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Half-Life 2 Ship Date Confirmed

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the some-funky-grammar-in-this-one dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Worthplaying has the scoop on the official going gold of Half-life 2. According to their information it has a confirmed ship/store date of November 16!" Gamespot has details on the ship date as well.

50 of 353 comments (clear)

  1. Oblig Quote by nuclear305 · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Joygasm!"

    1. Re:Oblig Quote by Ba3r · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Except that it has been stated over and over again that originally they were just doing the CS port to Source to prove how easy it was to port, and then they realized how much the community wanted the same old CS but with bodies that tumbled down stairs and pretty water, and thus they gave it marginally more polish and presto, you have the Pre-release CS:Source.

      Its a nice little token of appreciation to their audience and customers, why can you not be happy with that?

      The fact that they realized most were not interested in a HL2 multiplayer, but rather a great mod scene and a bangin singleplayer just shows how responsive to the community they are, and in todays far more corporate big studio electronic entertainment industry, this is a major show of good faith.

    2. Re:Oblig Quote by irc.goatse.cx+troll · · Score: 3, Informative

      As a reasonably long time(though now former) counterstrike player, I can tell you I'd feel much more appreciated if they wernt charging me to play their beta.

      Yes, I've played the 'Final release', but don't kid yourself if you think thats a releaseable product. Within the first 15 minutes of playing I had working wallhacks and fullbright cheats, purely from digging in the console.

      And on an unrelated note, mat_dxlevel 70 will give you fps comparable to your hl1 fps. Makes water ugly as all hell, but its worth it if your card sucks.

      --
      Pain lasts, kid. Its how you know you're alive. Sometimes I think this growing up thing is just pain management-TheMaxx
    3. Re:Oblig Quote by irc.goatse.cx+troll · · Score: 4, Interesting

      "Wallhacks are not a defect of the engine (its a tweaked video card driver, something impossible to stop), and Fullbright skins can only be prevented if you verify all the resources on the person's computer prior to connecting, something that the hordes of impatient CS players would not tolerate."

      Not in this case.

      r_shadowwireframe 1 will give you wireframes around all shadows that show through walls.

      r_flashlightfov 120
      r_flashlightfar 1000 will give you a flashlight that lights up the whole screen, r_flashlight constant 100 if you want to make it even brighter.

      (for the record, the only reason I have no problems releasing these so publicly is Valve is like microsoft as far as refusing to fix things until they're exploited badly.)

      As for more tweaks.. try the command "cvarlist mat_" and just look through and play with those. You can lower the quality pretty far with those, and easily raise the framerate. Just changing the directx level to 7.0 (again, mat_dxlevel 70) was enough to give me a 50fps boost (up to >100)
      Depending on your card and such I'm sure you could get other good boosts by disabling bumpmapping, diffuse lighting, antialiasing, etc. (some of this can be controlled by the "advanced" video settings window, but not to this extreme).

      And for all you quake3 lovers out there, theres everyones favorite picmip settings to give you walls that look almost entirely untextured because theyre so low. Personally I can't stand playing like that, but I forsee it becoming the new standard for leauge play since you can change to it after you take your pregame screenshots.

      I don't mind that you can cheat, I just mind that it is so easy. I'd atleast like to have had to write some custom hacked shader, or maybe a directx hook. Instead, its all in the console for you. Not that I cheat online, I just treat it like any real hacker would -- break it for the fun and challenge. Maybe thats why I'm so dissapointed at the ease of cheating..

      --
      Pain lasts, kid. Its how you know you're alive. Sometimes I think this growing up thing is just pain management-TheMaxx
  2. Nov 17... by peeon · · Score: 5, Funny

    Employee sick day.

    1. Re:Nov 17... by LurkerXXX · · Score: 4, Funny
      More like Employee sick week. I can't believe they are releasing it on a Tuesday. They must be terrorists, they are going to destroy the productivity of the country's workforce for the week. :)

      Ok, so only the productivity of the gamers, but still!

  3. How many times is HL2 going to go gold? by British · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm still waiting eagerly when the press release for HL2 going gold, goes gold. :)

    Let's go for the gold!

