Valve’s Doug Lombardi talks Portal 2, Left 4 Dead and future plans

At the recent EA games showcase in london, CVG sat down with Valve’s Dough Lombardi to discuss Valve’s upcoming game Left 4 Dead. Lombardi also talked about Portal 2, Source engine and Valve’s expansion into new genres. Here’s a snip:

How much has the Source engine been updated for L4D since Half-Life 2?

Lombardi: I would say that almost half the code has been developed since Half-Life 2 was released. We introduced new lighting effects, we did a lot of character animation work for HL2: Episode 2, added support for multi-core PCs, we worked on the physics for Portal and new AI added for L4D.

We look at Source as a set of tools, not necessarily as an engine that we’ve built that we’ll use until it expires and throw away. We see it as this organic thing that we’re constantly tweaking and building. It’s more of a toolkit than a set engine.

Overclocked: A History of Violence lands on GamersGate

GamersGate announced today the download premiere of Overclocked: A history of violence, developed by adventure game veterans House of Tales and published by Lighthouse Interactive and DTP.

Set against the backdrop of a catastrophic thunderstorm raging over New York, Overclocked mixes frightening fictional thriller Elements with real research findings on war simulation and psychology. As a US army psychiatrist, the player is tasked with exploring the memories of several characters as he finds himself in a true psychological thriller.

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