HL2 release has been broken

[zabuni]

Happy little picture:

http://img110.exs.cx/img110/6610/hl2installing.jpg

Happy little article:

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/34463

Well, they did say they would release it on steam if the date was broken. Rumors are abounding saying that it has, with some even reporting that their were callbacks to get the game back.

[nutsak]

Ha! even if they did say they'd unlock it if the street date was broken they won't. It's only got 4 days to go and it's unlocked anyways. Anyone that has it now should be forced to wait until the 16th.

[xahlt]

Hard to know exactly what's true here, but it seems that these sale copies are still locked (I imagine Valve has turned off steam authentication for it until the 16th) so it's not getting them the game early yet. I have to imagine if that's true that combined with the stiff penalties for early sales, we probably won't see it unlocked early unless the date gets broken en masse.

[JMR]

Where'd ya find the first link? Did he post more shots?

[nutsak]

Yup

http://img62.exs.cx/img62/1672/hl2cds.jpg

[TheWombat]

EB is listing the game as shipping on the 15th, Monday. Could that mean that Steam will unlock on Monday as well?

[Kevin Grey]

EB is listing the game as shipping on the 15th, Monday. Could that mean that Steam will unlock on Monday as well?

I think they said that the game will be officially unlocked via Steam at 1201am on the 16th.

[Jakub]

EB is listing the game as shipping on the 15th, Monday. Could that mean that Steam will unlock on Monday as well?
I think they said that the game will be officially unlocked via Steam at 1201am on the 16th.
I'm pretty sure the game won't require Steam activation for singleplayer.

If it does... wow. I wouldn't want to be in Vivendi's complaints department.

[olaf]

I thought it had been established that retail boxed copies do indeed require one time steam activation? So these people with the game now are out of luck.

olaf

[xahlt]

Well, they're out of luck until we're all in luck...

Another interesting rumour is that despite blanket statements from Valve that CS is the only MP, there might be *something* else coming: http://www.halflife2.net/forums/showthread.php?t=49651

[Silverlight]

Yes, it's been established that SP copies will require a one-time Steam activation. And that's exactly why Valve won't give a shit whether anyone breaks the release date. A store could have been selling copies a month ago and Valve wouldn't have any reason to care. All that has been sold is exactly what Valve has been selling, except now people are going to realize that breaking the street date on a Steam release means nothing at all, and they could have had the exact same effects by purchasing it over Steam in the first place.

[Sean Tudor]

LOL! Five CD's. I am glad I ordered the DVD edition.

[Jason Becker]

LOL! Five CD's. I am glad I ordered the DVD edition.

Thats already light compared to EQ II which I think is like 10 CD's.

[Kryten]

I think they said that the game will be officially unlocked via Steam at 1201am on the 16th.

It'll be interesting to see what happens with the various timezones then, since where I am we are 21 hours ahead of Seattle (as an example). There's going to be some pissed off Kiwi's if it's not unlocked at 1201am on the 16th, NZDT.

[Jazar]

I heard it was going to be 12 Pacific Time :(

[Kryten]

Oooh - this doesn't look good. New Zealanders won't be able to play HL2 until Tuesday at 9pm, our time. That's a whole 21 hours into Nov. 16.

http://www.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=169690&highlight=unlock+time

(I'm not especially worried, by the time I get home, sort out my dogs, have dinner, install the game etc. it'll be 9pm. And the auth servers will be getting monstered).

[VegasRobb]

LOL! Five CD's. I am glad I ordered the DVD edition.

Thats already light compared to EQ II which I think is like 10 CD's.

Nine plus a "bonus" CD.

Went surprisingly fast, but I purposely called up a friend on the phone to pass the time. :)

[Xaroc]

I heard it was going to be 12 Pacific Time :(

Bastards. They should unlock it at 12:00AM GMT then I could start playing at 7:00PM EST. 12:00 PM PST is too god damned late on the East Coast.

-- Xaroc

[Gordon Cameron]

That's nothing... I had to line up outside Tower Records at midnight when Use Your Illusion was released.

[TheWombat]

Saw This (http://www.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?s=dd1d2bb8df76db8795ee924314c7c4ae&threadid=174186) on the Steam forums. Essentially some guy in Austria says that he bought the DVD version, and that it's out legitimately in many European stores. Also, he says there is no indication on the box, only inside it, that you need an internet connection to play, and of course Steam is not validating any HL2 copies yet.

