Valve continue burning the midnight oil as it's getting close to the Steam Deck launch now. Their classics continue getting updated, with Half-Life 2 getting a new UI.
Read the full article here: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2022/01/half-life-2-getting-a-new-ui-in-prep-for-steam-deck
Everybody had it marked in their calendars. Go back to yours, you'll have done it too - a big, red marker pen circle encompassing all 12 months of 2007, and a lambda symbol above it. "Half-Life 2 Episode 3 probably releasing here, remember to play", you'll have written below it in the excited scrawl of a child adding a Super Soaker to their Christmas list.
But like that water-based weapon, which you fondly imagined tearing through at least one dermal layer as you put yourself to bed on Christmas eve, it never did arrive, did it? Valve didn't even have the decency to fob us off with a book and some chocolates, they just let the year conclude without a damn thing happening. And the next one. And the subsequent 13 after that.
In those intervening years, we've at least been able to piece together what its developers had planned for Half Life 2 Episode 3. In 2017, long-time series writer Marc Laidlaw cunningly imparted its plot under the guise of fanfic, giving fans the resolution Valve never offered.
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There are fewer video game series more important than Half-Life, particularly when it comes to PC gaming. While the first game challenged perceptions of the importance of narrative within FPS games, Half-Life 2 pushed the best graphics cards and best gaming CPUs of its era with never before seen heights of visual fidelity and its innovative physics engine. It also ushered in a new era of PC gaming with the Steam platform. Now, 17 years later, Valve has updated its classic title with its biggest patch in over 10 years.
As highlighted by YouTuber Tyler McVicker, a new beta branch is now available to download via the game's beta tab in Steam. While there are currently no official patch notes for this version of Half-Life 2, numerous technical improvements have already been quickly discerned.
The game's HUD now scales with the selected rendering resolution, having been previously locked, resulting in larger elements on aspect ratios outside 4:3. There's also support for ultrawide resolutions, with an FOV ceiling of 110 that is enabled without having to modify DLL files.
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Valve has put up a Beta for Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode One and Half-Life 2: Episode Two as they prepare more of their own games ready for the Steam Deck.
Read the full article here: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2021/10/half-life-2-and-the-episodes-get-a-beta-with-vulkan-dxvk-and-more