HL2 source

[Curtis]

There is quite a lot of stuff on around about the recent leak of the source code for HL2. In particular, the guy claiming to have stolen the code (Anonymouse has made an anouncement saying that the AI in the E3 demo was faked, that he has copies of the entire source and a playable version of the game, that he has released various modifications that allow the playing of the original HL and CS with the HL2 engine, and that Valve lied about the readiness of the product (directly disputing the original Sept. 30 release date).

This is all sheer madness - the theft of the software is easily worth millions of dollars. But does this guy have a point? He seems to have disproved a number of claims (assuming he is telling the truth) about the amount of the source code stolen, and the features of the games. Are the guys at Valve cheating us? Opinions, discuss.

See any HL site for more details ( http://www.planethalflife.com , http://www.city-17.net , etc).

Also, hypothetically, if a rival company was to use the code can Valve prove this? I understand that a disassembly of the competitors engine could prove this, but doesn't DMCA effectively make this illegal, protecting the infringing company? Informed opinions only please. 🙂

 

[Arakon]

the entire beta was released. it shows the title screen and loads like hell, then just crashes. not even the menu options are finished, it's unplayable too.

 

[IceDigger]

Guess we will find out tommorow when he will supposedly release the full blown game into the wild.

 

[gamefoo21]

Not until next year Q'1 04 is supposed to be its release date. :rant: You know people that do this kinda shit should have there computers destroyed violently in front of them and then a ban put on them ever touching one even a console again. :flamethrower: Bah just cuz they aren't good enough to get a job at one of these places and aren't good enough to code for linux they use other peoples work and think they are so hot when they get millions of people pissed at them. They just make me so .

End rant.

I think who ever is doing this is probably been paid off by nvidia since HL2 slams Garbage FX cards. If you really think about it it is a damned good possibility. Also the fact the code is stolen means if they ever find out who has it they will get tossed in the can and fined so badly his grandkids will be paying it off. But really if someone went through all the work of breaking the system down and monitoring emails do you really think they would spout the honest truth about what they have. What I've read seems to point to they got a decent chunk through watching emails and stealing those. I highly doubt valve would be stupid enough to through all its source into emails. More likely the guy has small parts of it since it seems that would be the easiest way for making updates. So in reality he is spouting off that the code is incomplete because he has an incomplete version of it. 😱wned :slap :blah

Zac

 

[racketboy]

I don't know why people complain about missing deadlines.

Let the stinking company finish the product. People act like the company owes the game to us. Let them take their time and make a quality product. It doesn't justify stealing code. It just comlicates things

 

[it290]

True, but I do think the whole 'we have to delay the release because the code was stolen' thing is BS. True, they will probably have to redo some netcode, but if their netcode was written with security in mind (which it should be, considering CS), then that shouldn't be such a big deal. I don't have a problem releasing the game when it's done, but they should say that, rather than pushing the release date back multiple times.

Also, no real game company would dare to use the HL2 source code without licensing it. IMO it would be trivially easy to detect if some other company was using it. I'm sure that some people will learn some neat tricks from it, but the licensees would be able to do that anyway. IMO, although it is a large setback, this won't mean any major monetary loss for Valve (I mean directly.. not accounting for any loss caused by fear and paranoia).

Third, gamefoo, you say that you doubt Valve would be stupid enough to email large chunks of sourcecode, which is true, but they were stupid enough to leave their systems insecure and unpatched. The way I understand it, the exploit occurred through outlook, but once the system is comprimised, data can be obtained from anywhere on the harddrive or possibly any network shared drive connected to that machine. Obviously it's way to insecure to just e-mail sourcecode in large chunks directly, but you never know.

I do doubt the guy's claims quoted above though. The whole thing about having HL1 and CS running seems unlikely, since they are designed for a totally different engine. And although Valve would have reason to lie about the amount of code stolen, I personally don't think they are.

 

[fistedjustice]

The released beta does work, I have tested it and loaded maps on it, you have to do it through console though.

Girl power! :rtfm