Half Life 2 Tweak Guide
[Page 4] Patches, Mods & Steam
Official Patch
Half Life 2 has only recently been released, however Valve has just released a small update to resolve the "audio stuttering" issue experienced by many users (See Troubleshooting section). This patch should help get smoother gameplay in Half Life 2, and should be downloaded and installed by all users directly from Steam. The next time you start Steam and the update is available, you may be prompted to install it - you should accept this and let the game update - or it may install silently without any prompting. To find out if you've installed this fix, open your console and type mat_forcemanagedtextureintohardware. If the command exists, then your install of Half Life 2 has been patched, as this command did not exist previously. For more details of the command, see Performance Commands under the Advanced Tweaking section
Given Valve's commitment to distributing software via Steam, all updates for Half Life 2 and Steam will be available first and foremost through Steam. As soon as further updates are released for Half Life 2 I will provide specific details of them here, any performance impacts they may have, and give all the available methods by which you can download and install them. Also keep an eye on the front page of Tweakguides.com for regular updates on Half Life 2.
No-CD Patch
For those of you who have purchased Half Life 2 online from Steam, then as you well know there is no requirement for any CD or DVD to be kept in the drive when playing Half Life 2. There are still certain requirements for Steam, and these are covered in the Steam section below. Quite obviously if you're using the Steam version of the game you should not install any No-CD cracks on your system. If you're interested in backing up your legitimately purchased online copy of Half Life 2 to CD or DVD, you can do this easily and legally - see the Steam section for more details.
For those of you who purchased one of the Half Life 2 retail versions: either the normal HL2 Retail version which is 5CDs; or the HL2 Retail Collector's Edition which is 1 DVD - then you are no doubt aware that aside from the normal Steam requirements, you need to keep your CD/DVD in the drive to allow you to play Half Life 2. I am a retail purchaser of Half Life 2 and I find the DVD check incredibly annoying given Valve already has an online authentication system. I'm so annoyed in fact that I've decided to break with tradition and provide a link to the No-CD patch for the game: Half Life 2 No-CD. I give no guarantees of this No-CD working on your system, and I do not provide any support or instructions for downloading or installing the patch – the link is provided "as is". You may even have your Steam account banned for using a No-CD, so please understand the risk involved. Note that the patch does not circumvent Steam, it only removes the CD/DVD check for the retail version of Half Life 2. Please don't email me for usage instructions, or for methods of bypassing steam as I will not answer such emails for any reason.
On a final note, be very careful of any methods or software which allegedly allow you to play without Steam, as they are more than likely to be trojans designed to steal your CD Key for example. You risk having your legitimate Steam Account permanently banned, which means you will not be able to play any of your Valve games.
Mods
The new Source Engine by Valve is what powers games like Half Life 2 and Vampire: The Masquerade. The engine is extremely powerful and versatile, and continues Valve's tradition of supporting modifications (or "mods") for their games. Included with some editions of Half Life 2 (and available as separate games for purchase under Steam) are some existing mods which have been remade based on the Source engine - CounterStrike: Source, Half Life 1: Source and Day of Defeat: Source. If you've always wanted to make a Half Life mod, now is the best time thanks to the new Source Engine.
The full Source Developer's Kit (SDK) for Half Life 2 is available, and includes the game code needed to create Half Life 2/Source Mods and the ability to edit HL2 maps among other features. To install the SDK for free, open Steam and click the 'Play Games' button, or right-click on the Steam system tray item and select 'Play Games'. Under the list of currently installed games, you will find the 'Source SDK' item which you can right-click on and select 'Install game...' to download and install the SDK.
The following are resources you can access to learn more about using the Source SDK and places where you can discuss it with other mod developers: Valve SDK Documentation, HL2World Knowledgebase, VERC Collective, and the HL2 Source Mod FAQ.
If you're only interested in downloading and playing user-made mods rather than creating them, well then keep an eye on this space as I will update this guide with details of the latest and greatest free Half Life 2 mods and maps as they are released. Note that any significant mods and maps will be available for download over Steam - one of the advantages of a central distribution system for Half Life 2 Source Engine software.
Steam
Steam is an innovation of Valve's, designed for online software delivery, automatic updates and game authentication. What does this mean in simple terms? Steam is a small program which runs in the background and provides you with the ability to download full games directly from Valve, it checks to make sure that you are a legitimate owner of any Valve game you attempt to install, and it also checks to make sure your game files are the latest version available for that particular game and informs you when updates are available, allowing you to download them quickly and easily. Steam is essential to the correct functioning of Valve games like Half Life 2. This section covers some basic things you should know about Steam, provides some Steam troubleshooting tips, and the recommended settings for configuring the Steam application.
Steam Problems
If you have any questions or problems regarding Steam, you should definitely make a point of visiting (and bookmarking) the Steam Support Site. It contains answers to a range of the most common Steam-related questions, including solutions for all the error codes for example, and is always kept up to date. If none of the solutions in that FAQ or this guide have helped you fix a Steam-related issue, you can ask for official Tech Support from Valve by using this Online Request Form.
