Half-Life News

One of Half-Life's biggest bugs just got fixed by Valve after 25 years

The Half-Life 25th anniversary has brought us a deluge of new material. We've seen cut characters restored, additional maps for Half-Life Deathmatch, and a full-length documentary about Valve and the creation of the epochal FPS game. But as Gordon Freeman, Black Mesa, and G-Man hit their 25th birthday, a sneaky new Half-Life update makes a fundamental change to the seminal sci-fi shooter. Half-Life 3 might never happen, but after a quarter of a century, the original game is still getting love from its creators.

Read the rest of the story...

November 22, 2023 Update

Fixed timing for the sequence where a tentacle grabs a scientist in Blast Pit.
Fixed underwater fog rendering in OpenGL.
Fixes for UI layout in mods.
Fixed rare crash that would occur when an RPG rocket was destroyed.
Fixed the audio DSP filter (room_type) not being reset between multiplayer maps.
The Half-Life dedicated server application (app 90) has been updated.
Localization files updated.

NOTE: As of today's patch most original GoldSrc mods should now be working. Some, like Counter-Strike, are still being updated as they use old Steam functionality that is incompatible with the current Steam DLLs; an update for Counter-Strike was released today. If you are experiencing compatibility issues in a GoldSrc mod it is suggested that you install the beta "steam_legacy" build of Half-Life (which can be selected in the game's properties page).

Half-Life fans create new spinoff game featuring OG Valve voice actor

Half-Life is making waves within the PC gaming community once again following its massive 25th-anniversary update. Valve's iconic FPS is back in the limelight thanks to the developer's newly added content, ranging from multiplayer maps to a major modern performance overhaul. With its recent birthday and subsequent update in mind, the largest Half-Life community online has come together to create a fan-made minigame in honor of the sci-fi shooter's lengthy legacy.

Read the rest of the story...

November 21, 2023 Update

Fixed Loader model in Disposal being shootable to change its animation.
Minor rendering updates to Pool Party.
Fixed mods defaulting to joystick enabled.
Fixed overlap on centered printed text utilized in some mods.
Many fixes for UI scaling issues in mods, including Team Fortress Classic and Day of Defeat.
Various fixes for Software rendering, including transparent objects on linux and texturing precision everywhere.
Dedicated Servers will no longer default to having Steam Networking Enabled.
Fixes for some GPUs being unable to launch the game.
Trigger hurt entities can no longer heal dead players, for example the healing pools in Pool Party.
When a player dies, make their body non-solid immediately.
Fixed audio lag experienced by some Windows users.

NOTE: Many GoldSrc mods, Counter-Strike included, may still have compatibility issues with the updated version of the Half-Life engine. While we work on improving mod support it is advisable to install the beta "steam_legacy" build of Half-Life (which can be selected in the game's properties page) when playing mods. An update for Counter-Strike will be released soon.

Half-Life's most controversial version has been delisted by Valve

Half-Life is officially 25 years old. You might need a moment to absorb that - one of the greatest shooters of all time, which introduced the world to Black Mesa, Gordon Freeman, and the greatest NPC scientists in history, launched a full quarter of a century ago. To take away the sting, Valve has released a slew of new Half-Life material, including an updated version of the original game, restored cut characters and features for Half-Life Deathmatch, and a lot more. But there's one version of Half-Life that has just been airbrushed from history. As the FPS hits its silver anniversary, Valve has just delisted one iteration from Steam forever.

Read the rest of the story...