New beta branch updates for Half-Life 2 were discreetly published, upgrading the game’s user interface on PC and preparing it for Valve’s new handheld PC, the Steam Deck, and its Verified programme. Starting on February 28th, customers will be able to play any game in their Steam library that supports Proton, a compatibility software that allows SteamOS to run Windows-based games, with Valve’s Steam Deck.
As of now, 16,000 of the most popular Steam games are known to be compatible with the portable console’s software, and the creators are working on upgrades to assure that games are compatible with the new hardware. In 2004, as a sequel to one of the most influential first-person shooter games ever, Valve released Half-Life 2, and fans were blown away. With Valve’s brand new sophisticated Source engine, the game set a new standard for the industry in terms of immersive storytelling and game world fluidity.
More than a decade after its release, Half-Life 2 is still considered one of the best video games ever made. Some months ago, a remastered version of each episode, Half-Life 2: Remastered Collection, was discovered and might provide enhanced graphics as well as load times to the ageless classic. Collections made by fans are regarded as being Valve’s and could be released with Steam Deck’s launch. Valve has secretly published a beta version for Half-Life 2 on Steam that reworked the game’s user interface to make it more accessible on the Steam Deck.
With the new update, the game’s main menu has been totally redesigned to be more joystick-friendly and better scaled for high-resolution displays than the previous version, which is tiny and nearly unusable on current screens. Even though it’s not clear who developed this update, the user claims that either a modder from the community or someone who “helped Valve wrap it up” contributed to it. On Steam’s beta branch of Half-Life 2, type “-gamepadui” without the quotations to get the update. To ensure that Half-Life 2 is compatible with Valve’s future Steam Deck, the company secretly upgraded the FPS in late 2021 with a number of quality-of-life tweaks and choices.
The upgrade added support for ultra-wide resolutions, a customised user interface for aspect ratios and FOVs, as well as the Vulkan rendering API. Half-Life 2 runs more smoothly on newer operating systems, like Steam Deck’s Linux SteamOS, thanks to this rendering option. Valve’s Half-Life 2 is regarded as one of the greatest video games of all time and will be fully compatible on the Steam Deck when it launches. Though the new beta update has not been publicly announced, a major surprise involving an improved version of Half-Life 2 and other games from Valve’s library could be imminent, as the new portable PC is slated to be released at the end of next month.