esforces.com

The short answer: for the current public build, switch Half-Life to its legacy beta branch in Steam. That is the only way to run the old Half-Life-based version after Valve's November 2023 25th anniversary update broke many mods. But this is a temporary fix, not a permanent one — the ESF team has confirmed the project is moving to Sven Co-op, and the legacy branch will eventually stop working for ESF because the mod depends on Steam connectivity.

Why the update broke ESF

Valve's 25th anniversary update changed how Half-Life uses memory. According to the ESF team's March 14, 2024 news post:

• Half-Life does not have the "LargeAddressAware" (LAA) header flagged, so it can only access 2GB of total memory.
• Had Valve enabled LAA with the update, the game could have used up to 4GB, and the problem would likely have been avoided.
• ESF's content is large enough that a single base Trunks model is roughly as big as all of Half-Life's models combined. The mod hit the memory wall and stopped working.

The team also considered enabling the LAA flag themselves, but rejected it over the risk of shipping a mod that could trigger a VAC ban.

Option 1: Run the legacy Half-Life branch (short-term)

This is the workaround for playing the existing Half-Life version of ESF:

1. Open Steam and go to your Library.
2. Right-click Half-Life and open Properties.
3. Go to the Betas tab.
4. Select the legacy beta branch from the dropdown.
5. Let Steam download the older build, then launch ESF as you normally would.

Expected result: Half-Life runs the pre-anniversary version, which restores compatibility with mods that the update broke.

The catch: ESF relies on Steam's connectivity functions. The legacy branch works fine for mods that don't need Steam features, but once the legacy version starts having trouble connecting to Steam servers, ESF:F will no longer work on this setup. Treat this as a stopgap, not a solution.

Option 2: Wait for the Sven Co-op release (long-term)

After years of trying to make everything fit within Half-Life's limits, the team decided to move the mod to Sven Co-op. The reasoning:

• Sven Co-op was given Half-Life's source code, so it can be altered to use 4GB of memory — something ESF's own requests for source code never achieved.
• The move fixed the major memory issues.

It also introduced new problems. The team notes that other outdated components, such as the old version of FMOD used for sound, are now causing their own issues and still need fixing.

Progress reported in the same update:

• Every model/character is now in the game, mostly animated and working.
• Missing pieces: each character's unique transformation animations and bonus tiers.
• You no longer have to close and reopen the game to change maps.
• The clutter system still needs cleanup so it works flawlessly — for example, rocks spawning in the air.
• Dalte is working on bonus tiers and transformation audio for each character.

What to do now

The team's own framing is that the legacy branch is a dead end for ESF specifically, because of the Steam dependency. The Sven Co-op migration is the path to a version that works without that constraint — but it isn't finished, and the update does not give a release date. Check esforces.com for the current status before planning around either option.

Earth's Special Forces (ESF) moved its development from Half-Life to Sven Co-op because Valve's November 2023 25th anniversary update to Half-Life broke the mod's memory budget. According to the ESF team's March 14, 2024 update, the update left Half-Life without the "LargeAddressAware" (LAA) flag, capping the game at 2GB of memory, and ESF's content had grown large enough to hit that wall. Rather than patch the executable themselves and risk a VAC ban, the team switched to Sven Co-op, which has source code access and can use up to 4GB.

What the Half-Life update actually changed

The anniversary update was good for the base game but disruptive for the modding community as a whole. Two effects mattered for ESF:

• Many mods broke. The only way to keep playing some of them was to switch Half-Life to its legacy beta branch.
• Memory behavior changed. Valve adjusted Half-Life's memory usage, which produced more "out of memory" bugs.

The legacy branch workaround has a catch that applies directly to ESF: it works fine for mods that don't depend on Steam functions, but ESF does rely on Steam's connectivity. So even the temporary fix has an expiry date — once the legacy version starts having trouble connecting to Steam servers, ESF:F would stop working there.

Why 2GB became a hard wall

Half-Life doesn't have the LAA header flagged, so it can only address 2GB of total memory. Had Valve enabled LAA in the update, the ceiling would have been 4GB and the whole problem could have been avoided.

