Valve's next game: DOTA 2

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http://www.dota2.com/

Within 24 hours Gameinformer will have details on what the next new game from valve is:
http://gameinformer.com/b/news/archi...

This would seem to be the game IceFrog is involved with, together with their "DOTA" trademark seems to indicate it's their version of the game type.

update:

DotA-Allstars' roster of 100+ heroes is being brought over in its entirety. The single map games take place on is functionally identical to the one that you can download for free today in the Warcraft III mod. Items, skills, and upgrade paths are unchanged. Some hero skills work slightly better due to being freed from the now-ancient Warcraft III engine, but Dota 2 will be instantly familiar to any DotA player.

A few things will make significant differences to players making the transition. Dota 2 uses Valve's Source engine, so the game is much prettier. Source itself is getting a few upgrades, including improved global lighting and true cloth simulation. Dota 2's integrated voice chat is a huge step up from having to set up your own Ventrilo server, and the speed of voice communication is very nearly a requirement for a game as team-focused as DotA.

AI bots will take over for disconnected players, and will be available to play against in unranked training matches as well. However, don't get your hopes up for a full-fledged single-player game, though. Johnson says, "Our goal with the AI is just that their experience isn't destroyed just because one person couldn't finish the game."

If it is their DOTA game it will get a meh from me. Tried LoL and HoN and neither is my bag. I don't doubt that it will be a good example of the genre, but it may as well be a high quality dating sim.

If they are being sneaky though and distracting us in preparation for announcing HL 3, I may sh*t a brick.

It's hard to say for certain, but I think there is room for Valve to add their mark on DOTA. Just like there's latitude within the FPS genre that every game is not just a quake clone, I think there's latitude within DOTA for a variety of styles. What I would hope for would be like TF2 compared to TFC or Fortress Forever, a much more approachable evolution of the game, but keeping the same core ideas.

Regardless of what they announce, there will be whining that it's not something else :\

Yay, finally. I kind of hope (and expect) that it will be a DOTA-related project, but I'm expecting to be excited regardless. Pretty safe to say the IceFrog game probably isn't going to be HL3.

Don't let me down, Valve!

I want a DOTA + TF2 mash-up. Two teams, one attacks, one defends, both with totally different options at their disposal. And achievements. And TF2 hats.

wanderingtaoist wrote:

I want a DOTA + TF2 mash-up. Two teams, one attacks, one defends, both with totally different options at their disposal. And achievements. And TF2 hats.

So basically Monday Night Combat? But done by Valve.

They have said there's another game mode for TF2 coming, but GI specifically say "new game".

I loved Demigod so something more like that with much more stable online play so I can actually play the game would be an instant buy for me. If it's like League of Legends I'll pass as that's already available, free and good enough for what it is.

MannishBoy wrote:
wanderingtaoist wrote:

I want a DOTA + TF2 mash-up. Two teams, one attacks, one defends, both with totally different options at their disposal. And achievements. And TF2 hats.

So basically Monday Night Combat? But done by Valve.

Yessss Monday Night Combat Defense Force.

Half-Life 2: Episode 3: DOTA.

Rexneron wrote:

I can see how L4D's zombie hoards and creeps in DOTA game could be related. First Person DOTA?

IMAGE(http://gadgetsin.com/uploads/2010/09/plants_vs_zombies_clay_figures_1.jpg)

Sun here!

carrotpanic wrote:
MannishBoy wrote:
wanderingtaoist wrote:

I want a DOTA + TF2 mash-up. Two teams, one attacks, one defends, both with totally different options at their disposal. And achievements. And TF2 hats.

So basically Monday Night Combat? But done by Valve.

Yessss Monday Night Combat Defense Force.

+1

I can see how L4D's zombie hordes and creeps in DOTA game could be related. First Person DOTA?

It most likely will be the DoTA game since they have been talking about it for quite some time in the media. I feel that there is a lot of room for more DotA games.

That game type really needs to start having its own genre name that's not DoTA. Any ideas?

IMAGE(http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu231/BNoice/Simpsons/anticipation.png)

TempestBlayze wrote:

That game type really needs to start having its own genre name that's not DoTA. Any ideas?

I've heard the term "hero defense" used.

Seems like it should end with "ers". Like Platformers, fighters, shooters etc. Maybe Heroers... Maybe not...

Anything other than HL2:E3 (or HL3, admitting the episode is never coming) and I'll be positively angered in my most internet nerd rage enabled fashion.

All I stinking want is to see what's next for Gordon and the world he occupies momentarily thanks to the G-man. Did the Vorts actually fully wrestle control away from him, or just temporarily?

mrtomaytohead wrote:

Anything other than HL2:E3 (or HL3, admitting the episode is never coming) and I'll be positively angered in my most internet nerd rage enabled fashion.

All I stinking want is to see what's next for Gordon and the world he occupies momentarily thanks to the G-man. Did the Vorts actually fully wrestle control away from him, or just temporarily?

