Half-Life and Portal series, general discussion (v6) - Games

Oh god, think about what would happen to games if they would let speedrunners beta-test them. [editline]27th August 2015[/editline] "I found a bug" "Oh, what, how did you do it?" "Well, I strafe-jumped backwards, gaining a lot of speed and then I flew through this wall into this prop and got through this level by surfing over these three rooftops and I ended the chapter without meeting my companions or killing any enemies"

[QUOTE=tratzzz;48547900]Oh god, think about what would happen to games if they would let speedrunners beta-test them. [editline]27th August 2015[/editline] "I found a bug" "Oh, what, how did you do it?" "Well, I strafe-jumped backwards, gaining a lot of speed and then I flew through this wall into this prop and got through this level by surfing over these three rooftops and I ended the chapter without meeting my companions or killing any enemies"[/QUOTE] "I beat the game by flying across everything on this pallet."

I would like to see Valve announce both Episode 3 and Half Life 3 Then you release Episode 3 at one date, and then ~6 months later you release Half Life 3. This way you can let Episode 3 finish up [I]some[/I] of the loose ends of the Half Life 2 story arc, and then Half Life 3 can do something and new and introduce some new mechanics and gameplay elements or something.

[QUOTE=tratzzz;48547900]Oh god, think about what would happen to games if they would let speedrunners beta-test them. [editline]27th August 2015[/editline] "Well, I strafe-jumped backwards, gaining a lot of speed and then I flew through this wall into this prop and got through this level by surfing over these three rooftops and I ended the chapter without meeting my companions or killing any enemies"[/QUOTE] "Wait, you're not supposed to get to that map without the buggy we gave you..." "Oh. I was sprinting a whole bunch and was able to get enough air off this ramp to bunnyhop across the lake area you had in the third map you gave me, so I guessed I just missed it. Everything after that was breeze to hop through, except for that one bit where Alyx needs to opens a door. I was able to speed that up too by hitting her on the head with this takeout box prop to make her skip the walking segments, and then using her body to glitch through this wall to the loading area."

[url]http://www.welovefine.com/feature/portal-board-game.html#overview[/url] That looks cool

[QUOTE=Maloof?;48543749]nobody should caaaaaaaare whether it's called HL3 or Episode 3 it is totally inconsequential like how is this still even a discussion, it does not matter[/QUOTE]Over the past several years I've notice that most people think the next game will continue where Episode 2 left off, but there are are a few odd people that think "Half-Life 3" will be as far removed from HL2 as HL2 was removed from HL1, mostly because they want new enemies/items/weapons/vehicles/suit/locations/etc. & plot be damned if it'll get in the way of all that. If Half-Life 3 continued the plot exactly where Episode 2 left off, going to the arctic to find the Borealis, then it'd either be like the Episode 3 we could have got were stretched out into a full-length title or Gordon using the Borealis to finish-off the combine is just the prologue, the Resonance Cascade / Teleporter Accident at the start of the plot making way for the "real" game, which personally seems like a slap in the face.

[QUOTE=DONOTWANT;48549406]Over the past several years I've notice that most people think the next game will continue where Episode 2 left off, but there are are a few odd people that think "Half-Life 3" will be as far removed from HL2 as HL2 was removed from HL1, mostly because they want new enemies/items/weapons/vehicles/suit/locations/etc. & plot be damned if it'll get in the way of all that. If Half-Life 3 continued the plot exactly where Episode 2 left off, going to the arctic to find the Borealis, then it'd either be like the Episode 3 we could have got were stretched out into a full-length title or Gordon using the Borealis to finish-off the combine is just the prologue, the Resonance Cascade / Teleporter Accident at the start of the plot making way for the "real" game, which personally seems like a slap in the face.[/QUOTE] I'm not sure how I'd feel about the tied up HL2 arc being stretched into a whole game. I know people want it to be huge, but tying up a storyline with a full length game on the basis "It's been a while since we've had a whole game" just doesn't sit well with me. I feel like drawing out a "Find and destroy the Borealis" plot for 13-14 chapter game would just feel drawn out. Even Ep2 feels a bit drawn once you get to the buggy, because then it's a pattern of drive-stop-fight rinse and repeat 3-4 more times. Same with Water Hazard and Highway 17. Not to disparage those parts, because they have some fun parts, but they do boil down to drive-stop-fight rinse and repeat. I'd rather see Ep3 be an episode length game that does its thing and is done than it be drawn out because Valve needed a full length game. I'm not sure I'd need another HL after wrapping up Borealis, but I would like to see another Valve single player FPS. Look at L4D, Valve made a really fun SP shooter that wasn't HL. Unleash the creativity from a predefined franchise and see where it goes. It's not going to have expectations like a franchise would, so no one really to let down. What I'm envisioning, are episode length games that are just the people doing what they want, it literally fits into their "management" model. Do it like The Orange Box, a bunch of smaller games bundled together.

