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Half-Life 2 gets graphical overhaul

Published on 9th January 2009 by Joe Martin

The latest version of the FakeFactory mod adds full HDR and hi-res textures for Half-Life 2.

This is why PC gaming is better than console gaming in our opinion; because of excellent mods like this which keep on improving on the games we all know and love.

When it comes to mods in fact it's tough to get more well known FakeFactory, the modder who's been working to improve the visual impact of the Half-Life games ever since their first release. The FakeFactory mods have been upping the polygon count (and amount of cleavage) on Half-Life 2's characters for a number of years now.

The latest mod though, FakeFactory 9.5, is a bit different to that and works on a much larger scale by completely updating the graphical system in all of Half-Life 2.

Not only does the latest version of the mod include all the usual characters in their redone and un-recognisable forms (which is occasionally a move for the worst, admittedly), but it also includes a series of updates to the Half-Life 2 version of the Source engine that brings the game kicking and screaming into 2009.

That update list includes, for starters, full HDR support in all levels of the singleplayer, proper 3D vegetation and improved particle effects. To make sure the game is showing as much of this off as possible FakeFactory has disabled the sight limitations on the engines, letting you see clearly from one end of a level to another if your PC is powerful enough.

The only bad news then is that there's no apparent news on how to bring these improvements over to mods like Garry's Mod 10 just yet.

the full FakeFactory pack is pretty massive obviously, but if you don't mind waiting then you can grab a download from FileFront. Discuss it in the forums.

49 Comments

Discuss in the forums Reply

Jordan Wise 9th January 2009, 10:52

Fantastic! The best game ever made just got better! But why couldn't they do this to HL1? BlackMesa is taking too long

steveo_mcg 9th January 2009, 10:55

Mint, i've been considering playing through hl2 again might just do it this weekend.

FuzzyOne 9th January 2009, 10:57

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=HwWeXPgEbtE

DougEdey 9th January 2009, 10:57

Quote:

the full FakeFactory pack is pretty massive obviously, but if you don't mind waiting then you can grab a download from FileFront. Discuss it in the forums.

(side note: That should have a capital T on the)

I'm happy with my 2MB/s download, should be done in about 10 mins at this rate.

quack 9th January 2009, 12:14

This sounds pretty awesome, I'll have to download it over a weekend though. 1.6GB will take a while!

tank_rider 9th January 2009, 12:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by steveo_mcg
Mint, i've been considering playing through hl2 again might just do it this weekend.

My thoughts exactly :)

1-0-1 9th January 2009, 12:17

1.6 GB is a elephant for me here. ISP caps/charges and top-ups are unearthly here. Oh well ...

steveo_mcg 9th January 2009, 12:26

Is there an official torrent? Since its easier to stop start them either that or get a download manager.

sjhujh 9th January 2009, 12:31

awesome!! Love Half Life 2, the you tube video looks really amazing, especially the draw distance...

ozstrike 9th January 2009, 12:39

Well, considering my pc won't run the youtube HD video properly, I don't think I'll be running this

Goty 9th January 2009, 12:50

Ugh. Ok, pretty much all of the changes to the main character models are horrible.

badders 9th January 2009, 12:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by ozstrike
Well, considering my pc won't run the youtube HD video properly, I don't think I'll be running this

I wouldn't worry. My Q6600 with 6Gb RAM won't run it without stuttering either.

UrbanMarine 9th January 2009, 12:57

Sounds cool but why keep updating an engine that's outdated.

Orionche 9th January 2009, 13:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by UrbanMarine
Sounds cool but why keep updating an engine that's outdated.

Because HL2 is a classic and deserves such a treatment? :)

UrbanMarine 9th January 2009, 13:37

I can agree with that. HL in general has been one of my favorite FPSs of all time.

Lepermessiah 9th January 2009, 14:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by UrbanMarine
Sounds cool but why keep updating an engine that's outdated.

Why not? Seriously dumb querstion.

casey_cole 9th January 2009, 15:07

Outdated? I'd say, weathering the tests of time. The source engine still looks great, runs on distinctly average hardware and is very versatile. What's not to like?

*edit* I'm not going to get this "upgrade" personally - the main characters lose all their personailty when redesigned like this...

CC

wuyanxu 9th January 2009, 15:09

i really don't like any of those female character models, changed the feel of those characters. the male ones are not much better either.

downloaded v9.5 the other day, with HD addon for my 9GB RAM+vRAM. planning to replay HL series when Black Mesa source comes out :D

AltruiSisu 9th January 2009, 15:54

awful character models ... everything else looks fantastic.

Jordan Wise 9th January 2009, 16:54

has anyone got it working yet? Because I've installed it and now the menu doesn't load

wuyanxu 9th January 2009, 17:01

it's working perfectly fine here

g3n3tiX 9th January 2009, 17:28

I guess I'll install it, and delete the new ugly models and find some new HD classic ones.

Cobalt 9th January 2009, 18:14

Characters look like they've been designed by a horny 14year old. Shame really because otherwise this would be great.

ry@n 9th January 2009, 21:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cobalt
Characters look like they've been designed by a horny 14year old. Shame really because otherwise this would be great.

