• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

The Orange Box |RTTP| A Recap of Valve in the last 5 years and WHERE THE HELL IS HL3?

MRORANGE

Member

ikyPpEq1LTQy3.gif



5 years ago Valve released ‘The Orange Box’, it a was a compilation of 3 new games (also including HL2 + HL2EP1).The Orange
Box was also Valve’s first next–gen multi-platform game that supported 360 and PS3 (PS3 port done by EA). It instantly became
a huge success winning over 100 awards from various websites and gaining almost critical praise it received one of the highest
Metacritic scores for 360 and PC of 96/100


1827 days or 5 years since HL2 Episode 2 (released 10th October 2007)
2331 days or 6 years 4 months since Episode Three was announced
2323 days or 6 years 4 months since HL2 Episode 1
2885 days or 7 years 10 months since Half-Life 2


ibegLiA3HjlgsJ.png



The Orange Box was released on the 10th October 2007 (9th September on Steam), originally the Orange Box was supposed to be
called 'The Black Box' with only the 3 new games however this was scrapped from some unknown reason. The collection included
new games such as the redeveloped multiplayer game: Team Fortress 2, the unknown puzzle game: Portal and the highly
anticipated next chapter of the HL franchise: Half Life 2: Episode 2. All these games took advantages of new steam features such
as as the new achievement system, personalized stats on games and friends integration.


iNS3BgatNzKVy.png


Half-Life: Episode 2:
The highly anticipated 2nd chapter of Half-life finally arrived one year after Episode 1, Valve was trying to break up the game into
chapters so they did not get bogged down like they did with Half-Life 2. At release the game was praised for it's more open style
gameplay with vehicles and large open area combat. The game also excelled in puzzles while keeping a good balance with combat,
some consider this game as the perfect FPS. The story was one of the reasons why the game is so brilliant, players really do feel
part of game and care about the characters, the surprise ending has left fans anticipating the next chapter in the franchise.


iyw6tkj7cIpsH.png


Team Fortress 2:
Team Fortress 2 was in development for 9 years, first announced in 1998, up until a year before the Orange Box it was considered
'vaporware'. Part of the problem was that that the game went from several development cycles, scrapping each idea until they
found one that they were was happy with, in this case basing the game in a 50's/60's styled cartoon. The game was highly praised
for it's balanced gameplay, detailed characters for a a MP game and it's continuous updates to the game to bring new content and
game modes. TF2 eventually became F2P and has been very successful for Valve, being one of the few games to stay on top of
the Steam stats table.


iTDYeoPMnm8RC.png


Portal:
Portal was bundled with the Orange Box as a short 3 hour puzzle game however it instantly became a cult hit for it's story and the
dark humour that is rarely seen in a video game. Portal was developed by a few students from DigiPen Institute of Technology
who were hired by Valve. The game was praised for it's innovating puzzle concept that was considered original and refreshing for
a puzzle game.


ibf5v0M5Kqk7P6.png



It's hard to believe that a studio who usually took forever to make just one game in a matter of years has now actually developed
six games in the last 5 years since the Orange Box. You would think that Valve had thrown quality out of the window but it does
not seem to be the case for Valve, each game they have released has received high appraisals from the game media & journalists
as well as fans who can often be Valve's biggest critic's in some cases. Valve has been also very busy with Steam, the progress on
how far Steam has progressed is quite alarming, from one of the most hated pieces of software for gaming when HL2 released to
the best digital distribution client in the world.


iBurn57hwvF4s.png


Left 4 Dead - 2008:
Left 4 Dead came one year after the Orange Box and managed garner more pre-orders on Steam than any other Valve game
before it. L4D completely rewrote the zombie game by introducing fast paced zombies as well as co-op which let you play with
friends, the game was praised for it's deep character development and it's amazing re-playability due to the Director AI. The game
also had a MP mode which pitted humans vs zombie teams. The game is held as a instant classic and one of best exmaples of how
to do co-op right.


