Run HL2 on Episode 1(or 2) engine. Any ideas?

Technology and Gaming Help and Support
#1

I’ve heard of people just copying and moving things around to in order to get HL2 to run on the portal engine so that it’s possible to use the portalgun to play through HL2. I’m not really interested in that (while cool the portalgun doesn’t lend well to open environments)

What I’d like to do is find a relatively quick (so I don’t need to edit files, I only need to copy/move them around) method to let me run HL2 using the game engine from episode 1 or 2, or make a mod that accomplishes the same thing. Anytime I do a search for something like this, I just get pointed at Fakefactory which is just not what I’m looking for. I don’t really want to change anything else about HL2, it’s just want to get rid of the bug in the HL2 game engine that reversed the joystick if you’re using a gamepad while driving vehicles. I’ve been using a button and a script to manually de-reverse the joystick, but it still gets irritating.

I’m not really expecting any major response here. I just figured that someone else more on top of the modding scene might have some ideas or a general direction to point me in for finding a solution to this.

#2

I’ve done that with Portal before. It’s really surprising how simple it can be to screw with game content and and find something cool.

#3

Thanks ram. It wasn’t quite as simple as just dropping one into the other, but between teh numerous mods I have already and the direction you gave me I managed to hash something out. Unfortunately it has it’s own whole new set of bugs to deal with. Like the fence just past that first train in d1_canal_01 that is bent so that you can jump over it… is upside down in Episode 2. Also everything seems to be moving a LOT faster.

#4

Yeah, it doesn’t quite work in a lot of places. Another bug is that the Helicopter’s bombs in Half-Life 2 look hi-tech but have the properties of wood which allows them to float. In Ep2 however there were changed to metal as you encounter them much closer up and not around water, so as you go through Half-Life 2’s maps they don’t float which makes the battle painfully easy. Also problems with several animations, various strange visgroup problems and show stopping bugs that make it impossible to advance.

#5

I wonder if HL2:e1 would work better for converting HL2. I’ll try that next and see how it turns out.

#6

I thought Half-Life 2 was was already running on EP1’s engine?

#7

It runs on pretty much the same physics engine, but Ep1 has HDR and other pretty shit.

#8

except hl2 maps arnt compiled for hdr.

I’m pretty sure that other then a revision to the source facial animation system (which hl2 npcs can’t use) little has changed.

hl2ep2 added dynamic lighting, cinematic physics, and multicore support.

the only light in hl2 cabaple of dynamic shadows is gordons hev light so dynamic lighting has minimal use, obviously no instances on cinematic physics, and hl2 doesnt need multicore support.

if you want a true port download the cinematic mod

#9

If someone made HL2 maps HDR compatible it could turn out really nice.

#10

that’s just it. I don’t want a true port. I just want HL2, pretty much exactly the same as it is, but without the joystick driving issues.

#11

See: Orange Box on consoles.

#12

Or Synergy.

#13

Or Fakefactory Cinematic Mod, sans extra models and textures and crap.

#14

Or a video
IMO HDR is overrated.

#15

As Ramirezoid said, just get the latest fakefactory cinematic mod.

#16

wanna bet?
“cinematic physics,” if you even consider it an engine feature, have been around since goldsrc. they’re just an animation made in maya or another outside program that is played back in the game.

#17

My only gripe with FakeFactory’s mods are his NPC models. They kinda ruin the game for me. I like the high definition models and textures but NPC and main character models are terrible.

So I guess you might be able to just get Cinematic Mod, delete the NPC models (if you want to that is) and play HL2 on the newer engine with improved visuals.

#18

You can run Half-Life 2 content on Garry’s Mod, which uses the source 2007 engine.

#19

This is exactly what I was implying. I think there may a problem with the Vortigaunts though, and you may end up with a purple and black Ep2 model of them instead of the originals.

Founded in 2004, Leakfree.org became one of the first online communities dedicated to Valve’s Source engine development. It is more famously known for the formation of Black Mesa: Source under the 'Leakfree Modification Team' handle in September 2004.