AFAIK there are no builtin benchmarks like default demos, only timedemo command for running custom recorded demos similar to Q3. You would be able to run demos only that were recorded from the versions compatible with yours.

1.1.1.0 is the last official update for the non-steam ver of Half-Life.

.1 and .2 are unofficial updates for those that don't want to use the Steam ver.

Nowadays the steam ver can be easily made to not use steam so the only other possible issue with using that ver is backwards compatibility with older operating systems and possibly mod compatibility but I'm not sure.

"It also requires the Microsoft .NET v2.0 framework for some components."
bleh

gandhig wrote:

AFAIK there are no builtin benchmarks like default demos, only timedemo command for running custom recorded demos similar to Q3. You would be able to run demos only that were recorded from the versions compatible with yours.

Ok so what do I need to do in order to benchmark something?

Are there "popular" demos that I can download and then run?

I found these demos, but you have to keep your fingers crossed whether it will work with your version or not?

I couldn't check it as mine is steam version

Bah, as long as it works, don't worry about patches.

Half-life is a fun game. Love it to death. I even follow a "let's play" series: http://www.accursedfarms.com/movies/fm/

Its more of a RP than anything else. WELL worth the time to watch. AFTER you play the game.

Cool will try them out 😀

With the Geforce MX 440 I find a bit of a lag. Like a very delayed input delay. Feels weird.

miniOpenGL works great on the Voodoo.

But how do you enable VSync for the miniOpenGL driver? The Voodoo drivers only have settings for Direct3D and Glide.

Ok figured out V-Sync. It needed a restart of the game 😀

The timedemo files work when the game hasn't been patched.

A3D is very impressive considering this technology is now over 10 years old.

The current Steam version of Half-Life (1.1.2.2) doesn't support A3D and EAX. The Former version (1.1.2.1) does, but it's only available "unofficially". 😎

You might be interested in expansion packs. The first one, Opposing Force, is really great. The second one, Blue Shift, is OK. The latter comes with an optional High Definition pack.

And don't forget to register your Half-Life key on Steam, you should get the Half-Life Platinum Pack for free. It contains HL, expansions and more. 😎

Cool I will try that 😀

For this Windows 98 stuff I want to stay entirely offline and standard / official.

A3D sound is really good, considering how old this technology is, quite an achievement. It makes the game a very rich experience.

I believe in this game MiniGL has lower quality textures, at least I recall noticing something about the skybox.

d1stortion wrote:

I believe in this game MiniGL has lower quality textures, at least I recall noticing something about the skybox.

The MX440 gets higher frames, at least compared to a single Voodoo 2 as well. I tried the software render and even a P4 2.4 GHz wasn't enough 😊

I'm not finding many benchmarks of this game. Maybe because the timedemo feature wasn't as user friendly, not sure. I also haven't investigated the CPU dependency. Basically what CPU does it need. The readme file seems to suggest a Pentium machine is sufficient, but I doubt that's the case at 1024 x 768 or higher.

An MX440 is vastly faster compared to a Voodoo2. But I think a Voodoo2 should be fine to enjoy the game.

I believe it really needs at least a Pentium II though, just like Unreal. I tried the demo once on my P200MMX+Voodoo1 and it was unplayable in outdoor environments. Since lowering the resolution didn't do anything it was either limited by RAM or CPU.

I bought the Half-Life game of the year edition many years ago. It came with Opposing Force, Counterstrike, possibly Team Fortress, etc. At the time, I don't think there were any additional patches for it.

I installed and played it (and Opposing Force) on a 1.8Ghz P4 with the exact same video card (GeForce MX 440). I think I used my motherboard's onboard audio. The game ran great for me, with no lag, even during firefights with multiple soldiers. I think I used the OpenGL driver as I was informed by someone at the time that the Direct3D support was only there as a last resort and that it hadn't been fully implemented, or maybe it wasn't fully tested.

Prior to that, I had played the Half-Life: Day One demo, which is like the first 25% of the game, on my old system, which was a P2, 233Mhz with a Voodoo Banshee video card and a cheap ISA Soundblaster card. The demo mostly ran fine, but would have a lot of lag when the soldiers started showing up. That system wasn't up to animating multiple, fast-moving enemies simultaneously.

Dont think you should have a3d and eax selected
just select a3d

luckybob wrote:

Bah, as long as it works, don't worry about patches.

No no no reatil hl had a bug when it was uninstalled it also deleted the parent folder
ok if you unstalled in c:\program files\sierra\half life
not so goood if its in c:\half life

Davros wrote:

No no no reatil hl had a bug when it was uninstalled it also deleted the parent folder
ok if you unstalled in c:\program files\sierra\half life
not so goood if its in c:\half life

so, don't uninstall it?

AFAIK, Sierra Utilities has that bug, not Half-Life.

d1stortion wrote:

I believe in this game MiniGL has lower quality textures, at least I recall noticing something about the skybox.

There shouldn't be. However the MiniGL does tell the card to apply the 4x1 filter...

In Uplink at least the skybox seems to use a different dithering pattern in each of the renderers. Also MiniGL crashes when the resolution is set to >1024x768. I didn't test replacement MiniGL versions.