The Half-Life 3 thread of closure and memorium AKA what Tyler McVicker just said on YouTube

['RZL]

Here is the plot synopsis of HL3 if you wanna read it: https://pastebin.com/uYecqiuu

[Vaya]

I'd rather this than nothing at all. Ending sounded pretty cool. Fitting end to the Hl2 Arc.

I hope laidlaw is still on good terms with Valve and he's just done this for us.

[text_fish]

Hah. Top of the front page on reddit. Love it.

Who's gonna make a mod out of this then?

As I was reading, I was trying to imagine how it would feel as a game. Visually it would be really impressive certainly, but it needs a gameplay hook. All I can think is that maybe there are time-portals that the player can see through but can't safely traverse without being ripped apart, so you have to use the gravity gun to move objects between times and solve puzzles/fight enemies.

I think Laidlaw missed out on a huge emotional hook, which would be Alyx trying to find a way to use the time loops to save Eli. Perhaps discovering that this is impossible is the moment which drives her mad enough to kill Judith.

[Squad]

Rename this thread again, please.

[Beck]

Wow this was unexpected but it's nice to know what might have happened and it does sound pretty cool!

It sounds like he's as frustrated as us fans by doing this? He knows we all want to know what happened and he probably wanted to finish the trilogy but never got the chance or it just never worked. Wonder if he did leave on bad terms then?

[RivFader]

I ventured into the rabbit hole and found this:

https://twitter.com/BreenGrub/with_replies

Look at the 2014 tweets and compare it with the leaked story: "The vortigaunts are singing...", " It is a kind of hush. Silence is the oppressor. I speak to hear myself speak. I cannot bear the loneliness." , etc. The account got followed by Matt T. Wood, too...

Edited August 25, 2017 by RivFader
Formatting

[will2k]

One can sense a hint of frustration and alienation in Marc's letter when reading between the lines (towards Valve or the work environment at Valve). I don't blame him since most of the original HL developers from the 90s have already left the studio.

No one should really be surprised or sad; unless one has been living in a bubble for the past 7 years, then you should know by now that Valve has already transitioned into a digital distributor of games rather than a game developing studio.

Sure, they still maintain their cash cows (CSGO, DOTA) and throw in some concepts that they think it is going to be the next wheel invention (VR), but mainly they are all about steam platform now, the goose that lays gold eggs 24/7 (and with a below-par customer service, the icing on the cake)

Would I have wanted a new HL? Of course

Was I expecting a new HL? No, and I stopped expecting/hyping about it a long time ago (although I wouldn't mind being proven wrong here )

Valve has been out of the game for a long time now, resting on its past laurels, and coming up with a new game with ground-breaking story/gameplay mechanics is probably a big boot to fill. Add to this that the game development scene is rapidly shifting, and we now see many small indie devs producing AAA quality games, further putting the pressure on Valve to deliver.

I don't expect a new game from Valve, let alone anything related to HL but, again, I would be happy to be proven wrong

Steam=safe bet, steady cash flow, monopoly

New HL/game=risky, uncertain return on investment, could be the next DNF

It's really a no-brainer for them

 

the freeman will be missed

 

 

[FMPONE]

2 hours ago, Squad said:

Rename this thread again, please.

[text_fish]

44 minutes ago, will2k said:

Steam=safe bet, steady cash flow, monopoly

This is where I see them coming undone actually. HL2 was pretty much the catalyst to Steam's success and they may come to a point where Blizzard or Bethesda are in a position to release a platform exclusive game big enough to start tempting people away from Steam. Hell, Blizzard have already bitten a chunk out of the CS:GO and TF2 community with Overwatch. With giant IPs like TES, Fallout, DOOM and Quake Bethesda are surely only a few years away from being in a good position to go it alone as well. Valve need AAA games to keep Steam's stranglehold over the PC market and the big producers aren't going to keep sending Valve a healthy chunk of their profits if they don't have to.

[Sprony]

I'm going to be really unpopular for saying this, but here we go:

After Team Fortress 2 went free-to-play and Portal 2 came out, Valve basically became a service provider who also branched out into hardware. Everything after that was mostly outsourced, including Counterstrike: Global Offensive and DOTA 2. Valve encouraged fans to design cosmetics for their games. These are sold on the Steam Workshop for which Valve gets nice a cut. So it's not like they have to do anything game related to get paid. Even the Counterstrike: Global Offensive Operations consists out of user made maps. They're not designing anything and I bet that the card game that no one asked for is outsourced as well.

Half life 3 turning out to be a big disappointment is a massive risk for Valve and a very real possibility. They revolutionized the industry twice, fueling the hype machine. Nothing will live up to it. So letting the money roll in and not risking their reputation is the safest option for them as a business. A business which now completely revolves around Steam and hardware. If they want they could buy up another promising mod and slap their name on it, but in the end, the original talent that made them have already left and if you're a designer working there for the past 7 years, I have no idea what you've been doing.

If you really want Half-Life 3, stop playing their games, designing maps and skins for them, stop buying on Steam and maybe, if the money is drying up, we'll force them to make it. But that's never going to happen.

[RivFader]

Oh well... tweet might have gotten deleted already but this makes the rounds right now.

Edited August 25, 2017 by RivFader

[Vaya]

who runs the account tho?

When are we starting to block this one out btw?

[Pampers]

https://twitter.com/ishl3outyet

[-HP-]

21 minutes ago, Pampers said:

https://twitter.com/ishl3outyet

Lol

[Minos]

Oh man, that sounds so fucking rad