Why is TF2 described as hl2.exe

[CrypticPassage (Is/Eum)]

TF2 and half life 2 have literally NOTHING in common other than the fact that they use the same engine, other than that they are completely different

[pathulhu]

that must be it then

[rambograndad]

It would probably have to do with the orange box, idk

[Cee]

It's really for the fact that they use the same E.

[CrypticPassage (Is/Eum)]

Originally posted by Sir Orgy:

It would probably have to do with the orange box, idk

portal was also in the orange box, is it described as hl2.exe as well? (this is an actual question, I have portal but I dont feel like installing it)

[CrypticPassage (Is/Eum)]

Originally posted by Sims Leftist:

It's really for the fact that they use the same E.

what?

[Captain Toast]

Same engine.

[Cee]

Originally posted by TheUnstableNutcase ✪:

Originally posted by Sims Leftist:

It's really for the fact that they use the same E.

what?

E aka Engine

I just shorten up some words. sometimes

[CrypticPassage (Is/Eum)]

Originally posted by Captain Toast:

Same engine.

csgo uses the same engine

every other valve game uses the same engine

are they described as hl2.exe? No

[Jonathan Sensei]

Originally posted by TheUnstableNutcase ✪:

TF2 and half life 2 have literally NOTHING in common other than the fact that they use the same engine.

And like that, you answered your own question.

[CrypticPassage (Is/Eum)]

Originally posted by Coffinmaw:

Originally posted by TheUnstableNutcase ✪:

TF2 and half life 2 have literally NOTHING in common other than the fact that they use the same engine.

And like that, you answered your own question.

you guys are pretty dumb not gonna lie

there are SEVERAL OTHER valve games that use the same engine, yet they do not say hl2.exe

[CHIKEN JOCKY :D]

Half-Life 2 uses the Source engine, TF2 runs on Source engine (like many other games).

L4D2, CS:GO and Portal 2 use modified Source engines, so these are exceptions.

[CrypticPassage (Is/Eum)]

Originally posted by Br0k3n:

Half-Life 2 uses the Source engine, TF2 runs on Source engine (like many other games).

L4D2, CS:GO and Portal 2 use modified Source engines, so these are exceptions.

I see

[Krinkov]

Originally posted by TheUnstableNutcase ✪:

Originally posted by Coffinmaw:

And like that, you answered your own question.

you guys are pretty dumb not gonna lie

there are SEVERAL OTHER valve games that use the same engine, yet they do not say hl2.exe

Were they made later on? Chances are Valve stopped being lazy and actually called the .exe files by what they really were.

[rambograndad]

Just looked into it, this is what I found.


Source Engine games (all those you've mentioned) are really closer to what you'd usually call a ("total conversion") mod. You're never running the game - you're running the engine, telling it to select a given mod (note how the games are run like hl2.exe -game cstrike, for example).

The exe file is just a bootstrap that prepares the engine, and loads the actual mod (like Half-Life 2 or Counter Strike: Source), which in itself is a bunch of data and DLLs. It could have just as easily been called e.g. source.exe. The main point, however, is that you never actually build your game by changing the hl2.exe file; that's the same for all games on the same version of the Source engine. You're only changing other DLLs and the data files - and the dll itself usually is called something like cstrike.dll, not hl2.dll.

If you want a flawed analogy, ponder this: why is Chrome's executable called chrome.exe, when you're actually browsing Facebook? You're running the Facebook application, aren't you? :)

And if you want a bit more history, this has been the convention carried over from the original Half-Life. The engine Half-Life 1 used was actually a heavily modified Quake engine, and the game was a mod on top of that modified engine; when the (very popular) mods like Team Fortress and Counter Strike came, they were likewise mods on the Half-Life 1 engine; but not the half-life game, really (pretty much entirely true for CS, while mods like Blue Shift reused a lot of the assets and code of HL1). And just like Half-Life 1 is a mod running on the Half-Life 1 engine (retroactively dubbed GoldSrc), Half-Life 2 is just a mod running on the Half-Life 2 engine (Source).

[Jonathan Sensei]

Originally posted by TheUnstableNutcase ✪:

Originally posted by Coffinmaw:

And like that, you answered your own question.

you guys are pretty dumb not gonna lie

there are SEVERAL OTHER valve games that use the same engine, yet they do not say hl2.exe

Change your thread title then dumbass. You've already got an answer to your original question.