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Classic Half-Life gets ESRGAN AI-enhanced HD textures, available for download

94 Comments

Following the AI-enhanced texture packs for Morrowind, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Doom and Max Payne, here comes another one for Valve’s classic Half-Life game. Cyril Paulus has used ESRGAN and has updated all of the game’s textures, including the ones for the XEN levels. So yeah, while Black Mesa Xen is not available yet, we can get a small idea now of what a remastered version of the Xen levels could look like.

What’s really cool here is that, like in all cases, the updated HD textures are as close to their original versions as possible. Unfortunately, though, some textures like liquids and chrome seem to be corrupted so it’s not perfect yet.

In order to showcase the visual differences, Paulus has released a comparison video between the AI-enhanced and the vanilla textures that you can find below. As you will immediately notice, there is big difference in some textures, especially for those used for some computers and some signs.

Those interested can download the ESRGAN HD Texture Pack for Half Life from here. All you have to do in order to install it is extract the folder inside steam\steamapps\common\Half-Life and then restart Steam.

Have fun everyone!

Half-Life Textures Upscaled with ESRGAN 2 (with models and link)

94 thoughts on “Classic Half-Life gets ESRGAN AI-enhanced HD textures, available for download”

    2. Welcome back, @LuckyNumber8, @ previous “Paul86”.. No matter how many times you create a new alt account, I’m here to haunt you……

      I will make your life miserable here in dsog, lol…..You can’t hide behind any more……Keep deleting and creating new accounts, but I will catch you as always !

      Reply

      1. “Welcome back, @LuckyNumber8, @ previous “Paul86″..”

        Let me fix that for you:

        “Welcome back, @PB, @LuckyNumber8, @ previous “Paul86″..”

        He changed his name/account three times 🙂

        Reply

        3. Well you’ve been straight with your name and accounts towards me, I give you that, so thumbs up on that behalf. What is between you and Jackyies is between the two of you, nothing I can comment on. Funny that you say it, because Jackyies has never been rude towards me, so what you say, is nothing I can relate to. Also, I’ve seen no evidence of him having multiple accounts, so that might just be speculations on your behalf. Yes that is correct, I use a 4K screen. But not only that. I also have a 1080p high refresh-rate monitor. It all depends on what I do in front of the computer.

          Reply

          1. This Paul86 guy is just being totally delusional. All the claims which he makes really makes me chuckle.

    4. No, not even close to a must, the enhancement is literally non existent unless you stop and stare at ambient textures, and even there most of the times you can’t see no difference.

      Reply

      2. The guy you are talking to is @LuckyNumber8. Remember this lunatic ? This is his 3rd/4’th alias.

        He is same guy with whom you had a long debate earlier on, regarding the RTX cards, and about how these things aren’t expensive at all, according to him.

        He was defending the whole rtx series, and how rich people don’t have any issues with money, and trying to prove that the RTX cards are worth the price tag.

        Reply

          1. Nothing….I was just trying to make you aware of him. I thought you were assuming him to be some other guy, but it seems you know him now…No worries, by the way.

      3. No that’s not my opinion. that’s fact, there’s no real improvements other than slightly bigger textures, which are noticeable only if you stop and stare at them, so totally useless.

        Reply

        1. Yeah that too, but mostly because it’s just there, and you’re just overhyping some stupid useless “mod”

          Reply

          1. Ok UnluckyNumber911, i don’t respect your opinion and if you think there’s noticeable or worth difference let’s not leave it that way, and let’s get our sight checked.

          4. Cool, you can also get out of here together with Oscar and other pathetic clowns like him.

      1. Because he was being stalked and harassed (He told us all this in a long and pathetic cry-post some week ago, whining over the block system of disqus). But people noticed it and recognized him when he popped back under a new name.

        Reply

        1. Okay. But this behavior from his side is totally immature though, honestly speaking. He is always acting like a kid.

          What was the point in deleting his previous account though, when he had plans to come back here again ? Makes little sense.

