Difference between revisions of "Half-Life"

Latest revision as of 22:21, 15 February 2024

Half-Life

System(s): Sega Dreamcast
Publisher: Sierra On-Line (US), Havas Interactive (EU)
Developer: PyroTechnix^[1], Captivation Digital Laboratories^[1]^[2], Gearbox Software^[2]
Licensor: Sierra On-Line^[3], Valve Corporation‏‎^[3]
Developer(s) of original games: Valve Corporation‏‎, Gearbox Software
Planned release date(s): 2000-09^[4]^[5], 2000-10^[6], 2000-11-01^[7], 2000-11-22^[8], 2000-11-24^[9], 2000-11-29^[10], 2001-01^[11]^[12], 2001-04^[13], 2001-06-01^[14], 2001-06-29^[15]
Genre: Shoot-'em-Up
Number of players: 1
State before cancellation: Late in development
Status of prototype(s): Prototype dumped
Peripheral(s): Dreamcast Mouse, Dreamcast Keyboard

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Half-Life is an unreleased Sega Dreamcast first-person shooter developed by Captivation Digital Laboratories and Gearbox Software. The highly-anticipated port of Valve Software's popular Half-Life, it was originally scheduled to be published Sierra On-Line in late 2000^[4]^[7]^[10] - a date which would eventually be pushed back to June 2001.^[14]^[15] With Sega's official discontinuing of the Dreamcast in March 2001, Sierra On-Line announced the port's cancellation on July 31, 2001, citing "changing market conditions".^[16]

By then, Half-Life's Dreamcast version had already received a significant amount of both advertising and public awareness. Virtually every part of the game's production had been completed, from promotional kiosks to magazine reviews, and its official strategy guide had even been shipped to a small number of retailers for sale to consumers.^[2] With such a high-profile title seeing a very late cancellation, Half-Life has since developed a reputation as one of the Dreamcast's most infamous unreleased games.

Gameplay

Half-Life would have featured identical gameplay to that of the Windows PC original, but with minor differences. Most notable are the game's updated graphics, which was touted as one of the Dreamcast version's unique selling points. When the game was cancelled, these graphics were ported over to Windows PCs, where they were further updated and released for free alongside Half-Life: Blue Shift as 2001's Half-Life High Definition Pack.

Due to its unoptimized nature, the game's framerate can frequently sink into the single digits during particularly-intensive scenes. Besides this, and the use of a Dreamcast Controller instead of a keyboard and mouse, Half-Life largely plays as it does in its original release. A minor addition is the inclusion of small cameos of Sega products in the game's breakable crates: two of the crate's debris models were replaced with a VMU and the game's Dreamcast disc. In early builds of the Japanese version, this disc is replaced with that of Sonic Adventure.

Half-Life: Blue Shift

Gearbox had developed an extra gameplay campaign which was intended to ship with the game, titled Half-Life: Blue Shift. While the main game's Dreamcast port failed to materialize, Blue Shift was later moved over to Windows PCs and released as a standalone expansion pack on June 12, 2001.

History

Main article: Half-Life/History.

The Dreamcast port of Half-Life was hugely anticipated, and despite being virtually finished, would eventually see its release cancelled at the last minute by publisher Sierra On-Line. By this time, it had already received substantial advertising and public awareness, ensuring Half-Life's legacy as one of the Dreamcast's most infamous unreleased games.

Magazine articles

Sega Retro Average

Publication

Version

Score

Computer & Video Games (UK)

100

^[17]

Dreamcast Monthly (UK)

PAL

90

^[18]

DC-UK (UK)

90

^[19]

Dreamcast Magazine (UK)

PAL

81

^[8]

GamePro (US)

NTSC-U

98

^[20]

SuperGamePower (BR)

98

^[21]

	93
Based on 6 reviews

Half-Life

Main article: Half-Life/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Main article: Half-Life/Promotional material.

Technical information

Main article: Half-Life/Technical information.

Artwork

ROM dump status

System

Hash

Size

Build Date

Source

Comments

?

