No more single player games from Valve?!

So should we all just say goodbye Half Life Ep 3, or Half Life 3 or w/e with a 3 in it?
I'm not sure if it was already mentioned here but Geoff Keighley have recently remarked that there might not be any more isolated single player games from Valve. He did this as a part of the feature "The Final Hours of Portal 2" - Link. Will that mean there will be a next HL only as part of an MP sort of experience.. Will there be a single player next HL? What is up with Valve?
I think that Valve has gone bananas! What is up with them?! No more SP only sort of game, or at least a well thought one, the kind we're used to from Valve and the HL series? Are we all just MP junkies and Valve like all the money hungry companies is surffing on the current wave? Did they forget about actualy making the next game of their flag series?! I think that someone should realy beat the ... out of some of them, starting with that guy and proceeding with Gabe. If that will be the truth then Valve would be nothing but Steam for me.
Cheers..

he ameant all games will have some sort of online feature. So HL3 will have co-op or MP

Adding a deeper online experience doesn't sound bad to me. Portal 2 is great, but there is nothing that can be done with that idea for multiplayer, aside from their 2-player co-op, so I'm glad they're moving in that direction although I would still like to see a Portal 3 in two or three years.

Singleplayer campaign also in CO-OP, how on earth do people still interpret this. It's not about standalone multiplayer, it's also not about standalone CO-OP, it's about singleplayer campaign CO-OP.

Portal 2 is almost perfect and Valve is a smart developer, they can't possibly bring a game like HL to the same level, so they chose to make things different.

About the facepalm, seriously...read your OP and then ask yourself " does any of that make sense? ".

After reading those comments, i have ended up in the conclusion that valve is being a big joke latelly. Why the hell would anyone care if they stopped making sp only games? I mean its like, every other developer makes games with both sp and mp and now valve "woke up" and will start making both sp and mp capabilities in one game? I mean its like they just advanced to that capability.

I fail to see the point of all those stupid anouncements valve makes instead of getting off their lazy asses and start making the next half life game. That is half life 3 not an episode, not a short expansion not another l4d/portal or free game. Seriously valve needs to work, its like they are doing it on purpuse and when every dev out there makes the sequel everyone wants, valve is playing hard to get and make other stuff instead of what everyone wants.

After reading those comments, i have ended up in the conclusion that valve is being a big joke latelly. Why the hell would anyone care if they stopped making sp only games? I mean its like, every other developer makes games with both sp and mp and now valve "woke up" and will start making both sp and mp capabilities in one game? I mean its like they just advanced to that capability.

I fail to see the point of all those stupid anouncements valve makes instead of getting off their lazy asses and start making the next half life game. That is half life 3 not an episode, not a short expansion not another l4d/portal or free game. Seriously valve needs to work, its like they are doing it on purpuse and when every dev out there makes the sequel everyone wants, valve is playing hard to get and make other stuff instead of what everyone wants.

[QUOTE="kris9031998"] Lolwut. You called valve lazy? Wow, just wow.dakan45

[QUOTE="kris9031998"] Lolwut. You called valve lazy? Wow, just wow.dakan45

Are they lazy or are they perfectionists like blizzard, i tend to agree with the latter

[QUOTE="dakan45"][QUOTE="kris9031998"] Lolwut. You called valve lazy? Wow, just wow.planetjumper

Are they lazy or are they perfectionists like blizzard, i tend to agree with the latter

I agree with Dakan45 on this one. Valve started making episodes in order to cut down on production time between project releases. Then, they realized that episodes still take forever to make and provide less content and generate less revenue. I belive that they shifted their thinking away from episodes all together. Also, it's very obvious that MP trumps SP for devs, because you need to create much less content and more ppl will make a purchase vs pirating the game. It's in Valve style to try and reinvent the wheel for every new project. The downside is all the experiments slow down their game production to a crawl.

