Is Half-Life 2 out now?

Adrian

Is half-life2 out now. Please I need quick response.

dragon_ninja82

no

smiaras

This post has been deleted.

feylya

I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't see it til next summer. Considering the amount of work that Valve has to do on it now to stop little cheating kiddies.

Dr_Teeth

It is if you have a c++ compiler and are good at making your own models and maps.

Teeth.

feylya

Think about this though. People know have the CD key authenication code so that means infinite free cd keys. They have the netcode so they know exactly how to hack that. They did it in CS and they didn't even have the code!

tman

Originally posted by feylya
Think about this though. People know have the CD key authenication code so that means infinite free cd keys. They have the netcode so they know exactly how to hack that. They did it in CS and they didn't even have the code!

which is why hl2 is going to be delayed furthermore:mad:

feylya

That's what I said.

I'm thinking Valve won't be releasing it on the 5th Anniversary of Half-Life 1 like they hinted at before the hack. I'm guessing next year would be more likely.

tman

ah roysh, just out of bed...

i'd say they'll just make it for crimbo, mid november was the delayed release date iirc, 1 month to sort the other crap out should be plenty...

feylya

Originally posted by tman
1 month to sort the other crap out should be plenty...

For some reason I doubt that. Just think how much work is going to have to be done. CD key algorithms rewritten. Netcode encryption rewritten and god knows what else. I'm waiting for Valve to be sued by Havok and Miles Sound Systems because their entire SDK's are included with the source code.

Not too mention reprinting all the cases and manuals because the CD key's are probably already printed on them. That or else put in a peice of paper saying "This is your real CD key, ignore the other one". They are going to loose a LOT of money.

Anima

Feylya how do you know? Are you a coder? Could take 10 mins for all you know.

feylya

No, I'm not a coder(yet) but I'm living in a house of Software Development Degree students, so they should know a thing or 2. Either way, I really don't think we'll see HL2 this year. I'd love to be wrong but I don't see it happening (HL2 that is)

RicardoSmith

What you're asking is "How long is a piece of string". Theres no way of knowing how much is involved without knowing exactly what was in the source code that was hacked. They may decide to release it early, maybe the encryption routines weren't in the development code. Theres a thousands "ifs" to consider.

Anima

It might be a good thing if its delayed, they might finish cs2 or tf2 and release them together.

I doubht it but you never know.

feylya

I take it neither of you have seen the source source?

TF2 is included with HL2

Gabe Newell has siad the entire HL2 source code was taken, including TF2, Steam, Havok, Miles Sound System et al.

RicardoSmith

From what I read they weren't sure how old the code was that was taken. It could have been a few weeks old. I thought they were doing a review of that at the moment. Either way I reckon it will be delayed while they come up with a new encryption mechanisim. They may decide to include more stuff so give more value to the legal retail version.

feylya

The source was taken on 19th September. The code was approxiately 1 month old according to Gabe Newel. Hopefully it's only a ten minute job to rewrite the specific functions but if the companies I listed sue Valve, they'll probably go bust.

RicardoSmith

Originally posted by feylya
The source was taken on 19th September. The code was approxiately 1 month old according to Gabe Newel. Hopefully it's only a ten minute job to rewrite the specific functions but if the companies I listed sue Valve, they'll probably go bust.

Yeah they may even put a hold on Valve releasing HL2 at all!!!

feylya

I'm guessing it is the main reason they delayed it. But you have to wonder, if they hadn't delayed it, would the source have been released??

Also, has anyone read the email sent by a Valve employee about the PR problem he created about steam? I'll post it here if it's within the rules.

monument

Originally posted by feylya
People know have the CD key authenication code so that means infinite free cd keys.

As far as I know/have read the CD key authentication code have not been leaked. Maybe I’m wrong?

shinzon

Who can Say

VALVE ARE STUPID TWATS

and should have noticed something was up and done something about it before it was to late

Shin

feylya

8 days. That's how long it took the hacker to get into Gabe Newell's email account, install programs on many of Valve's computers and download the source. Nasty. Gabe did notice he computer was acting up but who would honestly think it was a hacker. Still, you'd expect Valve to have 2 unconnected networks.

feylya

Here's an interesting read. This was posted on the HalfLife2.net forums by gloryofbach

I've seen a lot of confusion about what the Half-life 2 source is and isn't, whether it can be compiled into a working copy of the game or not, and whether this is bad or not for Valve.

