HL2 R8 HDR Bloom Mini-mod Released

[Grey]

We (Studio Radi-8 http://www.radi-8.com the team behind Neotokyo) released a "mini-mod" for Half-life 2 singleplayer that lets you play with a HDR Bloom effect enabled. Pixel/Vertex shader 2.0 is required. I'll copy-paste the readme below. So far there is a single download location available (although I also submitted the file to fileplanet):
http://halflife2.filefront.com/file/HalfLife_2_R8_HDR_Bloom_MiniMod;38224

Thank you!

README:
FAQ:
1) What is this?
This mini-modification of Half-life 2 allows you to play Half-Life 2 singleplayer with an HDR Bloom effect. Simply, it makes the game more pretty.

2) What are the requirements?
This mini-modification requires a video card that can use Vertex & Pixel Shader 2.0.

3) How do I install?
After you've unzipped and read this readme, simply run the installer. It should choose your Steam SourceMods directory as the default installation directory. That is exactly where it should be installed. After installation is completed, restart Steam and it should be listed in the 3rd Party games section. Not too hard eh?

4) Is this really HDR?
That's a good question. With out getting too technical, the effect itself is processed in a High Dynamic Range before it is Tone-Mapped to the low dynamic range Half-Life 2 and your video card are using. So yes and no ;D.

5) Can I tweak the effect?
Yes! Below are the console commands you can use to tweak the effect:
mat_R8Bloom (Default: 1) : 0=Turns the effect off, 1=The default setting, 2=Blurs the Bloom effect a bit more.
mat_R8BloomLvl (Default: 0.55) : This controls the brightness of the bloom.
mat_R8BloomGamma (Default: 0.75) : This controls the overall gamma of the scene while the effect is enabled, lower is brighter, higher is darker.

6) Any thing else I should know about?
Well there is one more bonus effect included. mat_R8Illustration which defaults to 0=off. 1 turns on a shader that mimics a cool Photoshop plug-in.

7) Would you like to thank any one?
Of course! Valve for providing an awesome game and sdk. Masaki Kawase for his initial work on these effects and others, the guy rocks.

Who is Studio Radi-8?
Studio Radi-8 is the team behind Neotokyo --> http://www.neotokyohq.com. Watch this modification - it's going to blow you away.

 

[DigiQ8]

yay graet
gonna download it now

 

[jondy]

*jumps up and down*

'nuff said.

 

[luketabor]

I need more screenshots to make a final judgement, as I usually can't stand bloom.

However - as it is adjustable, I may be able to get it where I like it, so this is a very good thing.

 

[DigiQ8]

installing now
ill upload screens when i test it

 

[DigiQ8]

I really cant see big change =\
here's some screeny

 

[Grey]

Are you sure your running HL2 from the 3rd party mods section?

Before:

After:

 

[DigiQ8]

yea

6chr

 

[v1p3r]

Wow great mod

 

[Axyon]

Fabulous mod, the effects are fairly subtle outside but it's extremely obvious when you look at a light. Very good stuff indeed. A few shots:

 

[Grey]

I'm glad everyone likes it .

Any chance for a frontpage news post Axyon? :naughty:

 

[Axyon]

I'm glad everyone likes it .

Any chance for a frontpage news post Axyon? :naughty:

Yeah, I'll see what I can do

 

[The Dark Elf]

woah, DLing.. hope this works, the difference is obvious and does look really nice, subtle but really nice.

 

[jimbo118]

should i turn aa off now or just leave it?

 

[H2HSnake]

does it work in multiplayer? or singleplayer only? if not can it be usable in MP? (i wish to see this efect in some mods,like dystopia )

 

[wlodi]

Looks very nice.. but does it need HL2 running in DirectX 9.0 mode? Or is it supported for 8.0 and 8.1 too?

 

[Sainku]

Looks very nice.. but does it need HL2 running in DirectX 9.0 mode? Or is it supported for 8.0 and 8.1 too?

Im pretty sure its only 9.0 as it needs PS 2.0

 

[clarky003]

cool, so isnt that pretty much what valves HDR update would of done..? or will the effect have more variety and be more pronounced...?

 

[pomegranate]

Can anyone tell for sure, from looking at the specification for my GPU, if it supports Pixel Shader 2.0

http://ati.com/products/mobilityradeon9700/features.html

 

[Sainku]

Can anyone tell for sure, from looking at the specification for my GPU, if it supports Pixel Shader 2.0

http://ati.com/products/mobilityradeon9700/features.html

It looks like it does.

 

[pomegranate]

Woohoo! (hopefully).
Well now I've got a reason to reinstall HL2 after this morning's system restore!

 

[jimbo118]

wow its really lovely,although i had to adjust my brightness lvl as everything was a little faded looking,i just started the sp campaign again so i think i'll stick with this version,the only prob i have is now combine police have a sorta glow around their heads,go up close to them and look,its only when up close though so no biggie

 

[clarky003]

you can increase the effect by typing: mat_R8BloomLvl , then a number, default is 0.55

this is set as 'mat_R8BloomLvl 2'

 

[pomegranate]

looks awesome, wish i could be bothered to get up off the sofa...

 

[DigiQ8]

do you guys have long loading times with this mod ?
it takes much time to load , could someone help me with this

 

[aFireInside0016]

On my screen, it looks like theres a giant white splotchy blob, and I'm pretty sure that isnt supposed to me there. Its like...everything is ultrabright, but it looks like some kinda of design....help?

It might be something with my laptop's video card, but I dunno what...


yeah, and mine takes forever to load too....and how do you turn off the animated background in the menu part?

 

[theGreenBunny]

I noticed the long loading as well. Maybe caused by some optimisation stuff turned off when compiling the mod? Could be something completely different but it's the only thing I can think of that might be it.

 

[joule]

So, basically it makes the game brighter? Uhh...what the...?

 

[EVIL]

No it does not only that, If you would look at the pic you would notice a diffrence how it would look with normally raising the gamma

 

[Quixoticism]

Sad GF4 Ti4200 owner
Anybody want to pitch in the my new "help me upgrade my computer" fund raiser?
Only joking!

Seriously, that's sweet sweet stuff you guys have made there. I only wish that I had the hardware to enjoy your work

 

[[AciD ZerO]]

thank you, im ggonna go download.

 

[The Bait]

That Cartoony look option makes the game look cool.

 

[Tupper]

Freakin' awesome.

 

[Ank4]

Is there any way to "port" this mini-mod into HL2DM? I tried to copy the dll, the shader-directory and materials\dev to hl2dm, but i did'nt get any access to the consolecommands. If there is any way of doing that, tell me the files i have to copy, or release a HL2DM-mod instead

 

[`unreal]

Wow thanks for this, ima download and play around

 

[theace55]

Is this full High Dynamic Range Rendering or just the light blooming technique? Light blooming is a simple technique that blends a blurry render over the normal render so the bright will "spill" over to make the bloom effect. With HDR I don't think the walls and floor should bloom as much as the light source does.

 

[jimbo118]

its just bloom,.its basically a console cmd,you can do it yourself tbh,its detailed in tweakguides.com hl2 guide,its not hdr

 

[bam23]

Would you happen to know that console cmd?

 

[Muhahahaha]

so what the heck is bloom?

 

[RamenFiend]

That Cartoony look option makes the game look cool.

I'd really like to see some screenshots of this, as my video card does not support dx9 at the moment.

Anyone want to post some? :cheese: