Valve Talks Episode One 72
Eurogamer had a chance to sit down with Valve designer Gabe Newell, Doug Lombardi, and a bunch of folks from the Valve design house to talk about the process of creating Half-Life 2: Episode One . They discuss the rationale behind going episodic, the development process, why we're unlikely to see a Half-Life movie anytime soon, and the many improvements to the Source engine. From the article: "I think we're better at it, in terms of learning how to anticipate. It's like after you've watched a couple of hundred playtests, you start to develop a much better sense of what are successful and unsuccessful design strategies. And so the thing we're going to do with Episode One is to extend that out to all of the people."
Quality counts for something (Score:3, Insightful)
I wish I could say the same for the Quake franchise.
Re:Quality counts for something (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Quality counts for something (Score:4, Insightful)
And, to be perfectly honest, I enjoyed Episode One so much I thought it was good value.
Re:Quality counts for something (Score:2)
Re:Quality counts for something (Score:2)
Re:Quality counts for something (Score:2)
Which is less than the cost of a new game at best buy. (49.99 plus tax = 54.50)
And if i'm getting 15-30 hours of game play, I'm not feeling ripped off in the least.
Re:Quality counts for something (Score:2)
now maybe you like to play really slow or something, but all things being equal, you're still getting ripped off.
Re:Quality counts for something (Score:2)
Re:Quality counts for something (Score:2)
Re:Quality counts for something (Score:2)
Right now I can't wait for New Super Mario Bros. to be released here in the UK, a game that can apparently be beaten (get to the end without doing every optional thing) in less than 4 hours. Will I pay £30 for it anyway? You betcha, as all the reviews I've read have been stellar.
Fun > Game Length IMO.
Re:Quality counts for something (Score:1)
Episode One is a sequel, not a rehash or expansion (Score:2)
As to the argument that textures, weapons, and many character models are re-used from HL2, so what? Ep 1 takes place immediately after HL2, in the same city, interacting with many of the same characters. Why would I expect everything to look completely different? The plot is engaging, and the action and puzzles are fresh, creative, and fun- even com
Re:Quality counts for something (Score:1)
You might avoid academia- you'd find it a scary place.
Re:Quality counts for something (Score:3, Funny)
Maths for Idiots!
Trilogy. Three parts. Each part costing $19.95 - so that makes a grand total of
* frantic tapping away at hyper-reliable, entry-level, emerging-markets calculator *
Re:Quality counts for something (Score:2)
Re:Quality counts for something (Score:2, Funny)
We could even calculate in the cost of my car and gas because I need to get to work to pay for all this intense gaming.
Re:Quality counts for something (Score:2)
OR you could calculate every innane cost associated with gaming in general and come off like a big asshole.
Glad to see you take the high road.
Re:Quality counts for something (Score:1)
my post explained (Score:1)
Re:Quality counts for something (Score:2)
quake wars: enemy territory is coming out soon.
get a feel for it by playing free wolfenstein enemy territory.
Re:Quality counts for something (Score:2)
Am I the only one... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Am I the only one... (Score:1)
Re:Am I the only one... (Score:1)
Re:Am I the only one... (Score:1)
Re:Am I the only one... (Score:2)
If you play on decent servers with decent admins, then it's great. Other than that, it can be a hackfest. It has become quite a bit better over time though.
Re:Am I the only one... (Score:2)
Unfortunately, they're a lot more stingy now, none of the packages offered are nearly as good.
Re:Am I the only one... (Score:2)
I can't WAIT!!!! (Score:1)
They still haven't explained... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:They still haven't explained... (Score:1)
Re:Yes, they did. (Score:1)
That comment explains why it should not be called Half-Life 2: Episode One. Not why it should be.
Re:They still haven't explained... (Score:1)
Re:They still haven't explained... (Score:1)
Re:They still haven't explained... (Score:1)
Re:They still haven't explained... (Score:4, Funny)
You should be ashamed of yourself. With a user ID like that, you must have been on Slashdot for at [i]least[/i] a year or two!
