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Valve + MS work on some "interesting" Portal 2 stuff, MS more open to Steam on 360

First there was this interview: http://www.develop-online.net/features/1436/Counter-Strike-united-Valves-new-plan where they said:

Is there a chance that Steamworks make it onto the Xbox?

Maybe, we’ll see. That’s something Microsoft will has to decide. There’s some things going on with Portal 2 right now, but we’ll see.

and now this: http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/interv...Offensive-Interview-With-Valves-Chet-Faliszek

Will cross-platform play only be across PC, Mac and PS3? Why not the 360?

Getting Steam on the 360 is not something we’re able to do right now, and that’s how matchmaking works. Microsoft are working with us for some other stuff you’re going to see in Portal 2 that’s kind of interesting – originally I was supposed to come over here and talk about that, because the Portal 2 DLC was supposed to be out by now – but you’ll see that we’re doing some more work with them. I think that as they get older and older, the consoles are all looking for more ways that they can let people interact, so we’ll see. But right now, 360’s not allowing us to do that kind of thing.

Are you hoping to get Steam on the 360 at some point?

I think Microsoft first thought that the PS3 was getting the Steam store, but when they realised it was just getting features that we use internally to make our games, I think they got a lot less worried. So with the second DLC, we’re talking to them a lot about features that we want and things we want to work with them on and they’re really open about working with us on that, so we’ll see.

Finally there's the possibility CS:GO won't have crossplatform play after all..

Yeah – we’ve talked about wanting to do cross-platform play, but if we do that, it limits our ability to update on the PC because it has to be in lock-step with the PS3. Even with Steamworks on PS3, we don’t have the same ability to update. Because of that, we may or may not do cross-platform play, maybe cross-platform will come later – we’ll see. But we don’t want to hamstring the PC because we want the cross-platform.
 
If the PS3 patching slows down the PC patching process(which seems likely if they want cross platform play) people will not be happy.
 

Emitan

Member
HotHamWater said:
I thought we already had this thread?

Anyway, you guys remember when they said we'd get Portal 2 DLC?
We're getting it. In Valve Time, summer extends into late October.
 
I might be forgetting something, but the whole Steamworks on PS3 thing meant that Valve could essentially push content and patches whenever they wanted (at the same time as the PC) right?

Did that actually happen? Was there ever a console patch for Portal 2 on either platform?
 
Liquid_Bike said:
Why are Microsoft and Sony so anal about updates its quite frustrating.


Maybe they dont want you know, things to break (with untested updates)?

That's a major advantages of consoles, their "just works" nature.
 

Cartman86

Banned
LQX said:
That's almost the same thing EA said.

If EA releases a game on steam they are in total control of content updates. They are free too. If they want to charge for updates (or DLC) they will be in "control" but Valve will get a cut. That's a little different then what's being discussed here.
 
HotHamWater said:
I might be forgetting something, but the whole Steamworks on PS3 thing meant that Valve could essentially push content and patches whenever they wanted (at the same time as the PC) right?

Did that actually happen? Was there ever a console patch for Portal 2 on either platform?

Not a single one AFAIK, PC had something like 10 or so, so far.
 
Liquid_Bike said:
Why are Microsoft and Sony so anal about updates its quite frustrating.
From what I understand they don't want players to have to download a patch every time they wanna play a game. For Microsoft they also want to make sure that patch doesn't break things further (Microsoft Certification process). Basically give the user a hassle free experience. I like the idea but they really could do a better job of it cause that cert process seems to take forever.
 
so if Valve cant be bothered to update the console and pc version at the same time then whats the point in steam on consoles again?

I mean if it doesn't have Cross Platform play and doesnt update when the PC version updates then pretty much any point in Steam on consoles is gone.

it just lets you text chat with people you cant play with.
 

Salsa

Member
Never thought this would happen, i guess its cool, but it should be expected, instead of taking this long.
 

ghst

thanks for the laugh
Massa said:
Cross-platform play with PC is the exact reason I'm NOT getting CS on the PS3.

i quite like the elegant simplicity of valve's solution:

VE3D said:
Are PC players going to have to be nerfed in some respect when playing cross-platform?