To save you some time, here are some quick answers to the most commonly asked Steam-related questions:
Backing up Steam files: If you purchased Half Life 2 online, and want to back the game up to a CD or DVD the easiest way is just to open Steam, go to the 'Play Games' list, right-click on any game you want to backup, and select 'Backup Game Files'. You will then enter a backup wizard which lets you choose which installed Valve games to backup, the destination directory, and the media type you'll be using (CD or DVD) so that it can segment the files into CD or DVD-sized portions, ready for burning.
Do I have to have an Internet Connection to play Half Life 2: The short answer is Yes. If you don't have any kind of Internet connection, you cannot play Half Life 2. Steam requires online authentication of your Half Life 2 CD Key and it also needs to download additional files to activate and complete the Half Life 2 install before it can be played. There is no legal way around this - the CD Key must be authenticated online, and sharing Steam cached files with your friends is illegal. However once you've registered your CD Key and updated Half Life 2 you can play it offline at any time without having to have an active Internet connection - see below.
Playing Half Life 2 offline: Once installed, verified and updated online, you can play Half Life 2 without having to be connected to the Internet. To do this, follow the Steam Configuration instructions further below. Then whenever you want to play offline, make sure you don't have an active Internet connection and launch Half Life 2. When prompted, select the 'Play in Offline Mode' option and the game will load and play offline. For more detailed information, including playing offline on other machines, check this: Steam Article.
How Do I keep my game updated: Go to the 'Play Games' section of Steam, and right-click on the games you want to keep updated. Then select Properties, and in the Steam properties box for the game select 'Always keep this game up to date' under the Automatic Updates section. This is highly recommended so that you don't miss important updates. Alternatively, if you don't want Steam to automatically update games as updates are released, select 'Do not automatically update this game' instead. That way you can choose if or when you actually download and install updates.
How Do I use Command Line tweaks with Steam: You can enter command line tweaks by going to 'Play Games' in Steam, right-clicking on the game you want to tweak, selecting Properties and clicking on the 'Launch Options' button. Alternatively you can right-click on the Desktop icon for the game and select Properties, and enter the tweaks in the Target box. Full details are in the Advanced Tweaking section.
Steam Configuration
The following is the recommended configuration for Steam. To access Steam, right-click on the Steam icon in your System Tray or just double-click on it. Note that Steam loads into Windows at startup by default, so you will likely already have the Steam icon in your System Tray, however if not then Steam also automatically starts whenever you launch the desktop icon for a Steam-based game like Half Life 2, or you can manually launch it by going to your \Program Files\Valve\Steam\ directory and launching the Steam.exe file.
The main Steam window has a range of options: 'Play Games' - allows you to play any of the Valve games currently installed on your system; 'Browse Games' - lets you see the range of games available for purchase and download over Steam; Friends - allows you to add friends and see whenever they are online and using Steam; Servers - allows you to view a list of servers on which you can play Valve multiplayer games; Monitor - allows you to see how much bandwidth Steam is using for updates; and News - opens the News page of the Steampowered Website to provide updated information on Steam. Finally we come to the Settings option which you should open and follow the settings recommended below:
Account: Check to make sure your account name and contact email are correct and up to date. Importantly, if you want to play Half Life 2 (or any Steam-based game) offline, leave the 'Don't save account information on this computer' unticked. This allows you to play the game without an active internet connection at any time as detailed above, and also here.
Messages: I recommend ticking the 'My Games' option to receive messages about important updates for your currently installed games, but untick 'Upcoming and new releases' to reduce the advertising spam about upcoming Valve games. If any sort of messages bother you, you can untick both options as they are not critical.
Internet: Select the Internet connection speed which matches your actual connection speed the closest - don't worry about the type of connection being exactly the same as yours as long as the speed is approximately the same. If in doubt pick a speed less than your current connection, never greater than it.
Interface: Select which window opens up by default whenever you open Steam. For example, if you always use Steam to launch your favorite games, select 'Play Games' as the default Steam window. Under the Steam Skin box, you can select a Steam skin (customized Graphical User Interface appearance) to use. The default is Grey, but you can download additional user-made Steam skins from here for example. Importantly, I recommend you untick the 'Run Steam when Windows Starts' option to minimize background resource usage at startup. Instead, you should use your desktop icon to launch your favorite Valve game, and Steam will open automatically at that time. If you don't have desktop icons, you can create them by going to the 'Play Games' section in Steam, right-click the game under your 'My Games' section and select 'Create Desktop shortcut'.
Language: Select the language of your choice here.
That covers the basics for Steam. There are many complaints by Half Life 2 players about the Steam system: the fact that it can sometimes take quite a while to authenticate and download additional files before being able to play a game, the way in which Steam errors can prevent you playing your favorite game, and the fact that there are people who either don't have an Internet connection (e.g. if they live in a remote area), or have a slow connection and hence cannot download several large files just to play a game. These are all valid complaints, however at the end of the day Valve have to ensure that they have the means by which they can reduce piracy of their products, and at the same time reduce the costs of distributing games. In the near future as usage of broadband Internet will become near universal in developed countries, along with improvements in Steam this will mean relatively smooth sailing, and hopefully much cheaper games for all of us. For the moment though, Steam is an unavoidable fact of life for Half Life 2 players, so best get used to working with it rathar than against it.
The next section of the guide covers In-Game Settings for Half Life 2.
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