Re:They still haven't explained... (Score:1)
Re:They still haven't explained... (Score:2)
Re:They still haven't explained... (Score:1)
No, its not 2 hours; you're not counting the commentary (which is enjoyable) or the new multiplayer modes. And Episode one is a very finished product. Everything is polished and I didn't come across a single bug.
But that's not the point. The point is that EP1 is a good game. If it was like any other FPS out there, I would be pissed about the
Re:They still haven't explained... (Score:1)
they're programmers (Score:2, Funny)
Re:They still haven't explained... (Score:1)
Joss Whedon, Please (Score:1, Offtopic)
Serenity and Firefly were brilliant.
Re:Joss Whedon, Please (Score:1)
Within the past month, I think I have gotten three or four of my neighbors hooked on BSG. Granted, my next project is Firefly, not that there's much. Thanks for ruining everything Fox.
Re:Joss Whedon, Please (Score:2)
Ron Moore vs. Joss Whedon is a win-win decision. You can't go wrong.
Re:Joss Whedon, Please (Score:1)
Hell, I saw Earth, Wind, and Fire and Chicago in concert on HD during the rain delay of Giants/Mets. I think it was a great deal, all things considered. It could be just as equally a good thing as this was.
Re:Joss Whedon, Please (Score:1)
That way they'll be able to understand it correctly.
Re:Joss Whedon, Please (Score:1)
Shouldn't "ks for ruining everythi Th" be more accurately reflect the order it was played? Remember, they didn't show the last three episodes and the first two out of order.
Spying (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Spying (Score:2)
Re:Spying (Score:3, Informative)
Yup - every so often, when Steam starts it comes up with a brief message asking if you'd like to take part in the hardware survey. If you click yes, it detects what you've got, presents you with what it's found and then asks if it can send it off to Valve. If you do, it then links you to the results [steampowered.com].
Evil. Pure evil.
My poor MacBook Pro [hylobatidae.org] got abused in this way.
Re:Spying (Score:2)
I don't think that the hardware survey option disabled the log report for people playing Episode 1, the only relation Gabe speaks of is that the hardware survey proved very valuable and was the premise for implementing the Episode 1 log feature.
Now if you know how to disable that, please share...
Re:Spying (Score:3, Insightful)
This sure sounds different to me than the hardware survey. I've taken the hardware survey (twice) and I don't remember it ever asking me if it was OK to monitor me as I play the game -- I was only asked if it was OK if information about my hardware was sent to Valve.
As privacy issues go, this is relatively minor, but it's still annoying. Why ask about the one case and not the other?
Re:Spying (Score:2)
Re:Spying (Score:2)
I realised I'd misread the interview and quickly typed up another comment saying that I was wrong - and it appears I went and closed the browser before going past just the preview of said comment. Oops.
I wasn't having a very good day yesterday.
Not the same thing (Score:2)
I can't decide... (Score:3, Interesting)
Three episodes adds up to the price of a full game, and if they deliver the same amount ot content I don't see where there's a significant difference. Though I suppose a story that takes 20 hours to tell is a lot more interesting and engrossing to me than three stories that take 6-7 hours to tell. But episodic content allows them to finish, test, and deliver content faster, meaning that I have something new to play with more frequently rather than waiting 2+ years between releases from them.
I guess I'm gonna have to get Ep 1 after I reinstall Windows (blowing away a bad partition scheme after 4 years of tolerating my own stupidity, yay) to find out if it's worth the money.
Re:I can't decide... (Score:2)
Re:I can't decide... (Score:2)
Something along the lines of "Web 2.0", it's not really anything new, just a term probably invented to drum up interest that also allows for some easier distinguishing between different, similar, things without using 20 words.
Re:I can't decide... (Score:2)
Something episodic makes no attempt to be self-contained; you want to find out how the story ends, you'll need the succeeding episodes.
Dan
Short Game = Less Filler (Score:1)
Re:Short Game = Less Filler (Score:1)
Battles in this little episode were quite well focused, with little filler combat when venturing about. Then you hit an "action sequence"(This kind of mentality is described in the Lost Coast commentary). In these scenes they