Half Life 2, Episode 3

[Bowser]

I'm starting this thread now for no other reason than I'm like a crack addict in a crack house with no lighter in regards to waiting for this game. I may just go play through the Orange Box, yet again, to get my fix.

We can use this thread for updates, leaks, all that stuff until it gets here.

[QuikSsurfer]

huge thread on neogaf about this yesterday. anyone surprised? this is Valve.

[Douche Baggins]

Valve be crazy.

But I love them.

[Guru]

Too bad my computer won't support this game.

[Douche Baggins]

Originally Posted by Guru

Too bad my computer won't support this game.

Christ, if you can't run a five-year old engine you may want to consider upgrading.

[Guru]

Originally Posted by GoChiefs

Christ, if you can't run a five-year old engine you may want to consider upgrading.

Oh I can run it but it looks very dumbed down. I don't use my computer for gaming anyway.

Being a console guy, I can say that the half life series should never have been a console game at all. The FPS controls for that particular game did not translate well.

I refuse to use my laptop for gaming either.

[QuikSsurfer]

from gaf

Okay, let’s try this again.

Thread music (Open in new tab, CTRL+CLICK THESE)
If you’re in the portal mood
If you’re in the Half Life mood

Greetings, all test subjects.

As of March 1st, 2010, Portal got a surprise update, one that we will all remember as the Portal Frequency (Yeah that's something even I wouldn't use or remember, so if anyone can come up with something better for this date, feel free )

The update

Quote:
Portal Update Released
Product Update - Jason Ruymen
Updates to Portal have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted.

Portal
Changed radio transmission frequency to comply with federal and state spectrum management regulations


What did this do?

For starters, it added a new achievement to Portal.

Code:

“Transmission Received” “..?”

Suddenly people wondered, “What is this update? What’s it for?”
When you get in-game, you will notice the radio in your relaxation vault looks different. There’s a red light on it. By grabbing the radio and going through the door, you will soon find out that at the right spot, the radio will find a different frequency and spout morse at you. You will find there are other radios, spouting all kinds of sounds at you. The sound the radios make when they desintegrate through the emancipation grid is also different.

That’s what the update did. Radios all throughout the Test Chambers have been placed. By whom? Or what? What do they tell us? (Well yeah, it was Valve, but play along please!)


What do I do?
There are a total of 26 radios, each with a different message.
Here’s where you can find each one of them(YES THIS IS A GUIDE)
Some of them are morse, some of them are garbled messages. The morse messages translated to this:
Quote:
1.
interior transmission active external data line active message digest active

2-4 are different

5.
9e107d9d372bb6821bd91d3542a419d6

6-11 are different

12.
system data dump active user backup active password backup active

13-16 are different

17.
beep beeeep beep beep beeeep beeeep beeeep beep beeeep beep beep

18-26 are different
Others, as crazy as it might seem, were garbage. But! The garbage in turn, turned out to be encoded images. These could be accessed with SSTV These were the following images:

Thread containing images

What does this mean!?
That's what this thread is for. Speculate all you want. So far, the signs point towards Portal specifically, but since the universes of both Half Life and Portal are one and the same, we never know what may happen. GDC will probably be our best bet.
Really good theory IMO
My take on this, I'm pretty disappointed it's not directly related to Episode 3, but Portal 2 is ****awesome as well, ofcourse.

What do we have so far!?

Morse Translations
Picture containing all BBS pictures so far
SSTV Images
New desintegration sound; voices can be heard

So, a short timeline:

* New achievement in update.
* Radios discovered all over the game. What do they do?
* Some radios sent out morse code.
* Morse code gets translated; See above.
* Other radios send out garbage – turns out to be images!
* On the images there are letters and numbers; they were an md5 for a BBS number; a number for a BBS (Bulletin Board System).
* When dialed correctly, a login screen appeared. Proper credentials have been found, and pictures have been received from the BBS. This is the most up to date image as of now:


One final note; this thread is far from complete. There's all kinds of modem sounds and facts (The phone number originates from Kirkland, Valve's original studio location.)
And no, it has not been confirmed to be 2 games in one. Stop pestering people Twiggy!

[QuikSsurfer]

morse translations thread

http://forums.steampowered.com/forum....php?t=1169084

[Bowser]

Freaking sweet!

I read in a magazine that Valve was planning on not only not releasing this game this year, but not even speculating on the relese date. The optimist in me thought that it was all BS, as I'm hoping this "announcement" might finally give something solid on the final Half Life chapter.....

Props and thanks, Zooted!

[ZootedGranny]

[HC_Chief]

They need to release Half Life 3 already. Jeez.

[Guru]

Originally Posted by HC_Chief

They need to release Half Life 3 already. Jeez.

No doubt. The whole episodic content analogy was that we wouldn't have to wait as long for the game. this is ridiculous.

[Douche Baggins]

Apparently this is fake, but still cool.

[Guru]

damn tease

[Bowser]

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/116/...&RSSid=1169575

[Douche Baggins]

The new Duke.