For ESF, 2GB was no longer enough. The team notes that their base Trunks model alone is as large as all of the Half-Life models combined. That's the practical meaning of "hitting the memory wall": the game didn't just run poorly, it didn't work.

Why the team didn't just patch it themselves

Enabling the LAA flag on their own was technically possible, but the team was concerned about shipping a mod that could potentially trigger a VAC ban. They chose not to take that risk.

That constraint is the reason the platform decision came down to who could legitimately change the engine's memory behavior — not who had the better tooling.

Why Sven Co-op was the answer

Sven Co-op, unlike ESF, was given the Half-Life source code after requesting it. That access let Sven Co-op alter the game to use 4GB of memory. Moving ESF there resolved the core memory problem.

The team acknowledges the irony of the situation, but the trade-off has been concrete progress:

• Every model and character is now in the game, mostly animated and working.
• What's still missing is each character's unique transformation animations and their bonus tiers.
• The team no longer has to close and reopen the game to change maps.

What still needs fixing after the move

Switching engines solved one class of problem and exposed another. The old version of FMOD that ESF uses for sound is outdated enough to cause its own issues, and it still needs to be addressed.

There's also cleanup work on the clutter system so map changes work flawlessly — the stated goal being to stop things like rocks spawning in the air. On the content side, Dalte is working on bonus tiers for the characters and on setting up audio for each character's transformation.

What this means for players

If you're waiting on ESF:F, the practical takeaways are:

• The move is a fix, not a reboot. The project continues, now on Sven Co-op.
• The memory blocker is resolved. The 2GB ceiling that stopped the game from running is no longer the constraint.
• Remaining work is content and cleanup, not a return to the original problem: transformation animations, bonus tiers, transformation audio, FMOD, and the clutter system.
• The old path is closing. Playing on Half-Life's legacy branch was always temporary for ESF because of its Steam dependency, so Sven Co-op is where the project's future sits.

Earth's Special Forces (ESF) is currently in a transitional state: the team has moved its project from Half-Life to Sven Co-op, and as of the March 14, 2024 update, every model and character is now in the game, mostly animated and working. What's still missing is each character's unique transformation animations and their bonus tiers, along with fixes to an outdated FMOD audio version and the map clutter system.

Why the move happened

Valve's November 2023 25th anniversary update for Half-Life broke many mods. The update adjusted Half-Life's memory usage, and because Half-Life doesn't have the "LargeAddressAware" (LAA) header flagged, it can only access 2GB of total memory rather than 4GB. For ESF, that ceiling was fatal — the base Trunks model alone is as large as all of Half-Life's models combined, so the game hit the memory wall and stopped working.

The team could have enabled the LAA flag themselves, but worried that doing so could potentially trigger a VAC ban. Sven Co-op, by contrast, was given access to the source code and could alter the game to use 4GB of memory. That's why ESF moved there.

What works now

• All models and characters are in the game — mostly animated and functional.
• Map switching no longer requires restarting the game. Previously the game had to be closed and reopened to change maps.

What's still missing or broken

• Unique transformation animations for each character.
• Bonus tiers for each character — Dalte is currently working on these.
• Transformation audio — being set up per character and sent to Da (per the update).
• FMOD audio — the old version ESF uses for sounds is outdated enough to cause its own problems and still needs fixing.
• Clutter system — needs cleanup so map changes work flawlessly without issues like rocks spawning in the air.

The short version

The Sven Co-op move solved the major memory problems, but introduced new ones (notably the aging FMOD audio). The project is playable in large part — characters and models are in — but transformation animations, bonus tiers, and audio work remain outstanding.

The official source for Earth's Special Forces (ESF) news is esforces.com, the project's own website. Its News section is where the team posts development updates, and the most recent entry available is dated March 14, 2024. If you want to track the mod's status, planned changes, or release progress, that page is the place to check rather than third-party forums or store pages.

