Half-Life 2

Half-Life 2

Developers
	Valve Corporation
Publishers
2004-2005	Sierra Entertainment
2005-present	Valve Corporation
Russia	1C-SoftClub
Engines
	Source
Release dates
Windows	November 16, 2004
macOS (OS X)	May 26, 2010
Linux	May 9, 2013
Reception
Metacritic	96
IGDB	91
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Microtransactions	None
Modes	Singleplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	First-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	FPS
Vehicles	Automobile, Naval/watercraft, Off-roading
Art styles	Realistic
Themes	Post-apocalyptic, Sci-fi, Eastern Europe
Series	Half-Life

Warnings

The macOS (OS X) version of this game does not work on macOS Catalina (version 10.15) or later due to the removal of support for 32-bit-only apps.

Half-Life 2 is a singleplayer first-person FPS game in the Half-Life series.

Key points

Numerous mods are available for the game, including new levels and completely new game modes.

General information

GitHub Issue Tracker for Linux bugs in Half-Life 2 and other Source-based games

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SecuROM 5 DRM. Removed in a December 2004 update. Steam can be bypassed on Collector's Edition copies by launching hl2.msi directly. 5 to 6 CDs or 1 DVD.
Steam		DRM-free when launched directly from the executable. Some features (such as achievements) are unavailable when launched outside of Steam.

A demo is available from Steam.

The soundtrack is available for free from Steam.

Essential improvements

Peixoto's patch

Peixoto's patch forced resolution allows in high resolution without shrinking the HUD or menus. Super sampling anti-aliasing is also possible.

Skip intro videos

Use -novid command line argument

Enabling the console

A list of console commands can be found here.

Command line
See Command line arguments. Use -console, then write bind F2 "toggleconsole" in the console. Notes Any key can be substituted for F2.

Options menu
Go to Options, select the Keyboard tab and click on Advanced. Check Enable the developer console and open the console by using ~.

Half-Life 2: Update

An unofficial update that fixes bugs, improves the lighting, draw distance and adds new effects among others.

Standalone; uses a separate installation folder, separate save and configuration files, and separate Steam AppID.

Does not include newer official updates, including an update that fixed NPCs not blinking and update that add Steam Input API support (Steam Deck/Various controllers) + undocumented FOV, Vulkan, HUD Aspect Ratio updates, Dropship fix which again can now shoot in any directions like original.. This particular bug can be fixed in Update by copying the vanilla client.dll and server.dll from <path-to-game>\hl2\bin to Update's <path-to-game>\hl2\bin and follow this step if you are running on newer (Steam Deck branch) versions of the game to avoid UI/missing corner textures issue, which introduces more new bug fixes. Can also use the .dlls (2019 version) from this pack, however, other bugs like Dropship fix & controllers UI update requires above steps and 2022 dlls files.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Steam	<path-to-game>\hl2\cfg\

This game does not follow the XDG Base Directory Specification on Linux.

Save game data location

System	Location
Steam	<path-to-game>\hl2\save\

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Steam Cloud		Approx. 100 MB available.

Video

In-game general video settings.

In-game advanced video settings.

Graphics feature	State	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)		Values between 75° and 110° (up to 120° using fov_desired) vertical can be set via ingame slider. Default is 75°.
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed		Update the game and set to Run in a window (No Border), otherwise use -windowed -noborder (for old version/retail) Command line argument
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Anti-aliasing (AA)		Up to 8x MSAA. SGSSAA available with Nvidia Profile Inspector flag 0x000000C1.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS and 120+ FPS		300 FPS cap by default. With console, can change "fps_max" up to 1000; use 0 for uncapped framerate.
High dynamic range display (HDR)		Rendered image uses SDR color space. In-game HDR option refers only to HDR Rendering.

HBAO available with Nvidia Profile Inspector flag 0x0000002C.

Input

In-game key map settings.

