Valve makes Half-Life free on macOS for 25th anniversary

AppleInsider

Marking 25 years after the PC game's release, Valve Software is making "Half-Life" free to get for a limited time, though you may need to use older hardware to actually play it on macOS.

Half-Life

The famed PC game Half-Life was released to the world on November 19, 1998. The groundbreaking first-person shooter introduce many new technologies and concepts to the gaming industry, and enabled Valve to become a major force by creating the Steam digital storefront.

Now, 25 years later, Valve is making Half-Life free for Steam users to add to their account and to keep forever. The 100% discount runs until November 20 at 1pm Eastern, with claimants getting to keep the game so long as it is acquired before the deadline.

While it is free, potential players may have difficulty playing it on Mac, as Valve warns it is "not compatible with macOS 10.15 Catalina or above," due to Apple's ending of 32-bit application support with that operating system release. Workarounds include playing the game on a Mac running macOS Mojave or earlier, installing Mojave on a separate APFS volume and booting to it, or using Boot Camp to launch the Windows version.

The game is also available on Windows and Linux.

Half-Life put players as Gordon Freeman, a scientist in the secretive Black Mesa Research Facility. Following an accident, Gordon introduces an alien invasion to Earth, overrunning the facility and prompting a fight to escape.

The game introduced a deep level of storytelling for a first-person-shooter of its time, aided by an in-game atmosphere and impressive visual effects. The story continued in Half-Life 2, a few episodic releases, and the VR game Half-Life Alyx.

The minimum requirements for "Half-Life" on Mac calls for OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.3, 1GB of memory, and 4GB of hard drive space. Graphics require an Nvidia GeForce 8 or higher, ATI X1600 or higher, or Intel HD 3000 or higher.

According to the Steam storefront, it is rated as "Overwhelmingly Positive" following over 100,000 reviews by players.

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9secondkox2

Man, wish they’d come out with a new one (non-VR). 

Talk about lazy. 

Half life was epic. Half life 2 left us wanting much more. Then… nothing for 100 years until… a vr game. 

Come on, dude. 

hexclock

The gravity gun was the best. 

22july2013

The sequel to half life should have been called "Half Life 1/2".

xyzzy01

A great game, and also a symbol of one thing I don't like about Apple: Bad backwards compatibility. My Steam library is full of games that can no longer be played on my Mac(shipped as 32-bit), and almost all of my remaining library will be lost when Apple no longer ships x86_64-compatibility.

I really wish they'd ship compatibility containers that would let us run these old applications in runtimes from when they were released.

emig647

Few people know this… but Half-life for Mac was nearly completed and was scrapped at the last second. I have no idea how but was able to get my hands on a late stage alpha. Burger Becky was involved in the development and in an interview with her she admitted she was shocked at how late in the process it was scrapped. 

This is really cool it kind of came to release. https://www.gamespot.com/articles/mac-half-life-canceled/1100-2448672/

Honkers

xyzzy01 said:

A great game, and also a symbol of one thing I don't like about Apple: Bad backwards compatibility. My Steam library is full of games that can no longer be played on my Mac(shipped as 32-bit), and almost all of my remaining library will be lost when Apple no longer ships x86_64-compatibility.

I really wish they'd ship compatibility containers that would let us run these old applications in runtimes from when they were released.

Hear hear!

Modern Macs have better support for legacy Windows software than the Mac back catalogue. And people wonder why Apple struggles to attract games publishers.

Cesar Battistini Maziero

What a great gift! A game that doesn’t work. 

Lazy. 

auxio

Honkers said:

xyzzy01 said:

A great game, and also a symbol of one thing I don't like about Apple: Bad backwards compatibility. My Steam library is full of games that can no longer be played on my Mac(shipped as 32-bit), and almost all of my remaining library will be lost when Apple no longer ships x86_64-compatibility.

I really wish they'd ship compatibility containers that would let us run these old applications in runtimes from when they were released.

Hear hear!