No. There’s no auto-aiming on the PS3, or anything like that, because it’s not about skill then, right? It’s about your platform helping you. Because of the skill-based matchmaking, I would imagine that because mouse and keyboard are the best kind of input for this type of game, most PC players would never encounter a PS3 player outside of casual play with friends. If they do, they may want to think again about how good they are. It’s all going to be about your skill and your ranking. It’s a kind of experiment and we’re interested to see how it ends up.
so essentially, if you play on console, you'll barely ever meet pc players simply because they'll naturally be ranked higher than you, unless they're so bad that they're on a par with thumbstick players.
 

fernoca

Member
felipepl said:
You win Sir.

angular graphics said:
felipepl vindicated XD

Not quite. :p

Should've said "first response/reply", the "first post" IS the main post. :p


***

Still interesting. Steam was a nice addition on PS3, one I wish more console games (with multi-releases) used.
 
ghst said:
i quite like the elegant simplicity of valve's solution:


so essentially, if you play on console, you'll barely ever meet pc players simply because they'll naturally be ranked higher than you, unless they're really really bad. so bad that they're on a par with thumbstick players.

Hehe, that would be quite the punishment but, also according to the article, no one will ever know it... because you'll never know who is a PC and who is a PS3 player.
 

Rad-

Member
Steamworks on PS3 has been useless. It almost feels like Valve just hyped it up to get MS's attention...
 
funkystudent said:
so if Valve cant be bothered to update the console and pc version at the same time then whats the point in steam on consoles again?

I mean if it doesn't have Cross Platform play and doesnt update when the PC version updates then pretty much any point in Steam on consoles is gone.

it just lets you text chat with people you cant play with.

+ Free DLC. Maybe..
 
angular graphics said:
+ Free DLC. Maybe..
well DLC could still be free and on the ps store or a game patch.


Maybe it was all just a clever plan to get patches on console without paying to go through cert? Gabe could use that money he saved to buy more knifes.


If it does have to be cut from the main game I hope they can have some form of Cross Plat Play, even just for private/non ranked servers.
 
replace indie games with the steam storefront. LOL.

But seriously, I would like to be able to play all of the maps in L4D2 that modders make. Still don't really know what Steam would add. I like steam, but I don't see what use it would be on 360 aside from linking online identities.

I also DONT want everyone trying to get their network on the consoles. Uplay and maybe the EA crap in place is fine, but if I had to THEN create an Origin username and etc it would start getting annoying as hell.
 

Massa

Member
akilshohen said:
replace indie games with the steam storefront. LOL.

But seriously, I would like to be able to play all of the maps in L4D2 that modders make. Still don't really know what Steam would add. I like steam, but I don't see what use it would be on 360 aside from linking online identities.

I also DONT want everyone trying to get their network on the consoles. Uplay and maybe the EA crap in place is fine, but if I had to THEN create an Origin username and etc it would start getting annoying as hell.

The EA account you created to play EA games on consoles is an Origin account.


ghst said:
i quite like the elegant simplicity of valve's solution:


so essentially, if you play on console, you'll barely ever meet pc players simply because they'll naturally be ranked higher than you, unless they're so bad that they're on a par with thumbstick players.

I still don't like it. First person shooters and specially Counter Strike are completely different games with KBM and dual stick controllers.

DICE does it right by even tweaking their games specifically for each platform. Valve is basically making one version and hoping the matchmaking system magically makes everything right. I don't buy that.

The fact that Valve has a pretty damn poor track record of implementing dual stick controls doesn't help either.
 

1-D_FTW

Member
odin toelust said:
No reason to have steamworks on console if Valve is not in control of content updates imo

Ding, ding, ding.

Cross play would be a horrible move unless/until the issues are sorted out.
 
Rad- said:
Steamworks on PS3 has been useless. It almost feels like Valve just hyped it up to get MS's attention...
I think we're hearing more about Valve working with MS because of the platform sales of Portal 2. I really thought the PS3 version might sell more because of the extra features (like Batman AA) but wasn't it not even close?

I also think "Steam on consoles" was just one of those open Valve projects (if you think about their company culture). They probably had grand ideas in the design docs phase, but the best they could do (hopefully just so far) was what was in Portal 2 PS3. We had no idea what it actually was before the Portal 2 PS3 release.
 
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