Half-Life Collection free to play until the launch of Half-Life: Alyx

Armenius

Extremely [H]
Joined
Jan 28, 2014
Messages
41,731
Valve has made the Half-Life collection free to play to the community until the release of Half-Life: Alyx in March 2020. The games that are free to play during this time include the following:
  • Half-Life (original and Source)
  • Half-Life: Opposing Force
  • Half-Life: Blue Shift
  • Half-Life 2
  • Half-Life 2: Episode One
  • Half-Life 2: Episode Two
  • Team Fortress Classic
For those oddballs who have not played this epic saga yet, you no longer have an excuse not to ;).

upload_2020-1-21_15-41-59.png


https://steamcommunity.com/games/546560/announcements/detail/3094470492881722385
 
Hmm...never played these expansions, but that might change:
  • Half-Life: Opposing Force
  • Half-Life: Blue Shift
  • Half-Life 2: Episode One
  • Half-Life 2: Episode Two
Guess there's no reason not to now ;)
 
Valve has made the Half-Life collection free to play to the community until the release of Half-Life: Alyx in March 2020. The games that are free to play during this time include the following:
  • Half-Life (original and Source)
  • Half-Life: Opposing Force
  • Half-Life: Blue Shift
  • Half-Life 2
  • Half-Life 2: Episode One
  • Half-Life 2: Episode Two
  • Team Fortress Classic
For those oddballs who have not played this epic saga yet, you no longer have an excuse not to ;).

View attachment 217371

https://steamcommunity.com/games/546560/announcements/detail/3094470492881722385
Never did the hl2 eps, thanks so much I will smash them out if i get some time this week!
 
Huh. I didn't realize they ported the original Half Life to Source. Was it any better?

Though at this point, Black Mesa is probably much better anyway...
 
it goes like this ...

" We decided to release a veeeery long awaited HL sequel soon that will be for VR only (we really are sorry) so we decided to bait, I mean get you in the mood to buy an expensive set of VR goggles by offering you all the previous HL games for FREE !!! But only for two months " :barefoot:
 
Last edited:
Huh. I didn't realize they ported the original Half Life to Source. Was it any better?

Though at this point, Black Mesa is probably much better anyway...

Yea, Black Mesa is best, but Source is free and better than the original.
 
Huh. I didn't realize they ported the original Half Life to Source. Was it any better?
Though at this point, Black Mesa is probably much better anyway...
Valve's source port of Half Life was a joke, notice how that's not the one they're letting you play for free (note, not own)

Black Mesa is something totally different, Valve had nothing to do with it besides encouraging the devs (Crowbar Collective) to Greenlight the game and put it on Early Access.
 
I've made it partway through Xen in Black Mesa and the graphics are a hell of a lot better.

The maps are not 100% identical to the originals.
 
I've made it partway through Xen in Black Mesa and the graphics are a hell of a lot better.

The maps are not 100% identical to the originals.

The Xen maps on Black Mesa are completely different and reworked, and they are MUCH better for it IMO over the original (which was good too IMO). They seemed significantly longer/larger to me than the original levels as well. The Black Mesa levels seemed mostly the same with some decent tweaks every so often.. seemed like they deviated more and more from the original levels as the game went on. The ground lab levels towards the end of that section of the game seemed considerably reworked in half the areas.

Anyways, definitely check out Black Mesa now that it's completed (at least on the Beta as of December, not sure on full stable yet).
 
Anyways, definitely check out Black Mesa now that it's completed (at least on the Beta as of December, not sure on full stable yet).

technically it's out of beta but it's still in Early Access...I'm sure by February it'll be in it's final finished form
 
The Xen maps on Black Mesa are completely different and reworked, and they are MUCH better for it IMO over the original (which was good too IMO). They seemed significantly longer/larger to me than the original levels as well. The Black Mesa levels seemed mostly the same with some decent tweaks every so often.. seemed like they deviated more and more from the original levels as the game went on. The ground lab levels towards the end of that section of the game seemed considerably reworked in half the areas.

Anyways, definitely check out Black Mesa now that it's completed (at least on the Beta as of December, not sure on full stable yet).
Probably because the project was started as just purely a full remake, but they began to take more creative liberty as it went on. I might check it out when it's released. I have a "no early access" rule.
 
Probably because the project was started as just purely a full remake, but they began to take more creative liberty as it went on. I might check it out when it's released. I have a "no early access" rule.

It's definitely worth playing whenever you get a chance. Prolly best to wait for full release too, because there were some performance issues on the Xen levels when I played it, which they were aware of in the update log and am sure they'll improve on as they continue to update it. My frame rate on a 2080 at 3440x1440 (so completely maxed of course) varied wildly between 30-120+ FPS depending on the area until they dropped the last update for the Nihilanth chapter and it got a bit better after that update but still wasn't nearly as stable as the ground chapters.
 
Probably because the project was started as just purely a full remake, but they began to take more creative liberty as it went on. I might check it out when it's released. I have a "no early access" rule.

It's been pretty feature-complete for the last two years, with the only thig missing being Zen.

My only complaint is that the default enemy AI is way too accurate (compared to the original). When you set the difficulty to Easy, it's way too easy. Since I can't find a compromise I'm comfortable with, I've switched back to the original.

It's beautiful, but demanding (later in the game, when dozens of marines with perfect mp5 accuracy bumrush you).
 
Pff, I owned Episode 2 since orange box came out, and still haven't finished it. I'm kind of trough with half life. At one time HL3 might have convinced me to finish it, now I doubt even that could make me.
 
now that the full game is out, all Half Life fans should play Black Mesa...