Modern Macs have better support for legacy Windows software than the Mac back catalogue. And people wonder why Apple struggles to attract games publishers.

I disagree. I want Apple to keep pushing things forward and creating products which make technology easier to use and improve our lives. There are only so many hours of work the engineers at Apple are capable of, and I'd rather they spent it improving things rather than preserving past states. Those who want to preserve the past are welcome to pick up old hardware and continue to work on it and form preservation societies. Or create those translation layers which allow old software to work on new hardware. It's not trivial work.

As for attracting game publishers, any software development company knows that you need to maintain compatibility and/or port your software. Even if they create a game for consoles, when the next version of that console comes out, they need to decide whether to port the game to that new version or drop it. The main reason why they don't create games for Mac is that there just aren't as many gamers who buy a Mac. Apple has always focused on making the Mac a creator's platform (see Jobs' "bicycle for the mind" speech) and games have really been an afterthought. Maybe that'll change though if/when the Apple TV inherits the power of the M-series chips.

auxio

Cesar Battistini Maziero said:

What a great gift! A game that doesn’t work. 

Lazy. 

Exactly. They should have just released the source code the same way ID did with Quake. That way enthusiasts could port it to the latest Macs.

macxpress

I wish Valve would start making Mac games. Apple has more than enough graphics power in its M series of chips. They had some good ones like TF2, Portal/Portal 2, etc. 

Honkers

macxpress said:

I wish Valve would start making Mac games. Apple has more than enough graphics power in its M series of chips. They had some good ones like TF2, Portal/Portal 2, etc. 

They did.  Apple screwed them by shifting to 64 bit only.  And if Valve had put in the work to transition their catalogue then they'll be screwed again when Apple goes ARM only.  And doubtless a few years down the line there will be some other shift that will screw them again.  Valve aren't making significant money off their own catalogue, any investment they make in porting old titles is money down the drain, so they won't do that, because Apple will just screw them again and again.

Meanwhile, Half Life works on Windows just as well as it always did, because Microsoft, for all their (many) faults, really care about backwards compatibility.

cia

Honkers said:

macxpress said:

I wish Valve would start making Mac games. Apple has more than enough graphics power in its M series of chips. They had some good ones like TF2, Portal/Portal 2, etc. 

They did.  Apple screwed them by shifting to 64 bit only.  And if Valve had put in the work to transition their catalogue then they'll be screwed again when Apple goes ARM only.  And doubtless a few years down the line there will be some other shift that will screw them again.  Valve aren't making significant money off their own catalogue, any investment they make in porting old titles is money down the drain, so they won't do that, because Apple will just screw them again and again.

Meanwhile, Half Life works on Windows just as well as it always did, because Microsoft, for all their (many) faults, really care about backwards compatibility.

They aren't screwed, they are lazy.  You can update an app to the newer formats in Xcode with a few checkboxes.  For most Dev's it's one days work or less.   I'd love to play portal again on Steam, but I don't have a Mac old enough anymore.

Honkers

cia said:

Honkers said:

macxpress said:

I wish Valve would start making Mac games. Apple has more than enough graphics power in its M series of chips. They had some good ones like TF2, Portal/Portal 2, etc. 

They did.  Apple screwed them by shifting to 64 bit only.  And if Valve had put in the work to transition their catalogue then they'll be screwed again when Apple goes ARM only.  And doubtless a few years down the line there will be some other shift that will screw them again.  Valve aren't making significant money off their own catalogue, any investment they make in porting old titles is money down the drain, so they won't do that, because Apple will just screw them again and again.

Meanwhile, Half Life works on Windows just as well as it always did, because Microsoft, for all their (many) faults, really care about backwards compatibility.

They aren't screwed, they are lazy.  You can update an app to the newer formats in Xcode with a few checkboxes.  For most Dev's it's one days work or less.   I'd love to play portal again on Steam, but I don't have a Mac old enough anymore.

Lol, tell me you're not a developer without telling me you're not a developer.  "One days work or less" to rewrite Portal.  Good one.

