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Orange Box Turns Gold
Dr. Eggman writes "GameDaily.com announces that at long last, Half-Life: The Orange Box has gone gold. The release date has been set for October 10th. Although Valve recently announced that the company shall reevaluate episodic content, Newell has spoken to CVG, reassuringly stating that there is lots of Half-Life left at Valve. Expect more interesting stories like Portal to come out of Valve as they trickle out what they refer internally to as 'The [Half-Life] Bible.'"
I thought this was announcing that it was released today. I was about to call in sick.
For those of us that pre-ordered, at least we've had the pleasure of Team Fortress 2. Its not perfect, but I'm quite happy with it. Of course I haven't had the crashes that a lot of people have been having. That being said, I can't wait to try Portal. Episode 2 I'm sure will be interesting, but for me, won't be more than a passing bit of entertainment when I grow bored of TF2 and Portal.
From TFA:
Half-Life 2: Episode Two
Team Fortress 2
Portal
Yeah, but as far as I understand, it's the same engine with a side game (Team Fortress) and a mini-game (Portal) and a few nwe chapters (Episode Two). I'm a huge Half Life fan, but . . . I'm entirely undecided as to whether I should be excited about this or not. I'm moving a lot of my gaming off of the PC and onto the consoles these days (after two decades of PC-only gaming), so maybe I'll wait and see how people enjoy the console-treatment of this title before dishing out the cash.
The Orange Box launches on October 5th in Europe.
It launches in North America on October 9th, and October 10th on Steam.
It looks like digital distribution hasn't changed a thing when it comes to arbitrary launch dates that have nothing to do with a products readiness.
This really only works for Canadians, but you can purchase it online for the American price (~$45?) instead of buying it in store for ~$70
Somehow I doubt you played Portal, TF2, and Ep2 a few years ago, since those are 3 new games. You talk about price, but what I'm seeing is three new games for the price of one (I paid $45), plus a decent engine (Source SDK has new shader improvements) with plenty of mods. Peggle is also a great addition, since I'm a fan of pachinko and have played the demo version before.
You may think you're getting ripped off because HL2 and Ep1 is packaged with it. That's a bonus, not what you're paying for.
I would wager that Portal is going to be way more of a time-sink to be considered simply a "mini-game" I also know that there are some people out there (who were probably not breastfed) that don't even want Portal... sucks to be them!
sigs... don't talk to me about sigs....
You can get just the new stuff.
-- toolie
Although the "Black Box" no longer exists, if you buy over steam you can give your HL2 and HL2:Ep1 to someone else.
ADVENTURERS! - ANTIHERO FOR HIRE - CARDMASTER CONFLICT
Oh no! I already pre-ordered the Orange box, will I still get it? Will a Gold Box cost more?
Hey, you're forgetting localization. It takes a few days to re-record all voice track references to the "torch" as the North American language "flashlight". They also have to remove all the crumpets!
-
Monkey Doodles!
While there are some problems with Steam (I'm bothered by the fact that it's impossible to call and talk to a person about either technical support issues or sales support issues) their release pattern for the Orange Box has been great.
As soon as I purchased it I was able to download the TF2 beta and begin playing. Every day or two there have been little updates that increase performance and decrease crashing. What's not to love? It'd be a pain if my statistics didn't transfer over from the beta to the final game, but since they're just accomplishments that don't really unlock anything, nothing will be hurt other than my pride.
My only dissatisfaction comes from the fact that while my machine runs HL2 and CS:Source well, I haven't been able to figure out settings that run TF2 smoothly. I might have to break down and buy some new hardware.
Mod my comments down. It'll be fun.
What? Don't be a prick about it, sheesh, obviously there would be no way to please you except to just give it to you for free.
;) )
Orange box is a wicked deal if you want more than one piece of what is in the bundle. Just so happens that the less of the bundle parts you already own, the more of a deal it is. Doesn't mean it's not still a deal.
You can buy the pieces by themselves, or buy the bundle if the price of the pieces you want individually is more than orange box. How is that kicking you in the balls?
Fuck I hate whiny pricks like you. Got to crap on everything for no bloody reason.
Hey...actually, wait, I'm going about this all wrong. Yes, you're right! What a kick in the Balls! You should boycott Valve and never buy anything from them again! That'll teach em!
(What're the chances that'll keep us from having to put up with this kind of crap in TF2? Worth a shot anyways
No Comment.
I'd pay $45 for Team Fortress 2 alone, it's been that fun. And I didn't like the original Team Fortress mods. Episode 2 and Portal only make the Orange box that much of a sweeter deal. Unless you really want to play it on a console, I'd look into the PC version.
