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Marc Laidlaw reveals Half-Life 2 Episode 3's story synopsis

W

watershed

Banned
Gman works for a 3rd party with a vested interest in the events of HL 1 and 2. I think it is best to leave him mysterious but also reveal who/what this 3rd party is in future games.
 
F

funkystudent

Member
Surfinn said:
They were doing hints and nudges up until like the last 3 or 4 years. Portal 2 was actually a pretty mild example considering all the shit they pulled
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Out of curiosity I wonder when the last time Gabe or someone else from Valve pointless hinting at it being still alive.

Did they even do that this generation or did they just shut up about it around 2012?
 
S

Surfinn

Member
funkystudent said:
Out of curiosity I wonder when the last time Gabe or someone else from Valve pointless hinting at it being still alive.

Did they even do that this generation or did they just shut up about it around 2012?
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I wanna say the last time was around 2013ish.

I guess they got bored trolling the the fanbase that gave them success and fame (though Gabe was already rich).
 
H

HariKari

Member
funkystudent said:
Out of curiosity I wonder when the last time Gabe or someone else from Valve pointless hinting at it being still alive.

Did they even do that this generation or did they just shut up about it around 2012?
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Gabe is constantly doing the "3" thing. It comes off now as mocking rather than endearing.
 
J

JasonUresti

Member
TheSecondSpitter said:
G-Man is like the contents of Marcellus Wallace's briefcase. I don't know if that trope has a name. It doesn;t really matter.
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Well yeah, that's what all his (Lovecraft) monsters were. They all represent the unknowable.

Nyarlathotep, like the Gman, is the one that can interact with people somewhat. This gives your imagination a little more to work with, to come up with more speculation and ideas while still retaining the mystery and ultimate inability of mere people to comprehend the schemes and machinations of entities above us.

It's a little more specific than a simple Macguffin, and Laidlaw has written stories in the Lovecraft mythos so he is plenty familiar with those ideas. It's a fun little nod.
 
S

Surfinn

Member
From that Future of the Half-LIfe Series site (spoilering it just in case, though if you're here you probably don't care):

The plot describes the memorial service for Eli Vance and the Rebellion's subsequent decision to go to the coordinates described by Judith Mossman. Gordon and Alyx fly towards the Arctic but are downed before they reach it. While investigating Mossman's coordinates, already surrounded by a Combine installation, they discover the Borealis is actually phasing in and out of existence, and the coordinates were merely where Mossman expected it to next appear. They are then captured by followers of the late Wallace Breen, whose consciousness at an earlier time is revealed to have been uploaded into a slug (as Laidlaw's BreenGrub Twitter account related). The slug fears Gordon, knowing his original body's fate, but begs for a quick death––Breen's fate would have been left in the player's hands. They then find Mossman imprisoned by the Combine, where she and Alyx have a tense reunion as Alyx blames her for her father's death. They free Mossman and after a brief firefight managed to get the Borealis to stay in one place long enough for them to get onboard before it returns to jumping between universes.

They then discover that Aperture Science had been using the Borealis to experiment on something called the "Bootstrap Device," which could emit a field large enough to teleport it instantaneously to anywhere. When the Combine invaded, the panicking scientists turned on the device, sending the Borealis to the Arctic without realizing the device could also teleport it through time and was not necessarily bound to one time or location. Thus the Borealis was stretched across time and space between the drydock and the Arctic. They are then left with the choice to run the Borealis aground in the Arctic so it could be studied, or to destroy it with all hands on board, hopefully stopping the next Combine invasion. Mossman argues for the former so it can help the resistance, but Alyx swears by her father's final command to destroy the ship. In an ensuing struggle, Mossman gets the upper-hand and prepares to ground the Borealis but is killed by Alyx, who with Gordon turns the Borealis into a time-travelling missile heading straight for the Combine's command center.

The G-Man then appears to Alyx, who recognizes him from her childhood, and leads her away, leaving Gordon stuck on the Borealis. Seeing the Borealis's destination, Gordon grimly realizes that the ship will do little if anything to stop the Combine, and that his death will essentially be in vain. Before the ship can collide, the Vortigaunts appear and quickly rescue Freeman. Freeman later awakens on a beach at some uncertain point in the distant future, where he notices the terrain has changed. It is then left ambiguous whether or not humanity succeeded in defeating the Combine, although Freeman knows that those he once knew are long gone.
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Reading the basics, straightforward like that.. even if the ending leaves us hanging again, damn it sounds fucking awesome.

Some version of this could have made for an incredible game
 
T

traveler

Not Wario
Harpoon said:
A Nintendo-made Half-Life would certainly be... surreal.

But hey, this entire situation of Episode 3 coming out as a blog post is surreal, so I guess anything can happen!
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Well, I was basically thinking of it like their involvement in Bayo 2- they save an otherwise dead game, garner a ton of fanbase good will, but otherwise stay out of the process and let the creator make the game they would have made otherwise. I think Retro is up to the task of making a great shooter with puzzles and setpieces interspersed and with Marc's backing, they could at least nail the writing too.
 