    1. Re:How many times is HL2 going to go gold? by frenetic3 · · Score: 5, Funny

      I'm eagerly waiting for when the suprnova torrent goes gold (or until I get sent to federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison, whichever comes first ;))

      -fren

      --
      "Where are we going, and why am I in this handbasket?"
    2. Re:How many times is HL2 going to go gold? by Ionizer7 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Well it would have gone gold a month or two ago, but unfortunately someone hacked into their system and stole the press release resulting in an unexpected delay.

  4. Taking the Steam out... by SIGALRM · · Score: 5, Interesting
    "Half-Life 2 will go down as one of the best-selling PC titles, and we are thrilled to deliver this ground-breaking title to the worldwide gaming community this fall."
    I'm excited about this game... don't get me wrong, but you have to wonder about the effect of Doom 3 getting several months of play in advance of HL2's release and the mod community has been very active so far on Doom. I'll get the game when it comes out, but I've already been wowed by the graphics in Doom 3, so it's taken the Steam (pun intended) out of my thrills for HL2. That said, however, I'm really excited to see the physics (I've played CS Source and as a taste--it's very cool).
    --
    Sigs cause cancer.
    1. Re:Taking the Steam out... by PhrostyMcByte · · Score: 3, Interesting

      From what I've played in Doom 3 and CS:Source and what screenshots I've seen of HL2, it looks like Doom 3 already has superior graphics. However, I suspect HL2 will have much better gameplay because its physics will allow us to interact with the environment. I guess we'll see soon enough.

    2. Re:Taking the Steam out... by frostfreek · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Well actually, it may affect me in a different way.
      I bought Doom3 the day it came out, and I found the gameplay to be rather repetitive and dull and repetitive. Eye candy is nice and all, but how many science labs and garages do I have to go through, to finish this thing? Geez.
      Several of my gaming buddies commented independently on the same thing.

      I will still buy HalfLife2, as HL reigns as my all time fave game, but maybe I will wait a few days to hear what other people think, first.

    3. Re:Taking the Steam out... by getch(); · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I've played Doom 3. To put it bluntly, it bored me. Sure the graphics were insane, even on a lowly 9500 Pro. Sure the first few monsters popping out of nowhere were cool. And there were some freaky moments. But there's only so much running down dark corridors I can deal with.

      It's all speculation now, but the breadth of experience that HL2 seems to offer should make it far more interesting to me. It's unfortunate that they didn't build in regular deathmatch though. I could do without Counterstrike (gg awp).

  5. the Press Release by sloshr · · Score: 5, Informative

    Half-Life(R) 2 to Ship to Retail Outlets Globally This Holiday Season

    LOS ANGELES, Oct. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Vivendi Universal Games (VU Games) today announced that Half-Life(R) 2, the sequel to one of the most critically acclaimed PC titles in gaming history, will ship to retail outlets around the world in November. The Company confirmed that Half-Life 2, developed by Valve Software, has gone gold with a planned retail street date of November 16, 2004. The countdown to the highly anticipated retail street date has begun around the world, as VU Games completes plans to ship localized versions of Half-Life 2 simultaneously in English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Traditional and Simplified Chinese, Korean, Thai and Japanese.

    "Half-Life 2 has surpassed our expectations in every sense -- its high-quality graphics, ground-breaking physics and immersive first-person shooter gameplay set a new standard for PC action games," said Bruce Hack, CEO of VU Games. Half-Life 2 will go down as one of the best-selling PC titles, and we are thrilled to deliver this ground-breaking title to the worldwide gaming community this fall."

    Hailed as "...the best game ever made" by PC Gamer, Half-Life 2 earned a top-rated review score of 98, the highest score bestowed by the magazine in more than six years. The game has received numerous accolades for its technical excellence, captivating story and addictive game play, including more than 10 awards and nominations at the 2004 Electronic Entertainment Expo. In addition to being named "Best PC Game" by 1up.com (Ziff Davis) and Gamespy.com, the title also received a "Technological Excellence on PC" award from IGN.com. CNNMoney.com stated that "Half-Life 2 will redefine what gamers expect from their games visually -- and the gameplay is a lot of fun as well."

    The global anticipation for Half-Life 2 has reached unprecedented heights, as consumers around the world mark their calendars to buy the game at retail on November 16th. The Half-Life 2 product will include Counter-Strike: Source. VU Games will also release a Half Life 2 Collector's Edition that will include Half-Life 2 in DVD-ROM format, Counter-Strike: Source, Half-Life: Source, a free limited edition t-shirt, and a Half-Life 2 Prima strategy guide book.