I agree with Dakan45 on this one. Valve started making episodes in order to cut down on production time between project releases. Then, they realized that episodes still take forever to make and provide less content and generate less revenue. I belive that they shifted their thinking away from episodes all together. Also, it's very obvious that MP trumps SP for devs, because you need to create much less content and more ppl will make a purchase vs pirating the game. It's in Valve style to try and reinvent the wheel for every new project. The downside is all the experiments slow down their game production to a crawl.

NeoTemplar

They're probably just developing Source 2 engine under top secrecy and while doing that they toss you an average quality game of theirs with free updates so the fanbase remains patient. Wasn't it a similar way how Half-Life 2 with it's new engine was brought in?

[QUOTE="kris9031998"] Lolwut. You called valve lazy? Wow, just wow.dakan45

Haven't heard of Steam have you?

I know I'm in the minority but multiplayer is increasingly ruining my gaming experience.

my god, when he means no more single player games, he means singleplayer ONLY games. So games like Half life 2 wont be released, more like games like portal 2.kris9031998

Half-life 2 had multiplayer :?

[QUOTE="kris9031998"]my god, when he means no more single player games, he means singleplayer ONLY games. So games like Half life 2 wont be released, more like games like portal 2.hartsickdiscipl

Half-life 2 had multiplayer :?

[QUOTE="kris9031998"]my god, when he means no more single player games, he means singleplayer ONLY games. So games like Half life 2 wont be released, more like games like portal 2.hartsickdiscipl

Half-life 2 had multiplayer :?

Sorry to get off topic but a lot of people, even Valve, say that video game piracy is no big deal. They created the most successful DRM* ever and forced it on us starting with Half Life 2 and now they are ditching single player only games for more sales... how can anyone think that? (ON youtube, that forbidden website, any website that doesn't hush pirates, they are call you idiots and ask "who buys single player games anyway?") Even on this website most people are probably pirates.

System Wars has this neat little thing where a few users make a magazine every month. One issue they had one PC guy debunk things about PC gamers, something that really got me when they started talking about piracy, I don't remember how it went exactly but his response was something about them having higher standards than console gamers. He pretty much said; "If it doesn't meet out standards we're going pirate it." I bet the same people who cry that piracy is not hurting anyone are the pirates on this website! :lol:

*because I know some people are going ask; because they have somehow tricked you into wanting it. They gave you some useless features such as in game chat, community groups, things that are done much better on other websites built it. It's not perfect, there are even hacks to have every game on Steam, but it is no doubt the most video game DRM ever.

I know I'm in the minority but multiplayer is increasingly ruining my gaming experience.

weisguy119

After reading those comments, i have ended up in the conclusion that valve is being a big joke latelly. Why the hell would anyone care if they stopped making sp only games? I mean its like, every other developer makes games with both sp and mp and now valve "woke up" and will start making both sp and mp capabilities in one game? I mean its like they just advanced to that capability.

I fail to see the point of all those stupid anouncements valve makes instead of getting off their lazy asses and start making the next half life game. That is half life 3 not an episode, not a short expansion not another l4d/portal or free game. Seriously valve needs to work, its like they are doing it on purpuse and when every dev out there makes the sequel everyone wants, valve is playing hard to get and make other stuff instead of what everyone wants.

dakan45

How does not making a Half Life 3 amount to being "lazy?" Yes there needs to be one, but you can't ignore the hard work put into their games since HL2.

[QUOTE="hartsickdiscipl"]

[QUOTE="kris9031998"]my god, when he means no more single player games, he means singleplayer ONLY games. So games like Half life 2 wont be released, more like games like portal 2.Nerkcon

Half-life 2 had multiplayer :?

I never had to buy my HL2 multiplayer separately. Sure, it has a separate .exe file, but that's it. It was free for me on Steam once I installed HL2.

[QUOTE="hartsickdiscipl"]

[QUOTE="kris9031998"]my god, when he means no more single player games, he means singleplayer ONLY games. So games like Half life 2 wont be released, more like games like portal 2.Nerkcon

Half-life 2 had multiplayer :?

