Half-Life 2: Aftermath Q&A

[Evil Avatar]

Gamespot has posted an interview (http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/halflife2aftermath/preview_6128325.html) with Valve Software designer/programmer Robin Walker, talking about the upcoming Half-Life 2 expansion pack, Aftermath.

GS: After the cryptic ending of Half-Life 2, we have to ask: Will we learn more about Gordon Freeman in Aftermath? The Combine? The G-Man? Can you promise that at least one big secret will be revealed?

RW: We will be doing what we usually do in these games, which is answering some old questions while raising new ones. Dr. Kleiner will be on hand with some informed opinions, as well as a bit of speculation.

Other mysteries will be introduced for the purpose of gradual revelation. We believe that theorizing about the meaning behind the clues in the Half-Life 2 universe, and the motivations of the characters within it, is one of the fun things about being a Half-Life 2 fan.

[TrackZero]

"Half-Life 2: Aftermath is a new episode in the Half-Life story, so it's intentionally shorter than Half-Life 2. We're still finalizing the exact length, as this is the first time we've released a new episode for one of our games."

You know, it's funny, I'm actually glad it's going to be shorter. The 2nd last level of Half-life 2 (helping Barney/the rebellion) seemed to go on forever. Maybe it's just that I don't have the same amount of time to throw into a single title anymore that I used to (unless it's WoW....all consuming WoW.....).

[snubber]

Upcoming expansion pack? How about you assholes finish up Day of Defeat: Source, which I already gave you money for.

[greensky]

Snubber... You mean the one screenshot they released last week wasn't good enough for you? I finally just gave up on it being released anytime soon. It's been "coming soon" since last Fall..

[rabidDemon]

No now it really is coming soon, along with TF2....

[Liquidize105]

Now now, quality takes time.

I'm stoked for more HL2 though.

[dr_qwandry]

At least they are going to explain some things.
hopefully it won't be little tid-bits.

[Evil Avatar]

At least they are going to explain some things.
hopefully it won't be little tid-bits.

To explain things, you have to write a story in the first place.

[Varsity]

The story is detailed here (http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=210748) (I prefer this version over the other, even if it does have the odd mistake or assumption). There's actually a hell of a lot going on if you are willing to put in the effort to think about it, which more than a few people aren't.

The screens vary from very interesting to ugly, and there's no way I'm reading the preview itself! :p

[The_Darr]

check out the DoD: Source gameplay movies at gametrailers.com (http://www.gametrailers.com) ...all in all i am extremely unimpressed, but DoD IS getting pretty old now...

[Mister Pie]

I hope this is good. I really enjoyed Half Life 2's singleplayer.

[Roc Ingersol]

Yeah, if only the Steam crap wasn't all tied in.

So I reformat my hard drive (game data on non OS drive) and steam still manages to 'forget' that HalfLife2 was registered and decrypted and ready to play, even though it knows I bought it? Now it insists on trying to update when I connect to Steam, only to report 'Steam is too busy...' Offline mode gives me the ever more helpful 'This game is not ready to be played offline' blah blah blah.

Gee thanks Valve. Couldn't have forseen that tying registration to the OS install might cause some unnecessary problems? Not like anyone in the market has ever had to reformat before.

Digital distribution is great and all - but their implementation absolutely sucks it.

[Varsity]

and steam still manages to 'forget' that HalfLife2 was registered and decrypted and ready to play
Duh, you formatted your hard drive.

Fix your error by deleting clientregistry.blob from the Steam folder.

[Shifteh]

"Will this game be less on-rails? Perhaps some AI could be added to the friendly NPC's?"