Half Life 2 Leaked

Embracer Of Darkness · Post by **Embracer Of Darkness** » 2003-10-07 09:10pm

It's been confirmed... Half Life 2 has been leaked onto IRC and P2P networks.

Note: This is not just the source code, I've spoken to people who've downloaded it.

HalfLife2.Net wrote:As most of you in IRC and on the forums already know, a pre-release version of Half-Life 2 has found its way onto Peer-to-peer, IRC, and web warez networks around the globe.

We ask all of our participants of our community, both in our IRC channel (irc.quakenet.org #halflife2) and our forum, to remain as sensible and calm about the situation as possible. We will not hesitate to ban users posting screenshots of the source, where to get the source, code from the source, the file name of the Half-Life 2 pre-release, where to get the pre-release or any content remotely similar to this likeness.

If you do insist on discussing the pre-release (in an appropriate, and legal manner), we would prefer you do it in our IRC channel (irc.quakenet.org #halflife2) rather than in our forums, for moderation related reasons.

In-case people read this after the front page is updated, the article is archived here.

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2003-10-07 10:39pm

Anyone who downloads it is going to be getting a knuckle sandwich.

Hotfoot · Post by **Hotfoot** » 2003-10-07 10:48pm

Anyone who hosts it should get their balls/tits pressed. Hard. But not quite crushed. Just enough to cause pain.

Shinova · Post by **Shinova** » 2003-10-07 10:49pm

DPDarkPrimus wrote:Anyone who downloads it is going to be getting a knuckle sandwich.

And the wrath of Valve + most of the HL fan community.

Thanks to the leaks, HL2's been set back FARTHER than November!

EDIT: I do admit, I am slightly tempted to try to go and get it.

Hotfoot · Post by **Hotfoot** » 2003-10-07 11:06pm

Of course you are. Because if you get it, you can play it when it was supposed to be originally released. If you do get it now, however, it's going to be buggier than it would have been on release, possibly tampered with, and potentially not the complete game. Plus there's the added side effect that whenever you run the game you may have a little program running to Valve saying "HERE'S MY IP! PLEASE RAPE MY ASS WITHOUT LUBE!"

Hamel · Post by **Hamel** » 2003-10-07 11:10pm

Ouch. Some of those textures look low res.

Shinova · Post by **Shinova** » 2003-10-07 11:43pm

Hamel wrote:Ouch. Some of those textures look low res.

Hotfoot, let's go rape his ass without lube.

Alyeska · Post by **Alyeska** » 2003-10-08 12:31am

I'm tempted to give the game a look. And Valve can kiss my ass. I still have every intent on buying the game, but if I can get a free look at the game before it comes out, why not?

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2003-10-08 12:33am

Careful...

Hotfoot · Post by **Hotfoot** » 2003-10-08 12:35am

Alyeska wrote:I'm tempted to give the game a look. And Valve can kiss my ass. I still have every intent on buying the game, but if I can get a free look at the game before it comes out, why not?

Well, the legality of it is clearly in the "no-no" zone, for one. Two, you probably won't get the full game, it will likely have bugs galore, and won't be an accurate representation of the final product.

Plus for all you know it's got some sort of killer virus in it that isn't in any virus definition database and unlikely to get there any time soon, so your data may well be forfeit.

But yeah, barring that, there's no reason not to.

Shinova · Post by **Shinova** » 2003-10-08 12:36am

Remember, HL2 is supposed to connect to Steam even on single player for the first two weeks.

You could inadvertantly give your IP address to Valve.

So personally, I would disconnect totally from the internet first before trying it out.

The Kernel · Post by **The Kernel** » 2003-10-08 12:51am

I don't know why everyone is so upset about this. A pre-release game leaking the binary (not the source) is nothing new and it hasn't been shown to drastically affect sales before. DOOM III was leaked, probably more than two years before its release, and it will still sell like crap regardless. Half-Life 2 is going to sell like rubbers and a couple of hax0rs downloading it for fun isn't going to make the damndest bit of difference.

Shinova · Post by **Shinova** » 2003-10-08 01:05am

The Kernel wrote:I don't know why everyone is so upset about this. A pre-release game leaking the binary (not the source) is nothing new and it hasn't been shown to drastically affect sales before. DOOM III was leaked, probably more than two years before its release, and it will still sell like crap regardless. Half-Life 2 is going to sell like rubbers and a couple of hax0rs downloading it for fun isn't going to make the damndest bit of difference.

Oh yes it has made a difference. It's release date got pushed back to April NEXT YEAR.

Hotfoot · Post by **Hotfoot** » 2003-10-08 01:15am

The Kernel wrote:I don't know why everyone is so upset about this. A pre-release game leaking the binary (not the source) is nothing new and it hasn't been shown to drastically affect sales before. DOOM III was leaked, probably more than two years before its release, and it will still sell like crap regardless. Half-Life 2 is going to sell like rubbers and a couple of hax0rs downloading it for fun isn't going to make the damndest bit of difference.

Only now we have the binary AND the source leaked...that provides for a pretty nasty combination when you think about it.

And as Shinova said, the leaks have pushed back the game by a considerable margin. We were supposed to have it in time for the holidays. At the rate Valve is going, they'll likely to uphold that promise...for 2004.

The Kernel · Post by **The Kernel** » 2003-10-08 01:19am

I that you'll agree that the delay has more to do with the source than the binary. They HAVE to delay the game to retool STEAM and ensure that they patch up any potential security vulnerabilities (not to mention potential cheats).

