Half-Life Forum

The original CD release of Half Life installs correctly into it's
own bottle, using the win2000 bottle profile (using a winxp bottle
profile had it complaining about the need for 'service pack 3' which
I believe is related to winXP).

The original CD release includes DRM in the form of a CD check. This
would not work in linux (and is unlikely to work in Mac), however if
you apply the official Hafe Life Full v1.1.1.0 Update, this DRM is
removed and numerous enhancements/addons are also included into the game.

Cheers!

Can the CD Key from the original release be used to activate half life on a steam account? If so that would completely eliminate the DRM problem.

Samuel Bell wrote:

Can the CD Key from the original release be used to activate half
life on a steam account? If so that would completely eliminate the
DRM problem.

Had the same thought...quoting from the Steam website ;

"
Important:
This will simply add a shortcut to your game. This will not allow you to download updates for your game
through Steam nor allow you to use this game as proof of ownership for your Steam account. Only games
purchased or registered through Steam can receive automatic updates and function as proof of ownership
for a Steam account.
"
cite: https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=2219-YDJV-5557

I believe that means "no" ..unless there's some way to register the game with Steam (and I've
not yet discovered any way to do that) ;-D

Cheers!

On the My Games page try clicking the Activate a Product on Steam button, and enter the CD Key. If any method would work that would probably be the one.

Samuel Bell wrote:

On the My Games page try clicking the Activate a Product on Steam
button, and enter the CD Key. If any method would work that would
probably be the one.

Hehe...been there, done that...doesn't work :) Hence what I
say last sentence previous posting 😊

Cheers!

Its weird that they would have such a massive registration system, and yet not figure something out for the few valve games that predate steam. Unfortunate oversight I guess.

Not really...once you get years down the track from initial release
date, and then after further licensing enables more than 1 distribution
point/media for the title itself...licensing becomes a huge problem.
Just because I have the original discs, the original disc-code etc etc,
in this country 'proof of purchase/ownership' still boils down to having
to provide the original sales dockets/receipts...which of course, got
lost somewhere years ago ;)

FWIW, I had the same kind of issue with FarCry...ie; tech support answer
was tantamount to 'please purchase the game again via online download'...

Cheers!

Oh well at least its not too expensive.