Half-Life 2: Episode 3 may not see release until 2010

[FrenchToast]

Originally Posted by Etzell

Have you played any of the episodes? You're outside too much for the Portal gun to have any real use.

But if it's being purposely implemented in the new game, they'll adapt the play around it.

Or am I massively misinterpreting your post.

[Etzell]

You're massively misinterpreting my post. Drain seems to have a chubby for having the portal gun in HL2, thus far it'd be dumb and pointless. And I don't see a need to design the game around the gun... That's what Portal is for.

[BinaryLife]

Originally Posted by Gwarsbane

So much for the cheaper, faster, better that the episodic content was suppose to be. So far it hasn't been cheaper, it hasn't been faster, and I have no idea about better cause I don't play single player, but judging how they seem to be ignoring HL2DM it doesn't seem to be better.

Well it is cheaper, better remains to be seen, but in comparison with how long it took them to make HL2 since HL1, it is clearly faster. "Fast" however, is a different story all together.

Sort of a math recap though, just to be sure. 1998 to 2004 is 6 years. Episode 2 (2007) to 2010 is 3 years... ok good, so half the time. Therefore, I expect a game at least half as long as Half-Life 2 or I will be dissapointed.

To tell you the truth though, so long as the price remains low and the game doesn't suck, then I wont really care too much about it. The only thing I would say is that marketing wise it's a bad idea to take so long as the engine they've designed is rapidly being out dated. I know they set up an allowance for changes and updates such as HDR and newer shadowing effects/particle effects but with engines like Crytek and the Unreal engine Source is rapidly becoming old. Hopefully they can add enough features to it to compensate for their time delay and the resulting freeze impact it will have on their engine.

[FrenchToast]

Originally Posted by Etzell

You're massively misinterpreting my post. Drain seems to have a chubby for having the portal gun in HL2, thus far it'd be dumb and pointless. And I don't see a need to design the game around the gun... That's what Portal is for.

Ay, then I did misread.

However, I think having the portal gun in combat would be awesome, and where the storyline leads it's definitely going to be a part of it. Not that I want the game centered around it, but having that same tool at your disposal would be pretty neat.

I think games should get to the point where there's an infinite number of ways to approach a puzzle, and hopefully the portal gun will lead to that.

Not to mention that portal was kind of a technical practice than a full game.

Actually... maybe not. Who knows. Either way I'd love to have it in a HL game, because I'm sure they'll do it right.

[greenday5494]

Originally Posted by BinaryLife

Well it is cheaper, better remains to be seen, but in comparison with how long it took them to make HL2 since HL1, it is clearly faster. "Fast" however, is a different story all together.

Sort of a math recap though, just to be sure. 1998 to 2004 is 6 years. Episode 2 (2007) to 2010 is 3 years... ok good, so half the time. Therefore, I expect a game at least half as long as Half-Life 2 or I will be dissapointed.

To tell you the truth though, so long as the price remains low and the game doesn't suck, then I wont really care too much about it. The only thing I would say is that marketing wise it's a bad idea to take so long as the engine they've designed is rapidly being out dated. I know they set up an allowance for changes and updates such as HDR and newer shadowing effects/particle effects but with engines like Crytek and the Unreal engine Source is rapidly becoming old. Hopefully they can add enough features to it to compensate for their time delay and the resulting freeze impact it will have on their engine.

i agree. the main problem with source, everything is very static... you need to recompile all the time, the shadowing sucks, and crysis's facial expressions far surpasses source's.

[FrenchToast]

Binary, your math is flawed. From HL1 to HL2 there was far more work than from Episode 2 to episode 3, unless they're completely rebuilding their engine from scratch.

[BinaryLife]

Originally Posted by FrenchToast

Binary, your math is flawed. From HL1 to HL2 there was far more work than from Episode 2 to episode 3, unless they're completely rebuilding their engine from scratch.

My math being flawed and you disagreeing with Valve's time usage are not the same thing. However they spent their time that's how long it took. The point of showing you what I did was to say that they have yet to take as long as they took to make HL2, a full game, than they are in making this episode, not a full game. So as long as the time frames are shorter, they are "Faster."

So yes, they did more between hl1 and 2, and of course that takes more time and sort of explains that time usage around and away. But until it takes a total of 6 years or more and the production of EP3 is not as different from EP2 as HL2 was from HL1 then your point is completely moot.

[Credge]

Originally Posted by FrenchToast

I think games should get to the point where there's an infinite number of ways to approach a puzzle, and hopefully the portal gun will lead to that.

If Portal was any sign of how the weapon will approach a puzzle, that won't be the case.

[FrenchToast]

That's because Portal was specifically designed as a puzzle game with 1 solution per puzzle to show off the capabilities of that technology.

Half-Life is not. Savvy?

[Circuitous]

Originally Posted by FrenchToast

Binary, your math is flawed. From HL1 to HL2 there was far more work than from Episode 2 to episode 3, unless they're completely rebuilding their engine from scratch.

Actually Source was already being worked on while HL1 was in development.

That's actually how the engines got their names: HL1 code went to /goldsrc/ and everything that wasn't ready yet went to /src/

They never stopped.

[greenday5494]

^yes, very true. i think they finished their facial system in 2000, and most of their shader system in 2002.

[FrenchToast]

Originally Posted by Circuitous

Actually Source was already being worked on while HL1 was in development.

That's actually how the engines got their names: HL1 code went to /goldsrc/ and everything that wasn't ready yet went to /src/

They never stopped.

So that only adds to my point.

[פֿяαιп βαмαgεפ]

Originally Posted by Etzell

You're massively misinterpreting my post. Drain seems to have a chubby for having the portal gun in HL2, thus far it'd be dumb and pointless. And I don't see a need to design the game around the gun... That's what Portal is for.

I see what you mean but it would fit in the whole Borealis setting.

[Etzell]

Maybe. But I think it'd be more lazy fanservice than anything else, and Valve has been fairly decent about avoiding that.

[Credge]

Originally Posted by FrenchToast

That's because Portal was specifically designed as a puzzle game with 1 solution per puzzle to show off the capabilities of that technology.

Half-Life is not. Savvy?

Do you mean how there's a choice between which bricks I can choose to solve a problem? If so, I agree. Otherwise any and all puzzles in HL and HL2 are one solution per puzzle.

Because, really, there's not much you're doing with situations besides "lol drop box on dudes head" or "lol that dude landed on the other dude". It'd just be another weapon you'd use every now and again and only used for the couple of poorly made puzzles that the HL series is plagued with.

[greenday5494]

i liked the HL puzzles, its a break from all the action

[Credge]

Originally Posted by greenday5494

i liked the HL puzzles, its a break from all the action

Generally I stop playing when I want a break from the action.

[Circuitous]

Pretty much.

I forgot how boring so many parts of HL2 were. I'm playin' it online with some buddies of mine via LAN, and... wow. The whole coast region is just awful.

[greenday5494]

the coast region was my favorite part

:O

[v3rtigo]

I didn't like pretty much everything after ravenholm. You start out low and measly (you're running from them), then all of a sudden you fuck over some super heavily guarded prison/thing and basically become a superhero.

Didn't like that.