Half-Life 2: Aftermath

[Kolzig]

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=58579

The news most of us have been waiting for has finally been confirmed: Valve is readying the first expansion pack for the unanimously acclaimed Half-Life 2. Provisionally titled 'Aftermath', the new adventures of Gordon Freeman and his able sidekick Alyx is tentatively scheduled for a 'summer' release, according to PC Gamer UK, which scooped the world with its cover feature on the hotly anticipated game in its May issue, out today.

Grabbing a quick chat with Valve designer Robin Harper and writer Mark Laidlaw, the ten page feature - incredibly - doesn't reveal much in the way of concrete information, but instead, the ever slippery chaps at Valve talk around the subject of the game, choosing to focus more on their motivations for choosing to make new Half-Life 2 content all by themselves rather than, say, farm out the job to Gearbox as it did during the Half-Life era.[/QUOTe]

[SiN]

excellent! i remember there being talk of a huge pcgamer exclusive, this is truely huge!

i cant wait for my mag to come in the mail

SiN

[JoeX111]

Hopefully this isn't just the High Res new maps VALVe was talking about a few months back. Those were just going to be a few new parts added into the Beach \ Highway levels, optimised to use only the highest and best graphics cards (part of some deal with ATI, I think).

[SiN]

no, no, im pretty sure thats something completely different. those were essentially a bunch of tech demos showcasing the ati cards.

this is the next chapter in the half life series.

SiN

[Jake]

Hopefully this isn't just the High Res new maps VALVe was talking about a few months back. Those were just going to be a few new parts added into the Beach \ Highway levels, optimised to use only the highest and best graphics cards (part of some deal with ATI, I think).

That's "The Lost Coast," which is a different thing.

[JoeX111]

That's "The Lost Coast," which is a different thing.

That's right! My mistake.

[MrChlorophyll]

They can't even get Day of Defeat done and they're trying to pass off a summer release date for a brand spanking new expansion pack? I'll believe that one when I see it.

Or maybe it'll be a two-fer release. That'd be kickass.

[Kolzig]

I bet we'll get to play as Barney.

[MrHoatzin]

Dog!!

[JoeX111]

We had a long thread going on the Steam forums a while back about how it would be cool if you played as Shepard from the Opposing Force pack in the expansions.

Since he was just left in the Borderworld, he could be there when the Combine try to retake it over. He'd basically have to fight his way out of there, and because the G-Man didn't send him forward in time like he did with Gordon, he could come out back on earth just in time to see the Combine invasion.

But since they are calling it "Aftermath", I doubt it.

[Redwall]

I thought Shephard was placed in some kind of confinement? However, I agree, I would love to see him again (or rather, not see him, as it were.)

[MrHoatzin]

(or rather, not see him, as it were.)

Hahahhahahaha...

[Twilo]

Of note is that this is going to be a Steam only release (at least for the forseeable future). Valve cited the time and effort in securing shelf space, producing masters and getting things printed is just too much. Vivendi aren't involved (valve/vivendi relations aren't at their best, eh?).

[JoeX111]

Nope, I think they're stuck with Gordon for a while...although I guess Dog could work.

Dog would be awesome to play as, but I'm not sure how they'd make that work. Someone could probably make a ridiculously cool third person mod around that concept, though.

I think it'd have to be a new character, if it wasn't gordon. Having one of their major players suddenly not talk a lot would be too weird. So if they don't bring back Shepard, I'd say either a Human Resistance fighter or a Combine soldier.

I'm going to guess Resistance fighter for the time being, though.

[Trithemius]

Nope, I think they're stuck with Gordon for a while...although I guess Dog could work.

Only problem with Dog is they'd have to seriously mess about with what is and what is not throwable. I know nothing about the technical side of gaming (or indeed much of anything) but this seems like it could be a bother.

Still, HL2: Dog - Xtreme Throwing Shit Around wouldn't make me unhappy.

[Jake]

"dog," in: katamari damacy: source

[JimmyTheFish]

I would really like to paly an Opposing Force: Source type of game where you play as some combine grunt. Oh, or maybe a Vortigaunt! And I really want to shoot some bullsquids.

[MrHoatzin]

I don't think it is impossible. Most of the items in the half-life world have mass and forces applied to that mass. It is just a matter of forces. There was that part in HL2 where you had to use the crane to move huge-ass containers and most cars can be knocked about with the gravigunthing.

[SiN]

i think the bigger issue would be the need to have alot more physics-enabled objects on screen to really "feel" like dog. while i recall a crap-load of stuff that you could pick up in HL2, they'd definitly have to make even more stuff tossable with a Dog addon pack ... that may be technically difficult.

its quite a bummer that its gonna be a steam-only release ... i really like having the shiny boxes to look at ...

SiN

[Jake]

its quite a bummer that its gonna be a steam-only release ... i really like having the shiny boxes to look at ...

Give them a year or two for the platinum edition.

[Trithemius]

its quite a bummer that its gonna be a steam-only release ... i really like having the shiny boxes to look at ...

If it makes it cheaper, I'm totally okay with it. I get complaints about hauling all my boxes around already...

[JoeX111]

i think the bigger issue would be the need to have alot more physics-enabled objects on screen to really "feel" like dog. while i recall a crap-load of stuff that you could pick up in HL2, they'd definitly have to make even more stuff tossable with a Dog addon pack ... that may be technically difficult.

Another problem is, they'd have to make the environment much more destructable than it is at the moment. Remember, one of the few times we really saw Dog in action was where he threw a Combine transport right into a building (which has got to be my favorite scene in the game, by the way ).

I think people would feel pretty cheated if they were chucking cars and shipping containers around with Dog's strength and they were just bouncing off everything else.

[MrHoatzin]

i think the bigger issue would be the need to have alot more physics-enabled objects on screen to really "feel" like dog. while i recall a crap-load of stuff that you could pick up in HL2, they'd definitly have to make even more stuff tossable with a Dog addon pack ... that may be technically difficult.

its quite a bummer that its gonna be a steam-only release ... i really like having the shiny boxes to look at ...

SiN

Look how much small litter there is in the game. Just turn off the small stuff and have more large stuff to chuck. Also give such things as washing machines some sort of destruction procedure (as with crates and pallets) so that they get crushed once tossed.

[SiN]

Also give such things as washing machines some sort of destruction procedure (as with crates and pallets) so that they get crushed once tossed.

that is a good way to keep the number of "active" objects to a minimum amount, so that should work well. however, im talking about BIGGER objects ... kinda what Joe's talking about ... having full buildings fall, massive gates, so on, so forth.

i'm not saying its not possible, but i am saying it'd be alot harder then just creating levels for Dog in Hammer ... there'd have to be alot of upfront planning, design considerations, technical considerations, etc for it to work, but IMO it'd be worth it.

SiN

[baconian]

Damn. I'm getting exited about this now, I sure hope it's dog.