Half-Life 4/20/01 Dreamcast prototype Found!

ok guys its completegame . i just use some cheatcodes to access every level and compared them with the prior release its the same game, same quality. but i had released a modded version before a year i think, that has some neat visual differences because i replace some files from the pc version i will try to add those to this wince release.

 

Look here, there seems to be some pretty noticeable differences with this map in Blue Shift!

 

"half life dcripper" - dump by dcripper, this software dump full sector 2352 bytes per sector
"HALF-LIFE" - dumped by DreamShell, all data tracks readed 2048 bytes per sector, only data part

all game on GD disk use only 2048 bytes per sector on data tracks, there is no sense to dump unnecessary garbage

 

Both releases are WinCE, it's just that the previous leaked one didn't follow proper naming scheme, probably because whoever selfbooted it followed an old guide for bincon that told you to rename the binary even if it wasn't required.

 

rename the binary really not required
needs only remove flag "use WINCE" in IP.BIN and remove first 2048 bytes from 0WINCEOS.BIN

 

So if this has the original audio files.
Will somebody create "a most complete and high quality as possible" version in GDI format then?
e.g. the latest build, with original audio and higher quality textures / assets from PC version (if possible).

 

uploading now you will like it. as soon as i upload i will update this reply
upload finish link
https://mega.nz/#!jIZUXaoC!AIwb7lc5fKkk92iVBwv19XQdSuF4imef24QMSqWK_Dk
this release is the latest build using the audio from the 20-4-01 gdi that upload yesterday.
also some differences from a third party release added:
the head with the valve screen, an updated screen with assemblergames and dreamcast talk logos at the bottom a main menu, more close to the ps2 version. that release had the opposing force port, since this port never worked properly i believe because 16mb ram is low i remove it. in the genuine dump there is the hazardrous cource its a training mode. if you select in my release the opposing force the hazardrous cource will be loaded. also this version has some stuff from the pc release such as crosshairs the pc version has more nice ones also some sprites are added from the pc version that are more nice than dc and ps2 releases. enjoy and let me know
@Anthony817 i just search to the difference between builds photos you share. its one on the blue shift game. my custom build have the one from pc the deadly water one. the other dreamcast builds have something like a floor. probably an incomplete map, i will test an untouched one just to see
edit tested the 20-04-01 build that released yesterday the deadly water is there just the exits are different just like your pictures.

 

Thanks @truemaster1 !
Downloading now

 

Well done !
The opposing force is better in this version ?
I can't try it for now but what a lovely day ! Thanks

 

So since you've removed the opposing force port.. wasnt it fully playable?
Sorry for the questions but I've never played Half-Life on the dreamcast before.

 

no opposing force was a failed port. probably the dc ram which is 16mb cant handle it. so i removed it from the custom build i receive from @TerdFerguson a year ago but i improve his version further by adding stuff from pc and the audio from the build that uploaded yesterday. also i have to say dont bother try make a selfboot from it the gdrom will make the loadings a real pain. even on emulators or odes the loading times are barely acceptable. come to thing maybe its the reason sierra cancel it. if a retail gdrom exits it would be disgrace for both dc and half-life @fafadou enjoy my friend im sure you would like it.

 

yes but I'm going to play it from IDE (fast CF-card) so if load-times are the only 'problem' but the game if fully playable until the end, then maybe it would be nice to include your improved opposing force as well

 

play it on ide will make loading screens somehow decent. i just state it for all here to avoid a selfboot that goes for any half life build avaible. no opposing force is bad broken, no odes or emulators can play it without fatal crashes sadly.

 

Another cool thing about this, is that whenever you destroy the wooden crates in this version of the beta, the Japanese version of Sonic Adventure discs are shown instead of Half-Life disc art. XD

Oh wow didn't know Opposing Force was broken on GDEMU. Been ages since I played the homebrew port of it. I know that needs to be updated to have saves working like the other mods such as They Hunger and Paranoia and U.S.S. Darkstar so it feels more complete and like a legit retail experience.

 

anyway i found a small bug on my custom release you cant map the up-down of the analog stick as forward backward movement. the good news are i found the fix. iused the half-life.exe from the 20-04-2001 release the half-lefe exe from the latest build 23-5-2001 doesent have this bug i will reupload the gdi with the newer exe. in the previous post

 

Ah nice find!

Also do you still have the mods you made with the PC and PS2 models added? I would like to back them up to my Mega cloud. Perhaps you could make a version with this custom build like that again so it is more updated?

 

its the same as back then pc and ps2 models but sound from the 20-4-2001 build so after i upload it you can have it
new upload done

 

@truemaster1 opposing force was meant to be on the multiplayer disc according to official DC magazine, along with team fortress, half life deathmatch and "maybe even counter-strike". the opposing force i gave you was just ripped from an old "port" on theisozone and not the official gearbox port

that second disc has to be floating around somewhere in the world

when i eventually get CDRs, i made a release awhile ago with the valve logo and valve logo sound, and PS2 menu background and music, sounds required changing a string in the binary and setting an "alias" command to play the sound AND run the command originally specified in the binary

edit: @truemaster1 the only reason opposing force can't run is because of missing map entities that are supposed to be in client.dll and\or hl.dll, it is playable for the first half hour of the game. we could actually get it to run all the way through by removing the map entities in question. it would just be a fairly large and time consuming project

 

yeah adding the valve logo and the sound make this combined release something else. yeah all opposing force i tried are from isozone. is a working one somewere? cool

 

TerdFerguson is referring to an official interview with Randy Pitchford done in one of the Official US Dreamcast Magazines back in the day. A very great read for sure. But supposedly they were planning on releasing a multiplayer disc months after the singleplayer disc was released. This disc would have included official mods from the PC such as Day of Defeat, Team Fortress as well as others.

In 2010 I requested Barry the Nomad over at The Dreamcast Junkyard to take some nice pictures for the community of the Half-Life cover story from his copy of the magazine. It doesn't disappoint at all. Lots of forgotten info in there. The very last page speaks about the multiplayer disc that would have released sometime after the singleplayer did.

http://www.thedreamcastjunkyard.co.uk/2010/07/reader-request-odcms-half-life-article.html