Big Half-Life Update

[Biz!]

I enjoy this update, I love the larger hud and original title screen! Shame that I still can't use 1080p software rendering.

[DogsRNice]

1 hour ago, Kinsie said:

An updated Mod SDK is in the works

soon™

[Biz!]

26 minutes ago, DogsRNice said:

soon™

they've been saying that about half-life 3 for nearly 20 years (first announced 2006)

[The BMFG]

10 hours ago, Dweller said:

Apparently, Blue Shift currently doesn't seem to work with the update. It tries to launch but CTD's. Opposing Force seems to work fine, at least in the sense that it boots up and everything.

The update also seems to have broke CS1.6 and CS:CZ, they aint booting up for me 

[Sonikkumania]

2 hours ago, Biz! said:

they've been saying that about half-life 3 for nearly 20 years (first announced 2006)

I love Half Life 1 but 2 and other Source engine games same to have that unique eternal charm to them which is reflected from this video.

[Kinsie]

Looking at the Twitter accounts of individual developers on the new update (not naming names because I know what the HL community's like...) there'll be some further updates to fix what's busted and shake the crumbs and cheeto dust out of the mod SDK.

[Individualised]

6 hours ago, Kinsie said:

Looking at the Twitter accounts of individual developers on the new update (not naming names because I know what the HL community's like...) there'll be some further updates to fix what's busted and shake the crumbs and cheeto dust out of the mod SDK.

Yeah... I really want to like this re-release, it may not be as extensive as the Quake 1 and 2 remasters, but the fact that Valve even did this at all is more than I could ask for as they usually don't do this kind of thing. However I think I'm gonna hold out until the bugs are ironed out. The software renderer in the Linux version is completely busted even though that was one of the major points about this update (it even extends to the new Steam Deck version).

 

If any Valve developers are reading this; please fix the gamestartup.mp3 bug! It has plagued the Steam version for ages and the last time someone asked about it, a developer said it wouldn't be fixed due to something to do with an incompatibility issue. Since this new version is no longer compatible with older mods I think now is the perfect time to fix it.

Edited November 18, 2023 by Individualised

[MrFroz]

14 hours ago, Dweller said:

https://half-life.com/en/halflife25

 

I feel like trying out at least one of the wallpapers at the very bottom of the link.

[RataUnderground]

15 hours ago, spineapple tea said:

It is. The effect works for Quake since you're running around at 40 miles per hour but in Half Life it just feels like Gorden is a mentally disabled man flailing around in the tram ride to work.

Isn't that what is actually happening?

[QuaketallicA]

I didn't really check out the new update nor do I care to. I'm just glad they made it optional and let me stick to the previous build, for now. I just hope they don't eventually "phase out" that version and then you're stuck with the new update. I know old school fans might be used to the original look, but I am used to Half-Life the way it was pre-25th Anniversary, and I like it that way.

[Panzermann11]

Just snabbed it while it's hot, upon starting up I noticed the audio of the Valve logo intro that was restored with the new update seems to be low-quality. Looking at the files, not only that, the game also plays the audio outside of the .webm file aswell, despite the .webm file containing the audio itself. It looks like the audio for the intro (UI/valve_sound.wav) is in 8-bit 44100hz, and Half-Life only supports up to 16-bit 22050hz. Any higher than that and the game plays the audio in low-quality.

 

Guess they still haven't updated the sound engine to support 44100hz and stereo audio files. It's sad aswell, I always wanted to use this mod without relying on either Sven Co-op, a Russian source port made for Android, or an add-on that would probably get me banned in multi-player to get it working. 

Edited November 20, 2023 by Panzermann11

[Midway64]

The Anniversary update is cool.

 

Menu redesign = Neat.

UI/HUD upscale = Really needed.

Valve Intro = Audio quality is off (check above post), but nice.

Weapon balancing = If it makes the multiplayer better, sure.

Widescreen FOV = Really helps since you had to manually adjust your FOV to match your aspect ratio.

Texture filtering toggle = I personally like to keep it on, but it's there if anyone wants it off.

Limit Removal = If we get levels looking like the Dimension of The Machine, then brilliant.

Deathmatch maps = Tried them out; good levels.

Half-Life Uplink = Nice bonus.

Multiplayer models = Skelly bones.

 

[Sena]

On 11/17/2023 at 7:54 PM, Dweller said:

Apparently, Blue Shift currently doesn't seem to work with the update. It tries to launch but CTD's. Opposing Force seems to work fine, at least in the sense that it boots up and everything.

Blue Shift didn't work for me half the time prior to a week ago, either, so I wouldn't know if that issue is specifically due to this update or not. And when it did launch, Gordon clipping through the tram was only the first problem it presented, so I guess it's just gotten less bug fixes over time than the other two Goldsrc games.

