Half-Life 2: The Lost Coast
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| Portal: Shooters | 
| Half-Life 2: Lost Coast at Combine OverWiki |
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| Half-Life 2: The Lost Coast | |
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| Developer(s) | Valve Software |
| Publisher(s) | Valve Software |
| Release date | In Production |
| Genre | FPS |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Age rating(s) | ESRB: M |
| Platform(s) | PC |
| Media | Steam |
| Credits | Soundtrack | Codes | Walkthrough | |
Half-Life 2: The Lost Coast is a new level for Half-Life 2 designed for high end machines, and featuring High Dynamic Range lighting.
Shortly before the release of Half-Life 2, Valve made mention of something they called the "ATI levels," described as "a series of single-player levels that will require a super-high-end graphics card to run. This eventually was revealed to be the Lost Coast: A new set of levels based on assets and elements that were originally cut out of Half-Life 2, and that will feature higher poly models, higher resolution textures and HDR lighting.
The Lost Coast is currently still under production, but it is due out soon.
[edit] High Dynamic Range lighting
Valve uses their HDR technology to acheive the follow effects.
- Blooming. Used by designers to create a "blurred effect" on the bright edges in a scene, emulating a camera's overexposure. This feature has been added to other applications and is often mistaken as a full implementation of HDR.
- HDR Skybox. Authored by painting multiple exposures of the sky to allow for real-time exposure adjustment. For Lost Coast, over 16 variations of the HDR skybox were created.
- HDR Cube Maps. Generated by the engine, using the HDR skybox in conjunction with the HDR light sources and HDR light maps. HDR Cube Maps allow for an object's reflection to be cast in a manner that more accurately corresponds with the brightness of the source.
- HDR Water Reflection/Refraction. Wherever the reflection of a light source is extremely bright, "white hot" spots occur along with blooming on water. A similar effect may be witnessed when under water looking out toward the sun.
- HDR Refraction Effect. HDR light is transmitted through refractive materials, and takes on relevant properties of those materials (as when sunlight passes through the stained glass in Lost Coast's Monastery and then casts colored light).
- HDR Light Maps. Generated through a radiosity process, taking light bounces/global illumination into account. This may be witnessed inside the Monastery on Lost Coast, on walls opposite the windows where the sun is "blowing out" the wall.
- HDR Light Sources. Uncompressed light values provide a higher range of light values for designers to draw from in any given scene.
- Exposure Control. Enable "eye adjustments" to allow you to see a different range of details in dark scenes than in overbright areas.
[edit] External links
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| Half-Life series |
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| Half-Life | Opposing Force | Blue Shift | Decay Half-Life 2 | Deathmatch | The Lost Coast Half-Life 2: Episode One | Episode Two | Episode Three |
| Compilations |
| The Orange Box |
| Related Games |
| Portal | Team Fortress Classic | Team Fortress 2 |
| Miscellaneous |
| Half-Life Fact File |
