Half-Life 2: Lost Coast

Half-Life 2: Lost Coast is a demonstration game on the Source Engine's high-dynamic-range rendering capabilities. Originally a tech presentation based on a part of Half-Life 2 that was recycled into its own game.

As of 16 November 2024, Half-Life 2: Lost Coast has been merged into base HL2 as part of the 20th Anniversary update, with its Steam store listing now removed. It can be launched in the "Extras" menu.

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Prerelease Info

Unused Textures#

All textures seen here were used in previous iterations of the playable map and can be found in lostcoast_pak_dir.vpk/materials/lostcoast/nature/'''.

dirtfloor002a.vtf

grassfloor003a.vtf

rockwall019a.vtf / rockwall019a_height.vtf / rockwall019a_normal.vtf

rockwall020a.vtf / rockwall020a_height.vtf / rockwall020a_normal.vtf

rockwall020b.vtf (duplicate of rockwall020a.vtf) / rockwall020b_height.vtf / rockwall020b_normal.vtf

rockwall022a.vtf / rockwall022a_height.vtf / rockwall022a_normal.vtf

sandfloor007a.vtf / sandfloor007a_height.vtf / sandfloor007a_normal.vtf

sandfloor007b_height.vtf

Unused Map Models#

Two models, a mossy rock and a scaffolding, that are never used in any of the maps provided but rather in previous iterations of them.

Unused Commentary#

An unused commentary track detailing how normal maps were used for a rock's texture.

"The rock texture is an example of using normal maps. Our texture artists in the past have just had to be illustrators, mainly use Photoshop, painted the textures by hand, or use photographic reference. But what we're finding now is we're moving into next-generation content we want to have them also have the ability to model the texture in three-dimensions. So, they'll often use a package like XSI to actually build geometry for these rocks. So the normal map is basically taking a high-res, 3D model and rendering that onto a 2D surface. This way we can create the illusion of an object having much higher polycount than it actually does. So, for instance for these rocks, it's completely flat surface, but the normal map is creating the illusion of them bumping up out of the sand."

Unused Fisherman Lines#

The Fisherman was originally going to be a lot more talkative and adventurous. Quite a few lines are hints for the boat hook puzzle.

Missing Fisherman Lines#

level_voices_lostcoast.txt contains all of the Fisherman's lines. Most of them referenced in the file are missing from the files and have been listed here. Captions for the nonexistent lines also exist for many of them and also have been added to the list:

Oddities#

The Fisherman does not have valid ragdoll data, so if he dies, he will just A-pose. Oddly enough, if you interact with a commentary node, the Fisherman will respawn, and stand idling there, forever. This also happens in Garry's Mod, however in Garry's Mod they will not even have a valid hitbox in its A-pose state.