What the official site actually publishes

The site's News section carries first-hand announcements written by the development team. The March 14, 2024 post is a good example of the kind of information you'll find there:

• Engine migration status — the team explains why the mod moved away from Half-Life and onto Sven Co-op.
• Technical blockers — memory limits, outdated audio middleware, and other issues they are working through.
• Content progress — which models and characters are in the game, what is animated, and what is still missing.
• Work in progress — named team members and the specific tasks they are handling.

Because these posts come directly from the developers, they are more reliable than community summaries for anything involving version numbers, engine decisions, or timelines.

Why the site matters more than usual right now

The March 2024 update describes a significant technical shift, and the reasoning is only fully explained on the official page. According to that post:

• Valve's November 2023 25th anniversary update for Half-Life broke many mods, and the usual workaround is switching Half-Life to its legacy beta branch.
• That workaround is a problem for ESF because the mod relies on Steam connectivity, so it will stop working once the legacy branch can no longer reach Steam servers.
• The update also changed Half-Life's memory usage. Half-Life lacks the LargeAddressAware flag, capping it at 2GB of total memory instead of 4GB, which caused "out of memory" errors. The team notes that a single base Trunks model is as large as all of Half-Life's models combined.
• The team chose not to enable the flag themselves because of the risk of triggering a VAC ban.
• They moved the mod to Sven Co-op, which has access to the source code and can use 4GB of memory.

That chain of decisions is documented on esforces.com, not in a patch note or a store listing, which is why the official News page is the authoritative channel.

How to use the site to follow development

1. Go to esforces.com and open the News section.
2. Read the newest post first — it reflects the current state of the project.
3. Work backwards through older entries if you want context on how a decision was reached.
4. Treat the content as English-language; there is no indication of localized versions.

The site is aimed at players who want to follow the mod's development status rather than download-and-play instructions. If your goal is simply to play a current build, the News posts describe what is and isn't finished, which tells you what to expect before you try.

What the March 2024 update says is done and pending

Practical notes

• The update is explicitly framed as a response to a promise of news, so expect irregular rather than scheduled posting.
• Details such as exact release dates, download links, or pricing are not part of the News content shown; don't assume any of these from the site alone.
• For anything about future versions, character animations, or audio fixes, the official News page is the source to monitor.

Earth's Special Forces (ESF) is a Dragon Ball–themed multiplayer mod for Half-Life, developed over many years by a community team and announced through esforces.com. If you are looking for a Dragon Ball fighting game built on Half-Life's engine, ESF is the project that name refers to. The most important thing to know today is that the team has moved development away from the original Half-Life platform to Sven Co-op, after a 2023 Half-Life update broke the memory limits the mod depended on.

The short version

• Genre: Dragon Ball–inspired multiplayer combat mod.
• Base game: Originally Half-Life; now being rebuilt on Sven Co-op.
• Status: Long-running, still in development, with public news updates on esforces.com.
• Why the platform changed: A November 2023 Half-Life 25th anniversary update altered memory usage and broke many mods.

Why ESF moved to Sven Co-op

According to the project's March 14, 2024 update, Valve's Half-Life anniversary update caused more "out of memory" errors. Half-Life does not have the "LargeAddressAware" (LAA) header flagged, so it can only use about 2GB of total memory. Enabling LAA would have raised that to roughly 4GB and avoided the problem, but it was not enabled.

The ESF team explains the scale of the issue directly: their base Trunks model alone is as large as all of Half-Life's models combined. They hit the memory wall and the game stopped working.

The team considered enabling the flag themselves but worried about shipping a mod that could potentially trigger a VAC ban. Instead, they moved to Sven Co-op, which had been given source code access and could be altered to use 4GB of memory.

What the move fixed and what it didn't

What is still being worked on

The update notes that the remaining gaps are character-specific: unique transformation animations and bonus tiers. A team member, Dalte, is working on bonus tiers and on setting up audio for each character's transformation.

So if you are checking ESF out, expect a project that is playable in parts but not feature-complete. The transformation and bonus-tier content is the current frontier.

Where to follow it

esforces.com is the project's news hub. The site's News section is where the team posts development updates, including the March 2024 post that explains the Half-Life memory problem and the Sven Co-op migration. If you want to know whether a new build or feature has landed, that page is the place to check rather than assuming a fixed release schedule.