Thanks for the replies. But no amount of money is ever enough...A billionaire could always use another billion right? I presume that the mega-popularity of this franchise is so far-reaching, that they'd rather wait until hat sales disappear before releasing a cash cow that fails to live up to expectations. Especially if the talent behind the creation of their single player success has been drained.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
I've given up on Half-Life 3 coming out since years ago, but I hate where it left off
- Thread starter Yazzees
- Start date
Nice avatar.
I mean.. if 60 thousand fans asking Valve for more information on what is even happening with the series doesn't get any response, nothing will.
I just don't even understand how they gave such little of a shit that they just got to the point where they were like "fuck them, we're done communicating"
The HL franchise still sold around 25 million copies. But of course, the time/money/manpower that goes into creating that kind of a game might seem less appealing than other avenues of revenue.
Jerry Orbach
Member
If Gabe had any sense he would buy what 3D Realms managed to finish of Duke Nukem Forever and just release it as is, as a love letter to the fans. At least then we would have some cloture.
Valve is just spitting in its fan's faces at this point imho. I know Gabe said they're silent bc they dont want to confuse/annoy people with updates on constant changes internally, but after 10 years its just fucking absurd now.
And why do we have to feel guilty about even bringing up Half-Life to Valve nowadays? Like people are afraid to even ask about it in a serious affirmative manner in person. Like we're made to feel like bringing up HL is inappropriate or something. And I hate how HL has become a sort of joke/meme too.
And then they do shit like Gabe having an AMA on 3/3 at 3pm....like fuck off. Or 'leaking' HL references in code, or leaving a HL3 icon in an image, etc......it goes on and on for a decade. Just stringing us along the whole time....*sigh....bunch of valve employees making little hl3 jokes who probably didnt even work on the HL games......
HL was AMAZING, and not just for the gameplay. The story was so epic in a small-scale way, which was so cool. Marc Laidlaw is a genius writer and his lore was SOOOOO deep if you read into it, but it was always presently cleverly and drip-fed in the games.
I digress, but point is I think Valve is being irresponsible and unfair to its longest franchise. The company has seemed to shift focus away from real game development for a long while now and have lost the real talent.....fucking shameful how far the once-greatest-dev in gaming to so many has fallen.
And why do we have to feel guilty about even bringing up Half-Life to Valve nowadays? Like people are afraid to even ask about it in a serious affirmative manner in person. Like we're made to feel like bringing up HL is inappropriate or something. And I hate how HL has become a sort of joke/meme too.
And then they do shit like Gabe having an AMA on 3/3 at 3pm....like fuck off. Or 'leaking' HL references in code, or leaving a HL3 icon in an image, etc......it goes on and on for a decade. Just stringing us along the whole time....*sigh....bunch of valve employees making little hl3 jokes who probably didnt even work on the HL games......
HL was AMAZING, and not just for the gameplay. The story was so epic in a small-scale way, which was so cool. Marc Laidlaw is a genius writer and his lore was SOOOOO deep if you read into it, but it was always presently cleverly and drip-fed in the games.
I digress, but point is I think Valve is being irresponsible and unfair to its longest franchise. The company has seemed to shift focus away from real game development for a long while now and have lost the real talent.....fucking shameful how far the once-greatest-dev in gaming to so many has fallen.
Actually, are there any good fanfics that end the story?
The biggest problem with handing it off is that they know people would be pissed off. It'd be the opposite of a love letter, imo; more of a final "fuck you". Look at the reception DNF received. People were pissed that it was essentially rushed out and not a very good game.
They want to be the owners and controllers of HL but they're not willing to finish it.
Pretty fucked up situation. They have sense, they just don't care enough to make another HL game. Or to let fans know what's going on.
This is how you do it. I don't care how long it takes to MAKE the game, just at least let us know that our waiting won't be in vain.
HueyFreeman
Banned
It's more just unbelievable that one of gaming's royalty series would just peter out like this, without ever being acknowledged or addressed. Just ignored by its creators, as if they hadn't created arguably the two most influential FPS' ever made.
The ending 2 episode to is just the shitty icing on the cake.
The ending 2 episode to is just the shitty icing on the cake.
No. The book "Raising the Bar" is all about how much time and effort they put into creating the best game (HL2) they could.. and all of the struggles that went along with it. They truly wanted to make a fantastic successor to HL1, and that is very well documented and exhibited in the game (HL2) itself.
http://half-life.wikia.com/wiki/Half-Life_2:_Raising_the_Bar
VivaciousSoul
Member
I don't remember the story as well as some people here but I definitely remember being disturbed by weird potato thing.
