Orko- Tim Krupinski, 3DGaming Staff Sphinx - Contaminated.net staff Nuke- Contaminated.net Staff All other Questions ------- GabeN - Gabe Newell, Managing Director at Valve Yahn -Yahn Bernier, Coder Driller - Dave Riller, Level Designer TedB - Ted Backman, Artist All other Answers ------- <Orko- > Okay people <Orko- > Valve people that are here, why dont you introduce yourself so people know who you are <GabeN > I'm Gabe Newell, I'm the managing director here at Valve. <Yahn > I'm Yahn Bernier, I'm one of the coders here <GabeN > Greg, Driller, Ted? <TedB > i'm ted backman, i'm a modeller/animater <DRiller > I'm Dave Riller, one of the level designers <Sphinx > Ok, thank you for coming Valve <GabeN > To answer the question I get asked about 100 times a day, "This Summer." <Sphinx > To open, questions come of linux halflife <GabeN > If you hear anything from anybody other than "It's Golden" then it's a bogus date. <Orko- > <DS|Narc > 1: How will HL use skeletal animation for guns? <Yahn > Well, here goes. I'll talk about some stuff I know tons about. <GabeN > Half-Life's weapons benefit from the animation system in several ways: <TedB > alot of people have been asking how to create models for hl, it's a pretty simple process <GabeN > The first is that you see the proper weapon in multiplayer opponents hands. <Yahn > We've been doing some interesting things with client-side prediction and network bandwidth optimizations that should make multiplayer games fun for more people <GabeN > When your opponents are shooting a weapon at you, you can see where they are pointing. If someone is shooting up at an angle, then that's how it looks. <TedB > if you have a decent paint program and a threed program, there's not much else you need <GabeN > The skeletal animation system means we can also put attachment points onto weapons that we can hang things off of, such as muzzle flashes. <TedB > the textureing process is a whole lot easyier than it has been in the past, like for example in quake and q2 <Yahn > We've also been creating a really robust system for propogating resources to connected clients <nuke > <Willikers > How did you come up with the name Half-Life? <TedB > you don't need to conform to any specific palatte, each texture has it's own <Yahn > Kind of like a "super autodownload" mode <TedB > and you can use as many textures on a model as you can fit into 150k or so <Sphinx > Will Half-Life be ported to Linux? <|sNeAk| > i was forwarded an e-mail (from chuck) stating that the skeletal animation only works for 3ds max1.2 (i will post the e-mal tongiht) and not with ver2 ...care to comment? <TedB > you'll be able to drop new faces onto the multiplay models <Yahn > sphinx, we are planning a Linux dedicated server, but we are probably not doing a linux client <TedB > the max v2 problem will be fixed shortly after we ship <BRiNGER > Will you port the client to Linux if enough demand is shown? <GabeN > That's what we use (Max 1.2), but we expect to update to 2.0, and will provide documentation and code so people can do plug-ins for other environments or standalone tools. <|sNeAk| > hi brett <Yahn > bringer, no no no, and please don't send email asking for it. It won't happen <Sphinx > <Toxy > Got a pair of questions: Since HL is using the quake engine, it'll still be using player prediction over the net, right? And #2, That modeling guy at id (forget his name) said <|sNeAk| > will there be a light version of 3d studio or some other modeling/animation program on the cd? <TedB > we won't be giving away a lite version of max on the cd <Orko- > hehehe <BRiNGER > Yahn: I was thinking more along the lines of a simple poll, just to show that people would like a Linux client, with a few lines saying "Please don't email Valve about this" <TedB > some of the new stuff we've been doing with models are, glowing parts, (eyes) and invisibility effects, (render effects on models) <Orko- > <Dustin > 3. How will the aliens reproduce and how quickly will it happen? <nuke > hehe <Sub-Ubi >willikers - The name Half-Life is was a perfect fit for the game Valve had underway. We were working on an identity for the product (both the name and the graphic identity at the same time) and the lambda symbol connection made it an even stronger choice. <Yahn > HL is based loosely on Quake, Q2 and