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Half-Life 2 Officially Delayed
sm4k[X-D] writes "According to Shacknews, the PC first-person shooter Half-Life 2 has officially been delayed. They quote Valve's Doug Lombardi as saying: 'The previously announced September 30th release date for Half-Life 2 is being pushed back. We are currently targeting a holiday release, but do not have a specific 'in-store' date to share at this time. We will release that information as soon as we have confirmed a new date.'"
Ah well, doom3 will be better, and it's better to release a software product late, rather than early, and badly.
Maybe it's because they want to make sure their GNU/Linux port is perfect.
HAHAHAH!
But I digress. I'm really not looking forward to this game. You can mod me down for my opinion if you want, but it's how I feel. This is the first engine they have done completely on their own. I have little doubt that there will be massive problems that they will blame on either hardware or drivers because that is what Valve does. It doesn't take long to look at the long history of problems with HL that were blamed on drivers or hardware that Valve ended up fixing silently with patches later. They seem to have problems fessing up to issues with their products. Don't get me wrong, I'm STILL completely addicted to counterstrike. But Valve didn't make Counter Strike did they?
For every annoying gentoo user, are three even more annoying anti-gentoo crybabies. Take Yosh from #Gimp for example.
I think one of the major reasons for this is the Steam delivery platform... the servers were hugely overloaded and there were a lot of problems for a lot of people - I expect they're going to try and iron out some of those problems before HL2 gets put out
The revolution will not be televised. It won't be on a friggin blog either
Whether it's worse for their PR image and sales to delay the game or release a mess. Considering the level of anticipation involved, it might go either way.
I knew this would happen. Valve have sort of a... history with this. Team Fortress 2, anyone? In this post-Daikatana world (sorry) perhaps they should have taken a hint and reined in their hype machine a bit. Goes for ANY game developer who isn't 100% sure they can deliver on time.
Oh well. Either way, I'm not holding my breath. Yeah, it could be an awesome game, but haven't we seen enough hyped games *cough*Black&White*cough* fail to deliver on their promises? I was going to wait for the reviews anyway.
Blatantly they want it out for christmas to get all that xmas present money...
Daniel
Carpe Diem
Isn't this old news? Valve has made the announcement that they are going for a holiday release ages ago.
Besides, we all knew they wouldn't meet their release date, no game does. What are you all so disappointed about?
I find it some what amazing (and then in a way I don't, people have such short memories) that so many people are surprised by this. Let's not forget that HL was delayed well over a year from it's original release date. The HL-SDK was delayed again and again, and was a bit buggy at release. TF2 is still vaporware. Steam has had a less than stellar launch. While I'll admit to being a hopeless gameophile that will preorder HL2 no matter the release date I at least will be expecting it to be a good 3 months after I collect my copy before I own a playable game.
Dear PhlegmMaster,
We here at Valve appreciate you backing us up on Slashdot. Even though it is obvious that we fucked up badly with Steam, and most people see our mistakes for what they are, it is nice to know that our marketing has worked on at least 10 percent of our fans. Please call our offices tommorow so you can receive a free copy of HL2.
Sincerely,
Gabe Newell
I guess they really are following the microsoft business model after all!
Half Life 2 has been renamed Half Life: Forever.
I heard it was going to be released on October 15. Maybe I'm getting muddled up.
The philosophy of the Duke Nukem developpers seems to have caught new disciples...
I'm pretty sure that Half-Life Chapter 1 is a compelling legacy, and that all what Valve want is to not daikatanize it, so I am just fine waiting for something good.
As Yoda said (possibly while "playing" Angel of darkness) "If you choose the quick and easy path, you will become an agent of evil".
Just hope I'm not waiting for good (Duke where are thou?)
This news doesn't suprise me in the least! Watch - come around the end of December it still won't be out then VALVE will say it'll be out by April, then pushed back again until September 2004 and maybe by then the STEAM problems will be ironed out and it will have been delayed another year. Just like Microsoft products. :D
You must master your joystick like a fisherman masters bait! - Gimpy
Spokan? Spokane? Washington? Something like that. Gabe Newell is a whiner. And he has gained some weight I noticed. But he whines more than Rusty Wallace (Note: for non-NASCAR fans Rusty Wallace is a guy that whines a lot whether he wins or loses.). Spokin?
as I mentioned in the previous thread on Steam, I have had nothing but horrible experiences with it.
