Articles - Half-Life: Enriched mod for Half-Life

You haven't played online until you've WON.. or played the new alpha build until you've clicked this link!

Today's update of Half-Life: Enriched wants to shed some light on new features, such as monster roaming, optimizations and of course the WON build. But before we dive into the subject matter, I'd just like to appreciate how far the project has come. The days where I released based on chapters are far behind me now so sometimes it's harder to really show what kind of work has been done on the MOD. I'd like to put that into numbers this time.

It's been 583 days since I've started working on this MOD. The current changelog holds over 15.000 words and is 56 A4-sized pages long. Currently 579 issues have been reported and resolved on the test team's Github. The size of the 0.10 release was 113 mb zipped, the current version is 269 mb. As of today, The total amount of downloads is 13.269 and 537 people are following the MOD. Make of those what you wish :)

WON

One bit I'm very proud of in this version is the enhanced support for the old retail version of Half-Life, also known as WON Half-Life. WON (or World Opponent Network) was the old master server that Sierra/Valve used to keep track of all Half-Life servers and connected MODs. This service was shut down once Steam made its debut. I've taken great care to make sure my MOD is still fully compatible with this older version and thus I've created new artwork for the menu.

I've gotten used to the Steam version over the years, but seeing the old Half-Life menu really brings back some fond memories. This is enhanced now I see my very own MOD displayed in a similar matter. I hope you like it!

I've updated the WON code base to fix up some issues that were plaguing that build specifically. There are still some things to iron out but it should be far more playable in this state.

New map features

One of the more interesting new features is monster roaming. This has been a feature in Half-Life since the beginning but oddly enough it was only used in the beginning of 'Questionable Content'. The grunts in the screenshot below will patrol the corridor up and down:

If you've played Half-Life as often as I have, you'll know exactly where monsters spawn. To remedy this somewhat, I've added similar roaming paths to many monsters. While you are off fighting or exploring, monsters will more around in their areas so it's very likely a monster will be an unexpected location. There will still be plenty of static enemies waiting in ambush but these roaming monsters will create some interesting suprises for sure.

Secondly, all maps have recieved HINTs. These aren't guides to help the player, but rather guides for the engine to render the world more efficiently. The map compilers do a pretty decent job at cutting up the worlds into smaller bits but do not always make the right or most efficient cuts. As a mapper, you can create these cutting points by placing HINT brushes in your map and thus help the compiler make better choices. This then increases the performance of the map. If you're interested: I've written a very extensive tutorial on map optimization here.

New Models

I've nearly remade all models by this point and this is one of the last specimen: the Gargantua.

I've added many extra polies and the upscaled textures really make the model look crisp! I really like how this one turned out which is great for such an iconic monster.

There are still a few more models to go such as the player model and various smaller models such as gibs.

Whats next?

This new build has seen a lot of bugs squished but there are still some issues that haven't been adressed yet. Some are easy to fix and others require more attention or potentionally code changes. I just really wanted to push a new build to get the current fixes out of the door and give myself another milestone. As there is still stuff left to do, it's still labeled alpha.

For the next build I'd like to dedicate some time to fixing up various models. Next to that, I'm slowly getting the hang of the code in the SDK, so I might take on some ideas that were too complicated when I started out.

But mostly this project is centered around the maps and it seems that these are stable and mostly bug free at this time. This means I can now start focussing on the co-operative version of the maps. This has been a goal from the very start and it would be very exciting to see it all in action. More on this later!

Thanks for reading!

Want to see that skybox up close right away? Click the link!

In my previous update I had given all earthbound chapters full 3D skyboxes. I took great care to stay within the style of Half-Life by using the artwork from the game itself. For Xen, however, this proved to be difficult. The original artwork was much too low resolution to be upscaled or reworked into anything good. Next to that, I'm not good at drawing freehand, especially complex things like nebulas. So after a lot of trial and error, I went with computer generated nebulas instead. And I'm glad I did.

I'm really happy with the way these skyboxes add a lot of flair to the scene. In the original Half-Life, the sky was often blurry and pale. No more.The vibrant colours and the higher resolution (1024x1024 per side) of the new skybox really make it pop. You will also notice some more objects floating such as other islands and rocks.

