Half-Life 2
From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games
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| Developers | |
|---|---|
| Valve Corporation | |
| Engines | |
| Source | |
| Release dates | |
| Windows | November 16, 2004 |
| macOS (OS X) | May 26, 2010 |
| Linux | May 9, 2013 |
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Warnings
- The macOS (OS X) version of this game does not work on macOS Catalina (version 10.15) or later due to the removal of support for 32-bit-only apps.
| ⤏ Go to series page | |
| Half-Life mods and fangames (series) | |
| Half-Life | 1998 |
| Half-Life: Opposing Force | 1999 |
| Half-Life: Blue Shift | 2001 |
| Codename: Gordon | 2004 |
| Half-Life: Source | 2004 |
| Half-Life 2 | 2004 |
| Half-Life 2: Deathmatch | 2004 |
| Half-Life 2: Lost Coast | 2005 |
| Half-Life Deathmatch: Source | 2006 |
| Half-Life 2: Episode One | 2006 |
| Half-Life 2: Episode Two | 2007 |
| Portal (series) | |
| Half-Life: Decay (unofficial port) | 2008 |
| Half-Life: Alyx | 2020 |
Key points
- Using launch options you can skip intro videos or enable borderless fullscreen windowed.
- Numerous mods are available for the game, including new levels and completely new game modes.
- Runs well on low-end hardware.[1]
- A number of menu options including an FOV slider, Vsync, and key remapping.
- No frame rate or refresh rate cap.
General information
- GitHub Issue Tracker for Linux bugs in Half-Life 2 and other Source-based games
- Steam Community Discussions
- Steam Users' Forums
- Unofficial Half-Life Wiki
Availability
- All versions require Steam.
Versions
Half-Life 2: Survivor
A heavily modified version of Half-Life 2 released on June 28, 2006 for Japanese arcades. It is focused purely on combat with extra content added in to appeal to Japanese gamers. Some content previously cut from Half-Life 2 is reimplemented.
An unofficial PC port can be found on the Facepunch forums.
Essential improvements
Skip intro videos
| Instructions |
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Mods
- For popular mods see ModDB's "Half-Life 2 Mods" section.
Installing Source mods
| Instructions |
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Black Mesa
- See the Black Mesa page for instructions on installation.
The Stanley Parable
- The original Stanley Parable mod is available on ModDB. It requires the Source SDK on Windows and Half-Life 2 on OS X. It can be downloaded using the Desura client. May require restarting for it to show up in your Steam library.
- The full Steam release can be found at The Stanley Parable.
Dear Esther (Mod)
- This is the original Source engine mod, Dear Esther. For the full release see our Dear Esther page.
- The original Dear Esther mod is available on Desura but is only usable on Windows. The full version is playable natively on Windows, OS X, and Linux.
No More Room in Hell
- No longer requires Half-Life 2. Available as a stand-alone for free on Steam, see No More Room in Hell for more information.
The Hidden
- See the The Hidden for instructions on installing.
Game data
Save game data location
Template:Game data/row
| System | Location |
|---|---|
| Steam Play (Linux) | <SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/220/pfx/[Note 1] |
Configuration file(s) location
Template:Game data/row
| System | Location |
|---|---|
| Steam Play (Linux) | <SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/220/pfx/[Note 1] |
Save game cloud syncing
| System | Native | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Steam Cloud |
Video settings
File:Half-Life 2 - video settings.jpg
Video settings.
Field of view (FOV)
- Half life 2 fov1.jpg
75 FOV
- Half life 2 fov2.jpg
90 FOV
Borderless fullscreen windowed
| Instructions |
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Oculus Rift
- By default VR mode will run full screen, to switch back to a borderless windowed set the
vr_force_windowedconvar.
- For further help getting the Oculus Rift working in Half-Life 2, see this thread on the Oculus Rift forums.
Input settings
File:Half-Life 2 - input settings.jpg
Input settings.
Audio settings
File:Half-Life 2 - audio settings.jpg
Audio settings.
Localizations
| Language | UI | Audio | Sub | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | ||||
| Simplified Chinese | ||||
| Traditional Chinese | ||||
| Danish | ||||
| Dutch | ||||
| Finnish | ||||
| French | ||||
| German | ||||
| Italian | ||||
| Japanese | ||||
| Korean | ||||
| Norwegian | ||||
| Polish | ||||
| Portuguese | ||||
| Russian | ||||
| Spanish | ||||
| Swedish | ||||
| Thai |
Issues fixed
Purple and black broken textures
- A generic fix for this issue can be found on our Source engine page.
No lighting after Black Mesa East
| Instructions |
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Stuck in Black Mesa East
| Instructions |
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Windows
- TweakGuides has created a comprehensive guide for fixing issues in this game. It can be found here.
Not enough space on disk (retail)
| Instructions |
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"Available memory less than 128 MB" Error
| Instructions |
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Half-Life 2 stuck on DirectX v8.0
| Instructions |
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Other information
Console commands
- Games running on the Source engine can utilize Source Engine Console Commands for various tasks.
| Instructions |
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- You can also have the console open by default on launch by following this guide:
| Instructions |
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Launch options
- View this Steam Support Article regarding launch options as well as the relevant Valve Developer wiki page for further information and a list of useful Source engine launch options.
| Instructions |
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System requirements
| Windows | ||
|---|---|---|
| Minimum | Recommended | |
| Operating system (OS) | XP, Vista, 7 | |
| Processor (CPU) | 1.7 GHz | |
| System memory (RAM) | ||
| Hard disk drive (HDD) | 4.6 GB | |
| Video card (GPU) | NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700 ATi Radeon 9500 128 MB of VRAM | NVIDIA GeForce 6800 ATi Radeon X800 |
| macOS (OS X) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Minimum | ||
| Operating system (OS) | 10.5.8, 10.6.3 | |
| Processor (CPU) | 1.7 GHz | |
| System memory (RAM) | ||
| Hard disk drive (HDD) | 4.6 GB | |
| Video card (GPU) | NVIDIA GeForce 8 ATI X1600 Intel HD 3000 |
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Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Notes regarding Steam Play (Linux) data:
- File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.
- Games with Steam Cloud support may also store data in
~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/220/. - Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.
- The app ID (220) may differ in some cases.
- Treat backslashes as forward slashes.
- See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.