It’s weird to think that almost every game has a beta version like this, most of which we never see. There’s probably so many game betas and old concepts that are just sitting on old hard drives that will never see the light of day.
@@willnottell6350 I think he was talking about cut content in general. Even if the game hasn't undergone radical changes in the development process, there is still a lot of interesting and good cut content in it.
@@jalenthewunk Check out Dark Interval, part 2 is likely to come late 2021 - early 2022 with everything up to air exchange and the development looks very promising.
@@willnottell6350 Shut up. Beta content is just a lot of things that the developers of a game or any product have made or tried to make into a functional game, but ultimately gave up upon due to their lack of belief in a thing they had produced. Valve's biggest weakness is its super low self-esteem. They barely ever produce video games anymore and they had not produced video games for a long time, because people who work there are super cynical about things and believe that no matter how hard they'll try to make a video game, they will fail at selling it to the super demanding of good products public, the same public that ironically thinks League of Legends and R6 are good games. Half Life 2 as a game was cancelled mid-tracks, because Valve went like... "This thing sucks, depression time". And then cancelled everything. After some time, the original thought of the developer died out, the atmosphere was no longer recoverable and the thing had to be abandoned. Fragments of old beta concept can become revisited in later installments, but only in extremely fragmented ways. Old Half Life 2 beta cop masks are somewhat present in Half Life: Alyx, some concepts like the air purifier get drastically changed to only slightly resemble their original intention, Nova Prospekt is the air purifier probably... Things get changed and things die out... Things get forgotten. The problem with this is that it creates an extremely unrewarding system for the artist. This rejection process may seem like a fine thing for the consumer, but the consumer is a ****ing moron that should be tricked into thinking things so that his petite non-art no-life nerd brain doesn't get pee pee poo poo hurt when he thinks about stuff. So, coming back. The thing is that the reason why this is bad, is because humans are human beings and when they work, their reward system needs to understand that they are not wasting their time. When you go out and create a thing using your creativity, spend hours upon hours in order to gain the skills to do what you want and then use those skills to build the thing you want to build, you then want to construct that thing into a vision and sell it to someone to receive the cool reward in the form of acknowledgement and sometimes monetary reward. But if instead of going to do make that thing you wanted to make a vision, you go "this sucks, I give up" and abandon the project, then over-time you'll go like "I hate this shit, why would I want to spend years of my life working on something that I am never going to release, because no one likes it". This is why instead of having 10 Valve games, we have only three. They believed that their games are garbage and only those rare once in a blue ****ing moon games they tried to make are good, and everything else has to be abandoned. If you watched VNN then you would find out just how many ****ing games Valve has that are just lying on the back dead somewhere in their offices. They had like probably nine million versions of Half Life with somewhat functional stories that elements got recycled into Half Life: Alyx, but mostly forgotten. This kind of thing may seem like a system that strives to perfection, but there is no such thing as perfection, there is only the binary system of good vs not good, and the critics and "internet users" who want you to think that there is a scale of 1 between 10 are just self-important morons that think they have the right to judge something they have as much idea bout as ants have about human communications. These people are morons and should shut the **** up, before they further poison the industry. I think that what's done is done, Half Life Beta will remain forever dead and the only way for us to see it come back alive is by making something that resembles it or finding something else to worship. The Valve that was able to fulfill the vision which we may be able to see now in these videos of which this comment is on, is no longer present. The people who wanted to make it the way it was are gone, the other vision of Half Life 2 got fulfilled, we live in a different reality. The same can be said about Portal 1, Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead 1, and now... With the coming of the Source 2 generation, unless Valve gets depressed again, Left 4 Dead 2, Portal 2, etc. These games will become the weird feverish dream the Half Life 2: Beta now is. Things pass, developers forget, change... Get replaced. We lose important history of their work to time, their lack of self-esteem and pride in their own work leads to the death of many of their creative visions. Entire works worthy of praise sink to the bottom of the universe unable to be noticed by anyone. Figures like Da Vinci, Lem... You think they were proud in their works??? You think that many of the poets with their poems were the kind of people who published themselves? You think that we would ever know of Lovecraft if he it was left to him to publish his own work? No, these artists hated themselves, just like Valve did, they thought their work was awful... They wouldn't publish anything, it was only after their deaths that individuals who believed in them or saw their potential, released their work to the light of day, and then we saw just how good these low self-esteem artists were. And the same could be said about Valve. TL:DR - I'm not making a TLDR you ****ing illiterate ****s.
