HL2: Lost Coast video

By Tom Bramwell Published 27 June, 2005

See HDR in action before it's included in all Valve games.

Valve's latest Steam news update bangs on once again about Half-Life 2: The Lost Coast, which aims to showcase the sort of high-end graphical techniques that we can expect from future Valve titles - including High Dynamic Range lighting.

This time, however, it also features an interesting little video, which you can download by clicking on a thumbnail on the news update page, that allows you to see how regular high-end Half-Life 2 lighting compares to a build using HDR - splitting the image down the middle and showing vanilla on the left and HDR on the right.

Which is useful for those of us who find terms like "High Dynamic Range" rather boring. Valve has already cited real world examples - like the way your eyes take a few moments to adjust to the change between a very dark and a very bright area - and claims that using HDR "we can accurately simulate a range of brightness that is beyond what a computer monitor is physically capable of displaying".

HL2: The Lost Coast will be made available via Steam to gamers with kit that can actually run it, and will be made available soon. Valve says all its future products will support HDR, including Day of Defeat: Source, the Source Engine remake of the popular World War II-based Half-Life mod.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000. Follow him on Twitter.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (15) Latest comment 7 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • beep #1 7 years ago

    Valve has already cited real world examples - like the way your eyes take a few moments to adjust to the change between a very dark and a very bright area - and claims that using HDR "we can accurately simulate a range of brightness that is beyond what a computer monitor is physically capable of displaying".

    So they can accurately simulate something which we won't be able to see because computer monitors are physically incapable of displaying. Sounds good to me!

    Since this Lost Coast demo is so focused on simulating reality, I take it the demo will not have a stuttering frame rate either (hence the high system spec requirement)?

    I wonder if they can simulate the effect of staring at the sun and then having a big blotchy after image stuck in your eyeballs which takes a while to disappear. That would be killer. Or how about the effect of pressing your eyeballs and getting that psychedelic light show with lightning and checkerboards and stuff?

  • RandolphScott #2 7 years ago

    "So they can accurately simulate something which we won't be able to see because computer monitors are physically incapable of displaying. Sounds good to me!"

    Reading this article will help you understand.

    http://www.bit-tech.net/gaming/2005/06/14/hl2_hdr_overview/1.html

    If the words are too much the pictures at the bottom should give you an idea of how it works.
    Edited by RandolphScott at 27/06/05 @ 13:12

  • Genji #3 7 years ago

    Way to improve the gameplay, Valve! Good job!

  • Macross #4 7 years ago

    I've seen this, it looks nice.

    nuff said ;)

  • Darkedge #5 7 years ago

    looks nice but isn't true HDR - just faked.

  • tonynibbles #6 7 years ago

    LOL@ RandolphScott

    I cant believe how negative everyone is... "looks nice but isn't true HDR - just faked."
    ffs... I dont see many other games pushing this new shit out. At least its a start and well - it looks fucking swcheet to me!
    Also, going on that 'faked' comment, are'nt all games big 'fakes'. They are all mimicing real life environments, they're all fakes. Man what a wierd thing to say.
    meh.

  • fireclown #7 7 years ago

    I'm also a bit bewildered by the amount of negative comment this gets.

    Why are the system specs so high? Why do you have to get it via Steam? Why doesn't it apply to the whole game? Why don't they use a tech we like/know/understand? DAMN IT Valve are USING OUR TAX DOLLARS! They're DEMOCRATICALLY ACCOUNTABLE and we want it to RUN ON A PSP and be DELIVERED TO OUR BEDSIDES!

    It won't cost anything. It's a tech demo. What do you expect, a free PC and a big box of cocaine with every download?

  • Genji #8 7 years ago

    Well, yeah.

  • smelly #9 7 years ago

    well said fireclown.

    what i find amazing is that people are more than happy to upgrade their consoles spending 300 odd quid every 4 years to get prettier graphics.. And this next gen, people are even going on about paying 800 quid for a new hidef tv to go with it.

    But yet give people an opportunity to see how pretty things are on high spec pcs for FREE.. and they moan like bitches unprepared to spend a few hundred quid to upgrade.

    No-ones forcing you to upgrade (unlike the console industry where games stop appearing on old formats).

    If anything HL2 was great for this.. it ran well even on ancient hardware...

  • Wash #10 7 years ago

    "No-ones forcing you to upgrade (unlike the console industry where games stop appearing on old formats)."

    Lol, i'd like to see people buy PCs giving the same output as the next consoles for for £250. My 6800 card cost the best part of 200 when i brought it.

    "to see how pretty things are on high spec pcs for FREE"

    Yeah, hmm if you dont own a high end pc?

  • Genji #11 7 years ago

    Well, we will eventually be forced to upgrade. Minimum specs are getting higher and higher. HL2 was the exception, not the norm. I'm not complaining, though. Regular upgrades are part of PC gaming, after all. What pisses me off is that the variety of games on the PC is getting smaller and smaller. The graphics are getting better, but not much else is changing. That's why I'm moving to consoles, where there is at least some degree of innovation to be had.

    PC gaming is in a sad state of affairs, unfortunately.

  • fireclown #12 7 years ago

    > Yeah, hmm if you dont own a high end pc?

    Well then obviously Valve should plough extra resources into making their tech demo run on your last year's kit. And if they don't it's because they've sold out, dude.

  • Genji #13 7 years ago

    Where's that cocaine you promised?

  • fireclown #14 7 years ago

    under your solid gold mouse. I'll have one of the slave-girls move it the requisite four inches towards your hand.

  • Genji #15 7 years ago

    Ooooh! C'mere, sweetie! SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIEND