Half-Life

The year marked the launch of significant gameplay changes, including the ability for trigger hurt entities to no longer heal dead players and player bodies becoming non-solid immediately upon death. Additionally, the Half-Life dedicated server application received crucial updates, enhancing server performance and compatibility.

• Gameplay Changes: Trigger hurt entities can no longer heal dead players, and player bodies become non-solid immediately upon death.
• Server Updates: The dedicated server application was updated with the latest server code and binaries for both Windows and Linux, with an additional update on November 22, 2023, emphasizing the importance of updating dedicated servers.
• Network Improvements: Steam Networking and Server Browser improvements enhanced online play, while miscellaneous Steam Networking fixes addressed specific connectivity issues.
• UI/UX Enhancements: A new 'Use shaders' checkbox was added for video options, allowing servers to override this setting, alongside a HUD scaling fix for 1024x768 and 1280x720 resolutions.
• Modding Support: Various fixes were implemented to improve mod compatibility, including enabling /LARGEADDRESSAWARE support for mods with large memory requirements.

Half-Life celebrated its 25th anniversary with a significant update on November 17, 2023, introducing the Definitive Version of the game along with a wealth of new content and features. Notable additions included new player models like Ivan the Space Biker and Prototype Barney, enhanced multiplayer capabilities, and support for the Steam Deck.

• New Player Models: Added characters such as Skeleton and Too Much Coffee Man.
• Multiplayer Enhancements: Introduced Steam Networking support for easier multiplayer access and Steam Friends Rich Presence to track friends' progress.
• New Content: Included the original demo, Half-Life: Uplink, and four new Deathmatch maps: contamination, pool_party, disposal, and rocket_frenzy.
• Improved Gameplay Mechanics: Enhanced grenade physics and increased the 357 damage from 40 to 50.
• User Interface Upgrades: Reskinned the main menu and improved HUD scaling for higher resolutions, along with various readability improvements for UI elements.

Half-Life saw a notable update on August 18, 2020, which included a variety of important changes. Most significantly, it added a 'Leave game' menu option for single-player mode, allowing players to exit back to the main menu more easily.

• Balance Change: The cl_autowepswitch setting behavior was updated, enabling auto weapon switching on pickup of a better weapon, unless Primary or Secondary attack is held.
• Security Fixes: A series of crucial security fixes addressed vulnerabilities in multiple areas:
  • Sound file verification
  • Console command handling
  • Client/server communications
  • Model loading
  • BSP loading
  • Client launching
  • Client disconnect handling

A significant update on April 16, 2019, introduced numerous bug fixes and security enhancements to Half-Life, addressing critical issues in various file handling and command execution. Additionally, the October 8, 2019, patch refined gameplay with an updated cl_autowepswitch setting and improved user experience by adding a 'Leave game' option in single-player mode.

• Major Bug Fixes: The April 16 patch resolved multiple buffer overflow vulnerabilities across different file types, including TGA and BMP loading, model name loading, and console command handling.
  • Fixed command chaining in cvars with config files
  • Fixed buffer overflows in TGA and BMP loading
  • Fixed buffer overflow in demo playback
  • Fixed RCE in weapon message handling
  • Fixed RCE in model loading

• Gameplay Changes: The October 8 update modified the cl_autowepswitch setting behavior, allowing auto weapon switching on the pickup of a better weapon unless holding a Primary or Secondary attack.

• User Interface Update: The same October 8 patch added a convenient 'Leave game' menu option for exiting back to the main menu in single-player mode.

• Security Enhancements: The April 16 update included several security measures to ensure safer command execution and resource handling.
  • Added privilege checking to command execution
  • Safety checks for custom resources
  • Invalid file extensions prevention

• Additional Fixes: Numerous fixes improved functionality, such as addressing issues with mod loading and resource downloading in specific video quality modes.

Half-Life received a notable update on August 21, 2018, introducing several enhancements and fixes. This patch included the addition of the cl_autowepswitch cvar for improved weapon switching, alongside significant security fixes related to saving/loading, console commands, and resource loading.

• Gameplay Update: Added the cl_autowepswitch cvar for weapon switching.
• Balance Change: Fixed the MP5 spread factor for both single and multiplayer modes.
• UI/UX Improvement: Reordered columns in the server browser for better usability.
• Quality of Life: Introduced auto-saving for several cvars to enhance user experience.

Half-Life received a significant update on August 1, 2017, introducing several important changes, including security fixes and new gameplay mechanics. Notably, players gained control over auto weapon switching with the addition of the `cl_autowepswitch` cvar, allowing them to disable or enable this feature as they see fit.

• Security Fixes: The update implemented multiple security enhancements, addressing vulnerabilities related to console commands, saving/loading, and resource loading.
  • Security fixes to console commands
  • Security fixes to saving/loading
  • Security fixes to resource loading

• New Gameplay Mechanic: The addition of the `cl_autowepswitch` cvar allowed players to toggle automatic weapon switching when picking up new weapons.

• Balance Changes: The update fixed the MP5 spread factor, improving accuracy in both single-player and multiplayer modes.

• UI Improvements: The server browser received a quality of life update that reordered columns, preventing game descriptions from misrepresenting server player counts.

Half-Life 1 Beta launched for Linux and Mac OS X on January 28, 2013, marking a significant expansion of the game's accessibility. This update also introduced support for mods on these platforms, allowing creators to develop content for a broader audience.

• New Platforms: Half-Life 1 became available as a beta on Linux and Mac OS X, expanding the player base.
  • SDK Update: The August 30 update added support for modding on Linux and Mac OS X.
• Modding Enhancements: The addition of the 'edicts' option to liblist.gam allowed mods to support more than 900 entities, enhancing the complexity of user-created content.
• Gameplay Adjustments: The play command was updated to respect the speak_enabled cvar, improving the game's command responsiveness.
• Balance Changes: The maximum supported entity count in Counter-Strike 1.6 increased to 1800, allowing for more complex maps and gameplay scenarios.
• Performance Improvements: An OpenGL rendering pipeline enhancement was implemented to leverage modern GPU capabilities, improving visual fidelity and performance.