i6hhCvOjcs15G.png


Left 4 Dead 2 - 2009:
It came as a great shock to many gamers when they found out that Valve was already making Left 4 Dead 2 when L4D was so new.
Valve wanted to release L4D2 one year after L4D1, which angered many fans, a lot of people felt that Valve that the game would
not be up to Valve's standards and that L4D1 would be ignored. However Valve tried to address those complaints and even got the
boycott group admins to play the game and changed their minds of the game. The game became an instant success and gained
a 89/100 Metacritic score - same as the first game.


ip399vKllwdAY.png


Alien Swarm - 2010 :
Alien Swarm pretty much came out of nowhere, announced in 2006 it was forgotten until Valve released it in 2010 as a freeware
game. The game was played from a top down perspective, pitting players against an alien swarm in a colony base. The game
allowed users who did not previously own the Source SDK to actually use it for free and make levels with it.


iORGYhzbKDjOE.png


Portal 2 - 2011:
The pre-announcement of portal 2 was crowded in secrecy, Valve created the most cryptic ARG which expanded around the world,
forums, irc channels and Wiki's were created to solve this problem on what Valve was up too. When it was finally released it was
deemed as one of the best games of the yea - the game was also NeoGAF's GOTY 2011 winner. Portal 2 expanded on the original
portal game with an extra long story, new puzzle concepts and a co-op mode - a first for the the franchise.


ibwY6F7GAWVPDa.png


Counter Strike: Global Offensive - 2012 :
Counter Strike was often forgotten by Valve, many people considered that they did not care or had any idea on how to advance
the game even though it was most played Valve game. However in 2011 Valve announced that they were working with Hidden
Path Entertainment to make CS:GO, a new version of CS with updated graphics and game modes which would also support
360 and PS3. This game was a real push by Valve to get back into the competitive scene in gaming tournaments, Valve is
committed to the game and has already released it's first update for the game, time will really tell if it has been a success or not.


iCoULVb8asqrV.png


Dota 2 - 2012 (beta) :
Dota 2 is Valve's first reach outside of the fps/shooter territory, Valve hired IceFrog to work in DOTA 2, but it was kept mostly in
secret until it was announced in 2010. Valve held their first showing of the game in 2011 at the international DOTA 2 tournament,
since then the game has been in beta and is currently the most played game on Steam. Valve has mentioned it will follow the F2P
model of TF2 and has already started to benefit from contributors, it's expected to Valve's most played game when it comes out
of beta.


io1Szs363uUoa.png


Steam 2007 - Present:
Steam has really evolved in the last few years, the amount of features that has been added just shows the dedication that
Valve has put into the service, it's only recently that Valve has faced any stiff competition and yet it still remains on top.

Features that have been added on Steam on the past few years:

- Steam Cloud
- OSX Support
- Steam re-design UI layout
- Big Picture Mode
- Steam Greenlight
- Steam wallet & vouchers
- Steam workshop
- Steam recommendations
- Steam trading and inventories
- Steam screenshot features
- Steamworks
- Steam Linux (soon)
- Steam mobile
- Addition of software
- Addition of social aspects to steam


il4A3nVl7im7X.png



Right now Valve is trying to ship out Dota 2 which should be available before 2012 ends, it is unknown if Valve is working on any
other gaming projects. Valve is also working on getting Steam to Linux as well as L4D2, it expects to release the client in 2013,
in other Steam related functions it is also working on BPM and getting more software onto the Steam store, currently it has
development tools to create games on steam. Valve has also started to design hardware for games, Valve plans to change the
way games are played with controllers as well as wearable computers, a beta will start next year 2013.


