Poll Question 322 – If Valve announced they were not making HL3, do you think the modding community could finish the series?

24th September 2015

Sorry for another HL3 question so soon after the last one (more to come though, I’m afraid) but I saw something on the Steam Greenlight page that starting me thinking about this.

Fans of other franchises, although I don’t know of any gaming ones, have continued the stories when the originators didn’t seem to be interested. Star Wars and Star Trek are the ones that come to mind, but there might be others.

It’s probably happened with fiction too and I don’t just mean fan-written stuff, I mean actual ends to series that were never finished or poorly finished.

Now, I don’t for a minute think Valve would announce they are not making another HL game, BUT if they did, would the community be able to come together and actually finish the series. Persoanlly, I don’t think so, it would start off great, but then splinter into rival groups, each claiming they had the “right” to the title of “Official Community Project”.

To be honest, I’m surprised there hasn’t been at least one serious attempt to do it already.

I’d like to hear you thoughts on the matter, so feel free to post a comment.

Your Chance to Vote


11 Comments

  1. Zekiran

    I voted ‘no’ but the answer I’d give is closer to “not well”.

    The entire modding community already DOES this, every time a mod or map is made. The point at which Valve indicates that in no uncertain terms the Half Life story is finished and done from them, all bets are off as to what their story would have contained. Thus, anyone else’s is still quite literally fan fiction.

    There would be too many options, too many opinions, all too many arguments over who would do what, how it would go, the ‘real’ meaning behind many things (like Gman’s origin, what’s in the Borealis, how Alyx handles her father’s death, etc).

    As an example of this kind of thing: my favorite (only) MMO, City of Heroes, closed down in 2012, abruptly, the announcement happening only 3 hours after an update to what would have been a spectacular new release for the game had been put up. In the 3 years since that fateful day, of course, a lot of effort has been put into not one, not two, but THREE separate superhero-styled games.

    It started out with one. The ‘City of Titans’ project, aka, originally, “Plan Z”, splintered almost instantly when one of the creative founders had extreme differences of opinions with the rest, about how their game ‘should’ be. Now there’s Titans, and Heroes and Villains – Titans has had a kickstarter and some amount of progress, H&V has had… some artwork published. Along came, however, a third and much more viable contender for the possible release is Valiance Online – they’d already had progress but their original licensing backed out, and they switched over to a heroic style as soon as they saw the need was as strong as it was. They’ve already gone into pre-alpha.

    The point though, is that even with the same group of people wanting to continue the style of game, the superhero mmo, even when it’s coming FROM the people who loved playing the same game, opinions on how it would ‘continue’ vary so much as to be non-viable.

  2. I think it actually would be possible for something like this to happen. Even though it isn’t completed yet, Black Mesa is more or less a full length game with completely custom assets and changed some things from the original game. I have no doubt the mod community would be able to create a full length “HL3” game if Valve said they would never make HL3. Now, whether or not there would actually be a coherent definitive answer to what happens at the end of this story arc, to me that’s a different question entirely. My thoughts on what happens in the next game are probably very different from everyone else’s thoughts, and everyone else has different thoughts from one another too. Whoever created the best story, most fun, and best looking end to the story would probably be the game that would be considered the definitive ending, but who really knows?

  3. Senator33

    A fascinating story line already exists…and now can be continued or ended.

    Combine Advisors are already known to us. How are they destroyed or neutralized? Who is the Advisors’ superior?

    If the missile launched in HL2 EP2 closed the alien portal, for how long until the next incursion?

    There are many places this story could go….I hope someone[s] will have the time and energy to continue.

  4. Well, like I said with the previous poll question, no.

    It all comes down to the fact that the opinion of fans differs a lot. For example, there will be a part which wants to have Alyx die in HL3, but then there are people that want Gordon and Alyx to make out. So yeah, it all comes down to opinions.

  5. My answer would be “no” with a dash of Zekiran’s “not well.”

    At least, the modding community wouldn’t be able to do it without some kind of guidance from Valve. You see it in Black Mesa already, the idiosyncratic way that some ideas and mechanics remain true to the original while others are off in la-la land. Who makes that call? Who handles disagreements?