C

Cipherr

Member
I liked the franchise but the whole cliffhanger thing really doesn't bother me nearly as much as others. If anything, its the rest of the industries sort of abandonment of single player storytelling and creative world building that I miss. None of anyone's hopes for this sort of gaming ever should have been hinged on a single fucking publisher when there's so many game designers out there.

Hopefully the folks this stuff bothers can read this and finally move past it. It's in truth been dead for over 5 years, and its really annoying as someone who has loooong moved on to have someone crash a discussion about a steam feature or something with their grieving over this franchise... I mean.. fuck I fucking get it dude, but relax; Im trying to figure out how to leave a review on this game and you are wailing about how Valve isn't a real developer anymore or whatever
KuGsj.gif
KuGsj.gif
KuGsj.gif
 
S

Surfinn

Member
Cipherr said:
Hopefully the folks this stuff bothers can read this and finally move past it.
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Part of that acceptance is Valve, the CREATOR of that franchise, coming forward and telling their fans that HL3/Ep3 will never release.

It shouldn't be up to ex-employees posting plot outlines on their blog.
 
A

Azzanadra

Member
It continues to baffle me why Valve abandoned single player games, they were truly doing something special and amazing with games like Half Life and Portal, especially the latter, I would consider one of the best written games ever. They had such talent for these type of games and gave it up for more money. Just makes me sad how cynical and money-obsessed this industry can be, especially considering that Valve games still turned a profit! They would still be making hand over fist with Steam, they would still have their Dota 2 and CSGO, but when it comes to single player games, Valve was more than willing to give up the artistry in heir games. Its like if Picasso decided he rather work for a bank than paint.
 
T

TheSecondSpitter

Member
Azzanadra said:
It continues to baffle me why Valve abandoned single player games, they were truly doing something special and amazing with games like Half Life and Portal, especially the latter, I would consider one of the best written games ever. They had such talent for these type of games and gave it up for more money. Just makes me sad how cynical and money-obsessed this industry can be, especially considering that Valve games still turned a profit! They would still be making hand over fist with Steam, they would still have their Dota 2 and CSGO, but when it comes to single player games, Valve was more than willing to give up the artistry in heir games. Its like if Picasso decided he rather work for a bank than paint.
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Money.
 
nekkid

nekkid

It doesn't matter who we are, what matters is our plan.
Where does G
ordon Free
man eat, sleep, buy his well-pressed suit from?

These are questions I need answered.
 
T

TheSecondSpitter

Member
Surfinn said:
While they've figured out ways to make money much more easily, the HL franchise has sold in the upwards of 20-25 million copies, not even including Steam sales numbers
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Firms have limited resources. They put those resources to use where they are most profitable. In short, game development no longer provides Valve with business synergies.

Also, not only has Valve made more money under their current model, in the process they've shed many high salaried personnel and replaced them with people prepared to work for comparative less just so they get "Valve Corporation" on their CV and also to work for the mythical Nirvana of software development that Valve's PR team has made it out to be.
 
G

GlassAwful

Member
TheSecondSpitter said:
Firms have limited resources. They put those resources to use where they are most profitable. In short, game development no longer provides Valve with business synergies.

Also, not only has Valve made more money under their current model, in the process they've shed many high salaried personnel and replaced them with people prepared to work for comparative less just so they get "Valve Corporation" on their CV and also to work for the mythical Nirvana of software development that Valve's PR team has made it out to be.
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I'm not sure that holds the same weight it did four or five years ago. If I were a publisher today I would take any resume from a former Valve game developer and toss it in the trash. What would that person know about shipping a polished or competent product on any sort of schedule, with any sort of supervision?

Valve is where developers go to kick back, take in community sourced monies, and let die any remaining passion they had left for creating anything of note. They are the Florida retirement communities of the game's industry.

Do you see many competitive companies hiring old, retired people from Florida? Maybe they'd have a chance at Walmart or Home Depot.
 
F

funkystudent

Member
Surfinn said:
While they've figured out ways to make money much more easily, the HL franchise has sold in the upwards of 20-25 million copies, not even including Steam sales numbers
Click to expand...


Their single player games are extremely successful 10 million + sellers each and every time.

But its just that there is easier money to make elsewhere with Service Games and once the game is bought you cant really get more money out of the customer.


At this point I am at least happy the creative writers behind Half Life and Portal and TF2 have all left Valve. Programmers and designers can tinker away forever in the studio doing random prototypes that dont go anywhere but those writers must have really being gotten bored at a point. There are so many DOTA item descriptions you can write and fluff dislodge for "VR Experiences"
 
T

TheSecondSpitter

Member
GlassAwful said:
I'm not sure that holds the same weight it did four or five years ago. If I were a publisher today I would take any resume from a former Valve game developer and toss it in the trash. What would that person know about shipping a polished or competent product on any sort of schedule, with any sort of supervision?
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I agree. It's an illusion. People equate working for large firms (in particular industry leaders) like they are sports stars playing for the best professional sports team. Except the labor economics are not the same. In fact, they are reversed.
NaM said:
Nah, they can put millions in it and make a flop and still be solid financially.
But I'm sure it must be hard as hell to live to the standard
and hype
of previous games.
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Valve no longer get business synergies from AAA game development. The measure of profit is not just in accounting terms, it's also what you could have received if you used your resources differently.
 
