Half-Life 2 / Source Mod FAQ

[Gwarsbane]

http://collective.valve-erc.com/index.php?...=source_mod_faq

Here is the most important thing for us I believe...

Half-Life 1 Related

Will it be possible to port content from Half-Life 1 to Half-Life 2?



We’ve made this as painless as we could.

We learned a lot through our experiences with TFC, Counter-Strike, Day of Defeat, and so on. This engine is much more mod’able than Half-Life 1 was, and the tool set has been improved a lot. We’ll also be releasing a bunch of material to help mod teams get their existing work up and running on the new engine.

The new Hammer will load Half-Life 1 levels (.RMF or .MAP source files only). You will need to retexture, and you’ll probably need to redo most of the entities, but this is a major jumpstart compared to starting from scratch.

Models will need a little touching up in QC files and also need to be recompiled in order to work in the HL2 engine. Again, you must have the original source data in order to do this.

Almost all parts of the HL2 SDK will be a little bit familiar to those who have worked with the HL1 SDK. Of course, there are a lot of new features, options, and systemic changes to explore, but overall the modding experience for HL2 is very similar to HL1.
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Will the HL2 SDK include tools to help convert HL1 content to HL2?



Yes, the HL2 SDK will include several tools for this; for example, taking a WAD file and converting its contents to the new material format. Details and tips about converting HL1 code and content to HL2 will also be included.

So do you think we will be able to port Ricochet over to HL2 ourselves? :D

[PIX]

Won't the new HL be based on a totally different engine? That would be like porting a VHS movie to DVD. It will still look and run like the old version but within a new format. Sounds like a lotta work to make it look the same.

Just my thoughts. ;)

[Gwarsbane]

Sure it will look the same at first, but with porting it over we will lean how to do a few things with it and maybe change things and add new things.

I'm buying HL2 and I would like to be able to play Ricochet with it. I will still keep HL1 installed thou.

[kermit]

agreed...we need higher polygon models, kick ass textures, possibly new gameplay, an almost bug-free experience, more quality maps...and some slick-new features that are now availble to us w/ the hl2 engine.

i noticed in the trailer that you can have a playable character made of fire...we have an ice disc in the game...so i think it's obvious what we can do here.

porting the same ol' game to the new engine is not worth our time. but making "ricochet 2: warriors of the disc"...now that's a good idea.

porting the same ol' game is like putting a mercedes hood ornament on your ford festiva.

[Apex]

Dont forget some new weapons like some dinner plates to throw and the ability to cut limbs off too :lol:

[Pique]

anyone have the original (first 3) map sources?
you know like the .rmf or .map files?

The new Hammer will load Half-Life 1 levels (.RMF or .MAP source files only). You will need to retexture, and you’ll probably need to redo most of the entities, but this is a major jumpstart compared to starting from scratch.

would be cool to convert it, but we'd need the sources, unless someone else wants to make em.

[sage_4]

i think the key word there is retexturing. with some model tweaking, and the new highres textures, it will look hella better.

[Pique]

i dont know if that last post was directed at me or not, so sorry if it wasn't sage.

Let me rephrase my last post.

The new Hammer will load Half-Life 1 levels (.RMF or .MAP source files only).

Right now we do not have an rc_deathmatch.map/.rmf, a rc_deathmatch2.map/.rmf, or a rc_arena.map/.rmf

So unless somebody gets them or somebody makes them or HL2 runs .bsp files (highly unlikely) then we will not have those 3 maps listed above for a "remake"

[sage_4]

it was actually more towards pix's comment that it will all look the same, so srry for the confusion. also, i wasnt really looking at it for ricochet, i was thinking other mods like natural selection or counterstrike. the maps are already pretty good in natural selection, and new textures would make them look amazing.

[Pique]

ns maps are ***I'm Stupid for Swearing***ing amazing....sorry for the swear right there...but if youve seen em....it deserves that extra holy shit i am gonna crap my pants cause this shit is just too damn good.

[sage_4]

lol, i wonder why it didnt capture those second ones.... anyway, yes, the ns maps are brilliant. not only is it level design that matches that of the valve team in complexity and realism, but it also takes the HL engine to its very limit. sometimes in valve im sick of staring at the same old structures with the same old textures, but ns is practically a whole new game in that aspect.

also: the next version of natural Selection is coming out July 31st. this would be a great time for all u ppl who have never played it to try it out because it will be very different from the original version. check out http://www.natural-selection.org for all the details.