    I think the new Unreal Tournament is a good example of a project where the company sets the tone, but modders are the ones following it. I believe you need to have someone “official” at the head of the project.

  6. initially i thought “yes” .. however come on guys what would it matter if theres no half life 3 … it wouldnt be the end of the world and allthough there would be many guys and gals crying into their pint glass they would get over it
    dont get me wrong half life 2 is my most played game ( 260hrs ) and i love it …. but i cant honestly see how even valve can better it … they will make the same old mistake of amazing us with visuals and the final game will lack in gameplay …
    can you see it .. man enters doctors room .. “what can i do for you” asks the doctor .. i need diazepam,strong painkillers and anti-deppresants … why asks the doctor … “half life 3 isnt being released !

  7. Duke

    I voted maybe…what of course would be really useful is if Valve were just honest and tell us….they going to finish it or not….if not, then give us a clue as to how it might have progressed, even if they can’t be bothered to actually do it. At least then any would be 3 makers would have an idea of direction.

  8. I don’t think the series would ever really be “finished” until Valve says it is. The community that has given us some really involved and enjoyable offerings could do a HL3 that would rival what Valve could do, of that, I have no doubt.

    The thing is, unless Valve declares the HL series dead (as in, stating that they will NOT be releasing or licensing another installment of the series) they could always release HL3, which would officially “negate” the fan made HL3. Further (as Zekiran said) just because a modding team created their HL3, what’s to keep another faction from saying, “oh yeah?” and then making their own? And if there are, say, four HL3s by four different teams, then really none of them are HL3, because none of them are the DEFINITIVE HL3.

    Maybe a “dream team” of modders–a group of folks whose work we all recognize as tip top quality– could create something spectacular enough and endow it with their prestige, so that a consensus would form that would galvanize their offering as the Half-Life 3, at least in the minds of the fans.

    Without that prestige factor, it’ll be just another mod.

    Sadly, I had to vote “no” because the likelihood of the dream team scenario is quite low.

    1. That kind of chaos is what happened with Descent 4. Red Faction was a spiritual prequel to the series, but since it was an FPS instead of a flight game, fans took it upon themselves to make a Descent 4. One claimed to have the publisher’s blessing, but the effort didn’t get very far and, indeed, it fragmented into other projects.

      My reasoning has always been that the brand is not important. You see this a lot with fan sequels, where the original publisher throws a cease-and-desist on them because they weren’t authorized to use their IP. I get why some people do it – it’s a quick-and-dirty way to make headlines. After all, the sad truth is that the only Half-Life 2 mods that ever get mainstream attention are the ones who shamelessly transplant the assets from one game to another, like Resident Evil. But as something that you intend to sell? It’s risky and dumb. What fans really want is more of the gameplay and the “feel” of the game. I think the market for a quality narrative-based FPS is pretty ripe at the moment since triple-As are largely ignoring it in favor of their multiplayer microtransaction extravaganzas. I’m sure that’s why Bethesda is looking at Wolfenstein: The New Order and Doom 4 and going, y’know, now’s a good time to release products like this. We’ve got no competition.

      In other words, Half-Life 3 shouldn’t be the only game in town. If someone else makes “that game” before Valve does, they deserve our support. Well, provided of course, that they support modding. And they never do! 😛

  9. Hl2Ice

    Its coming now
    Half life 2 Ice is currently in development but its worth it!!!

    Check their website now!
    Btw Half life 2 Ice could be release next year
    OK for those who are thinking what Half life 2 ice is?

    Half life 2 ice is an expansion mod A.K.A half life 2 or ep 2 is needed
    In easy words Half life 2 Ice is Half life 3 in source engine
    Its not that graphics updated but its worth the weight
    CMon guys its half life 3!!!
    Half life 2 Ice:http://www.moddb.com/mods/ice-a-half-life-2-expansion-pack

  10. Martin

    My vote is def. “YES” which such a famous group like the blak mesa mod and other, its totaly possible that gives a very god HL3.

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