Half-Life 2 - official (9/14 Black Mesa Source?!)

**Omni** · 06 Aug 2004, 10:53 PM

Originally Posted by Opaque

That's not as good of an idea as just waiting.

It is when you consider the fact that you'll be playing it on the Xbox.

**epmode** · 10 Aug 2004, 01:19 PM

press release from doug lombardi:

Pre-loading of the Counter-Strike: Source Beta to cyber cafés begins today. On Wednesday, this first phase of the beta will open and the game will be playable at all cyber cafes that subscribe to the Valve Cyber Café Program. Later this month, the beta will be extended to owners of Counter-Strike(tm): Condition Zero(tm) and ATI Fulfillment Coupon holders.

This beta serves as a compatibility test of the Source engine as we near completion of development on Half-Life 2 and Counter-Strike: Source. During this limited-time beta, issues can be reported using the in-game bug-reporting tool. In addition any crashes will automatically generate a report back to Valve's bug database. We thank everyone for their participation, and we hope Half-Life 2 and Counter-Strike: Source live up to your expectations.

**Videodrone** · 10 Aug 2004, 05:17 PM

Gamestop just added the CE to their page with a date of 11/01/04. Probably just a guess, but better than nothing.

Rumor has it that the CE with include HL2 on DVD; HL, CS, OF and BS source; exclusive videos.

**epmode** · 10 Aug 2004, 08:23 PM

http://www.hl2fallout.com/

Update 2: Gabe Newell has been so kind again to keep us updated.

8/11 the Cafe's turn on.
8/16 CZ/ATI users pre-load.
8/18 CZ/ATI turns on.
8/17 HL-2 pre-load starts (textures, audio and other stuff that doesn't change).

omg. very soon now..

**Dyne** · 10 Aug 2004, 08:26 PM

wtf is a pre-load? sound like a porn term.

**epmode** · 10 Aug 2004, 08:30 PM

if you buy a copy of the game over steam, it'll be preloaded to you in the days/weeks prior to launch so that valve's servers don't get bogged down.

the game will be encrypted, so there's not much you can do before receiving the decryption key on release day.