    The original Half-Life game was launched in 1998 under VU Games' Sierra Entertainment publishing label. It earned more than 50 game-of-the-year awards and has been heralded as one of the best PC first-person shooter games of all-time.

    About Half-Life(R) and Half-Life(R) 2 In 1998, Half-Life revolutionized the game industry with its combination of pounding action and continuous, immersive storytelling. Valve's debut title was named "Best PC Game Ever" by PC Gamer and launched a franchise with more than eight million retails units sold worldwide. In 2004, Half-Life 2 will take the suspense, challenge and visceral charge of the original to new heights of realism and responsiveness. Half-Life 2 opens the door to a world where the player's presence affects everything around him, from the physical environments to the behaviors -- even the emotions -- of both friends and enemies. The player again picks up the crowbar of research scientist, Gordon Freeman, who finds himself on an alien-infested Earth being picked to the bone, its resources depleted and its population dwindling. Freeman is thrust into the unenviable role of rescuing the world from the wrong he unleashed back at Black Mesa. And a lot of people -- people he cares about -- are counting on him. The intense, real-time gameplay of Half-Life 2 is made possible only by Source, Valve's new proprietary engine technology. Source provides major enhancements in the advanced facial animation system, physics, graphics and AI. Half-Life 2 will be available for the PC.

    About Vivendi Universal Games Headquartered in Los Angeles, VU Games is a leading global developer, publisher and distributor of multi-platform inter

  6. Nice to hear.... by Nos. · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Of course CS is the most popular mod, but more people are awaiting other mods such as Natural Selection (my favourite) and DoD, as well as many others. I'm not in a rush to buy since I'm mainly a multiplayer gamer. Though it would be nice to play the game and experience the new engine. I'll probably end up purchasing it in the next little while, though I'll still be playing a lot of Natural Selection on the original HL.

  7. I sense.... by rokzy · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...a great disturbance in the force... as if a million geeks shouted with joy...and then realised there's still a month to wait.

  8. Brings tears to my eyes... by orevo · · Score: 5, Interesting

    As Half-Life 2 sits on my computer preloaded, it brings tears to my eyes to hear this. Finally! Anyway, for the curious, if you preloaded from STEAM you still can't play it until Nov 16th unfortunately. You can thank Vivendi for that one, but at least you don't have to go to the store on the 16th, you can just wake up and play after a small download. I know I'm staying up till midnight.

    1. Re:Brings tears to my eyes... by orevo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Look, a lot of bashing on Valve is going on because people who bought it off STEAM still have to wait, well quit bashing Valve! It's not their fault, it's Vivendi's fault because when you buy off STEAM, they get no portion of the profit. Remember that lawsuit that was going on between Valve and Vivendi? This is why. Now, I for one have been playing CS: Source, and I believe Valve deserves my money. (Even though they are massively late) HL 2 is worth the wait, and worth the money. Vivendi told them they couldn't publish it on STEAM before it hits the street, so Valve can do nothing but comply. So if you are bashing Valve, quit it. Bash Vivendi instead. Otherwise, I recommend buying it off STEAM just to help support Valve.

    2. Re:Brings tears to my eyes... by sgant · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Um...I didn't buy it off of Steam so I can be able to play it before it was in the stores...that never even crossed my mind.

      I bought if off Steam because it's better FOR ME. I don't have to go to a store and buy a physical disk only to have it take up space in my house. It's there, on my HD. Something happen to my HD? I read download it. Problem solved. People want a physical thing they can hold, that's fine for them.

      It comes out Nov. 16...I'll play it on Nov. 16. Also, what is Valve at fault for?

      That's another thing that irks me...people saying "Valve lied to us" and "I'll never trust Valve again!"....trust them with what? Your Bank account? Nuclear secrets? It's a fricken game company, not the end of the world. If the game is good, you buy and play it, if not then who cares? People act like it's a personal thing between Valve and them that Valve is sitting in some room rubbing their hands and laughing "we're so EVIL..muhahahaha!".

      Sorry, but I fail to see what the big deal is about all this.

      --

      "Leo Fender was in a 'state of grace' when he designed the Stratocaster." -- Paul Reed Smith
  9. Better than DNF I guess by TRS-80 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Only released more than a year after the original release date of September 30, 2003. Now to buy a new video card (good thing I didn't get a 9800 Pro back when they were released, hey?).

