What makes Valve so special as a developer?

hats princeofshapeir

1. Not level 10
2. The quality of game that Valve makes makes me admire them. Their games are those that not only are great when they first launch, but years down the road

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Since this is a Valve thread I'll say their weakness as well: Valve does not make their own games. Every series, if I'm not mistaken, save for Half-Life, was originally built by someone other than Valve.

1, Revolutionized story telling for FPS.

2. Saved pc gaming as we know it.

3. Saved and made modding popular.

4. Saved and made indie gaming popular.

5. Pretty much invented digitla distrabution.

6. Consistantly high quility with free support.

Fairly easy to explain, not much effect needed. You should have known this.

Not level 10The quality of game that Valve makes makes me admire them. Their games are those that not only are great when they first launch, but years down the road

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Since this is a Valve thread I'll say their weakness as well: Valve does not make their own games. Every series, if I'm not mistaken, save for Half-Life, was originally built by someone other than Valve.

R3FURBISHED

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[QUOTE="R3FURBISHED"]Not level 10The quality of game that Valve makes makes me admire them. Their games are those that not only are great when they first launch, but years down the road

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Since this is a Valve thread I'll say their weakness as well: Valve does not make their own games. Every series, if I'm not mistaken, save for Half-Life, was originally built by someone other than Valve.

Sh00terMcGavin

http://www.gamespot.com/forums/topic/28967948/minimum-level-required-to-create-a-thread

Thats the reason I bring it up

Hats are awesome.

Unlike a lot of developers they are not pressured to hurry up development by publishers that are owned by stock holders who want to see profit moreso than a quality game. This results in Valve taking their time to produce games. And most of the time this results in a high quality product.

There is difference between taking your time and slacking though, see DNF.

Their FPS games are unrivaled in the level of skill needed to master them. Team Fortress 2 and Counter Strike in particular; even games like Left 4 Dead and Half Life still retain that amazing level of accuracy and precision. Amazing level design also helps. 

They make good games

I don't know much about the dirty-deets, however the reasons I respect valve is the games Left for Dead and Dota 2.  Awsome games.  Super fun.  In the end though, just another gamer developer.

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Edit:  Dammit someone got to it first.

Their FPS games are unrivaled in the level of skill needed to master them. Team Fortress 2 and Counter Strike in particular; even games like Left 4 Dead and Half Life still retain that amazing level of accuracy and precision. Amazing level design also helps. 

cfisher2833

[QUOTE="cfisher2833"]

Their FPS games are unrivaled in the level of skill needed to master them. Team Fortress 2 and Counter Strike in particular; even games like Left 4 Dead and Half Life still retain that amazing level of accuracy and precision. Amazing level design also helps. 

cain006

He's not entirely wrong

[QUOTE="cain006"]

[QUOTE="cfisher2833"]

Their FPS games are unrivaled in the level of skill needed to master them. Team Fortress 2 and Counter Strike in particular; even games like Left 4 Dead and Half Life still retain that amazing level of accuracy and precision. Amazing level design also helps. 

lostrib

He's not entirely wrong

[QUOTE="lostrib"]

[QUOTE="cain006"]:lol: Whatever dude.

cain006

He's not entirely wrong

They both require pretty much equal levels of skill and situational awareness.  I guess the only way to determine who is more skillful would be to have them compete

[QUOTE="cain006"]

[QUOTE="lostrib"]

He's not entirely wrong

lostrib

They both require pretty much equal levels of skill and situational awareness.  I guess the only way to determine who is more skillful would be to have them compete

I used to play Counter Strike semi-professionally back in high school, and I tried my hand at some Quake tournaments too.

Quake 3 / Live absolutely takes loads more skill than Counter Strike. Counter Strike is a solid runner up for competitive FPS.

TF2? TF2 does not take skill to play. I play TF2 to relive my glory days of gaming. I'm nowhere near as good at FPS as I used to be, but I can always hop into just about any TF2 game and absolutely own everyone. I have to play lobby games just to be stimulated, and those are pretty casual too.

Team Fortress 2 is a casual shooter, make no mistake. While it does the easy to learn hard to master gameplay perfectly, it is a casual game (note: this doesn't make it a bad game) it's arguebly along with Red Orchestra 2: Rising Storm the best team shooter on the market.

[QUOTE="lostrib"]

[QUOTE="cain006"]Yeah he is. Unrivaled in level of skill? That's just incorrect when there's games like Quake Live.

Big_Red_Button

They both require pretty much equal levels of skill and situational awareness.  I guess the only way to determine who is more skillful would be to have them compete

I used to play Counter Strike semi-professionally back in high school, and I tried my hand at some Quake tournaments too.

Quake 3 / Live absolutely takes loads more skill than Counter Strike. Counter Strike is a solid runner up for competitive FPS.

TF2? TF2 does not take skill to play. I play TF2 to relive my glory days of gaming. I'm nowhere near as good at FPS as I used to be, but I can always hop into just about any TF2 game and absolutely own everyone. I have to play lobby games just to be stimulated, and those are pretty casual too.

