Half-Life 25th Anniversary Update • Hacker News Board

Re: Half-Life 25th Anniversary Update

#161

Post by fancy_pantser » Fri, Nov 17, 2023, 10:18 PM UTC

pacifika wrote: post #157

nolist_policy wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its worth it for the assets alone, you can play hl with the open source xash3d engine.

What’s the benefit of doing that please?

It's a whole different engine that may have some advantages that make it worth checking out over or in addition to the updates Valve has made for this special release: improved performance (through a more efficient culling system, etc), support for modern features like dynamic lighting, use of HL mods on newer systems by providing compatibility fixes. The engine can also run other games and works on mobile devices with less common screen resolutions, but YMMV. For a while, it was a good fallback to the official game if you were having a problem with it on new or less-supported hardware, but with this anniversary release, maybe it is less "necessary" and more "cool" to use an OSS alternative engine.

Re: Half-Life 25th Anniversary Update

#162

Post by omgmajk » Fri, Nov 17, 2023, 10:21 PM UTC

majora2007 wrote: post #93

OkayPhysicist wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Besides second order stuff like that it might help some Steam Deck sales (mostly by demonstrating their commitment to the platform and attract other companies to develop for it, moreso than anybody rushing out to buy a Steam Deck specifically to play Half-Life), the fact that Valve does stuff like this that's not directly "make all the money right this second"-driven is in no small part why Valve has such goodwill wi…

Well it's not exactly trivial to build a software as extensive without just being a rip-off and having the share of games at launch. Gamers are extremely picky and it costs tons to build out a scalable system. This is where Epic failed. Sure they gave me a ton of free games, but their UX was horrible that I just never went to it and stayed within Steam.

Epic launcher actually randomly crashes my display window manager from time to time, I just can't have it running in the background as I do with Steam.

Re: Half-Life 25th Anniversary Update

#163

Post by bombcar » Fri, Nov 17, 2023, 10:21 PM UTC

pacifika wrote: post #157

nolist_policy wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its worth it for the assets alone, you can play hl with the open source xash3d engine.

What’s the benefit of doing that please?

Most engine reworks like that (Doom, Age of Empires, Heroes III, etc) offer significantly improved performance and scaling for modern computers.

There are often other enhancements, too, including native support for Mac, Linux, etc.

Re: Half-Life 25th Anniversary Update

#164

Post by xcv123 » Fri, Nov 17, 2023, 10:27 PM UTC

ionwake wrote: post #159

This is cool , Im just really confused, I somehow coincidentally was JUST playing Black Mesa this evening, ( Hl1 redone in Half-life Source Engine apparently by a fan base with permission) and I am ofcourse a bit surprised to hear this news ( as I rarely play games ) , but also because I don't understand how it relates to Black Mesa. Black Mesa clearly seems to look better basically as its in the new engine ( but I n…

This is Half-Life, the original, from 1998. This is Valve's original game and they won't abandon it.

Black Mesa is a fan-made remake. That's a separate game not made by Valve, and they co-exist. It does not replace Half-Life.

Re: Half-Life 25th Anniversary Update

#165

Post by pugworthy » Fri, Nov 17, 2023, 10:28 PM UTC

doublerabbit wrote: post #25

To those who are unhappy with the graphics of HL1, you can download Black Mesa which is an remake of the original. https://www.moddb.com/mods/black-mesa

It’s pretty but it’s not an exact reproduction. It’s the remake of a classic movie that keeps some scenes, changes some, and adds new ones.

It is a mistake to just play it and think you have had the HL1 experience.

For me as someone that played (and modded) the original when it first came out, it’s Jackson’s Hobbit movies vs the book when your first of many reading was years before.

Re: Half-Life 25th Anniversary Update

#166

Post by seritools » Fri, Nov 17, 2023, 10:29 PM UTC

ionwake wrote: post #159

This is cool , Im just really confused, I somehow coincidentally was JUST playing Black Mesa this evening, ( Hl1 redone in Half-life Source Engine apparently by a fan base with permission) and I am ofcourse a bit surprised to hear this news ( as I rarely play games ) , but also because I don't understand how it relates to Black Mesa. Black Mesa clearly seems to look better basically as its in the new engine ( but I n…

It's just the original game touched up to work on modern systems. It's still the original experience.

Black Mesa is a full reimplementation (and partly reimagination) by a fan team, with large changes, while keeping the feel mostly intact.

Re: Half-Life 25th Anniversary Update

#167

Post by mattmanser » Fri, Nov 17, 2023, 10:31 PM UTC

jorvi wrote: post #125

the_snooze wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Valve isn't beholden to any external shareholders, and Steam is as close to a money-printing machine a private company can have. Combine that with the fact that Gabe and company seem to have pretty decent values in line with their customers' interests, and you get nice outcomes like this.

I like Valve / Gabe / Steam, but let’s not be false and pretend that they weren’t coasting before the build-up to the Deck release. Steam had gone without significant updates for almost half a decade.

They released a massive overhaul a few months ago.

Re: Half-Life 25th Anniversary Update

#168

Post by pugworthy » Fri, Nov 17, 2023, 10:32 PM UTC

doublerabbit wrote: post #25

To those who are unhappy with the graphics of HL1, you can download Black Mesa which is an remake of the original. https://www.moddb.com/mods/black-mesa

Graphics do not make a game better. A good story is a good story whatever the graphics, and for me HL1 passes that test.

Re: Half-Life 25th Anniversary Update

#169

Post by TheFreim » Fri, Nov 17, 2023, 10:40 PM UTC

dabluecaboose wrote: post #24

ender341341 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alyx was really good (though I'm a wuss and couldn't finish it) but not a continuation of the cliffhanger that we've been sitting on for 16 years since episode 2.

Mild HL:ALyx spoiler: If you'd actually finished the game, you'd know that it does continue that cliffhanger (briefly)

Cliffhanger A swapped with Cliffhanger B

Re: Half-Life 25th Anniversary Update

#170

Post by prox » Fri, Nov 17, 2023, 10:59 PM UTC

> The entire UI has been reworked to scale at larger screen sizes. We built most of this stuff for 640x480 CRTs and apparently some of you have upgraded since then.

I love this quip :D