Halflife2 sourcecode leak... ack!

#1 Wow poor valve.

And that guy in the replys to that thread. Some don't have an idea as to what goes behide a game huh?

#2 That does indeed suck for valve. Though I must admit it is pretty tempting to take a gander at that code, after seeing the videos of what that engine can do. Gonna respect Valve and resist the urge to do so though.

#3 Yeah sucks for value, but i don't think its gonna hurt there sales for the game release since its just the engine source code. i don't really think anything more then maybe cheats or people stealing there work can happen....

Kind of there own fault for not having there network better secured, but things like this happen =/

#4 Bummer really. I agree; just imagine what you could learn from looking at the source. Out of principle and out of respect (and because I'm a good little boy!) I'm not downloading it.

#5 Mike you said you would not download it but were could you download it(I am not going to but just wonrding)???

#6 Would you hand me some cocaine and then leave me alone with it? It might be gone when you come back but I promise I won't snort it. I'm really not going to snort it but I'm just wondering what it's like to hold it.

#7 Fark has this up in their newsbits, along with links to the source. Naughty.

#8 Whatever happens, I'm still buying HL2 when it comes out.

#9 It's really a shame when stuff like this happens. And for all those people who are trying to read into the post saying that it's a big hoax by Valve, ummm...ya, right. Games get delayed all the time. No skin off their back if they say the game is delayed. Why in the world would they make something this grand up.

Ok, I appologize. This stuff is just frustrating. Both the fact that the source was stolen and that when they asked for help to find the people who did it Valve is greeted with flames.

Once again I'm reminded at how cool the garagegames community is by how little trash talking goes on here.

GF

#10 I'd love to see the guy who jacked their code nailed to the wall. Not likely to happen, but we can all dream, can't we?

#11 It wasn't just the engine source that was leaked. The source to VGUI2, CounterStrike, the Steam file system, TF2, Havok: Gameplay Dynamics, Miles Sound System, their proprietary level design software, and more.

To say it is a tragedy is a grave understatement.

#12 Basically from what I am gathering from various sources it seems that their entire source backup almost was leaked...that sucks.

#13 People still can't use these technologies without paying license fees - the worst that will happen is some legally-questionable projects on the fringes will get a little bit better featuresets.

I'd say that this is a rare chance to learn a little bit about the coding styles and practices used in a big name game engine. It's not like there are magical secrets in the engine source. It's just a well integrated body of work.

It is a tragedy that there was a breakdown of trust at Valve that lead to this. But Valve has made their fortune off of their innate abilities. It is unlikely that they're going to sell fewer copies of HL2 because of this (not least of all because their copy protection system can survive catastrophic failures like this). Fixes won't get propagated, so, just like a dump of the Torque source isn't really useful without access to the community and docs, neither is this. People can't openly develop on it, or publish if they do, so the work to keep it up to date will never happen.

Few people outside Valve have the know how to take advantage of this source, anyway. Think about how long it takes to get up to speed with Torque, even for experienced developers.

Anyway.

This is a bad thing, just because of the effort people went to break in. But it's hardly the end of Valve or Halflife. You're still gonna need a steam ID to play online. You're still gonna need a steam ID to get updates. They've still got their revenue stream.

And, heck, think of how many people will realize just how much effort goes into making a game now. :)

edit: I speak not as an official GG person... just to be safe. :)

#14

Quote:Fixes won't get propagated, so, just like a dump of the Torque source isn't really useful without access to the community and docs, neither is this. People can't openly develop on it, or publish if they do, so the work to keep it up to date will never happen.

I have read comments (on other forums) to the tune of "Think of what could be done with this source! Wow, mod makers could get started that much sooner! And how about a port to $FavoritePlatform!?!??" It just makes me roll my eyes, for reasons that you have succinctly pointed out.

I've also read quite a few comments that can be summed up as "This is what they get for all that Steam DRM garbage!" This bothers me. I won't even get started on the topic of Steam (which I think is, overall, a good thing). Needless to say Valve certainly doesn't "deserve" this sort of thing, no matter how angry some people are about having extra options for acquiring Half-Life 2 et al.

#15 "It's not like there are magical secrets in the engine source. It's just a well integrated body of work."

I would agree, other than the word "just" ... HL2 from the videos I have seen isn't just anything...it's a work of art.

This has got to sting... it isn't just Valve's (massive amounts of) source code... it's other sources from respectable companies too...

If this was happening to me, I would be physically ill... and I am not being dramatic.

-J

#16 I agree with Joshua.

In my game project, I host our CVS server. It's mortifying to think that someone got hold of it and copied our source and game art (its also stored with CVS). You can say that its not much but the thing is ... a lot of sleepless nights, haggling with team members, and ignoring my family are put into it.

When you steal it, your not really stealing just code but your stealing the time I didn't spend with my wife and child.

I really really hope that this doesn't happen to my team. I sympathize with Valve and I hope they can plug whatever security hole they have and catch whoever did this.

Alex

#17 I think Steam is a good thing. It will prevent a lot of cheats to work, and with VAC it will be good success. I am glad that they still are taking the players as a serious as they do.

#18 All that work and that happens. That sucks!!!

Oh and that guy on the forums of the link. I guess everyone should spend five years of their life working on something and not expect to receive any money for it.

Man people suck. And my wife wonders why i'm such a pessimist.

#19 Its a shame really. Valve does great stuff, and will continue to I'm sure. I'm sure a lot of us would like to look at the code. I can't say I'm not curious about what a top studios code looks like. Might pick up some style if nothing else. But I have more respect for them than that, so I'll keep my hands off.

I'm sure they'll still do well, but this has to be very upsetting for them. I know I would be pretty dissapointed. I'm a pretty big advocate of trying to do open source type stuff (or at least close, i.e. $100 torque). As such I'd love to see a release of some source code (ala id), but let them make some cash first. I don't want to impose open source ideology on anybody either way, but if stuff is gonna be released I wish they could get what they deserve first. Due to licensing issues this hopefully shouldn't cut into their bottom line, but there are a lot of people that will do just about anything if they think they can get away with it. Time will tell...

As for steam, I think its great. CS is a bit different, but every version has been. Its the same game, I certainly still like it. New versions give some nice variety. Whatever problems there are will be worked out. There were a lot of issues in the beginning of steam and maybe valve should have made sure they had more bandwidth available before they released it, but all said and done I think they did a pretty good job. There were and undoubtably are some issues, but there have already been 2 patches and its getting ironed out.

This is an unfortunate happening, I hope people realize that.
If I was Valve I would not be a happy camper, but Valve does good work and I wish them the best of luck with this. If all is right they'll end up on top.

#20 Just one point... look at the publicity the name HL2 is getting on news sites...

if the theft were NOT what it seems to be... I would say it is a great advertisement/promotion for Valva / HL2 .... that too, For Free On every news site in the world... my father a man of sixty living in India...whoe does NOT play video games...asked me " What is Half-Life2? It is i on the news pages." when I was talking to him on phone... guys... you can NOT buy such publicity...... :)

DISCLAIMER

I feel that IP rights are very important... and stealing stuff is undoubtedly bad...

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