The delay really doesn't have anything to do with the binary as it is little more than a preview of the game. This happens anytime that developers send out a build of the game to journalists (although this didn't happen in this case) and they leak it onto the net. Unfortunately, gaming magazines are the single BIGGEST source of leaks in the whole business.

Hotfoot · Post by **Hotfoot** » 2003-10-08 01:22am

I agree that the primary issue is the source. However, the combination of the two is especially nasty. It's one thing to have just the key, it's another thing to have the chest too.

The Kernel · Post by **The Kernel** » 2003-10-08 01:32am

Hotfoot wrote:I agree that the primary issue is the source. However, the combination of the two is especially nasty. It's one thing to have just the key, it's another thing to have the chest too.

You know, The Inquirer ran a story this morning (it appears to be down now) about how they think that perhaps this is all a publicity stunt on Valve's part to downplay the delay of the game. While I think this is a little farfetched, I agree that you really can't buy publicity like this. CNN, Yahoo News, everyone is running the story. Heck, it was on the frontpage of CNN this morning on a day FILLED with news about the election. I figure any damage done by the leak is likely to be made up by the extrodinary amount of press that this situation is recieving.

Hotfoot · Post by **Hotfoot** » 2003-10-08 01:36am

Yeah, no such thing as bad publicity.

Still, it raises some very serious concerns about the final security of the game, especially concerning online play. I know that I'm not going anywhere near HL2 now until at least a month or two after it's hit the shelves unless I'm damn sure that buying the game isn't going to put my system at risk and/or be absolutely no fun online due to rampant cheating.

The Kernel · Post by **The Kernel** » 2003-10-08 01:43am

Absolutely, and I think that the mod houses are the ones that are the most hurt by this because of the security breach. I mean, if Valve has to rewrite some of their network code, no big deal to them, but for the inner circle mod guys who have had the SDK's for several months now, this is going to be a major delaying factor. Counter-strike and other Valve properties should be safe, but still it creates a bad atmosphere for the people who trusted Valve to deliver on their product the way they specified.

It's one thing to do something for a living and another to slave your ass off at a job to make ends meet then come home and realize that the mod project you have been working on the last few months needs to be ripped up and totally reworked. Granted I don't know what kind of changes Valve is making, but if it is as drastic as I hope they are (to maintain security) this could put back the mods several months at least.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2003-10-08 09:32am

Anyways, no posting links to binaries or links that post links to find binaries or whatnot.

The screenshots look good though, from what I've seen, especially the water. I have no idea what renderpath was used, though.

Alyeska · Post by **Alyeska** » 2003-10-08 10:10am

Shinova wrote:Remember, HL2 is supposed to connect to Steam even on single player for the first two weeks.

You could inadvertantly give your IP address to Valve.

So personally, I would disconnect totally from the internet first before trying it out.

You are partialy correct. So long as you did not connect HL2 to the internet, the Steam issue never arrises.

Embracer Of Darkness · Post by **Embracer Of Darkness** » 2003-10-08 02:56pm

There has been an update from the "Anonymous Leaker" of Half-Life 2. I removed lots of ASCII crap from this document as it made it hard to read.

Anonymous Leaker wrote:[ October 8. 2003 ] Half-Life 2 - Patch 1, fixes old models

Company: Valve Corporation ( http://www.valvesoftware.com )
File size: 8 x 15MB
Release: Unknown

Well, I forgot to update you with the freshest stuff from Valvesoftware.

Detonator-52.13-ANON got leaked today, its the new NVidia drivers for HL2, though i have no fancy video card to test the driver on.

Btw., for those of you still thinking -ANON is a group, i have to say it isnt. Its just Anonymous.

To all those saying HL2 was delayed because of the hacking action, ill just remind you that what was leaked is what Valve has, nothing more and nothing less, so its pretty good to understand it wasnt finished yet.

Also I'd like to point out the E3 was one big fake by Valve. Ever tried to kill that soldier in physicstown ? Notice the door will still get kicked ? No scripted sequences ?

To everyone saying this is no Beta: I'd like to point out that THIS is what you wanted Valve to release on 9/30/03, theres no such thing as a much better release in Valves network!

To Valve: I suggest you stop lying to your customers about how much was stolen/compromised, or I'll have to release everything just to prove my point. And you know what you got, as I do.

- Anonymous leaker

It seems that Half-Life 2 was leaked because someone has a problem with Valve, and that the person in question is leaking more stuff all the time.

I hope the bastard gets arrested.

Shinova · Post by **Shinova** » 2003-10-08 02:59pm

What the hell does the guy want? Attention? Hate? A nice anal-probing by Valve?

Embracer Of Darkness · Post by **Embracer Of Darkness** » 2003-10-08 03:02pm

Shinova wrote:What the hell does the guy want? Attention? Hate? A nice anal-probing by Valve?

I think it's attention, and he seems to have some saviour-complex by the way he thinks he's crusading for the consumer.

In reality he's only causing problems for Valve, which in-turn, will cause problems for people who want to play Half-Life 2.

Faram · Post by **Faram** » 2003-10-08 03:04pm

Well the no1 security risk in any company is a insider, guess valve have some problems...

Anyways with decent acl and loggin off access it should not be to hard to find that leak.

If they did't have it before they sure as hell better get it asap