  10. Re:When the fuck? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Had you fucking read the fucking agreement the fucking site gave you before you bought the fucking game, you would fucking know that you will be able to fucking download the fucking thing off of fucking Steam when the game is available in fucking retail stores (which we now fucking know to be on fucking November 16).

    You fucker.

  11. This is the sound.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    of a million voices going silent and then nerdgasming...

  12. and by Anubis350 · · Score: 5, Funny

    in other news: hell freezes over, devil reports that snowballs make excellent torure devices.

    pigs fly: new species of pigs found with butterfly like wings

    and a /.er gets laid: "OMG man, it was actually better than coding perl at 1 in the morning!!!!!!"

    --
    "goodbye and hello, as always" ~Prince Corwin, from Zelazny's Amber series
    1. Re:and by antifoidulus · · Score: 4, Funny

      You forgot "A playable Duke Nukem Forever demo will be on the Half Life 2 disc"

      --
      Monstar L
  13. seems like a long time between gold and ship date. by sTalking_Goat · · Score: 4, Insightful
    I mean isn't it usually about 2 weeks?

    anyway, I give it 72 hours to show up on suprnova

    --

    My days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle...

  14. love you long time by unknowns · · Score: 5, Funny
    Half-Life 2 Collector's Edition which includes Half-Life 2 in DVD-ROM format, Counter-Strike: Source, Half-Life: Source, a free limited edition t-shirt, and a Half-Life 2 strategy guide from Prima.

    No wonder it took so long to release. They have a marketing woody.

    --
    Even blind squirrels find nuts now and then.
  15. Half-Life 2 vs. Doom 3 by cablepokerface · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Boy, I really hope this game delivers, cause months after the doom 3 release people finally dare to admit that the game simply did not deliver without being called a troll. And that's an understatement; big parts of the game were simply no fun at all. Just an ordinary shooter with nothing new and different aside from the fact that it just looked damn pretty.

    I can't wait for HL 2, Carmack has left allot of open territory.

    1. Re:Half-Life 2 vs. Doom 3 by gothzilla · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I don't think Doom3 was trying to be anything but a pretty version of Doom. Kind of like when they re-did Godzilla in 1998. You already know the story. You already know the monster. Here's just a prettier view of him. Anyone who expected more got dissapointed. Those of us who understood that all it was, was a pretty version of Doom enjoyed the hell out of the game.

    2. Re:Half-Life 2 vs. Doom 3 by GoofyBoy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Thats just a cop-out.

      If they wanted it to make a "prettier Doom 2", they would have labeled it "Doom 2 - Remixed" or just released the same maps with different textures/a more advanced engine.

      --
      The surprise isn't how often we make bad choices; the surprise is how seldom they defeat us.
    3. Re:Half-Life 2 vs. Doom 3 by jusdisgi · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Horseshit.

      id has never been heavy on innovations in storyline or gameplay or anything like that. It's all about the engine to them. How much money did they make selling Quake3? How much did they make selling the Quake3 engine?

      (I'll give you a hint. You'll need to move your decimal point.)

      I predict they won't make nearly as much off Doom3 as they will off the Doom3 engine. It doesn't require any kind of storyline to do that. So why would they put one in?

      That said, I've not yet played an id game that wasn't a helluvalot of fun, for what it was.

      --
      Given a choice between free speech and free beer, most people will take the beer.
  16. Re:When the fuck? by avalys · · Score: 5, Informative

    They told you this on their website, before you bought the game. It's not Valve's fault that you were too lazy to read it.

    --
    This space intentionally left blank.
  17. Re:When the fuck? by Xentax · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This'll get said more than once, but blame Vivendi Universal - not Valve - for this delay. Or perhaps blame Valve's contract negotiators for letting them get stuck with this, if you must.

    Either way, lesson learned for developers that want to repeat the Steam experiment elsewhere.

    Xentax

    --
    You shouldn't verb words.
  18. Brrr by DeathByDuke · · Score: 3, Funny

    It's bloody cold down here in Hell. If Duke Nukem Forever goes Gold I'm moving to South America.

    The Devil.

  19. hermione dies in half-life 2 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    *WARNING* spoiler in subject

  20. Not enough sick days... by GweeDo · · Score: 5, Funny

    Nov 9th = Halo 2 Sick Day Nov 15th = Metroid Prime 2: Echoes Sick Day Nov 16th = Half Life 2 Sick Day Nov 22nd = Nintendo DS Sick Day I just think my boss might figure it out....