@@alfaxenokappa1401 awesome. I'm looking forward to Missing Information, a source mod aiming to recreate the beta version. The developers said that a Steam release is coming soon. Interested in seeing an Orwellian take on Half-Life 2.
Personally I think the Beta at times is *too* 1984-esque and it feels a bit uninspired, especially compared to the final product, which definitely has it's own, moody atmosphere and depressing scenery. The 'dytopian atmosphere' in the beta might be a bit over the top anyways, since the combine aren't an uber-totalitarian all-pervasive state, and have no real intent to be, they're just an occupation and resource gathering force.
I like the idea of the game starting with the classic Hazard course from the first game, but then it gets interrupted by Gman. He wakes up Gordon and the graphics transition from Hl1 to Hl2
You’re talking about the demos. The map that you saw in the start of the video was just like some sort of internal demo at valve, it wasn’t meant to be included in the final release
@@sipeb587 Whether it was ever meant to be seen by players or not, it's still incredibly fitting for G-Man's and Gordon's characters and fleshes out the dynamic between them moreso than the first five hours of HL2 did for me. I would have been stoked to see it had they the mind to include it, even when G-Man's dialogue about how you're not supposed to see "this" is actually directed specifically towards the character and not Freeman. a- and even then that actually makes even **more** sense to me now thinking about it, since Freeman was always supposed to be a direct vessel for the player to inhabit oddly enough
To be fair, GTA III was an open world game with an entire city to explore. Until very recently, open world games were usually significantly less visually impressive than linear games, because spending the limited amount of system resources on more objects means that those objects have to be of a lower quality in terms of texture and polygon count. GTA III also had advanced streaming, whereas Half Life 2 instead used much simpler loading screens that interrupted the action. What I'm saying is that both games tried (and succeeded) in achieving very different things and are as such not directly comparable. Both the Half Life 2 Beta and GTA III were at the cutting edge of 3D graphics at the time.
@@no1DdC Mafia TCOLH was a lot more graphically impressive than GTA3, VC and even SA. It had GTA4-grade in-game cutscenes, bullet holes, dynamic car damage, real-time reflections and lots of other stuff. Not to mention the details and a realistic world building compared to arcade-style pre-IV GTAs.
@@midge_gender_solek3314 Mafia was very impressive and I could and have written long essays about its many achievements, but they came at a cost: Unlike contemporary GTA games, it used a very short draw distance and old-fashioned fogging (which can be removed with mods on modern PCs) instead of the more advanced geometry streaming of the GTA series. It also had significantly higher hardware requirements, a much less stable frame rate and the console ports needed to be cut back significantly, whereas GTA was more or less the same (except for San Andreas) on PC and console. Mafia also relied much more than GTA on loading screens and separated levels for certain missions, going so far as to even divide the open world into more detailed sections for certain missions. This was hidden by the ever-present fog, but becomes apparent if you remove it.
I love the retail HL2, but I will admit I really wish there was more of a moody atmosphere within it, especially for chapters like the Coast or Water Hazard. Nothing like some grimy, rusty metal with a deep green and blue hued backdrop.
I think that just adds to the dreamlike haze of the prison G-Man has Gordon in. Like there's just perpetually one or two things *off* about what's going on, and Gordon knows.
The only horror in Half life 2 is the atmosphere and the loneliness dark world that you played in. If you know what an environmental storytelling is, then you should look around at the environment to see the lore or some hidden sad stories in Half life 2. Seriously, theres a lot of them. Don't rush the game next time.
The beta has such an opressing atmosphere, it gives you an overwhelming feeling of isolation and hopelessness I've never felt before from any other game.
@@bal_masque The retail version of Half Life 2 has a lot of 1984 reference such as the screens broadcasting Dr Breen's propaganda speeches everywhere, the camera robots that fly around and take pictures of everyone, the citizens reduced to slaves, control of human breeding etc
@@sipeb587 Armor was nerfed in half life 2 indeed. When in hl1 and hl2beta 1 armor = 2 health, now in hl2 1 armor = 1 health. HL2 npcs deal less damage all around.
