Comment by bni

8 days ago

If you want to play Half-Life today I highly recommend Xash3D FWGS (yes its a super awkward name)

https://github.com/FWGS/xash3d-fwgs

Easy to use Mac build here: https://www.macsourceports.com/game/halflife

25 comments

bni

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pezezin  8 days ago

IMHO, if you want to play Half-Life today, go get Black Mesa, an absolutely fantastic fan-made remake with Valve's blessing:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/362890/Black_Mesa/

  • henriquecm8  7 days ago

    IMHO, if you want to play Half-Life today, you can also just play the original, I've played it recently and still an amazing game, and several aspects I like it more than Half-life 2. Some might not like the graphics for being dated, but after a while you get used to it.

  • reitzensteinm  7 days ago

    Black Mesa is an almost exact copy of Half Life at the start, and where that's true it's incredibly well done. Feels very much like a remaster.

    Unfortunately, by the end of the earth levels and certainly on Xen, the levels switch over to original designs. They become massive and sprawling, boring and confusing. They really should have stuck to doing a like for like reimplementation.

    I grew up on Half Life, so playing the first half of Black Mesa a few years ago was one of my favorite adult gaming experiences. But I gave up who knows how close to finish line after Xen was insufferable.

    • blell  7 days ago

      The original Xen is rubbish. I’m glad they remade it. Just like they did with “On a rail”.

      Black Mesa is a masterpiece.

    • pezezin  7 days ago

      There is one Xen episode close to the end that is indeed way too big for its own good and quite boring, I will give you that, but otherwise I found the new Xen levels very well made and fleshed out. Lets be honest, the original Xen was quite lackluster...

      3 replies →

    • pipes  7 days ago

      Do you mean the later levels are bigger and more confusing in black mesa?

      Genuine question, as I own both versions and don't know which to play.

  • matheusmoreira  6 days ago

    Steam Deck owners might want to skip this one. Black Mesa randomly crashes on my Deck for some reason despite being listed as playable.

jmiskovic  7 days ago

This is engine for HL1 while OP talks about HL2.

I'll add, if you have a VR headset, modded HL1 runs beautifully on it with full hand controller support for gun aiming and crowbar smashing. I've also heard lots of praises for HL2 VR mod bringing the game to new levels, I have yet to try it myself.

nomel  8 days ago

Or, can still be purchased on Steam for $0.99, during sales. Windows only though.

  • BlitzGeology91  8 days ago

    Eh, I don’t really think that this is an “or” situation. I think that this is an “and” situation. The last time that I set up Xash3D FWGS, I had to copy files from the version of Half-Life that I own on Steam into a different folder so that those files could be loaded by Xash 3D FWGS. I haven’t tried Xash 3D FWGS in a while, but it looks like you still have to do that [1]. Also, are you sure that the Steam version of Half-Life is Windows only?

    [1]: <https://github.com/FWGS/xash3d-fwgs/blob/f0342763547d9bcf486...>

    • nomel  8 days ago

      > Also, are you sure that the Steam version of Half-Life is Windows only?

      You're right! It looks like Linux has a native build too. Apparently the Windows version, through Proton, runs better though (not that it matters).

  • jedbrooke  8 days ago

    the windows version is playable on macos through wine. Even modern version, I got it running on a m2 mac mini on Macos 15 sequoia

    EDIT: this was for HL1 I’m not sure about HL2