toblix

Half-Life 3

Recommended Posts

Variable graphical fidelity targets can give us some potentially interesting new gameplay styles. Less fidelity per character, but now with 400 characters on screen because you didn't spend all your processing power on reflections on wet hair or whatever. The upcoming generation of designers have been refreshingly eager to explore this space so that is something.

Also, it wouldn't be much of a stretch to think of this alleged open world HL3 as a sort of STALKER game? It would kinda work.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Also, it wouldn't be much of a stretch to think of this alleged open world HL3 as a sort of STALKER game? It would kinda work.

I guess that's not much of a stretch indeed.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I just played some Far Cry 2 today. Goddamn I hope they can capture even some of that magic for the sequel, which seems very weird... But I don't know how open world could work for Half-Life, because Valve likes to be in complete control of pacing. That's not really possible with open world games.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I just played some Far Cry 2 today. Goddamn I hope they can capture even some of that magic for the sequel, which seems very weird... But I don't know how open world could work for Half-Life, because Valve likes to be in complete control of pacing. That's not really possible with open world games.

AI Director 2.0

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

More like seven. ;(

Dude, four years? Try seven, because FEAR came out in 05.

Christ, guys. Guess I forgot I'm not in college anymore. No more posting at five in the morning for me.

I think my point still stands. I know that consoles have held back development, but even the graphics of (initially) PC-only titles like Metro 2033 and The Witcher 2, while incredibly beautiful, do not provoke the same "I don't believe this is coming from my computer" response I clearly remember from a decade ago. They're incremental improvements, which can be acknowledged and processed in a way that quantum leaps like Doom 3 and Oblivion could not. I can be impressed by the graphical fidelity of CryEngine 3's procedural motion warping and subsurface scattering, but they aren't going to surprise me. I think the potential for that lies in other areas now, especially systems like AI and world-state simulation.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I just played some Far Cry 2 today. Goddamn I hope they can capture even some of that magic for the sequel, which seems very weird... But I don't know how open world could work for Half-Life, because Valve likes to be in complete control of pacing. That's not really possible with open world games.

thinking outside the box this is entirely possible.

start in a scripted paced enviroment, whereby new and old users are familiarised with HL3 mechanics... the linear story leads to an open world enviroment as a playground, similar to Dishonoured which ultimately has a boundary further out of the game enviroment.

i would welcome it. linear stories get bogged down sometimes, open world game s you can easily lose interest. also coming back to the same enviroment after doing some remote mission to see subtle real-time changes, *mind boggles*.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Well, with some of the Big Names they've hired recently, I don't think it's entirely out of the question. Thief Guy (Doug Church) and Far Cry 2 Guy (Clint Hocking) definitely would seem to lend themselves to this type of game, at least just from awareness of their respective pedigrees.

I'm all for it! The HL2 world, in particular, is one of the most interesting video game worlds, for me. Not least because of the art. That's huge for me. But also the atmosphere, the feeling of being in an oppressive environment. That's something it did pretty well. Opening that up to be more than a rollercoaster with a few choices between loops and spirals certainly appeals to me. Whether or not it's possible to have that same feeling - or even if they'd WANT that same feeling - is another matter entirely. Well, I'm sure it's possible. But it's definitely gonna be way harder.

And that's about all the postulating I'm willing to do about a Half-Life 3 rumor. U: U:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Half Life 3 open world...

so basically Half life x Far Cry 2?

"Gordon, you've contracted malaria!"

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

"Gordon, you've contracted malaria!"

Well, with some of the Big Names they've hired recently, I don't think it's entirely out of the question. Thief Guy (Doug Church) and Far Cry 2 Guy (Clint Hocking) definitely would seem to lend themselves to this type of game, at least just from awareness of their respective pedigrees.

I'm all for it! The HL2 world, in particular, is one of the most interesting video game worlds, for me. Not least because of the art. That's huge for me. But also the atmosphere, the feeling of being in an oppressive environment. That's something it did pretty well. Opening that up to be more than a rollercoaster with a few choices between loops and spirals certainly appeals to me. Whether or not it's possible to have that same feeling - or even if they'd WANT that same feeling - is another matter entirely. Well, I'm sure it's possible. But it's definitely gonna be way harder.

And that's about all the postulating I'm willing to do about a Half-Life 3 rumor. U: U:

Ok, I'm sold. Half-Life 3 will have a more openish world than HL2. I think the end of Episode 2 actually tried to go there a little bit, with the wider area for the battles and some levels in Half-Life 2 are also not that linear. The more I think about it the more it makes sense for them to make a more open world (which probably still has some very directed episodes where you follow other people while they open doors for you). It might be that the Source engine / tech was a limitation why they hadn't done it before and maybe they've spent this much time because they needed new tech. (or are there Source engine games with much wider levels/areas?)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Ok, I'm sold. Half-Life 3 will have a more openish world than HL2. I think the end of Episode 2 actually tried to go there a little bit, with the wider area for the battles and some levels in Half-Life 2 are also not that linear. The more I think about it the more it makes sense for them to make a more open world (which probably still has some very directed episodes where you follow other people while they open doors for you). It might be that the Source engine / tech was a limitation why they hadn't done it before and maybe they've spent this much time because they needed new tech. (or are there Source engine games with much wider levels/areas?)

