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Exploring Valve Archive, part 24.

valvearchive.com>archive>Cancelled Games>Prospero>

After Valve was founded, they began work on two projects: 'Quiver', which would later become Half-Life, and 'Prospero'. 

Prospero was initially the project with more promise behind it, being originally positioned as a "science fantasy epic" in which the focus was on exploration through various worlds called "The Library". It was to be played with a 3rd person perspective of the main player character, who's name changed between "The Librarian", "Aleph", and at one point "Miranda" (although this was the name of a concept character, not necessarily intended to be the player).

[both 'Prospero' and 'Miranda' are names that originate from Shakespeare's 'The Tempest', a play about a wizard stuck on island that features meta connections with Shakespeare's own life]

As 'Quiver' began overtaking Prospero's development and focus, the game evolved into an MMO, intended to be shipped with a mix of Valve and user-created worlds.

As Prospero lost momentum within Valve, a lot of its aspects, functionality, and social features made their way into Valve's Steam. However, as with all projects within Valve, the game was never officially cancelled, and it's still a possibility that we may see Prospero return in some form in the future...
Exploring Valve Archive, part 24.

valvearchive.com>archive>Cancelled Games>Prospero>

After Valve was founded, they began work on two projects: 'Quiver', which would later become Half-Life, and 'Prospero'. 

Prospero was initially the project with more promise behind it, being originally positioned as a "science fantasy epic" in which the focus was on exploration through various worlds called "The Library". It was to be played with a 3rd person perspective of the main player character, who's name changed between "The Librarian", "Aleph", and at one point "Miranda" (although this was the name of a concept character, not necessarily intended to be the player).

[both 'Prospero' and 'Miranda' are names that originate from Shakespeare's 'The Tempest', a play about a wizard stuck on island that features meta connections with Shakespeare's own life]

As 'Quiver' began overtaking Prospero's development and focus, the game evolved into an MMO, intended to be shipped with a mix of Valve and user-created worlds.

As Prospero lost momentum within Valve, a lot of its aspects, functionality, and social features made their way into Valve's Steam. However, as with all projects within Valve, the game was never officially cancelled, and it's still a possibility that we may see Prospero return in some form in the future...
Exploring Valve Archive, part 24.

valvearchive.com>archive>Cancelled Games>Prospero>

After Valve was founded, they began work on two projects: 'Quiver', which would later become Half-Life, and 'Prospero'. 

Prospero was initially the project with more promise behind it, being originally positioned as a "science fantasy epic" in which the focus was on exploration through various worlds called "The Library". It was to be played with a 3rd person perspective of the main player character, who's name changed between "The Librarian", "Aleph", and at one point "Miranda" (although this was the name of a concept character, not necessarily intended to be the player).

[both 'Prospero' and 'Miranda' are names that originate from Shakespeare's 'The Tempest', a play about a wizard stuck on island that features meta connections with Shakespeare's own life]

As 'Quiver' began overtaking Prospero's development and focus, the game evolved into an MMO, intended to be shipped with a mix of Valve and user-created worlds.

As Prospero lost momentum within Valve, a lot of its aspects, functionality, and social features made their way into Valve's Steam. However, as with all projects within Valve, the game was never officially cancelled, and it's still a possibility that we may see Prospero return in some form in the future...
Exploring Valve Archive, part 24.

valvearchive.com>archive>Cancelled Games>Prospero>

After Valve was founded, they began work on two projects: 'Quiver', which would later become Half-Life, and 'Prospero'. 

Prospero was initially the project with more promise behind it, being originally positioned as a "science fantasy epic" in which the focus was on exploration through various worlds called "The Library". It was to be played with a 3rd person perspective of the main player character, who's name changed between "The Librarian", "Aleph", and at one point "Miranda" (although this was the name of a concept character, not necessarily intended to be the player).

[both 'Prospero' and 'Miranda' are names that originate from Shakespeare's 'The Tempest', a play about a wizard stuck on island that features meta connections with Shakespeare's own life]

As 'Quiver' began overtaking Prospero's development and focus, the game evolved into an MMO, intended to be shipped with a mix of Valve and user-created worlds.

As Prospero lost momentum within Valve, a lot of its aspects, functionality, and social features made their way into Valve's Steam. However, as with all projects within Valve, the game was never officially cancelled, and it's still a possibility that we may see Prospero return in some form in the future...

Exploring Valve Archive, part 24. valvearchive.com>archive>Cancelled Games>Prospero> After Valve was founded, they began work on two projects: 'Quiver', which would later become Half-Life, and 'Prospero'. Prospero was initially the project with more promise behind it, being originally positioned as a "science fantasy epic" in which the focus was on exploration through various worlds called "The Library". It was to be played with a 3rd person perspective of the main player character, who's name changed between "The Librarian", "Aleph", and at one point "Miranda" (although this was the name of a concept character, not necessarily intended to be the player). [both 'Prospero' and 'Miranda' are names that originate from Shakespeare's 'The Tempest', a play about a wizard stuck on island that features meta connections with Shakespeare's own life] As 'Quiver' began overtaking Prospero's development and focus, the game evolved into an MMO, intended to be shipped with a mix of Valve and user-created worlds. As Prospero lost momentum within Valve, a lot of its aspects, functionality, and social features made their way into Valve's Steam. However, as with all projects within Valve, the game was never officially cancelled, and it's still a possibility that we may see Prospero return in some form in the future...

(Edited)
lambda8
dieyoubloodsucker.wav

I really wish someone would remake/reimagine proapero in some way.

Dr. Isaac Kleiner

Oh what I would give for Valve to evolve SteamVR into the Prospero we all yearn for.

Eine
Eine
Sep 7, 2022

prospero looks way ahead of its time by the way, even better than gold source... it certainly wasn't using quake1 as a base i'd assume

Eine
Eine
Sep 7, 2022

go to steamapps/common/Half-Life/media, you'll see a track titled prospero01 i believe prospero had been scrapped already by early 1998, as that track has made its way into half-life by that point seen in sewer.mpg

Dr. Isaac Kleiner

I also found tracks called 'Prospero01' and 'Prospero02' in the gearbox media folder, and Prospero02 ABSOLUTELY SLAPS

JarpPlay
JarpPlay
Sep 7, 2022

Half-Life: Prospero????!!!! 😮

Dr. Isaac Kleiner

What if... Prospero came out... and the twist is that you're playing as the Gman, and the entirety of the Half-Life universe is just one of the worlds you could visit 0_0