this post was submitted on 16 Nov 2024
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[–] HawlSera@lemm.ee 20 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

I'd have done it just to conclude the story, but then agian, I like stories...

[–] Zetta@mander.xyz -4 points 13 hours ago

Of ylu watch the video other core half life devs state they regret not finishing episode 3 with estimates thagbitbwoulf have only taken another ~2 years of work.

Although theybalsp pointed out we probably would have not gotten another game in exchange, like maybe portal or tf2

[–] Mwa@lemm.ee 11 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago) (1 children)

Why does Gabe newell look like Richard stallman,Funny enough they have different goals and oppose each other.

[–] RangerJosie@lemmy.world 5 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

The man has aged since that famous photo from like 20 years ago.

~shock~

~gasp~

~questions asked at parliament~

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[–] Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 55 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I. Do. Not. Care. About. The. Tech.

Gabe, you created an obligation when you ended Episode 2 on a cliff hanger. You should have just let Marc Laidlaw and the game devs just make more games.

As long as it had kept the core writers, I'm sure everyone would be happy. Hell, any "innovation" is being handled by the modding continuity. Breadman of Entropy: Zero created a more fun combat loop then any of the HL2 games have. Singularity has a better physics weapons just by being able to use it independent of the selected weapon and making the object transparent.

[–] SkunkWorkz@lemmy.world 6 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago) (1 children)

Unfortunately devs at Valve eventually will be swallowed by the money making machine called Steam. It’s the way the company is structured, the people working on the most profitable projects are rewarded the most.

Like the team working on In the Valley of Gods has disintegrated after Valve bought Campo Santo. The devs are all working on other things inside Valve.

[–] Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 1 points 5 hours ago

I think that's the thing that annoys me the most. Sometimes, a game doesn't get a sequel because sales were bad or the studio was bought out or even went bankrupt. Here, it's just because the guy running the company doesn't feel like it. They have a constant stream of free money from Steam sales to fall back on, so why not just let your game devs do something? I haven't kept up to date, but wasn't there this huge gap of time where none of the TF2 devs had logged and played any TF2?

[–] SirEDCaLot@lemmy.today 24 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

I. Do. Not. Care. About. The. Tech.

Exactly. The tech doesn't matter. Tech only exists in service of the gameplay, and (introduced with HL1), the story (previous to HL1 the 'story' of most games was just a quick blurb on why there's monsters and why you have to shoot them).

Gamers DGAF about new tech. Gamers wanted to be told a story. We LOVED the story.

Valve could've used the existing engine, built NOTHING AT ALL NEW, and just finished the story with existing assets and we'd all have been over the moon happy.

[–] Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 7 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago)

You know, I knew the next HL game to come out after Ep2 would be a VR title. It was the most obvious direction Valve could go considering Gabe treats the HL series as a tech demo. Seriously, I think out of anyone at Valve, he has the least respect for the franchise. What I didn't predict that it would a a VR exclusive title and that it would retcon the ending of Ep2 so a character that died(and who's VA had died), would be alive again. Hell, they didn't even ask one of the MC's original VA to reprise her role(or cast into a different character if the age was an issue).

I have way more trust in the fan community to continue the story. Entropy: Zero took some cues from Epistle 3, so I hope the breadman and the Project Borealis are sharing notes, so the can have a shared continuity. I really, really liked the voiced MC of Entropy: Zero and the combat loop, with more enemy types and weapons was superb.

[–] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 16 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Copping out of an obligation?

Dude, not finishing the story and leaving us all on a cliffhanger for seventeen fucking years and then giving this as an excuse is the real cop out.

[–] chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world 12 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

I think it was inevitable. Before HL2 we had Deus Ex. It was glorious. Fans loved it. Game devs looked at it and went “F*%@ that! We’re not making 3 games worth of content when you’re only going to see 1 on a given play through!”

So that defines the basic tension. Gamers love replay value and multiple paths and different character builds and tons of secrets to explore. Game devs on the other hand want players to see every little blade of grass and tree they worked so hard at placing in the game. I think they also have a lot of data from achievements that show most gamers barely finish the game once, let alone discover all the secrets and alternate endings etc.

[–] madcaesar@lemmy.world 3 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

I'll just say as an aging gamer, I simply do not have time to grind or replay things. I could do that stuff in highschool, but not anymore.

Grinding especially is a no-go for me. 100% achievements? No chance in hell that's happening.

