Yes, Half-Life Was Patched This Week. No, it's Not for Half-Life 3

[ffronw]

Yes, Half-Life Was Patched This Week. No, it's Not for Half-Life 3

//cdn.themis-media.com/media/global/images/library/deriv/1418/1418242.jpgIt's been four years since the last patch for Half-Life, but this week there's a new one.

There's a brand new patch for the original Half-Life. While this does prove that Valve is still working on their classic shooter, it probably doesn't mean that Half-Life 3 is confirmed.

The patch rolled out Monday on Steam, and it fixes a few bugs and crash issues. It seems to be an engine-level patch, as it not only affects Half-Life, but also Team Fortress Classic, Day of Defeat, Counter-Strike: Condition Zero, Half-Life: Blue Shift, Half-Life: Opposing Force, Deathmatch Classic and Ricochet.

The patch notes are below.

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

Permalink

 

[Ironman126]

Huh? People still play GoldSrc-based games? Christ, I wasn't aware people still played Source-based games.

 

[Bindal]

Huh? People still play GoldSrc-based games? Christ, I wasn't aware people still played Source-based games.

How else do you play Half-Life, Half-Life Expansions and Half-Life Mods? On good faith?

 

[Ugicywapih]

This makes perfect sense!

I guess Valve just keeps the HL team locked in a pocket dimension with a skewed passage of time, so from their perspective the game is still fairly recent. I'm sure we'll get HL3 around 2084 AD, and due to a flux in space-time continuum, HL2 episode 3 got released in 1723 to poor critical reviews and ample accusations of witchcraft.

 

[Ironman126]

Huh? People still play GoldSrc-based games? Christ, I wasn't aware people still played Source-based games.

How else do you play Half-Life, Half-Life Expansions and Half-Life Mods? On good faith?

They've been out for 19 years, hasn't everyone who's gonna play them already done so? Besides that, it's been 19 years, who patches a game after that long? What incentive is there? I'm not complaining about a company maintaining their software after all this time, but I am confused as to way Valve would bother patching such an old set of games with a statistically insignificant player base.

 

[Vigormortis]

but I am confused as to way Valve would bother patching such an old set of games with a statistically insignificant player base.

Team Fortress 2, CS:GO, CS:S, CS 1.6, and Left 4 Dead 2 post daily player counts in the tens of thousands. There are still quite sizeable communities that play Source and GoldSrc-based games.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

Valve still has people that work on games? I must admit I'm surprised.

But seriously, I can't help but be a little depressed by this news. Yeah, it's nice that even after all these years, there's still a team (or maybe just a person) who is willing to work on and patch this game, but how sad is it in terms of Half-Life news? A series that so many people have been waiting for more of, and because we're so starved for any hint of activity, this is a news story. And I don't just mean on The Escapist. I've seen this story at other places too.

 

[Bobular]

Well that's basically confirmed HL3 right there. And your going to be able to carry your save file across from Half Life 1 which is obviously the real reason they updated the game.

 

[Poetic Nova]

Huh? People still play GoldSrc-based games? Christ, I wasn't aware people still played Source-based games.

I stil replay HL1, Op4 and BS from time to time actually.

 

[MHR]

I'm not gonna say Half-Life 3 confirmed



























































But HL3 fucking confirmed

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Fuck Half-Life 3, Valve has its priorities straight: patching a 20 year old game.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Now maybe they could patch Portal 2 so its shaders aren't completely broken for the underground levels.

 

[Bindal]

Huh? People still play GoldSrc-based games? Christ, I wasn't aware people still played Source-based games.

How else do you play Half-Life, Half-Life Expansions and Half-Life Mods? On good faith?

They've been out for 19 years, hasn't everyone who's gonna play them already done so? Besides that, it's been 19 years, who patches a game after that long? What incentive is there? I'm not complaining about a company maintaining their software after all this time, but I am confused as to way Valve would bother patching such an old set of games with a statistically insignificant player base.

People can play singleplayer-games more than once, you know? Or do you never touch a singleplayer game ever again after you finished it?
And Valves incentive is to ensure that the product they still sell also still works as best as it can.

 

[Zontar]

I'm more surprised by the fact companies other then Valve (who let their employees literally choose what they work on, though I'm not sure if the claim their desks are on wheels to make that easier are true or not) do stuff like this then Valve themselves. It's a surprise when a 20 year old game gets a patch from a company that wants to dictate every little thing its employees are working on. It's another when it's a company that said employees can do that by their own choice.

Now, when is TF2 finally going to get the update that moves it to the Source 2? And will Garry ever make a sequel mod to the only game his company has made that people care about?

 

[cikame]

Huh? People still play GoldSrc-based games? Christ, I wasn't aware people still played Source-based games.

That's part of what makes Valve so special in this industry, of course they couldn't afford to keep their old games updated if they weren't so profitable, but where other publishers/developers are content to leave their games in unplayable states or waiting to repackage and sell them again, Valve's back catalogue have been constantly updated and run great on modern systems. Even the Gearbox developed expansions are updated, it's a shame they don't do the same for their Brothers in Arms series, i don't think Earned in Blood has been playable on the last several versions of Windows.

 

[Metalrocks]

i rather read about HL3 being made. every now and then i do play them all. at least something was done from valve. even though its not what we want.

 

[Battenberg]

They've been out for 19 years, hasn't everyone who's gonna play them already done so?

What about:

-People who aren't old enough to play it yet
-People only getting into gaming now who are curious about a landmark title in gaming history
-People who replay it because they liked it
-Possibly even people getting into game design who may study the game at some point

There's probably people who'll play for reasons I haven't though of but those are the ones that immediately spring to mind when I see daft logic like that.

 

[DoPo]

They've been out for 19 years, hasn't everyone who's gonna play them already done so?

The beauty of single player games is that they can be replayed. The beauty of multiplayer games is that they can also be played as long as there is a community for them. Right now Counter-Strike is the 27th most played game on steam [http://store.steampowered.com/stats/]. I'd say there seems to be an audience for it

Besides that, it's been 19 years, who patches a game after that long?

Valve do. Blizzard also do.

What incentive is there?

Because people still play the games.

I'm not complaining about a company maintaining their software after all this time, but I am confused as to way Valve would bother patching such an old set of games with a statistically insignificant player base.

If you only go for "statistically significant", stuff, should they just drop everything and only work on Dota 2? It is the most played game on Steam - not Valve's, just in general. Does that mean that they only ever need to work on that?

Also, what happens if a developer has spare time but cannot currently contribute to anything else? Picking up a bug and fixing it seems like a good use for their time.

 

[BreakfastMan]

I actually think it is pretty damn cool that they are still updating the game and fixing issues almost 20 years after the game came out. I mean, what other studio has released a patch for a game 20 years after it came out?

 

[DoPo]

I actually think it is pretty damn cool that they are still updating the game and fixing issues almost 20 years after the game came out. I mean, what other studio has released a patch for a game 20 years after it came out?

Blizzard.