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Another Half-Life patch thread

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First post, by DustyShinigami

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I've just recently installed my retail copy of Half-Life on my retro rig and I also downloaded the big download full of patches/updates. I'm completely unsure which of these patches I actually need. As most likely know, the readme says as follows:

01 - Install Half-Life […]
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01 - Install Half-Life

02 - Update Half-Life To V1.1.0.4 (hl1104.exe) [Official Update]

03 - Install Opposing Force

04 - Update Opposing Force To V1.1.0.1 (of1101.exe) [Official Update] {Only Install This Update If You Have The Version That Was Not Included With Blue Shift}

05 - Update Opposing Force To V1.1.0.6 (of1106.exe) [Official Update] {Only Install This Update If You Have The Version That Was Not Included With Blue Shift}

06 - Update Half-Life From V1.1.0.4 To V1.1.0.8 (11041106.exe/11061107.exe/11071108.exe) [Official Update]

07 - Update Opposing Force To V1.1.0.8 (of1108.exe) [Official Update]

08 - Update Half-Life From V1.1.0.8 To V1.1.1.0 (11081109.exe/11091110.exe) [Official Update]

09 - Install Blue Shift

10 - Install Half-Life: High Definition Pack

11 - Update Blue Shift To V1.0.0.1 (bspatch.exe) [Official Update]

I don't own the expansions; never played them. I don't think I've got them on Steam either, unless they're bundled with the 25th Anniversary update...? No idea if I'll ever buy them. Not too fussed. However, I'm unsure which of these many patches are needed and what order they should be installed in. I mean, if I don't install Opposing Force, does that mean I shouldn't install 1.1.0.1...? Or is it perfectly fine? I certainly don't need to install the latest update, right? Not for a retro system that doesn't have the latest hardware...?

Also, installing it vanilla, I've noticed OpenGL is broken. I get white boxes where text should be and white models. I also experienced a BSOD. I read in another thread someone installed a certain update and it fixed it for them, though I need to know what patches I should be installing first.

Thanks

OS: Windows 98 SE
CPU: Slot 1 Pentium III Coppermine 933MHz (SL448)
RAM: Kingston 256MB 133MHz
GPU: Nvidia 16MB Riva TNT/128MB Geforce 4 Ti 4200
Motherboard: ABit AB-BE6-II Intel 440BX
Sound Card: Sound Blaster Live Value CT4670

Reply 1 of 7, by feda

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For the original pre-steam release all you need is the latest (released circa 2003) official patch 1.1.1.0 which includes all previous patches.
The updates for new hardware come with the current Steam version.

Reply 2 of 7, by DustyShinigami

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feda wrote on Yesterday, 23:58:

For the original pre-steam release all you need is the latest (released circa 2003) official patch 1.1.1.0 which includes all previous patches.
The updates for new hardware come with the current Steam version.

Great! Thank you. 😄

OS: Windows 98 SE
CPU: Slot 1 Pentium III Coppermine 933MHz (SL448)
RAM: Kingston 256MB 133MHz
GPU: Nvidia 16MB Riva TNT/128MB Geforce 4 Ti 4200
Motherboard: ABit AB-BE6-II Intel 440BX
Sound Card: Sound Blaster Live Value CT4670

Reply 3 of 7, by DustyShinigami

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Oh great. I might know that it’s never that simple. I keep getting an I/O error as it copies the files. Saying it’s either a bad installation or corrupt installation file.

OS: Windows 98 SE
CPU: Slot 1 Pentium III Coppermine 933MHz (SL448)
RAM: Kingston 256MB 133MHz
GPU: Nvidia 16MB Riva TNT/128MB Geforce 4 Ti 4200
Motherboard: ABit AB-BE6-II Intel 440BX
Sound Card: Sound Blaster Live Value CT4670

Reply 4 of 7, by feda

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Probably cause you're installing the wrong update.

Reply 5 of 7, by DustyShinigami

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feda wrote on Today, 00:08:

Probably cause you're installing the wrong update.

No, no, it was definitely 1.1.1.0. I'll try re-downloading it and reinstalling the game.

OS: Windows 98 SE
CPU: Slot 1 Pentium III Coppermine 933MHz (SL448)
RAM: Kingston 256MB 133MHz
GPU: Nvidia 16MB Riva TNT/128MB Geforce 4 Ti 4200
Motherboard: ABit AB-BE6-II Intel 440BX
Sound Card: Sound Blaster Live Value CT4670

Reply 7 of 7, by leonardo

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For the record, I just recently had to reinstall Half-Life, the expansions and all the patches and here are my findings:

  • Install Half-Life and update to 1.1.1.0.
  • Launch the game once to activate and set your preferences (video modes, etc.)
  • Install Counter-Strike (if you are going to)
  • Install Opposing Force (if you are going to)
  • Launch Opposing Force once to activate and set your preferences
  • Apply the community "hotfixes"

There are a couple of community-patches that I found and gathered here.

What's in the package:
- alternate main-executable that runs the game in 32-bit color instead of 16-bit
- patch to the MP3-playback option that exists in 1.1.1.0 but would not play the right music for Opposing Force
- re-encoded much nicer looking/sounding Valve-intro video

For me the biggest deal is being able to run the game in 32-bit color so I don't have to constantly swap the desktop color depth between Half-Life and the other games, but also if you don't always want to insert the CDs for music, the patch for in-game MP3 playback is very convenient.

Also, I discovered that if I installed the games in the wrong order, somehow this would result in broken menus for the expansions. Hence, why you have to install CS *before* Opposing Force...

[Install Win95 like you were born in 1985!] on systems like this or this.

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