This is an updated and remastered version of 2007’s HW Upgrade (originally made by luckid) done by ArctixSnowPup.
Author’s Notes:
For 2 months I have been working on remastering this mod. The remaster is complete and ready for release.
Mapbase is included, no need to download separately. Install to your sourcemods folder and enjoy!
Huge thanks to everyone who helped me work on this. Thank you CARL for getting me started on this whole project!
Hope it was worth the wait.
Basic Details
- Title: Hardware Upgrade: Remastered
- Filename: sdk-2013-sp-hwupgraderemastered.7z
- Size: 231 MB
- Author: ArctixSnowPup
- Date Released: 17 June 2024
- Related: HW Upgrade
Download Options
Manual Installation Instructions
- Make sure you have the Upcoming branch of the Source SDK Base 2013 Singleplayer installed in Steam and run at least once. (Properties – Betas – select upcoming from the dropdown list).
- Copy the HwUpgradeRemastered folder into your SourceMods folder.
- Restart or start Steam.
- Hardware Upgrade: Remastered should now be listed in your Library tab.
Screenshots
WARNING: The screenshots contain spoilers.
Thanks to ArctixSnowPup for providing the screenshots!
1600 x 900
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Reader Recommendations
Total Downloads
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454Overall
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0Today
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3Last 7 days
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23Last 30 days
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454365 days
Meta Review Data
Statistics based on 6 comment(s) with meta review data.
Installed:
Using Gauge: Users
Manually: 6 Users
Time Taken:
Average: 1 Hours, 35 Mins
Shortest: 1 Hours by vancanucksfan
Longest: 2 Hours, 15 Mins by Filthy McNasty
Total Time Played: 9 Hours, 27 Mins
Using Gauge: Users
Manually: 6 Users
Time Taken:
Average: 1 Hours, 35 Mins
Shortest: 1 Hours by vancanucksfan
Longest: 2 Hours, 15 Mins by Filthy McNasty
Total Time Played: 9 Hours, 27 Mins
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Jump to a review
Really enjoyable, however I’m at the point where it says destroy the strider first, but nothing I do/nowhere I go triggers it to appear. Am I missing something?
Very strange. How did you get there without hitting the trigger? There should be only one way to go and that’s using a pipe to cross the cave to the other side.
I have replayed many times from the previous autosave. What happens is I go to the left until the ramp collapses. I see just after that, the vent collapse behind.
Two different things I’ve done at that point – I have jumped into the water in the bin below, and used the collapsed vent to start walking across to the other side (there is NO pipe visible going across, I found that way by accident). Still no strider appears.
I changed my video resolution to my native 2560X1440 and perhaps that is the reason? Should I try replaying with a different resolution (if so, what was the default?).
Further info. I have deleted the mod and am downloading again. I will play today on the default video resolution and let you know.
I’m doing this because I also recall difficulties triggering to get the suit at the beginning, so I’m thinking I didn’t get a clean download and/or unzip.
Is your SDK 2013 Set to upcoming? I downloaded it myself and had no problems at all and I completed it too.
Yes I’ve played every SDK required mod that exists.
Completed everything to the end this time! Thanks so much for making this remaster, very enjoyable!
Back to the original problem, it probably wasn’t the video resolution or the first download. My guess is the trigger didn’t happen in my first method because when the walkway collapsed, I was able to jump down into the bin filled with water, get out, walk across to the ladder and climb up past the girl still waving across the way. And the trigger in my second method, going across the “invisible” pipe, didn’t happen because I was able to simply walk on air across. I didn’t think using the pipe on the ceiling meant anything, but this time I happened to hit the “enter” key at that starting point instead of just starting to walk (expecting to fall). I noticed hitting “E” seemed to be like attaching to a zipline?, and then when going across, the strider busted out.
I realize some of these posts might be really small spoilers, so deleting these posts might be an idea. However as its just a small routine that may stop others from going further, maybe what I found will be helpful.
It is very easy to get to the other side without using a pipe to cross the cave. When the walkway collapses you can jump down into the water filled container, then jump out and run over to the ladder that has been dropped down for you. Then you just climb it and go into the nearby room where you can see the screen which shows another rebel behind the force-field. There is a button there but pressing it just brings up the message about getting rid of the strider first. No strider so no more progress. There needs to be another trigger in case of people using the alternate route.
v enjoyable right pace interesting coherent environments
Check out my playthrough here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZRMYWxG-E0 .
Plot wise, it’s not super clear, but my take was that as a user, we go through a website, but in an abstract manner, and fight baddies via different roles: guest, member, admin.
The mod itself is not functionally finished, needs more work. Level transitions, AI (facing wrong way), NPC placement (in locked places), story, visual language, and gameplay elements such as blue AND red laser inconsistencies – these all need work. Visual bugs, invisible walls, and unfinished areas do detract from the flow of it all. But most importantly, functionality wise, you can end up not finishing the game despite doing everything correctly. The player can get stuck in way more than 1 place, and I don’t mean not being able to figure out the next step.