I am a small time games developer myself and for the benefit of those in the community not into software programming or knowledgeable in games development, I thought I'd try and give a brief explanation. Apologies to the experts as some simplifications have been made for general consumption.

1) A game like Half-life 2 consists of two main elements, resources and programming code.

The resources consist mostly of all the non-logic/instruction based elements of a game, that is the art, textures, sound, story script, maps etc. Things like the model and textures for the headcrab is typical of this. This is the largest part of a game in size, for a game like Half-life 2 typically over a gigabyte of the game will be resources. These resources cannot do anything by themselves, and if you have the right software, can be viewed/played as when making a mod. These are like the bricks and wood for the "house" Valve was building.

The program code consists of the logic and instructions as to how the game will function. That is to say, the code directs the computer in how to utilize the resources mentioned above, in the correct manner to allow you to play a game. Examples of what would be included in the program code are the Source engine, the Havoc engine for physics, artificial intelligence routines, game launcher code etc. Using the analogy above with the headcrab, the corresponding program code would be the animation rules for the headcrab, its artificial intelligence behavior, its stats etc.
This is like the architectural plan of the "house" Valve was building.

2) To play the game (as you will when it is released) you need the program code and the resources. What has been leaked is the program code, which amounted to around 160 megabytes of text (though this did include some non half life 2 related code), which is a SERIOUS amount of code. The resources for half life 2 are not included, and they would have amounted to at least a gigabyte.

When programmers write code, they write it in so called high level language like C++. A high level language is one that is easy to understand to humans, so that editing it is easy during development. This is known as the source code, and is what Valve will be working on right until half life 2 goes Gold. This is what has been leaked to the public. The source code has many lines of C++ code, which you will have trouble understanding if you do not know C++ (though it is very easy to learn!), and some comments that explain what the code is doing.

A computer is not designed to directly execute C++ code, which has been designed for a human to read. Instead it executes machine code, a far lower level language which is very hard for a human to understand. Coding in machine code would be a nightmare for a programmer and so they prefer to use C++ and other high level languages. Now for the computer to understand Valve's C++ source code, it must be converted to machine code. This is what a COMPILER does. Valve will run a compiler on the source code every so often, creating a bunch of executable files (machine code based) that can then be used to run the game and test the changes made to the source code. This is what you get when you buy a game: Resources and the compiled source code to run them.

As such, the fact that the source code is in the public domain does not mean that anyone can compile a working game out of it, as all the resources are missing as well as a few other code elements. So this source code leak isn't a big deal for Valve right? Why all the worry?

3) A source code leak is a HUGE deal. Source code is only released for obsolete games (like Quake, Quake 2 etc) once the programming secrets they contained are deemed out of date and no longer valuable to rival developers.

Half-life 2 is NOT an obsolete game. Is a cutting edge game incorporating many features that have never been seen before in a game, and more importantly is HAS NOT BEEN RELEASED. What does this mean for Valve?

It means all the work behind the new features, the Source engine, the revolutionary AI etc is now exposed for anyone in the public and rivals to see, learn from, and God forbid, copy. Using the house analogy above, it means the new revolutionary solar powered house you were building has had its building plans stolen before you've built it. Now everyone knows how you solved all those problems which prevented people from building revolutionary solar powered houses.

As an example, the Strider as seen in the released videos, is an amazingly novel creature to see in a computer game. It is seriously big, yet maneuvers around and interacts with the landscape in a convincing and intelligent manner. Getting a Strider to function like this will have taken Valve months of painstaking AI and animation work. Rival developers would have had to guess how on earth Valve pulled it off. Now they can simply look in the equivalent of the Strider AI source code file, and it will all be there, conveniently commented and explained by the Valve programmers for their own internal private understanding.

The source code for half life 2 is the result of 5 years of hard work by some of the best programmers in the games industry. No one would have seen it (bar engines licensees) for 5 or 6 years at least, upon which it might have been released to the public (like Id software with Quake).