Yeah, I've actually defended Valve taking their time with EP3, but this is getting a bit ridiculous now. Time to wrap this puppy up.

MeatMan wrote:
carrotpanic wrote:
MannishBoy wrote:
wanderingtaoist wrote:

I want a DOTA + TF2 mash-up. Two teams, one attacks, one defends, both with totally different options at their disposal. And achievements. And TF2 hats.

So basically Monday Night Combat? But done by Valve.

Yessss Monday Night Combat Defense Force.

+1

Or just somebody release Monday Night Combat on something other than the 360. I don't, and will not ever own a 360 (wife will not allow it in the house, among other things).

From the article linked in the original post:

Over on the Defense of the Ancients website, anonymous developer IceFrog posted a blog noting that Game Informer -- that's us! -- visited Valve last week to check out his new project. Dude isn't lying, and tomorrow we'll be revealing that game and sharing all of the first details with you.

So yes, it's probably IceFrog's game.

mrtomaytohead wrote:
MeatMan wrote:
carrotpanic wrote:
MannishBoy wrote:
wanderingtaoist wrote:

I want a DOTA + TF2 mash-up. Two teams, one attacks, one defends, both with totally different options at their disposal. And achievements. And TF2 hats.

So basically Monday Night Combat? But done by Valve.

Yessss Monday Night Combat Defense Force.

+1

Or just somebody release Monday Night Combat on something other than the 360. I don't, and will not ever own a 360 (wife will not allow it in the house, among other things).

I'd be down for a PC release of MNC with dedicated servers. Drool.

TempestBlayze wrote:

Seems like it should end with "ers". Like Platformers, fighters, shooters etc. Maybe Heroers... Maybe not...

Single-Unit RTSer?

If you wait 15 minutes you can actually get to read the article, which is longer than I expected.

IMAGE(http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu231/BNoice/Simpsons/yay.png)

I absolutely LOVE Dota and Valve/Icefrog's approach makes me so happy. The game itself was amazing but what held it back was the archaic user interface of War III, the worst community in the history of video games and the hard level of entry. This is going to be huge.

DOTA2. Announcement in OP. GI article here (but it's not loading for me yet)
*Tannhaussered*

See Bart in that picture? I am Bart.

So, how exactly is this DOTA 2?

One thing I wonder is will it be free, like Alien Swarm, or will it be paid for, which would do something against smurfing and make people a little accountable (financially) for how they behave as it's linked to the steam account.

edit: some pics over at shacknews
edit2: and this:

"Our first reaction is to assume that [design elements are] there for a reason," project lead Erik Johnson explains. "IceFrog is one of the smartest designers we've ever met. He's made so many good decisions over the years in building the product. He virtually never makes a decision that doesn't have some reasoning behind it and a way to pick apart the logic behind it."

Dota 2, as a Valve project, will naturally use the Source Engine, which will get improvements to the global lighting engine along with true cloth simulation. Dota 2 will also gain integrated voice chat from its move outside of a Warcraft III mod. Dota 2 adds AI bots for disconnected players and for practice games, but there will not be a singleplayer campaign.

Steamworks will also be getting an overhaul for Dota 2 with support for in-game rewards, which can be earned by participating in the Dota 2 community. "Everything from unlocking new skins for your favorite hero to getting a unique title for writing a strategy guide is on the table," explains GameInformer. The improvements to both the Source Engine and Steamworks will be available to third-party developers after the launch of Dota 2.

Valve will also be adding a coaching system to the game, which will allow skilled players to log in as "coaches" and earn in-game rewards for highly-rated coaching, as voted by the students. A coach will be able to see the student's screen and give them tips and pointers over voice-chat.

"IceFrog was one of the smartest people we've ever met about doing that, and he was doing it with both hands tied behind his back, so to speak," said Valve founder Gabe Newell. He likens the future of Dota 2 as a "service" to that of Valve's Team Fortress 2. "Valve is going to keep building software around Dota and around the community and around Steamworks for Dota, but we're also going to build this system where the community can bring service to each other and be recognized for it," adds Johnson.

Dota 2, by all accounts, is a feature-laced port of the original DotA-Allstars to the Source Engine, not a new game. S2 Games (Heroes of Newerth) and Riot Games (League of Legends) both operate DotA-alike games, with HoN being much closer to the original DotA. League of Legends is quite different within the DotA sub-genre and is also free-to-play, supported by micro-transactions.

Valve's Dota 2 will be released in 2011 for the PC and Mac. Interested parties can find a lot more information over at Game Informer.

The coaching system sounds interesting, in combination to what they already do for TF2 and L4D.

Hero defense sounds like a great genre for hats.

I'm pretty sure it will be paid to capitalize on the huge market potential or it will be in The Black Box: Portal 2, DOTA2, HL: Episode 3...

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