Source 2 facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Source 2

Developer(s)	Valve
Initial release	2015; 10 years ago (2015)
Written in	C++
Predecessor	Source
License	Proprietary

Source 2 is a powerful video game engine created by Valve. A game engine is like a set of tools that helps game developers build video games. Source 2 is the newer version of Valve's first engine, which was simply called Source.

Valve first announced Source 2 in 2015. The very first game to use this new engine was Dota 2. This game was moved from the old Source engine to Source 2 in the same year. Many other popular Valve games also use Source 2. These include Artifact, Dota Underlords, Half-Life: Alyx, Counter-Strike 2, and Deadlock.

How Source 2 Was Made

Early Ideas and Development

Valve started planning a new game engine after Half-Life 2: Episode Two was released in 2007. They wanted to create something even better than their original Source engine.

The very first test of Source 2 happened in 2010. For this test, developers remade a map from the game Left 4 Dead 2. This helped them see how the new engine would work. Some pictures of this early test were shared online in 2014.

Public Reveal and Goals

At a big event called the Game Developers Conference in 2014, a Valve employee showed off a tool for Source 2. This tool helped fix problems with how objects moved in games.

Before its official announcement, Source 2 tools were made available. These tools were for Dota 2 through Steam Workshop in 2014. Valve officially announced Source 2 at the Game Developers Conference in 2015. They said their main goal was to help creators make game content more easily.

Valve also shared that Source 2 would support Vulkan graphics. This is a special way for computers to draw game graphics. The engine would also use a new physics system called Rubikon. This system helps objects in games move realistically. It replaced an older tool called Havok.

Free for Developers

Gabe Newell, who is the president and founder of Valve, talked about Source 2. He said Valve wanted to make their own games first using the engine. This would help them make sure the engine was the best it could be.

He also mentioned that Valve planned to make Source 2 free for game developers to use. The only condition was that the games had to be sold on Valve's own platform, Steam.

First Game and New Features

In June 2015, Valve announced a big update for Dota 2. The entire game would be moved to the Source 2 engine. This update was called Dota 2 Reborn.

Reborn was first released as a test version in June 2015. It officially replaced the old Dota 2 game in September 2015. This made Dota 2 the very first game to fully use the Source 2 engine.

Source 2 has also been used for other Valve games. These include Artifact and Dota Underlords. For Dota Underlords, the engine was even made to work on phones. This means it supports both Android and iOS devices.

The engine is also great for making virtual reality (VR) games. It is used in SteamVR Home, which is a VR space. It was also used for the Robot Repair demo inside The Lab. Most notably, it powers the big VR game Half-Life: Alyx. Special tools for creating content for Half-Life: Alyx were released in May 2020.

Games Using Source 2

Many games have been made using the Source 2 engine. Here is a list of some of them:

See also

In Spanish: Source 2 para niños