Life moves too fast and there's too much entertainment. Devs that think people have time to sit there and enjoy some obscure shit they hid, will be disappointed.

[–] chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world 3 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

That’s an interesting take! I’m getting to be an aging gamer myself and I no longer really play story-focused games. I play Roguelikes which I can pick up and drop any time, 5-10 minutes at a time, here and there. These games are designed to have maximum replay value. So even though I don’t have a lot of time I spend it on replaying rather than playing new games!

It’s an interesting difference and I think it depends on what we both look to get out of games.

[–] madcaesar@lemmy.world 2 points 7 hours ago

Yea that's also good. I do that with chess 😂

[–] JackbyDev@programming.dev 15 points 17 hours ago

It might have been different back in the day

It was very different back in the day.

[–] TheBat@lemmy.world 30 points 22 hours ago (3 children)

Honestly, I have no problems with linear games.

Even Rockstar is fumbling with open-world games. God forbid if you try to do missions slightly differently than how Rockstar intended.

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[–] dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 96 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I think most gamers would have been perfectly happy with a trip to the Borealis just for the closure of the thing, even if the gameplay brought little to nothing new to the table other than some nice new visuals and arctic setpieces.

Instead we got Half Life: Alyx which was a stunning albeit niche experience in the same old City 17, which retconned Episode 2's cliffhanger with another, different cliffhanger. For fuck's sake, Gabe.

[–] TheBat@lemmy.world 47 points 1 day ago (8 children)

Instead we got Half Life: Alyx

Only if you're rich enough to afford VR setup. Fuck me for being born in a third world country, right Gabe?

[–] ms_lane@lemmy.world 16 points 1 day ago

And are physically abled to play in VR.

I had a VR Headset (Vive Cosmos), but my eyes just aren't up scratch, so I could never enjoy it.

[–] SRo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 37 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] TheBat@lemmy.world 32 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] qarbone@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago

Don't threaten them with a good time.

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[–] squirrelwithnut@lemmy.world 27 points 1 day ago

This. I didn't (and still don't) need groundbreaking gameplay for Episode 3. I just wanted an ending to the plot.

[–] slaacaa@lemmy.world 31 points 1 day ago* (last edited 17 hours ago) (6 children)

Meh. They might have not wanted to make Ep3, but the fans sure did.

I understand Valve works or used to work very differently, people collaborating without a strong top-down steering from management. Yet whatever explanation they have, we were punched in the gut at the end of Ep2, then left waiting, holding our breath. It’s just a piece of media, but it was an important part of my teenage years, and I could never experience the end of the story (outside of reading it in a blog) I waited so much for.

This made me really resent Valve, and soured my experience/memories with the series, I haven’t touched HL or other Valve game for 10+ years, and I don’t think I will in the future.

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[–] Blackmist@feddit.uk 12 points 1 day ago (1 children)

What did Episode 1 and 2 push forward?

[–] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 9 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Linear, set-piece story-telling.

[–] tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip 1 points 6 hours ago

HL1 already did that

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[–] newthrowaway20@lemmy.world 102 points 1 day ago (13 children)

Shame Ubisoft doesn't feel this obligation to gamers. If they did, we'd probably only have 4 assassin's Creed games

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[–] NeoToasty@kbin.melroy.org 41 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I have so many thoughts about this.

I would've wanted a conclusion just to shut up all of the dead-horse beating to dust memelords that for years have been wagoning their tiresome HL3 jokes.

But, it's like, how many games have we waited so long to be released whether it's to continue the story or end it and the reception being more of "...wait that's it?!" than "I'm satisified."

Gamers are the hardest people to appease, so I get the sentiment that Gabe not only felt stumped but written himself into a corner with HL3. Whatever hype at all that has been built, is insurmountably high that whatever Valve pitches out, it's going to be mixed. It'll have a higher chance of being what happened to Duke Nukem Forever in context, than it being what Baldur's Gate 3 became 23 years later after Baldur's Gate II. It's a very narrow window to hit that sweet spot.

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[–] 4am@lemm.ee 73 points 1 day ago (2 children)

We’ve been waiting for so long that games don’t even remember Half-Life. It’s all “silksong copium” memes now lol

[–] missingno@fedia.io 24 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I think HL3's meme status is the only reason a lot of gamers today do know it. If it had come out, it would've been forgotten.

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[–] derpgon@programming.dev 54 points 1 day ago (4 children)

At this point I am just expecting Half-Life 2: Episode 2, Part 2

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