HL2 Episode 3.....Should we just give up?

michael.pa2 said:
STALKER:SoC with the Complete 2009 mod in freeplay mode does a pretty good job of it.
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Agreed that Stalker is pretty good... but if you want that, then buy Stalker. We don't need every single game to be open world, just as we don't need every single game to be an on rails experience. Variety is what its all about.

And TF2 has dustbowl.
 
And remember, STALKER wasn't like that to start with - it took a lot of 3rd party mods to make it into the game it is today.

Don't get me wrong - I LOVE STALKER, but OOB it wasn't quite that fancy.
 
drako said:
And TF2 has dustbowl.
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It has a very sanitzed version of Dustbowl. The original had a flag that you had to carry to the cature points. When the person carrying the flag was killed, it created these random mini-battles all over the map, which allowed for unique and random strategy. Now all the battles occur in the exact same places all the time. Much less of the map is used. In fact, this gamemode was completely removed in TF2, which killed it IMHO. That gameplay mode made the maps much more fun and unpredictable. Other classic maps that used it were Canalzone, Rock2, etc.
 
And those were all great maps. Didn't Avanti also use that style? My personal favorite has always been Warpath.

I've always liked TFC better than TF2 myself, so I see where you are getting at. But if you want to play TFC, play TFC. Yeah it can be hard to find people playing certain maps, but there's more people playing than for some games.
 
montana said:
It has a very sanitzed version of Dustbowl. The original had a flag that you had to carry to the cature points. When the person carrying the flag was killed, it created these random mini-battles all over the map, which allowed for unique and random strategy. Now all the battles occur in the exact same places all the time. Much less of the map is used. In fact, this gamemode was completely removed in TF2, which killed it IMHO. That gameplay mode made the maps much more fun and unpredictable. Other classic maps that used it were Canalzone, Rock2, etc.
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Play custom maps, I play on a server that is 95% custom and we play several excellent maps that use that gamemode. Go outside the box and you'll find what you're looking for.
 
Zepher said:
My ATI 9600XT came with the HL2 Bronze package Coupon, which is how I got into HL2 and counterstrike. I didn't buy the card for the game, it just happened to come with it, and I am glad it did.
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I think that box is part of the problem:

http://www.break.com/pictures/gabe-newell-from-valve-games---livin-large1541252.html

Life for Gabe used to be all about Half-Life and donuts... Then he saw those boxes, and since then, life's been about Hookers and donuts...
 
GordonFreemanStainedGlass.jpg


No one knows about that day or hour, not even the employees of Valve, nor the developers, but only Gabe Newell. As it was in the days of Half Life 2, so it will be at the coming of Half Life 2: Episode 3.

For in the days before the Combine, people were having their cakes and eating them, too, up to the day the portal storms hit; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the Combine came and took their cakes away. That is how it will be at the coming of Half Life 2: Episode 3. Two men will be on Steam; one will announce in ALL CAPS to everyone on his friends list that the messiah of episodic gaming has finally come, and the other will fumble with his credit card while trying to make his order. Two women will be on Facebook; not one will know or care about what's going on.

Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day Half Life 2: Episode 3 will come. But understand this: If the Combine had known at what time of day Gordon Freeman was coming, they would have kept watch and hid all the crowbars they could find. So you also must be ready, because Half Life 2: Episode 3 will come at an hour when you do not expect it.
 
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Still waiting here.... would love it to be ready but all the best things take time!!

As for the EP1 and 2 debate, EP2 was way the best of the lot...
 
I'll stop caring when it turns into the next Duke Nukem Forever.

But im a huge Half-Life fan, played and finished all of them. I do hope they hurry up and get some news out about the game.

Its gonna be awesome.
 
It'll happen, and when it does I reckon it will come with a lot included like The Orange Box did.

Either way, I can't slam on Valve. Between L4D and the TF2 updates, they've been cranking out content constantly ever since The Orange Box dropped.
 
It comes out faster when you just give up. Half-Life and Zelda fans should know this already.
 
AFAIK, Half Life 2 Episode 3 is the end of the HL2 episodes, and thus the end of that story arc. For all you know, Half Life 2 Episode 3 could be the end of the Half Life series.

I'm in no rush for Episode 3... I know that it will come out, and it will be great. Unlike virtually every other Half Life game in existence, this one may provide us with finality.

Valve has become so much more than just "the guys who do Half Life and Counterstrike" over the past few years. TF2 is almost an entirely new IP given how little it shares in common with the original Team Fortress. It hasn't really caught on in the console world, but it has a decent following on the PC. Portal was one of the big hits of the year, and should remain popular enough to spawn at least one sequel. Left 4 Dead has become a hugely successful franchise for Valve. They still have CS: Source, and the less-than-stellar Day of Defeat: Source.


