Half-Life
2 ports
Xash3D FWGS
FWGS/xash3d-fwgs
Xash3D FWGS: an engine compatible with Half-Life’s (GoldSrc) that extends it, and a heavily modified fork of Unkle Mike’s original Xash3D engine. It runs Steam Half-Life (HLSDK 2.5), its expansions, and hundreds of mods and map packs, which the project tracks in a compatibility list; for systems that can’t load the games’ original libraries it maintains hlsdk-portable, its own version of the Half-Life SDK with restored source code for the expansions and some mods. It runs on Windows, Linux, BSD, and macOS, on x86 and ARM, and on Android, iOS, PS Vita, and Switch too. It adds multiple master servers, a headless dedicated server, voice chat, GoldSrc network protocol support, and IPv6; OpenGL, GLES 1 and 2, and software renderers; .pk3 packages; gamepad and touch controls; TrueType fonts; PNG and KTX2 images; and Ogg Vorbis and Opus audio. By default it builds as 32-bit to load the Steam games’ libraries; on 64-bit or outside x86, each game’s code has to be compiled too. The latest numbered release is 0.20 (December 2019); since then it has published continuous builds, the latest on October 21.
You needThe valve folder from your own copy of Half-Life (the Steam release works), copied next to the engine; for the expansions and mods, their folders too. Plus Windows, Linux (also as an AppImage or Flatpak), BSD, or macOS, on x86 or ARM.
FTEQW
fte-team/fteqw
FTEQW: an advanced, portable Quake engine that grew from the Quake source code id Software released and plays several id Tech games, plus the games other developers have made with it. It supports Quake and its mission packs, QuakeWorld, Quake II and its mission packs, Quake III Arena and Team Arena, and Hexen II and its expansion; Half-Life and Half-Life 2 run through the Rad Therapy project. It finds games installed through Steam on its own, including the Quake and Quake II re-releases, as well as the classic Linux game folders. It renders with Direct3D 8, 9, or 11, OpenGL, or Vulkan, with a material system that accepts HLSL and GLSL shaders and video presets that make the games look like the originals or more modern, with real-time lighting. It has split-screen for Quake and most of its mods, Opus or Speex voice chat, a server browser covering every protocol it supports, a dedicated server, games with hundreds of players, IPv4 and IPv6, CD music replacement with Vorbis, MP3, WAV, or FLAC files, plugins (FFmpeg, Bullet or ODE physics), and its own QuakeC compiler, FTEQCC, which can run in-game, with a debugger. It runs on Windows, Linux, OpenBSD, and other systems, on x86, x86-64, ARM, and PPC64LE, and also on Android and the web. The builds for Windows (64- and 32-bit) and Linux (x86-64 and x86) are downloaded from its website; the GitHub repository is its official mirror, and its latest change is from June 4.
You needThe files from your own copy of one of the games (Quake, Quake II, Quake III Arena, or Hexen II, with their expansions if you have them), with the engine copied into the game’s folder; it also finds Steam installs on its own. For Quake II with the 64-bit build of the engine you also need 64-bit game logic, which the project recommends taking from Yamagi Quake II. Plus Windows, Linux, or another supported system.
Installs with
Questions
What projects are there for Half-Life?
The catalog has 2 ports for Half-Life, all on this page with their status.
What do I need to play it?
Your own copy of Half-Life (Windows). Recompendium only links projects that don’t distribute the game, and each entry says which version or region you need.
Which one is the most popular?
Xash3D FWGS, with 2,903 stars on GitHub.