The source code is not to be confused with the SDK as some people have. The SDK for half life 2 which will be released, is its Software Development Kit. This allows modders and fans to create games and mods using Half-life 2 technology, but does not tell them how the technology works. Unfortunately this is exactly what the leaked source code tells people.

So in short , this means for Valve:

All its clever routines and algorithms for making a revolutionary game like half life 2 tick, are available to be understood by anyone who knows C++, including game development rivals, hackers making cheats and exploits and the general public.

More worryingly the source code seems to contain a lot of source code from partner software developers that Valve had licensed to use in Half- life 2, such as the Havoc physics engine, and that Valve is contract bound to keep protected and confidential. These leaks enable people to potentially rip off these software partners too, and hence opens Valve to be sued.

Finally the internal workings of Half-life 2 have been so seriously compromised that I will be amazed if we see it released before 1st Quarter 2004. The potential for hacking exploits is enormous; it is like printing the blueprint to your high security safe in the local newspaper before having it installed in your home. SERIOUS work is needed now to rework the source code to protect it from future attacks on release. Let us not even mention that it seems Steam has been seriously compromised as well in the leaked source, as that had enough problems of its own to be getting on with without this.

A leak of the source code of a revolutionary highly anticipated game like Half-life 2, close to release is, as far as I know, unprecedented. My deepest sympathy as a games developer goes to the Valve crew and I wish them every success in catching the perpetrators of this crime.

Thanks for reading!

RicardoSmith

It could potentially close Valve and we might never see HL2 now. It could also do the same for the other companies whos source code has been compromised since how can they sell their work to other developers now that it can be accessed for free across the web. If anyone releases a product that has even vaguely similar features in the next few years the suspicion will be that they used stuff learned from the HL2 code. So expect more law suits there too. But only if Valve and the other companies are still operating. I expect that the only way Havok and other companies can protect their future is by suing valve so that they can ensure they have money to stay operating for the next few years. Because they will have a hard time selling their stuff now. What ever way you look at it Valve is screwed. So the hackers have effectively likely destroyed Valve and HL2 aswell.

:mad:

feylya

You should watch the ATI On Top On The Rock video. Gabe Newell looks in bits cos he knows the source had been leaked at that stage. He starts off his speech with the same words as his post "Ever have one of those weeks".

Is this the end of Valve?

RicardoSmith

Originally posted by feylya
You should watch the ATI On Top On The Rock video. Gabe Newell looks in bits cos he knows the source had been leaked at that stage. He starts off his speech with the same words as his post "Ever have one of those weeks".

Is this the end of Valve?

Thats the big ques I reckon. Where can we get the vid?

feylya

You can get it from FilePlanet here

You'll have to sign up though but it's free.

I'm just thinking that Valve delayed HL2 after they knew it was stolen so I'm wondering do they know exactly how much they have to change now. Makes ya wonder....

suppafly

feyla is that available anywhere else that allows d/ resume cuz i'm on 56k here so i can't just let it on the whole time.

feylya

I don't know. That was the link I was given and most fan sites link to FilePlanet. The file name is on_top_of_the_rock.zip or trip_to_alcatraz.divx.avi if you want to use a file sharing app to look for it.

jesus_thats_gre

In all fairness Feyla.....



This is not the end of Valve..... doom and gloom **** springs to mind...... This is one game, admitedly massive game, but the Valve team are incredibly talented and will have no problems recovering from this in the future...

As for licensing the engine, it will be blatantly obvious if someone rips of some of the code in their release and this will result in legal action..

With regard to how the leak happened, I find it amazing that the hacker was able to get as much access as they have. I can appreciate that Valve cannot prevent a concentrated attack on the their network, thus allowing short term access to their network, but for someone to have access for so long is just incredible.

As for the code being on the same network, this is common as companies tend to have one physical network and tend to sub-divide them into numerous logical networks depending on function. This can be done many different ways and for someone to have complete access to them all, would have to be fairly high up the pecking order, i.e. Gabe or a network Admin. I read something about how they exposed a weakness in Outlook to get initial entry and went from there.. I would love to know how and what they done out of curiousity.

monument

On the point of Outlook & general Windows security – apparently Microsoft are to change their security policy of patching when holes are found to more of a ring fenced one.