SourceModPatcher v0.0.0 has been released.
A video has been made to show the Quick start guide.
Note: I forgot to show 1187: Rogue Train patched but the mod installation guide explains how to install and configure SourceModPatcher to fix it. It's been tested:
Reporting issues
Please report any issue on GitHub (preferably) :
Issues may also be reported in the comments here as long as it's short. If you need to provide a lot of detail and or share error logs, please send me a PM.
Additional notes
- The program is based on .NET but is meant to be self contained. You shouldn't have to install any framework.
- There is no Linux version planned. Almost if not all old HL2 mods were only playable under Windows so there's currently no reason to make it cross-platform.
- Singleplayer mods are foremost prioritized. Multiplayer mods might eventually be added for preservation but it will likely be limited to only making them launchable and won't have further fixes since it requires extra maintenance, testers, setting up servers, etc.
Mods list
I created the list of mods to add.
Added first were mods for which I made a Source 2013 Steampipe patch. Others such as Eclipse, Shantytown are from memory. I will eventually recheck websites to see if there are others. Things will be adjusted as needed.
For those that have a Source 2013 Steampipe patch, I haven't checked if some of them were originally standalone maps without a gameinfo.txt (in which I created a gameinfo.txt to make them standalone mods). In this case, I had plans to create a separate Source 2006/2007 mod and add them to it so they can be played on their respective engine branch. They could then be selected and launched via the Bonus Maps dialog but that would only work for Source 2007 maps since Source 2006 doesn't seem to feature it.
Updates
For now, I'll try to add new mods in batch (5 mods per update, or lesser if the mods are long).
For v0.1.0 we could have:
- Get a life
- Halloween HL2: Pumpkin night
- Halloween HL2: Pumpkin night (Redux)
- Eclipse
- Shantytown
For v0.2.0 we would have 5 other mods, etc.
- The island
- Das Roboss
- Ravenholm: The lost chapter
- Wivenhoe: The fall of Ravenholm
- Zombie stress
v0.3.0 - (2 mods since Strider Mountain and Final project are long mods)
- Strider Mountain
- Final project
Get a life has been highly requested so it'll be next on the list but if you wish to see specific mods added sooner, let me know.
Suggesting a missing mod or a map
If you don't see a mod in the list, comment here and I'll add it.
See the following discussion for the rules:
You can also open an issue on the repository or in the discussion.
I intensely tested the application so it should be ok.
If you encounter any issue, please let me know.
I updated the blog post with the following sections:
- Mods list
- Updates
- Suggesting a missing mod or maps
SourceModPatcher v0.1.0 has been released.
Download: Github.com
Video: Youtube.com
Be sure to read "Installing a new version over a previous installation" if you previously installed SourceModPatcher.
Quick update:
I'm currently working on getting Source SDK 2004/2006/2007 repositories setup. These repositories will be where game source code for the 3 main engine branch variants will be.
The DLLs provided in SourceModPatcher consist of those I compiled back in 2022 as well as some from the Source SDK Base 2006/2007 VPKs archives, back when I was experimenting the concept that led to SourceModPatcher. I'm currently working on integrating the fixes I made back then into the new repos. Eventually, all DLLs will be replaced with those from the new repos but this will be done after I'm finished testing HL2, EP1, EP2 campaigns, HL2MP, SDK template on each engine branch. This wasn't done earlier since I wanted to release a first version of SourceModPatcher to see if the tool had potential and usefulness before starting to manage additional repositories (requires more work).
So far I have all 2007 variants tested except HL2 which I'm currently onto. Testing on the 2006 engine branch will follow and then on the 2004 one.
After it's done, I'll make the 3 repositories public and retest mods that rely on vanilla DLLs (mods that don't have custom DLLs).
A sample mod for each variant is also planned so that you'll be able to play each campaign on their respective engine branch. For HL2 campaign maps, only Half-Life 2 appears to have them and they're in the game folder and not in VPKs. More precisely, the Source SDK 2013 Base Singleplayer doesn't include those so this would require me to add Half-Life 2 as a dependency and substitute its install location in the sample mod's gameinfo.txt. I'll look into what can be done for it. In worst case, I'll indicate to copy & paste the BSPs inside the sample mod's maps folder.
Note: Given HL2 maps were updated when the game was ported to newer engine branch, some maps may no longer be compatible with older engine branches. e.g. on Source SDK Base 2006, it might not be possible to play them without encountering visual glitches or things as such.
Update:
I finished playtesting all Source 2007 variants (HL2, EP1, EP2, HL2MP, SDK Template). Some things remain to be polished but the biggest part of the work has been done for 2007 branch.
SourceModPatcher v0.2.0 WIP videos:
- Source 2007 - HL2 : Youtube.com
- Source 2007 - HL2: EP1 : Youtube.com
- Source 2007 - HL2: EP2 : Youtube.com
- Source 2007 - HL2: DM : Youtube.com
- Source 2007 - SDK Template : Youtube.com
Notable things:
- Fixed vehicle crane exit animation not playing on d2_coast_04
- EP2 teaser and EP1 recap videos now play (this required integrating playvideo and playvideo_exitcommand. The Alien Swarm SDK implementation was used).
I still have to go through 2006 and 2004 variants, then I'll make all 3 game code repositories public :
- source-sdk-2004
- source-sdk-2006
- source-sdk-2007
For HL2MP sample mod, I tested with content extracted from Half-Life 2: Deathmatch VPKs. Source SDK Base 2013 Multiplayer appears to include all content of HL2MP except halls3.txt and a couple of Nodegraph (.ain) files for HL2MP specific maps. Given there's no coop or game modes involving the use of AI, those can probably be ignored. I'll review if SDK 2013 MP can be used since it's available for free to all users.
The other remaining things are map files. BSP files for HL2 and HL2MP are located in their game directory and not inside VPKs. This will likely require to make a few changes to SourceModPatcher to store a variable to reference their game directory. Lump files (.lmp) and Nodegraph files (.ain) are inside VPKs so SourceModPatcher should be able to handle that. I'll try to see about making it non-mandatory so that users will be able to play the sample mods without HL2/HL2MP maps. The sample mods come with sdk_vehicles.bsp (included in Source SDK 2013's official repository). Note: SDK Template comes with 2 maps, including one variant of sdk_vehicles.bsp.
For Lost Coast, at this time, I don't consider doing a variant for it. To my recall, I never encountered a Pre-Steampipe Lost Coast mod. This can later be added if I come across any or if people request it.