Its like youre saying that the Soviets as a govermental entity is very inhumane-like by nature, thus deserving to collapse, the revisionists only made it more suited into a civilized world, but still distorted.
If you think that this version is more 1984-ish and darker than retail one, I think it's just a sensation caused by emptiness and dullness of beta levels. There are so little details in these levels and everything looks very crude when you compare it to finished game (and still over the top if you compare it wih any other FPS from 2001-2002, Valve are just geniuses!). No sounds, no details, no character - it doesn't equal darker or more oppressive atmosphere! Maybe it looks proising in this video, but I doubt anyone would play the whole game like this :) Actually there are and always were many games that was as empty and "dark" as this beta, but they feel like "well, and what should I do here..."
You have to use your imagination of what it would have been, you're looking at it for what it is in this state. This was unfinished work. The design of everything seems a lot more low-tech and industrial/grimy than the final product. They were terraforming/poisoning the planet with the air exchange. The design and layout of the cities and the Combine tech just feels more interesting to look at and explore too. They have people in learning centers being suspended on chairs and desks in a giant room, forcing them to write/learn, and they can't do anything about it because they're suspended in air, there's nowhere for them to go. The whole thing just has a grimmer feel to it than what we ended up getting.
I couldn't agree more! Turning off the lights is not making the atmosphere darker. Visuals are just a part of experience. Music, sound effects, narration also set the tone of a game, and this beta massively lacks in these departaments. Level design seems very poor compared to what we got. I get that this is work in progress, and they had to cut the corners here a lot, but it is what it is - just a beta. It think that people give this beta more credit that it deserves. They give it credit for what they imagine it could become. Unfortunately for them we ended up with just another groundbreaking game ;)
It's not just the maps. If you know some of the cut storyline elements, it was a lot darker. Take for example the Manhack Arcade. It was an arcade where people would play an arcade game where they play as a manhack. Unknown to them it wasn't a game; they were controlling REAL manhacks and were killing real people elsewhere in the world.
while the retail version of half life 2 is really great in its own ways, i feel like there's a certain magic to the beta half life 2 that i can't forget. the original c17, arcade, canals, depot, air exchange, and even the citadel just feel unforgettable with their unique designs. there's this whole world that we never really got in the final product. i can't really imagine a world where this is the half life 2 we got though. the final product feels correct in a way, but looking back at this it always feels like it's missing something.
In some ways, I respect Valve for it... they're not going to rape HL's image like EA did to C&C and countless other games. While they feel they didn't have anything substantial enough for fans, they decided not to tarnish HL with something half baked. OTOH they've been too comfortable leeching off Steam revenues to bother making games. That's the shame.
the biggest issue is Valve have no idea where 3/4 of their content is. they don’t even know where their gman model is from hl2 (see the geoof keighley interview with Noclip)
it would be nice for valve to freaking find their betas and alphas to patch them up for recent operating systems and put them on steam for free dislike this reply if you agree
Many many many thanks for fixing all this up, I always wished someone would, so others could experience what it was originally like. I first saw these levels around 2007. The ambient sounds of c17_plaza, c17_04 and the airex maps still give me goosebumps and add to the atmosphere of this early concept :D
14:10 The ambience in this map is really something else. I love what they were going for, and I'm so sad we never got to see the finished product. Edit: obviously final hl2 is way better tho
Man I fucking love the beta, the dark gritty atmosphere is just amazing, although the beta didn't have polish or level transitions it is still a platform where mod creators can work on, whenever I see the concept art of hl2b (half life 2 beta) I get really excited, I understand why valve changed the tone. But I wish they had made a game from their old game tone. At least we have mods like rasing the bar redux, dark interval and so on, I just hope they will finish soon. Because my god, the beta is amazing, just the whole idea of a mass polluted planet and a inslaved hopeless human race under the control of a dark combine is amazing. The wasteland, Air exchange and that couple city 17 levels with the factories and train tracks above then show this fucking amazing tone. The counsil, combine as a whole, and the various cut enemies help with it too, I could talk about the beta for hours, I'm glad you guys, (project beta & mod creators) can work upon this rough draft of hl2, in my eyes it would be a masterpiece, the dark tone, everything. Perfection, although not playing the beta due to a lack of a PC, I still love the beta, I constantly click on a hl2b video every day, shame to see not many people on the hl2b genre compaired to base hl2. Hl2b could and or will still have the key functions that hl2 had, just harder to pull off, but basic ones like the physics engine could still work with minor modification of the beta we have now. I can't wait untill you, (project beta) can finish working on hl2b, with a rough but serviceable level transitions, lore, gameplay. Compaired to the state of the beta without your work, it's well... it isn't pretty, your miles ahead of the beta from the source code but still have a long way to go until the end. I'm really excited to see the end result of a rough but serviceable beta, or if you can a average game minus the 2001 - 2003 look, god I can't wait untill then. Good luck! I hope you can finish it soon.
