Valve Interviewed at Leipzig: Episode 2 Delayed

[CSN NewsBot]

Sorry little Jimmy, but there won't be any Episode 2, Portal, or Team Fortress 2 this Christmas for you. Instead, you get a rock. Yep, it's true. Valve has delayed the release until Q1 of 2007, February to be more precise. Doug Lombardi spills the beans on that and other Episode 2 details in an interview with Eurogamer.

Eurogamer: Originally you said you'd hoped to get it ready this year. Is there a particular reason you had to change that?



Doug Lombardi: No, it's just sort of classic Valve being overly aggressive on our dates. But we're aiming for Q1 right now and we're really far along in the playtest stage. You know, our thing is always that we're trying to make really good experiences and so we're going to manage to that rather than the schedule.[...]



Eurogamer: In terms of gameplay length, what are we looking at for Episode Two?



Doug Lombardi: For Episode Two the initial idea was that it was going to be the same size as Episode One but it's sort of meandering to be slightly longer. I don't think that it's going to end up being as big as Half-Life 2 but I think probably it'll end up being a little bit longer than Episode One was.

There are also a few scarce details about the pricing plans for Episode 2. Right now, Valve is planning to have a pricepoint for the PC version of the Episode 2, TF2, and Portal package set between $20 (Episode 1's price) and full retail ($50-$60). My guess would be around $30.



Lombardi also takes the time to discuss the reasoning for being secretive when it came to the development of Team Fortress 2. There is also some discussion about the reasoning behind the art direction taken, and some of the technical details for Team Fortress 2. You can read on all of this and more over at Eurogamer.

[DevgruSeal H.E]

I'm happy to pay a little extra for Episode 2...It'll be a great game, and judging by the videos already posted, that statement rings true as well :)



I'm not to surprised by a delay, but I'm OK with it. Sure, it means we have to wait longer, but if it means more quality, so be it. It also gives me time to save money to build a computer, and hopefully build one that has Vista and DirectX 10

[azz0r]

How can it be delayed when they only gave a target release period.



A target is a target, not an official release date. Bad reporting.

[FaScO]

Am I the only one who noticed Doug speaking about dual core support?



"we have done a lot more work to the lighting system, the particle system, and Episode Two also contains support for multi-core processing system"

[DevgruSeal H.E]

No, I noticed it as well :) I'm excited about that, since I plan on getting a dual core for the new computer I plan on building, as mentioned above :P

[Zips]

azz0r wrote..

How can it be delayed when they only gave a target release period.



A target is a target, not an official release date. Bad reporting.

It's still a delay from their original target. This is a new target date. So, it's still a delay. Trust me, I used to use the same arguement as well. I found it easier to just say it was delayed and move on.

[ukHazard]

I wasn't surprised by the delay, what with Portal and TF2 supposedly out before the end of the year. Nope.

[DevgruSeal H.E]

While they might miss the Holiday season, the games will be released closer to the PS3 and Vista..

[Gpig]

Some exciting stuff in that interview, but come on, not a single person crying about it so far in the comments? Come on, I thought I was still using the internet.

[24k]

seriously, when was the last time they released something on time, never, and that will never change

[V.C. Sniper]

All for the better!!! More time to develope EP2 into THE BEST HALF-LIFE EVER!! And more time to develope Portal and TF2 to be PURE ultra PWN4G33!!!!! OMG w00t w00t!! !< 3 VALVe!!!