In-game mouse/gamepad settings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
Full controller support		Use Controller UI Mod (recommended for older version/non-Vulkan cards, optional for Steam Deck/2022 versions) for a console style menu that can be navigated with a controller. Use the console command exec 360controller to automatically setup Xbox controller support (if not already configured at startup). Later versions (including the "beta/deck_test" branch) added Steam Input API support and Controller-centric UI (Vulkan supported card required, otherwise use the former UI) designed for both Steam Deck and any Gamepads, while also allowing you to switch back to keyboard UI (by removing -gamepadui). Gamepad UI can be enabled with -gamepadui Command line argument.
Controller remapping
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers
Xbox button prompts		Supported via Steam Input API.
Impulse Trigger vibration

PlayStation controllers
PlayStation button prompts		Supported via Steam Input API.
Light bar support
Adaptive trigger support
DualSense haptic feedback support
Connection modes	Wired, Wireless (Bluetooth), Wireless (Bluetooth)

Tracked motion controllers		Supports Razer Hydra.
Button/gesture prompts

Generic/other controllers		Both Nintendo Switch Pro Controller and Generic Gamepads are supported via Steam Input API
Button prompts		Nintendo Switch Pro Controller button prompts are supported via Steam Input API

Additional information
Button prompts		Use Controller UI Mod (for old version only) to get a choice of button prompts such as Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3/4, Switch, and more. Otherwise use Controller-centric UI with Steam Input API.
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback		Supported via Steam Input API. If using the old version or Legacy XInput mode: you can bring back Controller rumble by download an updated version of the SDL2 runtime binary (choose Runtime Binaries x86) and replace it with the one in <path-to-game>\bin. This works for any Source engine based game.
Digital movement supported
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Steam Input
Steam Input API support
Official controller preset(s)		PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, Steam Controller & Steam Deck (under Standard and Motion Controls presets)
Steam Controller button prompts		Uses Steam Input API's built-in Button Icons

Audio

In-game audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Game volume and music slider.
Surround sound		4.0, 5.1 and 7.1 surround sound. 7.1 output may require DirectSound3D restoration software.
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost		Under a check box in the Audio menu.
EAX support		Set snd_legacy_surround 1 in console (or launch the game with +snd_legacy_surround 1), 4 speakers in options, and use DSOAL for binaural HRTF mixing.

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Czech				Fan translation including dubbing, download.
Danish
Dutch
Finnish
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Norwegian
Polish
Portuguese
Brazilian Portuguese
Russian				By default, the steam version has a new localization by "Buka". However, after the "SteamPipe" update, errors appeared in the localization, such as the effect of broken phrases. Therefore, it is recommended to download the patch, made by guys from the "hl-inside" forum.
Russian				First offical localization by SDL and published for retail by "SoftClub" here
Spanish
Swedish
Thai

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
LAN play		32	Users will need to open the developer console and type "maxplayers 4; sv_lan 1" and "map d1_trainstation_01" in the console. Do note that the game will not load an autosave, but you and your partner will respawn instead.
Online play		10	Use Synergy.

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting		See Documentation: Dedicated Servers.
Direct IP

VR support

3D modes	State	GG3D	Notes
Native 3D
Nvidia 3D Vision			See also Helix Mod: Half Life 2:Update.
TriDef 3D
iZ3D
vorpX		G3D, DirectVR Officially supported game, see official vorpx game list.

Headsets
SteamVR		This game might be playable with the Revive Compatibility Layer (compatibility list).
Oculus VR (LibOVR)		Available under Video Settings (except newer versions). See the Oculus Rift forums for further instructions. Enable borderless window on Oculus Rift using vr_force_windowed 1
Windows Mixed Reality		This game might be playable with the Revive Compatibility Layer.

Devices
Tracked motion controllers		Supports Razer Hydra. See Input for details.
Traditional controller		See Input for details.
Keyboard/Mouse
3RD Space Gaming Vest
Novint Falcon

Issues fixed

Windows

TweakGuides has created a comprehensive guide for fixing issues in this game which can be found here.

Purple and black textures

See missing textures.

No lighting after Black Mesa East

Activate the High Dynamic Range in the Advanced Video Options[citation needed]

Stuck in Black Mesa East

Bug that occurs in initial retail release. (i.e. Collector's Edition version, etc.)

Walk into the elevator, Quick Save F6, then Quick Load F9.

Not enough space on disk (retail)

Copy the files
Copy all the files from the disc to a new folder, then run setup.exe

Available memory less than 128 MB (retail)

Setting the compatibility mode
See compatibility mode. Go to <path-to-game> and find hl2.exe Set the executable to run under the Windows XP (Service Pack 3) compatibility mode.

