How long before they regret this...

http://pc.ign.com/articles/711/711560p1.html

Looks like Valve is referring to Half-Life 2 episodes 1-3 as Half-Life 3.

I hope that when they're done, they will combine the games and rename them to Half-Life 3 with a few little improvements which would be possible had they done the entire game in one release. (Of course, such a fix would have to be released for FREE to people who bought episodes 1-3).

Since such a thing is unlikely, I wonder how long it will be before they change their minds?
I can't see Half-Life being culminated in a single standalone-ish 6-hour episode. It just wouldn't be right.
I expect the culminating game to be a wild departure from 1 and 2, just like Half-Life 2 was completely different from Half-Life 1.
...And they can't call a sequel Half-Life 4, since there will not have been anything called Half-Life 3 to fill in the gap.

Does anyone know what the heck Gabe Newell was thinking when he decided this?
It will produce immense turmoil and many disappointed people.

And, I just realised:
This means that Half-Life 3 has already failed to live up to the standards set by Half-Life 1 and 2.
This is the first game by Valve baring the name Half-Life which did not get raving reviews from every direction, and actually stands little chance of scoring "game of the year".

Of course, that's not to say Ep1 isn't a darn great game!
Ep2 looks pretty incredibly great, too.
The only problem is length, so I guess a merging should be pretty obvious... (Heh, that's 3 times I've changed my opinion on that... consider the last one final).

It wouldn't be so bad if they grouped all 3 episodes together once they are all done and call it Half-Life 3. It wouldn't feel like a true sequel though.

Episodes seem to have some nice pros but also a lot of cons =/

Its so as not to confuse Mums and people.

Little Johny: "Mommy buy me half-life episode 1"

Mommy to Shop Keeper: "Can I have Half-life one please"

or

Little Johny: "Mommy buy me Half-Life 3 eposode 1"

Mommy to shop Keeper: "Can I have Half-Life 3 please"

>Mommy to shop Keeper: "Can I have Half-Life 3 please"

"Yes, yes, but which one do you want lady? We have 1,2,3! Do you want them all?"

"Ehmm, I guess so".

That's fine. I don't think they need to be making giant leaps like they did between Half-Life 1 and 2 for it to be a sequel. I'm glad we don't have to wait 5 years between games. Then again ... I haven't bought Half-Life Episode 1 ... and don't really care to because it just looks like more Half-Life 2. I guess I'd rather have totally different games with updated graphics etc... I wouldn't mind 1 new sequel with every generation of hardware. Eventually, though that's got to break ... but when it does games will become just as boring as TV ... each episode just a little different twist on the last. Nothing truly revolutionary, which will be a shame.

Personally, I like the idea of the shorter games. I like to get the sense of satisfaction that I completed the game, but I'd rather not spend more than 10 - 12 hours having to do so. Of course I'm not a 'real' gameplayer anymore so I'm sure I'm in the minority.

I'd rather be wearing that headset of yours than play Episode 1. :)

@Maximo, no you see at that point mommy knows she cannot remember all the information she was given (and might even remember the episode 1 bit), but in the first example she would come home with Half-life 1

I like the idea of shorter cheaper games too. Especialy episodic shooters that rarely have enough variety to keep me interested enough to finish.

I got bored with HL2 pretty quick and even getting 1/2 way was a chore.

I love Far Cry for its openness, but never got past half way in that either.

I didn't like Doom3 at all, but made the effort to finish it on Xbox, because I knew it was short.

The only 2 FPS I enjoyed in recent times, that I played through to the finish without getting too bored were Riddick and FEAR. Both short and sweet.

I got Episode 1 because it was cheap, but to be honest, It's kind of boring and doesn't push FPS at all. Just got out of the core into the underground parking garage, but the mutated zombie creatures are so dull, I don't know I can be bothered to play any more.

Something needs to be done with FPS to make them more challenging, and more than just a gun stuck in front of the mouselook camera.

Evak??????????????????? does that mean you didnt get to control the antlions in HL2

problem with playing games when you can program/design 3D art is that many of the things *you* can do, you can't do in a game. I recon that can dull games down for us quite a bit ;)

What i liked about Episode 1 is that it was available now and not in another three of five years. I also couldn't finish it in five or six hours ( i really had some hard fights with the giant ant ) so i also had enough time to spend on it.

Ideally it maybe would be double of the playtime, as normal full price games sometimes tend to be too long with what they offer, where i just want to finish it without enjoying it anymore, which wasn't the case for halflife2 but enough other games.