Valve tells everyone to download the steam+content version (the 300+ mb file) after the small steam file fails for a lot of people. Sure, I got that, install it (after scouring the net looking for a site that doesn't have a 300+ person waiting list). And when I go to install the games that already have the content in the steam file, it instead goes to the net to download it. ??? I want to play Day of Defeat, it takes me 2 days to eventually download the content (even though there's a 358 mb file already sitting there).
And the program doesn't even really tell me that it is downloading stuff, unless I go out of my way to find out. You click a game, and it freezes the system nicely. One has to alt-tab, back to steam, to check the monitor to see what's going on.
First time you then actually play a game, for some reason it takes 10-20 minutes to validate resources. And during this point, I don't know if it's validating or downloading new content (as it apparently has done both on me).
There is NO way they can use this to distribute HL2. Gamers want their games now. They don't want to wait 3-4 days to get a game online, when they can drive to the store and go home 15 minutes later with the product...
... just went down in my eyes.
Don't say anything you can't do. If you have to say "When its done" up until its in boxes waiting to be FeEx-ed then do that.
First you said Sept 30, then denied when your parent company said the end of the year, then days before the deadline, you say you can't get it out.
Get your crap together.
The surprise isn't how often we make bad choices; the surprise is how seldom they defeat us.
I wish I could believe that Valve was reacting to the negative press about Steam and DRM, and was busily reworking things to remove the dependancy upon Steam in HL2.
I wish I could believe that Valve was working with Icculus.org to make HL2 for Linux.
Unfortunately, I don't. I beleive Valve IS working on Steam, but not to make HL2 less dependant upon it, but rather more so, so that no matter how bad Steam is, you will be FORCED to use it to play HL2.
Oh well, as George Thourogood said, "that don' confront me", as I don't plan on downgrading my OS to play HL2. I'll just wait for Doom3, and play that instead.
www.eFax.com are spammers
As someone who will have to upgrade my PC to place HL2 and Doom3, I welcome the delays. The longer Id and Valve wait, the more power I can get for my money.
Take you time guys.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Delayed so that they could add in real time shadows after seeing the Doom III tech demo.
Valve's original Half-Life was an incredible game although very buggy (but fixed with patches). I have no doubt they can release a similarly excellent game. Just because it's delayed doesn't mean it will be infinitely delayed.
Blizzard for example is notorious for delays in releasing their games. But when they do, they are, in a word, spectacular.
As far as Steam goes, yes it's having major issues at the moment. But you have to give Valve credit for trying something different (I'm not saying new because I know that someone has probably done it before). If they can get it to work properly, more power to them.
It would be great to see developers released from using publishers. It means lower prices for us and more creative freedom for the developers.
give it time... Halo PC comes out on weds Oct 1st (or Sept 30th in some places) and it looks to be killer. there are a LOT of people who have a sneaky suspicion that Halo is going to overtake CS after given some time... I'd suspect as much after reading some of the previews i've read about it... we shall see...
for Duke Nukem Forever...
or should that read "i've been waiting forever for..."
In anycase, there's a few other FPS in the pipe coming soon (unless also further delayed).
UT2004
Halo PC
Doom 3
Personally, I'm eager to see how Halo PC compares to UT2004 with regards to vehicle combat.
HL2 better have some excellent tricks up its sleeve!
Especially seeing that Amazon.com has had a "November" release date for awhile now, while Buy.com has said "December" for quite some time.
I belong to the ______ generation.
I am looking forward to Half Life 2 and I was really hoping to have played through it before Knights of the Old Republic comes out. Oh well, Sept. 30th was nothing more than a dream anyway.
As for Valve credibility, I don't think they ever had mine to begin with. Sure I can think of ONE game they made that I liked. Hell, I can't even think of any games by Valve besides Half Life. Until I see a phenominal Half-Life 2 or something else, Valve will just be a one-hit-wonder.
... is how they could say 3 weeks before a game launches that it would be ready, and two weeks after they realise they still have another 2 months to work on the game?
Unless he was teasing us with the September 30th launch date. It's dissapointing, since I would expect that sort of behavior by a marketing person or a lawyer, but not a game programmer.
If they said 5 months ago that it would be ready on the 30th, and now announced it was going to hit the shelves in two months, I wouldn't mind, I mean, you can't always predict things like this. But now?
Maybe they saw the last Doom3 demo and decided to improve a little more?
In other news insiders have spotted Duke Nukem in the halls of Valve's offices.
If you check here http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/product/235059.asp
You will see a ship date of Nov. 14th. It has been at that ship date for a few weeks. I have learned to check what dates retailers are using as ship dates before I get too excited.
Just read the preview of Doom 3 that just came out. Kept wondering.
