Here’s the article :
https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-07-23-why-half-life-2-city-17-creator-viktor-antonov-left-valve
Disscuss.
There is nothing to discuss. He has understandable reasons, why he left. Valve went with the episodic model (where they later realized, that it wasn’t a good idea).
I think he will come back, since Valve starts developing huge triple A titles again. Like Portal 2.
Half-Life is going to be poorer without him. Valve’s art design took a noticeable hit when he left.
But he’s working on Dishonored, so fuck yeah for that.
I don’t mind. The design of HL2 was generally shit and not in any way similar to the one in HL1. The whole combine design looks also pretty dull and uninnovative. I hope HL3 will have more Black Mesa in it than HL2.
It wasn’t that bad. It just was different. But I think that the general dark design from the old Hl2 concept arts and beta were much better than the end product.
Seeing how Portal 2’s concept arts look like and how it was, Valve has still many talented concept artists.
Hm, He went on to become visual design director for Zenimax. Good for Zenimax.
Why doesn’t City 17/Combine shit in general look anywhere near as cool as many of those concept art pieces?
I thought so too at first but then I realized that time had moved on without me/Gordon. Gordon was missing for a couple decades but the Earth did not stop. It continued and Gordon’s efforts caused the Earth to come under police-state rule, an alien race essentially working on crushing humanity to enslave them and drain the planet of its resources, probably just as they had done with the vortigaunts you met in HL1.
In that ~20 year time span, the Earth changed from what Gordon knew into something almost alien in and of itself. There were still recognizable landmarks, humans still exist but they’ve been oppressed and acting in an almost alien manner themselves. Until Gordon returns and acts as the fuel for the tinderbox of anger against the oppressors and starts a rebellion.
It’s not supposed to be another running around and fighting in a science lab/military complex. Time moved on. And Gordon must now adapt to the change. In that way, I think it fits very well within the Half-Life universe.
EDIT: The way I see it, take our world as it is today and compare it to the world of 20 years ago. It was 1992. “Friday, I’m in Love” on the radio for the first time, “the Lawnmower Man” just coming out in theaters, DVDs were still a couple years away so everything was VHS and Laserdisc, Microsoft releases Windows 3.1 and “the Internet” was something only technophile niche geeks were into. AOL has only been in existence as an ISP for about a year and 14.4 (2400 baud) modems were the best you could buy. Now, take that world and compare it today with wireless highspeed Internet for SmartPhones, GPS devices, able to download movies directly into the palm of your hand. And if you want to talk about video games, Wolfenstein 3D was the FPS of choice. Compare that with today’s FPSs.
Take someone from 1992 and plunk them down in 2012 and see if they would find a lot of this stuff completely alien to them. And we didn’t have to contend with evil alien overlords that could control our biological functions.
Concept artists, yes. But I didn’t find the overall art direction in episode 2, L4D, or Portal 2 nearly as good as HL2.
They’re still well-above average, but HL2 set an industry standard, and it looks like Dishonored might well do the same.
I’ve yet to find a reason to think Dishonored is going this ground-breaking game that everyone thinks it’s going to be. Yes, it looks fun and everything, but it’s more-or-less Bioshock and Assassin’s creed in one FPS with an obscure environment.
(Someone please prove me wrong and explain why I should be excited – I’m really looking for a reason.)
I haven’t seen anything I’d call groundbreaking about the gameplay either. It’s more the fact that they’ve combined the best elements of Thief, Deus Ex, and Dark Messiah and wrapped them into a game with great art design and an interesting world.
Stealth looks great, combat looks great, and the ability to do things your own way looks great.
HL3 will be the HL2 of 2013
Being a fan of 2 out of 3 of those games, I can surely say the concept sounds fantastic. But I just can’t shake the fear of them not delivering; a fear based off of recent titles that disappointed me, which I admit, have no bearing over the fate of this game. Regardless, I hope it’s good.
Optimistic.
For some reason, I’m actually very disappointed that Dishonored doesn’t have a FBA system in it.
I absolutely loved that about Dark Messiah.
It’s not a “system” it’s a gimmick.
Intention doesn’t take anything away from the player if it’s actually fun.
:fffuuu:
Who ever said it was supposed to be in any way similar to HL1?.. Alien, Aliens and Alien3 all looked very different and were very different… and we are so much better off that they weren’t all the same, like so many sequels. Same principle applies here.
As a graphic designer and 3D artist, I do not agree whatsoever. As a gamer and lover of HL2, I am aghast! 
HL2, simply put, blew my fucking mind… design-wise and in every other way. It looked completely different than anything else that ever came before it. Totally unique… and that includes movies, tv, whatever.
Additionally, HL2 and Portal 1&2 (in particular, but also in most VALVe games) have incredibly nuanced design philosophy. There are many things throughout that only designers are likely to truly appreciate. And I suspect that most gamers just want… well… MORE. More details. More colors. More polys. You can not show someone like that a bottle of Chanel No. 5 and expect them to see it for what it is… a true masterpiece of design.
But it would be cool if HL3 had a more (than HL2) indoor and (especially) industrial feel to it…
If you want to pay for the same shit twice, just buy a second copy of the original game. Characters change. Art styles change. Change is good. All who are blind to this prophecy are subject to autism evaluation ASAP
Just ignore him. People like him would probably prefer the combine soldiers had solid metal plate armor & shoulder pads. People like that aren’t worth arguing with & coming from me, that’s saying something.