iK5r9m1OWvzdy.png



Valve has been awfully silent about the next instalment of Half-Life, Valve originally announced that HL2:EP3 would come out
Christmas 2007, what ever happened with the episodic model of HL is unknown as the game never made it's deadline. Three
pieces of artwork were shown in 2008 about the location of Episode 3 which showed that Gordan Freeman had indeed gone to
the Borealis. In 2009 it was reported that one of the characters in the upcoming game would use sign language as a way to
communicate with the player as a new gameplay technique. In 2010 Gabe reported that HL will go back to being scary, the
launch of Alien Swarm also points to code related to Ep3 however this could be from Ep2. In 2011 Gabe stated that the episodic
model was dead but updating games when they need too, many think that this means HL3. More clues are also found in the
Portal 2 SDK. Many people suspect that is a hidden ARG in portal 2, through media, however this debunked by Gabe. In the
steam Christmas sale of 2011 there were several hints to Lambada sign. In 2012 more references were found in CS:GO
code, Marc Laidlaw confirms the rumor of a cancelled Half-Life 2 Episode, developed by Arkane Studios. (2006-2009).
In June a a handful of concept art was released which was confirmed by the SPUF moderators as legit.


Predictions (logical to crazy):

- Valve is building the next HL game in Source 2
- Valve may be waiting for next gen consoles
- Valve is working on the game mechanic that they never used in portal 2 (F-STOP)
- The game will feature rpg elements with a open world environment
- At some point Gordan Freeman will return to Ravenholm
- Valve may ask another studio to do Episode 3​


 
iRqRTlK0ybLHI.png



I think this has been pretty much the start of a breaking point for Steam, a first step into bigger things. As everyone know we got to the point where the PC is "hot" again as consoles become more stagnant in their hardware, and Valve obviously took advantage of this by moving forward with their more ambitious projects, such as Big Picture Mode and the recent talk of being involved in Hardware manufacturing in some way.

The way they've went about this pretty much assures that the PC will again have an active spot alongside next-gen consoles, and it is unlikely that it'll "fall behind" again. Furthermore, given their plans, it might have a spot literally alongside your console right under your TV.

This, along with Greenlight, proves that Valve are thinking in even bigger things and have 0 plans to stop anytime soon. So in the end it has probably been the most exciting year for Steam since it's conception. And that's pretty damn cool. Exciting times mang.

The Half Life series, Team Fortress series, Counter-Strike series, Left 4 Dead series and the Portal series are my all time favorites from Valve Corporation. I have spent many hours over the years playing in those worlds. Even if the games were linear the worlds did not seem linear. These guys have mastered the art of packaging enjoyment and entertainment in digital form.

As a new adopter of digital downloads outside of MMOs, Steam is quite a revelation. I used to buy all my PC games in retail. I have a Steam account since the release of the Half-Life 2 and the episodes disc and only used the service for those games. Since I formatted my computer about 2 weeks ago, I only have Steam installed and I am rebuilding my gaming library from the store. With all the specials and discount, I've been visiting the store every day. I also thanks the Steam store and NeoGaf threads/users for opening me to the wonderful indie gaming scene. Being able to have all my PC gaming collection under a simple program is incredible. I still can't believe that I was blind to not see how Steam was more than a Valve games distributing system. It might sound too much enthusiastic, but it's my feeling of this system.

I like Steam, it does everything I want from a digital store and online community. Valve on the other hand worries me. They've become basically the platform leader by accident. Its like as if a hippy commune accidentally produced the national phone service. I don't think they really want the position. I imagine at some point they will sell steam to someone and who knows that those people intentions will be? So I've been trying to buy from other sources (Amazon, GoG, Origin), just to not put all my eggs in one basket.

Well I’ve only really gotten into PC gaming rather recently but I have to admit Steam / Valve have been a big draw for me. Their games are some of my all-time favourites and Steam is pretty much my platform of choice for playing games on at the moment. That’s not to suggest they’re without flaws though, there non strict deadlines approach to things usually works out it can also lead to ridiculous delays between games and even today seemingly simple to implement features remain missing from the steam client. Overall though I think their reputation as a consumer-friendly company is earned, and I am looking forward to their future innovations and of course, steam sales.

I've been on Steam for about 3-4 years now consistently and I've loved every minute of it.. until recently. I'm not a huge fan of the social media type look update thingy they have released. I love the idea of Greenlight when they finally get it tweaked and I still love having all my games digital, all in one place and getting them on the cheap. They are making a crap load of money off me and I haven't even touched all the games I've played. Like many, I suffer the backlog curse..