Comments? There are many facets and sides to this thing I'm sure, but I'm curious as this seems more substantial than the allegations, for instance, that Best Buy is selling it today (also from the Steam forums).

How the hell do I make the link show up?

[Midnight Son]

One little comment. I won't play ANY game I have to "validate" "register" or "activate" via some online anti piracy crap. I just don't care.

[Al]

I'd rather have online registration of a GUID than Starforce, SafeDisc and whatnot.

[Midnight Son]

Nope. Someday, ten years down the road, I may want to play a game and guess what? The registration server is gone! Uh uh. No way.

[Al]

Been there, done that. (http://www.quartertothree.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=302289#302289)

Does this mean you won't ever play MMORPGs?

[Midnight Son]

You don't have to agree. That's just how I feel about it. Online games are a different animal, obviously.

[Gordon Cameron]

Nope. Someday, ten years down the road, I may want to play a game and guess what? The registration server is gone! Uh uh. No way.

In theory I agree completely. Unfortunately, this is Half Life 2 we're talking about, so for me, uh, I just can't stand on principle with this one...

[Wholly Schmidt]

Ten years down the road, my PC might not have a CD or DVD drive, DirectX might be something old people joke about, and we'll probably all be using Windows 2006 which won't run any of our games anyway.

Have you tried playing any games that are already ten years old on the PC you have now? It's pretty hit and miss.

I think if circumstances ever got to the point that Valve shut down their registration servers, it would also make sense at that point to send out a final patch that removes authentication because it's gotta be so far down the road that it wouldn't matter at that point. Everyone would have already bought or pirated long ago. Which brings up the other point, in ten years, someone will have released a no-authentication crack I'm sure. I don't know if it will take longer to do than a no-CD crack, but if you're talking about having legitimately bought the game anyway, it won't matter if it takes them a long time to hack around the authentication.

[Gordon Cameron]

Have you tried playing any games that are already ten years old on the PC you have now? It's pretty hit and miss.

Thanks to DosBox it's doable though. I have a 15 year old copy of Ultima VI that I can play fine, etc. (edit: Ok, finding DosBox is as much trouble as finding a noCD-type-crack would be for HL2 I suppose.) And I don't even have to resort to that to play a PC game that is 8 years old (Civ 2 or Diablo, for instance). They run fine on my computer and in 2 years I will likely have the same computer, so... :wink:

Granted a computer game is not like a toaster or something, but still I think it's pretty lousy that you have to depend on some mysterious server authentication to play a single player game.

The MMOG analogy mentioned earlier is not valid IMO because obviously those games require an internet connection to play.

As for your point about the final patch, well, I hope so.

[ChrisGrenard]

Updated psuedo-news. Supposedly, BestBuy central HQ authorized their stores to break street date. This is heresay of course... but this is good news for maybe getting HL2 today or sunday! (/me crosses fingers)

[TheWombat]

Updated psuedo-news. Supposedly, BestBuy central HQ authorized their stores to break street date. This is heresay of course... but this is good news for maybe getting HL2 today or sunday! (/me crosses fingers)

...and you can stare at the disks lovingly, because without Steam authorization you can't play....:)

[nutsak]

Yeh, it's only 2 days to go. If I were in charge of 'the little red button' I wouldn't be letting the date slip.

[Wholly Schmidt]

(edit: Ok, finding DosBox is as much trouble as finding a noCD-type-crack would be for HL2 I suppose.)
Exactly.

Granted a computer game is not like a toaster or something, but still I think it's pretty lousy that you have to depend on some mysterious server authentication to play a single player game.
Oh I agree it's lousy that we have to deal with any of this at all, but I stand by this as being a better solution than the ridiculous things I'm hearing about with Starforce.

The only concern I have with this online authentication thing is that I still haven't heard conclusively (and maybe just because I've only been skimming the wrong threads) whether or not the box makes it clear that it will be required. If there's no clear indication before you've taken the game home and opened the box that you will need to authenticate it online, then I'm not so happy.

[TheWombat]

According to posts on the Steam forums, the European DVD version does not have any indication on the outside that you need Internet authorization to play. According to this poster, from Austria, there is a little card inside the box that has this info. No independent verification of this however, and no word on the US CD version box either.

There are a lot of folks on the Steam forums demanding an early unlocking but I suspect that is not going to happen. Even if all the rumors are true--Best Buy selling them now, churches giving them out during Mass tomorrow, etc.--I suspect the legal niceties will be observed.

