Half-Life 2 turns 20 today, and Valve sprung yet another excellent 2 hour documentary onto the community along with much needed modernization updates to the base game. You can check out all the updates on the dedicated Half-Life 2 20th anniversary update page here: half-life.com/en/halflife2/20th/

And if you're like me and enjoy reading update change logs, you'll be pleasantly surprised to hear of a lot of the original bugs we all complained about back in the day finally getting addressed. Not to mention in-game Steam workshop support to make it even easier to load up mods and maps, and a new developer commentary mode giving even further insight behind a lot of the original game development decisions.

While the internet and gaming industry have evolved significantly since the original release in 2004, we can all agree half-Life 2 still stands as a testament to Valve's commitment to innovation, and unbridled support for the communities that grew up around it. Something still uncommon in this industry 20 years on.

It's a great time to share the game that redefined what games can be, and get inspired all over again.

Now, pick up that can.

Hello world. the SnarkPit rises again!

I suppose we all thought the site went down for good in January of 2019, when our host stopped supporting the aging code base SnarkPit is built on, which felt like the final nail in the coffin. Several attempts were made to resurrect it in that time but of course, life and the world would soon change through the COVID19 pandemic, which prolonged attempts to work through the complexity of a site re-build.

Fast-forward three years later to March of 2022, and after several attempts by both members of the Pit and the broader Half-Life community, Penguinboy Owner of TWHL.info has stepped-up to defibrillate life back into the Pit, to which we all owe a debt of gratitude for getting us to where we are today! TWHL has been considered by many as the sister site to The SnarkPit, both having shared lots of content, members, and a legacy for the Half-Life community for almost 20 years and counting!

We're aware some core features were not working in the past week, so if you got locked-out of your account after attempting to reset passwords, change e-mails, or use the contact form, please reach out through the now-working contact form at the bottom of the page, and we'll try to get back to you in a few days and get you plugged-back in.

Moving forward, we are interested in maintaining the Pit and its content. As you can imagine, there is a lot of work to do to modernize the code base for the site and yes, we are overdue for a redesign. It will take some time before plans can be drawn for the next evolution of the Pit, but we're excited to have you along for the ride, and appreciate the feedback.

A big welcome back to all the old members, and also to new members discovering the Pit for the first time; we think this site is pretty dope, and are proud to keep that legacy alive and make it available to all Half-Life fans for many years to come.

Cheers,
-Riven
Owner of The SnarkPit