There's no question it's more casual friendly than CS or Quake, but that doesn't mean the game has no skill ceiling or depth. 

Their games

They created the best game of all time.

[QUOTE="Big_Red_Button"]

[QUOTE="lostrib"]

They both require pretty much equal levels of skill and situational awareness.  I guess the only way to determine who is more skillful would be to have them compete

princeofshapeir

I used to play Counter Strike semi-professionally back in high school, and I tried my hand at some Quake tournaments too.

Quake 3 / Live absolutely takes loads more skill than Counter Strike. Counter Strike is a solid runner up for competitive FPS.

TF2? TF2 does not take skill to play. I play TF2 to relive my glory days of gaming. I'm nowhere near as good at FPS as I used to be, but I can always hop into just about any TF2 game and absolutely own everyone. I have to play lobby games just to be stimulated, and those are pretty casual too.

There's no question it's more casual friendly than CS or Quake, but that doesn't mean the game has no skill ceiling or depth. 

I don't play in pubs, I play competitive lobby games when I'm just looking to hop into something, and I have a good amount of experience with the core competitive TF2 community.

Maybe I was harsh saying that it doesn't take any skill at all; EVERY game takes some skill. It just doesn't take much.

Valve is special because they know how to make fun games. It's really that simple.

There are loads of developers, many of whom are very successful, who don't have nearly as thorough a knowledge of what makes something "fun" as Valve.

Valve games have simple mechanics but deep gameplay. They can be challenging, but that challenge is always fair. They have lots of variety and never get too repetitive. They know how to make a game rewarding to play and they know how to dangle a carrot on a stick in front of your face in just the right way that makes you want to eat it.

Their games also have unbelievable art direction and polish. Every model, every sound, every visual fluorish, HUD element, and other artistic element of their games creates an experience with a unique personality.

Think about the sound design in Half-Life 2: If you played the game, you remember that "ploink" sound that the shotgun made as you loaded it. You remember the weak tingy sound of the pistol and the beefy blast of the magnum. You remember the sounds that health and energy stations made as you recharged your shield and health. You remember the unintelligable radio gibberish that Combine soldiers made and the shrieks of zombies.

Many developers ignore things like those basic sound effects, but Valve works to make sure that every single thing in their games is as good as it can be. It isn't about having the most polygons or the furthest draw distance, it's about having the best art.

Valve makes games that casual and hardcore players alike can both get quite a lot out of. There is no other developer who does that as well as they do.

I must be one of the few that don't like their games. Their FPS games all control the same. It's like I'm playing the same game with a new coat of paint. Boring and I don't understand their hype. SuperNecro

Are you kidding me? Are you drunk?

Their FPS games all control the same.

I agree with this statement; most of their games have similar movement mechanics, due largely to them being on the same engine.

But EVERYTHING else about the games is different.

You can't seriously be saying that Portal plays the same as Half-Life, or that Left 4 Dead plays the same as Counter-Strike? You can't seriously argue that any of those four franchises play much like any of the other ones.

3 things.

- Gabe Newell!
- The games
- Steam

Valve's greatest weapon as a developer is 2-sided. On one hand, they are a company that has infinite resources thanks to Steam and its constant revenue stream. Because of that, Valve can work and iterate on game design until they have the right design for an unforgettable experience.

However, that strength I just listed is something that Blizzard had/has as well. The 2nd factor, and the one that has made Valve be continuously relevant and modern whereas Blizzard is seemingly stuck in place, is that Valve runs to and embraces new ideas, whether it be for game design or business/distribution models.

Few companies have been as experimental as Valve, and its been nothing but beneficial to gamers. Blizzard can't say the same.

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tagyhag

They are incredibly overhyped and the magnitude of their fanboyism is mind boggling. Especially consider the high amount of stealing they do of others ideas.

Valve make solid games, I like a lot of their games. I loved half life because it was such a new experince and the scripted sequences were cool in its day, portal and portal 2 were really well done games. I dont hate the company.

But lets face it, valve brands a lot of other peoples games as their own and makes others ideas seem like they did it all.

Left 4 dead was created by turtle rock studios.

Portal was created by digipen institute of technology.

DOTA2, alien swarm, death match classic, riccochet, day of defeat, team fortress, and counter strike were all mods created by users and later absorbed by valves services.

Half life blue shift and opposing force were made by gearbox.

Just in general they dont create very much at all and when they do its just just a sequel. The rest is them just rebranding someone elses work, generallly they just reuse others mods ideas.

Far as half life I do like the games but they arent really that great because they are just showcase games. The game just leads you from physics puzzle to the next with shooting gallery moments in between. It looks great, plays great, sounds great but they really arent that mind boggling, the games are entirely just a series of sequenced moments.

Steam was a great way to bring digital content out but the software still isnt very great, prices on any game that also have a retail version generally suck in comparrison, and its still DRM.

they publish their own games = no ridicilous development deadlines = better games

hats princeofshapeir

They are incredibly overhyped and the magnitude of their fanboyism is mind boggling. Especially consider the high amount of stealing they do of others ideas.