[jeffd]

Updated psuedo-news. Supposedly, BestBuy central HQ authorized their stores to break street date. This is heresay of course... but this is good news for maybe getting HL2 today or sunday! (/me crosses fingers)

My local Best Buy has it on shelves.

[Brian Minsker]

Updated psuedo-news. Supposedly, BestBuy central HQ authorized their stores to break street date. This is heresay of course... but this is good news for maybe getting HL2 today or sunday! (/me crosses fingers)

'Tis true. I stopped by today and picked up a collector's DVD version of Half Life 2 and used their perferred customer discount coupon for this weekend on it. Now I just need to wait for Tuesday.

[jeffd]

Updated psuedo-news. Supposedly, BestBuy central HQ authorized their stores to break street date. This is heresay of course... but this is good news for maybe getting HL2 today or sunday! (/me crosses fingers)

'Tis true. I stopped by today and picked up a collector's DVD version of Half Life 2 and used their perferred customer discount coupon for this weekend on it. Now I just need to wait for Tuesday.

As I recall Valve said they'd turn on activation if a retailer broke the street date.

JD

[Erik]

My local Best Buy not only has it on shelves, they've got it on a big table right as you come. Lots of people were grabbing copies. Oh those poor, poor people.

[Paxton]

i stopped by my local best buy (chicago, north ave) today to pick up karaoke revolution 3. no luck on that, but they were selling half life 2. serendipity! from the way the display had been picked over, it looked like they've sold around 50 copies. there are 3 boxes, each featuring one of Gordon, G-man, and the girl. most of the gordon boxes were gone. the box does list that an internet connection is required, but it's not stated prominently. it's in the tiny system requirements list on the bottom of the box. it comes with 5 cds in the cheesey white paper sleeves, a single sheet quick reference/install guide and some sort of ati coupon. pretty sad. price is $55.

just finished the install. looks like it's not unlocked yet. i got the friendly message "when the game is officially released, you'll be able to play it immediately". talk about out of box experience!

[nutsak]

the box does list that an internet connection is required, but it's not stated prominently. it's in the tiny system requirements list on the bottom of the box.

That's all that matters, people have no right to complain now. People should be reading those system requirements before the game anyway.

[Paxton]

you know, the big story here with the online activation is the fact that the process makes it clear that your cd-key will be *permanently* associated with your steam account. looks like they are doing their best to kill the secondary market. not a big deal for me on this game because of the mod scene on the original, but most every other game i buy i end up reselling after finishing it. i hope this doesn't become a trend.

i suppose one could create new steam accounts for any game they purchased, but it's still gonna be a big mess for anybody buying or selling this on ebay.

[Moore]

just finished the install. looks like it's not unlocked yet. i got the friendly message "when the game is officially released, you'll be able to play it immediately". talk about out of box experience!

Steam buyers have been looking at that message for weeks.

I don't see how it'd be true, but I'm surprised noone is spouting "VU shipped super early and didnt efnorce the street date and allowed this to piss people off at the use of steam"

[krayzkrok]

I wonder how many people who really aren't into the hardcore game scene and read the various gaming messageboards try to return the game on Monday because "it doesn't work"? I must admit, outside of a few forums this online activation thing would have been a complete surprise to me.

[DaveC]

It's quite dissapointing that Valve has not lived up to the promise of unlocking the game when it's pretty obvious the street date is moot.

[Moore]

It's quite dissapointing that Valve has not lived up to the promise of unlocking the game when it's pretty obvious the street date is moot.

I keep hearing that but noone can ever show me a link to a quote or any statement by valve to that effect.

[nutsak]

It's quite dissapointing that Valve has not lived up to the promise of unlocking the game when it's pretty obvious the street date is moot.

September 30th 2003.

[Sean Tudor]

My local Best Buy not only has it on shelves, they've got it on a big table right as you come. Lots of people were grabbing copies. Oh those poor, poor people.

Why ? Because they can't activate it yet or because Half Life 2 is a piece of crap ? :D

PS. I am not implying HL2 is a piece of crap - but maybe you know more ?

[DaveC]

It's quite dissapointing that Valve has not lived up to the promise of unlocking the game when it's pretty obvious the street date is moot.

I keep hearing that but noone can ever show me a link to a quote or any statement by valve to that effect.