QW source bases. To that extent, we are not a Quake net based engine. We, in fact, have a hybrid of prediction models that we use to solve latency issues. We have taken some of the best thoughs on client-side prediction in the source base and extended them in our own way to apply to our physics model. We have also reworked our network protocols to minimize bandwidth usage. <TedB > there has been alot of work done to be able to spawn effects and have them tied to a particular part of the model, like additive sprites for muzzle flashes, etc <Yahn > Bringer, I would discourage the poll, it will not become a reality :( <HellPhish > Does the engine allow for real-time reflections on curved surfaces, or only enviroment mapping? <nuke > <SvenVikng > Was the mention of the Headcrab Hat being sold at Sierra soon a joke? (hope not) <onethumb > Headcrap Hats would rule! <GabeN > We met today with them and it should be up shortly (the Half-Life store). <|sNeAk| > gabe: please tell me your serious ..and that they will sell in toronto :) <Sub-Ubi > <Secks > ok. Will we be able to tranquilize someone in TF2, then throw their bodies in the water and kill them? <onethumb > *embarassed blush* <TedB > the reflection mapping on models is really an enviornment map, you can use a 64x64 bitmap to create reflective effects or many other kinds of effects <Sub-Ubi >The lambda symbol is used in the formula for an element's half-life. (it actually symbolizes the element's "decay constant".) <BRiNGER > Yahn: I know this is a rather touchy point with source code and everything, but Instig8r asks: What if there was someone willing to port HL to Linux free and had previous porting experience? <|sNeAk| > the lamba is also used as wavelength ...will that tie into the game somehow? <Yahn > Some of the other aspects of multiplayer that we are focusing on it making it really easy for folks (unlike present company) who might have been intimidated or frustrated by trying to get into multiplayer gaming on the net in the past <|sNeAk| > *AgentOrng* if i wanted to make my own decals, what are the pixel measurments? <Yahn > One of the things we've done is to create a ridiculously simple path into multiplayer games. You click a button and, assuming you in fact have an internet connection, we find you a server and put you on it. <Sphinx > With coop in the game, will players be allowed to be in multiple levels while playing. Additionally, will this work in deathmatch? <Yahn > No IP addresses to remember, no configurations to set up. Pretty simple <Sub-Ubi >sneak - re: lambda wavelength, we're not using it for that right now. <TedB > some of the newest stuff in the game is: if you shoot someone in a particular part of the body, they react accordingly, for exaple, the humangrunt, if you shoot him in the stomach, falls to his knees, trying to hold his innards in and looks up at you, begging for mercy untill he falls limp to the floor. <Orko- > Awesome, somewhat like Goldeneye for the N64? <TedB > you can also score a headshot or shoot him in the leg and watch him limp away <Yahn > Coop will be limited to single levels only. The coop levels will be larger in size than the portions of the world we use for the single player game. We want the coop game to have a discreet feel and be a limited scenario <TedB > yea, it's like goldeneye, exept, really grim. <Choryoth > in goldeneye could you shoot through the legs of a monster? I can't remember. In half-life, your shots can be that precise. <Orko- > Can you blow seperate limbs off <TedB > not all limbs can be blown off, but the most rewarding ones can <|sNeAk| > *Shalrath* can you ask if there is a limit to the size and the number of decals we can bring into a netgame. <Choryoth > anyone looking forward to doing half-life editing? <Yahn > We also created a more middle level multiplayer path where we provide a simplified chat window and server browser so those folks (again present company excluded : ) who might be intimidated by the power of say Gamespy, can still get to this functionality directly in the game. <Choryoth > Jay has been giving us a ton of new features lately that you're just gonna go crazy over. <Sphinx > Could you explain some of these new features? <|sNeAk| > ok, if you're msging me questions, make sure they're related to the topic currently