Marvin

cia said:

Honkers said:

macxpress said:

I wish Valve would start making Mac games. Apple has more than enough graphics power in its M series of chips. They had some good ones like TF2, Portal/Portal 2, etc. 

They did.  Apple screwed them by shifting to 64 bit only.  And if Valve had put in the work to transition their catalogue then they'll be screwed again when Apple goes ARM only.  And doubtless a few years down the line there will be some other shift that will screw them again.  Valve aren't making significant money off their own catalogue, any investment they make in porting old titles is money down the drain, so they won't do that, because Apple will just screw them again and again.

Meanwhile, Half Life works on Windows just as well as it always did, because Microsoft, for all their (many) faults, really care about backwards compatibility.

They aren't screwed, they are lazy.  You can update an app to the newer formats in Xcode with a few checkboxes.  For most Dev's it's one days work or less.   I'd love to play portal again on Steam, but I don't have a Mac old enough anymore.

For Intel Macs (obsolete) they could update it but for Apple Silicon, they have to built a Metal renderer. They did it using MoltenVK for Counter-Strike 2 so it's possible but it's way more work than a 64-bit build. These old games work in Parallels though:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSh409Hgyes

xyzzy01 said:

A great game, and also a symbol of one thing I don't like about Apple: Bad backwards compatibility. My Steam library is full of games that can no longer be played on my Mac(shipped as 32-bit), and almost all of my remaining library will be lost when Apple no longer ships x86_64-compatibility.

I really wish they'd ship compatibility containers that would let us run these old applications in runtimes from when they were released.

3rd parties make compatibility software. A lot of old titles before 2015 will run in Parallels, newer ones will run in Crossover:

https://www.youtube.com/@macprotips/videos

Horizon Zero Dawn, Diablo IV, Battlefield, Assassin's Creed, Star Wars, Far Cry, Mortal Kombat, Mass Effect, Hogwarts Legacy, Cyberpunk, Elden Ring etc. Decent performance in most of them on Pro/Max chips. That channel has over 300 videos and the Crossover site lists over 2700 fully compatible apps/games:

https://www.codeweavers.com/compatibility/?browse=;app_desc=;company=;rating=5;platform=mac;date_start=;date_end=;name=;search=app;curPos=0

The install process is more cumbersome with compatibility software but it's a good option to get the software running.

Another option is to get one of the handheld gaming PCs:

https://www.asus.com/us/site/gaming/rog/gaming-handheld/rog-ally.html

and stream to the Mac to use the better display quality:



Or plug it into a Mac using a capture card:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P97RpnLFTeg

Geforce Now will also stream the raytracing version of Portal on Mac:



There are a lot of gaming options now, even if they aren't all Mac native.

mpantone

9secondkox2 said:

Man, wish they’d come out with a new one (non-VR). 

Talk about lazy. 

Half life was epic. Half life 2 left us wanting much more. Then… nothing for 100 years until… a vr game. 

Come on, dude. 

There's a game mod to make Half-Life: Alyx playable in 2D.

Remember, Valve does not make trilogies. 

Marvin

mpantone said:

9secondkox2 said:

Man, wish they’d come out with a new one (non-VR). 

Talk about lazy. 

Half life was epic. Half life 2 left us wanting much more. Then… nothing for 100 years until… a vr game. 

Come on, dude. 

There's a game mod to make Half-Life: Alyx playable in 2D.

Remember, Valve does not make trilogies. 

Half-Life:Alyx (no-vr) works on Mac too using Crossover:



Potentially playable on Vision Pro but it runs a bit slow on the entry hardware. Might have to run it via a Mac system.

Honkers

Marvin said:

mpantone said:

9secondkox2 said:

Man, wish they’d come out with a new one (non-VR). 

Talk about lazy. 

Half life was epic. Half life 2 left us wanting much more. Then… nothing for 100 years until… a vr game. 

Come on, dude. 

There's a game mod to make Half-Life: Alyx playable in 2D.

Remember, Valve does not make trilogies. 

