Gabe is responsible [translation]

So there was a teleconference with Gabe Newell, which all Valve fans were looking forward to. He answered questions from users of reddit and I suggest that you familiarize yourself with them. All who are interested please visit under the cat.

What improvements await us in the Source 2 engine?

The most significant improvements will concern the productivity of creating new content. We understood the importance of this when we saw how user-generated content was developing rapidly. Professional developers face many problems associated with this.

Recently, the virtual reality helmet Valve VR has stunned developers and showed what awaits us in the coming years. When did Valve start VR technology and why?

Abrash thought about this for some time, and began to seriously engage in two years ago. He decided that we had reached the point where VR-related problems were finally resolved.

Steam OS could potentially be the first commercial virtual reality operating system. What are your plans for the future of this platform? How are you going to solve serious problems, such as user input?

User input is a really difficult task. So far, we have no solution to this problem, and we will deal with it later. Now we need to start small, work with experimental fragments in order to come to the necessary solution.

A huge number of demos for Oculus Rift are made on the Unity engine. Are Valve planning to turn Source or Source 2 into a more player-friendly development environment with support for the C ++ API and simple tools, as well as release it in advance to give VR developers a start-up?

Alex Vlachos is just working on it now (debugging the successful interaction of Source 2 and VR). However, Unity is still useful for many things.

Finally - and I think that you have already been asked this question more than once - I would like to ask that everyone eagerly expects that it is ideal for adaptation under VR, because of its way of presenting the plot, open world and puzzle elements: Ricochet 2. Is a long development time associated with the development of technologies such as VR? Are you going to give your products such as Ricochet 2 full VR support in the future?

We do not delay our games due to the development of VR. Such parallels should not be drawn.

How do you feel about the obsession of the Internet with your person?

It amuses my friends.

First of all, thanks for making Steam for Linux. Do you use Linux in your daily life? If so, what is your favorite distro?

Debian

Do you think that in the long run will Linux become not only the future of the gaming industry, but also the future of desktop computers?

Maybe.

Are Valve planning to release Steam OS exclusives?

Not.

What is your favorite non-Valve game?

Mario 64.

During the leak of the Half-Life 2 source code at the end of 2003, a group of vigilant gamers teamed up with the hope of capturing hackers. This happened because Valve told us (especially you personally) in their forums that there would be serious delays in game development due to this incident. We were FURIOUS. The original Half-Life was my favorite game, and I really looked forward to the release of Half-Life 2. The two of us led the "investigation", TheAmazingXemo and I, Gtwy. I was still in high school and had no experience with this kind of work, but I knew basic HTML, so we tried to do what we could. We started with a website known as the “Half Life 2 Source Code Resource Page.” While Usenet was a very popular file hosting service, we tracked the source code files to the user who posted them there. We were able to google his username on Usenet and find out that he was a clan member in some MMORPG, so we got the full name and contact details from the clan site. He surrendered his source when we contacted him, pretending to be someone from the IRC. At the peak of its activity, our site received from half a million to a million clicks every day. It was great to look at all those anonymous tips and messages that were raining on us from people from different parts of the planet. And we felt that we were doing something to help. I know that your company knew about our site because the FBI contacted us and even accused us of what we hacked. I do not blame you for such actions, probably it was very suspicious from your point of view. However, we still successfully identified the hacker, Ago, in our final post of October 13, 2003. I don’t know if this happened before or after the FBI found out his identity, but I would like to hope that we somehow helped the investigation. I know that even if they had already found it, it would not have been public. (The evidence we have collected). It has now been ten years since that investigation. I was hoping you would shed some light on what was happening backstage then. I always wanted to ask you this, but I didn’t know how. I would like you to know that our motives were exceptionally good, and that we are still faithful Valve fans. I really hope that you will answer this, but even if you cannot - thanks for this opportunity! that even if they had already found it, it would not be in the public domain. (The evidence we have collected). It has now been ten years since that investigation. I was hoping you would shed some light on what was happening backstage then. I always wanted to ask you this, but I didn’t know how. I would like you to know that our motives were exceptionally good, and that we are still faithful Valve fans. I really hope that you will answer this, but even if you cannot - thanks for this opportunity! that even if they had already found it, it would not be in the public domain. (The evidence we have collected). It has now been ten years since that investigation. I was hoping you would shed some light on what was happening backstage then. I always wanted to ask you this, but I didn’t know how. I would like you to know that our motives were exceptionally good, and that we are still faithful Valve fans. I really hope that you will answer this, but even if you cannot - thanks for this opportunity! that our motives were exceptionally good, and that we are still faithful Valve fans. I really hope that you will answer this, but even if you cannot - thanks for this opportunity! that our motives were exceptionally good, and that we are still faithful Valve fans. I really hope that you will answer this, but even if you cannot - thanks for this opportunity!