CRC32
MD5
SHA-1

2001-05-11

GD-ROM

V0.900

Page

External links

Half-Life for the Dreamcast officially cancelled article by Shane Satterfield at GameSpot (Wayback Machine)

References

Half-Life

Books: Prima's Official Strategy Guide: Half-Life (2000)

Prototypes: 1659 prototype

[https:.2F.2Ftwitter.com.2FUrDailyHalfLife.2Fstatus.2F1405352577106128896-1] 1.0 ^1.1 @UrDailyHalfLife on Twitter

[https:.2F.2Ftcrf.net.2FHalf-Life_.28Dreamcast.29-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 The Cutting Room Floor: Half-Life (Dreamcast)

[:File:HalflifeDreamcastTitle.png_p-3] 3.0 ^3.1 File:HalflifeDreamcastTitle.png

[:File:EGM_US_134.pdf_p50-4] 4.0 ^4.1 Electronic Gaming Monthly, "September 2000" (US; 2000-08-08), page 50

[:File:DCUK_UK_09.pdf_p62-5] DC-UK, "May 2000" (UK; 2000-04-xx), page 62

[:File:ODCM_US_09.pdf_p73-6] Official Dreamcast Magazine, "December 2000" (US; 2000-10-31), page 73

[Press_release:_2000-08-29:_SIERRA_STUDIOS.28tm.29_ANNOUNCES_HALF-LIFE:_BLUE_SHIFT-7] 7.0 ^7.1 Press release: 2000-08-29: SIERRA STUDIOS(tm) ANNOUNCES HALF-LIFE: BLUE SHIFT

[:File:DreamcastMagazine_UK_15.pdf_p56-8] 8.0 ^8.1 Dreamcast Magazine, "No. 15" (UK; 2000-11-02), page 56

[:File:DreamcastMagazine_UK_15.pdf_p10-9] Dreamcast Magazine, "No. 15" (UK; 2000-11-02), page 10

[:File:ODM_UK_13.pdf_p21-10] 10.0 ^10.1 Official Dreamcast Magazine, "November 2000" (UK; 2000-10-05), page 21

[:File:DreamcastMagazine_UK_17.pdf_p15-11] Dreamcast Magazine, "No. 17" (UK; 2000-12-28), page 15

[:File:EGM_US_139.pdf_p48-12] Electronic Gaming Monthly, "February 2001" (US; 2001-01-09), page 48

[:File:EGM_US_142.pdf_p38-13] Electronic Gaming Monthly, "May 2001" (US; 2001-04-03), page 38

[:File:ODM_UK_20.pdf_p28-14] 14.0 ^14.1 Official Dreamcast Magazine, "June 2001" (UK; 2001-05-24), page 28

[http:.2F.2Fweb.archive.org.2Fweb.2F20010531133437.2Fhttp:.2F.2Fwww.whsmith.co.uk:80.2Fwhs.2FGo.ASP.3Fmenu.3DGames.26pagedef.3D.2Fgames.2Fcomingsoon.2Findex.htm-15] 15.0 ^15.1 http://www.whsmith.co.uk:80/whs/Go.ASP?menu=Games&pagedef=/games/comingsoon/index.htm (Wayback Machine: 2001-05-31 13:34)

[https:.2F.2Fweb.archive.org.2Fweb.2F20210716065645.2Fhttps:.2F.2Fwww.gamespot.com.2Farticles.2Fhalf-life-for-the-dreamcast-officially-cancelled.2F1100-2776155.2F-16] ttps://www.gamespot.com/articles/half-life-for-the-dreamcast-officially-cancelled/1100-2776155/ (Wayback Machine: 2021-07-16 06:56)

[:File:CVG_UK_228.pdf_p82-17] Computer & Video Games, "November 2000" (UK; 2000-10-11), page 82

[:File:DreamcastMonthly_UK_14.pdf_p62-18] Dreamcast Monthly, "November 2000" (UK; 2000-09-28), page 62

[:File:DCUK_16.pdf_p58-19] DC-UK, "December 2000" (UK; 2000-10-23), page 58

[:File:GamePro_US_153.pdf_p109-20] GamePro, "June 2001" (US; 2001-0x-xx), page 109

[:File:SuperGamePower_BR_087.pdf_p34-21] SuperGamePower, "Junho 2001" (BR; 2001-xx-xx), page 34

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[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

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[13]

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[15]

[16]

[17]

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[21]

