Half-Life 2 Source Code LEAKED...so what's a source code good for anyways???
 

Hey there...I found out that HL2's source code has recently been leaked...LOL...I KNEW something HL2 related would be leaked sooner or later after seeing what happened to Doom 3 Alpha (Fun game BTW...:D)...so what's a source code good for anyways??? It's not the game itself is it??? I don't think it is...so why would anyone want such a thing??? Just wondering...THANX
C'YA ?:-D

You are aware that software is usually written in something called "code" and then compiled into an executable formate right? The source code is the code for the game... Usually the only people who have the source code are the developers themselves.

So yes, it basically IS the game.
Although I'm not too sure how it's supposed to be played without all the supporting files (models and maps and sounds etc.), so maybe it was a bit more than the source code leaked.

You can't really play with the source code because you still need all the game's geometry, textures, sounds, maps, and other incidentals. The source code is the uncompiled software code in a high level programming language. Source code, unlike compiled code, includes comments, meaningful identifiers for variables, and is ordered in multiple files with an understandable hierarchy that makes it readable and understandable.

You can decompile existing code into a high level language but it isn't really readable because you don't know the name or signicance of each block of instructions and data.

Game engines like the UT2k3, DoomIII, Half-life2, represent huge investments of time and money and engine licensing represents a lucrative business. Now any and all techniques used in the rendering or sound engine can be copied or imitated freely by anyone with the source code. They could incorporate it into their own engine with no one being the wiser. Code checkers can tell if something is lifted straight, but certain intellectual property like algorithms and architectural ideas can't be traced.

I would give my first born child to have just one hour to learn from it =)

More importantly - and more distressing - having the source code in hand will let people begin to hack and devise cheats for the game before it hits the streets.

Something to keep in mind the first time you boot up the multiplayer component of HL2 (the surprise of which was given away in that source code).

Yup, this is the main problem I have with it. I mean, there's enough cheats for half-life and its mods WITHOUT having access to the source code, with the source code they can easily build the hacks around the anti-cheat components, or even straight into the engine itself.

yes this is indeed a huge problem for the community.

it will aid the bad guys create cheats.

it important to note that open source is generally better and more secure than closed source software because there are more good guys than bad guys looking at the code and reporting fixes.

unfortunately all the good guys in this situation who are not part of valve wont be coming close to the source with a 100 km pole , in order to avoide tainting.

This leaves valve alone and one step behind in a fight that was even supposed to start yet..

Buh bye firstborn son...
[EDIT] Doh! fooled...[/edit]

It isn't right. This sucks.

Definately sucks indeed, but I wouldnt worry TOO much.

From what I hear these 3 things rule over the leak:

1 - The leak is a month old

2 - This past month, is where most of the stuff was thrown together, so it is likely the the content in the leak is very incomplete, but still shows off quite a few things.

3 - They are changing some of the code (CD Key logarithms, some other things I cant think of at the moment)

Anywho, I hope the find and catch the bastard who did this, and jail his arse for a long long time.

knowing our system, he'll be in jail longer than a murderer.....

HAH!!! I KNEW that TF2 would be shipped with HL2!!! They've payed too much attention to CS and barely ANY to TF...they were a bit TOO quiet about TF and TF2...Now I don't know which one I'm gonna be able to play with first...should I play TF2 first or HL2 first??? :confused::confused::confused: To TF2 or HL2...THAT is the question...You know what...this will prolly delay HL2 even MORE...unless Valve is stoopid they will have to change the source code completely or else there will be hacks EVERYWHERE

Are there any kind of files that you can get out of the source code or any interesting stuff??? Just wondering...THANX
C'YA ?:-D

Whoever released it is really STOOPID!!! What s/he SHOULD have done was wait until the release date of HL2 and THEN release the source code...BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!! That would have been the most evil...LOL...the person screwed up...s/he could have done a better job of being evil

Hey...check out this pic I found...wonder if it's real:
http://www.devils-children.com/hl2_1.jpg

Well, i imagine valve has some serious work on their hands now.

They'll need to figure out who got to it, etc. I think they need to take a little mroe time with corporate security, though. From what I've read, most of the hacking was done by using the buffer overflow problem with Microsoft Outlook. I know MS had a patch for that a while back, didn't they?

After that's done, I suppose they shoudl rename ALL routines, ALL function calls, ALL variables, and probably change how some stuff works so the hackers dont have a chance.

Seems like a tall order. Hope they get it done right this time. I, for one, was really let down when I heard this. I guess there will be more people jumping on the Max Payne bandwagon while they wait, then, eh?

i wouldnt worry about it too much, there are sometimes numerous prerelase beta code versions floating around before a game goes gold. Even if the code is "current" and valid.. they have a month or 2 to change variables and work on securing functions, which will go a lot faster since the bulk of the work is done already.

99% of people getting the code wont know what to do with it anyway..
Hell the homworld code just went public as well.. Totally useless without supportiv files and subsystems.

The only thing that really worries Valve, imo, is the ability to cheat.

With the source code, it would be pretty easy to make multiplayer cheats, with multiplayer and mods being what Valve is really banking on...

Ganguro, was it the Homeworld 2 code that leaked? Or just the code for the original game?

I guess the thing that worries me most about this is that Valve will be leasing their HL2 engine to third-party developers. I guess now, some renegade programming team could hack together a graphically kick ass game without paying a dime to Valve using the stolen source. I'm sure Valve has been shitting bricks over this one...

... can't wait to get my hands on it and see how it works. heheheh.

Homeworld 1 source code/ engine was released, not leaked. It was done on purpose and can be found here: http://www.relic.com/rdn/

There will be more cheaters and the Keygenerator will have to be changed. Those aren't that big of a deal but the main problem is now all of HL's rivals will be able to see how they do their physics and most importantly their AI system. That has to piss off the programmers. I know I would.

