Half Life 2 Source Code Stolen!

I don't think HL2 will be bad. Actually, I think it'll more than likely be better than the first one, but that doesn't mean I'm expecting it that much, despite having seen the rather cool 10min video they'd released at the E3.

 

The fact that everything in the game is affected by the game physics is enough for me. No more banging on boxes to find the ones that break because now they all break.

 

"For some reason I'm having a hard time buying valve's cover story. "

exactly.

in the real world if you had a product as valuable as the next half life, your number one priority is to make sure that your source code repository is on a safe and secure network. gabe newell and crew are no fools. they have to know this. in fact anyone that programs professionally SHOULD know this or you should be thrown out of the profession.

source code leak = excuse to delay

amazing the coincidence isnt it?

i said it before and i'll say it again, this was planned.

 

Hear hear. They must all theenk we're eedyots.

 

So you're saying they should treat the security of the code for a GAME the same way we should treat the security of the computer systems for National Security (yes, that's a US centric view). ROFL

It's a GAME folks. I can hardly believe that these guys should be expected to have their computers completely disconnected from any connections that go to the Internet. Knowing how hard it is for administrators to keep their systems patched and up to date, I don't have to much of a problem with believing their systems got hit by someone exploiting an Outlook vulnerability which allowed a back door to be installed (ok, that one is a little tougher to swallow) and then allowed the source code to be downloaded. Most of that could be done over the web port. The only problem with the whole scenario is that a properly setup firewall would have blocked anything from coming into the machine. Unfortunately, most firewalls aren't setup properly.

In related news, I was just reading on CNN that apparently there's a demo build out now. Apparently enough artwork and maps were obtained that a playable demo was able to be compiled. Knowing that and knowing that in their previous statement they said no artwork was obtained, I do believe, now, that it was definitely an inside job. I don't know if I'd say it was orchestrated (do you really think they need to leak this game to build anticipation? I don't), but it definitely seems fishy now. And no, I don't know where you can get the demo that's been created. And even if I did, it would be against the TOS to tell you.

 

No the playable build is from another source who may have had it since E3.

 

It's not a game, it's a commodity. A commodity that is potentially worth extremely large sums of money. Valve failed to protect one of their most valuable commodities, and in any industry that can amount to financial suicide. HOWEVER, I also find it difficult to believe that they'd have something that is worth so much money to them left vulnerable to theft. Smells like a delaying tactic to me.

 

Guys, maybe theyre telling the truth. Some hackers are pretty good, just dont jump to conclusions...

 

It's not a game, it's a commodity.



Do you really think they're going to be destroyed by this source code leak? I read newsgroups pretty regularly and just having screenshots to look at is making hardcore gamers drool. This game will be a must have for any gamer once it's released. Doesn't matter if it's released tomorrow or 3 months from now. As long as it's not like Duke Nukem Forever, it'll sell millions of copies. And since we've got screenshots and videos to watch of in game action, I'd say they're a little further along then Duke Nukem Forever.

This leak will do Valve nothing but good, just like the Doom 3 alpha leak caused so many gamers to go gaga, even though A LOT of things weren't working.

 

Maybe the "hack"/"theft" is some extravagant alpha test? Then the beta test will come out in the holidays before the 1Q 2004 release....


...or not.

 

"So you're saying they should treat the security of the code for a GAME the same way we should treat the security of the computer systems for National Security (yes, that's a US centric view)."

thats exactly what i am saying.

a products source code is equivalent to the schematics of a car or the blue prints of a building. if it is your business to produce code, which it is valve's, you guard that code like your life depends on it. know why? it does! well the life of your business does.

that is source code control 101 folks. its basic business in the world of software. the first thing you do when you want to do some REAL programming is throw your code into some source code control scheme. this serves three purposes. first, it allows for multiple developers to work in parallel hence speeding up development time. second, it versions your code so that you can roll back changes and decrease the amount of time spent maintaining your code. lastly, it provides a SECURE method for storing your code. the last point is provided that your network admin is competent in the least.

remember you are protecting the life of your business. if it were yours you'd make damn sure it was under lock and key and guard dog and sentry gun at all times. lost code = lost money and thats what drives business.

 

remember you are protecting the life of your business. if it were yours you'd make damn sure it was under lock and key and guard dog and sentry gun at all times. lost code = lost money and thats what drives business.

Actually, to be perfectly honest, if it were mine and there was this much hype around it, I might want a "leak" to give people a taste of it. Once they've gotten a taste, they're going to want more. How are they gonna get it? They'll have to buy the full version when it's released. People are gonna want to play this game online and the only way they'll be able to do that is by buying the full version.

How do you think ID software got so big? By hoarding their games until they were ready? Heck no. They released full playable demos for free. They not only got people hooked on their games, they got a lot of people interested in programming. This had the added effect of allowing those people to send in actual code snippets for fixing bugs and other things that they'd find in ID's games.

Valve might lose a little money over this, but they're going to make a ton when this game is fully released.

And yes, I still think it's fully INSANE to treat the source code of a game the same way you'd treat national security. And you didn't really explain why one should do this other than to protect your business. While I agree that they should've done more to protect the code, the more I think about it, the more this whole thing smells fishy.