          Reply

  6. Theres only so much you can do with a single lowres diffuse. Textures today consists of 4-5 layers. Impressive for what it can do, especially taking inte account how early this tech is. Imagine proper training, we’ll get there.

    Reply

    1. And when people mod proper high res textures the same people complain that the mod betray the original version or some bs like that

      Reply

      1. Yeah exactly. It would take an artist to properly do high-res texture mods with faithful intent, and it would also take great amount of effort and time. ESRGAN does thousands of textures in a matter of hours, automatically. This is just the beginning though. ESRGAN has quite limited training thus far. Imagine years of proper training.

        Reply

        1. Are you in the team that made the mod? Because otherwise your defensive behaviour towards this matter really makes no sense, and only makes you look stupid and ignorant. I mean if you are, the mod is still useless.

          Reply

  7. Well it’s probably his poor connection that limits him to 480p on youtube, that’s why he can’t see a difference. Poor fella LOL!

    Reply

          2. Cmon tell me what i need to spell correctly, smartass, you realize i wrote retrded that way because otherwise it gets filtered out don’t you? Or you’re THAT stupid?

          3. Wasn’t even referring to that lol. But it doesn’t come as a surprise that you’re blind as well.

          6. Pathetic rofl, you talk nonsense and then you fail miserably when someone asks you what you’re referring to, lmao what a clown.

  11. Exactly, a single blank texture is very limited to how it will look, final, in a game. Textures nowadays consists of several layers that help increase its aesthetics ingame. One of the biggest contributing techniques is done by adding a normal-map. Another technique is by adding a detail-map, stalker did this excessively to make textures appear more high-res even though most textures in Stalker were pretty low-res. Crysis did it as well, it adds another layer of detail to the texture. Then you have specular, roughness and bump of course. None of which were used in HL1, they only used one, single diffuse texture.

    Reply

    1. That, we seem indeed. No buddy, Hate is such a strong word. I don’t hate you. I just disagree with some stuff that you say. I also don’t like when people talk about stuff like its a fact, yet they don’t have any proof to back it up. When I know they’re wrong, and point it out, they engage in heavy defense mode. The worst part of an argue however, is when the argue is regarding something one can’t really prove, like perception and taste. For example, which is more realistic, which looks better, how much or little difference something does. That’s a dead end, but can result in long, dragged on conflicts. I often bail out of those things quite early, because they’re kind of pointless and you can’t strengthen your argument with actual proof, because it’s all perception and taste.

      I was also surprised over some peoples comments on this article, I can’t see how people see no difference with this mod, or how they think it’s pointless. That’s just moronic. I also can’t understand how people can’t just appreciate the technology behind something like ESRGAN and see it for what it is, and can become. Instead they’re whining and crying about it. It’s just childish and doesn’t make sense in my eyes.

      A.I is truly interesting, and that it found it’s way into gaming is something I’m very exited about. But then again, I don’t expect too much from the comment section on DSOG, it’s mostly filled with idiots to be honest. I genuinely like some people though, like Bub&Bob and Metal_Messiah.

      Reply

    2. A word of friendly advice. There is no point in posting such kind of proof. You are only spoiling your OWN image. Delete such comments, since they contain vulgar/bad words, and this is a gaming forum.

      Yes, we get it why you are doing all this, to expose guys who are attacking/bothering you, and I can understand your problem as well, but this isn’t a solution. Just IGNORE, and move on.

      Don’t take any comment personally at heart. The more you take, the more they will attack you.

      Like I said before, you are only insulting yourself. THINK with a cool mind, and then you will realize that this is all wrong.

      And NO, by any means I’m NOT defending those guys who are attacking you. I’m just trying to bring some sense in you. Plz don’t get me wrong.

      It’s a shame such kind of people can only fight/abuse on the internet.

