Comments on: Half-Life 2

Half-Life 2

McBain — Tue, 22 Apr 2003 10:49:14 -0800

After nearly five years of silence Valve is starting to talk about Half-Life 2. More to come at E3 in Los Angeles. What ever happened to Team Fortress 2? (Vaporware?)

By: sgt.serenity

sgt.serenity — Tue, 22 Apr 2003 10:54:29 -0800

HALLELUJAH ! HALLELUJAH! hmmm cant find the screenshot... NOW this is what i call a fpp!

By: PinkStainlessTail

PinkStainlessTail — Tue, 22 Apr 2003 11:00:06 -0800

Someone wake me when Activision deigns to rerelease the old Infocom games or a sequel to Zork: Grand Inquisitor. Anyone seen my walker?

By: dazed_one

dazed_one — Tue, 22 Apr 2003 11:05:40 -0800

Finally... A reason to upgrade my computer. Hmmm... TF2... What is it now, three years past it's supposed release? Definitly vaporware. Methinks they'd have to get a new engine for it as the ole' HL engine is getting rather dated. Still, if HL2 is built on a new and upgraded version of the old HL engine, then the possibility of TF2 coming out for it arises... Sweet...

By: pandaharma

pandaharma — Tue, 22 Apr 2003 11:20:48 -0800

Since HL2 isn't due for release until fourth quarter this year, its a safe bet to assume it will be using the latest engine from id, namely the Doom 3 engine.

By: McBain

McBain — Tue, 22 Apr 2003 11:22:28 -0800

Since HL2 isn't due for release until fourth quarter this year, its a safe bet to assume it will be using the latest engine from id, namely the Doom 3 engine. And you'd lose.

By: DyRE

DyRE — Tue, 22 Apr 2003 11:34:40 -0800

Methinks they'd have to get a new engine for it as the ole' HL engine is getting rather dated. Still, if HL2 is built on a new and upgraded version of the old HL engine... If I remember correctly, the old Half-Life engine is actually the Quake 1 engine with about 80% of the code rewritten. So I doubt Half-Life 2 will use it. Although I don't think I'd actually put it past Valve to try. Hmm.

By: kahboom

kahboom — Tue, 22 Apr 2003 11:44:24 -0800

(blasphemy) My money's on Deus Ex 2 (/blasphemy)

By: waxpancake

waxpancake — Tue, 22 Apr 2003 11:46:47 -0800

Half-Life 2, Doom III, Star Wars Galaxies, Deus Ex 2, and a new Full Throttle game! This could be a good year for PC games.

By: cratchit

cratchit — Tue, 22 Apr 2003 11:59:12 -0800

Very exciting... I flipped out upon reading about this yesterday. Aside from what will almost certainly be a killer single-player experience, I have to wonder how Valve will incorporate Steam into the new game, and how both pieces factor into what is surely some grand plan by the company to take over the known universe.

By: yeahyeahyeahwhoo

yeahyeahyeahwhoo — Tue, 22 Apr 2003 12:07:24 -0800

ahh half-life, my inner nerd is yearning for counter strike 1.6 it'll be interesting to see how well the modding community takes in the 2.0 version of half-life

By: gramcracker

gramcracker — Tue, 22 Apr 2003 12:36:21 -0800

No no no! Not now! I have to go back to school and study in 4 months! Why, why?

By: shadow45

shadow45 — Tue, 22 Apr 2003 12:57:10 -0800

I only care to see what tech could be used by.. oh, say Counter-Strike 2 :) I worked on CTF for Quake back in the day, and I never imagined modding could go so far. We were just trying to change-up an otherwise boring DM game. I'm not a betting man, but it looks evident that mods like CS and even TA are helping keep cash flow going to Valve. What they're doing with it I don't know.. they put out HL like 3-4 years ago, and all the add-ons have been produced by other studios... thumbs up their frickin` asses. I seem to remember other vaporware titles recieving E3 cred. Don't hold your breath.. in the meantime, I'll be haxing my CS 1.6 beta :) Oh, and on preview DyRE has it backwards. It's the Quake 1 source with maybe 20% of modifications, with a lot of patches Carmack sent back to them from Q2.

