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.
Key points
- As of July 2013, among other fixes, Blue Shift was updated with SteamPipe integration, with its original soundtrack added back in-game.[2]
General information
- GitHub Issue Tracker for Half-Life: Blue Shift and other GoldSrc-based games
- Steam Community Discussions
Availability
| Source |
DRM |
Notes |
Keys |
OS |
| Retail |
|
SecuROM DRM. |
|
|
| Retail |
|
Half-Life 1 Anthology. |
|
|
| Steam |
|
|
|
|
- All non-Steam releases can be redeemed on Steam.
Essential improvements
Official retail patches
- These are not needed for the steam version as that already contains the latest version.
An archive of all official patches for Half-Life and its expansions can be found here
Higher definition models
The High Definition Pack[3] was created by Gearbox and first released alongside with Blue Shift on June 12, 2001. It was released for free on Steam on August 30, 2005, with a fixed version released a year later. This pack replaces most weapon and player/enemy models with higher polygon versions, substantially altering the style of some of them in the process. The option to enable the pack in-game is in the options menu, and the game must be restarted for it to take effect.
For other options follow this guide.
Blue Shift's main menu, among other parts, was heavily changed with the game's transition from the WON (World Opponent Network) system to Steam. A mod was released by Reddit user HowardHeyman. It restores the look of the original Blue Shift menus, but without text subtitles, animated backgrounds, nor various options windows to keep within the Source Engine's assumed limits. The mod also adds main menu music from Blue Shifts's (in-turn, Opposing Force's) own soundtrack. An alternate download link can be found here, on GameBanana.
The menu also adds the "Custom Game" feature that was present in the WON version, where the player could select from an in-game menu to switch mods in-game. This feature is disabled by default in the Steam release, as Half-Life doesn't have true native support to allow run time switching, and, according to Alfred, the engineering effort to fix the function is better spent elsewhere.[4]
- Menus are 4:3 by default and cannot be stretched to fullscreen. In-game is untouched.
Enabling developer mode
- Enabling developer mode will allow use of in-game cheats and various console commands.
|
Turn on developer mode[citation needed]
|
|
Use the developer 1 in console.
Notes
- The developer console can be opened by pressing ~ (Note you may have to turn it on in the in-game settings). You can use the console command
sv_cheats 1 to allow the usage of console commands such as god and noclip. Note that you might have to reload a save-game after enabling cheat-mode for certain commands to work.
|
Game data
Configuration file(s) location
-
*.cfg store the configuration.
- This game does not follow the XDG Base Directory Specification on Linux.
Save game data location
Video
- When running at widescreen-resolutions adjusting the FOV is probably necessary.
|
Field of view[citation needed]
|
- While in game, open the console (~).
- Type
default_fov 106.270273206 and press ↵ Enter.
|
|
-window -noborder[citation needed]
|
- Find Half-Life: Blue Shift in your Steam Library
- Right-click the game name
- Select
Properties
- Select
Set Launch Options...
- Input
-window -noborder
- Press
OK
- Launch the game
|
- Game is capped at 72 FPS (without Vsync) by default.
|
Set FPS limit[citation needed]
|
- Go to the configuration file(s) location.
- Create a new file called
userconfig.cfg
- Add in the following lines:
fps_max "<desired FPS value>"
fps_override 1
- The
fps_override 1 command disables GoldSrc's arbitrary 100 FPS limit.
4. Save the file and launch the game.
5. Disable Vsync in-game.
- Disabling the cap may reduce the speed at which you move objects.[5] NPC turn rate bug was fixed.[6]
- May cause game over in the elevator with scientists.
|
OpenGL overbright lighting
- Overbright lighting increases the rendering dynamic range, resulting brighter and more colorful visuals.
- Overbright lighting normally only works on the Direct3D and software renderers.[7][8]
|
Nvidia cards: Enable the GL extension limiter[9]
|
- Download and run Nvidia Profile Inspector.
- On the Half Life profile, set
Extension limit to On. Apply changes.
- Go to
<path-to-game>.
- Create a file called
autoexec.cfg.
- Add new line
gl_overbright "1".
- Save the file.
