New PC Gamer Interview:HL2

Companion Cube · Post by **Companion Cube** » 2003-10-29 06:36am

Unlike many previous ones, this interview has long, often fairly detailed answers: Link

This made me laugh:

And until Gabe's Dad gets through 30% of the game - having a good time - we're not shipping.

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2003-10-29 07:17am

I just don't care about Sierra games anymore, HomeWorld 2 was a boring
game, with no real fun, I gave up on the first mission and called it quits.

I mean come on, I'm starting to see throug the hype for a lot of this
crap.

SirNitram · Post by **SirNitram** » 2003-10-29 06:19pm

The bit about the Strider in the city impressed me. AI seems to be improving fairly well..

The Kernel · Post by **The Kernel** » 2003-10-29 06:28pm

MKSheppard wrote:I just don't care about Sierra games anymore, HomeWorld 2 was a boring
game, with no real fun, I gave up on the first mission and called it quits.

I mean come on, I'm starting to see throug the hype for a lot of this
crap.

Shep, how can you hate an entire publishers games? Sierra doesn't make most of the games they publish, they just distribute them.

Stravo · Post by **Stravo** » 2003-10-29 06:31pm

The Kernel wrote:
MKSheppard wrote:I just don't care about Sierra games anymore, HomeWorld 2 was a boring
game, with no real fun, I gave up on the first mission and called it quits.

I mean come on, I'm starting to see throug the hype for a lot of this
crap.
Shep, how can you hate an entire publishers games? Sierra doesn't make most of the games they publish, they just distribute them.

Asking Shep why he hates in broad brush strokes is like asking why the wind blows.

Hotfoot · Post by **Hotfoot** » 2003-10-29 06:38pm

The Kernel wrote:Shep, how can you hate an entire publishers games? Sierra doesn't make most of the games they publish, they just distribute them.

They don't make the games, but they do pay for them, which gives them a considerable amount of control over the developing house. Take a look at Cataclysm. Virtually no beta testing and only one patch, which wound up completely destroying any degree of balance the online game had. That's because that's all Sierra would pay for.

They can essentially neuter games and strangle the dev team until they're willing to do it by refusing to pay them. I'm not willing to ban all games from Sierra, since they do have some good dev teams in house, but their practices are counter-productive (yeah, let's cancel B5: Into The Fire and make professional bull rider 4!)

Alyeska · Post by **Alyeska** » 2003-10-29 07:08pm

MKSheppard wrote:I just don't care about Sierra games anymore, HomeWorld 2 was a boring
game, with no real fun, I gave up on the first mission and called it quits.

I mean come on, I'm starting to see throug the hype for a lot of this
crap.

Invalid reasoning. Homeworld 2 was made by Relic (with a mostly new staff who didn't work on HW) while Half-Life 2 is made by Valve (with mostly the same staff).

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2003-10-29 07:13pm

And you gave up after the first mission?

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2003-10-30 04:36am

phongn wrote:And you gave up after the first mission?

Let me put it this way, I'm not going to waste my time on a game
that rehashes the essential plot of HW1 in the sequel. Sequels are
supposed to be better and different, not god damn carbon copies
of the original.

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2003-10-30 04:39am

The Kernel wrote: Shep, how can you hate an entire publishers games?

Easily. Ever hear of Sierra Utilities? Buggy POS ridden crap that fucked
your compuiter up. And lets not forget Team Fortress 2. Where the fuck
is that game, huh? I got tired of all the delays and no news at all.

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2003-10-30 04:41am

Alyeska wrote: Invalid reasoning. Homeworld 2 was made by Relic (with a mostly new staff who didn't work on HW)

And apparently who didn't play the original HomeWorld at all. The first
mission was enough to make me hang the game up in disgust; and My
brother played it for like a few days then forgot about it. Not exactly
awe inspriing, a true classic, etc

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2003-10-30 04:49am

HL2 better have a much better story than HW2, something
that actually logically follows off from the Ending of HL,
rather than feeling rehashed.

The Kernel · Post by **The Kernel** » 2003-10-30 05:10am

Hotfoot wrote:
The Kernel wrote:Shep, how can you hate an entire publishers games? Sierra doesn't make most of the games they publish, they just distribute them.
They don't make the games, but they do pay for them, which gives them a considerable amount of control over the developing house. Take a look at Cataclysm. Virtually no beta testing and only one patch, which wound up completely destroying any degree of balance the online game had. That's because that's all Sierra would pay for.

They can essentially neuter games and strangle the dev team until they're willing to do it by refusing to pay them. I'm not willing to ban all games from Sierra, since they do have some good dev teams in house, but their practices are counter-productive (yeah, let's cancel B5: Into The Fire and make professional bull rider 4!)

They may have control over SOME games, but companies with such a huge built in fanbase as Valve don't need to listen to anyone. I can assure you that Sierra has absolutely zero creative control over the project aside from minor censor related nitpicks. Sierra needs Valve a hell of a lot more than Valve needs Sierra.

The Kernel · Post by **The Kernel** » 2003-10-30 05:12am

MKSheppard wrote:
The Kernel wrote: Shep, how can you hate an entire publishers games?
Easily. Ever hear of Sierra Utilities? Buggy POS ridden crap that fucked
your compuiter up. And lets not forget Team Fortress 2. Where the fuck
is that game, huh? I got tired of all the delays and no news at all.

Point taken, but they've removed that from their current games and it shouldn't stop you from playing some of their better titles.

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2003-10-30 05:38am

The Kernel wrote: Point taken, but they've removed that from their current games and it shouldn't stop you from playing some of their better titles.

Except they've replaced it with STEAM

The Kernel · Post by **The Kernel** » 2003-10-30 06:36am

MKSheppard wrote:
The Kernel wrote: Point taken, but they've removed that from their current games and it shouldn't stop you from playing some of their better titles.
Except they've replaced it with STEAM

STEAM is a Valve thing, not a Sierra thing although I see your point.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2003-10-30 09:48am

MKSheppard wrote:
phongn wrote:And you gave up after the first mission?
Let me put it this way, I'm not going to waste my time on a game
that rehashes the essential plot of HW1 in the sequel. Sequels are
supposed to be better and different, not god damn carbon copies
of the original.

It's hardly a carbon copy. Plus, you got that all from just playing the first mission where the Mothership is launched under fire?

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2003-10-30 09:50am

MKSheppard wrote:And apparently who didn't play the original HomeWorld at all. The first
mission was enough to make me hang the game up in disgust; and My
brother played it for like a few days then forgot about it. Not exactly
awe inspriing, a true classic, etc

It's not really awe inspiring, but I found the SP campaign fun. How many missions did your brother go through? There's quite a bit of divergance in the later missions.