being spoke about <TedB > if you shoot the human grunt in the head, you get to see his head blown off, but the lower jaw and toungue are still there... :) <Orko- > Damn thats awesome <BRiNGER > Can we get some lower jaw and tongue screenshots? :D <Gobster > heh = ) <Yahn > We are also going to do some really cool things for modmakers to make it easy to disseminate their work. In addition to in-game "resource propagation technology" we are working closely with Won.net to provide an automated way to disseminate larger data sets to end users. Kind of a behind the scenes FTP transfer mechanism. It'll be pretty cool and really easy to use. <GabeN > Screenshot requests go to Lisa. <TedB > no way man, you've got to pay up for that. <Choryoth > Jay Stelly (one of our programmers) - he gave us beam FXs with damage yesterday. Dario Casali and I are racing to see who can build the first laser that you can swivel around in a room and cut everything in half (the walls included.) <|sNeAk| > *|ceman* if you shoot someone in a particular part of the body, they react accordingly.... Will that be effective in Multiplayer? <Number-6 > did anybody speak about scripting?? <Choryoth > I haven't had a chance to play with it much yet, but i'm pretty sure I can build walls with stuff behind them (pipes) and stuff behind that (insulation) and just start going nuts spinning a mounted laser in the center, cutting through the layers. <Yahn > The customizability of Half-Life has allowed us to do some really cool things to the player models in multiplayer games. To do this, we devised some interesting strategies for how to ensure that all client's see interesting worlds that reflect this customizability <Choryoth > Stuff that doesn't break will be scorched and spew sparks. it's just so cool. <BRiNGER > How long will it take for decals to fade in multiplayer? <Choryoth > decals don't fade. <Sub-Ubi > <Secks > ok. Will we be able to tranquilize someone in TF2, then throw their bodies in the water and kill them? <TedB > john, you should talk about couch gibs <Choryoth > hah <Number-6 > decals in DM start building up, you can see the busiest parts of the map <Choryoth > i'm still waiting on the couch cushion gibs. <grin > <BRiNGER > So after say an hour of multiplayer, will performance and speed be affected by all the blood? <Number-6 > after an hour of multiplay, blood is EVERYWHERE <Yahn > number-6 means 'bloodiest' parts of the map... <TedB > i have the remote controll gib, <|sNeAk| > how will all these localized damage work? can you dismember victims, will you ba able to drag their corpses around, etc <Number-6 > Yahn doesn't know what NUmber 6 is talking about :) <Orko- > Alright <Orko- > Lets move on <Choryoth > BRiNGER - well, i've been asking jay if there will be a way to set the blood to fade if the player wants. That way when you gib someone you'll get beautiful body-part artwork, but the room won't be saturated every time you enter it. <BRiNGER > Moriarty asks: Since Half-life is using sprite explosions, how will you be maniuplating these in order to keep them realistic in a vertical environment (e.g. looking down on the sprite explosion)? <|sNeAk| > <Void_M > Will there be other ways to have scripted events other than premaking them in 3Dstudio and exporting them? In other words, will ordinary yahoos be able to have scripted events in their levels easily? <Orko- > Last question regarding the blood and stuff all over the walls :) <Choryoth > part of the fun of blowing up (ahem) a scientist, or a monster, is the decal decoration. A skull will flop down stairs, leaving a trail all the way. it's great. <Yahn > the persistence of decals in multiplayer games is something we can tweak and we still have to finalize the behavior for the release <DRiller > We have AI scripting and hints that allow the monsters to move through the levels in pretty smart ways <GabeN > Driller, could you answer sNeAk's question about scripted events? <|sNeAk| > <Tintivilo > question when you put a bmp tag on a wall or someone, and say the server shuts off, is this data stored until the server restarts or is it a cacheing system and is flushed each time? <DRiller > we can tell where good amush points would be, hiding areas and other nifty things <Number-6 > AI can even be triggered from monster states - example - a monster gets down to 50 health, then he runs back to an ambush point. If you follow, you'll be led into the trap <TedB > sprites are just one component of our explosions, sprites are good for some things, but we've got lenticular halos, particles, transparent models, textured beam effects, dynamic lights, etc, so all the weapon and explosion effects are a combination of these options. <DRiller > a scenario would be how we can script a group of grunts <Choryoth > Vood_m - sure, you'll be able to use all the animations we ship with the game, so NPCs will have attacks, walks, runs, button pushing, leaning on walls, scratching back of neck, etc - you'll be able to use the scripted AI interface in worldcraft to do this all in your maps without a 3d program. <|sNeAk| > will the rating be "teen" or "mature" ...and can you explain mpore about the censoring <Yahn > we save decals in single player games, but in multiplayer, when the server dies, so do the decals that were on it. <DRiller > we can send them out on patrols in certain parts of the level <DRiller > and have them fall back when they get injured and regroup to hold a key area <GabeN > We think it will be teen, but the game is getting kinda messy, so ... <GabeN > I'm not sure I understand what you meant by "about the censoring". <Choryoth > Void_M - now, if you want a scientist to be beating on a machine with a crowbar cursing about how something is broken, and we haven't already made that animation for you, you can get 3d studio (or download the libraries of scripts i'm sure will be all over the net after we ship) and make you're own custom scenes. <|sNeAk| > like the german censoring <GabeN > Never mind, it looks like we're Mature. <|sNeAk| > mature ...oooooh yeaaaah <Choryoth > Void_M - you'll be able to do your own voices with a microphone. Right now, as placeholders, I have Marc Laidlaw's voice. <heh > He makes a great scientist... and security guard... and... <BRiNGER > More on AI: Gnowknaym asks: One of the things I don't like about Unreal's AI is that it doesn't seem smart, it just seems like the enemies react quickly...Like the Skaarj dodging every rocket I shoot. Is this the case with Half-Life's acclaimed AI? <Choryoth > BRiNGER - no. <Number-6 > Our AI is smart but not annoying <Number-6 > monsters won't dodge rockets <Choryoth > Well said, Dario. <Number-6 > bvut they will flank you and set off grenades that you didn't see <Number-6 > shut up Chory! <Sphinx > <_NeD_ > Q. Even though there is a skeletal animation system, are the actual animations still "pre-recorded" into frames as in Quake 2 or are the models dynamically rendered <Sphinx > ingame? <Choryoth > Monsters, however, might yell "HOLY SH*T!" and run when they see you come into a room after you just wasted three of his buddies with a rocket. <Choryoth > monsters, NPCs. <|sNeAk| > choryoth: coool <Choryoth > whutever. <TedB > As someone who gets to watch the ai develop and who gets to play with it everday, i'm just in awe of the work that's going on, these monsters arn't just reacting to what you do, they've got their own ideas as well, watching a group of grunts surround and kill you entertains me to no end <DRiller > our rockets aren't like other rockets out there anyway - kinda hard to dodge a laser guided missle =) <BRiNGER > Heh <Dario > travelling at 200mph <Choryoth > yeah. and don't shoot a rocket in a small room. <GabeN > hey, the rpg is still under wraps <Choryoth > use a MP5 grenade. <HellPhish > more realistic <Sphinx > not twice? <thanos > Personally , I can't wait to see the different things you guys do with the HL scripting after we ship. I expect some really bizzarre TCs and such. <TedB > Sphinx: the animations are a combination of "pre-recorded" and real time programmatic controll and blending <Sub-Ubi > <ImdaBob > what's the status on TF2? how closely are they working with you? <Orko- > Alright guys, lets try and get some more Q's going to make everybody happy :) <BRiNGER > How involved are you with the Sierra QA team? It sounds like you guys are playing the game at work, but do you have day to day contact with Sierra's testers? <Choryoth > Thanos: Heck, I can't wait to see the things I do after we ship. I swear, I am going to make the rats Vs. roaches TC. <Choryoth > (unless someone beats me to it, damn