Ah. Ok, thanks. I've heard whispers of other invasions into developer systems, etc. - was trying to see how widespread the leaking had become.

Half Life 2 ???
 

hey whats up everyone, I'm getting excited about HL 2 coming soon, and I would like to know if anyone can tell me about what I need to play this game...

My actual PC is a 2.0 GHz with 512 Ram, and more than enough space on my hard drive.
One thing though: my graphics card is the one that came with the computer when I bought it (at Gateway). I don't know what it is, and it probably sucks. I think I have enough processor power as well as ram and Hard Drive space, but is there anyone of the computer freak community that could tell me a good graphic card that could handle HL 2?
My first post as a thread... thanks for answering...

How much do you want to spend on a graphics card?

And what kind of processor/RAM is that? If you have a 2.0 Celeron with 512 MB of PC133 RAM, you'll probably have trouble with Half-Life 2.

-Lasereth

Will my specs be enough to run HL2?

P4 1.6 GHz / 384 MB DDR @ 266 MHz / 50 GB HDD / Radeon 9000 Pro Atlantis 64MB DDR VIVO / Win XP Pro, DX9

It's too hard to say right now. The game could have strict requirements, or it could be very scalable so it can be played on most machines.

The specs for playable Half-Life 2 are really, really low. You'll be able to run it, but maybe not run it *well.* You never know until it comes out, though.

-Lasereth

The way HL2 is designed, you don't a powerful computer, just a powerful video card. Anything with 128 MB DDR + will run amazing.

It is going to take Valve so much longer to put out HL2 now :(

Half Life 2 source leak confirmed - Oops! Or maybe it's a marketing wheeze
 

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=11913


Half Life 2 source leak confirmed - Oops! Or maybe it's a marketing wheeze

By INQUIRER staff: Friday 03 October 2003, 09:56

GABE NEWELL has made an official statement about the rumoured leak of the Half Life 2 source code here.
Apparently, someone has been sniffing around Valve Software and the source code was downloaded directly off of Valve computers. This appears to have been a targeted attack at Valve, as it exploited a vulnerability in Outlook (vulnerabilities in Microsoft software? Heaven forbid!) and installed a keystroke recorder on individual systems. In addition, Gabe’e e-mail has been accessed several times since September 11th, 2003.

While the source code does not include the full game, the source code of the engine can be examined to create exploits in the game. Speculation is running rampant about Steam’s ability to detect hacks, but finding work-arounds with the source code is much easier than trying to decipher compiled information.

There are also components to the source code that reveals new weapons, and work already completed on several mods. While some people might think, "big deal", there is a high stakes game happening this fall with several prominent titles vying for the gamers dollar. This is a painful blow to Valve. µ

If a developer wanted to work on a new game, looking at the HL2 source would be worthless to them. The code itself is already a few years old, and some parts of it are 4-5 years old. And Valve doesn't have any code Gods like iD does, so the code is pretty standard. By the time a developer spends 1-2 years coding up their game using the HL2 source, it will be outdated by the time it is released. That's the nature of the beast. Now if the source was leaked a year ago, then it would be a total different story. Developers could of rushed things and had their HL2 source based game out around the same time as HL2, with enough time to change things around so no one catches on.

Consider the following: Quake 3 Arena was released to the public on the 21 October, 2000. Almost three years later, Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy was released 16 September, 2003. This new game is not outdated. Gamespot.com gives Jedi Knight a decent rating of 8.4/10. I would hardly consider an 8.4 an "outdated" game.

Sure, the Quake3 engine was done by "code Gods" iD, but then consider that the original Half-life was released 31 October, 1998. James Bond 007: NightFire was released four years later using the Half-life engine, and Counter-Strike: Condition Zero is due out next month which also uses the old Half-life engine.

My point is this, the Half-life2 engine is not outdated, and nor will it be for probably the next three or four years. That should allow plenty of time for developers to release great games using the HL2 engine, and trust me they will. Now the only trouble is did the developers pay for rights to use the engine, or did they steal it?

I was looking at the graphics for HL2 on that 600MB e3 video today and thought to myself, "wow, that shit looks like bullshit, they should've released it five months ago."

Re: Half-Life 2 Source Code LEAKED...so what's a source code good for anyways???
 

Oh, my. Going back to your career thread, this definitely confirms that you aren't cut out for a computer-related job.

Re: Re: Half-Life 2 Source Code LEAKED...so what's a source code good for anyways???
 

If I were a mod I'd ban you for that comment alone.

Valve Software releases statement, "This sucks" after Half-life2 source code stolen
 

Not the entire game, but the engine that controls character interaction, physics, and other aspects of gameplay.

There's a pretty good discussion going on about this already in this thread... but yeah, it does indeed suck.

depends on how you want it to look....the better the system the better it is....same with the card...i would say if you want to go all out get the 9800...if you want to not break the bank...than like a 128mb ti4200 would do great...processor should be more than enough...and more ram never hurts..max it out!

its not about HL2, its about the mp.....anyone remember tf2 ?

moreover, in SP you will be able to notch down your gfx settings enough for your game to be playable (40fps+)

The real question here may be how much of a computer will it take to run hl2 at x resolution WHILE playing online.

Well, that's not the nicest thing to say, but it falls pretty far from being a personal attack.

To a point I'd even agree. If Metallica_Band is a studying IT student, he has some more studying to do.

I'd just remind <b>irseg</b> that everyone starts with the same knowledge base. IE-nothing. Learning fills that void.

Never forget there is always someone out there who knows more.

Re: Re: Re: Half-Life 2 Source Code LEAKED...so what's a source code good for anyways???
 

For being honest? Wow, you'd make a great moderator!