Thanks presidentjim / Gtwy for all your help. We remembered your site about the leak as an invaluable resource. Didn't we then contact directly? Obviously, then we worked with the FBI, but they could not share with us which sources led to the arrest and which did not. But you guys did a lot more to uncover Ago than the feds could have done. We think this is one of the first cases when motivated users have outpaced the authorities.

This is not a question, it's just my birthday. If you wish me a happy birthday, I will have nothing more to desire in this life.

Happy Birthday, Bajeezus.

Could you tell when we see Counter-Strike Global Offensive for Linux?

Development is underway, but there is no exact release date.

When did you start collecting knives, and which ones are your favorite?

Since childhood. Today there are many good knife masters. The two most unknown ones worth paying attention to are Kevin Cashen at cashenblades.com and Elizabeth Loerchner at ecloerchner.com.

How many hours a week do you spend on video games, and which ones do you prefer?

Dota 2 and about 20 hours.

Do you play a lot of Dota 2? What is your favorite hero? Have you ever yelled at a teammate?

Yeah; Sand King / Random; Yes.

First of all, many thanks for all the work done with Valve and Steam! In connection with the success of Dota 2, and then CS: GO in the cyber arena, what do you think is the future for e-sports on PC in general?

We believe that we are still only on the way to the moment when all those numerous people who contribute to cyber competitions will be able to get everything that is due to them. However, we are making good progress in this area. We are thinking about introducing a direct relationship between content consumers and its creators, so that the community can be much more involved in those tournaments that matter to it.

Was the growth of Dota 2 a surprise? And where will the TI4 go?

We knew that there were tons of people playing Dota 1, and many of them worked at Valve, so we hoped to work hard enough to get these people to play Dota 2. We have not yet decided where this year International will be held. We are pretty sure that it will be at the Key Arena in Seattle, but there is always a risk that something will go wrong. As soon as everything is finally established, we will inform everyone who is interested in it. This year should be fun.

A year ago at the DICE Summit, you and JJ Abrams mentioned that you were going to work together to work on certain projects. I am your big fan and I am very excited. Bad Robot is about to make films based on Valve games. Will your games be based on Bad Robot material in the future? (I would be very happy to see the new Lost TV game, especially made by Valve.) What do you like about JJ Abrams as a director?

When I talk to him, I get the impression that I'm talking to someone from Valve. This is a very rare case, especially for people from the film industry.

Thank you for your responses! My questions: What was the strangest / funniest thing that you received by e-mail? What is your favorite TF2 item?

4Chan somehow sent us a box and offered to buy a key to open it. We sold it on Craiglist.

Hatimaki peacemaker.

Hi Geiben (if I can call you that), how are you? Here's my question: Before Steam Greenlight was introduced, how was the process of adding new games to the Steam Store?

We quickly exhausted all ideas on this subject, which led us to Greenlight, and now leads to the fact that Steam has become a self-publishing system.

Thanks for answers! I have had the pleasure of being part of the Steam community for over a decade. I joined when everything was just beginning in 2003. Returning to that time, what were your views (and Valve) about the future of Steam, and could they be realized subsequently? Also, what is your vision for the future Steam platform and PC gaming in the next ten years?

I am not trying to evade the question, but we find it more acceptable to rely on feedback, rather than on established deadlines and goals. Interaction with the community always entails a constant change in these terms. The main thing is to reduce the length of such cycles. In the long run, we see the main work on the level of individuality of the players, when we consider each of them as a creator and publisher. “How could we make games more productive?” Sounds weird, but that's about what we want.

How hard was it to promote Steam in 2004?

Whenever you create something new, you have to face various difficulties. On the whole, it was an ordinary portion of suffering, and, with such a reservation, it was not so scary.

Why did you choose Valve as your company name?

Because it sounded better than Rhino Scar.

How do you feel about all these state difficulties in America and Europe regarding property and Internet rights?

A couple of years ago, I donated a million dollars to the American Civil Liberties Union.

Was there a moment in your life when you were going to sell / leave Valve and generally move away from the cyber industry and do something else?

No, actually. I like the people I work with and enjoy being a part of the community.

In the future, are you going to release all games for Linux / Steam OS? Was it a problem to find developers to implement compatibility with Linux?

Yes. Not particularly. There are many popular opinions in the developer community about Linux and the gaming industry.

Geiben, what are your distinctive qualities?

Well, I'm a handsome and charming person.

What are your hobbies besides your work?

Creation of things from metal. Motor sport.

Have you ever noticed that your interest in computer games is declining with age? Or do you continue to enjoy them, as you always did?

In my case, it does not depend on age.

I have a question about Steam Music. Sorry if this is not your area, or something else. Is it possible to integrate with services such as Pandora and Spotify in the future? In fact, I do not have my own music library, I mainly use Internet radio, so it would be great if I didn’t have to constantly turn down to change stations or skip songs. How about this?

Yes, we have something in development that I think you will like.



Now I want to ask you - did he answer your questions to the Khabrovites?