What I think about Valve and Steam? Honestly, I didn't really like Valve before. I'm not a fan of the Half-Life series, and I never was a huge PC gamer (except for strategy games, like Rise of Nations or the Civilization series). My opinion of them changed once I heard about the Orange Box. Team Fortress 2 and Portal seemed fun, so I bought it for my 360. Again, didn't like Half-Life all that much (perhaps because I did The One Free Bullet achievement). However, I had lots of fun with TF2 and Portal was amazing. A few years later, I keep hearing about Steam, but I'm a "comfy couch" dude and I don't have a gaming PC. Then, my friends and I played a game with someone's laptop plugged into the TV and USB controllers, and I realized you could have the "comfy couch" experience with a PC. A couple of months later, it's the 2012 summer sale I know I'm going to get a gaming laptop soon, so I decide to buy a couple of games. I was extremely impressed with the prices. I had just pre-ordered Halo 4 and a couple of other games for 39.99, and I thought it was an amazing deal! I cancelled almost all my pre-orders, and bought tons of games for $5 instead. I'll be getting a longer HDMI cable soon, so I can plug my laptop into my TV more easily. I guess now I consider myself a fan of Valve, but not for Half-Life or Left 4 Dead, but because of Portal, Team Fortress 2 and Steam prices. Once my HDMI cable arrives, I'll be trying out Big Picture mode using my 360 controller. If there's one complaint I have, it's that I don't agree at all with their new TOS, but I'm pretty sure that it doesn't affect me, seeing as I live in Quebec.

What can I say about Steam that has not already been said? Before I joined Steam, I was almost purely a console gamer. Yeah, I would have some games like Civ III, Quake III Arena, Sonic R, and The Sims, but I was never big into PC gaming. However, Steam has changed that. I now have over 100 games on Steam over the four years I've been using it, many of which obtained via indie bundles. To me, Steam is the best digital distribution service for games out there, bar none. The only reason why I still use my consoles is mainly due to the value that I still give to physical games. The way I see it, if the console makers want me to buy digital games, they are going to have to compete with Steam. I can safely say that Steam has made me a PC gamer and has shown me the value of PC games.

I signed up for Steam when it first came out but haven't actually used it properly until May of this year when I got a real PC (I haven't really PC gamed since 2004). I think Steam is pretty awesome and everything I envisioned XBL to be in the future/today but didn't. Love the community aspect of it and just hanging out in GAF chat once in a while. People may complain about Steam's DRM but I find it convenient in my case since it auto-updates all my games in the background, and I have all my games in one place. Buying and gifting games is way simple and encourages people to give up money so easily, compared to PSN/XBL which feels so archaic in comparison. Download speeds aren't even that bad so I don't mind too much having all my games in digital form. I do hope we have the ability to trade or sell games back, but Steam sales makes totally makes it up for it. I always login and check to see what the daily deal is.

As for Valve, their games are some of the best in the industry. I remember reading up on Half-Life previews back in the day before the game came out and I knew this game was gonna be huge. It easily lived up to my expectations, and again and again with Half-Life 2 and Portal 2. I don't mind the excruciating long wait for the next installment of Half-Life 3 if it ensures that the level of quality never dips.

Valve makes the decision to be a small, agile company filled with bright people. This helps them in a lot of ways, but it hurts them in other ways. We still don't have video recording. In-game screenshots came a year or more too late. And part of it is because those require a lot of infrastructure, and infrastructure requires people. The length of the transition between the old content system and the new content system, and thus most of the server speed scaling problems Valve has had, is a result of this. All the complaints you hear about support are also a product of this.

It also means that while Valve is very good at making tools available for developers, they're a lot less good at convincing developers to use them--because evangelism needs people and it needs an active investment.

I'd like to see Valve grow, not enough to be a huge corporation, but enough to address its deficiencies. Whatever incentive Microsoft gives people to use GFWL, Valve should be copying, doubly so that Windows 8 is coming up. All these developers who go PS3/360 and have no PC port, Valve should be nagging them. Valve should have a Japanese team.