Half-Life 2 stuck on DirectX v8.0

Command line parameter
See Command line arguments. Use -dxlevel 95, start the game and configure the desired video settings. Remove the command line before starting the game again. Notes Not removing the command line will cause the game to set the options to their default values.

Cyrillic Font Issue in Linux

Cyrillic Font Issue in Linux[citation needed]
Find and remove the Helvetica font.

SteamVR launches automatically when attempting to enter Options

Modify the gameinfo.txt file
Navigate to <path-to-game>/hl2/ and open gameinfo.txt with a text editor of your choice. Find the value of supportsvr and change it from 1 to 0. Notes If you reinstall the game or verify the integrity of the files, this change will be reverted.

Certain music and sound effects don't play (Fedora Linux)

Having SELinux enabled can cause certain music and sound effect files to not play when on Fedora Linux.

Lower security level[citation needed]
Run the following terminal commands: sudo su sudo setsebool -P selinuxuser_execheap 1

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	6, 7, 8, 8.1, 9
OpenGL	2.1	OS X and Linux only.
Vulkan		Enable Vulkan using -vulkan Command line argument. Works via DXVK translation layer. Windows & Linux only.[citation needed]
Shader Model support	1.x, 2, 3

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows			64-bit version is no longer available
macOS (OS X)			[citation needed]
Linux			[citation needed]

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Physics	Havok	Heavily modified variant.
Audio	Miles Sound System
Input	SDL
Cutscenes	Bink Video	Used for startup videos and in-game movies.
Anti-cheat	Valve Anti-Cheat (VAC)

Launch options

A list of command lines can be found here and here.

Instructions
See Command line arguments. Enter your commands.

Additional mods

An extra list of mods can be found here. To view the most-rated mods, click here.

A discussion of various graphic improvement mods can be found here.

Half-Life 2: Survivor

An unofficial port of the Japanese arcade version.

This mod does not require Steam in order to run, but it requires you to use old files from Source SDK Base 2006. Click at the link above for more info.

Half-Life 2: MMod

Enhances visual effects, weapon animations, sound, and gunplay. Most features can be toggled on and off.

Compatible with all official Half-Life 2 titles and MINERVA and the FakeFactory Cinematic Mod. Compatibility patches made by the community for other mods and games based around the Half-Life 2 gameplay and various other addons can be found here.

Half-Life 2 4X AI Textures

Textures for all NPCs, some weapons, some items, some crates, and some vehicles, upscaled with Topaz A.I. Gigapixel.

Upscaled textures are faithful to the original textures.

Works with Half-Life 2: Update.

Large download at over 6.5 GB, including patches. Around 12.5 GB once extracted.

Half-Life 2 Upscaled Model Textures

A similar mod to the Half-Life 2 4X AI Textures but only for NPCs.

Smaller then Half-Life 2 4X AI Textures. At 840 MB and 2.31 GB once extracted.

LAA 4GB Memory Patch

Enables support for 4GB LAA, this should allow for smoother gameplay, faster loading times, better fps and less frequent crashes, useful when using a lot of mods.

System requirements

Windows

macOS (OS X)

Linux

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10
Processor (CPU)	1.7 GHz	2.0 GHz
System memory (RAM)	512 MB	1 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	6.5 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce FX 5700 ATI Radeon 9500 128 MB of VRAM DirectX 8.1 compatible	Nvidia GeForce 6800 ATI Radeon X800 512 MB of VRAM

The original system requirements were as follows: Windows 2000/XP/ME/98, a 1.2 GHz processor (2.4 GHz recommended), 256 MB RAM (512 MB recommended), DirectX 7, and 4.5 GB hard disk space

Windows 98SE, ME, and 2000 were previously supported operating systems for the game, but as future updates for this game and Steam occurred; the support for these operating systems were dropped with non-Collector's Edition retail copies.

Must be run without Steam to play on XP and Vista.

macOS (OS X)
	Minimum
Operating system (OS)	10.5.8, 10.6.3
Processor (CPU)	1.7 GHz
System memory (RAM)	1 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	4.6 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce 8000 Series ATI Radeon X1600 Intel HD 3000