Half-Life 3 seems like a great opportunity to reintroduce cut content. What better time to visit the AirEx and Depot than after you've finally begun overturning the Combine's grip over Earth, on a mission to shut them down, liberate them, and/or destroy them?

[QUOTE=Sonador;48551391]Half-Life 3 seems like a great opportunity to reintroduce cut content. What better time to visit the AirEx and Depot than after you've finally begun overturning the Combine's grip over Earth, on a mission to shut them down, liberate them, and/or destroy them?[/QUOTE]what could they do with the depot that wasn't done with nova prospekt

[QUOTE=tratzzz;48547900]Oh god, think about what would happen to games if they would let speedrunners beta-test them.[/QUOTE] Better than having retards who can't even grasp the concept of having more than one path to the level exit. Looking at you L4D.

[QUOTE=iAmaNewb;48551645]Better than having retards who can't even grasp the concept of having more than one path to the level exit. Looking at you L4D.[/QUOTE] Valve doesnt understand that being confused and lost is part of the fun. I used to always get lost during the bit right after DOG jumps on the flying combine transport right after you leave Kleiners lab, and now that Im basically a Half Life master Im just the smuggest shit when I know where to go on that map.

Valve pulling a Kojima and copying Ground Zeroes + Phantom Pain release format would be funny. You get a demo for Source 2 first while wrapping up loose ends. Then you get free reign in the new game.

Portal The Uncooperative Cake Acquisition Game is available for pre-order. [url]http://www.welovefine.com/feature/portal-board-game.html#overview[/url]

[QUOTE=Sonador;48551391]Half-Life 3 seems like a great opportunity to reintroduce cut content. What better time to visit the AirEx and Depot than after you've finally begun overturning the Combine's grip over Earth, on a mission to shut them down, liberate them, and/or destroy them?[/QUOTE] There would be no point in bringing back the AirEx or Depot levels since Nova Prospekt took both of their places and the former wasn't exactly turning out for the best. The only cut location that really seems to be reappearing is the Weather Control.

Valve's play testers seem to ruin a lot of things

Valve might use HL3 to push VR or Steamboxes, given that it would be the biggest "console" seller ever, bigger then Bloodborne or Smash for their respective markets, and it might sucker in a fair amount of "lol Im not a gamer, but I use reddit and imgur a bunch and this HL3 thing sounds amazing!" market. Of course that would be very cynical. But if Valve has learned anything from pushing Steam in 2004 is that great things can come from gimmiks and cynism.

[QUOTE=Coffee;48548633]I would like to see Valve announce both Episode 3 and Half Life 3 Then you release Episode 3 at one date, and then ~6 months later you release Half Life 3. This way you can let Episode 3 finish up [I]some[/I] of the loose ends of the Half Life 2 story arc, and then Half Life 3 can do something and new and introduce some new mechanics and gameplay elements or something.[/QUOTE] Half-Life 3: The Phantom Pain please

[QUOTE=ThatoneJeff;48559969]Half-Life 3: The Phantom Pain please[/QUOTE] They should do what MGS V originally did and announce it as something else but have weird symbols in the logo that help you decode that it's actually Half Life 3

[QUOTE=ThatoneJeff;48559969]Half-Life 3: The Phantom Pain please[/QUOTE] Half-Life 3: The Phantom Wait A game that explains to us how it has always existed and we have waited all these years for nothing. [sp]/sarcasm[/sp]

Reminds me of the joke that the Breaking Bad finale should have just been a documentary on how isolated people that weren't caught up on Breaking Bad felt

I wonder how plausible it is that a HL3/HL2:EP3 would use the Borealis as a crossover point for Portal. Don't the Borealis schematics that pop up near the end of EP2 feature Aperture Science logos? This isn't even counting the HEAVY references to Half-Life in Portal 2. Such as the Black Mesa vs. Aperture stuff, and the port that the Borealis was in.