This! I'm currently playing through it and am having a blast with it, cannot recommend enough.

Probably because the project was started as just purely a full remake, but they began to take more creative liberty as it went on. I might check it out when it's released. I have a "no early access" rule.

I also go by the same rule, but I broke it for this game :( I'm about 24-hours in (highest difficulty is actually pretty tough, AI is really accurate as stated above), and throughout the whole play through, I've encountered no issues of any kind. I can think of 2 areas where my FPS absolutely tanked on my rig from 300+ down to about 60-70 (a couple heavy outdoor areas prior to getting into the Lambda Complex, 1 for sure was when you use to the mortar to knock down the radio tower) but other then that, there is nothing Early Access about this title that I've encountered, it feels extremely polished.

Maybe consider bending your rule for this one :D
 
i posted a thread on steam forums asking why it's still early access, if it's always going to be in early access and the single player campaign is complete then i too will bend that rule.
 
I played through all of these games. They were all good. I haven't played the source version of HL though. I played black mesa when it was a free separate download. I can't remember how far into i got before i stopped. I like the original but when you got to Zen thats where my enjoyment kinda left. I didn't like the levels they created and the most fun part of HL (fighting the military) was gone.
 
Last edited:
I just bought all these games in anticipation of Alyx on my vive

I had never played orange box. Was replaying HL1 first but might just pay for black Mesa.
 
ive played them all and in order as they came out im so ready for the continued parts.......
 
its such a shame cause Opposing Force really kicked into another holy shit factor and and perspective of the game just amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

it doesnt get the credit it NEEDS
 
A small part of me unrealistically hopes that Team Fortress Classic will get a big revival. That was a most amazing community, ranging from the friendships made during that time, all the way to the sheer entertainment of the various characters there, especially the cheating scumbags (MasscrE, Manulis, Shark, Reptile, etc).
 
A small part of me unrealistically hopes that Team Fortress Classic will get a big revival. That was a most amazing community, ranging from the friendships made during that time, all the way to the sheer entertainment of the various characters there, especially the cheating scumbags (MasscrE, Manulis, Shark, Reptile, etc).
Same dude!

That's what got me into online gaming.

I went on a conc jumping spree a couple years ago. Such good memories.
 
A small part of me unrealistically hopes that Team Fortress Classic will get a big revival. That was a most amazing community, ranging from the friendships made during that time, all the way to the sheer entertainment of the various characters there, especially the cheating scumbags (MasscrE, Manulis, Shark, Reptile, etc).
Same dude!

That's what got me into online gaming.

I went on a conc jumping spree a couple years ago. Such good memories.
It was the same for me. Played the crap out TFC. I remember dialing up right before school to get a match or 2 in. It created my addiction to online games. Then i joined a clan and we did online tournaments. Such great memories.
 
A small part of me unrealistically hopes that Team Fortress Classic will get a big revival. That was a most amazing community, ranging from the friendships made during that time, all the way to the sheer entertainment of the various characters there, especially the cheating scumbags (MasscrE, Manulis, Shark, Reptile, etc).
I TFC everyday!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Hmm...never played these expansions, but that might change:
  • Half-Life: Opposing Force
  • Half-Life: Blue Shift
  • Half-Life 2: Episode One
  • Half-Life 2: Episode Two
Guess there's no reason not to now ;)

First replay Half life (1), then do Blue Shift and Opposing Force. There are a few fun little crossovers with the events in HL1 in each, so replaying that first helps to remember those.

I've played Black Mesa as far as the free version went (right before going to Xen iirc), I should get the final product because it really was excellent. And I haven't replayed Half Life1 in probably 6 or more years, might be time, and I already own all of these.
 
For some reason, Half-Life games always made me nauseous. Does this happen to anyone else?
 
For some reason, Half-Life games always made me nauseous. Does this happen to anyone else?
Does it happen to you with any other FPS? The default hFOV of the first game is 90, but you can change it with the default_fov console command. Unfortunately the Source port inherited Half-Life 2's default hFOV of 75 and it's capped to 90, but it's at least no longer Vert-.
 
For some reason, Half-Life games always made me nauseous. Does this happen to anyone else?

Have crosshairs on? May seem silly but it's been known to help some people who get nauseous. Something to do with having a fix point the eyes can focus on helps.

If not try what Armenius said.
 
Have crosshairs on? May seem silly but it's been known to help some people who get nauseous. Something to do with having a fix point the eyes can focus on helps.

If not try what Armenius said.
True, that. I'd also experiment with different crosshair colors. The default blends in with the background and could make the nausea problem worse. I like using a high contrast color on my crosshair like blue.
 
For some reason, Half-Life games always made me nauseous. Does this happen to anyone else?
Yea, but only when I attempted a 2nd play through of HL2 on a newer system on an LCD panel... I figured it was the input lag or something. Didn't have any issues on older systems on CRT. Unreal and ID games on both old CRT and new LCDs never made me nauseous, so I do suspect something was up with Valve's stuff, but don't have much evidence beyond this and maybe I was just feeling unstable that day
 
Pff, I owned Episode 2 since orange box came out, and still haven't finished it. I'm kind of trough with half life. At one time HL3 might have convinced me to finish it, now I doubt even that could make me.

same here, owned it since orange box... but from what i recall, ep2 was very short. somewhat disappointing in how short. (this is based off of 15 yr old memories so i might be mistaken)
 
Back
Top