I don't mind multiplayer if it its done like Uncharted 2. Have 1 team work on SP while another works on MP. As much MP sounds cool in a game like arkham asylum or city those kinds of games should always focus on SP first and only MP if there is any extra time to make it or making MP will not hurt SP.

The quote is: "Portal 2 will probably be Valve's last game with an isolated single-player experience."

Now that can be interpreted a number of ways, but the key word there is 'isolated'. Does it mean future games will all have multiplayer out of the box to complement the single player campaign? Does it mean the 'single player' campaign will now have co-op? Does it mean both? The simple fact is that it is such an ambiguous statement that no-one can know for sure.

What I will say is that if they intend to include multiplayer out of the box, they need to come up with something more original than the vanilla deathmatch, team deathmatch, etc., because those modes are beyond old by now. If they include MP with the next Half-Life, I'd like to see something more objective-based. Remember that level in Episode Two where you had to take down the Striders before they reached the base? That would be great for an MP experience, getting people to work together as a team to protect each of the supply sites, while also protecting the main base.

I know I'm in the minority but multiplayer is increasingly ruining my gaming experience.

weisguy119

Are they lazy or are they perfectionists like blizzard, i tend to agree with the latterplanetjumper

Far from perfect, pretty slow and lazy. They dont know how to make and push games at this era's requirements, but then again they got steam so why bother?

Haven't heard of Steam have you?Whiteblade999

Exactly , they got steam, why the hell would they bother making games? :lol: Conclusion: They are lazy!!

How does not making a Half Life 3 amount to being "lazy?" Yes there needs to be one, but you can't ignore the hard work put into their games since HL2.

Upparoom

[QUOTE="planetjumper"]Are they lazy or are they perfectionists like blizzard, i tend to agree with the latterdakan45

The quote is: "Portal 2 will probably be Valve's last game with an isolated single-player experience."

Now that can be interpreted a number of ways, but the key word there is 'isolated'. Does it mean future games will all have multiplayer out of the box to complement the single player campaign? Does it mean the 'single player' campaign will now have co-op? Does it mean both? The simple fact is that it is such an ambiguous statement that no-one can know for sure.

RobertBowen

Yeah, the statement so vague, there's also a part of the quote that states "What this all means is something Newell is still trying to figure out". So apparently Valve isn't even sure what the statement implies for games. In addition, it's stated as "probably" so there's a chance these are drawing board plans that won't really amount to much in the end.

At the very least, I don't personally think it refers to coop specifically since Portal 2 includes coop and it's quoted as the "last game".

One thing that comes to mind when I hear the word "isolated" is how in a typical single-player experience the world or environment is static/fixed/siloed/etc to it's own instance. Everyone plays in their own "copy" of that world which has no interaction to the outside. Perhaps one thing Valve could do it to make aspects of the game more dynamic by providing everyone's instance with real-time data which impacts or alters the game or parts of the game in some way, making it less "isolated". Maybe this impact could even be tied to the community in some way.

This could be kind of cool, but if they did implement something like this, I'd hope there would still be a completely offline fallback so the game wasn't absolutely dependent on real-time data (similar to the always-on DRM Ubi had).

Who knows what they are talking about.

[QUOTE="dakan45"][QUOTE="planetjumper"]Are they lazy or are they perfectionists like blizzard, i tend to agree with the latterGeneral_X

Why does everyone assume the next Half-Life product isn't being worked on? Just because you haven't seen it yet doesn't mean it doesn't exist. It's their flagship title; if you think they're not working on it you're insane.

