View topic - Half-Life Beta console tutorial - Windows, Apple, Application, Abandonware and Game Beta Downloads/Repository

SiPlus

In this tutorial I will teach you how to enable beta console background and font in retail Half-Life.
Before you start
Before you start fixing and compiling the background and font, you need to get some things:

Half-Life SDK 2.x or Half-Life Texture SDK
GCFScape
Fimg
HEX editor
Half-Life 2 Beta
WON version of Half-Life
Half-Life: Day One (optional)

Then create a folder named "Beta" in Texture Wad Tools folder of HL SDK for convenience and start compiling.
Background
Works in HL 1.0.0.0 - 1.1.1.0.

Create a folder named "cached" in "Beta" folder in Texture Wad Tools.
Open valve\gfx\conback.lmp from WON verison of Half-Life in HEX editor.
Copy last 768 bytes to a new file and save it as "palette.lmp" in Fimg directory.
Open valve\gfx\conback.lmp from WON verison of Half-Life in Fimg.
Save it as .bmp in "Texture Wad Files\Beta\cached\conback.bmp".
Open from WON Half-Life valve\gfx folder to "cached" folder.
Using GCFScape, extract loading.bmp from valve\gfx.wad of WON HL or Day One (better from Day One) to cached folder.
Create a new text document with the following text:
Code:
$DEST "%s\Beta\cached\cached.wad"
$LOADBMP "%s\Beta\cached\conback.bmp"
conback qpic 0 0 320 200
$LOADBMP "%s\Beta\cached\loading.bmp"
loading qpic 0 0 320 200

and replace %s with path to "Texture Wad Tools" directory.
Save the document in Texture Wad Tools with .ls extension and drag-and-drop it to qlumpy.exe.
Copy Texture Wad Tools\Beta\cached\cached.wad to Half-Life "valve" folder.

Font "(Harry) (Bela)font(e)" (name comes from Day One gfx.ls)
Works in HL 1.0.0.0 - 1.0.0.7.

Create a folder named "gfx" in "Beta" folder in Texture Wad Tools.
Copy "hl2\gfx\status\qfont01.bmp" from Half-Life 2 Beta to "Texture Wad Tools\Beta\gfx" (later when I say "gfx" it will refer to the folder in "Texture Wad Tools\Beta" and not to "hl2\gfx").
Open gfx\qfont01.bmp in an image editor supporting 256-color palettes.
Select (0;94)-(144;192) part of the image, move it 4 pixels below and paint remaining blank space 254,2,254, like demonstrated on the picture:
Save the image.
Open Half-Life's valve\gfx.wad in GCFScape. Extract lambda, lambda64, lambda32, paused and backtile to "Texture Wad Tools\Beta\gfx".
(Optional) Open Day One's valve\gfx.wad in GCFScape. Extract lambda, lambda64, lambda32 and backtile to "Texture Wad Tools\Beta\gfx" with overwriting.
Copy "hl2\gfx\status\credits_font.bmp" from Half-Life 2 Beta to "Texture Wad Tools\Beta\gfx".
Create a new text document with the following text:
Code:
$DEST "%s\Beta\gfx\gfx.wad"
$LOADBMP "%s\Beta\gfx\lambda.bmp"
lambda qpic -1 -1 -1 -1
$LOADBMP "%s\Beta\gfx\lambda64.bmp"
lambda64 qpic -1 -1 -1 -1
$LOADBMP "%s\Beta\gfx\lambda32.bmp"
lambda32 qpic -1 -1 -1 -1
$LOADBMP "%s\Beta\gfx\paused.bmp"
paused qpic -1 -1 -1 -1
$LOADBMP "%s\Beta\gfx\qfont01.bmp"
conchars font 13 32 0 0 159 97 160 0 98 159 195 -1
$LOADBMP "%s\Beta\gfx\credits_font.bmp"
creditsfont font 19 32 0 0 163 119 -1
$LOADBMP "%s\Beta\gfx\backtile.bmp"
backtile qpic -1 -1 -1 -1

and replace %s with path to "Texture Wad Tools" directory.
Save the document in Texture Wad Tools with .ls extension and drag-and-drop it to qlumpy.exe.
Copy Texture Wad Tools\Beta\gfx\gfx.wad to Half-Life "valve" folder.

Now you'll have fully working beta console. It will look like on the following picture (taken from my Steam profile, so ignore "hi steam community" text):

Possible errors

GrabFont: Glyph out of range: I don't know what to do, I compared settings of this font to retail font's, they are similar. But everything works fine, so, ignore this error.

Half-Life Beta console tutorial

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