Half-Life 2 for PS Vita 0.1.1-beta

Fixes for new installs, and a much faster first launch.

Download hl2_vita-0.1.1-beta.zip below and install hl2_vita.vpk over 0.1.0: your saves and settings stay, and the controls below are corrected automatically. New to the port? Follow INSTALL_VITA.md.

Fixed

• The analog sticks didn't work on a new install until Options > Controls > Restore Default Controls (#4).

Faster first launch

• First launch to the main menu is much faster at around 1-2 mins (it was about 7-10 minutes before), and about 1-2 minutes to the first map (up to 24 minutes before). Shaders are now compiled when they're first needed instead of all at once, and the shader cache no longer creates hundreds of folders up front.
• The trade-off here is that brief hitches will appear upon first load of a map or when an effect is used for the first time. Each new shader takes about half a second to compile on the Vita, so the first minutes of a brand new install - and each subsequent new area - can pause for a moment, sometimes a few seconds. Every shader is compiled only once and kept in ux0:data/shader_cache/. This seems like a fair trade-off compared to the half-hour long initial load times where the engine compiled everything upfront. Removing these hitches is the next big item on my list.

Also new

• Gyro aiming (#3): turn and tilt the Vita to aim, on top of the right stick. Off by default; turn it on and set its sensitivity in Options > Controls.
• The touchscreen's left and right halves can be assigned to any action in Options > Controls. They work in game only; in the menus you tap as usual.
• The rear touchpad's right half sprints by default. The left half still crouches.
• Loads are a little shorter: the engine log no longer writes every line to the memory card on its own, and the lightmap rebuild runs under the loading screen.
• Better bug reports: engine.log now keeps the last five sessions, like the boot log, and README_VITA.md lists what to include (firmware, model, storage, plugins).

Known issues

• First-time shader hitches, described above.
• Rarely, the game can crash while loading the next map. Save often.
• Cube map reflections are off, and the intro videos don't play.
• Suspend and resume are lightly tested.
• kubridge has known offsets only for firmware 3.60 and 3.65; on others it warns that crashes may occur.
• Half-Life 2 only: no Episodes, Lost Coast, multiplayer or mods.

Reporting bugs

Open an issue with ux0:data/hl2_vita_boot.txt, ux0:data/halflife2/engine.log, crash.log if there is one, your firmware and model, where you were in the game, and the version (top right of the menus). README_VITA.md has the details.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by Valve or Sony. Free, and it must stay free.

SHA-256 of the zip: 4d875af76c343eddf19cf8efff4fb7c1563085213d7e79c6c150651d91d78c42

Half-Life 2 for PS Vita 0.1.0-beta

The first public beta of an unofficial PS Vita port of Half-Life 2. It's the Source engine built for the Vita, and it plays the game from your own Steam copy: no game files are included.

Download hl2_vita-0.1.0-beta.zip below. It holds the VPK, the install guide and the licenses.

What you need

• A PS Vita or PS TV on HENkaku or Ensō (tested on firmware 3.65)
• kubridge v0.3.1_hotfix (bythos14's) as a kernel plugin
• libshacccg.suprx, extracted with ShaRKBR33D
• Half-Life 2 on Steam, switched to the Pre-20th Anniversary build (Steam beta steam_legacy)
• About 3.9 GB free on ux0 for the game files

Setup takes about half an hour: follow INSTALL_VITA.md (also in the zip).

What works

• 640×368, mostly 30–60 fps; the heaviest fights can dip into the low 20s.
• Menus made for the Vita, fully remappable controls, rear-touchpad crouch, a larger HUD with PlayStation button symbols, facial animation and lip sync.
• If something is missing at launch, a message says what and how to fix it.

Known issues

• Rarely, the game can crash while loading the next map. Save often.
• Cube map reflections are off, and the intro videos don't play.
• Suspend and resume are lightly tested.
• kubridge has known offsets only for firmware 3.60 and 3.65; on others it warns that crashes may occur.
• Half-Life 2 only: no Episodes, Lost Coast, multiplayer or mods.

Reporting bugs

Open an issue with ux0:data/hl2_vita_boot.txt, ux0:data/halflife2/engine.log, crash.log if there is one, where you were in the game, and the version (top right of the menus). README_VITA.md has the details.

Credits

Valve, for Half-Life 2 and the Source engine; nillerusr and contributors, for the cross-platform engine this builds on; Rinnegatamante, for vitaGL, vitashark and ShaRKBR33D; bythos14 and TheFloW, for kubridge; the VitaSDK team.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by Valve or Sony. Free, and it must stay free.

SHA-256 of the zip: 4d43792b9a4e9058252690da95319f6afa501a402d40772bb1fdd75759734e23