PC Half-Life 2 RTX demo free and out today

[Madmick]

You'll have seen the notice for this if you've opened the NVIDIA app this week. The new driver arrives today to accompany it (572.83).

Half-Life 2 RTX

Half-Life 2 RTX delivers a new way to experience Valve's classic, using cutting-edge rendering tech to bring the game to life in a way never before possible...

www.hl2rtx.com

The in-progress mod overhauls the graphics from Valve’s 2004 FPS opus, complete with DLSS 4 support, ray tracing, and enhanced textures.

The demo is roughly two hours long, and includes a chapter from Ravenholm and one from Nova Prospekt. Once it’s installed, you can test out the new graphical features by first selecting “New Game,” then the Ravenholm chapter. After you complete it, the RTX-enabled Nova Prospekt chapter will unlock, and you can access it the same way. A release date for the full experience has not been shared.

Half-Life 2 RTX - PCGamingWiki PCGW - bugs, fixes, crashes, mods, guides and improvements for every PC game

www.pcgamingwiki.com

 

[Bob Gray]

GPU upgrade incoming...

 

[Dalarna3]

That looks fantastic. I am curious to see how some of the larger outdoor environments will look, though. I don't get the current pushback to baked lighting. I think realism always is best for immersion.

 

[Madmick]

GPU upgrade incoming...

Yeah, it's no joke. First thing I did was turn down the DLSS mode to "Performance" from "Quality".

I have to say, if this is a sign of things to come, it won't just be GPU prices that will have us flustered, we're all gonna be howling for the drop in SSD prices to accelerate. 41.4GB for just two chapters (of an upgraded 25-year old game) is pretty nuts. And that's just the size of the mod on top of the base game (10.4GB). The original game is 21 chapters. If 300GB per AAA is the coming norm, this $90 per TB for Gen5x4 drives ain't gonna cut it. That's nearly $30 per parking space.

 

[Slobodan]

Yeah, it's no joke. First thing I did was turn down the DLSS mode to "Performance" from "Quality".

I have to say, if this is a sign of things to come, it won't just be GPU prices that will have us flustered, we're all gonna be howling for the drop in SSD prices to accelerate. 41.4GB for just two chapters (of an upgraded 25-year old game) is pretty nuts. And that's just the size of the mod on top of the base game (10.4GB). The original game is 21 chapters. If 300GB per AAA is the coming norm, this $90 per TB for Gen5x4 drives ain't gonna cut it. That's nearly $30 per parking space.

My time to shine.

Y'all want some SSDs?

 

[Madmick]

My time to shine.

Y'all want some SSDs?

View attachment 1087606

 

[Fury]

GPU upgrade incoming...

I'd upgrade for a sequel... But nah, it's pretty but not buy a new card compelling

 

[botnet]

I’d love to play this along with the Half Life 2 VR mod (phenomenal experience by the way) but I doubt my RTX 2070 could come close to running it with ray tracing on. Regardless, I love seeing these old classics brought back to life with ray tracing and VR mods, it’s like experiencing them for the first time all over again. We need more of this!

 

[Law Talkin’ Guy]

Wanted to try this out but steam said the install size was 87 gb. For a demo that’s just the Raven Holm and Nova Prospekt levels. I need to delete a bunch of my library to make room for that. Wonder how large the full version will be. 500gb??

 

[Madmick]

Wanted to try this out but steam said the install size was 87 gb. For a demo that’s just the Raven Holm and Nova Prospekt levels. I need to delete a bunch of my library to make room for that. Wonder how large the full version will be. 500gb??

I think it said the same when I went to download it which made my eyes pop, but it looks like that was a glitch:

Steam Community :: Half-Life 2 RTX

Half-Life 2 RTX - Ravenholm and Nova Proskpekt demo available now! The fight for freedom begins anew. Experience the award-winning game that has captivated millions of players worldwide with its immersive story, thrilling combat, and mind-bending physics, fully overhauled with full ray tracing...

steamcommunity.com

A hotfix has been pushed live to adjust the displayed download size.
Changes:

• Fixed an issue that was causing the download size of Half-Life 2 RTX to appear larger than it actually was. The correct download size of 44.1GB is now displayed during installation.

As I highlighted above, when I go to the game's properties, the actual "Size of Installation" is 41.44GB.