members of the community. That's what happened with Steam.
The real money is in the OS, not the hardware. The hardware standard is just a trojan horse to get the SteamOS into living rooms. Steam as a platform is independent from devices, it exists on the internet and is exactly what the console manufacturers have been wanting all along. It is no surprise that the Xbone and the PS4 took massive leaps in the direction of Steam.
True and not true. There isn't just one Steam Machine. They said "there will be multiple SteamOS machines to choose from, made by different manufacturers." You'll be able to make your own or buy one. I disagree that they need Half-Life 3 to push SteamOS. They need to push the piece of it that actually has a cost, and SteamOS is free. Hell, I'd look at it as them selling Half-Life 3 with a system to play it on included!
But no, I don't think for a moment they would even consider making Half-Life 3 an exclusive to SteamOS. They may print their own currency, but they're not about to shut down one of the printers just because they went ahead and built their own.
Yeah I'm backing away from the 'exclusive to steambox' angle because as Scarab pointed out, that's not what Valve are about. SteamOS though, is absolutely what they're about. Gabe's been banging the anti-Windows 8 drum for a while now, and SteamOS is clearly their response. They want everyone to have that on their PC, either their existing one or a shiny new Steambox. It's free to get and if they can make it painless to install, they'll bind it to Half-Life 3 in an instant. Nobody wanted to install Steam but they did it anyway when HL2 came out.
I'm definitely not installing an entire other OS just to play it.
SteamOS may be free at point of sale but so too is Steam itself. It has value beyond the initial monetary outlay and is worth much more to Valve than hardware. That's why they're only making a controller and setting a hardware standard. They don't need profits from a games console, they need a games console that works with Steam to make profits from people who don't already have Steam and wouldn't ever consider it.
Think of it like this: Valve have probably crunched the numbers and realized adoption of Steam as a platform is slowing down. Or, to go another level of detail, it is only reaching the same type of consumer. You. Me. Informed gamers with similar habits, similar lifestyles and - crucially - similar purchasing histories. The catalog of games on Steam is big but it is not the most varied selection in the world. There are millions of consumers out there who Valve can get to adopt Steam, and therefore buy things through Steam, if they only had a viable delivery mechanism. That's why Steambox exists at all. To appeal to a wider demographic of consumers. That's why they came up with SteamOS, to avoid having to actually make a console themselves.
If Valve were interested at all in the hardware aspect of all of this, SteamOS wouldn't exist at all. It wouldn't need to. Valve would just make their games console and sell their games console, and it would be just like Microsoft and Xbox Live. But instead, they created SteamOS to unify a dozen different HTPC standards and to provide a clear brand presence for Steam, their main source of revenue.
I'm wondering how they will present and/or market different levels of hardware. Will there be a Grade 1 Steambox which is only suitable for games like Peggle and Bejeweled? Maybe a Grade 4 machine will handle today's titles, but you'll need to purchase or upgrade to a Grade 8 Steambox to handle Crysis 5?
Microsoft tried something like this with their Windows Experience Index, but never really did anything with it.
I'm curious how Valve will approach the same issue. Or will they just let it be as is, and only knowledgeable shoppers will be happy with what they buy? That doesn't seem like Valve to me. They spend so much time polishing the user experience on their products. I can't believe they wouldn't do the same here.
It's probably something along the lines of, the minimum spec for a Steambox branded HTPC is calculated by an average of the minimum spec of the entire Steam catalog. And it constantly changes with each iteration.
It'll operate on a 5 Gaben system. 1 Gaben will get you the baseline Steam experience (Team Fortress 2). 5 Gabens will guarantee you full High settings for Half-Life 3 and Crysis 2.
It'll operate on a 5 Gaben system. 1 Gaben will get you the baseline Steam experience (Team Fortress 2). 5 Gabens will guarantee you full High settings for Half-Life 3 and Crysis 2.
Impossible. Everyone knows GabeN can't count to 3!
I was wondering what got this thread 27 posts overnight.