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 | publisher={{company|[[Sierra On-Line]]|region=US}}, {{company|[[Havas Interactive]]|region=EU}}
 |icon=Half-lifeVMU.png
-| developer=[[Captivation Digital Laboratories]]{{ref|https://tcrf.net/Half-Life_(Dreamcast)}}, [[Gearbox Software]]{{ref|https://tcrf.net/Half-Life_(Dreamcast)}}
+| developer=[[Sierra|PyroTechnix]]{{ref|https://twitter.com/UrDailyHalfLife/status/1405352577106128896}}, [[Captivation Digital Laboratories]]{{ref|https://twitter.com/UrDailyHalfLife/status/1405352577106128896}}{{ref|https://tcrf.net/Half-Life_(Dreamcast)}}, [[Gearbox Software]]{{ref|https://tcrf.net/Half-Life_(Dreamcast)}}
 | originaldevelopers=[[Valve Corporation‏‎]], [[Gearbox Software]]
+| licensor=[[Sierra On-Line]]{{fileref|HalflifeDreamcastTitle.png}}, [[Valve Corporation‏‎]]{{fileref|HalflifeDreamcastTitle.png}}
 | system=[[Sega Dreamcast]]
 | romsize=
 | sounddriver=
-| peripherals=
+| peripherals=[[Dreamcast Mouse]], [[Dreamcast Keyboard]]
 | players=1
 | genre=Shoot-'em-Up
 | cancelledstate=Late
 | status=Prototype dumped
-| date=2000-09{{magref|egm|134|50}}{{magref|dcuk|9|62}}, 2000-10{{magref|odmus|9|73}}, 2000-11-01{{intref|Press release: 2000-08-29: SIERRA STUDIOS(tm) ANNOUNCES HALF-LIFE: BLUE SHIFT}}, 2000-11-22{{magref|dmuk|15|56}}, 2000-11-24{{magref|dmuk|15|10}}, 2000-11-29{{magref|odmuk|13|21}}, 2001-01{{magref|dmuk|17|15}}, 2001-06-01{{magref|odmuk|20|28}}, 2001-06-29{{ref|1=http://web.archive.org/web/20010531133437/http://www.whsmith.co.uk:80/whs/Go.ASP?menu=Games&pagedef=/games/comingsoon/index.htm}}
+| date={{MissedRelease|DC|2000-09{{magref|egm|134|50}}{{magref|dcuk|9|62}}}}
+{{MissedRelease|DC|2000-10{{magref|odmus|9|73}}}}
+{{MissedRelease|DC|2000-11-01{{intref|Press release: 2000-08-29: SIERRA STUDIOS(tm) ANNOUNCES HALF-LIFE: BLUE SHIFT}}}}
+{{MissedRelease|DC|2000-11-22{{magref|dmuk|15|56}}}}
+{{MissedRelease|DC|2000-11-24{{magref|dmuk|15|10}}}}
+{{MissedRelease|DC|2000-11-29{{magref|odmuk|13|21}}}}
+{{MissedRelease|DC|2001-01{{magref|dmuk|17|15}}{{magref|egm|139|48}}}}
+{{MissedRelease|DC|2001-04{{magref|egm|142|38}}}}
+{{MissedRelease|DC|2001-06-01{{magref|odmuk|20|28}}}}
+{{MissedRelease|DC|2001-06-29{{ref|1=http://web.archive.org/web/20010531133437/http://www.whsmith.co.uk:80/whs/Go.ASP?menu=Games&pagedef=/games/comingsoon/index.htm}}}}
 }}
-'''''Half-Life''''' is a first person shooter developed by [[Valve Corporation]]. At the time of its release on PCs it was seen as groundbreaking, and still ranks as one of the highest rated PC games of all time.
+{{stub}}'''''Half-Life''''' is an unreleased [[Sega Dreamcast]] first-person shooter developed by [[Captivation Digital Laboratories]] and [[Gearbox Software]]. The highly-anticipated port of [[wikipedia:Valve Corporation|Valve Software]]'s popular ''[[wikipedia:Half-Life (video game)|Half-Life]]'', it was originally scheduled to be published [[Sierra On-Line]] in late 2000{{magref|egm|134|50}}{{intref|Press release: 2000-08-29: SIERRA STUDIOS(tm) ANNOUNCES HALF-LIFE: BLUE SHIFT}}{{magref|odmuk|13|21}} - a date which would eventually be pushed back to June 2001.{{magref|odmuk|20|28}}{{ref|1=http://web.archive.org/web/20010531133437/http://www.whsmith.co.uk:80/whs/Go.ASP?menu=Games&pagedef=/games/comingsoon/index.htm}} With [[Sega]]'s official discontinuing of the Dreamcast in March 2001, Sierra On-Line announced the port's cancellation on July 31, 2001, citing [[History of the Sega Dreamcast/Decline and legacy|"changing market conditions"]].{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20210716065645/https://www.gamespot.com/articles/half-life-for-the-dreamcast-officially-cancelled/1100-2776155/}}
-The game was due to be ported to the [[Sega Dreamcast]] by [[Gearbox Software]] in a move that was much anticpated by Sega fans. However, a last minute decision saw the game be cancelled, despite playable (and finished) builds being showcased at trade shows and in magazine publications.
+By then, ''Half-Life'''s [[Dreamcast]] version had already received a significant amount of both advertising and public awareness. Virtually every part of the game's production had been completed, from promotional kiosks to magazine reviews, and its [[Prima's Official Strategy Guide: Half-Life|official strategy guide]] had even been shipped to a small number of retailers for sale to consumers.{{ref|https://tcrf.net/Half-Life_(Dreamcast)}} With such a high-profile title seeing a very late cancellation, ''Half-Life'' has since developed a reputation as one of the Dreamcast's most infamous unreleased games.
