HalfLife2 RTX Demo Is out!

[oxrufiioxo]

Oof

View attachment 390496

PInk screen of death, I'm reading people are having all sorts of issues with it.

 

[A Computer Guy]

Damn that CPU is cooking for 18% utilization.....

NH-L12S can only do so much especially with only one fan.

Yeah @wolf to me this feels much better

View attachment 390490

Than this.

View attachment 390491

Trying to see the difference between those images...

 

[wolf]

Might have to do with how bad the 5080 performs in this game at 4k it's like 44% slower than the 5090 at natively rendered frames or alternatively the 5090 is 80% faster....

I don't think that's it, with 60+ fps and a flat frame time graph it's confusing me how that doesn't feel smooth when that does in other games, perhaps FG does becuase I cap at exactly 120 and when it's hitting that it just feels perfect, if I try my own external 60 cap w/FG off, that might go a ways to the smooth feeling.

 

[oxrufiioxo]

I don't think that's it, with 60+ fps and a flat frame time graph it's confusing me how that doesn't feel smooth when that does in other games, perhaps FG does becuase I cap at exactly 120 and when it's hitting that it just feels perfect, if I try my own external 60 cap w/FG off, that might go a ways to the smooth feeling.

Yeah, I can't say I've ever tried a game the felt more responsive with framegen on ever, that's not how the technology works. I can say I only ever liked using it on my 48 inch C1 but since switching back to a monitor never use it. I also don't care for DLSS either on a monitor though but I will enable that if I need to.

This game makes CNN DLSS look like FSR lmao not sure what they were doing there. Transformer RR is doing some heavy lifting though but still has issues.

 

[wolf]

Yeah, I can't say I've ever tried a game the felt more responsive with framegen on ever,

Just tried it with and without caps a bit and I am still miffed, it just doesn't feel right locked at 60 with FG off, but it feels and looks stunning locked at 120 with 2x on, I wouldn't say more responsive, just feels really good. I went looking for ertefacts too and did see some right around the gravity gun when doing a snap-pan to the right. last thought is I'm not running the latest drivers... But I'd happily play the entire game how it's running now.

 

[oxrufiioxo]

Just tried it with and without caps a bit and I am still miffed, it just doesn't feel right locked at 60 with FG off, but it feels and looks stunning locked at 120 with 2x on, I wouldn't say more responsive, just feels really good. I went looking for ertefacts too and did see some right around the gravity gun when doing a snap-pan to the right. last thought is I'm not running the latest drivers... But I'd happily play the entire game how it's running now.

I think it's really neat from a retrospective point of view but the visuals definitely don't match the performance but that's the reality we live in we have to use all kinds of techniques that have artifacts to even be able to run it at an acceptable framerates.

Probably another 10 years out the way generational improvements are going before we get an uncompromised from the ground up game with Path tracing.

It's a shame 50 series didn't bring large PT improvements even if they couldn't improve on raster I still hoped we'd get much larger RT gains.

 

[A Computer Guy]

Damn that CPU is cooking for 18% utilization.....

Went back to the original at 4K it's running much cooler.

 

[oxrufiioxo]

Went back to the original at 4K it's running much cooler.

View attachment 390499

I didn't get to play the PC version till 2008 on an 8800GT/Q6600 prebuilt lol pretty sure the temps were high on that sucka. I actually played the X360 version first in 2007. I enjoyed HL2 on PC more than I did Crysis the reason I even got it. My buddy had a 280 he got like 6 months after I got the prebuilt and it ran much better on his shit lol.

 

[Rover4444]

These are official recommendations:

View attachment 390397

And this is the kind of performance to be expected with the 50 series. MFG 4x and DLSS4 in performance mode in 2160p (1080p render resolution), balanced in 1440p (835p) and quality in 1080p (724p):

View attachment 390398View attachment 390399View attachment 390400

Nvidia also has a breakdown of recommended settings for the 40 and 30 series in this article:

Half-Life 2 RTX Playable Demo Out Now, NVIDIA RTX Remix Officially Released With DLSS 4 & RTX Neural Shaders

Our RTX-powered modding platform has been officially released, adding DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation and a full suite of RTX Neural Rendering technology, enabling modders to bring more beautiful worlds and characters to their ray traced remasters of classic titles. See what’s possible with...

www.nvidia.com

This bit has me worried though. Will make 1:1 benchmarking impossible if widely adopted:

View attachment 390402

Wow, that's actually pretty trash. Maybe it's better on high.