I also made sure that each chapter has a unique colour scheme now. You will start with the easy looking green environments, through the more tense yellows and finally the firey reds when you reach the final portal. This way I'd like to show the player they progression through the alien world of Xen.

Next to these skyboxes, I've reworked all autosave points in nearly all of the maps. In many cases critical points were missing or sometimes too abundant. You'll have a better time in your next playthrough!

On the model front, I've reworked the last few monsters: The Alien Controller, Gonarch and the Tentacle. Next to that I've also updated a lot of ammo types with better models and textures.

As you might have noticed, I've also updated the way I present my artwork with a new logo and background. The MODDB page has seen some updates and so did the FAQ page. I'm currently working on some more promo art, such as this BMRF staff poster:

So, what's next?

Looking at my todo list, it seems that I'm slowly running out of content to enrich. Nearly all models have been updated and the maps are at a detail level that I'm quite pleased with. There are still a few bugs to iron out and I'd like to revisit some of the earlier models, but most of the work is done.

My next focus is playtesting the WON version. There shouldn't be too many issues in contrast to the Steam version but there might be some oddities here and there. This will also give me a chance to test the MOD on older legacy systems such as Windows 9x.

The last hurdle is the co-operative conversion! It seems that currently the code is in a state that makes it possible to have a pretty decent co-op experience. I would have to start a seperate map branch (because I have to adjust the maps to co-op play), so I want to make sure the single player version is 100% done, or elase I'll be making fixes twice. More on this later!

Thanks for reading!

Been waiting long? Wait no longer, click that link!

It's been 6 weeks since the last update on the project. I know you guys are all used to Valve Time but to me, this new alpha version felt like an eternity to get done. The aim of this new release was to add new content and fix bugs, but also do another large art pass. For those who aren't familiar with development language: an art pass is where you add new visuals and details to existing areas. This is mostly done after gameplay has been tested to work as intended.

I've already done several art passes when I updated all lighting and texturing in earlier builds but some areas still felt empty or bland to me. I've decided to add some more details to exiting scenes, however there are a few issues.

Firstly, in some cases I ran into the engine limits. Even if I wanted to, I wouldn't be able to add anything to the map because it simply would not compile or load. There are hard limits to the goldsrc engine and that's just something we all need to deal with.

Secondly, Half-Life has a certain charm. Unlike other (more modern) games, it is not littered with small details. This was necessary because of the hardware limitations of the time. But I still want the design to feel like Half-Life, so I've got to hold back a little on that front.

Third and last: I want to work with the original material as much as possible. I could grab any high resolution art from the internet and toss it in there to make it look great but I really want Enriched to be a showcase of what Half-Life could have looked like within the same engine.

The screenshots above are a good example of adding some more flavour to a scene but not completely alienating what it used to be like. It's good to work by this principle but it gets a little harder when the original did not have anything that is comparable. I'm talking about 3D skyboxes.

In the original Half-Life, a skybox is a six sided cube with a texture resolution of 256x256. For 1998 this was quite acceptable but as time progressed and resolutions and screens got larger, it became apparently how terrribly blurry those textures are on such a scale. The skybox resolution is hard coded, so no amount of upscaling is going to help me here.

However, there is a workaround. Half-Life supports 512x512 texture resolution in models. By cutting a box model into segments you can achieve high resolution skies. In the example below, the top consists of four 512x512 textures, making for a grand total of a 1024x1024 sky texture. All around the resolution of the sky image is even 4096x512!

After that you can start filling that box with landscape models such as terrain, rocks and buildings. Create a little depth illusion and add a sprinkle of Photoshop magic and you'll end up with something like this:

I've tried my best to stick to materials from Half-Life while making this skybox and (apart from the clouds) everything can be traced back to the original WAD content. This really helps selling the idea that this skybox is part of the map and in fact something that fits the feeling of Half-Life, even though it wasn't there in the original.

As you can see above, I've created various new skyboxes for each earthbound chapter that features an outdoor scene. The next step is to do the same for the Xen chapters, which is going to be tricky because the artwork is very distinct and also way too low resolution to work with. I yet have to decide how I'm going to approach that. Making these 3D skyboxes has been a very long and tedious job of going through various editors tweaking and finetuning. I think this is why this release has felt like such a long time. I love the result but it hasn't been the most fun or motivating to work on.

