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13 Feb 2006
This is a really strange development that requires some pondering and discussion. An expansion for Half-Life 2 has been in development for a while (previously named Aftermath). Reportedly, it follows Alyx (and, some reports say, Gordon) escaping from the devastation immediately following the end of Half-Life 2.
But last week, things got weird. Valve renamed Aftermath to Half-Life 2: Episode One. Doug Lombardi is being terse at the moment, but this appears to indicate intent to release regular episodic content. In general, this is a good thing, but I have a number of concerns.
The first concern is with naming. What is the "original" Half-Life 2, chopped liver? Episode Zero? Does anyone remember the naming scheme of the series that started with Dark Forces? First, there was Dark Forces. Then, there was Dark Forces 2: Jedi Knight. Then there was Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast. Then, well, they decided to stick with Jedi Knight, which I think was a good idea. I predict that it won't be long until there are sub-subtitles (Half-Life 2: Episode Three: Return of the Snarks) or they abandon the episode number altogether. (As a side note, for the nerd subculture, the "Episode Foo" scheme invokes too much Star Wars Prequelism to be anything but unsettling.)
But the bigger problem I see is Valve's rampant perfectionism, and thus their inability to deliver a game on time since, well, the first Half-Life. Sure, this is inarguably a Good Thing™ when it comes to game quality. But when you make a promise to release regular content (especially if you charge per-"episode"), you need to do it. And that means cutting corners. It's taken them a year and a half to release Aftermath. How long will Episode Two take?
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25 Jan 2005
Nomad will be happy about the big new feature in these preview screenshots of Garry's mod v6. Garry says: "Should have it by the end of next weekend.." Also, this video made me laugh for exactly 1 minute and 25 seconds.
Update:
Actually, according to this thread, Garry's hard drive is AWOL and there may never be another Garry's mod release ever again. We all wait on pins and needles!Update 1/26: Garry's "broken hard drive" was a hoax. Also, he makes fun of idiots on his forums and bans people randomly for saying stupid shit.
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6 Jan 2005
There's a Garry's mod update, including "uncomplete (sic) and unsupported" multiplayer.
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10 Dec 2004
Half-Life 2. Ravenholm. Hard difficulty. Done in 2:28 [WMV, 44MB]. Amazing. Those gravity gun jumps are great. This is just a small portion of the larger HL2 Done Quick project.
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7 Dec 2004
One of the things that's a little upsetting about the Half-Life story is that you're pretty much in the dark about what's been going on between the two games. And even if you knew that, you'd be missing the big picture story. What's the G-Man's motivation? Who the hell is he, anyhow? What's the relationship between the Combine and Xen? Well, someone's mixed everything we've been told or shown with a little creative speculation, and come up with the Half-Life Saga Story Guide. Amazing.
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29 Nov 2004
A full list of G-Man sightings in Half-Life 2. I can't believe I've missed so many; I think I've seen him twice.
Update 19:00 - I finished the game. Spoilers inside.
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26 Nov 2004
The most recent news post for Steam contains this gem:
Next week we will be releasing the Source SDK, along with a surprise for the community.
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17 Nov 2004
First thoughts on Half-Life 2:
- Man am I glad I finally upgraded my computer.
- More importantly, I'm glad I upgraded my computer a couple months ago, so that I had time to freshen-up my FPS skills.
- The graphics, although amazing, don't really represent any giant leap forward. I'm still interested in trying the game out on a lower-powered machine (my new laptop, perhaps), since that may demonstrate the flexibility of the engine. But when you compare it to Doom 3 and Far Cry, they're visually all very comparable.
- The physics engine on the other hand is far better done than I was expecting. It's so amazingly pervasive. My single complaint is that you can't use the gravity gun (even the 'push' mode) on corpses.
- I'm three or four hours in (past Ravenholm, driving down the coast in a dune buggy), and I'm not 100% clear on what the story is. What the hell am I doing? I mean, I know my current task, which I won't expand on for fears of spoilering, but I don't know the whole point of what I'm doing in Half-Life-land.
- On the other hand, that doesn't keep it from being a ridiculously fun game.
I have other thoughts, but they aren't important. This game is great. Steam worked perfectly. I wonder when the first mods will start coming out..
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18 Oct 2004
Half-Life 2 is Gold
The release date is November 16. Mark your calendars. More information here. No word on Steam availability yet.
Update: Everything I've read so far is indicating that Valve will honor their contract with Vivendi, so even those who purchased through Steam won't have it for a month. Update 10-19: Changed the details link to the official press release.
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16 Oct 2004
As if you doubted its promptness, GTA San Andreas has gone gold. In other, less inevitable news, Gamespot is claiming that Half-Life 2 has gone gold. True? Not? I'm preloading part 6 right now, and I'm hoping part 7 will be the last.