Valve has done a great service to not just PC gamers but all gamers in general. The half life series paved the way to many popular aspects of modern FPS games. When you look at games in terms of digital distribution most people think Steam. It's hard to even imagine where PC gaming would be at this point without Steam. It pretty much started the revolution and now DD makes up some 70% of the market for PC gaming. Even the likes of Sony are taking note and have just recently started preloading games on PSN similar to how Steam has been doing for quite some time now. Well I'll end it now since you said keep it short :)

So, my opinion on Valve/Steam. Well, I think that there should be a clear division between the company and the product, as much as they remain linked together in the public conscience. Valve is a very successful company that has achieved to remain surprisingly independent throughout its history; not only do they do whatever they want, they do it efficiently, its customers have a very clear understanding of this, and it gives them a very important edge. The fact that very talented people started and run the company makes this an aspect that's unlikely to change any time soon, and the critical acclaim to which they have been subject for most if not all of their gaming efforts and their tendency to over-deliver guarantees them a stream of revenue from a rabid fanbase.

The first time that I ever used and joined Steam was on the exact date of December 25, 2004 because my brother got me Half-Life 2 for PC (a couple months earlier we bought a Gateway). The most memorable thing for me that morning was witnessing the terrible software and activation process of Steam. HL 2 was my most anticipated game for that year and I couldn't even start it up because Steam was unavailable, thus it couldn't be activated. To tell you the truth, I didn't mind Steam that much once HL 2 activated. Fast forward a couple of years later, hearing about Steam again from the 2010 Winter Sale Thread was the tipping point for me to jump back into PC gaming. Built a PC in early 2011, installed Steam and I was surprised to find an excellent gaming service that is simply a cut above the rest. Steam is the reason why I haven't turned on my consoles in about 15 months.

What I love the most about Valve is their obsession with data. They are among the few companies in the gaming industry who don’t let decide non-gamers, old corporate folks with only a vague idea of what gaming is all about. They understood that the only meaningful way to operate in this industry is to closely follow what your customers buy, want, loathe, and with modern tools keeping track of this is even easier than before. The fact that they care so much about their data is the reason of Steam’s success itself. They try to innovate at every turn but improving on what is already working and fixing what isn't.
They're one of the few companies who give a damn about what they do. The main examples of this philosophy are Greenlight and the latest Summer Sale, when they gave the users a lot of decisional power. Maybe something was a little rough around the edges, but I'm sure every year we'll see an improvement of the formula because if someone can and want to learn from its mistakes, it’s Valve. Gaben be praised.

Valve has released a series of fairly predictable sequels since the Orange Box. Continually ignoring their most beloved franchise, Half Life. It's quite depressing that Doug won't let them talk about it.
Nothing average but at the same time nothing that really blew my mind. I think Dota 2 is the best thing they've done since Episode 2. I'm happy as long as Valve is happy and doing things they want to do, even if they don't appeal to me. It saddens me that Steam is becoming slightly anti consumer after so many great steps forward (EULA, region restrictions, pricing). Greenlight has been a mess but I think it can be fixed.

I hope Valve splits Steam off into a separate company. I don't think the relationship is mutually beneficial at this point.

I'm sort of worried about steam at the moment. The addition of other types of software on the service might turn their front page into something more akin to the 360 dashboard with games and software all thrown into the same shelf space. I don't want to boot steam and see a daily for some CAD software. I wish they'd just spin it off into it's own piece of software.

As far as greenlight goes, it could be cool but leaving the decision making to the community could be a bad thing and keep good games off the service because the developers aren't good at promoting their game to the public. There should be an alternate channel that might cost a bit more but gets the game into the hands of someone at valve and let them judge whether the game should be on the service or not. I'm afraid that once the new car smell of greenlight wears off, steam will become the place of the major publishers and the AAA indie developers.

That might be a bit nitpick-y because the service is great at the moment. There's not much else I'd want on the service right now. It's pretty rad.