Bluekaveli
Member
This is a dumb question but why haven't they done a full remaster of the orange box for consoles?
Shit I don't even know what year it was when they even released a game. Four years back? DOTA 2?
Also it seems like their Source 2 plans fell through. I thought I read an article fairly recently that stated they weren't even done with major parts of it.
Auto_aim1
MeisaMcCaffrey
I'm not undermining Half-Life 2's quality. It's a damn good game, but it's clear what they were trying to do with it. I remember buying the 9600XT Radeon card to play the game which came with a code. Also I haven't read that so thanks for the link.
charlequin
Banned
Valve has a poorly-thought-out management structure that makes it nearly impossible to accomplish anything but incremental tweaks on stuff that's already successful, and they make so much money from Steam that there's no actual pressure to change that.
No problem. Did they use HL2 to push Steam? Absolutely. Did they create HL2 to push Steam? All the evidence contradicts that argument. Valve clearly created HL2 because they wanted to make another fantastic Half-Life game.
One would hope moral pressure would suffice. To at least SAY something.
Also, they've got more than enough manpower to accomplish what they want. They've stated various times (indirectly, via interviews) over the years that other things had taken a higher priority (things that aren't strictly SP, monolithic releases).
GlassAwful
Member
That would require work, with results. I think they'd rather spend 8 hours a day playing around in the electronics lab then dealing with the mundane world of game coding, deadlines, and the pressure of failure.
Best to just stay under the radar and keep tinkering in the lab.
beelzebozo
Jealous Bastard
i agree with those saying there is some implicit promise being broken here. the long and weird teasing is really not amusing if you are a fan of the games. just do it or say it's never getting done. you twiddled your stupid thumbs for so many years that all your HL talent retired or moved on. i'm under no delusion that valve "owes" me anything but i also don't have to like what a boring company they've become.
Yes, and its also BC on xbox one
NoblesseOblige
Banned
Full Life Consequences was the canon ending to the Half-Life series. It is HL3, and it is perfect. Not sure why people ask for more.
HL2:Episode 2's ending feels like a TV show that abruptly got cancelled. It's a bizarre anti-climactic way to end a story (obviously since it wasn't meant to be an ending). But here we are 10 years later, and that's the last we got of Half Life (at least officially).
I'm not going to argue Valve is obligated to provide a better conclusion to the story. They are free to make whatever games they want, and if that company has zero interest in making Half Life games anymore (hypothetically), so be it. Still, that doesn't make it less frustrating to wonder what could be in a new Half Life game.
I'm not going to argue Valve is obligated to provide a better conclusion to the story. They are free to make whatever games they want, and if that company has zero interest in making Half Life games anymore (hypothetically), so be it. Still, that doesn't make it less frustrating to wonder what could be in a new Half Life game.
Electret
Member
This seems likely, though they might find their management structure favorable given its ostensibly high yield of profit per unit labor.
Also, wasn't Gabe recently interviewed about HL2 development? I seem to recall he made some comments regarding the process being hellish, it taking a toll on him, and not wanting to repeat it. If my memory is correct, he would seem to be exerting a lot of personal influence on not greenlighting HL3.
I can understand how massive an undertaking it would be to support HL3 at the level fans would expect. But that in no way satisfies my desire as a fan to see it. You'd hope Valve would have greater ambition, equanimity, and a thirst for the challenge. And with that financial backing, who wouldn't want to see it attempted?
Well they're not legally required, but they owe fans an explanation or some sort of communication at the very least so that fans can at least know not to ever expect another HL game.
But yeah, that time has kinda passed anyway I suppose. The damage is done.
Honestly Gabe has been saying some version of that for the last 7-10 years.
Also, Gabe has stated multiple times that their other plans took priority over doing another huge SP game.
That sort of management resulted because of decision making to step away from SP/monolithic titles, not the other way around.
If that was still a priority for the company, you'd still be seeing game/Steam updates and we'd have HL3 in our libraries.
NinjaTehFish
Banned
What fucking shits me is the coy dick teasing by Gabe instead of just saying "it's dead, not happening.bad" he fucks around for a decade plus with motherfucking shit like smithing a crowbar and saying "these things take time". Treating the fan base like a sack of cunts only to be milked by bottom Feeder asset flippers on greenlight. geeet fuuuuucked.
I'm not mad tho.
#whensthesummersale?
I'm not mad tho.
#whensthesummersale?