      Remove such cheap comments showing the proof. It looks bad on you as well. And, if others read it, they will avoid browsing Dsog’s comment section as well. because this gives them a bad image.

      Once you remove your comment, I will do the same with mine as well (this post).

      Reply

        1. Lol, Who cares about what other people think, even if they happen to see all this. This isn’t any proof. Those guys will continue to bother you as long as you post here on dsog. That was my point.

          showing all this won’t stop them. period.

          Reply

          1. It’s your call, dude ! I just gave an advice. Good luck with that.

            I’m done talking with you for now.

  12. Welcome back, @LuckyNumber8, @ previous “Paul86”.. No matter how many times you create a new alt account, I’m here to haunt you……

    I will make your life miserable and a living hell here in dsog, lol…..You can’t hide behind any more……Keep deleting and creating new accounts, but I will catch you as always !

    Reply

    1. Jupp, he even attacked me on youtube the other day xD He tried to make up some lies that 8xMSAA was being as demanding as full flat-out 8K. Embarrassing to say the least. I crushed him with hard proof as usual though, he didn’t respond after that xD

      Reply

      1. This guy is mentally obsessed about posting stuff here on DSOG…His trolling has again started, but this time I will humiliate and embarrass him like anything…

        Reply

          1. haha :), truth hurts Jackyies. Maybe you should start cleaning garbage cans, and soon you will be able to afford something better than your current weak GPU.

          3. LOL…..Even I have my own backup, including YOUR abusive comments from your previous accounts before you deleted them, I have proof….That proves nothing….Keep on dreaming and crying…

        3. Zombies ate your MOM, and she is dead…..Now put your d**** inside her C****.

          And, please stop posting here on DSOG, Mr. Luckynumber8. enough of your BS comments.

          didn’t your mom suck your D*** yet ? Lmao, she must be hungry who**** for sure.

          you are nothing but a pile of junk.

          Reply

        1. Bah! I had the unfortunate unluck of crossing path with him on a youtube video, I saw some sh*tpost and recognized his username “LuckyNumber8” It then occurred to me it was the same delusional Polish scumbag that wanders here on DSOG. So I replied to him asking if he indeed was that same guy, and then I told him that he was wrong about what he said. So he attacked me, and defended his lost cause, forcing me to crush him with proper evidence. After that, he didn’t respond anymore. LOL!

          Reply

      3. “”You mixed 8K with MSAAx8. 18 FPS for 8K and 72 for 8xMSAA.””

        I thought I have deleted that part, because I have noticed it was the other way around. I’m using my phone and sometimes because of it I can sometimes overlook things like that.

        Anyway I have find out gameplay with MSAAx8 from the same game. Average framerate is around 60fps, but you can see 29fps dips sometimes in grassy areas on GTX 1080 in 1080p with MSAAx8. At this point performance is more like 4K without AA at all. Basically speaking, MSAAx8 is very demanding feature even on good GPU. One of my friends has YT video channel, and he is using Titan RTX with insane amount of VRAM, so I will ask him to test for me GTA 5 in 4K + MSAAx8 and 8K without AA, then we will no longer need to theoretize.

        https://youtu.be/fgOC0X0taS0

        Reply

        1. “Anyway I have find out gameplay with MSAAx8 from the same game. Average framerate is around 60fps, but you can see 29fps dips sometimes in grassy areas”

          Lol dude seriously? You’re using the performance struggle of the notoriously problematic and unoptimized “Ultra Grass” as an argument to MSAA being demanding? MSAA doesn’t even affect grass so that’s not the reason behind the drops. Besides my comparisons consisted of casually driving around in the city core.

          “One of my friends has YT video channel, and he is using Titan RTX with insane amount of VRAM, so I will ask him to test for me GTA 5 in 4K + MSAAx8 and 8K without AA, then we will no longer need to theoretize.”

          Yeah, that’s more like it. Bring some actual proof to back up your claims with, this is progress on your behalf.