Half-Life:Alyx (no-vr) works on Mac too using Crossover:



Potentially playable on Vision Pro but it runs a bit slow on the entry hardware. Might have to run it via a Mac system.

Lol, run a VR game in a non-VR mod on a VR headset, except not on the VR headset, but on a nearby computer, that cannot run it native, but can run the mod inside a compatibility layer.

Ladies and gentlemen, the state of gaming at Apple.  The absolute state of it.

Marvin

Honkers said:

Marvin said:

mpantone said:

9secondkox2 said:

Man, wish they’d come out with a new one (non-VR). 

Talk about lazy. 

Half life was epic. Half life 2 left us wanting much more. Then… nothing for 100 years until… a vr game. 

Come on, dude. 

There's a game mod to make Half-Life: Alyx playable in 2D.

Remember, Valve does not make trilogies. 

Half-Life:Alyx (no-vr) works on Mac too using Crossover:



Potentially playable on Vision Pro but it runs a bit slow on the entry hardware. Might have to run it via a Mac system.

Lol, run a VR game in a non-VR mod on a VR headset, except not on the VR headset, but on a nearby computer, that cannot run it native, but can run the mod inside a compatibility layer.

Ladies and gentlemen, the state of gaming at Apple.  The absolute state of it.

It would be without the no-VR mod on the Vision Pro. There are no VR headsets that can run Half-Life:Alyx natively, it needs a PC to run it (minimum 4TFLOPs GPU = Nvidia 1060) while displaying on the headset. Apple Vision Pro (M3) might be fast enough to run it natively on lower settings at 90FPS but Pro/Max Mac hardware will be enough.

macxpress

Honkers said:

macxpress said:

I wish Valve would start making Mac games. Apple has more than enough graphics power in its M series of chips. They had some good ones like TF2, Portal/Portal 2, etc. 

They did.  Apple screwed them by shifting to 64 bit only.  And if Valve had put in the work to transition their catalogue then they'll be screwed again when Apple goes ARM only.  And doubtless a few years down the line there will be some other shift that will screw them again.  Valve aren't making significant money off their own catalogue, any investment they make in porting old titles is money down the drain, so they won't do that, because Apple will just screw them again and again.

Meanwhile, Half Life works on Windows just as well as it always did, because Microsoft, for all their (many) faults, really care about backwards compatibility.

So by your thinking Apple screwed all developers then...Apple gave all developers plenty of time to migrate their apps to 64-bit. It's not like Apple said you have 90 days to do it. They actually had years to do it and Valve was just lazy and never made the effort. Pretty naive as a developer if you think Apple was never going to switch to 64-bit. The entire industry was going that way. Apple is again providing all developers the tools to convert their apps to ARM and giving them plenty of time to do so in case they need it. 

macxpress

Honkers said:

cia said:

Honkers said:

macxpress said:

I wish Valve would start making Mac games. Apple has more than enough graphics power in its M series of chips. They had some good ones like TF2, Portal/Portal 2, etc. 

They did.  Apple screwed them by shifting to 64 bit only.  And if Valve had put in the work to transition their catalogue then they'll be screwed again when Apple goes ARM only.  And doubtless a few years down the line there will be some other shift that will screw them again.  Valve aren't making significant money off their own catalogue, any investment they make in porting old titles is money down the drain, so they won't do that, because Apple will just screw them again and again.

Meanwhile, Half Life works on Windows just as well as it always did, because Microsoft, for all their (many) faults, really care about backwards compatibility.

They aren't screwed, they are lazy.  You can update an app to the newer formats in Xcode with a few checkboxes.  For most Dev's it's one days work or less.   I'd love to play portal again on Steam, but I don't have a Mac old enough anymore.

Lol, tell me you're not a developer without telling me you're not a developer.  "One days work or less" to rewrite Portal.  Good one.

Regardless, Value was lazy and never made the effort. ALL Mac developers were it the same boat and had to convert their apps to 64-bit, and then again to ARM. It's part of being a developer. Shit changes and you have to keep up or risk losing your market.