Also if you see it from a developers/publishers point of view it's a good idea as it could reduces the financial risks.

What i'm not sure about is the potential of innovation. I guess it lower as it just takes more time to dare and come up with something more radical or new than the timespan you have when just doing an episode.

This is also the problem of Episode 1. While it's a great game ( which you'll enjoy if you liked halflife2) there isn't really something new beside of the storytelling with Alyx. It also lacks where it definately could have been better, on the story side...

Anyway i don't think it will hurt valve if it's named hl3 or hl2 or whatever. I guess when the real hl3 will be out you will hear it and the hype will be big enough! ;O)

Em why would it be called Half-life 3 when to give episode 1 it's full name its called "Half-life 2:Episode 1" which clearly states "Half-life 2" in the name?

It's common for big selling games to get expansion packs, look at BF2 and Doom3 for example. The episodes are just expansions of HL2 that continue the game, thats why there also cheaper than the full HL2 game was.

Don't see the problem on buying the episodes anyway ... do you really think that 20$ episodes will be in shops? I don't think, as I don't think that Sin will hit the "real" shops ...

Thats exactly what steam was made for ... selling games without feeding a blood sucking publisher that does nothing beside marketing something that is selfmarketing and earn the big bucks ...

Well, actually i bought my copy (dvd) in a real *rolling the eyes* shop...

I have seen both, in "real" shops.

I am not paying for 3 episodes that will be released as one at a lower price.

Lesson learnt - endeth the Large.

However, should there be some kind of 'Hot Coffee' (whatever) mod for "Alyx" in any of them then my credit card will Large itself in Valve's direction. They still have 2 episodes to tempt me.

I paid 19.99 from Steam only to see it sell at retail for $12.99. DOE!

Great game. More Half Life 2 is always good. It felt short and a bit of a rehash. The preview of Episode 2 looks like new enviroments and NPC's. Sort of what I was hoping this would be...

They just asked themselves why on earth do people give so much money to WoW (im talking 100s of dollars for the many months and years of subscription) and will only give up to about 50 for their game of the year. So it came to them, gamers have a very low value of money through time, ie, they very much prefer to pay for things in small bits over time. And its true, its a good business model. Just like EA is doing with Battlefield 2 expansions, and the sin episodes, etc. Very profitable model, people keep buying even if they were disappointed with the last episode. I know of a few examples in bf2.

Completely off topic, but cygnus brings up a good point..

I think knowing how games are made, cheapens the playing expirence... I know that when I play a game, it is very rare that I don't start thinking about what I would have done, or otherwise not playing the game...

This said... the truely great games out there make me forget that... and just have fun playing the game. Lost in the world

Riddick, HL2, and Oblivion, being the only recent games that I have played which have been able to do this for me... and it wore off for HL2 and Oblivion... granted... They are much longer than riddick... which is why I consider Riddick a better game than HL2 or Oblivion.... because it never lost it's fun and I didn't feel like I wasted my money on it.

Oblivion is great, but I found (and still find, 2 characters and 150+ hours in) that I was going from story point to story point, or now, from level to level, to see what will be new... I no longer have fun just roaming about... But ... honestly... I don't have fun roaming about my home town, and the feeling is about the same after 150 hours in the game world.

Hmmm... I have to agree that games were better to play most of the time before I knew how to make them. Well, there was actually a short period of time when I was just learning how to make games that they became even better for a bit because I really admired what was in the game. Now that I can pretty much make anything I want it really takes a lot of the mystery out of games. Without the mystery ... the 'magic' games do become a little more dull.

that is exactly it... That .... MAGIC... isn't there anymore..

I remember playing Warcraft 2, and I used to marvel at what the AI would do, how it seemed to learn... But now, I understand how it is done, and how... not simple... but how comparatively simple, it is.

I play games with friends, and they see the enemies doing things, making choices, when I see scripted dialogue and planned actions and planned happenings and scripted encounters.

My friends see creative mobility when I see all the moves planned...

My friends see a personal solution when I see a planned progression..

Sometimes... I feel like games have been ruined for me, and were it not for the cream of the crop, I might regret it..

I think, this is why a lot of AAA game designers don't play games in their spare time. Even when they used to...

Just read in a magazin that sales of Episode 1 are very good in Europe. So it seems that they are getting along with this very well. The final third part of it should be ready till christmas 2007.