[QUOTE=Killjoy;48560440]I wonder how plausible it is that a HL3/HL2:EP3 would use the Borealis as a crossover point for Portal. Don't the Borealis schematics that pop up near the end of EP2 feature Aperture Science logos? This isn't even counting the HEAVY references to Half-Life in Portal 2. Such as the Black Mesa vs. Aperture stuff, and the port that the Borealis was in.[/QUOTE] The way I see it, Episode 3 would be about getting to the Borealis and finding Mossman, but she refuses to leave and as the Combine continue to converge on the science vessel, she inputs the same protocol that caused the Borealis' disappearance in the first place, shifting it from Earth to "The Library", which leads into a Half-Life 3 based around the concept of Prospero, with Gordon and his allies venturing into various parallel universes.

[QUOTE=TheTrainRider;48551879]Valve doesnt understand that being confused and lost is part of the fun. I used to always get lost during the bit right after DOG jumps on the flying combine transport right after you leave Kleiners lab, and now that Im basically a Half Life master Im just the smuggest shit when I know where to go on that map.[/QUOTE]"I got hopelessly lost in one of the games that wrote the book on heavily scripted, super-linear FPS games that guide you along a single path, but I'm different from all the [I]other[/I] glue-eaters, me."

[QUOTE=ironman17;48560530]The way I see it, Episode 3 would be about getting to the Borealis and finding Mossman, but she refuses to leave and as the Combine continue to converge on the science vessel, she inputs the same protocol that caused the Borealis' disappearance in the first place, shifting it from Earth to "The Library", which leads into a Half-Life 3 based around the concept of Prospero, with Gordon and his allies venturing into various parallel universes.[/QUOTE] I really hope Valve picks Prospero back up again. It may have been crazy ambitious for its time but they've made strides towards it. On the flip side, there's a chance it could turn out like Spore.

[QUOTE=Cows Rule;48560793]I really hope Valve picks Prospero back up again. It may have been crazy ambitious for its time but they've made strides towards it. On the flip side, there's a chance it could turn out like Spore.[/QUOTE] The way I'm thinking is that, considering how Valve is structured, groups of devs could work on whatever setting they want for a string of levels. For instance, one group that still works on TF2, perhaps with help from community mappers, could design a chapter set in a TF2 universe, while folks involved with CS:GO could design maps akin to what we see in Counter-Strike. And with the way The Library would be set up, players would be able to do things out of order if they pleased, depending on the difficulty intended for the various levels. And that's one thing I've thought about for many games that have a linear progression from level to level, yet the levels vary greatly. For instance, Quake's levels look like they could go in any order, what with the mishmash of environments they had, and the same can be said for Painkiller. What I'm trying to get at is that when you have a mishmash of environments and disconnected levels with little in the way of explanations why, why bother trying to string them together in the first place? Why not have something like a map screen so you can choose which ones you do after the first, and have the harder levels unlock after you've completed the easier early levels? Hell, having The Library be akin to Spiral Mountain or the castle in Super Mario 64 would enable Gordon and company to travel to the different worlds in whatever order they wished.

The appeal of Prospero for me is getting to explore all kinds of different and very strange worlds. Something akin to Myst, hopping around these places that all have some unique puzzle/gimmick in totally different environments. Of course maybe I just really want a spiritual successor to Myst. Or a more mature Super Mario 64ish game.

So Valve is at PAX Place your bets

[QUOTE=Sand Castle;48561401]So Valve is at PAX Place your bets[/QUOTE] l4d3 i bet it's not though

Yeah I wouldn't be surprised if they demo Source 2 and L4D3, but it might not be far enough along [quote=The Steam Community Announcement]There might also be a few other sightings along the way, so keep a sharp eye out. [/quote] r/HalfLife is freaking the fuck out over this thinking it means Gman sightings

[QUOTE=Sand Castle;48561426]Yeah I wouldn't be surprised if they demo Source 2 and L4D3, but it might not be far enough along r/HalfLife is freaking the fuck out over this thinking it means Gman sightings[/QUOTE] this reminds me; i want to see gabe newell dressed up as the gman