HDR ("Lost Coast" effects) available as upgrade to the full HL2 game?

[Sanjuro]

I read somewhere that this was the case. That the HDR lighting and such would be available as an upgrade to HL2 itself, provided you have the hardware to handle it. Is this true?

 

[bliink]

Yes. Yes it is.

 

[Shanno]

w00000000000000t

w000000000000000000000000t

 

[Alan Freeman]

What Hardware is needed to have the best or good performance?

 

[Ultimape]

"Free update released on steam"

 

[Kazuki_Fuse]

What Hardware is needed to have the best or good performance?

Apparently the highest of the high is required. What exactly that means is anyones guess.

 

[Asus]

If we wait til it's released, im sure there will be a number of benchmarks to show what you want to know.

 

[Carmack]

It so looks incredibly realistic, I would have exploded. I could have sworn I made a spark or two. No explosions though...

 

[Alan Freeman]

If we wait til it's released, im sure there will be a number of benchmarks to show what you want to know.

sounds good

 

[[Dragoon]]

Will maps need to be updated to take advantage of HDR, or will it be automatic?

 

[Cypher19]

Dragoon: Definitely not if it's an upgrade to HL2 (800mb patch to redownload the maps = bleh) but I wouldn't be surprised if you could make maps with bright lights specifically designed with HDR in mind.

 

[zodiak]

Dragoon: Definitely not if it's an upgrade to HL2 (800mb patch to redownload the maps = bleh) but I wouldn't be surprised if you could make maps with bright lights specifically designed with HDR in mind.

Who said that you have to redownload the maps to see the effect?

 

[FireCrack]

Who said that you have to redownload the maps to see the effect?

Will maps need to be updated to take advantage of HDR, or will it be automatic?

put 2 and 2 together...

 

[Ravioli]

I wonder if it is Half-life2 that is going to be upgraded for all, or just an optional add-on?

 

[CREMATOR666]

Seeing as how it requires a high-end beast PC machine, I think it should be optional.

 

[A_Denial]

Otherwise, some people.......(erm, not me....em honest *runs and cries*) won't be able to play it ever again.

So yeah, it has to be optional.

 

[PvtRyan]

Who said that you have to redownload the maps to see the effect?

Because

A) The cubemaps will fall out of place in the maps, being LDR not HDR, they need to be rebuilt (this was very noticable in the 'HDR' mod)
B) HL2 maps now use sprites to simulate blooms, which will be redundant and probably ugly when blooming effects are generated with HDR.

 

[jimbo118]

Yes. Yes it is.

i did not know that,i though it was just 4 the lost coast,good news though,give me a reason to play it again

 

[Cypher19]

Because

A) The cubemaps will fall out of place in the maps, being LDR not HDR, they need to be rebuilt (this was very noticable in the 'HDR' mod)
B) HL2 maps now use sprites to simulate blooms, which will be redundant and probably ugly when blooming effects are generated with HDR.

A) I think you'll be surprised how well the LDR textures/cubemaps integrate into HDR simply due to the exposure adjustment effect.
B) I heard from someone else on the forums that the sprites can be turned off from a console command or something, so the HDR mod will likely invoke that command.

 

[Sanius]

I am guessing that hdr will run better on hl2 then it does on farcry, since it was just tacked on for farcry anyway, and source had it built in. not to mention the areas in hl2 are not huge and filled with vegitation like farcry

 

[corkscru74]

I am guessing that hdr will run better on hl2 then it does on farcry, since it was just tacked on for farcry anyway, and source had it built in. not to mention the areas in hl2 are not huge and filled with vegitation like farcry

Far Cry had HDR? I played all the way through and didn't notice! Probably too busy sunbathing I guess.

 

[jimbo118]

Far Cry had HDR? I played all the way through and didn't notice! Probably too busy sunbathing I guess.

patch 1.3 had hdr support 4 nvidia cards

 

[MuToiD_MaN]

Damn, shoulda kept it installed ;o

 

[Cypher19]

Not just nVidia cards, but only the 6x00 series.

 

[PvtRyan]

A) I think you'll be surprised how well the LDR textures/cubemaps integrate into HDR simply due to the exposure adjustment effect.
B) I heard from someone else on the forums that the sprites can be turned off from a console command or something, so the HDR mod will likely invoke that command.

A) How then? Because one thing that can be seen in the HDR mod (I know it's not real HDR, more a bloom mod) is that there are bright skywindows in the trainstation, yet the cubemap reflections on the floor are very dull and not bright enough. And how can you adjust the exposures on them when they're LDR (ie: you don't know if white is of a lightbulb or the much brighter sun/sky)? And then, if you do adjust exposures, you brighten the entire cubemap, not just the brightest spots.
B) If it can be specified to sprites with just the world glow render mod, then that would work I suppose.

 

[Cypher19]

In response to A, it seems very odd that both the cubemap reflections and the skywindows weren't both brightened in the fullbright/bloom mod, because bloom/exposure adjustment affects the entire screen after everything has been drawn. It is possible that they'll rebuild the maps for HDR, but I seriously think that it will by no means be absolutely necessary to complete the effect, and that flaws like what you described will be minimal.

 

[special-ed]

Most hl2 players can't handle HDR, if you look at the survey..