So I have been on steam for just over a year now and the service while not perfectly perfect is a fantastic thing. It has made me a main PC gamer and I have become a, as people at work call me, a "steam activist/purist". I guess I have been spoiled by the interface and overlay and how easy things are with steam but to anyone in the office I talk to about gaming it always comes to the platform of choice and I praise PC gaming and Steam as a big factor in it. Also because of steam and this thread I have talked to so many great people. Even during some rough times there were people on my friends list that were more supportive and would listen then even family, and for that I do have to thank you guys as you are all awesome.

I've been using Steam since it's release date, (because I didn't have a choice if I wanted to play CS1.6) and it always baffled me how they handled it from the start (barely any improvements for years and years, friends list didn't work for more then a year, etc), it even brought me to use other alternatives like Xfire.

But now I see my self again baffled, but for opposite reasons. The speed in which steam has been improving over the last 2 years is amazing. Gifting system, screenshots, new community stuff, steam workshop, greenlight, big picture mode, etc... They've been filling ever users request and then some. And it doesn't look like they're stopping.

<3 Steam.

I've always been a Valve fan. I played Half-Life 2 years after it's release in 2000, and I just fell in love with the game. The atmosphere was just phenomenal and Valve has been a favorite of mine ever since. To this day, I still think Valve are some of the best game devs out there. Their products usually take quite some time to develop, but it's totally worth it in the end. Half-Life 2 Episode 2 is my favorite game of all time and nothing has topped it yet.

Although I only joined Steam in 2010, I still feel like I've stuck with Valve for years and years. I own most of their games, and all of them are the closest thing to first person shooting perfection. The Half-Life series, Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead, Counter Strike, Portal and Dota 2 have consumed more of my time than most other games.

Valve..... oh boy. They've been nothing but good to me to be quite honest with exception to my first Steam account magically disappearing that had Counter Strike on it way back in 05. I'm still kinda sore about that, but hey, I got a better collection now :P

Anyways, I feel that they have been a fan favourite for a long time now, and for good reason. They've listened to their userbase and actually take into account what their users want. Games. Simple. Their leadership is fantastic, but I feel that their progress is slowing. With the rise of other DD services such as Origin they need to step up their game and really get creative. Creating a virtual economy (HATS) isn't going to do it anymore. That is not to discredit them by any means, they are one of the few companies that have kept PC Gaming alive and are serving as a means to let it grow into something even larger than it ever has been (especially now with the Greenlight initiative.) I hope they never die and continue to revolutionize PC Gaming (and possibly even console gaming :O )

Valve. I wasn't really familiar with this company until just recently. I mean, i've heard about Half-Life here and there but i never really gave them a thought. Who introduced me to Steam was my best friend. :) A few years ago, he let me borrow his laptop for a couple months. I saw Street Fighter IV on the desktop and was like, woah! I didn't know fighting games were on pc (lol). I asked him to tell me what his steam account was, and then he proceeded to tell me to get my own account (jerk!). So i did.

Yeah, pc gaming was very foreign to me back then. I was always a big console gamer but i think it took Steam to show me that pc gaming is pretty cool! I think then Steam led me to NeoGAF, and if it weren't for one of the steam threads i probably wouldn't have met a certain person who is just amazing. (You know who you are. :p)

I think what Valve is doing is a really good thing for the gaming industry. Sure, digital downloads isn't the same as having a physical piece of medium, but it isn't all that bad. It's really convenient to have all your games in one place. And their sales are just amazing! I also love how involved they are with the community. I've only been a steam member for 2 years and i am really glad it exists.

Steam has a come a long way in recent years and has truly set the standard for digital distribution economy and content delivery. Steamworks is nearly flawless, and with a userbase of an average peak of nearly 4 million active player per day multiplayer games are far less likely to become abandoned swaths of empty lobbies and queues months after release (unlike SOME console games I know of). The only downside is the plethora of games that still don't use it or for which you're forced to go through GFWL or U-play. Community features are equally impressive, with the recent beta update and hubs, screenshot/video sharing, friend recommendations/reviews wishlist sharing, instant messaging, and (although shitty) integrated web browsing and all accessible through an overlay that can be implemented even into games which are not officially available via steam. My only suggestion being the addition of party creation/chat to make going from game to game easier as a group or create ad hoc gaming session hangouts.

