Half-Life 2 Gets New Patch

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home November 29, 2024 6 Views 6 Min Read
Half-Life 2 Gets New Patch



Key Takeaways

  • Valve released a new patch for Half-Life 2, fixing audio and display issues, but also controversially removing a pipe’s collision.
  • Despite the reversal of a legitimate fix, the removal of the invisible wall should not affect normal players’ experience of the game.



Valve has released a new patch for Half-Life 2 less than a month after it received a major update. This patch fixes a number of issues with Half-Life 2, and oddly enough, reverses a fix the update made, in an effort to please the community.

After the game reached a venerable age of 20 years old, Valve released a major update for Half-Life 2 to celebrate the occasion. In addition to brand-new commentary, a documentary, and Steam Workshop integration, the developers also fixed a number of bugs that had been lingering in the title for years. The vast majority of these updates were well-received, but speedrunners found themselves stymied when Valve released the update.

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The new patch for Half-Life 2 primarily fixes audio and display issues. Problems with music and commentary not playing correctly during or following level loads, for example, have been fixed. Gamepad stick sensitivity can now be adjusted with a slider, gamepad buttons should no longer get stuck after saving, and players should see fewer crashes while changing episodes. One thing that stands out in the update notes, however, is the removal of collision from an underwater tube. Valve notes in the update notes that speed runners “enjoy” it, but had nothing more to say about it in the official update.


As noted by RockPaperShotgun, the underwater tube in question is in the sewers of the Route Kanal sequence. Speed runners discovered that their usual route had been blocked off with collision, preventing them from competing with established records using the pipe. This invisible wall was apparently always included in the Xbox 360 version of Half-Life 2, but was absent on PC. Without the invisible wall, players used to be able to glitch their way up to the tube without having to turn a valve to flood the room first.


Updating a game as old as Half-Life 2 without breaking more than it fixed was likely a tough task for Valve. Patching a problem created by the update would be something players would expect of a good game developer, but it’s surprising to see a legitimate fix be undone in order to please a niche portion of Half-Life 2‘s fans. However, the presence – or lack of – of the invisible wall should have no real impact on those who play the game normally, as they wouldn’t be able to access the pipe until they flooded the area anyway. Removing the blockage was a simple gesture that has likely pleased speed runners.


Half-Life 2 November 26, 2024 Update Patch Notes

  • Enable support to keep music playing during level transitions throughout the base Half-Life 2 campaign (no convar needed).
  • Added support for displaying an active Workshop campaign name in your Steam friends list.
  • Added a slider to the settings menu to allow scaling stick sensitivity for gamepads.
  • Fixed issue with overlapping commentary tracks if a commentary track was playing between level loads.
  • Fixed issue where gamepad buttons may be permanently stuck pressed after saving the game.
  • UI fonts updated for better support in Cyrillic languages.
  • Fixed Thai font rendering on Linux.
  • Added initial support for Ukranian and Vietnamese.
  • Various crash fixes when switching between episodes.
  • Fixed soundscape playback for the Citadel menu background map.
  • Removed collision from an underwater tube that speed runners enjoy.
  • Updated localization files.


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