Team Fortress is the most fun multiplayer I've had in a long time. I can't wait to play Portal (try the spiritual precursor, Narbacular Drop). Episode 2 looks like fun as well.
Yeah, but it costs more to buy that way. Especially for me, as I haven't picked up Ep 1 yet, but have HL2 that I paid full price for.
Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity, though I'm not yet sure about the universe. - A Einstein
If there is a reason for the PS3 being delayed (and who says it is?), it might have something to do with the fact that the Source engine was written against DirectX. The PS3 uses OpenGL for graphics and has other APIs for things such as sound, controllers etc. Consequently the engine needs a virtual rewrite irrespective. And who says they need SPUs, or that even if they did that they'd be utilised significantly in a game engine which has been predominantly single threaded throughout most of its life?
Perhaps Valve should have the foresight to make their engine more portable to begin with rather than bitch that a system (be it Linux, Mac, PS3, Wii or whatever) DARES to not use Microsoft proprietary APIs.
I am reluctant to position myself in front of your tirade, but the original poster is quite correct on one key point. Today, now, you can't buy the individual games. You can buy the Orange Box collection, or one of the massive game packs that they offer. The page you referenced lists the individual prices, yes, but today, now, you can't buy them that way. (Try it - it takes you to the bundles page.) Try as I might, I can't buy just Epsidode 2 or Portal.
They are allowing customers of Orange Box to electronically regift the individual games that they might already own. Example: I own HL2, and HL2E1... if I buy the Orange Box, I can "give" these two games to someone else. Which is pretty cool, but not exactly compelling.
to the original poster, I offer this advice... just wait a week. Valve traditionally drops prices (or offers sales) very quickly. I expect that they'll bust up the "Orange Box" into it's component pieces and you'll be able to buy Episode 2 for $30 within a week or two, possibly even on release day. But as GeckoX said, if you're planning to buy two or more games anyway, just buy the damned Orange Box, it's cheaper anyway.
Best to both of you.
http://www.vivendi.com/corp/en/home/index.php
Calling it the same engine is a MAJOR stretch. There are many, many engine improvements and optimizations going into the engine with the launch of EP2. Among the list is improved facial animations, improvements for multiprocessor-eqiupped systems, a new dynamic lighting and shadow mapping system, an upgraded render path including support for DX10 as well as improvements to large-scale outdoor environments. Also Portal looks to be one of the more original games I've seen in quite a few years. Dismissing TF2 and Portal as a "side game" or "mini-game" is also kind of naive considering Valve's history and continued pledge of support for additional content in these types of games.
I have to say I wasn't very impressed with Team Fortress 2. It plays ok, the graphics are great, but it seems a bit simplistic...
I've been playing the Enemy Territory:Quake Wars demo and even with only one level, it seems much better. And it also has acceptable (at least to me) bots...
I almost died laughing watching the TF2 previews. I'm hoping I can put Halo down long enough to play it though.
Thats because the games aren't released yet. They will be available separately as soon as they go live. The bundle can be pre-ordered for two reasons:
1) Access to TF2 Beta
2) $5 discount on the pre-order.
-- toolie
Are you trolling or just stupid? Last time I looked, OpenGL *is* an open standard. Just one of many supported out of the box by the PS3 SDK.
As for being a "development nightmare", I have yet to see a single shred of evidence that even remotely supports that claim.
I would wager that Portal is going to be way more of a time-sink to be considered simply a "mini-game"
Agreed. I also think Team Fortress is going to be big too. Expect to see a shedload of TF servers out there next year. If they're not running that, It'll either be ET:QW or CS.
Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
...and because people will pay more for the bundle in anticipation. I hear what you're saying, but last time around, I could pre-order the individual games.
If there is a reason for the PS3 being delayed (and who says it is?), it might have something to do with the fact that the Source engine was written against DirectX. The PS3 uses OpenGL for graphics and has other APIs for things such as sound, controllers etc. Consequently the engine needs a virtual rewrite irrespective.
I fear that you are showing your utter ignorance of game development my friend. Yes, Half-Life 2 was written against Direct3D primarily, and now it will have to be ported to one of the PS3's graphics APIs; Either their OpenGL|ES + extensions or their (proprietary, by the way) lower-level API that nearly all boxed retail games have utilized. In all probability, its not porting D3D to OpenGL, but porting D3D to this low-level API. That being said, however, the specific portion of the game which deals with graphics is not a large portion of the code, maybe 10-15 percent at most. The portion of the graphics code which deals directly with the API is maybe half of the overall graphics code. Somehow you've managed to imply that porting 5-10 percent of the code requires a virtual re-write -- an implication that, frankly, falls on its face.