I found this after 10 seconds of Googling -http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/34091

[DaveC]

http://www.steampowered.com/

If you have purchased a copy of Half-Life 2, we are sorry you are still waiting to play. This is not Valve's choice. Vivendi is insisting that the game has not yet been released, and has threatened that Valve would be in violation of its contract if we activate the Half-Life 2 Steam authentication servers at this time.

Thanks for your patience and we will update you when we have more news to share.

[Moore]

Steve Gibson works for Valve? I thought he was the Shacknews guy, the statement is outside of the quoted text.


Lookie here more news-


"Half-Life 2 Update [18:58 PM]
6 Comments - Steve Gibson
Here is your brief statement from Valve Software on the current situation. As suspected it appears to be in VU's hands to let the game be unlocked:

Half-Life 2 For Sale?
November 13, 2004, 4:57 pm · valve
If you have purchased a copy of Half-Life 2, we are sorry you are still waiting to play. This is not Valve's choice. Vivendi is insisting that the game has not yet been released, and has threatened that Valve would be in violation of its contract if we activate the Half-Life 2 Steam authentication servers at this time.

Thanks for your patience and we will update you when we have more news to share.

[TheWombat]

Interesting. Given that it's impossible now for Vivendi to claim the game hasn't been for all practical purposes released, I guess their argument is that it has not been officially released, which is probably true in a legal sort of way.

You would think though that they would want to let folks activate now. Folks would go out on Sunday and buy oodles of them, which is what Vivendi wants, no? Do they reall ph3@r steam that much? Maybe they do. Dunno.

It makes interesting theater though.

[nutsak]

If I hadn't already bought it over Steam I would now, just to spite VU. It's VU who made the decision to not allow people to unlock it now - and as far as I'm concerned it's VU who would be making to most out of retail sales. I'm kind of glad I got it over Steam.

Well that's if I wanted to play right now, which I don't really care about, it's only two days away.

[Gordon Cameron]

IMO if a game is in stores it is "officially released." It's ridiculous that you can buy a game off the shelf and not be able to use it when you get home. I call that selling a faulty product, and the consumer shouldn't be punished for a lapse in communication between publisher and retailer.

I bought through Steam and don't much care on my end -- I just think of it as a "pre order" until 11/16, and Steam has amply informed me of such. Buying in the store, especially without an explicit warning on the box or from the retailer, is a different matter IMO.

This "online registration required to play" shit is for the birds. The game industry got along without it for 25 years.

[Ranulf]

Sigh, snafu city. I think blame lies with all sides at this point.

[Gordon Cameron]

It is aesthetically pleasing however. A Half-Life 2 release wouldn't feel right without a little more drama at the end. :)

[Moore]

http://web.uvic.ca/~mwquinn/hl.jpg

(not my photoshop)
I know I know, cheeseball and overused, but this time it really fits.

[nutsak]

My god! What happened to his hands!

[Gordon Cameron]

lol @ Moore. :)

[Silverlight]

My god! What happened to his hands!
They were amputated at the fourth knuckle for failing to keep Half-Life 2 from falling into the hands of the enemy.

[stusser]

I preloaded over steam but didn't pay on the off-chance it would be released earlier for download. I had planned to buy the physical game to get the box, manual, CD, etc.

Well steam just got my money... I agree, fuck vivendi.

[nutsak]

I'll be making a DVD back up of my larger steam files ( like HL2 and CSS ) thanks to Steams 'backup' feature.


( All I need is some CD labels.. )

[Jamie Madigan]

Dang, the Best Buy near me here in San Diego said they weren't selling it until Tuesday. Sonsofthebitches!

[Kryten]

Doesn't this have class action lawsuit written all over it? At the very least the retailers involved could be sued for selling a product that they *know* won't work.

[Anti-Bunny]

[quote="Kryten"]Doesn't this have class action lawsuit written all over it? At the very least the retailers involved could be sued for selling a product that they *know* won't work.[%*îäíote]

But it will work.

And I think you're giving the retailers way too much credit. I doubt they know anymore about the box then not to take it as a return if it's openned.

[Gordon Cameron]

Not for 3 days. That's a pretty shitty thing to do to a customer & I wouldn't be surprised if some of them get pissed and return it.

"Here's your toaster, Mrs. Snodgrass. But you can't make any toast with it until November 16."

At least in that case Mrs. Snodgrass was warned.

You are probably right about retailer ignorance. Well then as noted above, blame diffuses all over the place. But the end result is, the consumer buys a product that he initially can't use, and may not even know why. This is not a desirable state of affairs.

