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Valve added an invisible wall to this sewer pipe in Half-Life 2 in their anniversary update - but it only annoyed speedrunnersTubular
Tubular
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun / Valve
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun / Valve
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun / Valve
“We do primarily use older builds, most often ones from 2012-2013, especially at the top level,” says speedrunner “Peng”, who currentlyholds the world recordfor completing Half-Life 2 in under 38 minutes. “But at least I do find it unfortunate that we’re missing out on some of the new changes, as some actually benefit speedrunners…”
“We still likely won’t be able to run on the latest build even with this pipe being open again, as the update seems to have made Item Save Glitch… harder, and for some people seemingly impossible (we don’t know for sure yet). The reversal does make the latest version viable for beginners at least though, which is a good thing.”
Okay, if you really want to know, the “item save glitch” isexplained in this (very good) videothat gives a full rundown of speedrunner strats for the shooter, and features Peng performing a lot of the tricks of the trade.
For ordinary players, meanwhile, the Half-Life 2 anniversary update was broadly good news, since it added Steam Workshop support and some developer commentary to the decades-old first person shooter. It also madea bunch of smaller changesin various levels, including bug fixes, texture corrections, and lighting tweaks. It’s kind of bonkers that Gordon’s great galumph is still having minor things like this tweaked, but it’s also proof of the shooter’s lasting appeal.