    --
    Unstable Apps: Our Android Apps Don't Suck
  21. FYI by GarfBond · · Score: 5, Informative

    Steam purchases do not unlock until the very same day that the game releases in stores. This means that, assuming they make their expected ship date (hurry up on printing those CDs VUG!), HL2 will unlock on Steam on Nov 16 (probably at 8am or something) as well. Of course, CS:S is available on Steam right now...

    If you've already got an ATIHL2 voucher, redeem it through steam to get your Bronze edition free (HL2 + CS:S).

    Another reminder: Steam does not include physical hard copies. Everything is a digital download from Steam. That being said, there is nothing that prevents you from copying and burning the steam cache files elsewhere so you don't have to redownload several GB of stuff on a reformat or whatever. The exception is the Gold package, which has a lot of physical goodies that are shipped to you (but not the game itself).

    Don't forget to mail your HL2 postcard from the Gold package to 3drealms :)

  22. Great News by Llevar · · Score: 5, Funny

    It means the leak is at most a week away.

  23. The Bungie Effect by tlon · · Score: 4, Funny

    I wonder if they use the same manufacturing facilities as Bungie's Halo 2? If so, we should be seeing the "0-day" copy floating around any minute now...

  24. Arg.. wrong day!!!! by Julien+Brub · · Score: 5, Funny

    Nov. 16th is my gf's birthday!!! I'll give her a present, go to a fine little restaurant, and while she'll talk about how nice our relation is, I'll hear this voice in my head: "What are you doing here, Mr. Freeman?"

    This is torture!

    --
    "I can not bring myself to believe that if knowledge presents danger, the solution is ignorance." Isaac Asimov
    1. Re:Arg.. wrong day!!!! by Flunitrazepam · · Score: 5, Funny

      The very fact that you REMEMBER your girlfriend's birthday indicates your priorities are already wrong

      --
      1) Your analysis is based on bad assumptions so your result is way off. 2) You're a sick bastard for fucking a horse.
    2. Re:Arg.. wrong day!!!! by Lispy · · Score: 4, Funny

      Well, even more time wasted.

  25. 6 to 1 odds by Pugflop · · Score: 4, Funny

    It gets pushed back. Any takers? I'm good for 6 new DVD-R's ;).

  26. ATI Coupon by DeadBugs · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I wonder if anyone has the ATI coupon for HL2 but no longer have the ATI vid card?

    --
    http://www.kubuntu.org/
  27. Re:before i RTFA by mog007 · · Score: 3, Informative

    The day it's available in a store, November 16th. If some stores actully release it before that day, then it will be unlocked eariler.

    --
    Learn something new.
  28. uh? by solios · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "looked damned pretty" and "left allot of open territory." ?!

    Carmack's the graphics system programmer, not the game designer. If it looks damned pretty, then he did his job, and he did it damned well. If the game gets tedious or boring at times, well... that's not HIS fault in the least.

  29. Umm... by daemon_mf · · Score: 4, Funny

    Is.. is this a dupe? I swear I've heard this story before.

  30. Re:specs? by Paralizer · · Score: 5, Informative

    The requirements are significantly lower than those of the recently released Doom 3.

    From http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/half-life-2/542987p1.html ?reload=true :
    In late July, he announced the basic computer spex needed to run the game would be a 1.2 GHz processor, 256 MB of RAM and a DirectX 7 enabled graphics card, although to really enjoy the bells and whistles of the game Valve recommends a 2.4 GHz processor, 512 MB of RAM and a DirectX 9 card.

  31. STEAM and release dates by Mean_Nishka · · Score: 4, Interesting
    I realize there are reasons for delaying the steam release until the physical copy is out, but I do hope that future electronic releases will be available the minute they've gone gold.

    The entire promise of electronic distribution is that you don't need to wait for manufacturing and distribution to get the product available nationally (or internationally). Having to wait for 'release dates' is silly..

    --
    www.lonseidman.com

  32. Re:A question by KDR_11k · · Score: 3, Funny

    Come on, Quake 3 requires about 200MHz, any OpenGL compatible graphics card and 64MB RAM, your system is no excuse not to know the game's Rocket Launcher!

    --
    Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
  33. Re:November 16th... by jaguar5150 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Lucky for him, I think he can out-run her at the moment ;)