Half-Life

Half-Life

Half-Life is a First Person Shooter released in September of 1998 by Valve Software for the PC. The series continued with countless mods, Half-Life 2, and then countless Source mods.

Speed Runs

The Speed Demos Archive hosts Half-Life competition. The current proven World Record for a complete-game HL speedrun is 45 minutes and 45 seconds, achieved by David "RandomEnergy" Rickard on June 21st, 2004. The best run through HL's Hazard Course is 3 minutes and 10 seconds, by Blake "Spider-Waffle" Piepho.

Currently there is a run in verification, made by Spider-Waffle, that completes the game in 29 minutes and 41 seconds. It is not officially on the Speed Demos Archive, but it can be viewed here.

Many runners choose to compete by making use of the Half-Life Bunny Mod. The fastest single-segment Bunny Mod run is 1 hours and 0 minutes, set by Spider-Waffle. Swaff also has the best Hazard course time using this mod, with 3 minutes and 5 seconds.

Speed Run Strategies

Air Strafing - While in the air, hold down a strafe key (without pressing the forward key) and move the mouse in the direction of the strafe. This gives you better directional control in the air.

Avoiding Fall Damage - There are many ways to avoid fall damage. 1) Falling in water, even if it is a little puddle, will never incur fall damage. 2) Catching a ladder while falling instantly removes all speed in the z-vector 3) Two walls put together at an angle less than 90 degrees will not give fall damage.

Bunnyhopping - a tactic that is invaluable in making a good run. Basically, it involves running and jumping in a zig-zag motion to achieve a speed increase. This is complicated to explain in words, and everyone has a different style of bunnyhopping. However, there is a good online tutorial. Good bunnyhopping can result in a speed increase of 70%, although the maximum speed is capped in the latest releases of the game. But in versions 1.1.0.7 and earlier, or if you use the Bunny Mod, there is no theoretical limit to the speed you can reach.

Climbing Ladders Faster - Same principle as wall strafing; hold the forward key as well as a strafe key, while going up a ladder, to move 22% faster.

Closing Doors Early - When a sliding (not rotating) door is opening, fire a hornet gun at it to make it close early. This allows some triggers to be activated sooner.

Explosion Damage Boosting - Works with all explosives, best done with 100 health / 0 armor. For example, take a grenade and trigger it. Crouch, then jump right before it explodes, and you will get a height boost. If you face forward, jump, crouch, and release the grenade, you will get a horizontal speed boost. The boost you receive from an explosion is directly proportional to the amount of health you lose, not the combined health/armor you lose. Since armor soaks up the force of the explosion, you should have only a small amount of armor or no armor at all. However, if you use satchel charges or tripmines you must have some armor because they are more powerful than conventional explosives.

Snark Jumping - If you face a wall and release snarks underneath you, while repeatedly jumping, the snarks will try to follow you. But since you're jumping on them, you get a significant height boost. The bad news? Sometimes the snarks can get stuck in you, causing you to lose a lot of health.

Tau Boosting - The tau cannon has a powerful recoil, making its secondary function come in handy. If you charge up the tau and fire it while jumping, you will get a speed boost in the opposite direction. Additionally, if you use the Bunny Mod, you can keep the speed from a tau charge by jumping as soon as you touch the ground.

Using Grenades to Distract Enemies - If you throw or shoot a grenade, 80% of the time enemies will either duck or run for cover, allowing you to run past them without getting hurt. This works even if you don't throw the grenade directly at them.

Using NPCs to open doors early - Only works if you load the game before the loading zone that spawns the NPC (non-player character). After you pass the loading zone and the NPC appears, lead him to a door and push him against it, and he should be able to open it. This works best if the NPC is a scientist or a Barney guard, but on rare occasions an enemy might also be able to open a door.

Wall Strafing - Hold the "forward" key as well as a strafe key, while moving along a wall, to move 22% faster. Should only be used if there is not enough room to bunnyhop, or if you're going up a flight of stairs.

External Links

• Half-Life Speedruns (hosted by the SDA)