• Fixed HLTV startup crashes and incompatibility with 25th anniversary maps.
• Fixed memory leak that caused a crash after repeatedly changing brightness or gamma.
• Enabled /LARGEADDRESSAWARE to support mods with large memory requirements..
• Miscellaneous mod compatibility fixes.
• Miscellaneous security fixes.

• Fixed multiplayer team setup in Disposal.
• Fixed Tau Cannon shots always counting as headshots if they reflected off a wall and hit the player who fired.
• Fixed several minor HUD layout issues.
• Miscellaneous security fixes.

• Fixes for joining games through invites and Steam friends list.
• Miscellaneous UI fixes for Dedicated Servers.
• Fixed an occasional crash when opening the scoreboard.
• Fixed camera movement after death in multiplayer.
• Fixed crash when creating a server if the server creator's Steam name was entirely non-ASCII characters.

• Fixed crash when modifying certain video settings in a multiplayer match.
• Fixed server browser issues after modifying video settings.
• Fixed local player not showing up in player count on a listen server using Steam Networking.
• Fixed rare corrupted lighting rendering bug in some maps.

• Fixed lighting rendering issues on some AMD GPUs.
• Fixed mods with their own localization files not loading default strings from updated localization files in Half-Life.
• Fixed one dying scientist in Half-Life: Uplink saying incorrect dialogue.
• Added "Use shaders" checkbox for the video options. Servers can over-ride this setting with sv_allow_shaders.
• Fixed weapons with secondary ammo (like the MP5) not being deployable if there is no primary ammo remaining.
• Miscellaneous Steam Networking fixes.
• The Half-Life dedicated server application (app 90) has been updated with latest server code and updated windows and linux binaries. Updating dedicated servers is recommended.

• Fixed timing for the sequence where a tentacle grabs a scientist in Blast Pit.
• Fixed underwater fog rendering in OpenGL.
• Fixes for UI layout in mods.
• Fixed rare crash that would occur when an RPG rocket was destroyed.
• Fixed the audio DSP filter (room_type) not being reset between multiplayer maps.
• The Half-Life dedicated server application (app 90) has been updated.
• Localization files updated.

• Fixed Loader model in Disposal being shootable to change its animation.
• Minor rendering updates to Pool Party.
• Fixed mods defaulting to joystick enabled.
• Fixed overlap on centered printed text utilized in some mods.
• Many fixes for UI scaling issues in mods, including Team Fortress Classic and Day of Defeat.
• Various fixes for Software rendering, including transparent objects on linux and texturing precision everywhere.
• Dedicated Servers will no longer default to having Steam Networking Enabled.
• Fixes for some GPUs being unable to launch the game.
• Trigger hurt entities can no longer heal dead players, for example the healing pools in Pool Party.
• When a player dies, make their body non-solid immediately.
• Fixed audio lag experienced by some Windows users.

• Steam Networking and Server Browser improvements.
• The HUD will no longer scale to 2x size at 1024x768 and 1280x720 resolution.
• Fixes for GL Overbright shaders.
• Fixes for text alignment in custom in-game menus at various resolutions.
• Fixed 357 zoomed crosshair appearing as the wrong texture at the largest screen resolutions.
• Fixed some server events that cause crashes with high player counts.
• Fixed crash if the user set their Field of View to 0 and then zoomed in with the crossbow.
• Fixed window icons drawing inverted for mods.
• Fixed the inability to launch Half-Life: Blue Shift and Day of Defeat, as well as many other mods.

We launched Half-Life on November 19th, 1998. We are very proud of what we built back then and we remain extremely grateful for the community of players who have been enjoying it ever since. The game hasn't received as much attention in recent years as many other titles in our catalog, so we thought this milestone was a great opportunity to spruce up the player experience and add some fun new ways to play the game.

The same game you played in 1998 - restored, augmented, and revitalized

Also including lots of cool new (or restored) content!

