HLX, the project in development by Valve rumored to be Half-Life 3, may be close to the end of development, judging from some recent findings.
As reported by Tyler McViker in a recent video, big updates have been pushed for Deadlock and Dota 2, and they are more packed than has been seen in years of changes made to the Source 2 engine related to the HLX project, some of them heavily suggesting that the project is near to the end of development. For example, one of the new changes is a save and load system rewritten from scratch, which allows for the state of any entity within the game world to be edited in the save file. No other game powered by the Source 2 engine has a save and load system, as even Half-Life Alyx used the system lifted from the previous version of the engine. While this addition may not sound particularly significant, it actually is, as rewriting from scratch such a basic system is usually part of the polishing phase at the end of development.
Other additions, such as the introduction of three new player flags that determine if the player is in a situation where it is not possible to save, is driving a vehicle or is inside a vehicle driven by an NPC, are also, usually, additions made to the end of development, so it definitely seems like work on the project rumored to be Half-Life 3 is close to completion. The fact that work on HLX may be close to completion, however, doesn't mean that the game is going to be announced soon, so expectations should be kept in check for the incoming not-E3 season that will begin next week.
Besides the addition outlined above, the latest updates pushed for some Source 2-powered games added a few more files related to the yet-to-be-revealed HLX project, including support for meshlets, surface properties having attributes specifically related to vehicle-based gameplay, vehicle transportation for both player and NPCs, electrical interactions simulated system similar to the systems allowing for flammability of elements and material deformation, electrification of surfaces and props, improved sight and hearing system to allow the enemy to better detect the player, a wind system that can interact with volumetric fog and flammability-based items related to a fan system that should allow wind to move players, NPCs and objects and more.
Seeing how much work is being put into the HLX project rumored to be Half-Life 3, there's no doubt that something is indeed cooking up at Valve. The game is rumored to be the final entry in the series, so even though its story hook may not be widely appreciated, at least fans will be getting a conclusion to the story, and not another cliffhanger that could be left unresolved for decades.
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
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