24 hours after Portal’s release, modders have Half-Life 2 running on Switch

Modders have started working on ports of Half-Life 2 after files for the game were discovered in the Portal Companion Collection, which was released on Tuesday.

OatmealDome, who regularly gives information on Switch firmware updates and describes themselves as a “Switch tinkerer”, noted on Twitter that the new Switch Portal compilation, which was released on Tuesday, contains a sizeable portion of Half-Life 2 content in its data.

“The entirety of Half-Life 2 (minus maps and music) is present in the ROM,” they stated. “Might be leftovers from the [Nvidia] Shield version.”

They added: “I should note that having at least some Half-Life 2 leftovers present in the ROM is expected, considering Portal 1 is just a fancy mod of Half-Life 2. That being said, there are a lot of files that shouldn’t be here (HL2-specific models, NPCs, voice clips, etc).”

OatmealDome then started trying to import Half-Life 2 maps into the game (via a modded Switch) in an attempt to make a rough Switch port.

After a number of hours of trying they finally managed to pull it off, tweeting a video of Half-Life 2 running on Switch.

“The game kinda works,” they noted. “It occasionally crashes, some maps are impossible to progress in, NPC animations are bugged, saves don’t work, and world cameras are placed at the wrong coordinates.”

Other users have started attempting their own ports following the discovery of the Half-Life 2 data.

Twitter users @arturmv_ shared a screenshot of their attempt, which shows a Half-Life 2 environment.

The scenery is full of inaccuracies, however, suggesting there’s still some work to be done to create an accurate port.

Portal: Companion Collection was released on Switch on Tuesday. Developed in co-operation with Nvidia Lightspeed Studios, the compilation, which includes both Portal and Portal 2, costs $19.99 / £13.49.

According to Valve, the Switch version runs at 60 frames per second, at “up to full HD resolution”.

“PC gamers have long been able to play the series that’s earned hundreds of awards for its groundbreaking gameplay, dark humor, and exploration.” Valve said in press release. “Today, Valve is thrilled to begin welcoming Nintendo Switch players into the mysterious Aperture Science Laboratories.”