And a short film to mark the occasion

Bug Fixes and Change Notes

New Content

• Now Verified on the Steam Deck (and our native Linux runtime has been set as the default).
• Half-Life: Uplink the original standalone Half-Life demo has been added to the game, and is accessible through the "New Game" menu.
• Added four all-new Half-Life Deathmatch maps: contamination, pool_party, disposal, and rocket_frenzy
• Added three old Half-Life Deathmatch maps formerly available only on the "Half-Life: Further Data" CD: doublecross, rust_mill, xen_dm.
• Added Ivan the Space Biker, Prototype Barney, Skeleton, and Too Much Coffee Man as player models to Half-Life Deathmatch.
• Added dozens of new sprays formerly available only on the "Half-Life: Further Data" CD.
• Added support for Steam Networking, allowing easy multiplayer via Steam's Join Game and Invite features.
• Added support for Steam Friends Rich Presence, allowing your friends to follow your journey through Black Mesa.

Nostalgia

• Brought back the original Valve Intro video. Can be skipped with the "-novid" launch command.
• Updated main menu to a design inspired by the game's original 1998 main menu.
• Changed the default models to the original (non "HD") models.

Gameplay Changes

• Improved physics for throwing grenades.
• Improved randomness for initial spawn points in multiplayer.
• Improved satchel charge controls: primary fire now always throws a new satchel, and secondary fire always detonates.
• Fixed push-able entity movement being based on framerate.
• Fixed players with high framerates freezing in place on death in multiplayer.
• Fixed some cases where the player could get stuck in place on level transitions.
• Fixed some cases where characters would interrupt important dialogue with their "greetings" dialogue.
• Fixed weapon view-bob angles.
• Fixed red barrels at the start of Surface Tension not launching as intended.
• Fixed Snarks attacking FL_WORLDBRUSH entities (such as func_walls).
• Fixed players sometimes failing to deploy a snark while crouching and looking down.
• Fixed certain convars ("pausable" and "sv_maxspeed") being set to incorrect values when entering a singleplayer game after a multiplayer game.
• Fixed singleplayer auto-aim setting being changed when entering a multiplayer game that disallows auto-aim.
• Fixed the flashlight HUD showing empty after loading a savegame.
• Fixed rockets in CONTENTS_SKY not always detonating.
• Fixed incorrect bullet impact sounds for NPCs.
• Fixed gauss gun making a loud static noise if it was charged across level transitions.
• Fixed a crash in mods that display keybinds in their UI.
• Fixed singleplayer weapons not auto-switching away when exhausted (grenades / snarks / satchels / etc)
• Fixed interpolation artifacts when animated models are moved by other entities.
• Fixed some buffer overflow exploits.

UI Changes

• Main-menu background and buttons have been reskinned, and now scale based upon screen resolution without stretching, supporting background image layouts up to 3840x1600.
• In-Game HUD now uses double or triple sized sprites when playing at higher resolutions.
• UI dialogs and in-game fonts now scale to improve readability at high screen resolutions.
• In-Game HUD HEV suit display has been shifted to the left of the screen, and no longer changes position at larger screen resolutions.
• Added an "Enable texture filtering" setting.
• Added an "Allow widescreen Field of View" setting to correct non-anamorphic FOVs, for widescreen and ultrawide displays.
• Re-organized all the Settings screens to improve legibility, and support controller navigation.
• Updated the Pause menu to be aware of the current gameplay mode.
• The default server name and multiplayer player name are now based on the player's Steam Persona.
• The Steam platform menu has been removed, now that all its features are in Steam itself.
• Fixed application icon rendering incorrectly when using the software renderer.
• Fixed player and spray images not updating their coloring on the settings screen.
• Removed the now very unnecessary "Low video quality. Helps with slower video cards." setting.

Input Changes

• Improved support for keyboard and controller navigation everywhere.
• Added "Lower Input Latency" option: Synchronizes the CPU and GPU to reduce the time between input and display output.
• Fixed issues that caused jerky mouse / joystick input.
• (We basically rewrote it all - if you've got a custom Steam Input controller configuration, you should rebuild it from our newly published Official Configuration).