There is even more eyecandy to enjoy in this release with the glowy eyes of the new Hivehand and Snark models.

All maps up to the Xen chapters have received a visual update so be sure to give the MOD another playthrough. I've spend a lot of time on redoing the satellite rocket lauch sequence in 'On A Rail', I hope you like it! Many bugs were fixed in the process, so refer to the full readme if you're curious.

Thanks for reading and sticking around with Half-Life: Enriched. This MOD page has just surpassed 500 active watchers, which is just very cool for such an old game.

Been waiting for this update long? Well, then don't wait any longer and click that button!

Welcome to the very first HL:Enriched release that isn't tied to a chapter. Yes, ever since the last update I had worked my way through all the maps that Half-Life had to offer. So what can you expect from this update?

Many, many, MANY fixes, adjustements and tweaks to the existing maps. The changelog in the readme file has over 900 lines of logged changes since version 0.83! I've been really busy updating the maps to a higher standard and I have my Team Test to thank for their keen eyes in helping me track down those issues. You'll find many new things in your next playthrough and (hopefully) less bugs (not counting cockroaches, snarks and chumtoads, those are still there!). I do not expect you to read the full changelog, so here are some of the highlights:

Reshuffled maps

The Xen chapters have been slightly changd. The opening map of 'Interloper' is now slotted into the 'Xen' chapter. I felt that the first chapter was a little too short (only 1 small map) and tosses the player into the Gonarch boss fight too quickly. So, now, the second map you'll play is the one shown below. As this is another floating Xen island, it also fits the theme well.

Next to that, I've managed to merge the second and third chapter of 'Surface Tension' into one BSP. With this change, the amount of BSPs in HL: Enriched is exactly 50% of the original (51 vs 102). A statistic I'm quite happy with!

Rebalanced loadouts

For this update, I also took a look at the item and ammo balance. In general, Gordon is able to carry an insane amount of equipment with him and somehow Black Mesa is littered with ammonution pretty much everywhere you go. In version 0.84, I've reduced the maximum amount of ammo Gordon can haul around and there is less equipment to be found in general. Myself and the Test Team are currently still in the progress of tweaking this entire system but in the end this should make Half-Life: Enriched a little harder and exciting.

Updated models

In my previous update I've already show a few of the new models. Next to the tripmine, satchel, gluon and female assassin, you'll also encounter these newly updates models.

I've also done quite a few updates and fixes to older models. Mostly noticable will be the human grunt, for which I've completely redone the animations and skeleton.

So, what's next?

You've probably noticed that this update is still labeled as 'alpha'. There is still a lot of work left to be done, including a few more weapon models, monsters and assorted items. Next to that I want to revisit each map again and do another art pass, adding more details and eye candy whereever the engine limits will allow me to. After that is done, I'd like to properly test the WON version of Enriched. I've ported over all the changes to that codebase but it has never been properly tested. After that I'll feel confident enough to slap the 'beta status' badge onto this project!

And then there is the co-op conversion.. more on that later! Thanks for reading.

Intro

Hey there! Welcome to this week's roundup of the YouTube, where we covered a spooky mod of life versus death, and another that touches upon a classic!

Mount & Blade: Warband's setting is fictionalised but still bearing parallels with the same era of the real world. Mods for Warband could go either way, becoming historical or more fantastical, but Rise of the Undead injects a bit of fantasy horror into Calradia with a new nation of the dead that makes the turmoil of the living kingdoms look small in relation...

Deep Space Noir is an atmospheric 3D tech-noir/cyberpunk space adventure game, spanning over four episodes. Inspired by the adventures, quests and movies of the 80's and 90's, fans of science fiction and film noir will be pleasantly delighted by the ambitious take on these classic genres.

Half-Life is a seminal masterpiece of the FPS genre, a game that holds up after decades and which spawned one of the most cherished modding communities out there. Many mods over the years have expanded the chronology or converted it entirely, but Half-Life: Enriched instead revisits the classic and applies a healthy, considerate improvement across the board.

That's all for this round-up. What do you think about the mods listed? Feel free to discuss below and check out the YouTube for more videos past, present, and future!