By: WolfDaddy

WolfDaddy — Tue, 22 Apr 2003 13:10:52 -0800

Duke Nukem Forever? Anyone? Anyone? Fry? Fry? *crickets listen for chirping*

By: pitchblende

pitchblende — Tue, 22 Apr 2003 13:16:46 -0800

Here's one supposed screenshot.

By: Ryvar

Ryvar — Tue, 22 Apr 2003 13:18:48 -0800

I bothered to track this down - the comments from the devs say HL was Quake 1 + Quake 2 source, but roughly 90% of the code, at least volume-wise, was rewritten. Presumably the stuff Carmack's good at (a very, very efficient BSP tree engine) stayed in. Certainly the stability of the overall system that is the hallmark of id games has been retained. Probably (judging from the look of things) they reimplemented lightmaps and such on their own. Deus Ex 2 is my money (the 'intelligent' gamer's Doom III), along with Planetside (not only massively multiplayer, but by FAR the best online experience I've had since early pre-cheater CounterStrike or maybe Tribes 1). I'll be buying Doom III as well, of course - impossible not to. Star Wars Galaxies . . . meh. MMORPGs are all trumped by ProgressQuest, in my opinion. I mean, what's the point - virtual skinner box. Cheese, wheel, and you're the mouse - God knows the company in those games isn't much worth keeping (yes I have played EQ and UO both for 4+ hours a day for around 6 months - SWG will be the first major one I'll miss). Full Throttle - I'll have to see it on someone else's computer first, and I like what I see I'll grab it. Would infinitely prefer a new Sam'n'Max. If Thief 3 info comes out from this year's E3 I won't be posting again - as I'll simply explode from joy on the spot.

By: sinical

sinical — Tue, 22 Apr 2003 14:04:29 -0800

Ahh Halflife I'll probably buy 2 when it comes out, making it the first game I've bought since...... C&C: Red Alert I rather coincidentally just beat the first Half Life last night (exams) and have been thinking about getting back into playing Team Fortress (again, exams)

By: Iax

Iax — Tue, 22 Apr 2003 14:17:58 -0800

I talket to Gooseman (creator of CS) at an airsoft game a few weeks ago, he has only been working on CS 2 for HL 2, he said HL 2 looked really cool.

By: Galvatron

Galvatron — Tue, 22 Apr 2003 14:43:09 -0800

PinkStainlessTail: where have you been? Infocom/Activision released a mess of their old adventures some years back, to advertise newer (graphical) titles. Regarding HL2, I just hope Valve hasn't forgotten how to execute a really great single player story after all these years. It wasn't Counter-Strike that sold all those Half-Life boxes originally, it was the outstanding single-player game. To this day I vividly recall the first time I came across the military in HL1. *shivers*

By: WolfDaddy

WolfDaddy — Tue, 22 Apr 2003 14:59:04 -0800

Galvatron I blush to admit this but I re-install HL from time to time just to go through the little tram-car intro repeatedly. I love female computer voices of doom.

By: cortex

cortex — Tue, 22 Apr 2003 15:46:00 -0800

I like to imagine the tram-lady doing voice-over gigs on the weekend for extra cash. "The white zone is for loading and unloading only."

By: Galvatron

Galvatron — Tue, 22 Apr 2003 16:09:49 -0800

Tram lady: "If you feel you have been exposed to radioactive or other hazardous materials in the course of your duties, contact your Radiation Safety Officer immediately. Work safe, work smart. Your future depends on it." *passes over pool of sinister glowing green ooze* Priceless.

By: juv3nal

juv3nal — Tue, 22 Apr 2003 16:17:58 -0800

never one for fps games. the one i'm drooling over is knights of the old republic the first star wars crpg. and done by bioware (makers of baldur's gate 2) no less. too bad pc release is slated to be a full season after xbox release.

By: oiioiioi

oiioiioi — Tue, 22 Apr 2003 19:21:58 -0800

Ryvar: You know there is a new Sam & Max game in development, right? Look for more info at E3. Also, the media blackout on Thief 3 will (finally) be ending at E3. With all the big names making appearances, it looks like it's going to be a good show this year.