I think that, funnily enough, the first Portal nailed the lonely and creepy tone of the HL2B. Sure you might not be fighting against an alien empire, but the feeling of loneliness and the overall scary tone of the Aperture backrooms reminds me a lot of what the original HL2 aspired to be. Especially the music. Jesus Christ, Portal had an amazing soundtrack that only amplified your solitude.
The problem is that it was mostly a bunch of ideas strung together very roughly. The story wasn’t entirely finished, and Valve just decided they wanted to change it anyway. Our only real hope of getting a beta story mod is if the modders make part of the stories themselves
Soviet cyberpunk it is better bright-future of humanity in cosmic space! George Orwell did not come and live in the Soviet Union, he described the prospects of the capitalist system.
@D. Lol just admit it, you're a commie yourself and you're upset. oh, and quit telling people how they look when you sound like an 14 years old yourself.
I really appreciate that German hacker. I can't think of any other game where you can play so many old in-dev pieces of content. Video games are still a developing medium, archival is a low priority and many old builds and assets are simply lost to time. But Half Life 2 has a whole community of fans who have archived the history of its development and even fixed the maps so that people can view them, like a virtual making-of reel. Also it's fun to load up the E3 maps and pretend you're a Valve employee showing the game off back in 2002 and 2003.
I mean, the German hacker also almost made Valve cancel Half-Life 2’s actual release, so if history was just a little bit different then you wouldn’t be all too appreciative of him.
Только на ооочень старых концепт-артах и на фанатских переделках. Вообще даже на картах 2001 года за пределами города небо чистое, да и в самом городе просто зеленоватое, без фанатизма.
It's nice to see certain layouts of the Beta maps being reused/altered in the final version of the game, like the first part of Ravenholm or Kleiner's lab.
What I think is the most interesting in seeing the different builds is the change in tone and visual design, stuff changed drastically from the first build to release. Imo this beta is far, far too edgy, and I even think that they could have dialed backed some of the stuff in the final game. Like the Stalkers and their design for example, though they're sort of ok as they're only seen inside the Citadel.
Imagine playing this right after HL1 lmao. Such a goofy fuckin game with a vibrant artstyle and B-grCe action move feel then you get this bleak dystopia.
A thing I love about the visual design of HL2 is how it uses clashing styles. It's a normal city with alien technology scattered about clashing with the architecture of everything else, it's not in your face but it's always there, gives the game a uncanny feel. Here even the citadel looks like it belongs in the city.
It's honestly amazing how much content was made for this game that ultimately would have never seen the light of day.... Im so happy I found this and that these are even existing somewhere online
The original concepts for this game looked fascinating, but it seems pretty clear why most of these areas were scrapped or modified into what we have in retail. That said, I like the original city 17 better, and the Air Exchange looks like a neat idea, but it's hard to imagine the maps they had for it ever being fun without dramatic reworks. It's fun to imagine what could have been, but I think the final product we got was likely the better deal. Still I wish we could have gotten some of these ideas reworked as possible Episodes to retail.
I really hope the next HL game goes for a darker setting, i feel like Valve could definitely pull off a more horror based HL game, i would love to see the combine become a terrifying force instead of target practice that runs at you mindlessly or seeing concepts like the combine draining the Earth of its resources and thus destroying it slowly.
all that work, all those ideas, awesome concept art. All thrown in the trash, maybe for something greater but I genuinely believe this could've been given to a different studio and turned into an interesting story named something other than half-life..
