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[Digital Foundry] Half-Life 2 & The Orange Box - 4K 60fps Mod For Xbox Series X - 1440p 60fps on Series S!

DinkyDev

DinkyDev

The Movie Critic
Member
Feb 5, 2021
5,722

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsgFBOYcAgs
Half-Life 2 and The Orange Box run at 4K 30fps on Xbox Series X and 1440p 30fps on Xbox Series S, thanks to the X-enhancements created by Microsoft back in the day for Xbox One X. But what's missing is a frame-rate boost to make these games hit 60fps, eliminating the poor frame-pacing that's been in the games since day one. A mod is available that gets the job done, but there are heavy DF-style caveats. Tom Morgan has the story - along with unlocked frame-rate tests on Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox One X and the Series consoles!
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00:00 Introduction
02:42 How to Use The Mod
04:28 Xbox Series X 60FPS Test
05:44 Xbox Series S 60FPS Test
07:10 Xbox One/X 60FPS Test
08:33 Xbox 360 60FPS Test
10:17 What's The Catch?
11:37 Final Thoughts
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www.eurogamer.net

The Orange Box modded to run at 4K 60fps on Xbox Series X is the best way to play on consoles

The Orange Box was one of the greatest deals in gaming on its release in 2007. Cramming five Valve-developed classics o…
www.eurogamer.net www.eurogamer.net
 

Deleted member 8579

Oct 26, 2017
33,843
I wonder why they removed the game itself from the marketplace, seems a bit off for Valve. Different publisher rights? Wouldn't mind a remaster with GI and ray tracing 😊
 
Dead Man Typing

Dead Man Typing

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,166
Cool video. Not much to say really. Hopefully it gives Microsoft and Valve a nudge to investigate updating the games on Series S|X.

I'm glad DF took the time to see how the unlocked performance is on actual 360, Xbox One S and Xbox One X hardware. No surprises with the results but good to be thorough.
 
oni-link

oni-link

tag reference no one gets
Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,177
UK
This is such a simple fix, surely someone at MS or Valve could knock out a patch in a few days that just keeps it at 60?
 
Shadow Dancer

Shadow Dancer

Prophet of Regret
Member
Jul 22, 2019
2,073
So sad it is delisted now. I have it but it's a shame people can't buy it anymore and enjoy this classic in modern consoles.
 
Powerofthecloud

Powerofthecloud

Member
Oct 27, 2017
9,489
Oh shit we finally going to get that update patch from Valve for the 360 that was promised like 15 years ago for the Orange Box?!? <--- Joke
 
Lowblood

Lowblood

Member
Oct 30, 2017
5,373
Cool to see as a curiosity, but yeah, a bit funny considering how much you can do with HL2 on the PC.

Kyle Cross said:
Indeed, tho like most BC 360 games it has gone up. A used copy is around $30 now. That also won't work on a Series S or the forthcoming Series X refresh.
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Yeah the "BC Bump" for some original Xbox and 360 games has been funny to watch. The previously unloved 360 versions of the FF13 trilogy now match (or exceed, for Lightning Returns) the PS3 versions in cost.

I buy a lot of used stuff so I'm glad I grabbed things like Silent Hill Downpour early on before they jumped.
 
Genesius

Genesius

Member
Nov 2, 2018
16,206
This made me wish we could have a current gen port of Left 4 Dead. Just bring over 2 and rename it, it has all the stuff from the first game anyway.
 
PLASTICA-MAN

PLASTICA-MAN

Member
Oct 26, 2017
24,651
Is this trick legal and risk free, Cus I read recently MS tsrated banning apps and tools that they don't deem worth like emulators and stuff.
 
andshrew

andshrew

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,043
This method of altering a games settings by editing the save also applies to PS4, so I'm interested in what games could potentially benefit from it when run on PS5.

I don't think much investigation has been done into this - because the only way to figure out if a game stores settings like this would be to get a save file, decrypt and inspect it and then test.
 
Atolm

Atolm

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,869
Idk, it's a neat trick but nowadays you can run them at 4k120hz on pretty much anything. And the games are delisted. MS/Valve should have patched this at the release of Xbox Series
 
Clear_Strelok

Clear_Strelok

Member
Mar 22, 2018
257
Atolm said:
Idk, it's a neat trick but nowadays you can run them at 4k120hz on pretty much anything. And the games are delisted. MS/Valve should have patched this at the release of Xbox Series
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It's not adressed in the video, but the Xbox 360 version of Half-Life 2 has visual enhancements (mostly additional geometry and background details) not found in any other version of the game, including the fully updated PC client. The UI also scales properly and doesn't have issues with non-english languages, although the Steam Deck update has picked up the pace there to some degree.
 
Chip Chanceworth

Chip Chanceworth

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,357
Clear_Strelok said:
It's not adressed in the video, but the Xbox 360 version of Half-Life 2 has visual enhancements (mostly additional geometry and background details) not found in any other version of the game, including the fully updated PC client. The UI also scales properly and doesn't have issues with non-english languages, although the Steam Deck update has picked up the pace there to some degree.
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I did not know this. On the surface this method seems entirely useless to see half life at 60hz, but if it's different I guess. Kind of like the ps1 port of Doom.
 
JustinH

JustinH

Member
Oct 27, 2017
10,498
This is really neat. Wish it were official though. Hoping it'll be like what happened with Fallout or some Bethesda game with mods (Skyrim? I can't remember which) having a 60 FPS mod and they just ended up doing FPS boost with it anyways.

Like... this unofficial method shows that it works, and seemingly works well. Although, since it's not being sold anymore I guess where's the motivation?
 
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