 

Valve make solid games, I like a lot of their games. I loved half life because it was such a new experince and the scripted sequences were cool in its day, portal and portal 2 were really well done games. I dont hate the company.

 

But lets face it, valve brands a lot of other peoples games as their own and makes others ideas seem like they did it all.

 

Left 4 dead was created by turtle rock studios.

 

Portal was created by digipen institute of technology.

 

DOTA2, alien swarm, death match classic, riccochet, day of defeat, team fortress, and counter strike were all mods created by users and later absorbed by valves services.

 

Half life blue shift and opposing force were made by gearbox.

 

 

Just in general they dont create very much at all and when they do its just just a sequel. The rest is them just rebranding someone elses work, generallly they just reuse others mods ideas.

 

Far as half life I do like the games but they arent really that great because they are just showcase games. The game just leads you from physics puzzle to the next with shooting gallery moments in between. It looks great, plays great, sounds great but they really arent that mind boggling, the games are entirely just a series of sequenced moments.

 

Steam was a great way to bring digital content out but the software still isnt very great, prices on any game that also have a retail version generally suck in comparrison, and its still DRM.

Gargus

How is it stealing when they hire the creators of those games. If anything they gave an oppurtunity to those people.

3 reasons: Source engine, Half-life and Counter-Strike.

(and also Portal, Left 4 Dead and Day of Defeat, but those aren't as important as the above)

Hammer Editor.

High levels of polish, innovation, and they're great at telling stories in-game. They're also industry leaders in digital distribution, so their contributions to the industry as a whole go well beyond their own game development.

They're also very in-touch with the community, encouraging and supporting player-made content and mods.

They actually use the advantage of the medium when telling their game stories; interactivity. That's their #1 quality, and it's something many devs admire. They don't make shooting galleries followed by cutscenes like many other devs do.

When you play their lineup of single player games every bit of the story is told through your own interaction. Who you choose to listen to, what you choose to look at, where you choose to be at any given moment. It all plays a role in how you experience the game. It's not just a bunch of cut scenes with shooting galleries in between them.

Play through the Half Life series and actually take the time to listen to what the scientists say, look at objects you find on desks, read what is scratched onto the walls, listen to the people of City 17, and watch how they act. It'll make the experience so much greater than if you just run through shooting aliens and soldiers as fast as you can.

Beyond their single player lineup they have one of the greatest lineups of multiplayer games on the market. Dota 2, Team Fortress, Counter Strike, Garry's Mod, L4D, Day of Defeat.

And along with their games they've been HUGELY responsible for the resurgence of PC gaming with Steam. There was a point prior to Steam when consumer spending on PC gaming was declining rapidly year over year, and hit it's lowest in I believe 2006. With Steam, and now the help of other vendors, consumer spending on PC gaming is rivaling the entire console market by itself. Steam has done a lot to gain favor for Valve.

1, Revolutionized story telling for FPS.

2. Saved pc gaming as we know it.

3. Saved and made modding popular.

4. Saved and made indie gaming popular.

5. Pretty much invented digitla distrabution.

6. Consistantly high quility with free support.

 

Fairly easy to explain, not much effect needed. You should have known this.

uninspiredcup

They didn't invent DD, it was around long before they just were the firsts to really start it with the game industry

[QUOTE="uninspiredcup"]

1, Revolutionized story telling for FPS.

2. Saved pc gaming as we know it.

3. Saved and made modding popular.

4. Saved and made indie gaming popular.

5. Pretty much invented digitla distrabution.

6. Consistantly high quility with free support.

 

Fairly easy to explain, not much effect needed. You should have known this.

savagetwinkie

They didn't invent DD, it was around long before they just were the firsts to really start it with the game industry

They actually use the advantage of the medium when telling their game stories; interactivity. That's their #1 quality, and it's something many devs admire. They don't make shooting galleries followed by cutscenes like many other devs do.

When you play their lineup of single player games every bit of the story is told through your own interaction. Who you choose to listen to, what you choose to look at, where you choose to be at any given moment. It all plays a role in how you experience the game. It's not just a bunch of cut scenes with shooting galleries in between them.

Play through the Half Life series and actually take the time to listen to what the scientists say, look at objects you find on desks, read what is scratched onto the walls, listen to the people of City 17, and watch how they act. It'll make the experience so much greater than if you just run through shooting aliens and soldiers as fast as you can.

 

Beyond their single player lineup they have one of the greatest lineups of multiplayer games on the market. Dota 2, Team Fortress, Counter Strike, Garry's Mod, L4D, Day of Defeat.

And along with their games they've been HUGELY responsible for the resurgence of PC gaming with Steam. There was a point prior to Steam when consumer spending on PC gaming was declining rapidly year over year, and hit it's lowest in I believe 2006. With Steam, and now the help of other vendors, consumer spending on PC gaming is rivaling the entire console market by itself. Steam has done a lot to gain favor for Valve.

treedoor

And the "interactivity" in the HL games is just good atmosphere. Lots of games have that.

zero idea, I like portal, but find HL to be meh