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Half-Life

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This article is about the 1998 game. For the documentation on GoldSrc and Half-Life SDK, see Half-Life SDK.
Half-Life
Software Cover - Half-Life.jpg
Developer(s)
Publisher(s)
Sierra (retail)
Valve (Steam)
Release date(s)
November 19, 1998 
Windows
November 19, 1998
PlayStation 2
November 14, 2001
OS X, Linux
Beta: January 28, 2013
Stable: February 14, 2013
Platform(s)
Engine
Steam AppID
Written in
Mod support
Yes, drop-in folders and valve_addon folder.
System requirements
For details, see below
Steam Deck compatbility
Distribution
Retail, Steam
Official website
Previous game
N/A
"They're waiting for you Gordon... in the test chamberrr...."

Half-Life Half-Life, Valve's debut 1998 title, blends action and adventure with award-winning technology to create a frighteningly realistic world where players must think to survive. Named Game of the Year by over 50 publications, it also includes an exciting multiplayer mode that allows you to play against friends and enemies around the world.

Half-Life is also the debut of the GoldSrc engine, and was followed by a Source engine sequel in 2004, Half-Life 2. It is also ported to the Source engine, and remastered under the name Half-Life: Source.

A PlayStation 2 port of the game was released in 2001, developed by Gearbox Software, which features many changes which were not present in the PC version of the game.

On November 17, 2023, the game received a major update for its 25th anniversary[1], simulating the retail/WON menu UI[3], implementing proper widescreen support with Hor+ FOV and better UI scaling for high-DPI and 4K (or higher) displays, partially fixing support for overbright lighting, and much more. The game was also available for free to keep until November 20. Additionally, Uplink and content from Half-Life: Further Data was added to the game. The downside with this update however, is that several non-standalone GoldSrc mods (except custom content and textures) and games (like Counter-Strike, Team Fortress Classic and more) were initially broken with this update; Valve provides a beta build (steam_legacy) to revert to the version prior to the update, to fix the mod incompatibility.

Content

  • Half-Life maps (valve)
  • Half-Life HD pack (valve_hd)
  • GoldSrc shared (valve)
  • GoldSrc code

Chapters

Half-Life has total of 20 chapters, 19 of which are playable. A demo version of Half-Life called Day One can be played up to "We've Got Hostiles!", and ends when the player reaches near the vent area while climbing the ladder down.

There are 14 (15 with Hazard Course) chapters set in Black Mesa and 4 (5 with Endgame) chapters set in Xen.

Expand/Collapse Half-Life Half-Life ChaptersExpand/Collapse
Hazard Course
Hazard Course
t0a0 		Chapter 1: Black Mesa Inbound
Black Mesa Inbound
c0a0 		Chapter 2: Anomalous Materials
Anomalous Materials
c1a0 		Chapter 3: Unforeseen Consequences
Unforeseen Consequences
c1a0c
Chapter 4: Office Complex
Office Complex
c1a2 		Chapter 5: "We've Got Hostiles!"
"We've Got Hostiles!"
c1a3 		Chapter 6: Blast Pit
Blast Pit
c1a4 		Chapter 7: Power Up
Power Up
c2a1
link=On a Rail}
On a Rail
c2a2 		Chapter 9: Apprehension
Apprehension
c2a3 		Chapter 10: Residue Processing
Residue Processing
c2a4 		Chapter 11: Questionable Ethics
Questionable Ethics
c2a4d
Chapter 12: Surface Tension
Surface Tension
c2a5 		Chapter 13: "Forget About Freeman!"
"Forget About Freeman!"
c3a1 		Chapter 14: Lambda Core
Lambda Core
c3a2 		Chapter 15: Xen
Xen
c4a1
Chapter 16: Gonarch's Lair
Gonarch's Lair
c4a2 		Chapter 17: Interloper
Interloper
c4a1a 		Chapter 18: Nihilanth
Nihilanth
c4a3 		Chapter 19: Endgame
Endgame
c5a1
Todo: put links to the applicable Combine OverWiki pages on the above chapter pages.

Official multiplayer maps

Name Internal name Officially added In HLDMS? Notes
Boot Camp boot_camp 1998-11-19
(launch)		 Yes
Bounce bounce 1998-11-19
(launch)		 Yes
Contamination contamination 2023-11-17
(25th Anniversary Update)		 No
Crossfire crossfire 1999-01-13
(version 1.0.0.8)		 Yes
Datacore datacore 1998-11-19
(launch)		 Yes
Disposal disposal 2023-11-17
(25th Anniversary Update)		 No
DoubleCross doublecross 2023-11-17
(25th Anniversary Update)		 No Originally included in Half-Life: Further Data.
Frenzy frenzy 1999-01-13
(version 1.0.0.8)		 Yes
Gasworks gasworks 1999[4] No Originally released as an IGN-exclusive map.
Lambda Bunker lambda_bunker 1998-11-19
(launch)		 Yes
Pool Party pool_party 2023-11-17
(25th Anniversary Update)		 No
Rapidcore rapidcore 2001[5] Yes The February 2001 Planet Half-Life Mapping Contest winner, by Michael "Wolf" Schulz
Rocket Frenzy rocket_frenzy 2023-11-17
(25th Anniversary Update)		 No
Rust Mill rustmill 2023-11-17
(25th Anniversary Update)		 No Originally included in Half-Life: Further Data.
Snark Pit snark_pit 1998-11-19
(launch)		 Yes Remake of Dario Casali's DCDM3 for Quake
Stalkyard stalkyard 1998-11-19
(launch)		 Yes
Subtransit subtransit 1998-11-19
(launch)		 Yes
Undertow undertow 1998-11-19
(launch)		 Yes
Xen DM xen_dm 2023-11-17
(25th Anniversary Update)		 No Originally included in Half-Life: Further Data.

Additionally, Team9 (team9) and The Hill (thehill) were included in Half-Life: Further Data, but were not included in any updates or patches for the game.

Credits

See Half-Life Credits.

Bugs and Limitations

Visit GitHub page in order to prevent duplicate or outdated bug reports at the wiki.

For engine specific bugs, see Bugs and Limitations at GoldSrc page.

System Requirements

Windows (Retail/WON version):

Windows (Steam version):

  • OS: Windows 7 or later
  • CPU: 800 MHz
  • RAM: 512 MB
  • Storage: 4 GB disk space
  • GPU: 32 MB VRAM video card
Note.pngNote:The Steam version is no longer compatible with XP and Vista since the 25th anniversary update.
User using these OS can downgrade to previous version of the game by using the steam_legacy beta branch instead, but note that Steam itself no longer supports Windows versions older than Windows 10.

OS X:

Linux:

  • OS: Ubuntu 12.04, SteamOS 1.0
  • CPU: 2.8 GHz Dual Core processor
  • GPU: 1 GB
  • Storage: 4 GB disk space
  • Nvidia Geforce 8600/9600 GT or ATI (AMD) Radeon HD 2600/3600 video card
  • OpenGL 2.1 or above
  • For Nvidia: 310.xx driver version
  • For ATI (AMD): 12.11 driver version
  • Steam Hardware support: Verified Verified (Deck)
  • Audio: OpenAL-compatible audio

See also

References

3. As the new game, settings, save/load, and multiplayer menus are kept in the Steam style, and the splash background is done differently from the retail version, the WON menu is a simulation of the old menu, rather than an actual restoration..

External links

Navigation

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