Source 2 facts for kids
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| Developer(s) | Valve |
|---|---|
| Initial release | 2015 |
| Written in | C++ |
| Predecessor | Source |
| License | Proprietary |
Source 2 is a powerful video game engine made by a company called Valve. Think of a game engine as the main toolset that helps build video games. Source 2 was first announced in 2015. It was created to be even better than Valve's first engine, called Source. The very first game to use Source 2 was Dota 2. This game was moved over to the new engine in the same year. Other popular Valve games also use Source 2. These include Artifact, Dota Underlords, Half-Life: Alyx, and Counter-Strike 2.
Contents
How Source 2 Was Made
Plans for a new and improved game engine started a long time ago. This was after the game Half-Life 2: Episode Two came out in 2007. The very first test version of the engine was made in 2010. It was created by remaking a map from the game Left 4 Dead 2. Pictures of this early test version were shared online in 2014.
At a big event called the Game Developers Conference in 2014, a Valve employee showed off a special tool. This tool helped fix problems with how objects moved in games. It was being used with Left 4 Dead 2. Source 2 was first made available to some people in 2014. They could use it through Steam Workshop tools for Dota 2.
Official Announcement and New Features
Source 2 was officially announced at the 2015 Game Developers Conference. Valve said they wanted the engine to help people make game content more easily. They also said it would support something called Vulkan graphics API. This is a way for games to talk to your computer's graphics card.
The engine would also use a new physics engine called Rubikon. A physics engine makes sure things in a game move and react like they would in real life. Rubikon replaced an older tool called Havok.
Making Games for Everyone
Gabe Newell is the boss and founder of Valve. He said that Valve wanted to make their own games first. This would help them make sure the engine was the best it could be. After that, they planned to let other game makers use the engine for free. The only rule was that the games had to be sold on Valve's own store, Steam.
In June 2015, Valve announced a big change for Dota 2. The whole game would be moved to Source 2. This update was called Dota 2 Reborn. Reborn was first released as a test version. It officially replaced the old game in September 2015. This made Dota 2 the first game to fully use the Source 2 engine.
Source 2 has also been used for Valve's games Artifact and Dota Underlords. The engine can even be used to make games for phones and tablets. This includes devices that use Android and iOS.
Source 2 and Virtual Reality
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 a tech demo called Robot Repair inside the game The Lab. Most importantly, it powers the popular VR game Half-Life: Alyx. Special tools for making content for Half-Life: Alyx were released in May 2020.
Games Made with Source 2
Many games have been created using the Source 2 engine. Here is a list of some of them:
| Year | Game | Developer | Note(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Dota 2 | Valve | This game was moved from the older Source engine; it first came out in 2013. |
| 2016 | Robot Repair | This was a small test game inside The Lab; other parts of The Lab used a different engine. | |
| 2018 | Artifact | ||
| 2020 | Dota Underlords | This game was first released for people to play early in 2019. | |
| Half-Life: Alyx | This game was made especially for virtual reality headsets. | ||
| 2022 | Aperture Desk Job | This was a test game made for the Steam Deck, a handheld gaming computer. | |
| 2023 | Counter-Strike 2 | This is a newer version of the game Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, which came out in 2012. | |
| TBA | Sandbox | Facepunch Studios | This game is also known as S&box; its development moved to Source 2 in 2020 from another engine. |
See also
In Spanish: Source 2 para niños
