David Speyrer was interviewed for his job at Valve on the day the original Half-Life went gold in late 1998. He started working there soon after, just as Half-Life 2 began its lengthy development. Since then, hes risen through the ranks from programmer to project lead. Now, David talks us through some of the processes that led to Half-Life 2: Episode Two being the remarkable game it is. Warning: if you havent played Episode Two yet, there are spoilers ahead. Has Episode Two taken you anywhere ... » Read More

9 Oct 2007

Team Fortress 2 primer

PS3 Feature | Half-Life 2: Episode Two

Oct 9, 2007 The Orange Box goes live at 12:00 am Pacific Time on Oct 10, and 8:00 am in the UK. If you're on the beta now, prepare to own some noobs when the great unwashed come flooding in. And if you haven't preordered, you're going to need a headstart. Either way, it's time to brush up on a few of the lesser-known factors in the TF2 ... » Read More

26 Jul 2007

Flash Gordon

PS3 Feature | Half-Life 2: Episode Two

Having written sci-fi and horror novels such as Dad's Nuke, The Orchid Eater and The 37th Mandala, Marc Laidlaw joined Valve in 1997 during the development of the original Half-Life. He's a charming guy, and given the opportunity to speak on his specialist subject, he does so perceptively and at great ... » Read More

18 May 2007

Valve's industrial revolution

PS3 Feature | Half-Life 2: Episode Two

Back in 1996, two Microsoft executives quit their spectacularly high-paid jobs, formed a games company and made the best game ever. Twice. They didnt like the way retailers were throttling the industrys creativity, so they cut them out. They did what a lot of mod teams were doing, they hired them. They published any game they liked through their digital distribution network, however commercially risky, and saved several independent developers in the process. Their revolution was so successful ... » Read More

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