By: Zonker

Zonker — Tue, 22 Apr 2003 19:50:43 -0800

I'll be buying Half Life 2, but the game I'm really lusting for at the moment is Gary Grigsby's War in the Pacific. A complete recreation of the Pacific half of the globe from Pearl Harbor on, with every single ship, airplane and squad of troops accounted for. There's a sort of subset of the game out now called Uncommon Valor, which covers the Solomons and New Guinea campaigns from mid-1942 through the end of 1943. It's not spectacular as eye-candy and the user interface pretty much sucks, but the game system itself is fantastic, as is the level of detail. If you're into that sort of thing (and obviously, I am) it's a must have.

By: joedan

joedan — Tue, 22 Apr 2003 20:34:02 -0800

If Thief 3 info comes out from this year's E3 I won't be posting again - as I'll simply explode from joy on the spot. didn't looking glass go out of business a while ago?

By: Orange Goblin

Orange Goblin — Wed, 23 Apr 2003 00:33:53 -0800

Screenshots anyone? Get em whislt they're piping hot...

By: dazed_one

dazed_one — Wed, 23 Apr 2003 01:07:12 -0800

Thanks, Orange Goblin, for that link. 'scuse me while I mop up the puddle of drool that collected while I read. Did you see the water? Did you? Geezus.

By: Orange Goblin

Orange Goblin — Wed, 23 Apr 2003 01:37:46 -0800

The waters impressive, sure, but what about the claim itll run on a 700mhz? There's hope for us all...

By: dazed_one

dazed_one — Wed, 23 Apr 2003 02:31:18 -0800

700mhz? Sure, it'll probably run on that, but I say bollocks. I already own a scalpel. Goodbye Mr Spleen and Mr Liver, hello Geforce 4 and 2 ghz!

By: twine42

twine42 — Wed, 23 Apr 2003 02:51:27 -0800

Ryvar I'm glad someone else is waiting for T3. Yes, Looking Glass went out of business a while back, but EA took on a huge ammount of the programmers of both T3 and Deux Ex (a sister company who died at the same time) and brought the games home. T3 took so long that they stopped announcing shipping dates. They decided to work it to perfection rather than rush and bodge. Nice. By all accounts the screen shots are beautiful. I have to buy DE2 when I get the money together, but somehow I doubt I'll be able to wait that long for T3. It's now been announced for shipment in November, ready for xmas. It's going to be a very quiet xmas this year... except for the sound of sneaking on my fiancee's PC, and frantic clobbering from mine. ;)

By: black8

black8 — Wed, 23 Apr 2003 05:05:03 -0800

*sigh* I guess that hardware upgrade curve is going to be a bit steeper than I'd planned...(grin) Thanks.

By: oiioiioi

oiioiioi — Wed, 23 Apr 2003 05:13:02 -0800

Slight correction, twine42. After Looking Glass closed their Austin branch, a lot of the staff from there were snapped up by Warren Spector's new company, Ion Storm Austin, and made Deus Ex. When looking glass folded completely, ISA picked up the rights to Thief 3 and a whole swag more LG staff, including the lead developer of Thief 2. ISA never closed down, they are the ones developing DE2 and T3. It gets a bit confusing because the Dallas branch of Ion Storm, headed by Tom Hall and John Romero, crashed and burned a while ago.

By: Ptrin

Ptrin — Wed, 23 Apr 2003 05:28:23 -0800

Ryvar: I'm glad someone else rembers Starsiege: Tribes! Definitely my favorite of the FPS poisons. If you're interested, information on the next Tribes game should be coming our way in just one day. It has been nicknamed "Tribes the Next" by the developers, and they are claiming a game that will be quite different from both Tribes 1 and Tribes 2, while retaining the basic feel of both. Should be interesting. (Obligitory mention of how much it sucks that all the games we're looking forward to are sequels.)

By: NortonDC

NortonDC — Wed, 23 Apr 2003 08:35:30 -0800

Hey, WolfDaddy: who loves ya, baby? You now have four minutes. to reach minimum. safe. distance. Also, much longer "15 minute" warning is over here.

By: PinkStainlessTail

PinkStainlessTail — Wed, 23 Apr 2003 08:41:09 -0800

Glavatron:PinkStainlessTail: where have you been? Infocom/Activision released a mess of their old adventures some years back, to advertise newer (graphical) titles. Blinked and you missed them, though (and they go for a mint on eBay). The online play site: that's super cool...