OK, some more awesome news and confirmation on the Half-Life universe straight from the guys at Valve. The gurus from the Seattle company sat down with CGW this month (Issue 255) and spilled the guts on where they are heading with their games. Here's choice tidbits and more enthralling news from the magazine.
It looks like HL2-Aftermath may release only in October, since DoD: Source is releasing only on September 26, followed by the free Lost Coast mini-story following soon thereafter. A first impression of the story of Lost Coast is also revealed, and it is confirmed that the free level will feature Valve's shiny new upgrade - the visual commentary system. For more information on the Commentary system, refer to my post on the previous page. Apparently, the people at Valve have been pushing this system far beyond the traditional commentary system you see on DVD movies as a bonus feature. In addition to being able to click on icons to hear audio commentaries on what's happening and the "director's vision" of that particular moment, the Commentary system will also be a system where if you click on a visual commentary icon (which might resemble the Microsoft Office Smart Tag system in its implementation), the game will seize control of the camera and show the player this detail or the other, and clicking on another type of icon will split the screen down the middle to demonstrate the differences between the older and newer versions of Half-Life 2, vis-a-vis HDR, as you can see in this picture of how this will work. Lost Coast will also feature bits of HL2 and some backstory that never made it into the final game, like explaining HOW the zombies and headcrabs overran Ravenholm. (If I were to guess, combining the fact that the game will feature headcrab canister launchers, and how you see the Combine using the headcrab canister launch system in "Anticitizen One" and "Follow Freeman", I would guess that the Combine "zombified" Ravenholm by launching tons of headcrab canisters into the town.) Also, the Loast Coast Canals of Ravenholm level features the infamous "Docks" demo video that was showcased when Valve displayed HL2 at E3, but never made it into the game. But one thing is FOR SURE - for now, the best engine on the planet is not the Doom 3 engine anymore, but Source with HDR. Even Quake 4 pales in comparison to the realism that the Source engine delivers in the free level as well as DoD and Aftermath.
It also appears that things are now coming to a head with the Combine invasion of Earth. Events in the future games and episodic content (more on this later) will feature tighter and tighter timelines, and events of the whole game may be spread over mere days rather than weeks or months in the gamespace. Marc Laidlaw has said that, "...we want you to think about how your first day started in Half-Life 2 when your final day ends. Look at a game like Ico [on PlayStation 2]—it’s powerful not because it’s 100 hours long, but because when the really wrenching moments happen at the end, you remember all the things that led up to them." The game tries really hard to make sure that everything that happens, happens around Freeman / the player. There's no story that's going on somewhere else at the same time as you are playing. Everything that happens in the game world that affects the story, the player sees through the eyes of Gordon Freeman. A good example of this was pointed out by Robin Walker in the story of HL2, where you find out about Dr. Judith Mossman's betrayal at the same time that it happens, but can't really do anything to stop it. Nobody tells you later that Dr. Mossman betrayed the Resistance, but you find out for yourself at the same time that the Resistance does. Walker has also said that lots of stuff that couldn't make it into Half-Life 2 will make its way into Aftermath and its successors, and we already know that the Stalkers from the Citadel will feature a more prominent role in Aftermath.
Since the player is going to spend a ton of time with Alyx, Valve has rewritten her complete AI code, or more like a "personality code" as Robin Walker calls it. Expect Alyx to be a lot more versatile in combat than the traditional "girl who needs rescuing" image that other female, AI controller players that other games have. For example, if the player is trying to solve a puzzle, Alyx will stand around and behave like a real person, instead of being the usual AI character that keeps repeating its lines over and over again. Alyx will also mimic your actions, climbing up wherever you do, crawling under everything that you do, and all of that. The game will also change a lot of things, so expect to see a radically changed City 17 and create a Ravenholm or Highway 17 like atmosphere in it. For example, City 17 now a total war zone, with the Combine field shut off, all the outside "influences" are pouring in. For example, in a screenshot you can see tons of antlions inside a City 17 residential area and Alyx, Freeman and a handful of rebels battling it out with them. Aftermath will also take the squad-control system that was in a basic shape in Half-Life 2 and kick it up a notch. For example, in HL2, while your allies could be directed to attack anything, the allies in Aftermath will be the best AI ever seen, taking their cues from what the player is doing. For example, if there are Antlions and Antlion Guards, and you try to take out the Guard first, the AI characters will notice this and direct their fire to the Guard to help you, instead of blindly firing at whatever THEY deem as a threat.
Valve has also indicated that Aftermath is the first of the episodic content that they promised for the viewers, except that they are NOT the ATI levels. Aftermath or Episode 1, focuses on the player and character interaction, while Episode 2 (yes, its being made already) will focus on realizing the potential for some areas and vehicles that couldn't be put into Half-Life 2. And the BEST news is this - Valve seems to be trying to pull off the impossible. They are planning to release an Episode every three months until Half-Life 3. However, the episodes will be released first through Steam, and then "seasonal boxed sets" combining a few of the Episodes will be released for the Retail stores later. In effect, like Robin Walker says, "While every other game developer is making a movie, we are looking at making a TV series in the equivalent of game design."
In addition, Valve is also planning to roll out image based rendering technology into its future titles, and the rest of the article talks about DoD: Source, Steam 2 and Steam 3 coexisting and a new improved Steam content delivery system that promises to be less of a pain than its predecessor, the XBox 360 and Vista OS, as well as other developers and publishers, like EA and Ritual using the Steam delivery system for their games. In fact, SiN, the game will be delivering new episodic content via Steam. So, Valve is moving from being a game developer to a virtual publisher, and their talks of delivering other interesting titles via Steam is coming to fruition. I will leave you with some interesting screenshots from the article to whet your appetite. Bon appetit! In the meantime, excuse me while I foam at the mouth and go rabid all over again waiting to play this on a spanking high-end video card.
1. Alyx shooting an Antlion dead
2. Alyx and Rebels against Antlions
3. Alyx fighting an Antlion - 1
4. Alyx fighting an Antlion - 2
5. Freeman inside the damaged Combine Citadel with the Super Gravity Gun
6. The Canals of Ravenholm - Lost Coast Level (See the docks from the E3 video in the distance?)
7. The Cliffs and the Combine - Lost Coast
8. A mosaic of images showing Alyx and Gordon fighting zombies and Combine in a deserted City 17, the G-Man, the Combine Elite, the transhuman Stalker, and a new headcrab zombie.
9. Comparison of a scene split down the middle with and without HDR
Can't wait for the game to be released.