 What is the Spirit of Half-Life? This is an often asked question, but it's more easy to answer what it is not. It is not a mod that adds special new game modes or styles of play. It is not fast paced multiplayer team based action, like so many other mods these days. So what is it? The Spirit of Half-Life mod is an extension of the original Half-Life code, extended in directions requested and suggested by the mapping community. Want to make doors that move on trains? Spirit has it. Want more control over NPCs? Spirit has it. Better scripting? Spirit. Logic entities? Spirit. Weather? Spirit.
Spirit of Half-Life is available by itself as a mod that mappers can use to make outstanding maps for, or as source code that can be used as the basis for a new mod, or merged into an existing mod. Check the downloads section for more information.
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[ 19 September 2005 - 8:17AM PDT ]
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SOHL2 project now underway
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 Spawned by community member WarpZone, the SOHL2 site is the promising future of a Spirit for the source engine.
(Click to look)
I quote from the site: "In 2001, Laurie Cheers did something revolutionary. He created a Half-Life mod, which he called "The Spirit of Half-Life." Instead of adding new weapons or different gameplay modes, this particular mod gave the mapper new entities to work with when designing in-game scenarios for the players. This effectively allowed creative, innovative new content in-game, even for projects that weren't blessed with a knowledgeable coder. Laurie made his mod's source code available so that other mod teams could use it as a base when coding their own mods, and invited the Half-Life community to help him continue the project's development. The result was the world's first open-source Half-Life mod.
Needless to say, Spirit quickly became a ubiquitous tool within the Half-Life mod development community. Loved by many,"
The SOHL2 bulletin-board is where Laurie's Legend will live on in a HL2 context. Interested coders and current community members are strongly encouraged to sign up. Here, the Chatbear forums was one of the channels through which we made our little bit of history with input to the Spirit project. Let's keep the soon-to-be coders of SOHL2 inspired with the same quality of ideas that made SOHL1 a reality.
SOHL1 has another version left in it yet, but don't let that stop you from giving SOHL2 the attention it deserves. Let's start how we intend to finish =-)
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[ 14 November 2004 - 2:31AM PST ]
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Spirit v1.4 FINAL release ready!
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As Half-Life 2 looms, we really had to get the final release of Spirit 1.4 all lined up. And here it is!
We like demo maps. Everybody likes demo maps. There is also a limit to how much you can fit in a day, and right now we need some sleep, so whats after this sentence only becomes relevant in 24 hours. To save you having to download unwanted megabytes, the 1.4 demos are not included with the release. They are each available for separate download on the Showcase, at http://www.whiteplasma.com/spirit/showcase/maps/ - including a free terrain-conscious vehicle as discussed in the HLC&C thread. This will all work in 24 hours, when we developers have awoken to get it running. In the meantime, try out the new motion_manager, or ambient_fmodstream, or calc_ratio. Some inspiration for a project using the calc_ratio is below, and relates to Barney. You may need a looping multi_manager to fire an env_render for this to work.
Spirit v1.4 mod:
The Spirit 1.4 mod directory (with everything you need to distribute a new mod or run normal Spirit) is included in this archive - download your desired flavour (.rar or .zip) on the right. Extract the *entire* contents of the archive to your Half-Life folder. This will ensure you have the latest rendering DLLs (for model transparency) and the CG DLLs. |  spirit14mod.rar |  spirit14mod.zip |
Spirit v1.4 source code:
Spirit is an open-source project and will always remain as so. The source code (including everything you need in the way of CG and OpenGL libraries in /common/) is available on the right. If you're feeling generous, have a look at the commented out calc_angletransform entity in locus.cpp, and tell us if you can help :). If you're feeling really generous, you may even consider having a look at the attempt at calc_velocity_polar axis swapping in locus.cpp, and see if you can work out why it does funny stuff. | spirit14source.rar | | spirit14source.zip |
Spirit v1.4 FGD:
You need this file to to edit any maps in Spirit. This FGD has everything from CB1.3, and all the additions in SOHL1.4, as well as entries for Hammer's in-editor model rendering. | spirit14fgd.rar | | spirit14fgd.zip |
Spirit 1.4 boasts a plethora of new features including:
- a working (and very versatile) calc_ratio (perfect for all you people who like barney's scale in direct propoertion to his health),
- the ambient_fmodstream entity, capable of playing .mp3, .wma and .ogg files,
