5punk

Okay, I haven't really kept on top of things with the whole Episode 2 Orange Box pack thingamy, and wondered if anyone could clear this up.

What exactly, are Valve releasing with HL2 Episode 2?

I have heard rumours of Episode 1, Episode 2, Team Fortress 2 & Portal.

Could someone clear up (if it's been announced that is) whether these all have to be purchased in one package, or you can buy them individually?

Also, any idea on prices yet?

The orange box (retail package) contains

Half-Life 2
Half-Life 2: Episode One
Half-Life 2: Episode Two
Portal
Team Fortress 2

and is available to preorder from play for £27.


Everything should be buyable separately over steam.

Well for anyone without HL2 etc, that sounds like a very good deal. However, for the majority of people who already own the first two, I hope we won't get stung on the price when buying them individually. Having never played TFC, I'm rather excited by the prospect of TF2 and ET:QW, which will hopefully rejeuvenate the field of multiplayer shooters again for me.

Lateralus wrote:Well for anyone without HL2 etc, that sounds like a very good deal. However, for the majority of people who already own the first two, I hope we won't get stung for the price. Having never played TFC, I'm rather excited by the prospect of TF2 and ET:QW, which will hopefully rejeuvenate the field of multiplayer shooters again for me.

I suspect the Orange box will cost about the same as the steam bits without HL2/Ep1

On the plus side, the cdkeys in the orange box will be separate, so you can give/sell the spare keys to mates

I really should get round to playing ep1, I was annoyed as hell by the end of hl2, but didn't remove the rage enough for me to want to pick up ep1 when it came out. I'll use my nice phat cable bb to lowndoad everything in one lump then hammer my way through both the episodes, then lol heavily at the sheer comedy that is tf2, I'm looking forward to that more than ut3, but I'll no doubt be getting that too.

steam can suck ma balls, I just want ep2, tf2 & portal, no hl2 & ep1 again.

Ty aka Sir Die Aloty wrote:steam can suck ma balls, I just want ep2, tf2 & portal, no hl2 & ep1 again.

You and a dickload of other people.
I'm confident valve will cave into community demand* as they have in the past.

* Eventually

Grimmie wrote:You and a dickload of other people.
I'm confident valve will cave into community demand* as they have in the past.

* Eventually

You know they never actually cancelled the black box for steam, just retail. right?

It's coming, they're just relying on hype and people wanting at the beta for now.

What exactly will be in the black box then? I guess they're working on the assumption that those that don't want HL2 or Ep1 already have steam, and have realised how good it is and therefore won't be bothered about buying the disks. Especially when there's such a good exchange rate.

Black box = orange box without HL2 and Ep1.

Bit more info found.

The Orange Box is the only option is far as pre-loading goes. After October 9th, you can purchase individual games.

Pretty much makes the options (as far as anyone can tell)

Orange box: $45 Pre-ordered, $50 on release
Black box*: Probably $40 on release (though may well cost $50 (see below))

Q: Well, Orange box pre-orders are up, where is the EP2/TF2/Portal bundle?

A: There isn't one. Valve is giving you HL2 & EP1 for free. You will be able to give them away once the pack is released. More details to follow.

*The bundle formerly known as the Black box.

Ooh, well that makes the Orange box seem more appealing.

Obviously, this is mostly guesswork by everyone involved (as valve are good at keeping secrets) so no-one really knows how much whatever bundles get invented cost.

Well, my bank account prevents pre-ordering anyway just now, so it's all a bit academic.

Ty aka Sir Die Aloty wrote:steam can suck ma balls, I just want ep2, tf2 & portal, no hl2 & ep1 again.

Little Piece of Paper wrote:Congratulations on the purchase of your new ATI Radeon graphics card. With this product you can now enjoy The Ultimate Gaming Experience™ in gaming. Included with your purchase is the opportunity to get a free copy of The Black Box

Its the consolation prize

Over Steam, in English monies and with VAT:

• HL2, Ep1, Ep2, TF2, Portal, Peggle Extreme, TF2 Beta Invite, if pre-ordered before Oct 10th - £26
• HL2, Ep1, Ep2, TF2, Portal, Peggle Extreme - £28.90
• TF2 Only - £17.33
• Ep2 Only - £17.33
• Portal Only - £11.54

That's all they've announced, and since they're release prices they won't change until after release, but there's no "Black Box" option announced yet. Frankly I can't see where it would fit in to that pricing structure, and I'm more than happy to pay £26 as that is what I anticipated the Black Box would cost, and I want all three of course.

There may be benefits to buying a physical Orange Box, as you could use the HL2/Ep1 keys elsewhere, but that TF2 beta is quite a lure for me.

FatherJack wrote:Over Steam, in English monies and with VAT:

• HL2, Ep1, Ep2, TF2, Portal, Peggle Extreme, TF2 Beta Invite, if pre-ordered before Oct 10th - £26
• HL2, Ep1, Ep2, TF2, Portal, Peggle Extreme - £28.90
• TF2 Only - £17.33
• Ep2 Only - £17.33
• Portal Only - £11.54

That's all they've announced, and since they're release prices they won't change until after release, but there's no "Black Box" option announced yet. Frankly I can't see where it would fit in to that pricing structure, and I'm more than happy to pay £26 as that is what I anticipated the Black Box would cost, and I want all three of course.

Is looking likely.

From what I have read you can pass on any games you already have through the Invite system, so even though you are not giving away physical keys, you can give someone the game if they have a Steam Account... very smart move from Valve as it creates new Steam Customers who will be lured by the goodies on offer in their steadily growing back catalogue.

*/edit
Info here:
http://support.steampowered.com/cgi-bin ... _faqid=750

TheJockGit wrote:From what I have read you can pass on any games you already have through the Invite system, so even though you are not giving away physical keys, you can give someone the game if they have a Steam Account... very smart move from Valve as it creates new Steam Customers who will be lured by the goodies on offer in their steadily growing back catalogue.

Exactly.

It's a shame they don't give CS:S though.

Oh, and then there's the problem that everyone is in world has HL2

*/Tangent

Are you OK for a lift or is Wiggy taking you to ProfLan?