Half Life 2 HD Mod

[Voodoo]

Article by iHap

Half Life 2 is a few years old and graphics wise doesn't compare to some of the new games that are coming out that have fantastic graphics. Video game graphics aren't what make a game really good; the story line, sounds, protagonist, antagonist, and the characters that you encounter through your journey. What Half Life 2 brings to the table is a FPS that flows with how a FPS should be. The graphics Valve made for HL2 were not the best in the world. They were good for it's time but with it being 2009, now trying to play HL2 again it feels weird compared to Left 4 Dead. Half Life 2 needed a boost in their graphics to compete with their newer games. FakeFactory provides that, they turned an old game with lesser graphics and turned it into something great. The visuals they provided are spectacular compared to what it used to be. If you are looking to play HL2 again I highly suggest downloading this HD Mod and using.

I should add that you do need Half Life 2, Episode 1, and Episode 2 to actually run this mod. You can't just start up the original HL2 links in your Game Browser, you have to explore to "C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\SourceMods\FAKEFACTORY_CM9" and start up the game through the executable in that folder.

Thanks to biosc1 for the links to the torrents.

FakeFactory V9.0 Base (http://www.fileplanet.com/195959/190000/fileinfo/Half-Life-2---FakeFactory-Cinematic-Mod-V9.0-Base)[4.6GB]
FakeFactory V9.0 Base Torrent (http://torrents.thepiratebay.org/4456740/Fakefactory____s_Cinematic_Mod_V9_BASE.4456740.TPB .torrent)[4.6GB]
FakeFactory V9.5 Patch (http://www.fileplanet.com/195962/190000/fileinfo/Half-Life-2---FakeFactory-Cinematic-Mod-Patch-v9.5-)[1.6GB]
FakeFactory V9.5 Patch Torrent (http://torrents.thepiratebay.org/4644313/Half-Life_2_-_FakeFactory_Cinematic_Mod_V9.5.4644313.TPB.torren t)[1.6GB]

[biosc1]

erm....my apologies about the messed up torrent links. You only need the second, v9.5, link. It incorporates both the v.9 and v9.5 data and comes in at a nice whopping 6GB. When I first posted it, the description on the torrent listed it as only v9.5 and 1.6GB, but it comes across now as 6GB.

Takes a while to download, but it's definitely a nice improvement on the game.

[Dukefrukem]

I'm excited to play this now. I'm gonna post some before and after shots of the mod.

[biosc1]

I'm excited to play this now. I'm gonna post some before and after shots of the mod.

Bear in mind, that it's not just higher quality textures, but also different textures as well...as seen in this shot, notice the difference between the trains and the walkway and the back wall. Runs really well though :)

...and I just noticed the lighting is different too. These shots are both with all settings maxed. Originally 1920x1200, but I had to "snip" them to get under the size limit for ImageShack.

nomod:
http://img105.imageshack.us/img105/9059/nomod1hl2dc7.jpg

Mod
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/6295/mod1hl2tf8.jpg

[Food Nipple]

I am a failure as a graphics whore, I still think the top image looks great.

[Dukefrukem]

That's awesome! Thanks for the shots!

[muddi900]

I see no images!

[H.Bogard]

I am a failure as a graphics whore, I still think the top image looks great.

It does look great, which is credit to Valve's artistry. The bottom one is the kind that you'll appreciate more in motion, as I can notice HDR (which requires different textures with the tonemap thingies applied).

[divinechaos]

The lighting is so much more realistic in the bottom one, I'd love to see some videos of the mod.

[biosc1]

The lighting is so much more realistic in the bottom one, I'd love to see some videos of the mod.

If I wasn't at work, I would fire up XFire and take video for you. Maybe I'll do that tonight, if I have time.

I did notice that the mod works best for HL2, less so for Ep1, and even less so for Ep2...which makes sense, considering Ep2 is the newest one. Then again, I only quickly ran through the first minute of Ep1 and Ep2. I'm going to transfer over my save files from the non-modded version and do some late game comparisons.


Another note is that you have to reset the control mapping. The modder was a fan of mouse and arrow keys, not the more common WASD mappings.

[muddi900]

HL2 is one of the best looking games I've ever played. I see no reason flash it up. though I will this a try when I have time.

[Dukefrukem]

wow when you install it, it says you need 4GB of RAM. failure.

[biosc1]

wow when you install it, it says you need 4GB of RAM. failure.

Yah, just ignore that. Works fine.

[Jackel]

I'll probably be picking this graphics mod up next time I'm down south. It looks amazing.

[hunterx280]

I've been playing this the last couple days and it's pretty good. The problem is that it runs a little slow in certain areas for no reason at all. Fiddling with the graphics settings then putting them back seems to fix it for a while then it starts all over again and I'm not sure why. I've also encountered a few glitches like the water not refracting anything below it. During the car sequence, the buggy literally fell through the map (may not be the mods fault but hard to say) and a completely missing texture on a character. It's not perfect but it sure is pretty.

On the other hand, I still think one of my favorite parts in this game is the sequence where you are underneath the bridge, it's beautiful and despite not having the latest and greatest graphics, still feels and looks realistic to me. I'm not sure what Valve does but it is really immersive and looks even better with this mod. I'm just entering into Nova Prospekt which is another favorite part of this game.

I'm almost tempted to play through the regular version just to see what it's like without the mod.

Oddly enough, the sequence with the boat isn't as bad as I remember it but the car is.

Sorry for all the random thoughts. It's Friday and I'm tired.

[TheEpicOfTyler]

I don't really like the FakeFactory stuff for HL2... The character models look awful IMO.

[hunterx280]

I don't really like the FakeFactory stuff for HL2... The character models look awful IMO.

So far I haven't noticed a huge difference in the character models. The only one I really noticed was Alyx. Her hair looked a lot better but other than that they look a little cleaner than the old, sometimes muddy textures of the original game.

[H.Bogard]

Mod tells me I have invalid GCF files (despite having L4D and TOB).

Help? :(

[hunterx280]

Mod tells me I have invalid GCF files (despite having L4D and TOB).

Help? :(

Were you running Steam while it installed? It was very adamant about not having Steam running while the install is in progress but if you barrel through like we do some times it would be easy to miss. Try uninstalling then re-installing.

[H.Bogard]

Were you running Steam while it installed? It was very adamant about not having Steam running while the install is in progress but if you barrel through like we do some times it would be easy to miss. Try uninstalling then re-installing.

Yeah, since I don't own those I was running it on a friend's computer and Steam account. I'll try to get him to re-install now though.

[hunterx280]

Also, did you have HL2, Ep1 and Ep2 installed? I installed all 3 just in case. It says you must own them somewhere but doesn't say anything about whether or not they need to be installed if I remember right. I installed them just to make sure.