[act]

it broke the game on linux lmfao now I can't play conter stirik DDD:

[Guff dotD]

I changed the renderer to software, and was able to play once. Now, every time I boot up the game, the valve intro plays, and then the game is just a black screen. Does this happen for anyone else? and is there some sort of command-line argument I can use to change the renderer back? (I can't change it ingame, for reasons stated above).

[ReaperAA]

40 minutes ago, Guff dotD said:

I changed the renderer to software, and was able to play once. Now, every time I boot up the game, the valve intro plays, and then the game is just a black screen. Does this happen for anyone else? and is there some sort of command-line argument I can use to change the renderer back? (I can't change it ingame, for reasons stated above).

 

You should be able to change the renderer by editing the config.cfg by going to the game's directory: "Steam\steamapps\common\Half-Life\valve"

[Lila Feuer]

I had to put in -nofbo in the steam command line to even get the game to show up at all before the update.

[Guff dotD]

29 minutes ago, ReaperAA said:

 

You should be able to change the renderer by editing the config.cfg by going to the game's directory: "Steam\steamapps\common\Half-Life\valve"

 

Thanks!

Edit: By the way, which argument is it? I was looking around, maybe the name is somewhat obfuscated/not intuitive? I wouldn't know.

Edited November 19, 2023 by Guff dotD

[Dweller Dark]

Looks like Blue Shift kinda works now, it boots up but the server options aren't there (don't know if that's normal or not) and the logo at the bottom is cut off like OpFor's is. Not sure about the actual game itself, though.

[ReaperAA]

17 minutes ago, Guff dotD said:

 

Thanks!

Edit: By the way, which argument is it? I was looking around, maybe the name is somewhat obfuscated/not intuitive? I wouldn't know.

 

Hmm... I checked and it seems that in case of HL, the renderer need to be set at launch parameters:

-gl (for OpenGL renderer) or

-software (for software renderer)

[Devalaous]

No texture filtering, Up-Link, and controller support. Its all I ever wanted *weeps*

 

Well okay, Decay, Blue Shift and Opposing Force all being integrated Quake and Quake II style would be perfection, but this is great as is.

 

 

Gonna raid his Final Doom CD

Edited November 19, 2023 by Devalaous

[Lila Feuer]

I actually got a hold of Uplink via moddb where it's smartly integrated as a part of the Lambda Core chapter during the numbered teleport sequence.

[Devalaous]

You'd think they would also update the two expansions with this stuff, but alas, no.

[Dweller Dark]

7 minutes ago, Devalaous said:

You'd think they would also update the two expansions with this stuff, but alas, no.

 

They're doing something with the expansions, according to SteamDB: https://steamdb.info/app/130/history/

 

 

[Rudolph]

3 hours ago, Lila Feuer said:

I actually got a hold of Uplink via moddb where it's smartly integrated as a part of the Lambda Core chapter during the numbered teleport sequence.

Do you have the link?

[Chow Yun Thin]

4 hours ago, Devalaous said:

looks to the right

 

Okay, I'm sorry but my inner teen had a laugh at that last name. It's not your fault assholes assigned a very unflattering meaning to that some 20+ years after the asset was created.

 

Also found this:

 

Sure there were quite a few goofups as people already reported, but I trust Valve to go above and beyond in fixing it as opposed to unpersoning (ungaming?).

[Devalaous]

I also had a 'heh' moment when his name popped up on the tram ride. Did the same when I was playing the PS2 version of Half-Life. Some things never change.

[Panzermann11]

37 minutes ago, Chow Yun Thin said:

Okay, I'm sorry but my inner teen had a laugh at that last name. It's not your fault assholes assigned a very unflattering meaning to that some 20+ years after the asset was created.

Ha. Bet poor Greg's very confused if he knows about this.

1 hour ago, Rudolph said:

Do you have the link?

Here ya go.

[spineapple tea]

Because of this update I actually sat down and finished Half Life for the first time and as long as this thread is here I'll just say that Xen is actually the least amount of fun I've had playing any video game ever. I'd rather just jump into the portal and get a text pop-up that says "go fuck yourself" followed by the strip club credits music.

 

Actually related to the update, I really gotta hand it to Valve for making an update this big while also being completely seemless to the average player. Similar restoration updates like those for Quake and its sequel (in my opinion) modernized those games to the point of losing just a bit of their charm. If you showed someone who had never played Half Life before in its current form they'd probably just think that it runs surprisingly well for being such an old game, which is kind of funny because that's probably the same reaction you'd get if you showed them the game before the update too.

[Kityn]

Dario Casali likes Xen:

 

And he's right! 😎