          By the way, why did you not respond or even comment to the rest of our discussion? I hate when people leave out big parts of the discussion when they’re proven wrong. It’s a very common phenomenon amongst idiots on discussions boards, don’t be like that. Or maybe you want me to dislike you? You need to shape up, or else I don’t want to have discussions with you.

          Reply

          1. Then don’t reply until your job day has ended, it’s not that hard. Then you’ll have plenty of time to repond. So I take it you just use excuses to not reply to parts of my messages.

            “The point is GTX 1080 run the same game in 1080p + MSAAx8 with exactly the same performance as in 4K”

            That’s nothing more but a lie, or something you made up entirely.
            In this video, the guy uses a GTX 1080 at max settings in 4K, his FPS is around 50:
            /watch?v=aNbxTySp3yU

            In this video, another guy uses a freaking GTX 1070, at 1080p with max settings + 8xMSAA, his FPS is ranging from 50-60.
            /watch?v=YtYt6YXNyxo

            So either you’re delusional, or you’re just trolling or trying to piss me off. TL:DR, 8xMSAA isn’t even as demanding as using 4K, imagine
            even FOUR TIMES higher resolution than that.

          2. I dobt belive you MSAA settings in games like GTA 5 is actually CSAA just because you say so, you would have to provide me some proofs. In all games that I have played CSAA was listed as CSAA, not MSAA.

            You keep arguing MSAA is no longer performance heavy on modern GPU’s, yet in GTA5 and MSAA x8 settings performance is destroyed with MSAAx8 settings even in 1080p on GTX 1080. Performance went down to 30fps in grassy areas so MSAAx8 is obviously extremely demanding even on modern GPU.

            I need ask you something, why you have linked me GTA5 video on YT, where there’s literally no settings mentioned. You have no clue what resolution was used on the MSAAx8 side (and looking at good performance it wasnt 4K for sure). So maybe you should start posting proper comparisons, so 4K + MSAAx8 vs 8K. I had to ask my friend to record for me that comparison because your video comparisons are basically speaking worthless and I’m not going to guess what settings and resolution was used on MSAAx8 side!

          3. I have warned you before Oscar, and because you have persisted attacking me, so from now on I will speak with you accordingly.

            So you have no proof that Nv replaced MSAA with CSAA, and it’s just your imagination! So typical of you Oscar! First your imagination told you I have attacked you first on YT, when in reality it was the other way around (you even acknowledged it later on), and now you persist arguing with me, when proofs clearly says how wrong you are. It looks like I was right calling you a blind person before (although you have addmited it by yourself by saying you have to sit at 20cm distance from your monitor), because you really are blind as a bat!

            I remember when CSAA was introduced, I bought 8800Ultra back then but it still was called CSAA in Nv panel you fool! Right now even if you will go to Nv control panel and force to use MSAAx4 settings in all aplications and later on go to Nv inspector for detailed information it’s still listed as MSAAx4, not CSAA! So Nv didnt replaced MSAA with CSAA as you say. Yes, you can choose CSAA, but it’s still called CSAA then, and not MSAA (below I will attach a picture). Because you are an idiot I will tell you why Nv have never exchanged MSAA with CSAA, it’s because CSAA looks worse! That’s why they still let people choose which method they want to use, CSAA or MSAA.

            https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/79baba75ab906d97e327a0107ec0688b688bef55ffbf3b60ca3fc1c8b3fc5d87.png

            “Because I wanted to show you the difference between the performance sole impact of 8xMSAA in comparison to 8K”

            MSAAx8 In 1080p? Of course MSAAx8 in 1080p will run much better compared with 8K! On YT you started arguing with me talking about 4K+MSAAx8 in comparsion to 8K, and yet you trying to prove your point by linking 1080p + MSAAx8 LOL!!

            GRASS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH MSAA PERFORMANCE!

