Half Life 2 Gold on Monday?

[PaulBot]

I miss that thread from GG, so I'm resurrecting it.

So, it didn't go gold yesterday...sniffle...

Maybe next Monday....

[CeeKay]

dude, let it go man.  let the dream go.

Eyes I dare not meet in dreams
In death's dream kingdom
These do not appear:
There, the eyes are
Sunlight on a broken column
There, is a tree swinging
And voices are
In the wind's singing
More distant and more solemn
Than a fading star.

Let me be no nearer
In death's dream kingdom
Let me also wear
Such deliberate disguises
Rat's coat, crowskin, crossed staves
In a field
Behaving as the wind behaves
No nearer--

Not that final meeting
In the twilight kingdom

[whiteboyskim]

Not even a need for that CeeKay, but I would have been surprised if this thread didn't surface sooner or later. At the very least, it lets us keep the running gag that is the HL2 release date going.

Now, let's talk about a new DNF thread...

[CeeKay]

<sigh>  I do miss the little winky icon that you can put on the upper left hand corner of the posts :p

[PaulBot]

Now, let's talk about a new DNF thread...

DNF??? Did Not Finish??

HUH??!!??  

[Kevin Grey]

Received my US PC Gamer with the HL2 review today (98%).  Happy to answer any questions about it.  

I am incredibly excited for this game.  Everything I've read from press who have gotten a hold of it says that its incredible and completely worth the wait.

[PaulBot]

Received my US PC Gamer with the HL2 review today (98%).  Happy to answer any questions about it.

One question: when is it going to be available?

Let us know when you get the article scanned and posted on a web site so the rest of us can see it!  

[Hetz]

I also got the new PC Gamer today! I can't wait for this game. The review made it sound like the best game ever made...

[Sparhawk]

HL2 and Halo 2. The two games that will become my GOTY. (I can have two because I can. So   )

[ravenvii]

Wouldn't it be just beautiful if Half Life 2 was delayed, and PC Gamer turned out to have reviewed a game... a year before it was released?

[UsulofDoom]

Now the thing is do I upgrade my system?

2.8G P4 800Mhz
Asus p4800
Asus 5.15
Saphire 9800 pro 128
1G ram
120G hd ide 133.

[olaf]

So in the review, do they mention they are not reviewing the final version or what?

olaf

[PaulBot]

Now the thing is do I upgrade my system?

2.8G P4 800Mhz
Asus p4800
Asus 5.15
Saphire 9800 pro 128
1G ram
120G hd ide 133.

Don't bother.

[Raintitan]

Talk about release date torture:

 I've got HL2 completely downloaded and ready to run once the STEAM Gods allow it.  I'm sure there will be an additional download with the latest changes  but its a whole different kind of release anxiety when you know you have it...but can't play it.

Thankfully....CS: Source is tons of fun.

One thing about the Source Engine. Its effects are subtle, and wonderful while still running very, very fast. I've got an Athlon 2400XP with a ATI X800 and I can run the Source Video Demo at 1200x1600 4xAA and 6XAnt at more than 50FPS.  Its the fastest engine I've seen with its quality level. At first it seems pretty average but the lighting and other effects are more subtle, and more real. Other games look more over the top and cartoonish now.

[dangerballs]

Talk about release date torture:

Thankfully....CS: Source is tons of fun.

There is supposed to be a update for CS coming up soon that will include bots and maybe new models.

[JCC]

Big Bill says his source says it goes gold tomorrow. (with a release date announcement)

[Raintitan]

When the game goes gold, I wonder how long it will be before it can be played via Steam.

I'm betting Valve won't flip the switch until it ships to stores....but I'm hoping I'm wrong.

At $49.99+ and no distributor or packaging fees....they are going to have a huge margin on the Steam version.

[HankRaptor]

Im done with the Half Life rollercoaster, when it comes out I will buy it... before than I will be playing my backlog...

[dangerballs]

When the game goes gold, I wonder how long it will be before it can be played via Steam.

I'm betting Valve won't flip the switch until it ships to stores....but I'm hoping I'm wrong.

Their distribution agreement with VU and the retail industry makes them wait to release it on Steam until the game is on store shelves.  :x

[Sparhawk]

Goody, so folks who bought on Steam get to play first.  

[Gryndyl]

My wish is that simultaneous with the Gold announcement for HL2 they unlock  Half Life: Steam for us. I'd love to replay it to get prepped for the continuation of the story.  From what I've heard HL2 picks up right where the original left off and I'd rather replay HL in Steam than the original

[Turtle]

For you (Gordon) the game picks up right after the original.  But it seems you've been hibernating or some some sort of deep freeze while the G-Man finds a use for you.  HL2 starts off at least a few years after the events of HL1.

Oh, and I'm buying the collectors edition, if only for the DVD with EVERYTHING on it, including HL:S.

And let me give a shout out to Trueheart78 who traded me this amazing ATI 9800 pro card.  I'll actually be able to play HL2 at a decent speed now.

[AgtFox]

Word from Bill Harris' blog is his source says a gold announcement will come tomorrow.  We'll see if it happens.  Bill trusts his source and I personally trust Bill.

[Gryndyl]

For you (Gordon) the game picks up right after the original.  But it seems you've been hibernating or some some sort of deep freeze while the G-Man finds a use for you.  HL2 starts off at least a few years after the events of HL1.

Oh, and I'm buying the collectors edition, if only for the DVD with EVERYTHING on it, including HL:S.

And let me give a shout out to Trueheart78 who traded me this amazing ATI 9800 pro card.  I'll actually be able to play HL2 at a decent speed now.

Close enough I just saw that it looks like you start on the Tram with the stars flying by and the G-Man waking you up because it's time to go back to work

[Space Herpes]

Ok PaulBot, do you feel better now?