Valve does this a lot, they had a game that took place in the half life universe but it was similar to portal where it would only cross over somewhat. It was a space game with tons of concept art and mentions of the combine in the story. There is also there 100s of half life 3 attempts. The HL:A story they scrapped after it being the main story of the game for a few years, slapping together the better one we have now barely before we got our first glimpse of the game. The idea of Gordon being a special agent in HL2 and getting a new power suit was also pitched but Gabe told them that that wasn’t half life. Valve has had such a large amount of ideas it’s hard to think we may see them return to this concept like this someday
ох уж эта прекрасная, непередаваемая атмосфера бета-версии…. жаль что мы не увидели полную версию такой, какой её задумывали разработчики( но все таки некоторые мододелы делают своё, и довольно не плохо)) мне нравится релизной версия, но такое чувство что мы многое потеряли, не получив релиз таким.. эта атмосфера сравнима с атмосферой именно тех лет (1995-2003), и она почему-то лично мне напоминает кошмарные сны, которые снились мне в те года, вспоминая сны, я вспоминаю что-то похожее. когда я увидел бета-версию, я такой: «о, я видел это во сне!» жутко, но приятно до глубины души… люблю бету
This is amazing. By the looks of it, things were very bare-bones at this point. Eventually would be worked on, and eventually a lot would be cut, merged, or shortened
If i'm not mistaken the reason the game was completly reworked was because aside from the game and the engine getting leaked the entire storyline was also stolen, so valved had to restart from scratch, so no surprise soo many things were changed
Borealis ?! In 2001 ? I knew the Half Life 2 we got was a cut down version of the real project Valve wanted to make but I didn't think it was that cut down.
What's the big deal? They had a ship idea that was removed from the game on an early stage, but they later reused that idea in a sequel as they did with some other discard ideas. Too bad that we didn't get a chance to set foot on Borealis, but that's whole different story.
Valve didn’t want to make this, that’s why they cut it. The Borealis isn’t what your thinking, it is literally just a boat that has some relationship with members of the resistance, that is all. Which do you prefer? Teleporting boat or boat?
So, the depot maps shown within this video. Correct me if I'm wrong, but were the depot maps in the hl2 beta the original take on Nova Prospekt? Because judging by the cell blocks & some of the areas shown in the depot maps resemble an early Nova Prospekt
ManintheBox 101 yes, Depot is what eventually will become Nova Prospekt. And there’s even earlier map called “wasteland_depot”, that was shown in our “2001 storyline” video, where there was no prison and depot was a freight station, not Combine structure.
Not really, its very incoherent and messy and all over the place. Thats not to say it isnt cool or fun to mess around in, but the beta lacked a LOT of the story bits that where later revealed in "Raising the bar" and trough other means.
you could potentially tinker with bsp format by changing a few things with scripts. effectively converting said formats into modern .bsp formats. although it might take a step by step process.
I dont remember the process, sadly to say. But i do recall it's compatible with post 2006 source engine "The orange box" update. if you're desperate enough, you could download a pirated version of Half-life post 2006 release, once you do get it, head to your bin folder and run hammer from there where you could load said maps and tinker around. I recommand you to head down to the Source Engine modding community for more info and potential help. Cheers.
There already is quite a few of these map packs, just look on steam workshop. Also theres nothing stopping anybody from opening any of these map files in a hammer editor thats able to compile maps to a format garrysmod etc understands.
@@hl2-beta It does work. I moved some Materials and scripts from hl2 beta TO Gmod then moved the map in and it worked.. Some missing textures and errors but it works stop lying tho
You know, after having watched this video; I now know what I felt was missing from Half Life 2. The dystopian theme in the beta would have been better in my opinion and Airex definitely should have been in the game. The level design is just very impressive in those.