I wouldn't be shocked to hear that a Half Life 3 isn't coming. HL2 Episode 3 could very well be the end of Half Life (it's been eleven years since the first one came out, after all). As long as it comes to a logical and satisfying conclusion, I'll be happy.

Valve has proven that they can create exciting new IPs, but they've yet to really take a stab at a second story-driven franchise. I wouldn't mind seeing the HL franchise being put on the backburner in favour of a new IP in that flavour (after Ep3 of course).

Portal has some story behind it, but it shares close ties with Half Life and is primarily about using the portal as a puzzle-solving tool. TF2 is a class-based multiplayer game. Left 4 Dead and L4D2 are all about co-op play and unique multiplayer experiences. L4D2 adds some more story-based elements, but it's hardly a story-driven game.

iD has Quake (1,2,4), Doom(3), Wolfenstein(RTCW), and will soon have Rage. It's about time that Valve diversified its story-driven game collection.
 
archevilangel said:
Honestly, stop the group think. "Giving up" as others have implied means that you are actively waiting, and if you're actively waiting for anything you have too much free time on your hands. When and if the game comes out, judge it objectively based on your own preferences; and if it doesn't meet your expectations take solace in the fact that you're only out $30(or however much it actually will cost).
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Valve refuses to comment on when Episode 3 will arrive. And considering the time it has taken I'm not holding my breath. But it really seems stupid to me to "throw away" a huge fan base and not deliver a product that so many are waiting for. Yeah, "its done when it's done" is one thing, but nobody is expecting Valve to deliver the next cutting edge title here. It is just the next episode of the same game on a OLD, tried and true game engine.
 
Half-Life 2 was worth the wait. I am confident HL3 or Ep3 or whatever comes next will be, too.
 
That's a good point about EP 3. It will be on the same old Source engine. One of the things that blew me away about HL2 was how fresh the game looked at the time, and how that contributed to a sense of immersion. That's gone now for me, and I have the same problem in L4D. It just looks too dated. TF2 was so far apart from TFC, so sanitzed that I gave up on it after awhile. Any hiding spots in maps were scrubbed clean, and possible game modes and weapons that could be used for "griefing" were scrubbed. Now I see there are gimmicks like swords and hats that have nothing to do with anything except saying "hey we released content". They sucked the fun out of it.
 
Blackstone said:
It comes out faster when you just give up. Half-Life and Zelda fans should know this already.
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That's true. It's not 'til you've completely given up on life that you realize just how far away death truly is...
 
montana said:
That's a good point about EP 3. It will be on the same old Source engine... and possible game modes and weapons that could be used for "griefing" were scrubbed. Now I see there are gimmicks like swords and hats that have nothing to do with anything except saying "hey we released content". They sucked the fun out of it.
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HL2 had enough to keep me interested to complete it, nothing special beyond that. The graphics do look dated to a point, im not sure how you can say Left 4 Dead does though i think that game looks amazing.

TF2 is a cool ass game, but its very map dependent. Old school players like the meat grinder type maps like warpath. TF2 isn't intended to be played like that, regular progression is suppose to be common place in TF2.

If you haven't found TF2 to be that fun i'd try some of the other maps. And its still very skill based, not nearly as much as TFC, but if you suck your not gonna do well.
 
drako said:
And those were all great maps. Didn't Avanti also use that style? My personal favorite has always been Warpath.

I've always liked TFC better than TF2 myself, so I see where you are getting at. But if you want to play TFC, play TFC. Yeah it can be hard to find people playing certain maps, but there's more people playing than for some games.
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You can't just play TFC anymore. There's hardly any servers because everyone's migrated to TF2 and it's graphics update. I've tried REALLY hard to just play TFC and there's just nothing to go back to unless you want to play with bots and 300 ping. TF2 offers NOTHING close to the same gameplay experience to TFC or the original quake based Team Fortress and both were FREE add-on games. I'm sad to say I wasted 10 bucks on TF2. It's pathetic.
 
valve are always late. i had forgotten about ep3 until i saw this thread.

thanks for making me depressed OP :(
 
the problem with Valve is that they are so focused on their 'new' franchises like Left 4 Dead and Portal that they probably are not even working on Episode 3...they probably diverted a lot of their resources from E3 to L4D2 and all these new games while leaving arguably their most popular franchise in the dust
 
People forget that Valve isn’t a company this is afraid of starting over after working on something for years(TF2). They are working on something to continue the story of HalfLife III that I am sure of, but what exactly only Valve knows. L4DII is the best visually looking source game to date so they are either working on making it look better or another engine entirely. If they are working on another engine then expect this one to be HalfLife III. My guess is they are making HalfLife Episode III the best looking source game and its taking them longer then expected, maybe even using DX11 features?
 