Y

Yukinari

Member
You can tell that Vinny wanted to talk very harshly about Valve on his stream but probably didnt wanna piss CSGO or Dota 2 players off.

Its what Gaf constantly does and theyre honestly justified in being angry. Even i just stopped playing TF2 despite the years of enjoyment i got out of it.
 
O

OBias

Member
Yukinari said:
You can tell that Vinny wanted to talk very harshly about Valve on his stream but probably didnt wanna piss CSGO or Dota 2 players off.

Its what Gaf constantly does and theyre honestly justified in being angry. Even i just stopped playing TF2 despite the years of enjoyment i got out of it.
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Can you give me a link to that stream?
 
A

ASilentProtagonist

Member
watershed said:
Gman works for a 3rd party with a vested interest in the events of HL 1 and 2. I think it is best to leave him mysterious but also reveal who/what this 3rd party is in future games.
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Yeah. He works for some sort of very powerful shadow organization that oversees the universe. Contracts are up to the highest bidder, and Freeman is sent as an "assassin" like figure to complete the missions (my theory).

Alyx would've become G-Mans new tool after he got bored with Freeman. What a game HL3 would've been.
 
Whompa02

Whompa02

Member
ASilentProtagonist said:
Alyx would've become G-Mans new tool after he got bored with Freeman. What a game HL3 would've been.
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There's nothing stating another game set in the half-life universe will never happen.

Gabe's recent AMA confirmed that.

The paramount movies are still being developed too.

Y'all talk like this is the end.
 
S

Surfinn

Member
TheSecondSpitter said:
Firms have limited resources. They put those resources to use where they are most profitable. In short, game development no longer provides Valve with business synergies.

Also, not only has Valve made more money under their current model, in the process they've shed many high salaried personnel and replaced them with people prepared to work for comparative less just so they get "Valve Corporation" on their CV and also to work for the mythical Nirvana of software development that Valve's PR team has made it out to be.
Click to expand...

Right, and game development isn't synergistic because they made it that way. Shit half their talent or more has left. Not because there was nothing to do or that it wouldn't work for Valve as a company, but because their goals seemed to have changed.

funkystudent said:
Their single player games are extremely successful 10 million + sellers each and every time.

But its just that there is easier money to make elsewhere with Service Games and once the game is bought you cant really get more money out of the customer.


At this point I am at least happy the creative writers behind Half Life and Portal and TF2 have all left Valve. Programmers and designers can tinker away forever in the studio doing random prototypes that dont go anywhere but those writers must have really being gotten bored at a point. There are so many DOTA item descriptions you can write and fluff dislodge for "VR Experiences"
Click to expand...

Right. But I would imagine if their passion were still there, they'd wanna put in the work to make those games. Because it makes sense, financially. But they seem to not give a shit about making money via ambitious game development anymore

In short I think the bottom line is: the passion is gone.
 
S

Surfinn

Member
I hope if another HL game is ever created, we get more info about what G-Man wants and what his goals are.

One thing that's missing in the plot outline is progress on that arc.
 
T

TheSecondSpitter

Member
funkystudent said:
Their single player games are extremely successful 10 million + sellers each and every time.
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Your statement is almost contradictory. For a game to sell 10M to be "successful" suggests high risk. I don't dispute that HL2:EP3 could have attained that, but answer this:

If your bank promised you an interest rate of 15% p.a, would you invest your money there, or would you invest in stocks if it meant you could earn 20% p.a. but earn nothing and lose your initial investment?

At this point, I picture Gabe as Mr Burns when he had so much money he was hallucinating germs that affected his health.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rEVsUAMsQ0
 
U

Unknown Soldier

Member
TheVampire said:
Didnt he save us though
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Technically, he stopped us from fighting to the last man against a technologically far superior military force and so prevented our immediate extinction. Instead he traded it for a very slow extinction as our planet was stripped of resources and rendered uninhabitable. It's made fairly clear that the Combine had no use for humanity whatsoever and would have been fine with just exterminating us and getting it over with.

It's very unclear what negotiations actually occurred which caused them to spare us (temporarily), and since we know that Breen and the G-Man know each other and work together (somewhat uncomfortably) it's likely that both of them had a hand in whatever decision was made by the Combine to accept terms of surrender rather than simply proceed with genocide. Breen straight up tells you that you're working for the highest bidder and in that sense, everyone in the room at the time is a pawn in a larger game. The room contained Breen, Eli, Mossman, Gordon, and Alyx at the time who we now know were all acquainted with G-Man at one time or another.
 
T

Temeculan3000

Member
Valentus said:
Why so many youtubers (and even serious media) keep calling this "Half Life 3"?
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It was speculated that Half-Life Episode 3 would in fact be a full game that would also serve as Half-Life 3. Valve hinted this was the case. As more time went on, people became certain that another Episode running on the same engine would not cut it, and that they must be working on a fully fledged game.
 
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