Notes
- Doing this will disable multi-texturing, which has the side-effect of disabling detail textures, which may effect the appearance of other games and mods that share
hl1.exe, including Counter-Strike: Condition Zero and Day of Defeat.
- Doing this disables the Steam version's built-in MSAA. On the Half Life profile, change
Antialiasing - Mode to Override any application setting and Antialiasing - Setting to the desired level of antialiasing (such as 4x [4x Multisampling] for a vanilla look, or 32xS [Combined: 2x2 SS + 8x MS] for maximum antialiasing).
|
Input
In-game key map settings.
In-game mouse/joystick settings.
Audio
| Audio feature |
State |
Notes |
| Separate volume controls |
|
|
| Surround sound |
|
Use MetaAudio plugin with Steam version. |
| Subtitles |
|
|
| Closed captions |
|
|
| Mute on focus lost |
|
|
| Royalty free audio |
|
|
| Red Book CD audio |
|
Replaced with MP3 playback in the transition to SteamPipe. |
Localizations
VR support
|
Install Half-Life-VR Mod[10]
|
- Install Half-Life VR Mod into Half-Life's root.
- Take
client.dll from the mod and put it in Half-Life: Blue Shift's \Half-Life\bshift\cl_dlls folder.
- Add
-game vr -dev -env -insecure -nomouse -nojoy +sv_lan 1 +sv_maxspeed 125 to Half-Life's launch options
- Set
opengl32.dll to Read-Only in root directory of Half-Life.
- Ingame, make Half-Life windowed
- To play, Launch Half-Life and select
Change Game in the main Menu, and choose Half Life: Blue Shift.
|
Issues fixed
Game crashes before entering main menu (Windows)
|
Fix Data Execution Prevention setting[citation needed]
|
|
Ensure Data Execution Prevention (DEP) is set to the default (Windows programs and services only).
|
Run the game at screen refresh rate
- The Direct3D version of the game defaults to 60 Hz in fullscreen mode.
Camera keeps snapping back in one direction
|
Enable Raw Mouse Input
|
|
Ensure Raw Mouse Input is enabled under Options in Mouse settings.
|
Other information
API
| Technical specs |
Supported |
Notes |
| Direct3D |
7 |
Lost with Linux update.[12] |
| OpenGL |
2.1 |
|
| Software renderer |
|
|
| Executable |
32-bit |
64-bit |
Notes |
| Windows |
|
|
|
| macOS (OS X) | |
|
[citation needed] |
| Linux | |
|
|
Middleware
|
Middleware |
Notes |
| Audio |
Miles Sound System |
|
| Input |
SDL |
|
Console commands
- Games running on the GoldSrc engine can utilize GoldSrc Engine Console Commands for various tasks.
- The console is enabled by default in GoldSrc games, press ~ to open it.
System requirements
| Windows |
|
Minimum |
Recommended |
| Operating system (OS) |
XP | |
| Processor (CPU) |
500 MHz
| 800 MHz |
| System memory (RAM) |
96 MB |
128 MB |
| Hard disk drive (HDD) |
4 GB | |
| Video card (GPU) |
16 MB of VRAM
| 32 MB of VRAM |
| macOS (OS X) |
|
Minimum |
| Operating system (OS) |
Snow Leopard 10.6.3 |
| Processor (CPU) |
|
| System memory (RAM) |
1 GB |
| Hard disk drive (HDD) |
4 GB |
| Video card (GPU) |
Nvidia GeForce 8
ATI Radeon X1600
Intel HD 3000 |
| Linux |
|
Minimum |
| Operating system (OS) |
Ubuntu 12.04 |
| Processor (CPU) |
Intel Dual Core 2.8 GHz
AMD Dual Core 2.8 GHz |
| System memory (RAM) |
1 GB |
| Hard disk drive (HDD) |
4 GB |
| Video card (GPU) |
Nvidia GeForce 8600/9600 GT
ATI/AMD Radeon HD 2600/3600
OpenGL 2.1 compatible |
| Sound (audio device) |
OpenAL Compatible Sound Card |
| Other |
(Graphic Drivers: Nvidia 310, AMD 12.11) |
Notes
References