And who says they need SPUs, or that even if they did that they'd be utilized significantly in a game engine which has been predominantly single threaded throughout most of its life?
Who says that the engine needs to be multi-threaded and use the SPUs? Its the PS3s system architecture that really demands it. The PPU (the single PowerPC core in the PS3, and the same as the 3 in the Xbox 360) is very underpowered. Its the rough equivalent of a 1.5Ghz Pentium 3m despite the fact that its clocked at 3ghz. Next you have to consider that some of that PPU power is designated as reserved by the system software which runs in the background, and that, due to the design of the PPU you must have at least 2 active threads to reach anywhere near peak performance -- Its an in-order dual-threaded processor, meaning that when one thread stalls (memory access, for instance) the other thread executes until it stalls or the other thread can resume. In short, the only way to get good performance from the PS3 is to use enough threads to keep the PPU happy, and to offload anything you can to the SPUs -- offloading is not at all optional for any modern game.
Perhaps Valve should have the foresight to make their engine more portable to begin with rather than bitch that a system (be it Linux, Mac, PS3, Wii or whatever) DARES to not use Microsoft proprietary APIs.
I've already touched on the fact that, in all likelihood, valve will be porting from one proprietary API to another. Even assuming that it had been targeted at OpenGL on the PC, there would still be some amount of porting involved in targeting the OpenGL|ES + extensions found on the PS3 -- easier, yes, but still no free lunch.
But I think this last statement reveals your true motivation: you're steamed that valve didn't support OpenGLin half-life 2. I'm a huge supporter of OpenGL, especially with all the changes coming in 3.0 and Mount Evans (not to mention OpenGL|ES, which is awesome) because I agree with, and support, the philosophy of open standards. That said, in terms of retail software, OpenGL is really very much a theoretical standard, while DirectX is a practical standard. By this I mean that a fairly average user is far more likely to have heard of DirectX and perhaps even know its general purpose than they are OpenGL. Add in the fact that Windows PCs are something like 90% of the desktop market, it becomes the de-facto standard in terms of what platform retail software should target first.
I've started moving my gaming from PC to console and have been having a hard time. I enjoy the online aspect of some games, namely WoW and Counter Strike. What do you recommend to replace those two games on the PS3 system?
It looks like digital distribution hasn't changed a thing when it comes to arbitrary launch dates that have nothing to do with a products readiness.
Not entirely true. It is true that Valves hands are tied by EA (rather than Vivendi this time) regarding the brick and mortar sale date. But this time the presale crowd gets to play with the TF2 "beta" (beta after a game has gone gold, eh?). It's true that you don't get the whole thing when you easily could, but some people genuinely prefer to get a pretty box to hold their product code in and therefore Valve has to play ball for now. There's many years tradition and mega cash still supporting and worrying about brick and mortar. I think the beta shows that things are changing gradually however, here and there. Its not like we were going to cross the digital distribution rubicon overnight, though I do think that future will be here sooner than you think.
I'm far more interested in Portal, on the other hand.
Technoli
I used to play a lot of TF in the old days and pre-ordered so i'm playing TF2, it is almost a different game.. in a good way. the only map that makes it seem like the old game is 2fort, but even then with the uber charge, invis for spys, sapping, and the other game play balances it's a whole new type of play style and game feel.
my 2cents.
Development for PS1 and PS2 were a goddamn nightmare too. Why should PS3 be any different?
I've been playing the Enemy Territory:Quake Wars demo and even with only one level, it seems much better. And it also has acceptable (at least to me) bots... Interesting. I've been thoroughly enjoying the TF2 beta as a game that is sufficiently simple to jump into immediately, but with enough subtlety to fuel long-term strategies. ET:QW, on the other hand, really disappointed me. I'm a huge fan of ET and was hoping for essentially an updated version of it, with new maps and better production values. ET:QW just doesn't feel right: the weapons lack punch and players seem to die faster. In truth, it strikes me as something very much closer in feel to BF2, which I didn't really care for.
I'll certainly be keeping an eye on ET:QW, in the hopes that I'm wrong about it and that it will develop into the excellent multiplayer experience that ET was. But until then, TF2 will be claiming the lion's share of my FPS gaming time.
cheers.
P.P.S. I'm doing Science and I'm still alive.