1. Okay, when I played Doom, I didn't notice much of a story. Just a lot of aliens running about in James Cameron-land.
2. Now, we're told that Doom _had_ a story. Seems that scientists were doing research that got out of hand, and suddenly creaturs from another planet began zapping in through the Dimensional Vortexes, or something.
3. Which was Half-Life's story.
4. Not only that, but in Doom 3, we now have nonplayer characters, like injured scientists, who offer assistance and aid to the player. These are not cut-scenes, but are rendered in real-time in the game engine.
5. Which was Half-Life's biggest innovation over Quake.
I get the feeling that Doom 3 and Half-Life 2 will continue to be delayed, as they each encounter delays in order to play catch-up to the other's latest media release.
I say we make'em show each other their games, and give'em a two-month deadline afterwards.
I asked Valve to delay it so I can put off purchasing a new PC until after Intel drops the CPU prices. Sorry to all those looking forward to HL2, but this is really all just because of me.
Or so I keep telling myself.
Thanks.
Hmm, not surprised to see HL2 delayed, only surprised that they didnt announce it until a week before the expected release. Thats a bit poor in my eyes, when they know a lot of players are upgrading machines and some probably even booking holiday time to play this game. The delay, well if its necessary then fine, but it would have been better if they were upfront and honest about it as soon as it's evident. Have to wonder if the late announcement is mainly down to the Steam problems?
Steam, well nice idea. By the sounds of it, too gung-ho though. Why jump right in? I think they could have chosen a more... defensive way to do it, something which gives them more oppertunity to "learn by doing" before committing all their eggs. Even a more simplified single system - e.g. buy the game as normal, which gives you complete singleplayer indefinately, multiplayer indefinately if you use "normal" methods, plus 3-6 months' worth of Steam services. You could then extend that with a subscription.
Less load, less that can go wrong, and less of an impact when it does. Granted that would mean less DRM control and wouldnt give them such a big cut of the RRP, but small bites are easier to chew & swallow etc etc. It's no surprise that there are problems with Steam, pulling it off would have been a remarkable feat IMHO anyway. The only real critisism I think is fair is that the problems were nearly inevitable, yet so much relied upon it. TBF they seem to have had the backup plan of this external download, but that seems to be failing even more badly...
He's basically responding to a troll. Just because the first poster was too ig'nent to know the story of Doom doesn't mean we need other people being misinformed as well.
HL ripped off Doom, and no amount of hoping on your part will change that.
From http://www.gamershell.com/news_BHalf-Life2BGold.sh tml
Which site to believe? Who the hell knows?
I wish they would at least release a one level demo/play test or something. Come on keep out interest, please.
Source of the email sent to Gamershell.com:m tp.ntlworld.com>m tp.ntlworld.com>
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From: "Gabe Newell" <gaben@valvesoftware.com>
Subject: Half Life 2 Gone Gold
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Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 23:53:25 +0100
Half Life 2 as gone Gold and in production now, the release will still remain
on schedule for Sep 30th. People who have pre-orded it via Steam will
still get it before the Sep 30th but we are currently ironing out a couple
of bugs, people may have seen Half Life 2 yesterday for a minute on it
while we were in our testing stages.
The announced delay is all rumors posted up on Shacknews
and the SDK will be available for download tomorrow 2.00pm EST
now you've heard it from the horses mouth so rest assured.
More news to follow on Sep 26th so watch this space.
==
If you know how to read the headers even a little bit, you can see that it was sent using an anonymous mailer (Ghost Mail 5.1) and sent from a UK-based broadband provider (ntlworld.com).
1) Gabe Newell doesn't use an anonymoust mailer client for sending email.
2) Gabe Newell doesn't use a UK broadband provider for sending email.
Everyone here claiming that they've lost respect for Valve and are now going elsewhere will be playing the game the day it comes out and raving about how cool it is. Mark my words.
-Zeecog
Now personally I would have preffered it if companies like Valve would be more responsible to their public. I recall when they praised how all the feedback from their players is what helped them shape the world and engine of Half-Life 2. If it's honestly unintentional, its more sad and pathetic than anything else. If its intentional, do they honestly think messing with us by dangling a release date close by for as long as possible is worth it? Yeah I've fallen victim to being hyped about the game, but I wish companies would CHOOSE to be more honest about their expectations and information. Steam worked for me for a while, but I admit it was incredibly buggy... hope they fix it somewhat. I sorta have respect for VU now sadly, as they seem to be more realistic about the situation. If they are JUST holding out for the christmas present season... Its despicable, really... why not have the foresight to at LEAST plan that ahead and plan all games to release every year on christmas.