Multiplayer Balancing

• Increased the 357 damage from 40 50.
• Hive Hand reload time has been reduced from 0.5s 0.3s per shot, and it will be selected at higher priority than the pistol on pickup.
• MP5 now always starts with full ammo when initially picked up.
• Players no longer drop empty weapons, and any that are dropped are reloaded by what's in the dying player's backpack.
• Improved client-side prediction to reduce "ghost shots". Like Counter-Strike, consider hitboxes and not just bounding boxes for hits on the client.
• Fixed network predicted crowbar swing damage being incorrect.

Rendering

• Added setting to turn off texture filtering when using the OpenGL renderer.
• Default gamma has been decreased from 2.5 2.2, now that we aren't all playing on CRTs.
• Restored OpenGL overbright support.
• Added support for UI Sprites and Texture files larger than 256x256.
• Added support for UI Font special render modes: "blur" and "additive".
• Default resolution is now based on the resolution of the desktop, instead of a 640x480 window.
• Software renderer will now correctly filter out incompatible resolutions, unless there is only 1 resolution available on the display.
• Fixed fullscreen software renderer crashing on systems that don't support 16-bit color.
• Fixed software renderer being stretched when using widescreen resolutions.
• Fixed skyboxes and sky color incorrectly carrying over when transitioning maps in multiplayer.
• Fixed the game appearing too dark after modifying video settings.
• Fixed MSAA in windowed mode.
• Fixed mipmap rendering on studio models.
• Fixed gluon gun sprite rendering in multiplayer.
• Fixed gluon gun sinusoidal noise being incorrect.
• Various optimizations to support the newly increased engine limits.
• OpenGL optimizations for the Steam Deck.

Engine Improvements for Mod Makers

• Increased maximum limit of dynamic sound channels from 8 32.
• Increased maximum limit of sentences in the sentences.txt file from 1536 2048.
• Increased maximum number of entities (MAX_EDICTS) from 900 1200.
• Increased MAX_PACKET_ENTITIES from 256 1024.
• Increased MAX_GLTEXTURES from 4800 10000.
• Increased software renderer geometry limits: max spans 3000 6000, max surfaces 2000 4000, and max edges 7200 14400.
• Cycler and func_button entities can now be the entity target for scripted_sentence entities, and are allowed to speak in multiplayer.
• Incorporated func_vehicle entity support from Counter-Strike, for mod-makers to use. Full SDK update will come later, but level designers can use it now.

Native Linux Build

• Added support for the software renderer.
• Improved font rendering.
• Many stability and behavior fixes.

Other

• Localization files updated.
• Miscellaneous security fixes.

Notes

• The previous version of the game has been archived to a publicly visible Beta branch named "steam_legacy", with the description "Pre-25th Anniversary Build." If a mod or feature is behaving in an unexpected way, you may need to run this archived build until the issue is resolved in the default build.
• We now consider this anniversary version of Half Life to be the definitive version, and the one we'll continue to support going forward. Therefore, we'll be reducing the visibility of Half Life: Source on the Steam Store. We know Half-Life: Source's assets are still being used by the Source engine community, so it'll remain available, but we'll be encouraging new Half-Life players to play this version instead.

An update for Half-Life is now available:

Fixes and Updates

• Fixed cl_autowepswitch setting not being respected after respawning
• Fixed "cl_autowepswitch 1" causing the crowbar to be auto-equipped after spawning
• Fixed viewdemo command crashing for certain demo files
• Security fix to client disconnect handling
• Security fixes to console command handling
• Security fix to client/server communications
• Security fix to model loading
• Security fixes to BSP loading
• Added "Leave game" menu option when in a single-player game to exit back to the main menu
• Setting cl_autowepswitch to 2 will now enable auto weapon switching on pickup of a better weapon except when holding Primary or Seconday attack

Half-Life: Alyx is coming in March, and we are celebrating early by making all games in the Half-Life Series FREE to play for Steam users, from now until the day it launches!

If you already have Steam installed, you can click the following links to start playing now!
Half-Life
Half-Life 2
Half-Life 2: Episode One
Half-Life 2: Episode Two

If you don't have Steam, you can download it here.