Valve has, basically, made PC gaming matter again. When people thought PC gaming was slowly dying, a niche of some sort compared to the numbers console games were doing, Valve came up with the perfect distribution center for developer we call Steam. Through its evolution, Steam has shown the world anyone can developer a game and self publish it through the platform, and even big developers can tremendously win. A centralized approach for you gaming needs in a "social" platform is what PC gaming needed to develop a sense of community that was somehow missing. We can't rule out Steam Sales for the current phenomena Steam currently is. I strongly feel Steam is the first step in the right way for how the future will eventually look for gaming, both in a PC and in a console.

My first contact with Valve was when Half-Life was released. I saw some videos in a technology TV show and the game footage blew me away. Unfortunately my PC wasn't unable to run Half-Life by then, and only in 2003 when I got my Pentium IV I finally managed to play the game. It was actually the first game I've installed on that machine. I could see clearly why the game completely revolutionized the genre. It was very immersive and story driven. The puzzles had logic and weren't there just because, and the sense of exploration was fantastic.
On the other hand, I never interested very much on steam. I always prefered retail games over digital, even on PC. Having the game case and the manuals sitting on the shelf... it's an awesome feeling if you're a collector. But I totally understand that digital is the future and Valve started doing it brilliantly. Steam isn't perfect, far from it (the offline mode is still buggy for me), but steam opened a whole new perspective in the videogame business. I actually started to care for indie games, some of them have way more quality than most big studios AAA titles, and the avalanche of promotions in steam sales are really very apelative. I never lost interest in PC gaming, but steam and valve have clearly revolutionized the industry. Now bring me Half Life 3.

I originally quit using Steam once Counter-Strike 1.6 came out due in part to the changes made in 1.6 and the fact that the Steam client was buggy as hell on launch (I do miss the green steam skin though). I returned for the launch of the Orange Box and I've been using it ever since. The community features, the library which stores all my purchases and the great deals have won me over. Still there is a lot of room for improvement and judging by the great strides they've made since launch, I think it'll only get better from here on out.

 
This is just to show up my RTTP thread isn't it? Hot damn.

I think HL3 is alive and well, it's just going to be a project of huge importance, and given the roll out of HL2, Valve are not going to fuck up it's announcement this time. I doubt it'll be shown until it is basically finished.
 
Does anyone really care at this point? I swear people who make these posts are viral Calve employees trying to keep people giving a shit. It'd be a nice surprise but move on.
 
The best damn value for a bundle I've yet to see, that's for sure.

And HL3? Valve actually finished it some time ago, but it would seem that they have developed a very slow teleport.
 
And Source Film maker. They're doing some good work over there.

And TF2 was in development 9 years, like you said. It might be my most-played game of all time. So I'm plenty fine waiting for them to perfect HL3. It'll be worth it, even if it's 4 more years away.

Mr Orange... Orange Box... Guys, go check Steam. HL3 will be out any minute now.
3rd reply. HL3 confirmed.
 
Considering it's long development cycle, HL3 has to be a next generation title. My prediction is that it will probably be out a year or two after the PS4/XBOX3 are released on Source Engine 2.
 
Yea the Orange Box is hands down one of the best bundles ever made in gaming. It had something for every kind of gamer, and it's impact on the gaming industry should not be missed. TF2 was a trailblazer in changing the perception of games from a product to a service and has continues to evolve 5 years after release. It also showed the industry one of the best F2P models in existence and it continues to give lessons on how they should develop relationships with their communities, even letting them create content for the game and getting paid for it. And even though Steam was released 4 years earlier, the Orange Box was the game where I stopped looking at Steam as something I need to play certain games and more as a gaming platform for my library with features that I really enjoy using. In short, at least for me, the Orange Box is what caused Steam to take off and is now an indispensable part of my gaming life.
 
Not a huge fan of Valve. They've done good things for the industry, but I really just want to play Half-Life and they haven't delivered on that in 5 years. 7 years if you don't count the 4-hour Episodes.

Not a fan of TF2 or L4D. Portal's fun, but it's not Half-Life.
 