Im on the fence about this. I LOVE the HL series and mythos but I am tired of waiting too. I want to jump on the wait till its done so its good bandwagon but I also want to find out what's going on with the story.
 
Blackstone said:
It comes out faster when you just give up. Half-Life and Zelda fans should know this already.
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The Zelda series gets pretty regular releases. Most Nintendo systems have at lease 2 Zelda games on them which isn't bad for how much development time is put onto the new ones. The wait for Ocarina of time was the longest period of not having a new Zelda game which was a long 5 year stretch. Still doesn't compare to the release time frame of Half-Life games (not expansions), new Postal games and Warcraft games.
 
I for one welcome our new Valve overlords... Ahem. I can wait for Ep 3 a while. L4D2 was pretty good, and dont forget that they are making money hand over fist with steam content delivery, so they probably arent rushing to get it out...
 
I thought I should mentioned that I recently discovered that a full time job is an excellent way to kill time between episodes.
 
Half Life 1998. Half Life 2 2004. Well if you think about it, 2004 to 2010, which is when Episode 3 is supposed to come out, does fit their time line considering the episodes are supposed to be half life 3
 
Dr. Righteous said:
nobody is expecting Valve to deliver the next cutting edge title here. It is just the next episode of the same game on a OLD, tried and true game engine.
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I'm not sure if you realize this, but the Source engine is modular. The next iteration of HL will be the most up to date engine they have. It will either be OB07 engine (TF2's) or L4D2's (although I think that is geared toward consoles). Most likely it will be Source 10 and have DX10.

If anyone hasn't tried the cinematicmod, then I suggest you try that out before concluding that Source is an "old" engine.
 
bboynitrous said:
You can't just play TFC anymore. There's hardly any servers because everyone's migrated to TF2 and it's graphics update. I've tried REALLY hard to just play TFC and there's just nothing to go back to unless you want to play with bots and 300 ping. TF2 offers NOTHING close to the same gameplay experience to TFC or the original quake based Team Fortress and both were FREE add-on games. I'm sad to say I wasted 10 bucks on TF2. It's pathetic.
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TFC was dead before TF2 came out. TF2 did nothing to change that. It didn't kill TFC, TFC killed TFC. And I say that being a huge fan of the game. I've probably played as many hours of well,2fort,dustbowl, canalzone, crossover2, murderball, push, pull, rock2, flagrun, avanti, hunted, badlands, and others as anybody else. I miss the game, but it's silly to blame its decline on TF2.
 
Third HL2 Ep3 thread I've seen in a week (not all on this forum)....

It'll come, I'd bet money on that. Ep2 was better than Ep1, and possibly better than plain HL2...Ep3 will be awesome.

I'd sooner wait another year and get something good, then get it now. I'm fresh of playing MW2 and wishing I'd never heard that piece of shit even existed....I want Ep3 to blow me away, and I will wait 3-4 years for that. When you have studios like Treyarch, Infinity Ward and the like feeding us feces and then paying off all reviewers to tell us to love it...I will wait any period of time for something TRULY worth buying.
 
Honestly, I've lost interest in half-life. It took WAAAY too long and a glorified expansion pack really won't get me interested in the game or storyline again. 2-3 years for a 4 hour chunk of a game? No thanks, my money is better spent on things like dragon age or bioshock.
 
ThisIsTheNewSound said:
Honestly, I've lost interest in half-life. It took WAAAY too long and a glorified expansion pack really won't get me interested in the game or storyline again. 2-3 years for a 4 hour chunk of a game? No thanks, my money is better spent on things like dragon age or bioshock.
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Be fair...Ep2 was more than 4 hours. Ep1 was BS and WAY too short, but Ep2 was plenty satisfying...not as long as the original HL2...but certainly worth the price given Portal (HL universe) and TF2.

And don't forget the free copy of Peggle we all got. :p
 
rampantandroid said:
Be fair...Ep2 was more than 4 hours. Ep1 was BS and WAY too short, but Ep2 was plenty satisfying...not as long as the original HL2...but certainly worth the price given Portal (HL universe) and TF2.

And don't forget the free copy of Peggle we all got. :p
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Actually, it was quite the opposite for me. It was a horrid deal because I already own half life 2 and didn't want TF2 or portal. Loading up a product with features I don't want and then charging me three times as much does not make a good deal. I finished EP2 in about four hours at a friends, and aside from the last twenty minutes, it was just as disappointing as the first.
 
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