Half-Life: Alyx is set before the events of Half-Life 2 and the episodes, but the games share characters and story elements. The Half-Life: Alyx team believes that the best way to enjoy the new game is to play through the old ones, especially Half-Life 2 and the episodes, so we want to make that as easy as possible.

A small Half-Life update is now available that fixes some issues identified after the last release. General

• Fixed mods not loading when they use certain GameDLL paths
• Fixed some resources not downloading properly through FastDL
• Fixed gl_texturemode and gl_ansio not updating properly when enabling/disabling Low video quality mode

An update for Half-Life is now available:

Fixes and Updates

• Fixed setting monitor refresh rates through -freq when used with -nofbo
• Fixed unnecessary texture rescaling with NPOT textures
• Fixed slist command, will now show servers on the local network
• Fixed erroneous return in SV_ClipToLinks (HL #1685)
• Fixed inability to reload a partially empty weapon after reloading a save game
• Fixed MP5 spread factor, multiplayer factor was being used for single player and single player for multiplayer
• Fixed progress bar for individual files in resource download always showing at 100%
• Added auto-saving of several cvars (HL #2237)
• Fixed missing localizations in spectator UI
• Fixed NPC turn rate when running at >60FPS
• Reordered columns in server browser to prevent game descriptions from being used to fake server player count
• Fixed sv_cheats from being settable by players in a multiplayer game (sv_cheats is controllable by the server)
• Added cl_autowepswitch cvar with values 0/1 to disable/enable auto weapon switching when a new weapon is picked up
• Fix various weapon animation/sound issues
• Security fixes to console commands
• Security fixes to resource loading
• Security fixes to saving/loading

This list covers the releases between March 20 and April 11 that are each part of a series of security updates. Larger changes:

• Added privilege checking to command execution. Commands originating outside of the client are now only able to execute commands that are considered to be safe. Commands such as 'connect', 'bind', 'quit' and certain cvars such as 'cl_filterstuffcmd' are now only executable by trusted sources.
• Setting 'cl_filterstuffcmd' to a value greater than zero (e.g. 'cl_filterstuffcmd 1') will set a number of commands that are potentially abusable, such as 'say', 'fps_max', and 'setinfo', to also be only executable by privileged sources.

• Fixed client incorrectly blocking download of custom sprays

• All custom resources downloaded from a server now have their file name's checked for safety before being allowed to download
• Invalid file extensions are now prevented in several commands
• Dynamic libraries are no longer searched for in custom resource directories
• Added additional file extensions to custom resource blocked extensions list
• Fixed buffer overflow in message delta parsing
• Fixed RCE in weapon message handling
• Fixed RCE in model loading
• Fixed RCE in saved game loading
• Fixed buffer overflows in TGA and BMP loading
• Fixed buffer overflow in demo playback
• Fixed buffer overflows in sequence file loading
• Fixed buffer overflows in model name loading
• Fixed buffer overflow in music playlist loading
• Fixed buffer overflow in detail texture loading
• Fixed buffer overflow in console map listing
• Fixed command chaining in cvar's that specified config files to be passed to the 'exec' command

A small update for Half-Life is now available: Engine

• Fixed bug in skybox image loading
• Fixed bug in demo command processing
• Prevent certain path characters from being used in commands
• Enforce certain extensions be used for files specified in some commands

A small update for Half-Life is now available: Engine

• Rate limit hltv commands to prevent connection issues

We have updated the public release of Half-Life. Changes in this update are:

• Fixed crash when entering certain malformed strings into the game console. Thanks to Marshal Webb from BackConnect, Inc for reporting this.
• Fixed crash when loading a specially crafted malformed BSP file. Thanks to Grant Hernandez (@Digital_Cold) for reporting this.
• Fixed malformed SAV files allowing arbitrary files to be written into the game folder. Thanks to Vsevolod Saj for reporting this.
• Fixed a crash when quickly changing weapons that are consumable. Thanks to Sam Vanheer for reporting this.
• Fixed crash when setting custom decals