I'm not sure how my comment was redundant. Perhaps if there was a 'smart-ass' tag, I could understand that. But redundant? With what? I was trying to point out that the slashdot introduction for the article was written poorly - namely that someone left a tag hanging open that mucked up the meaning of the intro for me and the 4 other slashdot readers who don't play half-life.
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
I'm loving playing that at the moment...
Good times!
Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself. -- Leo Tolstoy
Why do you assume games require lower level 3D APIs? What proof do you have for that? I acknowledge that hardware extensions such as shaders that may require lower level calls.
The portion of the graphics code which deals directly with the API is maybe half of the overall graphics code. Somehow you've managed to imply that porting 5-10 percent of the code requires a virtual re-write -- an implication that, frankly, falls on its face.
I haven't implied any such thing. DirectX encompasses more than just graphics. DirectX has APIs for sound, music, controllers, 3D & 2D graphics, texturing, multimedia, networking. Which is why I said "it might have something to do with the fact that the Source engine was written against DirectX. The PS3 uses OpenGL for graphics and has other APIs for things such as sound, controllers etc.". If I cared to look at the leaked source code for HL2 I expect it would call many different DirectX APIs and probably a bunch of Win32 APIs in addition. Furthermore I expect it hasn't bothered to abstract such calls in a way to aid porting. Hence why I said they should have made their code more portable. Making code more portable means anticipating other APIs or other platforms and using proper abstraction to allow just those sections to be reimplemented without re-writing the whole engine. Clearly Valve were faced with a virtual re-write or they wouldn't have punted the port over to EA.
Who says that the engine needs to be multi-threaded and use the SPUs? Its the PS3s system architecture that really demands it.
I didn't say anything about SPUs, but the architecture doesn't demand it all. Certainly you get better performance if you make the effort, but I'd be surprised if any 1st gen EA / Ubisoft / Activision games touched the SPUs at all. Sure, some of them suffered for not doing it, but not all of them. Additionally, EA / Ubisoft / Activision have the good sense to write their games over in-house middleware that abstracts most of the differences between PC, 360, PS3 & Mac. It means the game code is mostly platform neutral and that once the middleware does start to take advantage of a feature in a platform (e.g. SPUs in the PS3), it doesn't necessarily "infect" the game code. We're starting to see some EA sports titles run 60fps now, probably because the middleware is starting to use SPUs.
Valve is also on record for saying their engine was single threaded. Even if they have since added some multi-threaded functionality (e.g. streaming textures or whatever) this does not necessarily mean an SPU is required since the PPU still supports two threads in hardware. And even if an SPU were required, again proper abstraction in the game code should mean that the difference between SPU or thread is mostly irrelevant to the caller.
The PPU (the single PowerPC core in the PS3, and the same as the 3 in the Xbox 360) is very underpowered. Its the rough equivalent of a 1.5Ghz Pentium 3m despite the fact that its clocked at 3ghz.
I know from experience that the performance of Linux on the PS3 is underwhelming, but then games consoles don't typically need to run dozens or hundreds of threads with prioritized context switching. So performance really depends on a lot of factors.
Next you have to consider that some of that PPU power is designated as reserved by the system software which runs in the background, and that, due to the design of the PPU you must have at least 2 active threads to reach anywhere near peak performance -- Its an in-order dual-threaded processor, meaning that when one th
What does Vivendi have to do with anything? They're not Valve's publisher anymore, EA is.
I do, but apparently you don't. There's a difference between being able to activate a game and being able to purchase/download a game. While the retail discs are little more than copies of the GCF cache files, it's not exactly difficult for them to only activate retail copies (which I assume have some sort of unique identifier).
That said, yes, my information (taken from Wikipedia) was incorrect. Wikipedia has also updated their own information, October 10th for Steam/North America and October 12th for the rest of the world. That's what I get for trusting the factual accuracy of Wikipedia.
Simple, Sell your ps3, use the money to resub to WoW. What's left over, buy a Wii and upgrade your ram/video card if you need to in your PC. You'll be much happier.
oogly boogly!
Check your own link, that is for the bundle. Sure Valve made up unreasonable prices for each part but where can you get those parts because it's not on steam.
Also note how they quote the price of HL2 as $29.99 (when it's actually $19.99 on steam) and Ep1 as $19.99 ($9.99 on Steam). The two together can be had for $24.99 on Steam.
I was lead to believe that Team Fortress 2 was to be the multi-player part of Half-life: Episode 2, which will be available for $29.99 from Steam. I don't think, however, that you will be able to buy Team Fortress 2 or Episode 2 separate from the Orange Box in a physical store.