[Moore]

The hilarious thing is, if they tried to install and it doesnt work, and the store accepts a return, and the gamer did not uninstall it... it'll work fine, because there is no cd check and the key is just for installs, after you create the steam account, the account IS the key.

And you'll never need the cd again, you can install steam and login when you buy a new pc or whatever.

Free HL2

[Silverlight]

You are probably right about retailer ignorance. Well then as noted above, blame diffuses all over the place. But the end result is, the consumer buys a product that he initially can't use, and may not even know why. This is not a desirable state of affairs.
Nonsense. The player will almost certainly know why; in fact, someone who checked is getting the same message that I'm getting after buying through Steam - "When the game is officially released, you'll be able to play it immediately." It's not the best message in the world, but it's a far cry from a BSOD or a hard crash, and at worst tech support will be able to explain what the hell it means.

[Gordon Cameron]

Ok, that is better -- I had heard reports that there was no meaningful message to those who bought it and tried to register. If I'm mistaken on that point, then at least the consumer knows why he has just been fucked in the ass.

But unless there is a warning on the actual box, that's just not good enough. The consumer ought to be able to use a product that he pays $50 for and gets off a store shelf. He should have all pertinent information presented to him at the store while making the purchase. Arguments to the effect of "if he doesn't know about 11/16 he must be living in a cave" are, to use your phrase, nonsense. A customer isn't responsible to keep track of PlanetHalfLife fanboy details. If it's for sale on a store shelf, the correct presumption is that it may be used.

If said warning, either on the box or prominently displayed in the store, does exist, that is a different story. I have seen nothing to indicate that it does, but maybe I'm wrong.

[Silverlight]

He should have all pertinent information presented to him at the store while making the purchase. Arguments to the effect of "if he doesn't know about 11/16 he must be living in a cave" are, to use your phrase, nonsense.

I agree with you on that. Internet requirements are apparently posted on boxes in at least some SKUs, but I'm fairly sure that 11/16 isn't stamped on them. Customers aren't responsible for this problem.

I just don't think Valve is, either. A parallel example might be something like World of Warcraft. Nobody's going to seriously hold Blizzard at fault if the servers aren't ready for people who got copies before the official release date. There's more of an expectation of the game being dependent on 'Net servers in that case, but the same basic idea holds - the developer isn't really at fault if retailers break contract and release the game early.

[Gordon Cameron]

I only hold Valve responsible to the extent that they came up with this cockamamie "mandatory internet registration" idea in the first place (assuming they did). Otherwise, I dunno, spread it around to VU or Best Buy or some idiot general manager, whoever. It's a bit of a snafu as someone else has said.

I do think with online-only games there's a bit more of an assumption-of-risk sorta thing going on, though gosh knows some poor guy who shelled out for WWII online on opening day probably has a legitimate gripe. But we're talking about a single player game here, dagnabbit.

[Moore]

Regardless of the launch semi-cockup here, I think the idea of online mandatory activation for SP games is great, and I like that I'll just have hl2 one day without going out to a store or having to be home for a delivery. If it can holdoff pirates for a few weeks, it's a better system than starforce for consuymers since it's not intrusive (it only does what you let it and is easy to configure and you never even have to think about patches)

I'm just watching this with interest, I don't expect to even have time to play until next weekend.

[Gordon Cameron]

Will it really have a serious impact on piracy though? It better because that is the only possible justification for such silliness.

[Moore]

Most other games would already be being downloaded, but I guess we'll see.

I think the biggest deal is the way it delivers content. I didnt re-install hl1 off my cd when I wnated to run through it again, I gave steam my cdkey and it added it to my account and bammo! It's not BS, it's magical, you can start to play in just a couple minutes, you don't even notice it installing. HL2 has a LOT mroe data I'm sure, but it's mostly sitting on my HD right now, so no biggie there. I like it better than getting into the car and going to a mall (ugh) or bestbuy (WOULD YOU LIKE A WARRANTY WITH YOU GAME AND THOSE BATTIRES? no! WOULD YOU LIKE A WARRANTY WITH YOU GAME AND THOSE BATTIRES? no! WOULD YOU LIKE A WARRANTY WITH YOU GAME AND THOSE BATTIRES? no!)

I think it'll take less time than it takes me to find my car keys to just buy over a system like this. :D

[Gary Whitta]

http://web.uvic.ca/~mwquinn/hl.jpg

[Derek Meister]

Will it really have a serious impact on piracy though? It better because that is the only possible justification for such silliness.