- a more capable monstermaker, which interfaces with the locus system (perfect for all you people who like to drop snarks on the players head),
- monster_human_grunts no longer ingore their "Will-I-blow-a-squadmate-to-kingdom-come-by-launching-this-grenade" check,
- env_particles can now have multiple instances - you can spawn them on breakables in the direction opposite to the hit-vector! (perfect for all you people who like water/goo/blood/fire spurting out of breakable crates),
- the high-end-hardware and low-end-hardware tron2-esque glows have been included, because a lot of people like those; spirit will still run perfectly regardless of what hardware you have,
- env_particles can be rotated in-game with the movewith system, so you can change their direction of spray (yes, perfect flamethrower material without having to use env_shooters)
- func_doors can accelerate and decelerate much like those smooth doors and elevators in Quake3 / Unreal Tournament, and acceleration can be triggered incrementally,
- doors, trains, and platforms now give their frags to the person who activated them if they crush someone,
- the famous motion_manager entity can be turned on and off, and can affect specific axes, as well as swap its output axes (perfect for you few people who like to roll something based on the pitch of a calc_velocity_path for vehicles etc),
- button_target, the simple, humble button, can be 'non solid', 'non shootable', and can have a master, oh, and now has a 'targetname' entry in the FGD :-)
- env_rain now has an 'arcing through' mode, (perfect for you people who like electric kill-machines),
- the info_alias can now step forwards and backwards between its 16 targets; great for motion_managing multiple objects (separately) through the one name,
- weapons and ammo can now have a 'master' to stop them being picked up (perfect for tempting people from behind thin-walled gun cabinets),
- env_global can now be turned on or off with a +/- prefix,
- trigger_onsight can now look from multiple entities of the same name, and no longer looks from dead monsters (you could have 3 patrolling grunts, and activate something whenever one of them sees you),
- gauss jump can now be enabled in singleplayer! See worldspawn,
- you can now read the health of a breakable using the calc_ratio entity (you could even make it spew progressively larger clouds of smoke using the additions to the env_shooter as its health gets lower),
- all features from CB1.3 have been merged, including the famous model mirror entity - thanks G-Cont and Shambler Team,
- the CB1.3 weapon_debug entity now does a lot more funky stuff - and is particularly useful for all those people who forget their 'impulse X' commands,
- muzzleflashes around players, hgrunts and barneys are implemented, because they're cool,
- capability for the & (spawn) usetype has been implemented (currently only allowed on env_particle),
- all func_tank- entities can be non-solid.
Now, how many bugs have we squished? Not enough, but we've got a pretty good start: - env_render now supports dynamic Ratio [LR] Scale values,
- watcher_count has been rewritten to work correctly,
- trigger_onsight is revamped and now much more versatile and useful,
- save/load 'fire on hit' in func_breakable that crashed HL fixed,
- respawnable pushable objects and delayed-respawn breakables now work correctly - no crashing,
- hgrunts don't ignore their "Will I blow up a squadmate?" AI check,
- env_laser now works with *locus start/end positions, and resolves 'start at [LP]' correctly,
- fixes carried across from the good people at Shambler Team (CB1.3):
- fixed bug with func_shine (list refreshing after level transitions)
- fixed bug with trigger_camera ( now she work correctly with save\load)
- fixed bug with func_train ( He doesn`t lost his sound after level transitions)
- fixed bug with func_tank (Now they are working correctly without player control)
- fixed bug with env_shooter ( Too big gib size)
- fixed bug with monster_sentry ( Now she turns off when noone is around)
- fixed bug with orientation of monster_sentry
- fixed Bug with trigger_relay
- fixed bug with wrong rotation ( For example platrot in c1a0b)
- fixed bug with tanklaser, tankmortar and tankrocket
- fixed bug with multi_manager ( For example in map c1a0a in some moment error happens)
- fixed bug with func_trackchange and func_trackautochange
- fixed bug with tracktrain ( when the train is on, player can`t duck)
- fixed bug with tracktrain ( he will continue movement after level transition)
- fixed bug with env_sky ( save/load )
Enjoy!
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[ 5 September 2004 - 11:50PM PDT ]
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Spirit 1.4 release ready!
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Thanks to the hard work of a number of people, Spirit 1.4 is ready for release!
You can download a set of all the files you need right here: spirit14-pre.zip. Just extract them to your sierra/half-life directory and overwrite the older DLLs.
An FGD-in-development can be obtained right here thanks to Andrew (Confused). The problem on some PCs with hammer crashing has been fixed. Go for it guys!