--------------------------------------------------
Vivendi Universal Games (VU Games) today announced that Half-Life® 2, the sequel to one of the most critically acclaimed PC titles in gaming history, will ship to retail outlets around the world in November. The Company confirmed that Half-Life 2, developed by Valve Software, has gone gold with a planned retail street date of November 16, 2004. The countdown to the highly anticipated retail street date has begun around the world, as VU Games completes plans to ship localized versions of Half-Life 2 simultaneously in English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Traditional and Simplified Chinese, Korean, Thai and Japanese.

"Half-Life 2 has surpassed our expectations in every sense - its high-quality graphics, ground-breaking physics and immersive first-person shooter gameplay set a new standard for PC action games," said Bruce Hack, CEO of VU Games. "Half-Life 2 will go down as one of the best-selling PC titles, and we are thrilled to deliver this ground-breaking title to the worldwide gaming community this fall."

Hailed as "...the best game ever made" by PC Gamer, Half-Life 2 earned a top-rated review score of 98, the highest score bestowed by the magazine in more than six years. The game has received numerous accolades for its technical excellence, captivating story and addictive game play, including more than 10 awards and nominations at the 2004 Electronic Entertainment Expo. In addition to being named "Best PC Game" by 1up.com (Ziff Davis) and Gamespy.com, the title also received a "Technological Excellence on PC" award from IGN.com. CNNMoney.com stated that "Half-Life 2 will redefine what gamers expect from their games visually - and the gameplay is a lot of fun as well."

The global anticipation for Half-Life 2 has reached unprecedented heights, as consumers around the world mark their calendars to buy the game at retail on November 16th. The Half-Life 2 product will include Counter-Strike: Source. VU Games will also release a Half Life 2 Collector's Edition that will include Half-Life 2 in DVD-ROM format, Counter-Strike: Source, Half-Life: Source, a free limited edition t-shirt, and a Half-Life 2 Prima strategy guide book.

The original Half-Life game was launched in 1998 under VU Games' Sierra Entertainment publishing label. It earned more than 50 game-of-the-year awards and has been heralded as one of the best PC first-person shooter games of all-time.

About Half-Life® and Half-Life® 2

In 1998, Half-Life revolutionized the game industry with its combination of pounding action and continuous, immersive storytelling. Valve's debut title was named "Best PC Game Ever" by PC Gamer and launched a franchise with more than eight million retails units sold worldwide. In 2004, Half-Life 2 will take the suspense, challenge and visceral charge of the original to new heights of realism and responsiveness. Half-Life 2 opens the door to a world where the player's presence affects everything around him, from the physical environments to the behaviors - even the emotions - of both friends and enemies. The player again picks up the crowbar of research scientist, Gordon Freeman, who finds himself on an alien-infested Earth being picked to the bone, its resources depleted and its population dwindling. Freeman is thrust into the unenviable role of rescuing the world from the wrong he unleashed back at Black Mesa. And a lot of people - people he cares about - are counting on him. The intense, real-time gameplay of Half-Life 2 is made possible only by Source, Valve's new proprietary engine technology. Source provides major enhancements in the advanced facial animation system, physics, graphics and AI. Half-Life 2 will be available for the PC.

[AgtFox]

Or you can check out the Press Release in beautiful coding

[PaulBot]

FINALLY!!!

WOOHOO!!!

       

[marcain]

So if you buy it through steam and your hard drive tanks three months down the road, will they let you download the game again (assuming you have your account info) ?

And/or can you burn it to CD/DVD and unlock it again later?

I sure like the idea of giving more money to the developer-- okay, getting the game as soon as it's released sounds pretty nice too.

[Turtle]

Yes, so long as you remember your account info, you can keep redownloading every game you have purchased through steam.

I'm not sure about burning it to a CD, but the game files are all located in fixed directories.  I suppose you could burn the data, then if you need to reinstall, just copy it back to the same directory under steam.  Then run the steam update.

[dangerballs]

So if you buy it through steam and your hard drive tanks three months down the road, will they let you download the game again (assuming you have your account info) ?

And/or can you burn it to CD/DVD and unlock it again later?

I sure like the idea of giving more money to the developer-- okay, getting the game as soon as it's released sounds pretty nice too.

Yes

and

Yes (just backup the steamapps folder)

[Thin_J]

Yes, so long as you remember your account info, you can keep redownloading every game you have purchased through steam.

I'm not sure about burning it to a CD, but the game files are all located in fixed directories.  I suppose you could burn the data, then if you need to reinstall, just copy it back to the same directory under steam.  Then run the steam update.

This would work, but only with a DVD burner. Most of the single files are still too big to be placed on CD, although I'm not sure what maybe winrar or something of that nature might be able to shrink it down too.

Do you think zipping up 1GB files would make them small enough to put on a CD?

[dangerballs]

There are a couple of utilities that backup items but splitting them across several cds.  You can look into one of those.  I would need one of those even with my DVD burner.  My current Steam folder is 7.5 gb  :shock:

[whispa]

7.5 GB is nuts! Scary part is it will increase for those with Silver and Gold packages with Half Life Source  and Day of Defeat Source being downloaded eventually heh

[CeeKay]

So, now that it's gold what will our next obsession be????


DUKE NUKEM FOREVER GOLD ON MONDAY?

:lol:

[farley2k]

Now if they would just announce a version on DVD without the extra stuff.

I don't care to have the code, it just isn't my thing.  Heck I doubt I even play the game on-line but I hate the idea of having 5 cds!  It is just annoying!

[PaulBot]

So, now that it's gold what will our next obsession be????


DUKE NUKEM FOREVER GOLD ON MONDAY?

:lol:

Who?? Never heard of it.

Let's start a countdown timer - Nov 16 here we come!!