This pack aims to remove post-Orange Box cosmetic and gameplay changes in Half-Life 2. Works as a sourcemod for Half-Life 2.
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When I released the first version of this mod a year and a half ago, it addressed many issues I had with Valve's updating of the game; however, there were three major slip-ups on my part.
- First, I accidentally left in a whole bunch of junk visgroups on - they were all pretty minor additions to maps, sometimes re-enabling deleted clutter, or super minor beautification. But that's beside the point - it wasn't supposed to be there.
- Second, I did a sloppy job of throwing in the original VMTs for specular materials, thinking that they'll 'just work' since I'm now compiling without HDR. Big mistake.
(To abbreviate the issue: Valve toned down cubemaps on specular materials when going HDR. But they toned it too much, rendering half of glossy surfaces (mostly windows) too matte. I thought the fix is to copy-paste values from before. But now they were too bright. They needed to be tweaked, but not how Valve did it.)
- Third, I compiled every map with wrong cubemap settings, doubling their resolution, changing the way it looks, and wasting filesize in the end.
So, it was messy. It was NOT representative of the 2004 - and the whole point was make it as if Valve's continuous engine updates didn't change the visuals.
The new update includes over 290 manually tweaked VMTs, and all maps recompiled. Junk clutter has been stripped out, cubemaps rectified, their saturation, contrast, tint and resolution are now as close as I could get them. Some water materials also had been tuned to be like they were before. Unlike the first attempt, now I ran the original release and the mod in parallel and switched back and forth on every map to ensure as much consistency as I could.
Unfortunately, not everything can be reverted. Several things like water rendering, the changes in the engine and tools, leave it an impossible task when taken strictly. After a point, things start taking inordinate amount of effort with diminishing returns.
So, this is where I stop. The update fixes the slop and leaves me satisfied.
Half-Life 2 2004 Pack Release
News 6 commentsHalf-Life 2 2004 Pack - Release Article. This pack aims to remove post-Orange Box cosmetic and gameplay changes in Half-Life 2.
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Half-Life 2 2004 Pack Version 1.2
Full Version 15 commentsUpdated release. Fixes the first release's cubemap issues, wrong VMT settings, and a couple common bugs. Tidier installation and more faithful to the...
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also do you mind linking the custom compiler you used to fix the grass, im a mapper myself and id like to have grass without having to bother with displacements
Can you possibly make a version that just fixes the steam update bugs, I'd like to have the fixed missing grass and such, but i prefer the deliberate post orange box changes like the vortigaunt model, fire particles, and HDR
Hey there. Around 2004 I'd been obsessed with HL2, but ended up not playing it until 2007's Orange Box on the 360. By that time I'd already learned just about everything about the game, and I immediately noticed changes like the blood, bloom/hdr making a lot of maps look pretty different, gman's eyes being way too green, etc. Every now and then over the past few years I'd googled around looking for this sort of a mod, but last I checked it didn't exist. Just downloaded, very cool. Like Gman's old eyes, like the blood being old school, and I think the SMG fire rate is fixed, too. If you get a chance, I'd like the reticle to go old school as well. More significantly, I notice the lighting on gman in the opening isn't 100% OG at a couple key moments:
I.imgur.com
I.imgur.com
Shots taken from a super old gamespot video. I don't have shots from your mod just now, but I'm pretty sure the effect isn't quite like it was in OG.
In short, very grateful for the mod, and if you or someone is interested, would love to see a few more things updated.
Anyone else having an issue in Anticitizen One where the Squad Following HUD is missing and you can't command your squad with "C" or "impulse 50"? Is that a bug, or was that just not a thing in 2004?
I would also like to know if the ragdolls have been reverted to their retail physics. Also, has the SMG had its rate of fire reverted?
Впринципе по виду очень похоже на 2004 я обычно и сижу на старых версиях но у меня вопрос будет ли это работать на 1 и 2 эпизоде тоесть можно ли в эпизодах отключить hdr без камбиляции карт на lov hdr на совсем? (Вот бы half life 2 2004 перенести полностью на движок беты 2003)
Would be cool if it had an alt version what just restores the grass and reflections without doing things like changing the fog and changing the vorts and the shotgunners. Hl2:U Did a similar thing but its not the same as the orange box
has the ragdoll been fixed? also, if this contains ai fixes and bumpmap fixes such as containers that would be perfect (also for some reason i can only set shadows to medium, they reset if i try to apply)
Does this fix the Combine AI that was broken with the OB update as well?