The all-new documentation, written specially for Spirit 1.4 is available here thanks to Matt (ytiAdmin).
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[ 27 May 2004 - 5:51AM PDT ]
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Share your Spirit with the world;
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The Showcase and the Spirit Community File Center are working and ready for use! See long-winded story below.
An obstacle to us all has been the inability to show other people all the cool things we've done with the Spirit mod.
I decided I'd do my best to make a change to this. After some suggestions from Confused (Andrew Hamilton) we came up with 'The Spirit Community File Center'. This is pretty much a well co-ordinated public file dump:
Access is initially restricted to password-holders so it doesn't become a public MP3 dump.
Everyone is welcome - if you would like access, simply send your request to accesscontrol and a password will be sent back to you. This simply stops non-spirit-related people from uploading unrelated stuff. Once you recieve your password, check out http://scfc.yticodes.net/.
The next stage to getting over the obstacle and sharing your achievements with other Spirit users involved some sort of 'showcase' or 'museum' of the really nice stuff people have done using Spirit. The showcase is formed from 'finished' content found in the Spirit Community File Center (SCFC). It can be found at http://showcase.yticodes.net/.
If you have something you'd like to see as part of the showcase, upload it to the SCFC. If you've got multiple files related to the one feature (eg textures, sprites, details in a text file), zip them up and upload them, compressed.
Complete articles on the SCFC are transferred to the Showcase where they're available for everyone to admire!
If you have issues relating to the contents of the showcase, for example, authorship / broken links / wrong contact details and the like, send an email to the Showcase administrator.
Should there be any issues relating to the SCFC, for example, updated files etc, send an email to the SCFC administrator.
I hope the SCFC and showcase help open up and expose what you can do with this awesome mod.
Enjoy!
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[ 8 February 2004 - 4:30AM PST ]
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My mind is going shopping, Dave. I can feel it.
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Laurie Cheers - comment
Good news, bad news; for me, at least.
Good news - I'll soon be starting a new job, at Rare. (Creators of Goldeneye and Banjo Kazooie, etc.) Apparently the interview didn't go as badly as I thought! :)
Bad news - As if to completely close this chapter of my life, my laptop hard drive has died. So now I have nothing from Spirit - none of my scripts, test levels, graphics or installer-making programs - except what's publicly available on this site. Blah...
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[ 31 December 2003 - 7:24PM PST ]
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Happy New Year
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Laurie Cheers - comment
Have a great 2004, y'all. Hope you're all having fun with the Aurora system.
I plan to start a new mod, 'Skyward', sometime this year, and I'll be trying to get a (games programming) job too. Which means all in all you've probably seen my last addition to Spirit. Apologies and thanks to everyone; it's been great fun.
(Oh, if somebody sends me new source code/documentation worth including, I'd be happy to release new versions with that.)
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[ 27 November 2003 - 1:29AM PST ]
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Spirit FGD for Hammer 3.5
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Laurie Cheers - comment
Better late than never.
Andrew Hamilton sent me a new spirit.fgd for use with Hammer 3.5. You can get it here.
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[ 19 November 2003 - 6:24AM PST ]
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Spirit 1.2? Well, that was fast...
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Laurie Cheers - comment
Spirit 1.2, featuring (amongst other things) the particle system from Dark Truths, is now available.
You can get it here.
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[ 2 November 2003 - 5:35AM PST ]
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Spirit 1.1
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Laurie Cheers - comment
It's been a while, hasn't it, my friends of the AMS?
However, after almost a year, a new version of Spirit is out. You can get it here.
There aren't that many new features - just shiny water, and Unreal Tournament style skies. However, it does work in multiplayer now. More or less.
The source code is also available here.
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[ 17 June 2003 - 9:42AM PDT ]
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ISSUES needs Spirit of Half-Life Maps (and Mappers)!
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Laurie Cheers - comment
ISSUES is the sequel to Project Quantum Leap, the cool, pathologically incoherent, community-made map pack. Like its predecessor, the idea behind ISSUES is to collect maps created by many different individuals. Individuals like you.
They're looking for single-player maps of any theme, any setting, any content (with a few common sense restrictions). The main requirement is that the map must run under Spirit of Half-Life version 1.0 - although you don't necessarily need to make use of Spirit's features. The deadline for map submissions is September 1, 2003, with a release date planned for sometime later in the Fall.
If you're new to mapping, or just don't have time to create a full blown map pack of your own, this is a terrific opportunity to get a sample of your work published. If you're interested, check out the ISSUES forums or website.
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