Considering it's long development cycle, HL3 has to be a next generation title. My prediction is that it will probably be out a year or two after the PS4/XBOX3 are released on Source Engine 2.

I sure hope so. Source has done well to stay relevant this long, but it's REALLY showing its age these days. The lighting and texturing is just so far behind other engines.
 
[...] the unknown puzzle game: Portal 2 and [...]
:O

/nitpick



I joined Steam one year ago. I already have 100 games (mostly thanks to Indie Bundles). I played like ten of them. Finished 2. I have no idea what I'm doing.
 
I think it's important to remember that Gabe has passively talked about HL3 (by talking about "Ricochet 2") and stated that those who have been working on HL3 are still working on HL3 today.

That gives me hope.
 
Just one correction:

Team Fortress 2 was in development for 22 years

The Orange Box got me into Valve and Steam. Five years later, I own all of their titles, have thousands of hours in their games alone, and have joined the masses who long for a new Half-Life game.

I am a Valve Hammer Legion Member, and I'm pretty OK with that!
 
This is a really cool thread. Well done. Steam/Valve have been nothing but good to me over the years, my wallet notwithstanding. I've gifted a few of my friends the complete half-life collection, over the years, after I convinced them to get PCs. I am eagerly waiting on any information regarding HL3...and pretty much anything else valve has on offer.
 
This is a wonderful thread.

And I'd note for those that haven't clicked on the Rich Stanton thread, he claims (and I believe him) to have taken pictures of Half-Life 3 concept art during a trip to Valve.
 
Let's talk about how great Half-Life 3 is going to be. I think Half-Life 3 is going to be great and I just want to talk about it. Half-Life 3!
 
Let's talk about how great Half-Life 3 is going to be. I think Half-Life 3 is going to be great and I just want to talk about it. Half-Life 3!
The whole game takes place on the surface of Xen, and twenty million excited giggles are silenced...
 
I would love more than anything for Valve to say fuck the hype train and just drop HL3 onto Steam as soon as it's done. No marketing until after it's already available. It would be interesting to see if their name alone could make the sales happen.
 
Steam sucks, Valve sucks, Half-Life is babies first shooter, Portal is for girls, and Team Fortress 2 has Mario kids graphics.
 
I had no idea Alien Swarm was actually a Valve game. For some reason I though it was by a different company. I'll have to try it out.

Was it always a Valve game, or was it something Valve picked up?

The original Alien Swarm is a UT2k4 mod by Black Cat Games. True to form, the team was snapped up by Valve, who remade the mod in Source and released it for free (along with its particular Source SDK) as an example of the engine's versatility.
 
Those answers in your second post are from your last giveaway, right? I'm gonna read the whole thread, I just skimmed through the OP and it was really interesting from what little I saw. So Valve's problem is just disregarding the Half-Life franchise, it isn't not caring for their users and customers, given the quality of the games they released since HL2: EP 2 and what they've done with Steam.
 
I think it needs to be remembered that there are also two forthcoming Portal 2 DLCs, not just Dota 2 and continuing TF2 support.

I'm thinking that Ep3/HL3 won't be announced until after the Portal 2 stuff is finished.
 
Do you have a link to that?

I remember it as two DLCs, one was the co-op, and the other was the map building tool.
Silly me. Yeah the map-building tool was the second of the three DLC packages.

Can't find where it was said that there'd be three, but I do remember that being something Valve said.
 
I get the feeling 3 is still a few years away, HL2 is still my favourite FPS ever.

I remember playing the leaked build that was missing the textures(wall1,door1, ect) and the gravity gun would throw almost anything, even then the game was great.
 
268 hats later and TF2 is still the best multiplayer PC game I've ever had the enjoyment to play and be part of. Happy 5 to TF2, and to all the Orange Box games.

Here's to 5 more years of hats!
648px-TPH_Engineer.png
 
Silly me. Yeah the map-building tool was the second of the three DLC packages.

Can't find where it was said that there'd be three, but I do remember that being something Valve said.

You must be misremembering -- Valve saying there would be three of something? :p
 
Top Bottom