you!) <Dario > since you can have any monster trigger any event you can do just about anything with monsters <TedB > so, you have detailed movements that are tailored to exactly what you are doing, the monster's heads are controlled by the game and the aim of guns on human grunts are controlled by blending a set of animations together <GabeN > We have two QA guys from Sierra on-site here at Valve, and then they have a bunch of people back at Sierra. <Sphinx > <Ads49 > choryoth, are you and wedge planing on picking up on some of the older projects that got abbandonded when you too were hired by valve? i'd like to see the jeep still :) <Choryoth > Cade Myers and Eric Johnson - two cool guys. <Choryoth > great QA guys. <JohnG > <- hiding <Gobster > = ) <GabeN > Hey, Jaspur. <JohnG > Sphinx - we're thinking about it. I get a lot of people asking for a club shub 2. <JohnG > man, can you imagine what that would be like with the Half-LIfe engine?! <TedB > exept our shub will be a little different :) <JohnG > OMG, we could have scripted AI where the bouncers actually throw people out! <thanos > yea, i was thinking a bar fight TC would be in order <Orko- > *Nerraw* how will you deal with the "seamless" map transitions in multiplayer? Wouldn't it be possible to get fragged while your computer is loading the next level? <Yahn > I don't know how many of you I met at e3, but I did meet a few. e3 was really excellent this year, a real eye opener for me. We work and work on this game and it was pretty cool to see so many people so excited about what we are doing. <GabeN > There aren't seamless transitions in multiplayer, only single player. <Dario > At the moment we're working on MP maps that are self contained <Dario > we are doing different games, in addition to the regular DM <thanos > HL multiplayer goes beyond just throwing spawn points in single player levels. <Yahn > I had a change to check out a lot of cool games in development and talk to a lot of folks about where they thought the industry was heading. This is pretty cool considering not too long ago I was doing something entirely different <Dario > thank you thanus <Sphinx > <threep > could u ask about localized versions of the game? i'm from germany, and i want to know wether the german version of half life will be as much a f!ck-up as the freespace <Sphinx > game is (totally bugged, missing voice overs, etc.) will it be possible to reverse the "localization" by adding a patch, or the likes? <Orko- > *Leth* How does selective damage work? For example, if I shot a baddies leg off, would he fall down and die or crawl after me? <Gobster > heh <GabeN > I'm not familiar with the German version of Frespace. In order to be compliant with German content restrictions, we've been using a similar set of changes to Turok's. <Sub-Ubi >Yeah, E3 was a blast. It was great to be able to present HL to eveyone there and get the kind of response we got every day. And winning 'Best Game PC' and 'Best Action Game' awards wasn't too bad, either. <JohnG > Orko - If you shot a grunt in the leg, he'd hobble off (probably after trying to empty a clip in your direction) <Orko- > Hehehe <thanos > Is that what those clear thingies are when we walk into the office? :))) <Zhyla_HLH > Can you or your enemies bleed to death or die from internal injuries later on? <Orko- > can you pick limbs up yourself <TedB > Specific damage on monsters isn't a global thing, each monster has it's own set of animations and geometry, so the human grunt will have certain responces to pain, and other monsters will respond differently, but to answer your question, no, you cannot shoot off a leg and watch the grunt hop around, (yet) <nuke > <EighT > will there be an option to turn off 24 bit color and texture blurring in hardware mode? <JohnG > Level designers - heard about global entities in half-life? <thanos > yea, i did John <thanos > you can set up action based outcome very easily in HL <Sphinx > <Moriarty > Will the scripting ability in Half-Life make moviemaking more reasonable for the average player? One big problem with quake movies was the fact that you had to <Sphinx > learn a great deal before being able to publish a movie of any length <Dario > but the best part of map making for me is being able to use the monsters to do cool stuff <JohnG > Global