Introduction

Tomorrow, game developer Valve finally brings the first chapter in their episodic continuation of their hit first person shooter Half-Life 2 to both stores and via their Steam Internet delivery service. Will Half-Life 2: Episode 1 get episodic games jump started? FiringSquad got some answers on the eve of its release via Valve's marketing manager Doug Lombardi.

FiringSquad: Now that Half-Life 2: Episode One is done, how does Valve feel about its first entry into the episodic game genre?

Doug Lombardi: Great. All the people who worked on Episode One (and those working on Episode Two) have a renewed enthusiasm for game design. With Half-Life 2, folks were slogging through development for several years. And, while we knew it would be worth it one day, there were several stretches when folks felt like it might go on forever. Working on this trilogy of episodes, we’ve been able to get to functioning prototypes and begin playtesting much faster. This has allowed the designers to realize more immediate feedback, which has fueled the process and lead us to a more polished experiences.

FiringSquad: How is creating a game that is designed to be played in a short amount of time different than creating a game that is designed to be played in 12 hours or more?

Doug Lombardi: During the development of Half-Life 2, which spanned almost six years and over $30 million, we all agreed that we needed to find a way to get games to our community faster than every 5 or 6 years. With the success of Steam and the lessons we learned by constantly developing our multiplayer games, it seemed natural that we could take the same approach with single player projects. Before Half-Life 2 was released, the decision was made to deliver the next installment of this story in episodic form instead of heading off for six years to build Half-Life 3. So instead we will begin delivering the follow up just 18 months after Half-Life 2, and conclude with the third episode in a much more timely fashion.


FiringSquad: How does the storytelling of Half-Life 2: Episode One differ from creating a full game?

Doug Lombardi: From the creation standpoint, it’s much easier to develop the story and plot via Episodic releases, as the focus is tighter by default. And since each of the HL2 Episodes are being created by a single development team, the story flow will be more cohesive as it’s the work of a single body and not the collaboration of separate teams attempting to merge the different chapters after years of working separately. We are, however, keeping a very close eye on the overall story flow as we advance folks from City 17 to the adventures that lie outside the City in Episodes Two and Three.


FiringSquad: Since Episode 1 continues the storyline from Half-Life 2, how hard was it to make this first chapter a solid continuation of the first game yet still have enough to get people to want to have the second episode?

Doug Lombardi: The story goals for Episode One were simply that: To resolve some of the open items of Half-Life 2, and launch the three-part adventure that takes us beyond City 17. Since the time in which all of this takes place is more or less continuous, it was a fairly straightforward process.


FiringSquad: Many folks enjoyed the physics puzzles in Half-Life 2. Are there any puzzles like that in Episode One?

Doug Lombardi: Absolutely. We learned a lot from the player feedback on Half-Life 2, and in Episode One we’ve attempted to give the player and the NPCs more options and opportunities to manipulate the physically simulated environment.