Lead writer Marc Laidlaw left Valve in 2016 and the very next year released Epistle 3, a short, legally distinct “fanfiction” about Gertie Fremont that served as a collection of ideas for how he could resolve the Half-Life 2: Episode Two cliffhanger. Laidlaw expressed regret at publishing the story, mainly because of the trouble it caused his former collaborators, but that didn't stop fans from trying to adapt his vague outline into a full-fledged game.
Project Borealis is one such ambitious effort to recreate the feel of Half-Life 2's Source within the Unreal Engine—building an entire sequel from scratch—but others, like Boreal-Alyph and Interlude, never quite hit the mark. Alyx has been a bit of a jerk at work, re-contextualizing the end of Episode 2 and preparing her own sequel, which is said to be close to the mark (as seen in all the 'HLX' leaks found in the Source 2 backend), but that still hasn't deterred modders. And now he's on track to release a much more modest solo project later this year.
Jim Partridge announced All Good Things earlier this year in a blog post explaining that he's been sitting on the sidelines watching over-ambitious teams try to adapt Laidlaw's writings without success. He argued that these teams take too long or fail outright because they have too many volunteers – which is a surprising position since most teams like Skyblivion say otherwise. However, Partridge has hinted that not relying on others is key, and he's set to prove it in several extensive Half-Life and Left 4 Dead 2 campaigns.
“You can have all the concept artists, modelers, composers and writers you like, but at the end of the day, your project needs fun playable levels at its core,” he said. “I think that's why I finally decided to throw my hat in the ring for Epistle 3. I know I can make 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 the good stuff is only one and a half maps away from completion
Six hours ago, Partridge posted a new update reconfirming that All Good Things is on track to launch in late 2026, while also sharing some Aperture device screenshots. “Work has progressed smoothly towards the first draft of the campaign and I'm now just one and a half maps away from having a fully playable end-to-end experience that can be play-tested to the death,” he said.
Of course, unlike Project Borealis and other mods in its purview—or Black Mesa, the fan remake of Half-Life that took more than a decade in development—All Good Things doesn't aim to replicate the experience of a brand new Valve game. A single modder cannot achieve this, but Epistle 3 can need have such a range? The original post was a rough outline written by a frustrated writer, reflecting his own real life experiences, not a fully formed script trying to match the quality of Half-Life 2: Episode One and Two. A mod like Partridge feels more authentic to the ethos of Epistle 3, which Laidlaw himself claimed was more akin to fanfiction than anything else.
All Good Things is more like the early map packs that tried to bring the Half-Life 2 beta to life than the volunteer indie development teams spearheading entire games we see today, and there's a certain charm to this low-stakes approach. It will be fascinating to dive in and see Epistle 3 brought to life in the source engine as if no time had passed since 2007, and hey, if nothing else, the stubbornness of a lone developer is the closest to the finish line.
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October 10, 2007
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