Honestly, Valve had obviously and not so obviously trolled the HL fanbase too many times to count via summer/winter sales, ARGs, you name it. So many people thought it was happening a million times because of the little hints and clues that were purposely scattered.
I would like that too, but honestly, I'm not sure if even Valve knows whether or not they're completely done with Half Life. The series is certainly on hiatus, but 5-10 years from now, if someone over there gets an epiphany of what the next Half Life game should be, gets the rest of the team excited for it, then perhaps there's a passion over there to develop something new. I have to imagine it's hard for Valve close that door completely.
Makes me wonder how much of the development for HL3 (or whatever they were going to call the next one) was just roadblocks of devs just not being able to find a game they were actually excited about making, and then it was eventually just put aside. Just speculation on my part as I have no idea what the actual development looked like the 'next Half Life'.
eyeball_kid
Member
They were really the first ones to try episodic content though, and they failed miserably by giving up on the story in the middle of it. There was a tacit understanding between Valve and buyers that we were paying for a longer story in installments, but that agreement was broken.
So no they don't legally owe us anything, but they broke our trust. If I had known I'd be buying into a half-finished story, I never would've bought or played the episodic content to begin with.
Yup, good post. There is actually solid evidence of just that (devs not quite knowing what they want from HL) from interviews and other sources of info. I firmly believe it was started and stopped multiple times. There is also a quote or two saying they pretty much started over at one point in time.
It was clear that Valve weren't ever quite sure what they wanted EP3/HL3 to ultimately be.
I just wish they had the courtesy and respect to say "we don't know what's going to happen with Half-Life. We don't know if there will ever be another game made. So, at this point, expect it not to happen until you hear otherwise".
Even that shitty news would have been better than radio silence and trolling the fanbase with every release, sale, ARG.. what have you.
Ugh. What shitty decisions they've made.
Great idea.. this has long been floating around between fans. I hope Laidlaw eventually releases what he has in some form.
This is where I'm at. Deep down, I do believe it will happen one day. But I simply cannot hold onto that hope any longer.
I feel like Rey in The Force Awakens. Waited just about as long
"They'll be back.. one day."
And we all know how THAT turned out
I think he wants it to exist. He just doesn't know what to do with it yet.
I think I'm in the miniority here, but I think its good that we're done with Half Life. 1 was amazing when it came out, 2 didn't have the same effect on me, I consider it a pretty average fps. I wonder if people like 2 and its episodes just because of the name.
And yeah, the ending the OP mentions is kind of sad that they're gonna leave it at that, but honestly Half Life doesn't have a good story, gameplay/systems (for 1 at least) were king.
And yeah, the ending the OP mentions is kind of sad that they're gonna leave it at that, but honestly Half Life doesn't have a good story, gameplay/systems (for 1 at least) were king.
poppedcollar69
Member
lol. somebody should make a mod where near the end of that scene it fades to black with some more murder sounds and then a big old "THE END" on the screen
Yup
You'd think the teams behind HL2 episodes and Portal 2 could deliver a creative and interesting Episode 3. But, nope. It's clearly not a priority.
Sad Affleck
Member
We all hate it and I agree that the best thing to do is move on. Half-Life 3 will happen eventually, I'm sure of that, but it won't be anytime soon. I believe that Valve will go back to Half-Life once either of the following happens:
- Most big publishers leave Steam and create their own services. Steam already lost EA and I think Activision and Bethesda will probably be next. If the rest of them leave, Steam profits will crater and Valve will need original content to pull people in. Then you'll see all of Valve's big franchises make a comeback, Half-Life included.
- Microsoft somehow succeeds in locking down Windows and Valve has to release a linux-based console as Steam's main platform. A new console needs big exclusives and it doesn't get much bigger than Half-Life.
- Most big publishers leave Steam and create their own services. Steam already lost EA and I think Activision and Bethesda will probably be next. If the rest of them leave, Steam profits will crater and Valve will need original content to pull people in. Then you'll see all of Valve's big franchises make a comeback, Half-Life included.
- Microsoft somehow succeeds in locking down Windows and Valve has to release a linux-based console as Steam's main platform. A new console needs big exclusives and it doesn't get much bigger than Half-Life.
Because the amount of time and effort needed for Valve to make another Half Life campaign would make a diminutive amount of money compared to spending their resources of CS:GO, Dota2, and Steam services.
The_eJoker
Member
I swear that I knew what was this before clicking.
Zeouterlimits
Member
You make it sound like they left it that way intentionally. They're more close to those characters in many ways, it can't have been easy for them either.