Valve - Still figuring out Episode 3

[Evo]

A new feature from PC Zone has David Speyrer and Doug Lombardi talking in-depth on Episode 2 and Spreyrer talks a bit about Episode 3 and how they still don't exactly know the plan for it.

"We don't know entirely what's happening in the next episode, but we're gonna figure it out!" laughed Speyrer.

"There are always things we want to do that we can't because of the constraints of either the story or the arc we've laid out for the gameplay - or just time. So we shelve them and carry on. Ideas fly around here quite a bit, so we have this huge laundry list of things to try for the next thing..."

This is a very good read, so head here for the whole article.

[Darkside55]

Haven't planned the story out fully? Don't worry, Valve--there's nothing delays can't fix!

[wlodi]

So, it means EP3 will be released some time in 2010?

[Avoidist]

Err... what? Is this some complete lack of foresight or just the way they've always rolled? Hopefully it's just the minor details, the outline/ending/incredibly primitive plot must be set out by now.

[99.vikram]

Originally Posted by Avoidist

Err... what? Is this some complete lack of foresight or just the way they've always rolled? Hopefully it's just the minor details, the outline/ending/incredibly primitive plot must be set out by now.

That's how Valve rolls. They don't need our munnies, so they can take long vacations!

[Absinthe]

I was under the impression the ball was already rolling on Ep3.

This scares the shit out of me.

[nutcrackr]

oh dear, 2009 hi2u

[Insano]

I think was he's saying is that they don't exactly know what kind of features are going to be implemented. At least, I hope that's what he's saying.

[Shamrock]

Originally Posted by Absinthe

I was under the impression the ball was already rolling on Ep3.

This scares the shit out of me.

I concur. Didn't they state in some articles that they were already working on Episode 3?

[DEATH eVADER]

They are taking the Indiana Jones approach...

"I'm making this up as I go along!"

"Again, all the explanatory matter bogged down the game, so we ditched it. There may still be some old lines hanging around in the .wav files, but I haven't looked..."

I'm interested, has anybody found these?

[Narvi]

Hmmm, the White Forest details need Hlwiking.

Originally Posted by Marc Laidlaw

"In early drafts of the episode, Eli and Kleiner had warmed up White Forest all by themselves, somehow, in the brief time after fleeing City 17. This seemed ridiculous, so we developed a backstory in which Black Mesa had acquired an extremely cheap Cold War bunker and developed some projects in response to budgetary and oversight problems associated with basing all work in North America.

[Absinthe]

Originally Posted by Shamrock

I concur. Didn't they state in some articles that they were already working on Episode 3?

Yeah, which begs the question: How far along were they at the time of writing? If he's referring to a few gameplay scenarios or the episode's ending, I'm fine with that. The quote just makes it sound like it's barely left its conceptualization.

I trust this isn't the case, seeing as how we're already seeing some goodies showing up in the SDK, a few of which have very interesting implications.

EDIT: Well, shit. I just learned that the SDK references I was speaking of were leftovers and have nothing to do with Ep3. Now I don't know what to think.

[Samon]

He obviously doesn't mean they are still working on the basics. We know that they already started working on it way back in early ep2 development, and the progression toward the Arctic has been evident since ep1; I think one of the designers mentions gameplay tests for the third episode in 2? I take this as to mean that Valve are still working on what they really want to do in a setting that's arguably radically different to anything that's come before it.

I don't want Valve to just pave the episode with snow textures and call it a done deal – there's so much scope for this setting. Do it right plox.

[redruM]

This doesn't exactly sound like great news, but I'm ready to wait as long as it takes as long as Ep.3 is as high-quality as all previous Valve releases.

Also, off-topic but I found this on the site the interview is on. Looks pretty cool, even has a "telekinesis gun" (HL2 gravity gun, basically).

[Pi Mu Rho]

Originally Posted by Samon

Do it right plox.

Oh dear.