Half-Life: Source

This page documents information about a game or software that has been unlisted (hidden from searches) on digital game stores (such as Steam), but the game can still be purchased or downloaded.

Half-Life: Source

Developer(s)

Valve Corporation

Publisher(s)

Valve Corporation

Series

Half-Life series

Release date(s)

November 16, 2004

Genre(s)

First-person shooter

Mode(s)

Single-player

Platform(s)

Windows, Linux

Engine

Source (Source 2013 SP)

Steam AppID

280

Written in

C++

Mod support

Yes (custom folder)

SDK

Source SDK
(See Half-Life: Source Level Creation)

System requirements

Windows 

OS: Windows 7 (32/64-bit)
Processor: 1.7 GHz or Dual-core, requires support for SSE
RAM: 1GB
DirectX 8 capable GPU
Network: Internet connection
Storage: 5 GB available space
Mouse
Keyboard

Linux 

OS: Ubuntu 12.04 or later, SteamOS 1.0 or later, other Linux distros are supported.
Processor: Dual core from Intel or AMD at 2.0 GHz, requires support for SSE
RAM: 1GB
Graphics Acceleration: Nvidia GeForce 8600/9600GT, ATI/AMD Radeon HD2600/3600 (Graphics Drivers: Nvidia 310, AMD 12.11), OpenGL 2.1
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Storage: 8 GB available space
Sound card: OpenAL Compatible Sound Card

Steam Deck compatbility

Playable

Distribution

Retail, Steam

Links

Steam page
ModDB page

Previous game

Half-Life

Next game

Half-Life 2

Half-Life: Source (also referred to internally as "HL1Port") is a "digitally remastered"^[1] port of Half-Life to the Source engine, enhanced to include physics simulation, Source engine graphics & effects, and more bugs, while retaining most of it's original textures.

Initially, the remaster received mostly positive reviews when it was launched, with little to no technical issues at the time, but some players were disappointed because the game's graphics looks almost the same as the original, with 3D skyboxes and Source's physics, graphics and effects being added. Because to this, a fan remake of Half-Life, called Black Mesa started being worked on shortly after HL:S release.

Beginning in 2013, with the SteamPipe update, the game has been updated to the Source 2013 engine and base directly on Half-Life 2 instead of it's own folder like Portal. This update introduced more bugs and other issues not present in previous version. As a result, the game has been criticized for the bugs introduced after the Source 2013 engine update, and for Valve ignoring this game and not fixing those bugs to this day. Most of these bugs has been unofficially fixed by the modders, however.^[2] The HD content was later added to the game after SteamPipe update, but instead of using the HD content created by Gearbox, Valve used the fan-made models originated from GameBanana.

10 years later, with Half-Life 20th Anniversary Update released, Valve has unlisted Half-Life: Source from the search result on Steam in favor of promoting the original version as the definitive edition of the game and to avoid confusion.^[3] However Half-Life: Source is still available for purchase likely because the assets is still being commonly used in third-party Source games such as Garry's Mod. Purchasing Half-Life: Source will give player access to Half-Life Deathmatch: Source.

We now consider this anniversary version of Half-Life to be the definitive version, and the one we'll continue to support going forward. Therefore, we'll be reducing the visibility of Half-Life: Source on the Steam Store. We know Half-Life: Source's assets are still being used by the Source engine community, so it'll remain available, but we'll be encouraging new Half-Life players to play this version instead.

— Valve, 25th Anniversary Update changelog^[3]

Bug: Half-Life: Source is currently not playable on Linux due to a bug introduced with 20th anniversary update. The game will continue to work on Windows, however.

See also

• Black Mesa - Similar concept, but on a more advanced version of Source with completely new graphics and design.
• Half-Life Deathmatch: Source - Multiplayer counterpart of Half-Life: Source.
• Configuring Hammer for Half-Life: Source
• Half-Life: Source FGD
• Half-Life: Source Bugs

Trivia

• The Steam store page for Half-Life: Source shows the wrong release date of the game. This game was released at the same time with Half-Life 2.

References

References

1. Half-Life: Source on Steam Half-Life: Source is a digitally remastered version of the critically acclaimed and best selling PC game, enhanced via Source technology to include physics simulation, enhanced effects, and more. . 2. Most of the Half-Life: Source bugs are unofficially fixed by both of these mods: Half-Life: Source Fixed and Half-Life: Source Fix Pack v5.. Retrieved on May 07, 2024. 3. Half-Life 25th Anniversary Update. Steam - News. Under "Notes" section: We now consider this anniversary version of Half-Life to be the definitive version, and the one we'll continue to support going forward. Therefore, we'll be reducing the visibility of Half Life: Source on the Steam Store. We know Half-Life: Source's assets are still being used by the Source engine community, so it'll remain available, but we'll be encouraging new Half-Life players to play this version instead. Posted November 18, 2023.. Retrieved on May 07, 2024.