I did finish it, otherwise I would not have reviewed it here. But I needed plenty of reloads and section replays, plus the knowledge of a wonky Strider trigger. I would consider it in Beta atm for whoever wants to play it, I don’t otherwise recommend it. And you can see in my playthrough the many reasons for which I am saying this. A playthrough which also contains some good level design advice from Miigga.
In terms of visual language, one of my recommendations is: don’t unlock everything at once in an area. If I’m not supposed to press specific button(s), just don’t give me access to it right away. Either lock it or put it in a different area. The fact that I get there and pressing it does nothing, or I get a gamey message saying what I should be doing instead, does not make for good puzzles nor gameplay.
I did have a lot of fun playing it but it was mostly due to the source engine being source-y and this mod being unfinished and unpolished.
Being a remastering and all might have raised the expectations. But these expectations were not too high to begin with, since the original mod was in Italian and from what I gathered, some things were not made clear to the player.
However I do expect NOT to: see through the map in so many places, crash multiple times, get stuck in the map, fall through the map, see enemies spawn out of thin air, and other logical inconsistencies such as a wireless turret functioning only after power was turned on, or having to use an eye-less skull in front of an eye scanner.
Few things this mod does right are: twisted fun bits and surprise attacks. It’s awesome to experience the surprise attacks, exciting to anticipate them, then forget about them only to be surprised again, and there’s plenty of health and suit around to make up for them. This is why I am posting here, and I so rarely do, I hope the author continues work on this mod and finishes it at least functionally, not necessarily visually. Oh, and test, test, and test some more. It does not have to be by BTC as I mentioned in my video, whose members are individually available. But all mods can do with more testing, and this one is in dire need of more testing, or the author listening to their testers, or both. It definitely felt like I was testing it, so hopefully the findings will be useful. GL.
Manually
Medium
1 Hour, 21 Minutes
Sorry, simply didn’t see your comment that was held in limbo. So I restored your original and removed the latest for clarity.
I did not know the BTC even existed at all anymore?
Oh, thanks, I had forgotten the spoiler tags in the 2nd one.
The BTC members, or some of them including me, are still available individually. But the tag will only act as a reference (resume like) and does not have to be used in credits if the member wishes to be mentioned.
It’s a decent little mod, with a few rough spots. There is a spot where you have to climb up a ladder and get a door to open. It only opens for a few seconds and I fell out of the map there several times. The solution seemed to be to clear the boxes blocking your ascent with the gravity gun, go back to the previous map, then go back up the ladder and open the door and hurry up.
Manually
Medium
1 Hour
The only thing I’m okay with this is the combat. Puzzles and level design are poorly made to be honest. Some of the areas are blocky and amateurish, the puzzles make really no sense like putting an eyeless skull to an eye scanner. How does that work? There is one part where I have to destroy the strider to proceed to the next level. Unfortunately, it didn’t spawn because of the certain trigger. How do you spawn it? Do you climb the ladder to reach the other side of the catwalk, do you keep the citizens alive, or how about you climb the pipe to the other side of the catwalk? If you think of climbing at the pipe, then you’re right. But why is that necessary? Not only that, how am I supposed to figure that out without any hints? I haven’t played the original yet but assume it is still there, my point is this is one of the examples of terrible level designs. There is also a part where you are at the large open area with four lasers. It says you have to kill all enemies first but that’s where I ended up softlocking the game. Whatever you do, do not destroy the dropship. It will get stuck there and destroying its transport would prevent you from killing all enemies thus softlocking the whole game. How did they not fix that problem? Anyway, even if this is remastered, I still find it a mediocre map.
That was me btw
Very weird mod.
Manually
Easy
2 Hours, 15 Minutes
It’s been a while since I played a release for HL and this one really disapoints me,
There were some good ideas for sure in therms of visual and combats but lots of flaws furstrated me… first there was a part of the shopper than went into the teleporter I make me be killed each time I enter in it after I notice that there should be no pieces of it in the teleporter, then the strider I need to pass on a not visible ladder to activate it and filally the last ladder with a map change (wrong idea) to access the final place, each time I’m not able to go to the roof and if I jump I jump out of the map hopefully there was the playtrough from Ade that helps me, thanks for this 😉
The design wasn’t that bad even if quite boxy. The use of combat, weapon, traps was most of the time more frustrating than enjoyable So since there are not a lot of release here for one time there was one it was not a so good one sometime the remake are worse and for m this is the case 🙁
Manually
Medium
1 Hour, 30 Minutes
I played off and on for about 2 hours, until I came out of the underground up a ladder through a manhole. It appeared to be incomplete so I’ll return in a few months to see if it is repaired or completed. It was a good story otherwise.
Manually
Easy
2 Hours