Pretty sure Half-Life does it with a combine operation (as opposed to jacking up the brightness or applying a modulation blend quad to the screen). This is one of the big things the current Steam version regressed with the current maintainers clueless on how to fix it

Voodoo 5 graphics card definitely has a nicer look than other cards I tried.
Also, if you want to controll light more accurately try VulzaCN Half Life Compile tools (Based on Zoners Half Life Compile tools), they have a lot more functions and features.

Does anyone happen to know with what patch version (for the Retail CD), over brights stop working with the OpenGL render?

So here are some screenshots with 1.1.1.0 patch.

When setting Gamma to 1.0 in the 3dfx driver, the image looks very similar to the software render. But without overbright, the entire image just seems darker. Is this the effect or am I missing something?

I read that gl_overbright shouldn't work with the 1.1.1.0 patch, so this is a bit confusing...

Does anyone know the level of the screenshots in the first post?

More images. These are in 800 x 600.

I must say, the images for software, Direct3D and MiniGL look pretty identical to me. It's only when you disable gl_overbright that you get a difference.

So is this thing with gl_overbright not working just a myth?

Anyone know what's going on?

You can clearly see a difference in brightness when you're using OpenGL in your screenshots. It might be because 3dfx had very good GL support but D3D was always a bit lacking. Also overbrights naturally is an OpenGL extension command, and Half Life was originally written for OpenGL. So it might be a combination of factors to do with driver support and game preference.

Also Phil check you msg inbox 😜

mzry wrote:

You can clearly see a difference in brightness when you're using OpenGL in your screenshots. It might be because 3dfx had very good GL support but D3D was always a bit lacking. Also overbrights naturally is an OpenGL extension command, and Half Life was originally written for OpenGL. So it might be a combination of factors to do with driver support and game preference.

Also Phil check you msg inbox 😜

Yea I will use the current setting, it does look nicer with that overbright enabled 😀

Nothing in my inbox yet...

I can't comment on the technicalities, but I had to post to say that you must play some of the Half-Life mods, as some of them are fantastic.

I'd rcommend:

Azure Sheep (the best HL mod I've played, it's superb, and you get to explore and fight in the parts of Black Mesa (the science complex that the game takes place in) that you only see from the tram ride at the start of Half-Life). In this mod you play as Barney, the guard who you play as in Blue-Shift, but Azure Sheep is massively better than Blue-Shift.

USS Darkstar

The They Hunger Trilogy (you kill zombies (this came out a few years before *every* third first person shooter involved zombies!) and it's really good, with a Lovecraft style story and setting. It starts out slow, but gets better and better as it goes along).

Opposing Force (the first official addon (the second and last addon being the disappointing Blue-Shift), and it's fantastic. It takes place at almost the same time as Half-Life, so you see Gordan Freeman (who you play in Half-Life) several times, as he goes about his business that fateful day). This mod is commercial (all of the others I've named are free, only Opposing Force and Blue-Shift have to be bought) but it's only £4 on Steam (https://steamcommunity.com/app/50 and is well worth it).

Offhand I can't remember the names of more great HL mods, and these are are very old, as I've not kept up with the HL modding scene for years. But if you like Half-Life, then give these mods a try.

mzry wrote:

Also overbrights naturally is an OpenGL extension command, and Half Life was originally written for OpenGL.

It isn't

Overbrights are an effect that can be achieved in at least 3 different ways in standard OpenGL, and there is no "overbright extension". I think HL did a combine operation though.

This thread started on the Direct3D renderer which never had overbrights removed until the renderer was removed completely.

The best place to spot overbrights happening are the vending machines around the game. They let off a bright radiant light and often has the overbrighting affect their own logos

also half-life was originally written for a software renderer, the OpenGL support was after that, and then Direct3D (which was written very late in development and has strict caps checks 😀)

fun fact: apparently commenting about overbrights on the hl sdk github will be deleted, or at least I can't find my github comments about how trivial it is to bring it back anymore.

I want a classic Half Life with overbrights and 1600x1200 support.

I always wanted a HL mod where you play as the g-man.

swaaye wrote:

I want a classic Half Life with overbrights and 1600x1200 support.

Is this resolution not supported with OpenGL or the MiniGL?

The 3dfx MiniGL provided is strictly 800x600 at best since it's developed for Glide2x, as intended for V1/V2.

leileilol wrote:

The 3dfx MiniGL provided is strictly 800x600 at best since it's developed for Glide2x, as intended for V1/V2.

That makes sense. Maybe the standard OpenGL driver supports 1600 x 1200?

IIRC overbright support ends with the patch that adds 1600x1200.

swaaye wrote:

IIRC overbright support ends with the patch that adds 1600x1200.

Oh I see. Well 1024 x 768 looks pretty mint I believe.

So I take it the Direct3D render doesn't work as well?

The D3D renderer was pulled out when Half-Life gained a Linux version on Steam a few years back. It was the last to have overbrights

swaaye wrote:

I want a classic Half Life with overbrights and 1600x1200 support.

How about this?

Some more (because of the file-size limit per message).