Actually no, that's super trash. This thing's slower on a 5090 than PT in Cyberpunk? These guys need to work on optimization.

RDNA3 does not support FP8, and that is required for Transformer part of FSR4 and their hybrid model. Image first goes through CNN model, then Transformer. If AMD will continue to be "good guy AMD" then they can release FSR4 Lite, that simply skips the transformer model part of the algorithm, with worse quality yes but probably still better than FSR3.
View attachment 390442

https://ietresearch.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1049/ipr2.12833

AMD FSR 4/Neural Supersampling and Denoising Tech Analysis

FSR 4 FSR 4 Performance Mode with Frame Generation Shown in Call of Duty Black Ops 6 (20:41) Yesterday, in AMD’s RX 9070 XT launch presentation, they briefly discussed the technological specs of FSR 4 and the nature of its machine learning model. Question: “Is FSR 4 a transformer model like...

docs.google.com

They can probably just do a lighter bf16 instead of fp8.

 

[tpa-pr]

They can probably just do a lighter bf16 instead of fp8.

So i'm a super layman at this but very interested because I own an RDNA3 card. If they did use bf16, what are the performance ramifications of that? Will it be slower than fp8 (and if so, how much are we talking ballpark)? Will it require high end cards only or could it work on the lower end RDNA3 cards too?

 

[Rover4444]

So i'm a super layman at this but very interested because I own an RDNA3 card. If they did use bf16, what are the performance ramifications of that? Will it be slower than fp8 (and if so, how much are we talking ballpark)? Will it require high end cards only or could it work on the lower end RDNA3 cards too?

I'm not 100% sure, but if it's anything like LLMs then these things are effectively different "quants" of the same model. fp8 should be nearly half as small as a bf16 model and twice as fast as a comparable fp16 since it's quarter precision but it'll be a bit more lossy - although when it comes to visuals this doesn't matter that much. A bf16 model would have to be nearly half the size and processing requirements to run at the same speed as an fp8 model, so visuals WILL be worse. It would work on anything that can do bf16 though.

That's just a theory though, I'm sure somebody else will tell me I'm wrong... but I think this sort of thing is being done with Intel's XESS where they're using a DP4a fallback on non-Intel cards.

 

[AusWolf]

Back in the day that would sound huge lol.

Yeah, I remember the original came on 5 CDs and was considered huge.

Trying to see the difference between those images...

View attachment 390498

Looking at those flat walls, I'm wondering if a Black Mesa style overhaul would have been more appropriate for this game, too.

 

[remekra]

Installed new game ready driver for this but funnily enough it causes issues when using Frame Gen. Every other second it stutters now, with frames dropping from 190 in 4X to 150-160 and that causes a 1 second slow down. Happens on all FG modes, only FG off works normally.

 

[oxrufiioxo]

Installed new game ready driver for this but funnily enough it causes issues when using Frame Gen. Every other second it stutters now, with frames dropping from 190 in 4X to 150-160 and that causes a 1 second slow down. Happens on all FG modes, only FG off works normally.

It's pretty smooth with either no frame gen or 2x on my 4090 just more latency with framegen ofc on the latest driver.

I did use DLSS swapper to switch to the latest versions of SR/RR/FG but I honestly wasn't paying attention if it was already on the latest DLL.

 

[remekra]

It's pretty smooth with either no frame gen or 2x on my 4090 just more latency with framegen ofc on the latest driver.

I did use DLSS swapper to switch to the latest versions of SR/RR/FG but I honestly wasn't paying attention if it was already on the latest DLL.

Just tested it again with 2X Frame Gen and yeah it doesn't happen then, so it's only for 3X and 4X modes, so 50 series specific issue.

 

[Vayra86]

the RTX version runs about the same as I played in when it first came out. Sub 20 FPS

I can't shake the irony of this supposed 'progress'.

It looks like an old game with overdone lighting now, which is also what it is...

Are you kidding? I just posted a video above showing a 4060 getting those same frame rates at more or less the same settings. Where-ever those graphs came from, they are absolute twaddle. Get out here with that nonsense..


Play with your settings, but you should have fun. If you don't have the full HalfLife 2 yet, might be a good time to buy it.


Just watched that. I'm impressed. This could solve a few problems for cards with limited VRAM.

This 'solves' problems. You just don't see everything. And then you can white knight more about cards 'having enough VRAM with 8GB in 2025' like you seem to love to do lately.

Enjoy your illusions, ignorance is bliss, they say.

Probably another 10 years out the way generational improvements are going before we get an uncompromised from the ground up game with Path tracing.

Dream on. There is no trajectory that even remotely looks like 10 years is enough. We're in complete limbo performance wise. You get FPS through fake frames. Nothing else. Blackwell is an architectural standstill. What do you think, in 10 years you will have your 50000 shader GPU for under 2k? It ain't happening.

Nvidia isn't in this game to make RT work. They're in it to sell you cards. And they're clearly not pushing for increasing the RT capability in their GPU stacks, unless you buy their MFG bullshit. And AMD? RT will for them just be bonus points for their UDNA move. 'It can do RT too' much like Nvidia's architecture does. The focus is clearly not on RT for anyone, except gullible consumers believing there is always a next best thing while they spend years looking at subpar graphics and extremely poor performance at super premium pricing.

Much like VR... RT will not escape the forever in beta situation. Guaranteed - its too costly, simple as that. Every single subsequent gen underlines it more.

NH-L12S can only do so much especially with only one fan.



Trying to see the difference between those images...

View attachment 390498

And then you get 'but you have to look at this concrete wall and this fence in motion to appreciate it'

Yeah, I feel totally inclined to be looking long and hard at a concrete wall in a game so I can appreciate my halved performance... Its just so completely bonkers and counterproductive, I can't even.

 

[stahlhart]

Looking at those flat walls, I'm wondering if a Black Mesa style overhaul would have been more appropriate for this game, too.

I'd be pushing up the daffodils long before they ever got it done, if the HL1 reskin is any indication.

 

[W4llBangdMyself]

Looks like crap, runs like crap, waste of time. NEXT!

 

[Assimilator]

Every single subsequent gen underlines it more.

What nonsensical claim is this when literally every subsequent generation has got better at it?

Despite what you and other naysayers continue to claim, RT is not going anywhere, it's only going to get better, and it is going to become the standard graphics rendering technology.

 

[Sithaer]

Alright I've managed to play for about 1 hour.
Runs a bit better than expected since my card is apparently their minimum posted requirement at 1080p with performance upscaling + low settings but my res is slightly more demanding than that.
Basically Medium settings with DLSS on Performance but using the Transformer model insteadof CNN tho Transformer is like a ~5-7 FPS drop but it looks much better imo so I've stayed with that.
Depending on the scene its anywhere between ~35-45 FPS.



To me it still looks pretty good and while not ideal for sure but I could see myself doing a full playthrough of the game like this. 'tbh after the ~1 hour I wasn't really bothered and just kept playing normally'
Only things I've noticed that the fire/explosion effects are on the lower res side and that fog/mist in some areas of Ravenholm had some smearing artifacts if I turned the camera up and down quickly but really who does that during actual gameplay anyway.
To be fair I'm not sure what kind of FPS I was playing at in the original back in the days when it was relased but I did finish the game on a Radeon 9600 Pro.

Hate to admit but still haven't played any HL titles practically at all, I entered the world of PC gaming too late for the "real" era of HL1 so I wasn't interested of the others either. I do have them on Steam though and I've played some Black Mesa but haven't finished it yet.

I've also started the serie with HL 2 since I've only ever played CS 1.6 before that but the trailers of HL 2 impressed me so I've pre ordered it. 'That was my first time doing that actually..'
I did play HL 1 in the form of Black Mesa a few years ago just to have a general idea of the game. 'the original is way too retro for my taste at this point'

 

[AusWolf]

I'd be pushing up the daffodils long before they ever got it done, if the HL1 reskin is any indication.

Black Mesa got done as well, even though not many of us thought we'd see the day.

The only thing we'll truly never see is Half-Life 3.

