Playable Half Life 2 beta on the net

[Alucard]

Valve just got owned something fierce. Heads are definately gonna roll now. And all that BS conspiracy theory about them leaking the code so they had an excuse to make another delay goes right out the window.

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - When hackers broke into the computing system of Valve Software, they stole more than just the source code to Half-Life 2. They also stole enough game maps and other components to put together a playable build of the game. Today, five days after the first leak, they have released that build.

Message boards and chat rooms were buzzing Tuesday morning with word of the leaked game. Some fan-based and hacker sites were even displaying in-game images. It is unclear whether the leaked version features the entire game or a limited number of levels. Also unclear is how current the assets used to create the game are.

It's the latest in a series of frustrations for Vivendi Universal Games (V: Research, Estimates) and developer Valve. Earlier today, Christophe Ramboz, VU Games president of international operations, told Reuters the source code theft would result in a four month delay, pushing Half-Life 2 back to April 2004.

Valve, though, has not confirmed that delay. (Calls to the developer were not returned.) That's an important thing to note. Large independent game developers such as Valve and id Software typically decide when their games are released ? not the publishers.

The hunt for the thieves is ongoing, but a rough timeline of events has emerged. Somewhere on or around Sept. 11, hackers broke into the email of Valve founder Gabe Newell, possibly utilizing a security hole in Microsoft (MSFT: Research, Estimates) Outlook. Eight days later, they made a copy of the game's source tree. Keystroke recorders were also installed on the computers of several other employees. The invasion was methodical and seems deliberately aimed at the developer.

"This [keystroke] recorder is apparently a customized version ... created to infect Valve (at least it hasn't been seen anywhere else, and isn't detected by normal virus scanning tools)," said Newell in a message board posting last week.

In the same post, Newell said the company had been subject to "a variety of denial of service attacks" over the past year. He was unsure whether these were related to the code theft.

The company has since minimized its network connection to the Internet, as it was still finding infected machines on Saturday.

The company has asked the Half-Life fan community for assistance as it searches for the attackers. Newell also mentioned in a Saturday update that it's possible other game developers might have been targeted by the same group.

"There's anecdotal evidence that other game developers have been targeted by whoever attacked us," he wrote. "This hasn't been confirmed. We've been providing other game developers with more detailed information about the exploits and evidence of infiltration."

Valve did not name the other developers who might have been targeted.

Id Software, though, knows a few things about source code leaks. Several of the company's biggest games, including all of the Quake games, have seen their source code leak out. Last year, a playable build of the still-in-development Doom 3 hit the Internet.

"It's happened enough that you think you'd start to get used to it," said Todd Hollenshead, CEO of id Software. "But whenever it happens, it's a sinking feeling. It's like somebody died. I don't mean to over dramatize it - I know its just a video game - but this is our lives here."

Today's release of a playable version of the game brings Vivendi's comments from earlier today into question. Ramboz told Reuters "a third of the source code was stolen". However, with the stolen game now out, it's possible a more complete version of the source code was taken.

While it's possible to make a playable version of a game without its complete source code, doing so without a strong knowledge of game development is extraordinarily challenging.

There are additional fears that the thieves could distribute other aspects of the game, which have not yet been officially announced.

Valve has been actively pursuing the thieves since the hacking came to light, which is a different approach than other developers have done in previous instances of code theft. Hollenshead said he understands where the drive to find who was responsible comes from, but questions its usefulness.

"From what I've seen of Half-Life 2, it looks like it's going to be a really fun game," he said. "My focus would be on doing the thing that's going to make the game great: Focus on finishing it. ... The risk is they find out who did it and [the hacker is] a resident of Russia. Then there's not a damn thing you can do about it. Ultimately, we're in the business of making games, not chasing hackers."

Half-Life 2 was shaping up to be the year's most anticipated PC game. Vivendi was counting on heavy sales to help it improve revenues ? and possibly make its gaming unit more attractive to potential buyers. The game, originally scheduled to be released Sept. 30, was first delayed on Sept. 23, with Valve saying it was "targeting a holiday release."

The leak could also have a negative impact on graphic chip manufacturer ATI, which Valve recently named the preferred graphics card partner of Half-Life 2. ATI (ATYT: Research, Estimates) planned to give away a free copy of the game with its two latest products. The leaked version could lessen demand for those graphics cards, though.

Basically its all going straighgt to hell for Valve.


http://money.cnn.com/2003/10/07/comm...ming/index.htm

[spider-prime]

I guess if Valve released like they were supposed to

this wouldn't have matter much

but I don't think this will stop anyone from buying when its released

cause only hackers know how to go look for this stuff or computer geeks

anyone else would be wtf am I doing

but if Steam goes pay to play in april, I can see there servers being alot more empty this spring

[Alucard]

Seems the beta is actually an ALPHA. Its made by a few stolen maps and textures and stuck together witht he source code thatw as stolen. So its not really HL2, but some butchered version of it. The game doesn't look as good as it should either. Being ALPHA ofcourse. Suffice to say I'm sure it'll still sell extremely well.

I dont know about this pay for steam thing. If anything you might have to pay to play on Valves private servers. But your ISPs have their own gaming network. You dont need to pay for that. Aswell as private games running. If using steam is what you have to pay for, then people will just go back to using Server Query program or such. I dunno. I doubt they'll make you pay for counter strike.

[spider-prime]

yeah the game was actually completed, it went gold

but if I can find the article on steam I will post it for you

[Alucard]

I've seen some screenshots of the leaked alpha and the game, while looking good, doesn't look as good as what we are used to in the video clips.

[Mishi]

its not the game being leaked their worried about. its the security issues and vulnerabilities that hackers can find through the game. now they'll have to change alot of things to and work to see if any of these vulnerabilities is something to be conserned about.

btw the screens from the alpha could have been ran from a crappy computer. and from what my roomate says they gotta put in their own models ect.. to make it playable or something.

[Nindalf]

What a heck does the greek alphabets have to do with games if I may ask? I know that they always call the games "Alpha", "Beta" and stuff, but what do they mean?

Are they Omega when the game is ready or something? Valve sure has a long way to go...

[Renegade X]

Originally posted by N?n-in-Eilph
What a heck does the greek alphabets have to do with games if I may ask? I know that they always call the games "Alpha", "Beta" and stuff, but what do they mean?

Are they Omega when the game is ready or something? Valve sure has a long way to go...

Alpha- a version of the game only the developers will see, it's basicly the game with out all the bells and whistles so to speak, it's just the game in it's very early stages.

Beta- a verion of the game some of the gaming public might see by a stroke of luck but mostly it's still developer only game, things are starting to clean up big time the code of the game has gotten down to the nitpicky stage.

Gold- at last the 'final' version of the game. The developer feels the game is ready to hit the public and even as they announce that the game has gone gold, it's in mass production to be shipped out to your favorite retailer.

Also the whole Alpha, Beta, Gold stage thing goes back to the early days of computer software a think. Just about every program that you can buy or download goes threw these stages.