Lead writer Mark Laidlaw left Valve in 2016, and the following year, he released Epistle 3, a short, legitimately different “fanfic” about Gertie Fremont that served as a collection of ideas about how the Half-Life 2: Episode Two cliffhanger might have been resolved. Laidlaw has expressed regret over publishing the story, mainly because of the trouble it caused his former colleagues, but that hasn't stopped fans from trying to adapt his vague outline into a fully-fledged game.
Project Borealis is one such ambitious effort, attempting to recreate the source feel of Half-Life 2 within the Unreal Engine — building an entire sequel from scratch — but others, like Boreal-Alyph and Interlude, never made it to the finish line. Alyx threw a bit of a spanner in the works, re-contextualizing the end of episode two and setting up its own sequel, which is reportedly nearing the finish line (evident from all the 'HLX' leaks found on the Source 2 backend), but that still hasn't stopped modders. And now, a very modest solo project is on track for release later this year.
All Good Things Jim Partridge announced in a blog post earlier this year that he's been sitting on the sidelines watching over-ambitious teams try to adapt Laidlaw's writings to no avail. He argues that these teams are taking too long or have failed completely because they are Too many volunteers – which is a surprising stance, considering many teams like Skyblivion argue the opposite. However, Partridge suggests that not relying on others is the key, with several large-scale Half-Life and Left 4 Dead 2 campaigns under his belt to prove it.
“You can have all the concept artists, model makers, composers, and script writers you like, but ultimately your project needs levels of fun play at its core,” he said. “I think that's why I finally decided to throw my hat into the Epistle 3 ring. I know I can crank out a set of 12 or more levels that are fun to play and feel like Episode 2. Which, I think, is what people want.”
All good things are one and a half maps away from completion
Six hours ago, Partridge posted a new update, confirming that all the good stuff is on track to launch in late 2026, while also sharing some screenshots of the Aperture feature. “Work has progressed steadily on the first draft of the campaign and I'm now just one map away from having a fully playable end-to-end experience that can be played to the death,” he said.
Of course, unlike Project Borealis and other mods in its range — or Black Mesa, the fan-made Half-Life remake that took more than ten years — All Good Things doesn't aim to replicate the experience of a new Valve game. A modder alone cannot achieve that, but Epistle 3 does need Is that the range? The original post was a rough outline written by a frustrated writer, echoing his own real-life experiences, not a fully formed script that matched the quality of Half-Life 2: Episodes One and Two. Partridge-like mode feels more authentic to the ethos of Epistle 3, which Laidlaw himself argues is more akin to fanfic than anything else.
All Good Things is a lot like the early map packs that tried to bring the Half-Life 2 beta to life with volunteer indie dev teams spearheading the entire games we see today, and that low-stakes approach has a certain charm. It'll be fun to dive in and see Epistle 3 brought to life in the Source Engine since no time has passed since 2007, and hey, if nothing else, that lone Dev Stubborn is the closest anyone will ever get to the finish line.
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October 10, 2007
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