entities and global names for entities are ways you can flag geometry across levels to behave the same for transition puprposes. <JohnG > er, purposes. <JohnG > Anyway, <Dario > like they can turn the lights out then lob grenades to blind you <JohnG > What you'll find is cool about this is when you start making your own HL levels you can do neat tricks like being able to 'see' into another map, and change it. <TedB > movie making in half life is really no harder that setting entities in worldcraft, you can call on your actors, set their cues, and define their actions. <JohnG > Easy example is you can see a building, but you can't get in. So you just shoot a bunch of holes, throw grenades, break the glass, etc. <thanos > Yea, then play the scenario <Dario > The scripts we place can affect the level too, imagine having a weedy looking scientist pick up a gun and start shooting the place up. <DRiller > I have a level where we have a massive door that the player can't get past due to a satellite dish being misaligned. I define the door as being tied to a global entity that gets fired 4 BSP's later. Once the dish is aligned 4 levels later, you come back to the door and it opens <JohnG > Now, if that inside of the building was a different level, and you used global names on all the things that you could change (glass, decals - stuff like that) then it would all be in THAT level, even though you weren't in it when you made the chagnes! <nuke > <TheRaver > about the render fx on models.... can u apply those to specific model parts, or only the whole model? <JohnG > chagnes = changes. <GabeN > We aren't doing anything to make it easier to record or edit dem files. <TedB > render fx: you can apply a render effect to the whole model, but you can also assign effects like beam effects and additive sprites to be linked to a particular part of the geometry <Dario > hmmmm, give me an exciting question john! <Orko- > *PDC_Blitz* We all know that Half Life is catered as a 'thinking man's shooter', but hardcore gamers like us can clear rooms in seconds based on twitch skills and a decent weapon. How do you plan to have the AI make a challenge for players like us without making the enemy too fast or powerful for normal people? <Dario > hahahah, NOBODY get's through our grunts like that <Yahn > Actually gabe, that's not totally true. We'll be allowing you to choose to start recording a demo at any spot in a level, rather than restarting the server. We'll try to make it easy for .dem file editing authors to get their tools working with our demo protocols <Dario > Someone who sweeps through a map with one weapon is going to be screwed. You have to be careful to take out the right guys first, because if you don't, they will radio for backup and the new guys will sneak up behind you and, well, kill you... <Dario > we also have monsters who have behaviour that specifically makes them tough for run-and-gunners <Dario > when they work together, you quickly find yourself running for cover <Sphinx > <Void_M > Will worldcraft registered users get screwed when HL comes out due to Worldcraft being bundled (I heard) with HL, did we waste money, or will 2.0 not support Q2? <JohnG > Our monster philosophy has been more about making them fun to fight, interesting to watch and play with, rather than how quick they can kick your butt. <nuke > <Zhyla_HLH > Can you or your enemies bleed to death or die from internal injuries later on? <Dario > We can repopulate areas that you have to return to later, based on how you dealt with the first bunch of soldiers <GabeN > can someone invite fode into the channel? <JohnG > Dravis: Hey man, I didn't see you there! <JohnG > Zhyla_HLH - nah, you can make them run away to nurse their wounds, but they won't just die off in a corner somewhere. <Yahn > Ok folks, gotta go finish the game. TTYL <JohnG > yeah, i gotta get back to work, too. <JohnG > thanks for coming by everyone. <Dario > my comrades are leaving me! <DRiller > thanks for coming - back to work for me too <GabeN > Thanks to everybody for their questions and to 3DGaming.Net for setting this up. <Orko- > *yogi-* q: if there seems to be a demand for a linux port of half-life, i would imagine you must have a really good reason for not doing so. what may those reasons be? <JohnG > <bow > <nuke > thanks Valve