That's the second project tracker leak we've seen, though I'd consider the one much more tenuous since it's easier to fake. Ultimately, if real, it shows the HL3 team is starting to fill out a bit, which is good. Still probably in early production though.
Guys, given Valve's general lack of being evil, I think we can safely say that if/when HL2:E3 / HL3 come out, they will not be Steam OS/Steambox exclusive.
However, that doesn't mean there won't be advantages or incentives given.
The obvious one isn't detrimental to non SteamBox/OS users; make it free with a Steambox. BAM, $50+ off the sticker price for anyone remotely interested, which I assume is going to be a pretty significant overlap in the Venn diagram.
I mean hell guys, surely you've looked at the hardware/OS stats on Steam at some point. There is no way they would risk pissing off simply untold numbers of people just to go exclusive. Too skewed a risk/reward.
First they came for the Muslims, and we said NOT TODAY, MOTHERFUCKER!
Guys, given Valve's general lack of being evil, I think we can safely say that if/when HL2:E3 / HL3 come out, they will not be Steam OS/Steambox exclusive.
That's not called "not being evil" it's called "not being stupid."
Well I mean, in what ways can they gimp Half Life 3 to run better on SteamOS than Windows? Load times? Textures?
If that's true, they won't sell it like that. They'll probably just market it heavily alongisde SteamOS and tout how well it works on their controller. Valve also doesn't usually make graphically bleeding-edge games like Crytek does, so if it comes out within the next year it should run fine on today's hardware.
Posts
Clearly Half Life 3 will have fully independent, strong AI. Capable of holding it's own in a conversation with the player, and even becoming aware of it's own existence within a game. Debates will rage as to whether it is ethical to close the program, or if you must leave it running in order to avoid becoming a murderer.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
I'm surprised nobody's posted this yet:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-10-02-well-timed-valve-leak-reveals-half-life-3-development-teams
There is a picture of said evidence that you can see on EG.
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I don't know, it would seem entirely unlike them to do that, but just as Half-Life 2 was the perfect vehicle to get Steam onto everybody's PC, Half-Life 3 would absolutely guarantee the Steambox a foothold in a great many homes. Exclusivity would be out, but if they could demonstrate some kind of massively improved performance, maybe? Or just a huge aspect of the game that we can't even imagine, that will only work on a Steambox (which would contradict the purpose of SteamOS, but, still). I don't know, it's entirely speculation, but if they have a way to do it that won't upset everyone, they will absolutely take that path.
edit: obviously the difference is that Steam was free whereas the Steambox is not, so maybe it'll just have SteamOS-exclusive features, and oh here's a Steambox if you like.
3DS Friend Code: 2165-6448-8348 www.Twitch.TV/cooljammer00
Battle.Net: JohnDarc#1203 Origin/UPlay: CoolJammer00
Exclusive content for the SteamOS version
I am not good at this.
PSN/Steam/NNID: SyphonBlue | BNet: SyphonBlue#1126
I expect there will be an 'early beta' or some kind of consumer performance test that is exclusive to the SteamOS long before it reaches Windows/Mac platforms. They'll use Half Life 3 to get SteamOS a foothold just as they used Half Life 2 to get Steam itself into people's houses.
Valve have always banked on the stickiness of their product. Usually it is good enough that people will spread it themselves without the need for marketing pushes. Especially in the PC space which, I'd wager, is comprised of generally more informed and passionate consumers just by its very nature.
They don't need to do what Microsoft or Sony do, which is overwhelm consumers with ads and exclusives. All they need to do is get a small, hardcore assembly of fans to use their product and like a virus it will spread from there, from person to person, evangelized by the most informed and influential members of the community. That's what happened with Steam.
The real money is in the OS, not the hardware. The hardware standard is just a trojan horse to get the SteamOS into living rooms. Steam as a platform is independent from devices, it exists on the internet and is exactly what the console manufacturers have been wanting all along. It is no surprise that the Xbone and the PS4 took massive leaps in the direction of Steam.
There doesn't seem to be any reason they would make it entirely exclusive to steam box. That would fragment their user base. Their motto seems to be the more the merrier when it comes to operating systems being able to run their games.
