Half-Life 2: Enhancement Mod

[Ereinion]

This actually looks really awesome! I've been trying to find a mod that adds effects like DoF and such to vanilla HL2. I'm a graphics freak. I have so many ideas for custom shaders or filters or materials, but I have small knowledge of C++ (all I know is the "Hello World" program) and a crappy computer (2GB RAM, 32x Windows 7) so I can't run the newest Cinematic Mod, which I would definitely use. I was wondering if there was a download link or anything anywhere.

[Porky-da-Corgi]

This actually looks really awesome! I've been trying to find a mod that adds effects like DoF and such to vanilla HL2. I'm a graphics freak. I have so many ideas for custom shaders or filters or materials, but I have small knowledge of C++ (all I know is the "Hello World" program) and a crappy computer (2GB RAM, 32x Windows 7) so I can't run the newest Cinematic Mod, which I would definitely use. I was wondering if there was a download link or anything anywhere.

Thanks for your feedback on the mod, we're glad people like it!
I'm hoping that, while making this look as best it can, it will still be able to be playable on computers like yours. Though that might not happen with all the things we're adding/hoping to add.
The mod isn't out yet, it's still in pretty early stages, we still have to re-do a lot of the textures, all the maps (doing stuff like smoothing out hard edges, adding more detail, ect.), and many other things. It might be out round this time next year, if we're lucky, though I can't promise anything.
On a side note: If we do add DoF, it will be toggelable, as I for one, hate DoF in games, as it's very unrealistic, and can be quite hindering to the player, imho.

[Ereinion]

Thanks for your feedback on the mod, we're glad people like it!
I'm hoping that, while making this look as best it can, it will still be able to be playable on computers like yours. Though that might not happen with all the things we're adding/hoping to add.
The mod isn't out yet, it's still in pretty early stages, we still have to re-do a lot of the textures, all the maps (doing stuff like smoothing out hard edges, adding more detail, ect.), and many other things. It might be out round this time next year, if we're lucky, though I can't promise anything.
On a side note: If we do add DoF, it will be toggelable, as I for one, hate DoF in games, as it's very unrealistic, and can be quite hindering to the player, imho.

Thanks, man! I like the kind of work you guys do, and I would love to start to get into it. I'm starting to learn how to use the Source Shader Editor through some tutorials/trial and error and I really wanted to implement the SSAO shader that comes with the standalone version of that in Half-Life 2. It's good to know someone other than FF is creating a new vision of HL2 (while the only gripe I have with his is the fact that I can't play it.) At the moment, I really just want to implement a nice looking lens flare in my HL2 without over/under doing it. Maybe a more desaturated, blue-ish color scheme and vignetting around the edges. The warmer scheme in the vanilla game just annoys me after being able to play through the first load of HL2 with cinematic mod. It is nice to know that you doing this, and I look forward to playing this sometime! Will you be releasing any demo versions of this before the full release? Anyways, best of luck, in your future endeavors!

[GyroMeepo]

Sorry we haven't posted here in forever guys! We've been really busy, and recently particle prodigy The Vman joined the team!

Meanwhile Porky works on textures and me and Ken work on fixing up globallight.

One thing I'd like to know is if it is possible to have CSGO's Fancy Cascaded Shadow Maps in Alien Swarm (like this old post: viewtopic.php?f=12&t=35994&start=30#p475312). It would solve our globallight problem and be really optimized! Or really, any help on shadows and especially character modelling would be appreciated!

[Gary]

Ken work on fixing up globallight.

I'll have to find out if he is still uses my old base for that...

One thing I'd like to know is if it is possible to have CSGO's Fancy Cascaded Shadow Maps in Alien Swarm (like thos old post: viewtopic.php?f=12&t=35994&start=30#p475312). It would solve our globallight problem and be really optimized!

It's probably possible... Well, actually, a CSM system was implemented in Bio's deferred mod. But it uses a new lighting pass that overrides the old system. And a shadow mapping system Bio wrote himself. So you can't easily port it without the deferred rendering pass.

You can do a lot in Source, but unless you find a graphics programmer(like Bio), it probably won't be worth the huge amount of time, effort, and problems you'll run into. The best we probably got right now(excluding the deferred mod) is the "globallight" method.