LOL so true!

ry@n 10th January 2009, 11:00

Closed all Steam apps as instructed, installed it successfully and now when I try to play the game the loading screen appears for a brief moment before crashing :(

Jordan Wise 10th January 2009, 11:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by ry@n
Closed all Steam apps as instructed, installed it successfully and now when I try to play the game the loading screen appears for a brief moment before crashing :(

exactly what happens with me

ry@n 10th January 2009, 12:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by FileFront
SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS:

- Fully installed STEAM Client; You can't start the mod without STEAM running.
- Fully installed and unlocked HL2 / EP1 / EP2; Make shure, you have started those games in the past.
- Fully installed Cinematic Mod V9 BASE (with or without HD addon)

1. I installed HL2 especially for this mod as I haven't played it in a while, I didn't start the game before installing this mod. So i've uninstalled HL2 and im re-installing it to try again.

2. Did anyone else install the V9 BASE first? this is 4GB alone!

wuyanxu 10th January 2009, 12:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by ry@n
1. I installed HL2 especially for this mod as I haven't played it in a while, I didn't start the game before installing this mod. So i've uninstalled HL2 and im re-installing it to try again.

2. Did anyone else install the V9 BASE first? this is 4GB alone!

LOL, of course!

V9 base first, then V9 HD addon. and finally this v9.5 patch. then use character pimper to choose HD civilians and keep Alyx original.

ry@n 10th January 2009, 12:45

Ouch.. Thats a lot to download with my shared bandwidth, I will have to leave it downloading during the week when no ones home :D

D B 10th January 2009, 16:31

soo .. why can't I find V9 BASE ?
I've only found V8

D B 10th January 2009, 18:15

Found it .. waiting to download it, then the V9 HD mod, then 9.5

sotu1 10th January 2009, 20:16

i dont have a major issue with the models. it's a realism mod, the original HL was made up of caricatures so what do you expect? However, where the hell did Alyx's new breast implants come from?!

Slyr7.62 11th January 2009, 23:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by sotu1
However, where the hell did Alyx's new breast implants come from?!

Plastic Surgery? :D

Ninja_182 12th January 2009, 00:09

Rofflecopter at the universal increase in breast size.

mmm 3 hour download time. I shall give it a shot if only to look at some of the more epic landscapes. Something that has constantly bugged me about HL2, epic scenery with mediocre textures.

Hamish 12th January 2009, 10:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by badders
I wouldn't worry. My Q6600 with 6Gb RAM won't run it without stuttering either.

thats not you stuttering during playback, whoever capped it couldnt keep a high enough framerate

kenco_uk 12th January 2009, 10:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by ry@n
Ouch.. Thats a lot to download with my shared bandwidth, I will have to leave it downloading during the week when no ones home :D

V9 base = 4.66GB
V9 HD addon = 2.84GB
V9.5 update = 1.66GB

Chuffin' Nora.

quack 12th January 2009, 12:21

V9 BASE - 4.67GB

V9 HD ADDON - 2.84GB

V9.5 UPDATE - 1.66GB

You MUST have a 64-bit OS, such as Vista, for the HD addon.

wuyanxu 12th January 2009, 12:39

it uses HL2 EP2 engine, but that engine doesn't have 64bit, so how can it use advantages of 64bit?

im playing it very smoothly with HD addon

eXpander 13th January 2009, 16:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by quack

You MUST have a 64-bit OS, such as Vista, for the HD addon.

Why?

Never heard about the addons for HL2, and i absolutely loved this game! So pls pardon my ignorance. Thx!

quack 13th January 2009, 17:00

I don't know why exactly, but the instructions state that to use the FakeFactory HD addon, you need a 64-bit OS or it'll stutter.

CardJoe 13th January 2009, 17:22

I reckon it's because you need to have ma-hooosive amounts of RAM.

wuyanxu 13th January 2009, 17:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by CardJoe
I reckon it's because you need to have ma-hooosive amounts of RAM.

like meeeeeeeee.

knuck 13th January 2009, 18:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by CardJoe
I reckon it's because you need to have ma-hooosive amounts of RAM.

can 4gb be considered as 'lots of ram' ?. I mean we are talking about the source engine here ...

eXpander 14th January 2009, 23:45

so... any1 tried it yet?

quack 14th January 2009, 23:48

Nope, not yet, took me long enough to download it!

steveo_mcg 1st February 2009, 11:47

What does the base update? I'm just making sure i've not missed any thing, i've got hdr (bloom etc) some (but not many) updated textures and a new music overture. All the models are the same is that right?

I'm still waiting on the 9.5 and the HD to download.

kenco_uk 1st February 2009, 22:38

Played the first ten minutes of HL2 (up to entering the block of flats). Seems okay, but I haven't played it for ages so can't really notice any appreciable difference tbh.

It's not, 'woah, it looks like a new game'.

quack 6th February 2009, 21:21

I now have 4GB RAM and Vista x64 so I can try it out properly. :)

Ape 11th June 2009, 13:57