As for Valve being lazy... please. They don't just push out the same crud after crud clone product that other companies do. They spend a lot of time listening to the community and updating their products as well as working on new things and developing business ideas. I would say that primarily Valve is a business trying to develop a relationship with customers and a games developer second. If Valve is so "lazy" why do every one of their games sell amazingly and get amazing scores to back that up? They work long and hard to create amazing games. Just look at TF2. It's been out for 3 or 4 years now and they STILL update it, for free. How many other companeis update their games with free content? Edit: You'll find that most other companies take months and months to release PATCHES that are required to fix game breaking bugs. That's hardly service. That's why Valve don't release a whole heap of products. They release solid games and then work on them after release according to community feedback.

The next Half-Life product is being worked on, but they'll be working on it until its perfect.

I know I'm in the minority but multiplayer is increasingly ruining my gaming experience.

weisguy119

Why does everyone assume the next Half-Life product isn't being worked on? Just because you haven't seen it yet doesn't mean it doesn't exist. It's their flagship title; if you think they're not working on it you're insane.

As for Valve being lazy... please. They don't just push out the same crud after crud clone product that other companies do. They spend a lot of time listening to the community and updating their products as well as working on new things and developing business ideas. I would say that primarily Valve is a business trying to develop a relationship with customers and a games developer second. If Valve is so "lazy" why do every one of their games sell amazingly and get amazing scores to back that up? They work long and hard to create amazing games. Just look at TF2. It's been out for 3 or 4 years now and they STILL update it, for free. How many other companeis update their games with free content? Edit: You'll find that most other companies take months and months to release PATCHES that are required to fix game breaking bugs. That's hardly service. That's why Valve don't release a whole heap of products. They release solid games and then work on them after release according to community feedback.

The next Half-Life product is being worked on, but they'll be working on it until its perfect.

DigitalExile

[QUOTE="DigitalExile"]

Why does everyone assume the next Half-Life product isn't being worked on? Just because you haven't seen it yet doesn't mean it doesn't exist. It's their flagship title; if you think they're not working on it you're insane.

As for Valve being lazy... please. They don't just push out the same crud after crud clone product that other companies do. They spend a lot of time listening to the community and updating their products as well as working on new things and developing business ideas. I would say that primarily Valve is a business trying to develop a relationship with customers and a games developer second. If Valve is so "lazy" why do every one of their games sell amazingly and get amazing scores to back that up? They work long and hard to create amazing games. Just look at TF2. It's been out for 3 or 4 years now and they STILL update it, for free. How many other companeis update their games with free content? Edit: You'll find that most other companies take months and months to release PATCHES that are required to fix game breaking bugs. That's hardly service. That's why Valve don't release a whole heap of products. They release solid games and then work on them after release according to community feedback.

The next Half-Life product is being worked on, but they'll be working on it until its perfect.

dakan45

The episodes were an experiment that they did to release shorter games cheaper games more often than big full length games. They got the first 2 points, but found out that developing the episodes isnt actually that much faster. So in that sense they failed.

L4D2 was made because the amount of content that they were putting in couldnt have been put into L4D1. It had something to do with how they couldnt update L4D in the same way that they did TF2 IIRC. Yes it was a year later, but it was a significant improvement over the first game. .

Never ever had a problem with stuttering, nor has anyone I know.

The Portal 2 "Saving game do not turn off your console" thing has been explained by Valve and doesnt mean anything. Portal 2 was an amazing game, it does not suffer from being on console at all. I challenge anyone to fault this game.

To the bolded: Vavle is a big company, but the thing you need to remember is that they are not just a developer. They do many other things aside from just making games.

Sorry for not being one of those people who think valves games are "miles better than the ones made by devs that release a game every half year" Infact i believe that you over-rate valve and from the FOREVER release date they put on hl3 and the time they take to make episodes, yes, i would prefer they release games more often and expand their employee base. Seriously they take years for an episode?Thats disgusting, its obvious valve cant keep up with the work time of the rest of the gaming industry, so instead of believing that, i choose to believe they are lazy. In any case you valve does not take extra time to make the game better, they just need that time for the reasons you pointed above.dakan45