I have been looking for someone who would bring it up. Right you are! AirEx all the way! I just cant believe they cut it. It would have fitted into the HL vibe so much!
apparently the reason it was cut was because they were working on having complex facial animations and they wouldn't be able to show it if everyone was wearing gas-mask the whole time so they took off the gas-mask but as a result couldn't have the air exchange because it was the reason that everyone was wearing the gas-mask in the first place so when they went to re-write the story they decided to just cut this section along with much of the stuff directly before it and much of the stuff directly after it
It so crazy to notice the beta elements preserved in retail versions of HL2 and it's episodes. Like, many of airEx disigns went to the citadel section. And the pipe section with energy beams went directly to the episode 1
I know it's always easy to say "oh what we didnt have would have been way better than what we got", but I really think that's true for Half Life 2. A darker, sinister totalitarian feel would have really done this game a favor. Rusty metal and a dark alien-looking skybox (like in the preview picture for this video) gets the message across that the Combine are evil in a much grittier, better way. Not saying what we got in the end is bad, but follwing this path honestly would have been a LOT better.
Air Exchange is perhaps the most impressive chapter out of the bunch, you can clearly see they've made some very neat wind and electricity gimmicks, kind of sad they didn't make it to the final game in any form.
As cool as the dystopian vibe of this is, it would’ve been weird for the genre to go from full science fiction to dystopia. I think the retail had a good balance of it but kept the science fiction element the first one had
Excuse me? The beta version, yeah I don’t deny that has some interesting features, but the story and many of the assets where just messy or unnecessary.
i feel like the issue is just the fact it looks so empty. most parts of the beta have little to no props or anything, and there’s no life other than enemies
![[WORLD RECORD] Half-Life 1 NO DEATHS/NO SAVES Speedrun in 27:21](/img/1.gif)
0:46 - Hazard course
3:15 - City 17
20:47 - Kleiner’s lab and getaway
24:15 - Quarry town
26:05 - Eli’s den and caves
29:08 - Wasteland
31:04 - Depot
43:18 - Air Exchange
1:06:09 - Borealis
1:12:51 - Palace
1:16:57 - Citadel
Spoilers!
подскажите пжлст где можно карты уровня Depot как в видео качнуть, очень охото поиграть, может в виде мода есть как Air Exchange (airex mod)
@@ПашаТот-ф2ю дык в описании ссылка. Качаешь бету и 2001-2002 маппак, а лучше сразу Мега Билд и запускаешь через консоль.
Getting some serious 'Deus Ex' vibes from that main-menu background.
@@hl2-beta спасибо, описание сразу не прочёл).
It’s weird to think that almost every game has a beta version like this, most of which we never see. There’s probably so many game betas and old concepts that are just sitting on old hard drives that will never see the light of day.
@@willnottell6350 I think he was talking about cut content in general. Even if the game hasn't undergone radical changes in the development process, there is still a lot of interesting and good cut content in it.
I would love to see HL2 completely revised in its beta style
@@jalenthewunk Check out Dark Interval, part 2 is likely to come late 2021 - early 2022 with everything up to air exchange and the development looks very promising.
@@willnottell6350 Shut up.
Beta content is just a lot of things that the developers of a game or any product have made or tried to make into a functional game, but ultimately gave up upon due to their lack of belief in a thing they had produced. Valve's biggest weakness is its super low self-esteem. They barely ever produce video games anymore and they had not produced video games for a long time, because people who work there are super cynical about things and believe that no matter how hard they'll try to make a video game, they will fail at selling it to the super demanding of good products public, the same public that ironically thinks League of Legends and R6 are good games.
Half Life 2 as a game was cancelled mid-tracks, because Valve went like... "This thing sucks, depression time". And then cancelled everything. After some time, the original thought of the developer died out, the atmosphere was no longer recoverable and the thing had to be abandoned.
Fragments of old beta concept can become revisited in later installments, but only in extremely fragmented ways. Old Half Life 2 beta cop masks are somewhat present in Half Life: Alyx, some concepts like the air purifier get drastically changed to only slightly resemble their original intention, Nova Prospekt is the air purifier probably...
Things get changed and things die out... Things get forgotten.
The problem with this is that it creates an extremely unrewarding system for the artist.
This rejection process may seem like a fine thing for the consumer, but the consumer is a ****ing moron that should be tricked into thinking things so that his petite non-art no-life nerd brain doesn't get pee pee poo poo hurt when he thinks about stuff.
