# Half-Life 2 Half-Life 2 20th Anniversary Update - Product: Half-Life 2 (https://whatsnew.fyi/product/half-life-2) - Vendor: Valve - Date: 2024-11-15 - Original notes: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/220/view/6633333780228604001 - Permalink: https://whatsnew.fyi/product/half-life-2/releases/2024-11-15-half-life-2-20th-anniversary-update What's New is an index, not a publisher: every entry below links to the vendor's own release notes, which are the authoritative source. Entries are labelled where they are hand-curated sample data, pre-releases, or drawn from a secondary source such as a developer blog. Reuse: the summaries, labels and curation here are © What's New. Quote freely with attribution and a link back; wholesale republication of the corpus is not permitted — terms: https://whatsnew.fyi/terms. The vendors' own release notes remain their publishers'. --- - **added** — Included Episode One and Episode Two expansions playable from the main menu - **added** — Added 3.5 hours of developer commentary for the base game - **added** — Added Steam Workshop support to browse and install community-created content - **added** — Added Lost Coast to the Extras menu - **added** — Added custom Steam Game Recording gameplay events and phases - **added** — Added bicubic filtering for lightmaps to produce smoother shadows at Very High shader detail - **added** — Added support for radial fog - **added** — Added settings to enable Classic Effects for blood and fire from the original release - **added** — Added Gamepad settings menu - **added** — Added the ability to select a weapon selection UI style while using gamepad - **added** — Added settings for separate Aim-Assist modes for mouse/keyboard and gamepad with new Enhanced mode - **added** — Added Rich Presence info while playing Half-Life 2 - **changed** — UI now scales to support higher resolutions - **changed** — Launching in Steam Big Picture mode uses gamepad-friendly UI previously available on Steam Deck - **changed** — High Dynamic Range setting moved to main Video settings page - **changed** — Specular reflectivity adjusted throughout to better match the original release - **changed** — Updated Crossbow and RPG weapon models to support ultrawide displays - **changed** — Set Antialiasing to 4x MSAA by default - **changed** — Replaced system fonts like Verdana throughout UI with GorDIN font - **fixed** — Fixed issues causing props or entire maps to be fully bright or fully dark depending on settings - **fixed** — Fixed missing grass detail sprites in many maps - **fixed** — Fixed camera clipping into vehicles at high FOV settings - **fixed** — Fixed lambda cache indicators and other decals vanishing when backtracking through map transitions - **fixed** — Fixed teeth shader rendering fully white on some GPUs - **fixed** — Fixed display of greyscale art for locked achievement icons to match Steam behavior - **fixed** — Fixed edges of certain font characters being cut off with antialiasing enabled - **fixed** — Fixed scrollbars and button animations using inverted colors - **removed** — Removed the non-functional Use bloom effect when available setting **Half-Life 2 is officially 20 years old,** and we're using this milestone as an opportunity to celebrate the community of players who have been enjoying it (or discovering it, or even re-discovering it) since November 16, 2004. ##### The complete Half-Life 2 We created [a new webpage to showcase all the updates in detail](https://half-life.com/halflife2/20th/), but here's a quick rundown of what's new: - **Episodes One and Two are in the box.** Half-Life 2 now includes the complete Episode One and Episode Two expansions along with the base game. They’re accessible from the main menu, and you will automatically advance to the next expansion after completing each one. - **Developers Commentary for Half-Life 2.** While the Episodes have always had commentary tracks, the base game never did... until now. We got the team back to record three and a half hours of new behind-the-scenes commentary for Half-Life 2. - **Integrated Steam Workshop support.** Browse, install, and play user-created content for Half-Life 2 without ever leaving the game. Look for it in the Extras menu! - **Bug fixes and new graphics options.** Visual pops, missing sprites, and mismatched lighting introduced in updates over the years have been scrubbed away. And we've added some settings to push the visual fidelity of Half-Life 2 farther than was allowed in the original release. ##### Yes, there's even a documentary! Our [Half-Life 25th anniversary documentary](http://half-life.com/halflife25) went so well that we invited [Secret Tape](http://secrettape.video) back to make another one—this time focusing on Half-Life 2. And it's about a lot more than just the making of a game. Running out of money. Getting hacked, and an early version being leaked online. Being sued by our publisher. Trying to build Steam. It's all in there! As supplementary material to go along with the documentary, we've unearthed a handful of old presentations from across Half-Life 2's development. Find videos from E3 2003, E3 2002, and Siggraph 2000 on the [20th Anniversary Update website](https://half-life.com/halflife2/20th#longlost). ##### We're also (Re) Raising the Bar: Nearly two decades since it first went out of print, [Raising the Bar is set to return](https://half-life.com/halflife2/20th#raisingthebar) in 2025 with an expanded second edition—offering a comprehensive look into the creation of the Half-Life 2, along with never-before-seen concept art from Episode One and Episode Two, and ideas and experiments for the third episode that never came to be. To everyone who has played Half-Life 2 over the last twenty years, thank you. **From now through the weekend (until November 18th at 10am Pacific) Half-Life 2 is free to own**, so if you've never played before, grab it now and keep it forever. ##### Bug Fixes and Change Notes ##### New Content - Added 3.5 hours of Developer Commentary by members of the Half-Life 2 team. - Half-Life 2: Episode One and Episode Two are now playable from the Half-Life 2 main menu. - Half-Life 2: Lost Coast has been added to the Extras menu. - Added Steam Workshop support. Play entire campaigns or replace weapons, enemies, UI, and more with content created by the community. - Added custom Steam Game Recording gameplay events and phases throughout the game. ##### Rendering and Graphics - Fixed issues causing props or entire maps to be fully bright or fully dark depending on settings. - Added bicubic filtering for lightmaps to produce smoother shadows. It can be enabled by setting Shader Detail to Very High. - Fixed missing grass detail sprites in many maps. - Added settings to enable Classic Effects that were originally in Half-Life 2. These effects can also be enabled using r_classic_blood or r_classic_fire. - Added support for radial fog. - Specular reflectivity has been adjusted throughout Half-Life 2 to better match the original release. - Updated models for the Crossbow and RPG weapons to support ultrawide displ _[Truncated at 4000 characters — full notes: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/220/view/6633333780228604001]_