Half-Life 3 is closer than ever before. „The game is playable-from start to finish. It's never been this far,” says a well-known insider
Half-Life 3 may cease to be the gaming industry's biggest meme later this year. A well-known insider also claims that the game will feature a much more advanced version of Director AI from Left 4 Dead.
Left 4 Dead, claims Tyler McVicker.
Half-Life 2 Episode 3 - one of the biggest memes in the gaming industry for over 15 years - seems to be surprisingly close to being real. From strange actions of "G-Man", to unofficial reports - the last several months have brought more clues about the continuation of Gordon Freeman's story than the entire previous decade. Not to mention the updates of both previous installments, sparking new interest in the series, which some internet s interpreted as laying the groundwork for new games in the series.
Of course, not all such reports are credible, even by the low standards of fan "teasers". Even trusted informants sometimes on information that is long outdated or even completely false. Therefore, we traditionally recommend approaching all rumors with a grain of salt.
Nonetheless, it's not surprising that the information from Tyler McVicker's stream sparked, if not enthusiasm, then at least curiosity among players (via Reddit). A well-known insider summarized what he heard about HLX (a codename for the "third" Half-Life), which is supposed to be tested so "religiously", that some sources never stop talking about it. Even about the plot.
"Director" from Left 4 Dead on steroids
The American informant avoids such "sensational" reports (of which there are fewer than in the case of HL: Alyx - the effect of Valve's lawyers' actions), but even without them, he had a lot of interesting information to share. Half-Life 3 will not be a VR title, and the game will feature a "procedural generation" system, but less in the style of "roguelikes", and more of something that McVicker described as a "much more powerful" version of the AI Director system from the Left 4 Dead series.
This system continuously modified the number and type of enemies in Valve's cooperative shooter, but also the game world. McVicker states that in HLX, this will also allow for the adjustment of elements such as objects on the map (including those affected by the physics system), NPCs, and doors.
Half-Life 3 this winter?
However, what is most important, the current version of Half-Life 3is said to be at a more advanced stage than any previous project, and the game is supposed to be playable "from start to finish". McVicker emphasizes that Valve is now focusing on polishing and refining HLX, and it is possible that they have already finished working on, if not on the game's content, then at least its mechanics.
McVicker makes a guess that Valve may officially reveal the project this summer and release it this winter. Nonetheless, these are just his speculations - game development is such an unpredictable process that predicting a game's release date before its announcement is not very sensible. Especially in the case of a company that lives in its own time.
McVicker also claims that one of the developers - Erik Wolpaw - is eager to add another "three" to the Valve catalog, namely a new installment of the Portal series. Could Gabe Newell's aversion to the number "greater than 2 and less than 4" finally be cured? It depends on who will leave the company after the release of HL 3, because apparently for many developers this will be the last project before retirement.