One thing I wanted to look into at one point a while back, was using a local shadowing system. Local, as in per dynamic entity. It would probably be based off the existing one, which currently creates a procedural(generated in code) subtractive(makes darker) texture and projects it onto the world(BSP). But instead of only projecting onto BSP, they would project onto themselves and other models. A few games already do this. Mainly on consoles cause it's cheaper, but it can give you nicer looking shadows. They still have down sides(any system will, especially one modders will be able to do), one would be that brush geometry and static meshes wouldn't *cast* them. And any other problems the current system has(projecting onto one another, going "through" other objects, etc.). But they would still be cheaper, and can give you a nice effect. Look at the shadows in Halo3/Reach/ODST, Lost Planet(1), Dead Rising(1, and indoor areas of 2), and most Unreal Engine 3 games during gameplay(they all use a bit of shadow mapping in cutscenes)

[Boncey]

Nice job ripping Filip Victor's map from HL2 Update Mod 2.0!

[Jordash]

Did they? They just look like HL2 maps to me.

[amckern]

so i assume you have not seen fake factory?

http://cinematicmod.com

[Gary]

Yeah. That's gonna be a hard mod to compete with. I actually really liked FF after setting Alyx to use the stock model. Though I wasn't too excited over some of the citizens. The mapping was really nice.

[amckern]

Do not get me wrong, i like what your doing, but why re-invent the wheel? is basically the question i am trying to get across.

[Armageddon]

Yeah. That's gonna be a hard mod to compete with. I actually really liked FF after setting Alyx to use the stock model. Though I wasn't too excited over some of the citizens. The mapping was really nice.

Fake Factory never looked anything liek those pictures for me, there were no extra foliage models or anything, and the citizens they show in the pictures are not the citizens in-game, in the pictures there are these cool accessories everyone has randomly but in-game it's just the base model. It was supposed to add trees to C17 but it didn't.

[[Steve]]

Hows things going on the codeing side of the project? fully ported hl2 to swarm yet?
reminds me i still need to finish my port sometime , hopefully before ep3 releases

[GyroMeepo]

Hows things going on the codeing side of the project? fully ported hl2 to swarm yet?
reminds me i still need to finish my port sometime , hopefully before ep3 releases

HL2's been fully ported for a while, its just that we're always breaking things

Yeah. That's gonna be a hard mod to compete with. I actually really liked FF after setting Alyx to use the stock model. Though I wasn't too excited over some of the citizens. The mapping was really nice.

Yeah, to be honest my worst fear with this mod is that we both get locked in tense competition or fan wars. Though, like most of my worst fears, thats not likely to happen at all.

Do not get me wrong, i like what your doing, but why re-invent the wheel? is basically the question i am trying to get across.

Really, its kind of the same thing with Black Mesa. We love Half-Life 2, and hate to see it getting so aged compared to all the shiny and fancy (and sunray filled) games. Plus it will (hopefully) provide a new set of updated materials, shaders, etc. for HL2 Modders to work with. And, as with all mods, to give us something to collaborate on!

[Porky-da-Corgi]

Whoa, this became active

so i assume you have not seen fake factory?

http://cinematicmod.com

Yes, we've seen FF CM.
In my honest opinion, it sucks, a lot. Sure it looks nice, because of the textures and mapping work he's done, but he's made quite a few bad decisions. Some being, Adding excessive trees and making it look too lush in a lot of areas especially round the city and coast, completely changing the atmosphere so much and making the whole thing really dark (you now have to use your flashlight through 80%-90% of the game!), making such crappy models (by crappy I don't mean bad, as they're quite good. I mean crappy as in, they look nothing like their original counterparts), not actually making high quality textures for a lot of stuff (he just overlays a repeating texture on top of the existing one after resizing it. No $detail maps which he should have used if he was doing that).

Our mod is made to improve HL2 graphically, while keeping the general look, atmosphere, feel, gameplay, sounds, and models of the originals. Also adding a few enemies that were cut, right now we have 2 planned (and probably won't have anymore added than those 2) Bullsquids and Houndeyes.
I always wanted to have a enhanced HL2, but alas the only thing out there is CM, which has batched the HL2 series.

Do not get me wrong, i like what your doing, but why re-invent the wheel? is basically the question i am trying to get across.

Because I'm unsatisfied with what we have now, and would like to give the community something better. Also, we are not re-inventing the wheel, we're merely perfecting it.

Nice job ripping Filip Victor's map from HL2 Update Mod 2.0!

They're not Filip Victor's maps. When did you see 3D windows in his maps anyway?

Hows things going on the codeing side of the project? fully ported hl2 to swarm yet?
reminds me i still need to finish my port sometime , hopefully before ep3 releases

It's all ported, but there's still quite a few bugs, but those will be resolved once the mappers have finished revamping the maps.

[ErikKiller]

Bullsquids and Houndeyes.

Doing it according to Raising the Bar? Chapters 3 and 4 I assume then? Because I don't want to run into them in a place they do not fit into.