Modder Sorta Gets Half-Life 2 Running On Switch (It’s Actually Portal)
Let go, Valve, I gained’t be contained!Image: Valve / Nintendo / Kotaku
So, Portal: The Companion Collection, a bundle of Valve’s 3D puzzle-platformers Portal and Portal 2, simply dropped on the Nintendo Switch. But not lengthy after its shock launch throughout this week’s Direct Mini Partner Showcase, a modder named OatmealDome has already discovered a technique to get the celebrated FPS Half-Life 2 operating on the Switch, and it kinda works.
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OatmealDome is comparatively well-known within the Nintendo datamining and modding neighborhood. They offered findings on the character of Nintendo’s GBA emulator for Switch and uncovered fixes to NSO’s The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. That’s to say, they’ve been across the block.
Their newest accomplishment was loading Half-Life 2 into the Switch model of Portal. There have been a couple of points with the mod: It sometimes crashed, whereas OatmealDome additionally mentioned that some maps have been “impossible to progress in,” saves didn’t work, NPC animations have been bugged, and world cameras spawned incorrectly. Still, the outcomes have been wanting fairly passable.
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And I imply that actually: OatmealDome masses up Portal, just for it to truly boot as Half-Life 2! What the what? Anyway, of their video they briefly scroll by way of some menus, numerous settings and button instructions earlier than beginning a New Game at Chapter 7, titled “Highway 17.” This a part of the sport sees protagonist Gordon Freeman whipping it by way of a freeway in a buggy to rescue Eli Vance from the villains in Nova Prospekt, beating goon ass with a crowbar alongside the best way.
There’s some occasional stuttering in OatmealDome’s clip, however for essentially the most half, Half-Life 2 appears to run with out a hitch. The gunfire audio syncs with the weapons. The digicam’s monitoring strikes fairly easily. And graphically, it appears to be like serviceable sufficient for being a mere Switch mod of a unique sport.
Valve / OatmealDome and Simonx22
“The main reason why this works so well is that Portal 1 is basically just a glorified mod for Half-Life 2,” OatmealDome tweeted. “For example, the player code for Portal is based directly on the player code for Half-Life 2. Nvidia Lightspeed Studios leaving behind a bunch of Half-Life 2 assets helps as well.”
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When reached for remark over Twitter DMs, OatmealDome shared with Kotaku a bit extra about how they managed to get Half-Life 2 operating on the Switch. The Nintendo modder defined that the leftover belongings have been a particular plus, and whereas many of the work was “just copying what wasn’t there (maps, music) into the game,” additionally they needed to “write a code patch to bypass a crash” they nonetheless haven’t been in a position to get to the foundation reason behind. For them, it wasn’t too difficult of a process, it was only a matter of placing the time in.
“It was more time-consuming than anything, considering that I was working on a laptop with a really slow HDD,” OatmealDome mentioned. “A lot of the work was already done for me by Valve and NVIDIA—the Source engine is easily moddable, Portal 1 is just a mod of Half-Life 2, a lot of Half-Life 2’s files were already there, etcetera.”
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OatmealDome described the mod’s efficiency as “borderline acceptable.” It runs at 60 frames per second, however with plenty of stuttering they believe is “mostly due to shader generation and compilation.” Load instances are additionally obnoxiously lengthy, in line with OatmealDome’s testing.
Still, as a “big Half-Life fan” since they have been a child, OatmealDome mentioned they’d purchase a set of Valve’s seminal FPS on the Switch “in a heartbeat” if Nintendo ever managed to do it. And they suppose it’s completely attainable.
AdvertisementDid it’s a must to noticed me in half, although?Screenshot: Valve / OatmealDome / Kotaku
“Even potato PCs can easily run these games at this point, so I’m pretty sure the Switch should have no problems in a proper port,” OatmealDome mentioned. “I’ve also gotten Half-Life 2: Episode 2 running, but the game is extremely unstable and loves to crash. Most maps don’t load, though.”
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It’s unclear simply what’s subsequent for OatmealDome’s Half-Life 2 Switch mod. However, it’s cool seeing the sport make it to the handheld-console hybrid in an unofficial capability. Maybe it’ll encourage extra surprising initiatives.