[SpeCies]

Some information that I've read today about.





Q)

As I'm sure you are aware the HL2 community is going crazy with the rumor that HL2 is going to be like a MMORPG and you will have to pay a fee each month via Steam to play HL2 multi-player.

A)

Gabe Newell: Here's my current thinking: Some people want to buy Half-Life 2 in a store. Right now we have three SKUs planned at three price points. One will have single-player only and not play MODs and we think of that as the mass market SKU (sold mainly at the Costcos and Walmarts of the world). The second is our traditional single-player plus multi-player SKU that runs MODs and is sold at places like EBX. The third is the collector's edition SKU with lots of cool bonus stuff for people who like cool bonus stuff.

In the Steam world, some people will want to buy it once, like the middle SKU above. Other people will want to buy the game on subscription (e.g. $9.95/month). The good news for the "buy it once" crowd is, well, they only have to pay once. The bad news is that when we come out with new content (expansion products, TF 2, and presumably other games) then they have to pay separately for those. We're pretty sure that the $9.95 guys are going to get the better value, as we've been pretty good over the years at generating a lot of content.

Now nobody has done this before, so we're scratching our heads and massaging the plans to make sure we've got the best set of options. We've had some feedback that we should sell the top SKU (single-player only no MODs) on Steam, and my reaction has been "yeah, right, for the three people in the world who have a broadband connection, are sophisticated enough to purchase software over the Internet, but DON'T want to play MODs and multiplayer". Some people have said "I want a subscription, but I think the box and the manual are cool, so what about sending me those" and I think that's pretty interesting and we're trying to figure out what to do for them (needless to say Sierra isn't exactly jumping for joy at the idea of selling us boxes so people don't buy Half-Life 2 in stores).

But nowhere has there been a suggestion that people pay in the store and then pay a monthly fee on top of that a la the MMORPG.



We started work on HL2 immediately after the release of HL.This has been our most important project by far, you can imagine how hard it was for us to keep quiet about the game.

The HL2 team consists of a considerable number of people that also worked on HL In addition, the success of our first title has enabled us to hire a lot of new talent, which we think will be beneficial to the quality of HL2.

The critical and commercial success of HL created a luxury situation. We have obtained such a strong position that we can remain independent from outside pressure, which for a game developer is fairly unique. No producer to look over your shoulder, no impatient publisher to impose an impossible deadline, we have been able to fully develop all our plans for the game.Because of this, we're convinced that we're able to offer gamers something they haven't experienced before and we're confident that we can live up to the expectations that have been raised.This is exactly the reason why you've had to wait for so long.

We don't want to spoil the story for you, but what we can tell is that HL2 takes place some time after the disaster in Black Mesa and that the aliens have continued their invasion of earth.The player will once again take the role of Gordon Freeman and is assisted by the beautiful Alyx and her father, a Black Mesa scientist called Eli Vance. Alyx' mother was killed in one of the accidents at Black Mesa.


An important part of the game will play out in City 17, a typical Eastern European town that is not only plagued by the aliens but also by a corrupt law enforcement group. In total, there will be twelve elaborate chapters in the game. City 17 is huge and the player will visit places like the harbour, a jail, the suburbs as well the center of town.This is just the tip of the iceberg though, other environments will include a dried up part of a former sea and an icebreaker. There are twelve chapters in total and you will certainly encounter a few familiar places...that's all I will tell you though.

As you've mentioned it's difficult to come up with something original, but we're convinced we have succeeded in doing just that. Enhanced physics is the future of gaming and it's precisely this aspect of the game that we have innovated.All objects in the gameworld will behave realistically and are more than just windowdressing.The characters have also gotten much more depth, which will benefit the story.Aside from that, we have included brand new and avanced AI and pathfinding routines that you won't find in any other first person shooter. Let's not forget our new V-Source engine that will blow you away and the powerful Hammer editor that will enable you to create your own multiplayer levels and mods.

Half-Life was one of the first shooters to include scripting.Nowadays we have advanced a bit and come to find that using scripts limits our freedom.
That's why HL2 will make use of what we call "advanced contextual AI", which is best explained as the game world telling the AI interesting things to do in and with the environment. In essence, the gane world 'talks' to the AI, which in turn will react appropriately. Unlike HL, you won't come across any uninterruptible and non-interactive scripted scenes in H2.

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FYI

Half-Life 2 New Release Status - September 30th.Half-Life was scheduled to release on September 30, 2003. However, there might be a delay. It is certain that Half-Life 2 will release this year (October, November, or December).

The new Half-Life update will offer a multiplayer version that will support up to 32 players per server with all new maps, mods, skins, models, sprays, serial numbers, and a new way of handling cd keys. The new version promises more restrictions against people that cheat. Clans, Guilds, and Leagues will appreciate the new game engine too. No matter what clan or guild you join.

If you would like to see the preview movie, there's a video in the download section. You will need a viewer to see the movie. The trailer is about 15 minutes in length. The demo is a walk through of the new physics that are in the game. The new version of this game is awesome. You can view the screenshots from the new HL2 section on the website. his is a must see demo.

Our HL game utilities section will be expanding which will contain some upgrades to the online guide, manual, patch, and bots. Our site supports (both the PC and PS2 platform) for Half-Life, Half-Life 2, Opposing Force, Blue Shift, Natural Selection, Team Fortress Classic, Counter-Strike, Condition Zero, and Day of Defeat.

Going for Gold???

Today was the day most had penciled in for HL2 going Gold, if it is to be released on the 30th Sept.

For those unsure 'going gold' in basic terms is when VALVe finish the game and give it to Vivendi so they can press the discs, assemble the packages, and send it off to the shops/warehouses. For a September 30th release, the common assumption is that the game must be gold by September 16th (This Tuesday).

Well keep your eyes peeled and keep checking this space for all the latest HL2 news!


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