Jason Weissman writes, "Game Rant recently had the opportunity to meet with Valve writer Erik Wolpaw, who is one of three writers (the others being Chet Faliszek and Jay Pinkerton) responsible for the clever dialogue found in Portal 2. During our interview, we asked questions related to the most recent Portal 2 footage released at PAX East, the casting process for the new characters, Portal 2′s place in the Half-Life universe, and whether Portal 2 would tie in to Half-Life 3."
Valve gave a user Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 for free as compensation for the long wait during their Steam Deck repair.
I had a similar experience when I initially pre-ordered my Deck. There was an issue during shipping and they offered me a customer service perk for the hassle and let me pick any game on Steam. It was super nice of them. I got a copy of Rime.
Discover 10 timeless video games from the past that remain absolutely playable today. From Chrono Trigger to DOOM, these classics have aged like fine wine!
Hot damn that's a good list. The only one i never played is AOE2 and i never finshed Chrono Trigger but it was damn good.
Speaking of what's old but holds up amazingly well and plays like a dream.. i played Symphony of the Night for the first time in 2019.. yep that's right. It became one of my favourite games of all time that i replay almost every year. I couldn't believe how good it was. That is almost impossible for me with newer games let alone older ones. Truly a special gem.
The only one I’d disagree with is doom. It shows its age badly I think. After 5 minutes of play these days you put it down.
If Half-Life 3 ever happens, what big innovation would justify it in Gabe Newell's eyes?
Innovation doesn’t always have to be a VR game, look at one of the rumours for HL3 that someone was saying earlier last week
"Procedural generation (ie. L4D Director) and advanced AI will be pushed by HLX. "
"“The 'procedural generation' in HLX does not relate to terrain or roguelike-ish mechanics but something like the Left4Dead director made "significantly more powerful". Doors, physics props, enemies, enemy types items, NPCs of any kind will be influenced by said director"
That to me is pretty significant if it's done well, that along with better enemy AI, physics and the like are what games should be evolving more but they always choose graphics mostly. The fact that it keeps circling back to only VR is the way forward when it comes to Valve is silly in my opinion.
VR can be a choice but it shouldn't be "VR only because VR is the only innovation we have left"
Just go back to what made Half-Life 2 special: the physics.
At the time, it was groundbreaking and arguably influenced a wave of other games that started to experiment with more interactive and dynamic environments. For a while, physics-based gameplay became a trend. But if you've played any first-person shooters in the last decade, you've probably noticed that most developers have either abandoned those ideas entirely or significantly toned them down. The focus shifted away from immersive world interaction toward faster pacing, scripted set pieces, and visual spectacle.
And while you're at it, ship it with a robust modding tool. That’s another thing most developers have completely given up on. It could offer a much-needed alternative to the current AAA landscape, which feels increasingly trapped in a cycle of cinematic universes and safe, homogenized content. In a world of "Marvelized" blockbusters, a game that draws inspiration from the experimental spirit of the late 1990 and mid-2000s wouldn’t just be nostalgic,it would be genuinely fresh. Ironically, looking back might be the most forward-thinking move a studio could make right now.
Here's something innovative, finish the God damn story. Wow, a concept! Locking a series behind forced innovation is stupid, and stupidity is not innovation.
They can have the game be slightly less linear but not too open. HL2 had parts like that, then Episode 2 did it a bit more.
That and expand upon the physics & AI system and further increase the graphics over Alyx and that's pretty much all they gotta do. I hope they release a separate multiplayer part after if not immediately as well, like they did shortly after HL2 released.
1. Dynamic AI for NPC - Supporting character AI that responds to your voice in real-time. Imagine getting pinned down and then just say "Alyx, throw a smoke grenade and give me covering fire!" and then she does it after responding "OK!". How about having a conversation with Alyx?
2. FOV graphical render using NVMe SSD - A graphics rendering feature that is built-in the game engine so that your GPU and CPU only renders what player is seeing. Current graphics engine renders the world beyond the FOV because of hardware limitations in immediate rendering as you pan your camera/view. Having a graphics rendering system that renders graphics instantly and only what you're seeing allows for richer, more detailed worlds or less RAM usage.
I can't wait for Portal 2, but thoughts of Half-Life 3 easily trump the Portal series.
Well at least he acknowledges the idea of Half-Life 3.