I think the real justification is that it will get people used to the idea of Steam being involved with Valve games, a not-so-gentle reminder that such a thing as online purchasing exists.

I'm kind of amused by talk of a class action suit because "retailers knowingly sold something that won't work until the 16th". That's like complaining about movie theaters who sell you a movie ticket you can't use several days before the opening night of a movie.

We've got some of the people who've complained about the "sense of entitlement" the community going ballistic because there might be situations in which they don't get to play a game the exact second it's released (pre-order threads) or even before it's officially released (HL2 threads).

The amount of anger growing here because of a few days of not being able to play any game on or before a release date is kind of scary for what's just a hobby around gaming entertainment.

[Sean Tudor]

The amount of anger growing here because of a few days of not being able to play any game on or before a release date is kind of scary for what's just a hobby around gaming entertainment.

If it was any other game most people wouldn't give a damn. But I suspect Half-Life 2 won't be "just another computer game". :D

[Derek Meister]

And despite all the hype, I really doubt it's the second coming of Christ, either, and definitely not something people should be letting themselves get so worked up over.

Really, nothing kills the potential fun of a game like not living up to the hype that surrounds it. So why put extra pressure on your enjoyment by acting like someone is personally harming you because the bugs haven't been worked out in the relationship between a traditional publisher who delivers content through traditional brick and mortar stores and a company that that wants to pull gamers kicking and screaming into the future of online publishing?

[Jeremy Johnsen]

I know it probably won't be unlocked until Tuesday, but that doesn't stop me from restarting Steam every few hours to see if Valve unlocked it. :D

[TheWombat]

And despite all the hype, I really doubt it's the second coming of Christ, either, and definitely not something people should be letting themselves get so worked up over.

Well, really, how great was the first coming? You get, what, a ride into Jerusalem on a donkey (talk about lame rail-shooters!), a few miracles (and the raising of the dead thing didn't even use normal mapping!), a "we saw it coming a mile away" betrayal plot twist, one of those "we arrest you and take away all of your weapons/powers" scenes, and a denouement that is clearly set up for a sequel.

[DaveC]

The irony of this is that people with Steam are in the same position as people with the retail versions.

[MattKeil]

In the end, I went with Steam on this one mainly due to what Vivendi has pulled here. It made me realize that I'd rather give my money directly to Valve than to VU and Valve.

Bravo, VU. All is proceeding as you have foreseen, no doubt. :wink:

[Zteven]

And despite all the hype, I really doubt it's the second coming of Christ, either, and definitely not something people should be letting themselves get so worked up over.

Well, really, how great was the first coming? You get, what, a ride into Jerusalem on a donkey (talk about lame rail-shooters!), a few miracles (and the raising of the dead thing didn't even use normal mapping!), a "we saw it coming a mile away" betrayal plot twist, one of those "we arrest you and take away all of your weapons/powers" scenes, and a denouement that is clearly set up for a sequel.

That is easy to say now, 2000 years later. It was revolutionary for its time. It's true there was a precedent in Judaism but still it practically invented the mono-theistic religion genre. You also conveniently leave out the amazing ending (remember the resurrection after three days?). And the tactics of the Roman soldier AIs still are very impressive.

Bye,
Steven

[JM]

Welcome to the previous page, Gary.

[Derek Meister]

http://meisterplanet.com/images/quartertothree/hl2-alerts.jpg

[TheWombat]

That is easy to say now, 2000 years later. It was revolutionary for its time. It's true there was a precedent in Judaism but still it practically invented the mono-theistic religion genre. You also conveniently leave out the amazing ending (remember the resurrection after three days?). And the tactics of the Roman soldier AIs still are very impressive.

Nah, it was just a rehash of Zoroastrianism ;p, and highly derivative of Judaism. And the ending? Sure there's a resurrection sequence, but that just sets up the sequel, Second Coming Forever, which as you know has been in development for, um, 2000 years now!

But yes the Roman AI was good, though whoever decided to have Christopher Walken do the voiceover for Pilate should be flogged.

[Zteven]

That is easy to say now, 2000 years later. It was revolutionary for its time. It's true there was a precedent in Judaism but still it practically invented the mono-theistic religion genre. You also conveniently leave out the amazing ending (remember the resurrection after three days?). And the tactics of the Roman soldier AIs still are very impressive.

Nah, it was just a rehash of Zoroastrianism ;p, and highly derivative of Judaism.

