Team Fortress 2 remake now has Half Life: Alyx's liquid shader because Demoman needs good whisky

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Don't ask why an uncorked and upside-down bottle is full of liquid.

TF2 with fancy water physics.
(Image credit: Valve)

As we reported earlier this month, a team of modders called Amper Software is working on Team Fortress: Source 2—a project recreating TF2 in Valve's updated Source 2 engine (the same one that powers Dota 2, Half-Life: Alyx, Dota Underlords, and the now-defunct Artifact).

"Our goal is to remake, improve, iterate, and create a new Team Fortress experience on Source 2 engine using s&box," reads TF:S2's development blog. "This project is a huge undertaking, we would have to consider all nitpicks of TF2 gameplay, try to rebuild every single mechanic to feel similar to the base game, but with enough dedication, I believe that we can do it!"

Now, as well as being a splendid game, Half Life: Alyx has effects to die for and runs on the Source 2 engine. One effect in particular, the simulation of how light passes through liquid, is a stunning achievement and caught the eye of TF:S2 modder Daniel Basiuc-Brînzei, who knows that the Demoman likes his whisky and put two-and-two together.

Is it whisky? Come on, he's Scottish, course it is (source: am Scottish, send whisky).

To be clear, TF:S2 is in an early stage of development and you won't be waving beautifully lit bottles of booze around anytime soon. The team is using s&box (pronounced 'sandbox'), the spiritual successor to Garry's Mod that utilizes Source 2 as a framework: this tool itself is still in early development from Facepunch (the Rust studio founded by Garry "Garry's Mod" Newman), so Amper is working with incomplete tools. Still: that's some real liquid gold.

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Rich Stanton
Rich Stanton
Senior Editor

Rich is a games journalist with 15 years' experience, beginning his career on Edge magazine before working for a wide range of outlets, including Ars Technica, Eurogamer, GamesRadar+, Gamespot, the Guardian, IGN, the New Statesman, Polygon, and Vice. He was the editor of Kotaku UK, the UK arm of Kotaku, for three years before joining PC Gamer. He is the author of a Brief History of Video Games, a full history of the medium, which the Midwest Book Review described as "[a] must-read for serious minded game historians and curious video game connoisseurs alike."