Yes, there are performance updates for modern hardware, but you are running a completely different version of the Source engine than what is used on Steam, which has significant improvements in functionality and performance. Your system isn't intended to be used with that version and it wouldn't give you any benefits.

While it did something about the busted fog, be warned the flame effect did change and doesn't match the lightmap anymore. There's also been some model changes (i.e. the vortigaunt) as some episode one/two assets were backported.

I am also running HL2 on windows 98 and set it to the lower limit of the HL2 hardware spec and it runs fine, no issues

I can see why, perhaps, black mesa offers more gameplay opportunities than the original HL due to its engine

are HL2 differences so considerable that some versions are better (in gameplay terms) than others?

gerry wrote on 2023-07-21, 07:28:

I can see why, perhaps, black mesa offers more gameplay opportunities than the original HL due to its engine

are HL2 differences so considerable that some versions are better (in gameplay terms) than others?

IIRC at one point the engine and the whole game got updated to Episode 2's version of Build and it improved lighting significantly for the game, adding things like HDR to it as well as updating some character models. If I am misremembering someone will probably correct me on this, I'm sure 😀 From a gameplay perspective, it changes nothing AFAIK, but it adds to immersion.

gerry wrote on 2023-07-21, 07:28:

are HL2 differences so considerable that some versions are better (in gameplay terms) than others?

Only difference I'm aware of is HDR lighting that got introduced to the engine at some point. The only problem with that is if you don't happen to like it and would like to play the game with it turned off some levels in the game will look like crap because the maps that still had the old lighting are gone from the game. Oddly you can still turn HDR on and off even though it's kinda required.

It's been a while, so that could have changed and there could be other workarounds. I've always just kept HDR on, most of the time it looks good to me. Sometimes it can go unnecessarily bright but that's most definitely not exclusive to HL2 HDR, give a developer a new toy and they go silly with them. The city wall at the beginning of Dark Messiah of Might and Magic is permanently burned to my retinas, not to mention the bloom craze of mid 2000s.

https://youtu.be/aH7DKoSnu44
https://youtu.be/40WG4dGKoRY

Also, the current version doesn't work on XP and I assume neither on W98. Though last time I checked you could downgrade to the latest XP compatible version. I still don't know if that one works on W98.

appiah4 wrote on 2023-07-21, 08:14:

IIRC at one point the engine and the whole game got updated to Episode 2's version of Build and it improved lighting significantly for the game, adding things like HDR to it as well as updating some character models. If I am misremembering someone will probably correct me on this, I'm sure 😀 From a gameplay perspective, it changes nothing AFAIK, but it adds to immersion.

Sombrero wrote on 2023-07-21, 08:27:

Only difference I'm aware of is HDR lighting that got introduced to the engine at some point. The only problem with that is if you don't happen to like it and would like to play the game with it turned off some levels in the game will look like crap because the maps that still had the old lighting are gone from the game. Oddly you can still turn HDR on and off even though it's kinda required.

It's been a while, so that could have changed and there could be other workarounds. I've always just kept HDR on, most of the time it looks good to me. Sometimes it can go unnecessarily bright but that's most definitely not exclusive to HL2 HDR, give a developer a new toy and they go silly with them. The city wall at the beginning of Dark Messiah of Might and Magic is permanently burned to my retinas, not to mention the bloom craze of mid 2000s.

thanks - i wont worry about getting the latest if gameplay is the same then 😀

RandomStranger wrote on 2023-07-21, 09:09:

https://youtu.be/aH7DKoSnu44
https://youtu.be/40WG4dGKoRY

i'll admit i struggled to see significant changes between new/old shots of the game even when they were being pointed out!

One thing you have to keep in mind is that there are several different versions of HL2 available at this time and all use different versions of the Source engine. Obviously, some are still playing the stock HL2 that shipped on CD/DVD media, ages ago. Then, there is the Orange Box version, the HL2 Update Steam Community mod version, and the stock Steam version (always changing), and there's the Source 2 version(s) of HL2 that are in the mod/designer community. The HL2 Update Steam Community version is considered to be the definitive (stock) HL2 experience, with fixes and updates made from community feedback and support, but it's now long out of date, so it's not something you want to get into, except as a curious experiment to see.