I think I can be even more specific about the pedal behavior of Noire. And I've also attempted (with help) half-pedal coding in Kontakt.
First off, yes the pedaling in Kontakt indeed sucks. I think I've coded something that works reasonably well, but it does introduce occasional hiccups due to the quirks with the engine - which is the main reason I provide the ability to turn it off. Watch my Yamaha S6 video toward the end for my explanation - let me know if my understanding about half pedaling is not correct.
With regard to Noire, I can summarize what does work, but that doesn't mean it works like a real piano:
Case 1: Press down pedal, play note, release note, half-pedal - works! Well, works once…
Case 2: Play note, press down pedal, put pedal in half-pedal position, release note - works! Note dies off depending on half pedal position. (but also doesn't work again)
Case 3: Play note, press down pedal, release note, try to half-pedal to damp strings - doesn't work. But there IS a slight "damper hitting string" sound - Yet the string is not damped (decay time is not reduced, or volume changed)
I know all of these cases because I had to code them. I think it covers the scenarios. BTW, I tested in Reaper, where I can strictly control the pedal and finger conditions. So I would say that Native Instruments would tell you that it works as they intended - but it's not like a real piano. It's "kind of like" a real piano.
maybe, if I get a chance, I'll try to apply my script to Noire to see if I can get it to work according the behavior that I wanted.