Whether that's making it exclusive to all forms of SteamOS, or something less aggressive, that's for them to decide.
Shitty Tumblr:lighthouse1138.tumblr.com
I dunno. HL2 EP2 is what 5 years old at this point?
But I still felt it was better to err on the side of caution
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steamos is free and the site does mention any pc can be turned into a steambox/machine. (dual booting!) so not sure that really makes it an "exclusive" and require shelling out for a separate steambox.
Alrighty, tags it is.
I'm not saying I won't check it out, but by now it's an idle curiosity instead of a must have.
Shitty Tumblr:lighthouse1138.tumblr.com
True and not true. There isn't just one Steam Machine. They said "there will be multiple SteamOS machines to choose from, made by different manufacturers." You'll be able to make your own or buy one. I disagree that they need Half-Life 3 to push SteamOS. They need to push the piece of it that actually has a cost, and SteamOS is free. Hell, I'd look at it as them selling Half-Life 3 with a system to play it on included!
But no, I don't think for a moment they would even consider making Half-Life 3 an exclusive to SteamOS. They may print their own currency, but they're not about to shut down one of the printers just because they went ahead and built their own.
I'm definitely not installing an entire other OS just to play it.
PSN/Steam/NNID: SyphonBlue | BNet: SyphonBlue#1126
Think of it like this: Valve have probably crunched the numbers and realized adoption of Steam as a platform is slowing down. Or, to go another level of detail, it is only reaching the same type of consumer. You. Me. Informed gamers with similar habits, similar lifestyles and - crucially - similar purchasing histories. The catalog of games on Steam is big but it is not the most varied selection in the world. There are millions of consumers out there who Valve can get to adopt Steam, and therefore buy things through Steam, if they only had a viable delivery mechanism. That's why Steambox exists at all. To appeal to a wider demographic of consumers. That's why they came up with SteamOS, to avoid having to actually make a console themselves.
If Valve were interested at all in the hardware aspect of all of this, SteamOS wouldn't exist at all. It wouldn't need to. Valve would just make their games console and sell their games console, and it would be just like Microsoft and Xbox Live. But instead, they created SteamOS to unify a dozen different HTPC standards and to provide a clear brand presence for Steam, their main source of revenue.
Microsoft tried something like this with their Windows Experience Index, but never really did anything with it.
I'm curious how Valve will approach the same issue. Or will they just let it be as is, and only knowledgeable shoppers will be happy with what they buy? That doesn't seem like Valve to me. They spend so much time polishing the user experience on their products. I can't believe they wouldn't do the same here.
Impossible. Everyone knows GabeN can't count to 3!
Steam ID: 76561198021298113
Origin ID: SR71C_Blackbird
That's the second project tracker leak we've seen, though I'd consider the one much more tenuous since it's easier to fake. Ultimately, if real, it shows the HL3 team is starting to fill out a bit, which is good. Still probably in early production though.
Edit: this page breaks things down nicely: http://www.valvetime.net/threads/valve-jira-database-accessed-once-more-hl3-l4d3-source-2-groups-expand.243965/
However, that doesn't mean there won't be advantages or incentives given.
The obvious one isn't detrimental to non SteamBox/OS users; make it free with a Steambox. BAM, $50+ off the sticker price for anyone remotely interested, which I assume is going to be a pretty significant overlap in the Venn diagram.
I mean hell guys, surely you've looked at the hardware/OS stats on Steam at some point. There is no way they would risk pissing off simply untold numbers of people just to go exclusive. Too skewed a risk/reward.
Kidding; you just used Steambox/OS in every other instance I guess I automatically read the one solo mention as a dual mention. My bad.
I don't need a fancy room to stare at other people's genitals!
That's not called "not being evil" it's called "not being stupid."
If that's true, they won't sell it like that. They'll probably just market it heavily alongisde SteamOS and tout how well it works on their controller. Valve also doesn't usually make graphically bleeding-edge games like Crytek does, so if it comes out within the next year it should run fine on today's hardware.