I believe they stated, shortly after Portal 2 was released, that their next big goal for the Source Engine is to get proper level streaming in there, instead of this ages-old, completely awful level loading we've had to live with for ages. It could just be that they want to get rid of those hiccups in gameplay, but it could also be that their goals are much bigger.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm not willing to bite into the open-world theory. I forget who it was from Idle Thumbs, but Valve tends to design their games to be linear, and even in Left 4 Dead while it was "random" it was still the devs being in control of the game pacing and such. Open-world is not really their style.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I believe they stated, shortly after Portal 2 was released, that their next big goal for the Source Engine is to get proper level streaming in there, instead of this ages-old, completely awful level loading we've had to live with for ages. It could just be that they want to get rid of those hiccups in gameplay, but it could also be that their goals are much bigger.

I would equate the stated goal to giving an MMO-feel to exploring the world. Like in WoW, you could traverse the entire continent without load screens. But the world isn't all loaded up at once. It's loading as you move around, not that you can see it happening. It's less an open-world hint and more of a continuous moving through the game.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Open-world is not really their style.

Says who? Dota 2 wasn't really their "style" until they did it. They'd only ever made first-person perspective games prior to it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm not willing to bite into the open-world theory. I forget who it was from Idle Thumbs, but Valve tends to design their games to be linear, and even in Left 4 Dead while it was "random" it was still the devs being in control of the game pacing and such. Open-world is not really their style.

I disagree with this argument. I wouldn't say that the games are designed especially to be linear, but rather well-directed and with clearly defined variety* of "episodes" within each game (*ok, less variety in their other games than in Half-Lives). As I suggested above, maybe their games have been as linear as they are just because of tech limitations they had. And Portal's were just because the concept was basically designed to be linear.

I think that while they haven't had enough of a desire to make a less linear game, that may be just because it wasn't that viable for them before using their tech and the designers they had. But more and more games of various genres have popped up since Half-Life 2 was released that do have more open worlds, and I don't see why Valve wouldn't go there just because they haven't so far. Maybe they'll find a way to have Half-Life 3 feel similarly well-directed, but put the well-directed "episodes" into an open world without having a strictly linear progression between them, and add some RPG-lite elements or even Zelda-ish progression element to the mix.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Maybe they'll find a way to have Half-Life 3 feel similarly well-directed, but put the well-directed "episodes" into an open world without having a strictly linear progression between them, and add some RPG-lite elements or even Zelda-ish progression element to the mix.

Or alternatively, they could still have linear progression between the episodes, but make the episodes themselves less linear. Or alternating linear and non-linear episodes.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Or they could just make the world flat-out adventure-gamey. Go over there, distract the dude, grab his monkey and open the waterfall—that sort of stuff... only more suitable to be mixed up with action elements and with less dialogue.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

"Gordon, you've contracted malaria!"

I hope that every facett of the HL universe is mapped to a degree of realism, and that maybe there is a virus prevalent in Vortigaunts that passes over to humans; similar to space mumps in red dwarf.

It could also lead to some great incidental non-digetic dialogue. I never saw the vorts and humans socialising, non-combine war related.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

As long as as the game requires peripherals in order to play it, it'll be awesome. Preferably two different peripherals, to go along with the camera that watches you use them.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I never saw the vorts and humans socialising, non-combine war related.

It totally fails the Bechdel Test: Alien Edition.

I reckon Valve will do Episode 3 in a very similar manner to Eps 1 and 2, to wrap up this Combine Occupation section of the story, then have Gordon wake up on some other place/time for HL3 in the new Source engine, developing them concurrently.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I reckon Valve will do Episode 3 in a very similar manner to Eps 1 and 2, to wrap up this Combine Occupation section of the story, then have Gordon wake up on some other place/time for HL3 in the new Source engine, developing them concurrently.

That thinking is so 2007. Half-Life 3D will be an open world exploratory season-changing puzzle game with crafting, released only for the Oculus Rift.

Remember how abruptly Half-Life 2 ends? "Well, I guess I just killed Alyx and everyone in the City in a massive explosion. Ah, well; on to wherever the G-Man takes me next!"

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Ripping Gordon from one time to another, fast-forwarding the story of the Half-Life universe sounds pretty awesome to me. It would allow for completely different settings and feelings of atmosphere from one time to another, which is something I wish more developers would do with the worlds they create. Lots of people would hate it, though. "IT'S NOT WHAT I WANTED FROM A SEQUEL." Also, in all fairness, this kind of thing is essentially building a new world every time, so it doesn't really fit what I was saying, anyway. I dunno!!

Oh, video games.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I think asset creation is a bigger limit than hardware capability, and the whole outsourcing to Singapore-thing will also reach a limit. Looking the the credits for a game like Assassins Creed 2 you get the feeling that we're on a breaking point, how much longer can you just throw more money at a project as it grows in scope? While it certainly is profitable, I don't think it is sustainable in the long run.

Go smart rather than big :oldman:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now