Leaked: HL3 Could Be Closer Than We Think!
Gabe Follower and Tyler McVicker, two well-known insiders and data miners specialized in Valve, claim that Half Life 3 could currently be in its final stage of development. As we all know, Steam has not made any official announcements about the long-awaited return of its iconic FPS, but for the past couple of years, the “unofficial” information about the existence of this project has been constant. This is partly because in the updates of the Source 2 graphics engine, used in Counter Strike 2 and Deadlock, there are more and more references to something whose only name so far is “HLX”, a title in development by Gabe Newell’s company that has every chance to be the canonical continuation of Half Life 2 Episode Two.
Both Follower and McVicker reach the same conclusion, that the next adventure of our beloved Gordon Freeman is in the final stage of its development, based on several changes in the engine in question. In addition to abundant documentation in the source code, a refactoring process can be seen, a technique by which the source code is restructured, altering it internally but without changing its external behavior. This, in short, is known as optimization.
Gabe Follower claims that this proves that “some parts of Half Life 3 are already finished” and that they are probably in the polishing stage. In addition, being careful not to cite his anonymous sources, he has added that some Valve developers are changing projects. When we talk about Steam, this can mean one of two things: either the contribution of these elements is no longer necessary for that specific project, or on the other hand, the development is going so badly that they simply prefer to join another initiative within the company. Obviously, we all choose to believe that in this case it’s the first option.
On top of all this, Tyler McVicker reinforces Follower’s theory, stating that the presence of so much refactoring in the source code can only mean that large parts of the game in question are already finished. However, he clarifies that “while this, in any other studio, would indicate that the game is almost ready for release, Valve is a company known for how polished their games are when they hit the market.” Documentation on the development of their previous titles has shown that their developers do not hesitate to eliminate entire, completely finished phases and spend years optimizing the experience… Uff.
So…
Beyond the development stage, the code anticipates that there will be mod support from launch, or very shortly after. As for gameplay, the previously leaked information seems to remain, or even be confirmed: gameplay dynamics will be based on physics, thermodynamic simulations, and a much-improved artificial intelligence. In addition, matches will be influenced by a dynamic wind system, which could well be linked to a changing weather cycle. Not bad, right?
Almost a year ago, we brought to this page a piece of news that also came from discoveries made by Follower. If you want to read the full article, you can do so by clicking THIS LINK. Now, for our part, we can only wait for more news and cross our fingers that some official announcement will finally take us out of this point of uncertainty in which we are all making guesses and assumptions. So, since we have to wait, how about you drop by the comments and tell us what you think about the possibility of getting the long-awaited Half Life 3 soon? Or maybe your best experiences playing other games in the saga, since if you’ve made it this far, you surely have them. You know gamer, we’ll be reading you! 🙂
Info & Images Source: Gabe Follower Official YouTube Channel, VANDAL, Max Level Gamer