+==Gameplay==
+''{{PAGENAME}}'' would have featured identical gameplay to that of the [[Windows PC]] original, but with minor differences. Most notable are the game's updated graphics, which was touted as one of the [[Dreamcast]] version's unique selling points. When the game was cancelled, these graphics were ported over to Windows PCs, where they were further updated and released for free alongside ''[[wikipedia:Half-Life: Blue Shift|Half-Life: Blue Shift]]'' as 2001's ''Half-Life High Definition Pack''.
+Due to its unoptimized nature, the game's framerate can frequently sink into the single digits during particularly-intensive scenes. Besides this, and the use of a [[Dreamcast Controller]] instead of a keyboard and mouse, ''{{PAGENAME}}'' largely plays as it does in its original release. A minor addition is the inclusion of small cameos of [[Sega]] products in the game's breakable crates: two of the crate's debris models were replaced with a [[VMU]] and the game's Dreamcast disc. In early builds of the Japanese version, this disc is replaced with that of ''[[Sonic Adventure]]''.
+===''Half-Life: Blue Shift''===
+[[Gearbox]] had developed an extra gameplay campaign which was intended to ship with the game, titled '''''Half-Life: Blue Shift'''''. While the main game's [[Dreamcast]] port failed to materialize, ''Blue Shift'' was later moved over to [[Windows PC]]s and released as a standalone expansion pack on June 12, 2001.
+==History==
+{{mainArticle|{{PAGENAME}}/History}}
+The [[Dreamcast]] port of ''Half-Life'' was hugely anticipated, and despite being virtually finished, would eventually see its release cancelled at the last minute by publisher [[Sierra On-Line]]. By this time, it had already received substantial [[Half-Life/Promotional material|advertising]] and public awareness, ensuring ''Half-Life'''s legacy as one of the Dreamcast's most infamous unreleased games.
 ==Magazine articles==
 {{ratings|DC}}
 {{mainArticle|{{PAGENAME}}/Magazine articles}}
+==Promotional material==
+{{mainArticle|{{PAGENAME}}/Promotional material}}
+==Technical information==
+{{mainArticle|{{PAGENAME}}/Technical information}}
 ==Artwork==
@@ Line 30: / Line 58: @@
 </gallery>
-==Technical information==
+==ROM dump status==
-The polygon models in the Dreamcast version have about twice as many polygons as the PC version. The zombies in the original PC version had 844 polygons, which was almost doubled to 1649 polygons in the Dreamcast version.{{ref|[https://forum.beyond3d.com/threads/yes-but-how-many-polygons-an-artist-blog-entry-with-interesting-numbers.39321/ "Yes, but how many polygons?" An artist blog entry with interesting numbers]}} In the PC version, other characters had up to 1000 polygons and bosses up to 2500 polygons,{{ref|[https://forum.thegamecreators.com/thread/46032#msg477010 Acceptable polygon count for FPS characters]}} whereas the Dreamcast version's characters have up to 2836 polygons and bosses up to 3411 polygons.{{ref|[https://forum.beyond3d.com/threads/yes-but-how-many-polygons-an-artist-blog-entry-with-interesting-numbers.39321/page-79 "Yes, but how many polygons?" An artist blog entry with interesting numbers (page 79)]}}
+{{romtable|unreleased=yes|
+{{rom|DC|sha1=|md5=|crc32=|size=|date=2001-05-11|source=GD-ROM|comments=V0.900|quality=|prototype=yes|protoname=1659 prototype}}
-===VMU Features===
+}}
-[[File:HalfLifeDreamcast CodeScreen.png|thumbnail|right|Due to varying large VMU file sizes, a password system can be used instead to save progress.]]
-''Half-Life'' is able to save progress anywhere in the game, however the further along in a chapter, the larger the file can get. Alternatively the game allows progress to be saved via a password system.
-{|class="prettytable"
+==External links==
-|+ Half-Life Save Data
+*''[https://web.archive.org/web/20210716065645/https://www.gamespot.com/articles/half-life-for-the-dreamcast-officially-cancelled/1100-2776155/ Half-Life for the Dreamcast officially cancelled]'' article by Shane Satterfield at ''[https://www.gamespot.com GameSpot]'' (Wayback Machine)
-|-
-! Name
-! File Name
-! Comment
-! File Size
-! Icon
-|-
-| Half Life
-| HALFLIFE.###
-| HALF_LIFE_GAME
-| 30-200
-| [[Image:Half-lifeVMU.png]]
-|}
 ==References==