Half-Life: 25th Anniversary Documentary [video]

Post by willis936 » Tue, Nov 28, 2023, 1:22 PM UTC

acomjean wrote: post #5

epolanski wrote: post #2

One thing I have found extremely interesting was how Valve hit the jackpot with many early hires. It was literally people that often didn't even have a CS or let alone gaming background and yet so many of them proved to be relentlessly resourceful, creative and hard working. The guy who wrote most of the HL code wasn't even a developer and at the time was studying to become a lawyer or accountant iirc. I can't but th…

They knew Michael Abrash from working at Microsoft who went to id, told them to "you should use our engine". They went to id and walked out with the quake engine, and some advice from Romero. Sometimes it really helps who you know, and there is always some element of luck in making it. Having a great team certainly made that game what it was. It was interesting how they balance realism and fun. Its always interesting…

Post by pipes » Tue, Nov 28, 2023, 1:26 PM UTC

epolanski wrote: post #2

One thing I have found extremely interesting was how Valve hit the jackpot with many early hires. It was literally people that often didn't even have a CS or let alone gaming background and yet so many of them proved to be relentlessly resourceful, creative and hard working. The guy who wrote most of the HL code wasn't even a developer and at the time was studying to become a lawyer or accountant iirc. I can't but th…

Post by hypercube33 » Tue, Nov 28, 2023, 1:33 PM UTC

willis936 wrote: post #11

acomjean wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They knew Michael Abrash from working at Microsoft who went to id, told them to "you should use our engine". They went to id and walked out with the quake engine, and some advice from Romero. Sometimes it really helps who you know, and there is always some element of luck in making it. Having a great team certainly made that game what it was. It was interesting how they balance realism and fun. Its always interesting…

That coupled with the fact that the talent pool and tooling for game development were limited. Having id at your back was a superpower (which is arguably still true today when you compare their tech to other engines). DYKG recently did a video about Ken Sugimori (the Pokemon guy). He is an overly harsh critic of his own skills, but I think there is a kernel of truth in this insight: "It's kind of embarrassing to admi…

Post by dkdbejwi383 » Tue, Nov 28, 2023, 1:43 PM UTC

hypercube33 wrote: post #15

willis936 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That coupled with the fact that the talent pool and tooling for game development were limited. Having id at your back was a superpower (which is arguably still true today when you compare their tech to other engines). DYKG recently did a video about Ken Sugimori (the Pokemon guy). He is an overly harsh critic of his own skills, but I think there is a kernel of truth in this insight: "It's kind of embarrassing to admi…

There is a video somewhere where gaben is really self destructive about how half life 2 turned out and I think it's why we don't see half life 3 or any other new games - I think he's overly critical about his work. Watching this 25th documentary really felt like the team had a nostalgia trip making it and fond memories of the game. I wonder if the spark is gone with that teams weird dynamic.

Post by dkdbejwi383 » Tue, Nov 28, 2023, 1:45 PM UTC