In a sense they are all derived from tree worshipping or whatever. You can't ignore the innovation to the genre that The Coming of Christ represented at the time. Sure, the basic mechanics are similar, but it is the brilliant execution that makes all the difference.


And the ending? Sure there's a resurrection sequence, but that just sets up the sequel, Second Coming Forever, which as you know has been in development for, um, 2000 years now!

I am as appalled by the delays as the next fan. Especially the way we get to hear numerous announcements of an impending release without anything coming, followed by absolutely no information for several hundred years now. (I'm disregarding leaks from disreputable sources, of course.) I hate that 'when it's done' attitude!

Anyway, I agree the ending was weak with regard to its story elements. It just ruins my suspension of disbelief when the son of God appear all human all the time and suddenly he is able to stand up from the dead. Is that what I have been hoarding health potions for? On the other hand, I think the developer of Coming of Christ deserves major kudos for trying something different and you can't deny it grabbed you on an emotional level.


But yes the Roman AI was good, though whoever decided to have Christopher Walken do the voiceover for Pilate should be flogged.

Or crucified. Har-har.

By the way, I haven't even mentioned the numerous mods yet that were sparked off by Coming of Christ. It really started off the whole mod-community. I have lost track of all the Saints that have been released to the public by now. I also thought the spin-off from Roman Catholic Church was quite good (I mean Coming of Christ: Protestantism - Opposing Religion).

I, for one, am still very exited about Second Coming of Christ.

Bye,
Steven

[fuzzyslug]

Does anyone know if they've formally announced the exact time the game will be unlocked on Steam? Is it 12:01 am EST or PST?

[sluggo]

There has been no formal time announced. I have asked all parties involved over the past few days (some more than once), and no one is willing to give a definitive time that the game will be unlocked.

Right now, 12:01 AM PST seems like the favorite.

[fuzzyslug]

Let's hope that wrong. A midnight gaming session might be in order. A 3 am session is not. :x

[MattKeil]

Let's hope that wrong. A midnight gaming session might be in order. A 3 am session is not. :x

Finally, payback for having to start the Oscars at six in the damn evening. :wink:

[TheWombat]

I saw a post on www.steampowered.com, though the post may have been removed as I can't find it anymore, that listed a whole breakdown of times, and it was indeed centered on -8 GMT, or PST. So 3 AM Eastern.

[Guido Jones]

At the demo I went to on Friday I asked one of the Valve guys and he said it was Midnight PST. So sucks to be you EST guys.

[Xaroc]

I am going to bed early and getting up at like 4am. I don't really need to be functional tomorrow. ;)

-- Xaroc

[Bob Violence]

Don't know if anyone can answer this yet, but: does the retail version have any sort of CD/DVD check? I'm guessing not, since the Steam activation would supercede the need for that (and I seem to remember Doug Lombardi saying at one point Valve doesn't care if people burn backups so long as they have a valid Steam account, which would suggest no physical CD check) but you know what happens when you assume.

[Moore]

Steam will actually aid you in performing backups.

[scharmers]

Steam is here to protect you.
Steam is here to protect you from the terrible...oh NEVER MIND.

--scharmers

I am the Steam robot.
I push around the nerd people.
I am here to protect you.
I am here to protect you from the terrible secret of piracy.

[Moore]

Steam is here to protect you.
Steam is here to protect you from the terrible...oh NEVER MIND.

--scharmers

I am the Steam robot.
I push around the nerd people.
I am here to protect you.
I am here to protect you from the terrible secret of piracy.

It does have a 'backup game files" option you can use to burn dvds and cds.

[HRose]

Six hours to go :)

I'll be up when it happens....

...just to see Steam die miserably.

[nutsak]

Six hours? :shock:

*starts drinking lots of coffee*

hang on.. isn't it 5 hours now? It's 1pm here and everyone was saying 6pm release for here... *confuddled*.

[Silverlight]

No, it's six. 3AM EST.

[nutsak]

Yeh, I just realised that.. stupid daylight savings shit.

[Silverlight]

Six hours to go :)

I'll be up when it happens....

...just to see Steam die miserably.
Do you have to be such a curmudgeon all the time? Has WoW's fall from the divine state of grace that you originally saw it in made you that bitter?

[Pace]

If you have purchased a copy of Half-Life 2, we are sorry you are still waiting to play. This is not Valve's choice. Vivendi is insisting that the game has not yet been released, and has threatened that Valve would be in violation of its contract if we activate the Half-Life 2 Steam authentication servers at this time.

