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Man....Valve were on fire last gen.

FreeMufasa

FreeMufasa

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Oct 31, 2017
1,375
I know people like to mention the games they released 2 or even 3 gens ago but last gen was truly something else.

Half life 2: episode 1 (2006)
Half life 2: episode 2 (2007)
Portal (2007)
Team fortress 2 (2007)
Left 4 Dead (2008)
Left 4 Dead 2 (2009)
Portal 2 (2011)

All these groundbreaking (ep.1 less so) released in the span of 5 years. There's probably a lot more but I only played there console games and these were what released between the 360/ps3. I know the valve of today is basically a different company in how they operate but shit, last gen was bliss.
 
HStallion

HStallion

Member
Oct 25, 2017
62,686
How we haven't gotten a Left 4 Dead 3 for nearly a decade still baffles me. It would even work well as a GAAS
 
DanteMenethil

DanteMenethil

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Oct 25, 2017
8,101
I remember gametrailers comments being up in flame when they announced L4D2 because it was too early (only one year)
 
Dr. Mario

Dr. Mario

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Oct 27, 2017
14,042
Netherlands
Excuse my pedantry, but both Left 4 Dead and Portal were developed by outside studios which were acquired by Valve. At least I have to say they funded things that were creative and forward thinking.

Perhaps more importantly, their mod tools were on fire, and they cultivated it well. I think Valve's decline in making great games is a direct result of never releasing Source SDK 2 to the public.

The Steam/OpenVR stuff is still cool I guess, but they're not cultivating it as well as they did back with Source.
 
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Soundchaser

Soundchaser

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Oct 25, 2017
1,620
Dr. Mario said:
Excuse my pedantry, but both Left 4 Dead and Portal were developed by outside studios which were acquired by Valve.
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Portal is pretty much developed by Valve. Narbacular Drop is a very rough prototype that shares no content with the final game. There was no GLaDOS, no Aperture Science, not even the portal gun in the form we know today before Valve hired those students.
 
Ababol

Ababol

Member
Oct 25, 2017
334
collige said:
Valve is still on fire this gen too imo if you actually play the games


You mean apart from the game they released last month and the game they're releasing next year?
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The one they released last month is a terrible game and In the Valley of Gods doesn't really count as a Valve game.
 
Ionic

Ionic

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Oct 31, 2017
2,742
Portal is 100 percent Valve. They hired the guys from Narbacular drop and had other developers work with them to make the game. Unless for example people want to argue the writing in Portal wasn't very important to the final product.

Edit: Man, I remember being annoyed that L4D2 came out so shortly after the first. Different times!
 
Resilient

Resilient

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Oct 25, 2017
1,418
Yep it really was the best. I remember getting my face slapped by ep2, portal and tf2 on the same day. That was absolutely fucking living right there. Portal 2 so soon after was the perfect topping too
 
Kyougar

Kyougar

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Nov 3, 2017
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Ababol said:
The one they released last month is a terrible game and In the Valley of Gods doesn't really count as a Valve game.
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Doesn't matter how you personally think of the game. It is a game they released.
The Campo Santo guys are fully integrated into Valve, it is a Valve game. Even if it was not, Valve is the Publisher, that's like saying EA doesn't release any games.
 
collige

collige

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Oct 31, 2017
12,772
Ababol said:
The one they released last month is a terrible game and In the Valley of Gods doesn't really count as a Valve game.
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You're well within your rights to not like Artifact (and I would agree they that botched everything outside of the base gameplay at launch), but the pay I replied to implied that they don't develop games because they're too busy with Steam and that's blatantly untrue.
 
Ichi

Ichi

Banned
Sep 10, 2018
1,997
Soundchaser said:
Portal is pretty much developed by Valve. Narbacular Drop is a very rough prototype that shares no content with the final game. There was no GLaDOS, no Aperture Science, not even the portal gun in the form we know today before Valve hired those students.
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Huh? The very idea and concept of it is definitely not Valve's. Just because there was no setting and environment does not mean it's all Valve's work. The most important aspect of the game, and the very core of its ideas is not Valve's. They got acquired by Valve so technically they are Valve, but Valve did not fully develop Portal.
 
MykonosFan

MykonosFan

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Oct 25, 2017
844
I got into Valve games in 2010 when a friend lent me Orange Box for 360. I then became so excited for Portal 2 and couldn't wait to see where Half-Life 2 would eventually go. Sure, it had been a while, but they'd have to get back to it after Portal right? I was so into everything Valve was putting out, the future seemed great. Little did I know.

Guess I should add that I've put 100 hours into DOTA 2 playing with a friend and enjoyed it as well.
 
Ionic

Ionic

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Oct 31, 2017
2,742
Ichi said:
Huh? The very idea and concept of it is definitely not Valve's. Just because there was no setting and environment does not mean it's all Valve's work. The most important aspect of the game, and the very core of its ideas is not Valve's. They got acquired by Valve so technically they are Valve, but Valve did not fully develop Portal.
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If we're doing this silly line of thinking then like, the only game Valve has ever made are the Half-Life games. And uh, Ricochet.
 
Remember

Remember

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Oct 29, 2017
2,484
Chicago, IL United States
collige said:
Valve is still on fire this gen too imo if you actually play the games
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It's not even comparable.
 
Ichi

Ichi

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Sep 10, 2018
1,997
Ionic said:
If we're doing this silly line of thinking then like, the only game Valve has ever made are the Half-Life games. And uh, Ricochet.
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How is that silly? The very nature of Portal was conceived before the students got hired by Valve. To give Valve the full and only credit for Portal is the one that's being silly.

Was Instagram fully a Facebook idea, then?
 
BDS

BDS

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Oct 25, 2017
13,845
I was just watching that Unforeseen Consquences documentary and it made me really nostalgic. TF2 is my favorite game of all time with thousands of hours and years of play put into it, Portal 2 is one of my top 10 games ever, and Half-Life and L4D are also among my favorites. It's just mind-boggling to think about how Valve totally disappeared. It's like if George Lucas put out Star Wars, Empire, Raiders, and then suddenly vanished into thin air. Thirty years of wondering if Han Solo would ever get out of carbonite.
 
Arulan

Arulan

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Oct 25, 2017
1,571
Valve has always been an incredible developer, and that hasn't changed. They chose to spend the last few years on incredible features for Steam, making breakthroughs on Virtual Reality, making Linux gaming a reality, what is arguably the best modern controller, and other endeavors. Not to mention DotA 2 and CS:GO, which are some of the most popular online games in the world.

Though none of that is likely to get the attention of console players here. And likely Artifact, and the three VR games they're developing won't either.

I played through Half-Life again recently, and couldn't help but smile at the fantastic level and weapon design. I hope the highly rumored Half-Life VR will feel that way.
 
Ionic

Ionic

Member
Oct 31, 2017
2,742
Ichi said:
How is that silly? The very nature of Portal was conceived before the students got hired by Valve. To give Valve the full and only credit for Portal is the one that's being silly.

Was Instagram fully a Facebook idea, then?
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They hired the developers and after that moment they created all of Portal. Portal is Valve. What are you doing?

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Ichi

Ichi

Banned
Sep 10, 2018
1,997
Ionic said:
They hired the developers and after that moment they created all of Portal. Portal is Valve. What are you doing?

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The idea behind Portal came before Valve even acquired the studio. Is it that hard to comprehend or are you pretending that their first game had zero similarities with Portal - Which is complete bollocks.
 
funky

funky

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Oct 25, 2017
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I am just happy the creative minds behind Half Life, Portal and L4D have all escaped.
 
Smash-It Stan

Smash-It Stan

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Oct 25, 2017
5,337
id exchange 500 hours of my dota playtime for another left for dead, portal, or all of my hours for a new half life tbh.
 
Jawmuncher

Jawmuncher

Crisis Dino
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Oct 25, 2017
38,968
Ibis Island
Hektor said:
On era multiplayer games aren't real games
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I think the crux of it is in this sort of forum environment. Stuff like Portal, Halif-Life, Left 4 Dead. Stand out more than CS:GO and Artifact. Especially when you consider the amount of console players there are and how poorly Valve's Competitive MP titles transition to the console space.

(I know titles I listed are developed by Valve themselves, buy you get what I mean)
 
Ionic

Ionic

Member
Oct 31, 2017
2,742
Ichi said:
The idea behind Portal came before Valve even acquired the studio. Is it that hard to comprehend or are you pretending that their first game had zero similarities with Portal - Which is complete bollocks.
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The question is why that matters. A mechanic in Portal came before Portal. Valve hired those people and then the game was made. Portal is a Valve game. And it's pretty shitty to dosregard all the work people at Valve did on Portal including the Narbacular Drop devs because they built (significantly) on a previous idea (by people that are now in the company).
 
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