            Yet In my previous post I have linked MSAA comparison (MSAAx8,x4,x2 and NO AA) and if you would be not so blind, then you would see performance is cut in half even when there’s no grass on the screen!

            https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8902a0ac9aaa15120ab1cfb7813871986811df82db18a7b4196139b046745919.png

            So obviously it’s not grass that is affecting performance so much here, it’s only MSAA. Now I know why I hate so much, you are not only arogant fool who can only post disrespectful posts to people (I hate “Oxidized “, but even here technically speaking you attacked him first, it wasnt the other way around, you attacked him just because you didn’t agree with his opinion), but most importantly you are an idiot. Get out of my sight before you post your next garbage “proofs” because with each comparison you only prove how stupid and blind you are.

          4. I don’t trust that benchmark, it’s something fishy about it, I mean look at this picture straight from that benchmark: https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b8c8f2df2ca4d96604c3957789f97eb3f97b5f7aac0e86cf64738c54ea61d831.jpg

            That doesn’t make much sense, same FPS with 0xAA as with 4xAA? And higher FPS with 2xMSAA than no AA. You have to come up with better sources than that pal.

            “You wrote me before MSAA was demanding only on old GPU’s”

            Because it’s the truth. Unless you played on LOW settings and LOW resolution of course. When Crysis came, its high-end graphics ate up big amounts of VRAM, leaving little to none over for MSAA. That’s why people remember AA being extremely demanding, because when they activated it, their tiny VRAM pool got exceeded and the FPS would be crawling due to that. It’s only logical. But yeah right, I forgot, you’re unable to think logically. What a pity.

  14. This doesn’t make the textures high-res it just makes them sharper but if you play it a 4K using DSR and 16x anisotropic filtering you’ll basically get the same effect.

    Reply

    1. That’s wrong. ESRGAN upscales the textures with preserved details. So it’s effectively like the same texture bit with a higher resolution.

      “if you play it a 4K and 16x you’ll get basically the same effect”

      That’s also wrong. 4K does not make textures higher resolution lmfao! Stop pretending like you know stuff, because you don’t! 16x what? If you mean anisotropic filtering,then that’s on by default for most gamers, it has literally zero performance impact and there’s no reason not to use it in any game.

      Reply

      1. In a game like HL1, which uses very low-res textures, no downsampling in the world can make them look better to any significance. Only texture-filtering at distances along with proper configured LOD-bias settings can make distant texture appear of higher quality, because textures often consists of mip-maps, i.e several lower-quality versions of the same texture. This is used to save resources and performance. Increasing the resolution or downsampling alone won’t make low-res, non-complex textures appear better, but in the cases when they do, it would be negligible. 16xAF is standard today, and on by default in most modern games, most people I know (who at the very least know a bit about graphics and visual fidelity) always force 16xAF for older games to always get the best looking textures. Sorry for being rude earlier.

        Reply

      2. “That’s also wrong. 4K does not make textures higher resolution lmfao! Stop pretending like you know stuff, because you don’t! ”

        It doesnt increase the texture resolution but how does anistrophic filtering work again? Texture samples per pixel? Have you thought about what happens when you 4k downsample to 1080p with AF already X16?

        Hes right. This doesnt have much promise with a higher resolution screen period, and where it will matter is the textures that are farther away since up close, its trash anyway.

        Reply

        1. “It doesnt increase the texture resolution”

          It absolutely increases the texture resolution! ESRGAN increases the physical resolution of the textures by anticipating pixel color information though AI deep learning algorithms and then fills in the missing pixels effectively increasing texture resolution. The upconstructed textures are then imported (modded) into the game again. Regardless of rendering resolution, the textures will be up to 4 times larger, with new information added to the original low-res source texture! Although it’s estimated by the AI, thus it’s not a true resolution increase. However, it can be very effective if combined with a good enough training set.

          Feel free to read more about how ESRGAN and SFTGAN works on Github.

          Reply

  17. Very nice…this goes straight on my HL1 install!
    Improvement is not very drastic, but its noticeably sharper.

    Reply

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