Thanks for your patience and we will update you when we have more news to share.

This is from the steam news button. Talk about gut-punches. Woof!

[HRose]

Do you have to be such a curmudgeon all the time? Has WoW's fall from the divine state of grace that you originally saw it in made you that bitter?
I'm just a pessimist or ...realist.

As both WoW and EQ2 are happily swimming in lag and crashing servers (http://n3rfed.blogs.com/n3rfed/2004/11/release_retrosp.html), I do not expect Steam to hold the load all at once. Pretty much straightforward.

[Talisker]

As both WoW and EQ2 are happily swimming in lag and crashing servers (http://n3rfed.blogs.com/n3rfed/2004/11/release_retrosp.html), I do not expect Steam to hold the load all at once. Pretty much straightforward.

You seem to be lumping Steam into the same boat as MMORPG's, when it's clearly a different beast altogether. WoW and EQ2 have to "hold the load" 'cause your machine has to be in constant contact with theirs the entire time you're playing.

All Steam has to do is authenticate me. Once.

[HRose]

You seem to be lumping Steam into the same boat as MMORPG's, when it's clearly a different beast altogether. WoW and EQ2 have to "hold the load" 'cause your machine has to be in constant contact with theirs the entire time you're playing.

All Steam has to do is authenticate me. Once.
And download the .exe + minor stuff.

I hope it will die for an hour or so, not something prolonged like eight hours of downtime. But we'll see, I'm always happy to be proven wrong. It also helps that for you it will be deep night.

[Talisker]

All Steam has to do is authenticate me. Once.
And download the .exe + minor stuff.

I hope it will die for an hour or so, not something prolonged like eight hours of downtime. But we'll see, I'm always happy to be proven wrong.[/quote]

That's assuming the .EXE isn't already buried in one of the .GCF's somewhere, which it easily could be. Even if it isn't, the CounterStrike-Source .exe is a walloping 85K -- not exactly a mind-blowing download.


It also helps that for you it will be deep night.
Think that's entirely unintentional on their part? ...and, for that matter, why might they still even now be tight-lipped about which exact minute it's actually going to go live?

[nutsak]

We've got everything, the .exe is in the GCF files and in my CS source folder. Plus a bunch of .dll files. We're just waiting for 'The key'.

[Talisker]

http://www.ao7.net/steam-patience.gif

[Jazar]

I heard that HL Source isn't going to be released this year. Anyone know about this?

[HRose]

Look the bandwith being filled ;p

http://www.cesspit.net/misc/hl2server.png

EDIT: Doh, they are plugging in new servers :)

[DennyA]

No midnight madness for HL2 around here -- can't buy the store copy till 10 am...

Also not nearly as much excitement as for Halo 2, but then again this is Halo country... :-)

[Hans Lauring]

Don't know if anyone can answer this yet, but: does the retail version have any sort of CD/DVD check? I'm guessing not, since the Steam activation would supercede the need for that (and I seem to remember Doug Lombardi saying at one point Valve doesn't care if people burn backups so long as they have a valid Steam account, which would suggest no physical CD check) but you know what happens when you assume.

According to my guy at Vivendi, there will be no CD/DVD check, so you can install on multiple machines.... but only one at the time.

(we're getting our review copy from Vivendi - day after release :( - and I wanted to know if I could check it on different systems or if it would be locked to one like Windows XP is.)

[HRose]

We've got everything, the .exe is in the GCF files and in my CS source folder. Plus a bunch of .dll files. We're just waiting for 'The key'.
Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuure.
So why my installation went from 100% to 50%?

[Guido Jones]

Cause you hadn't restarted steam in a couple weeks? It took me all of 10 minutes to unlock HL2, and that was just decrypting data.

[Ranulf]

Don't know if anyone can answer this yet, but: does the retail version have any sort of CD/DVD check? I'm guessing not, since the Steam activation would supercede the need for that (and I seem to remember Doug Lombardi saying at one point Valve doesn't care if people burn backups so long as they have a valid Steam account, which would suggest no physical CD check) but you know what happens when you assume.

According to my guy at Vivendi, there will be no CD/DVD check, so you can install on multiple machines.... but only one at the time.

(we're getting our review copy from Vivendi - day after release :( - and I wanted to know if I could check it on different systems or if it would be locked to one like Windows XP is.)

Oooh, no cd/dvd check? Good to hear.