 

Then again, there's some interesting stuff here to consider.

Even if I knew where to go to download this suspect material, I wouldn't do it. But could it be true? Could thir stuff really be out there?

 

Hum, apparently it's more than real. Now, what's still unsure it's whether or not it was intended by Valve.

I've seen screens of this rumored beta - and I can assure you it looks quite like the real deal alright.

 

valve would have very little to gain if thay had "allowed" the code to be stolen. They had already licensed the Source code to some developers for upcoming games and these third parties would also be potentially hurt by this theft of intellectual property.

If indeed the theft was real, then it's also more than likely that the culprit was a haxx0r noob gamer who probably hacked valve with the intent of nabbing a working beta (and it's mighty suspicious there was no beta testing -- that we know of at least -- prior to the proposed 9/30 launch date, dontcha think?), got something even more valuable than that and ruined it for us gamers in general and many other parties with that stunt of his/hers.

What wories me more is that if Steam "blueprints" were stolen, said hacker(s) could use what they have to access individual Steam accounts to gain valuable personal information (credit card numbers and the like). Something warm and fuzzy to think about whenever you go play Counter-strike from now on, eh?

 

What is this Steam thing? I've read a little bit about it but I'm not sure I get what it is totally. From what I've read, it's kinda like what Bioware did with NwN, where you have to log on through the Internet just to play the game, even if you're playing single player or multiplayer on a LAN. Is that what it is? I've also read that they're trying to work it so you don't have to be online in order to play the game. Mind you, if it doesn't have that ability, a lot of people aren't going to be able to play at LAN parties. I've personally been to a couple where we didn't have Internet access, so we wouldn't have been able to play in that instance.

 

The newest version of Counter-Strike (1.6) launched the Steam service. I'm not exactly sure how Steam works. It's supposed to streamline the online servers and allow instant update downloads whenever they're available. I think it's also a more intrusive way to determine which players have valid installs/cd keys. I'm not sure but I think it also allows you to play any of the Half-life single player games through broadband streaming (sort of like what Yahoo does with some games).

Anyway, all online Half-life games will now require you to have the Steam software in order to play online. The jury's still out on whether it's truly worthwhile. With the whole hacker/theft situation, it remains to be seen whether hackers will use the Steam code to easily infiltrate clients and steal their personal info.

 

This guy on messenger wanted to send me the beta version of HL2. I then laughed out loud and told them about this thread and that the code was stolen. He then proceded to send me the code as well...
Hes a major hacker...

 

Major hacker or major cracker? The betas all over the place right now (assuming you know where to look). He probably just downloaded it from one of those places like everybody else is.

 

he dl'ed it from somewhere, yes, but he also hacks a lot into lotsa things... he knows everything about computers. At least, how to get past security issues like all the damn parental controls that evil tyrant parents put on the family computer that wont even let me, err, someone DOWNLOAD a simple program... You know, stuff like that.
And not that anyone asked him to tell someone the stuff either....

 

Apparently this so-called Alpha is the one they used for the E3. In may. If it was stolen in september, what did Valve work on in the meantime ? Not to be paranoid, but : "Bob, we'll never make it in time. Did you change the permissions of the alpha folder and contact our friend ?"

This is mucho stinky.

 

This sucks... If I ran a game-programming company, I'd make sure that the programming computers were behind as many firewalls as I could manage.

You could always disconnect the computers from the internet, too.

 

Apparently this so-called Alpha is the one they used for the E3. In may. If it was stolen in september, what did Valve work on in the meantime ? Not to be paranoid, but : "Bob, we'll never make it in time. Did you change the permissions of the alpha folder and contact our friend ?"

This is mucho stinky.

Yeah, it still stinks, regardless of whether the "break in" is real or not. I mean, HL2's release is announced early this year, much to anyone's surprise since, well, no one was expecting it to ocme out this year. Somehow valve managed to keep it a secret and everyone's suitably impressed. Even a launch date is given -- 9/30 -- in an industry where such things are not a sure thing given all the unforeseen events that can delay a game.

Months pass. I don't read a thing -- anywhere -- about beta-testing or any other kind of news about game delay or confirmations about the release date (if there were news on any trade magazines and the like, well, I dont know coz I really don't buy any ). Then September comes...and goes. And then news breaks on the hacking/breaking-and-entering/theft. And we all have to wonder: how complete the game was at this point in time? Was valve going to meet the September 30th launch date or was the announcement made months ago overly optimistic or overly disregarding reality.

The recent developments are simply too convenient. I mean, if you're a developer and you're facing the possibility of missing a much-touted shipping date by an undeterminate amount of time, wouldn't something like a hacking/theft be a godsend to you, whether it's real or not?

 

supposedly, one of the "hackers/crackers" posted anonoumously, saying that they stole EXACTLY what Valve had ready for 9/30, and that maybe they should stop lying to the public. Then he stated that if valve didnt come up with the truth, tehn they would relases EVERYTHING they stole.

BTW, It completely FLOODED networks of warez, stupid, buthole pirates. There was an article on that on some gaming site

 

Well, who's more foolish? The pirate buttholes who flood the warez sites with incomplete, virus-ridden code or the average-joe-buttholes that actually try to download the incomplete, virus-ridden code? ?