Reverse-engineered source code of Half-Life 1 Net Test 1 (engine build 722), an early pre-release version of the GoldSrc engine (known at the time as "The Half-Life Engine") distributed to playtesters.
The build was published in October 2024 by playtester Chad Jessup and later reverse-engineered by our team.
Before building the project, you need to configure the deployment path (ONLY FOR VS2022).
The file DeployPath.ini defines where compiled binaries will be automatically deployed.
Example:
; Working directory
root.path="E:\Half-Life NetTest1"
Open the solution file located at:
..\half-life1_win32_722\projects\vs2022\Half-Life (722 Build, 1998).sln
Now press Build -> Build Solution (or press Ctrl+Shift+B hotkey).
NOTE: if you get afxres.h error during hl_res.dll building, install Microsoft Foundation Class (MFC) library via VS installer.
Open any specific project you want to build, for example:
..\half-life1_win32_722\engine\Quiver.mak
All project files are located in their directories.
Now press Build -> Build X.dll (or press Shift+F8 hotkey).
NOTE: if you get ml.exe errors, install MASM 6.12 or newer right into your MSVC++ 4.2 (ml.exe should be inside bin directory or somewhere in PATH environment).
WARNING: don't forget to set the Working Directory in the project properties, otherwise the engine may fail to load the GameDLL during debugging.
You will need the original data files from Half-Life 1 Net Test 1. They are publicly available online and can be found on archival sources such as the Internet Archive.
- Overfloater (for playtesting)
- Barspinoff (for playtesting and assistance with software rendering)