Alright I've managed to play for about 1 hour.
Runs a bit better than expected since my card is apparently their minimum posted requirement at 1080p with performance upscaling + low settings but my res is slightly more demanding than that.
Basically Medium settings with DLSS on Performance but using the Transformer model insteadof CNN tho Transformer is like a ~5-7 FPS drop but it looks much better imo so I've stayed with that.
Depending on the scene its anywhere between ~35-45 FPS.
View attachment 390530
View attachment 390531
View attachment 390532
To me it still looks pretty good and while not ideal for sure but I could see myself doing a full playthrough of the game like this. 'tbh after the ~1 hour I wasn't really bothered and just kept playing normally'
Only things I've noticed that the fire/explosion effects are on the lower res side and that fog/mist in some areas of Ravenholm had some smearing artifacts if I turned the camera up and down quickly but really who does that during actual gameplay anyway.
To be fair I'm not sure what kind of FPS I was playing the origina back in the days when it was relased but I did finish the game on a Radeon 9600 Pro.

I remember it ran pretty well on my Radeon 9600 XT. My best friend at that time wasn't so lucky with his 9200 SE.

I've also started the serie with HL 2 since I've only ever played CS 1.6 before that but the trailers of HL 2 impressed me so I've pre ordered it. 'That was my first time doing that actually..'
I did play HL 1 in the form of Black Mesa a few years ago just to have a general idea of the game. 'the original is way too retro for my taste at this point'

I played the first HL at 320x240 (the only resolution it didn't stutter at) with software rendering on my Celeron MMX 300 MHz + S3 Virge DX. Those were the days!

 

[stahlhart]

Black Mesa got done as well, even though not many of us thought we'd see the day.

The only thing we'll truly never see is Half-Life 3.


I remember it ran pretty well on my Radeon 9600 XT. My best friend at that time wasn't so lucky with his 9200 SE.


I played the first HL at 320x240 (the only resolution it didn't stutter at) with software rendering on my Celeron MMX 300 MHz + S3 Virge DX. Those were the days!

It would have been nice had Valve completed the story arc instead of just leaving everyone hanging, but it seems that everyone except the most rabid die-hards have long since moved on. I think that if they even tried now, it would be half the planet appreciating it and the other half apoplectic over it not ending the way they thought it should have.

My first go at HL1 was on a P-III and a Matrox G400 with the TurboGL driver, I think 640x480.

 

[Assimilator]

I played the first HL at 320x240 (the only resolution it didn't stutter at) with software rendering on my Celeron MMX 300 MHz + S3 Virge DX. Those were the days!

This is why I don't get all the kvetching about RT being slow; rasterisation used to be slow too and guess what, the hardware did eventually catch up. Everyone seems to have forgotten how truly wretched it was trying to get big-name games to run at playable framerates on graphics hardware between 1995 and 2010; since then we've been truly spoiled by how powerful that hardware has become. RT is that decade-and-a-half cycle repeating, and just like back then people were frustrated at how apparently slow things were moving, and just like back then it is getting and will get better.

Yes, there is the Moore's Law wall to contend with this time around, but we also have other solutions like frame generation to help us overcome the limitations of physics. You may not like them, but they are solutions, they do work well enough, and they too are getting and will get better. And eventually the hardware will become powerful enough to not need them, and we will discard them.

 

[phanbuey]

This is why I don't get all the kvetching about RT being slow; rasterisation used to be slow too and guess what, the hardware did eventually catch up. Everyone seems to have forgotten how truly wretched it was trying to get big-name games to run at playable framerates on graphics hardware between 1995 and 2010; since then we've been truly spoiled by how powerful that hardware has become. RT is that decade-and-a-half cycle repeating, and just like back then people were frustrated at how apparently slow things were moving, and just like back then it is getting and will get better.

Yes, there is the Moore's Law wall to contend with this time around, but we also have other solutions like frame generation to help us overcome the limitations of physics. You may not like them, but they are solutions, they do work well enough, and they too are getting and will get better. And eventually the hardware will become powerful enough to not need them, and we will discard them.

True but the increase in quality there was massive - the difference in Oblivion's graphics vs Morrowind's, for instance, was worth the performance hit. Every year new games would come out looking incredible compared to the year prior.

This is slightly different lighting. Looks almost the same to me for -1000% performance.

 

[wolf]

This is slightly different lighting

Did you not notice any of the remastered assets? This game looks like how I remember half life 2, but looking side by side today, it's evident that, lighting aside, this version looks considerably better. Some of the assets are stunning.

RT is not going anywhere

It's just a beta feature that'll never go mainstream, duh!