msleeper wrote:
Mr. Happy wrote:

Also, she was originally designed for something to do with ice.

Citation needed.

Portal content.gcf/portal/materials/slides/slide1.vtf. Frame 3.

At the end of Portal, GLaDOS said something along the lines of "Things have changed since you last left the building," as well as several other references to the Combine invasion. This leads me to believe the backdrop of Portal 2 will be one of three things:

1) Hundreds of years after the Ep. 2 rocket successfully wiped out the Combine. Happy ending, everything's fine.

2a) The rocket didn't work, and the Combine have killed off the last of the humans.

2b) Same as 2a, except the Combine have long since come and gone. They got what they were looking for, so they're abandoning Earth (which is now a wasteland).

On a side note, do you guys think the Rat Man will be involved in any way?||

How big do you think is the probability that Valve will keep up the Portal story arc as their "next best thing" and completely abandon Half-Life 2: Episode Three that we have been waiting for for so long?

What I personally think will happen is:

1. Portal 2, Ms. Johnson-Rattmann (good luck figuring out what I mean by this) and/or the co-op bots seriously fuck up Aperture Science facilities and cause the end of time. "End" of Portal arc.

2. Half-Life 2: Episode Three, see Episode Three speculated storyline. (Only the Episode Three part, I'm continuing the thing differently.)

3. Half-Life 3 and followups, G-Man places Gordon and his crew (Alyx, the Vortigaunts, etc.) in stasis and releases them near the end of time that Portal 2 causes. Then Gordon and his crew must prevent the end of time from happening and continue both the Half-Life and Portal arcs.

Episode 3 and the HL2 storyline will not interset with Portal 2. The devs have flat out stated this.

msleeper wrote:
None of that makes any sense.

Episode 3 and the HL2 storyline will not interset with Portal 2. The devs have flat out stated this.

Well how many years we will have to wait until the Half-Life 3 I predicted comes?

Things may change greatly. Hell, HL3 may not even happen. (What Valve will do then?)

msleeper wrote:
They've also said that the episodes "are HL3".

If the episodes are HL3, is HL3 (the follow-up of the episodes) HL4?

Might want to edit the post to reflect that.

ASBusinessMagnet wrote:
msleeper wrote:

They've also said that the episodes "are HL3".

If the episodes are HL3, is HL3 (the follow-up of the episodes) HL4?

Might want to edit the post to reflect that.

No, they have also stated that episode 3 is the end of the Gordon Freeman story arc.

Probably why it is still completely and utterly unannounced.

hanging_rope wrote:
No, they stated that episode 3 is the end of the combine story arc.

Quite honestly, I would think this would entail the end of Gordon's time on the silver monitor. It doesn't seem like VALVe would bring other antagonists in ("Gordon vs. Mothra", anyone?), and I highly doubt we'll see Gordon anywhere in the Portal storyline, especially since, as has been pointed out multiple times, the two storylines will not in any major way intersect.

Also, I was unaware that Ep3 would be the final installment. I'm now rather sad, as I assumed VALVe would want to go out on a big note instead of the smaller episodic [grace] note. I know the episodes are intended to make up a full game, but when they're separated it dilutes the experience a bit.

And finally, ASBusinessMagnet, a great deal of your posts scare me.

hanging_rope wrote:
No, they stated that episode 3 is the end of the combine story arc.

Can you provide a source? Because I definitely remember it being Gordon's arc that was ending. After all, the end of the combine arc is the end of half life full stop since they're the driving force behind even the original game.

youme wrote:
hanging_rope wrote:

No, they stated that episode 3 is the end of the combine story arc.

Can you provide a source? Because I definitely remember it being Gordon's arc that was ending. After all, the end of the combine arc is the end of half life full stop since they're the driving force behind even the original game.

My point exactly.

youme wrote:
hanging_rope wrote:

No, they stated that episode 3 is the end of the combine story arc.

Can you provide a source? Because I definitely remember it being Gordon's arc that was ending. After all, the end of the combine arc is the end of half life full stop since they're the driving force behind even the original game.

That maybe so. I can't really find where I read that, probably some interview. According to wikipedia, it will be "The end of the story arc".
I'm pretty sure that means the end of the combine domination of earth, but it could be that Gordon is ending. IDK

First off unless the Borealis contains something equivalent to what the Nuke was in WWII, it's not going to help the rebels beat the combine at all. It might be a good boost towards that goal but I can't see the whole world being liberated in a single game.

Second, I've read some theories that make a lot of sense, specifically one that muses that the G-man is actually trying to use Earth in order to end the combine reign elsewhere in the Universe. This makes sense to me, and if it is close to true, then episode 3 COULD NOT satisfactorily be the end of the combine arc.

Third, half life is Valve's biggest franchise, and Gordon Freeman is half life's biggest character. They can't just get rid of him for their big Half Life game.

NunamedDragon wrote:
There will no longer be cake....

Yup I can see this. It probably will have some past-tense references but GLaDOS knows that Chell knows there never was any cake or any party. I can't imagine Valve would completely remove the main theme of portal (besides portals) so I'm certain there will still be mentions, but GLaDOS will have moved on, also it would be a bit stale if it was all the same cake humour all over again.
The companion cube is certain to return.

re gordon/combine arc ending: Half life is what defines Valve and I can't see them giving it up easily, but I can see episode 3 being the end of it. Valve aren't the big corporate money grabbers that other companies are, they won't milk Half Life beyond its lifetime (they'll stop half way... ). They may do Half Life without Gordon as the protagonist, and they may do some more with Gordon but without the Combine, HL1 worked without them after all.