So, coming back. The thing is that the reason why this is bad, is because humans are human beings and when they work, their reward system needs to understand that they are not wasting their time. When you go out and create a thing using your creativity, spend hours upon hours in order to gain the skills to do what you want and then use those skills to build the thing you want to build, you then want to construct that thing into a vision and sell it to someone to receive the cool reward in the form of acknowledgement and sometimes monetary reward. But if instead of going to do make that thing you wanted to make a vision, you go "this sucks, I give up" and abandon the project, then over-time you'll go like "I hate this shit, why would I want to spend years of my life working on something that I am never going to release, because no one likes it". This is why instead of having 10 Valve games, we have only three. They believed that their games are garbage and only those rare once in a blue ****ing moon games they tried to make are good, and everything else has to be abandoned. If you watched VNN then you would find out just how many ****ing games Valve has that are just lying on the back dead somewhere in their offices. They had like probably nine million versions of Half Life with somewhat functional stories that elements got recycled into Half Life: Alyx, but mostly forgotten.
This kind of thing may seem like a system that strives to perfection, but there is no such thing as perfection, there is only the binary system of good vs not good, and the critics and "internet users" who want you to think that there is a scale of 1 between 10 are just self-important morons that think they have the right to judge something they have as much idea bout as ants have about human communications. These people are morons and should shut the **** up, before they further poison the industry.
I think that what's done is done, Half Life Beta will remain forever dead and the only way for us to see it come back alive is by making something that resembles it or finding something else to worship. The Valve that was able to fulfill the vision which we may be able to see now in these videos of which this comment is on, is no longer present. The people who wanted to make it the way it was are gone, the other vision of Half Life 2 got fulfilled, we live in a different reality. The same can be said about Portal 1, Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead 1, and now... With the coming of the Source 2 generation, unless Valve gets depressed again, Left 4 Dead 2, Portal 2, etc. These games will become the weird feverish dream the Half Life 2: Beta now is.
Things pass, developers forget, change... Get replaced. We lose important history of their work to time, their lack of self-esteem and pride in their own work leads to the death of many of their creative visions. Entire works worthy of praise sink to the bottom of the universe unable to be noticed by anyone. Figures like Da Vinci, Lem... You think they were proud in their works??? You think that many of the poets with their poems were the kind of people who published themselves? You think that we would ever know of Lovecraft if he it was left to him to publish his own work? No, these artists hated themselves, just like Valve did, they thought their work was awful... They wouldn't publish anything, it was only after their deaths that individuals who believed in them or saw their potential, released their work to the light of day, and then we saw just how good these low self-esteem artists were. And the same could be said about Valve.
TL:DR - I'm not making a TLDR you ****ing illiterate ****s.
welcome to the creative process
Wow, the retail version seems lighthearted compared to this! HL2 Beta was literally *1984: The Game*
Pretty much; I read the book and can definitely draw a good few comparisons.
@@alfaxenokappa1401 awesome. I'm looking forward to Missing Information, a source mod aiming to recreate the beta version. The developers said that a Steam release is coming soon. Interested in seeing an Orwellian take on Half-Life 2.
I don't understand. The retail looks empty it had the drained theme while beta was more darker and the theme was dystopia
@@amartyapandit the empty mood wasn't enough to match up to the beta.
Personally I think the Beta at times is *too* 1984-esque and it feels a bit uninspired, especially compared to the final product, which definitely has it's own, moody atmosphere and depressing scenery. The 'dytopian atmosphere' in the beta might be a bit over the top anyways, since the combine aren't an uber-totalitarian all-pervasive state, and have no real intent to be, they're just an occupation and resource gathering force.
I like the idea of the game starting with the classic Hazard course from the first game, but then it gets interrupted by Gman. He wakes up Gordon and the graphics transition from Hl1 to Hl2
You’re talking about the demos.
The map that you saw in the start of the video was just like some sort of internal demo at valve, it wasn’t meant to be included in the final release
@@sipeb587 Whether it was ever meant to be seen by players or not, it's still incredibly fitting for G-Man's and Gordon's characters and fleshes out the dynamic between them moreso than the first five hours of HL2 did for me.
I would have been stoked to see it had they the mind to include it, even when G-Man's dialogue about how you're not supposed to see "this" is actually directed specifically towards the character and not Freeman.
a- and even then that actually makes even **more** sense to me now thinking about it, since Freeman was always supposed to be a direct vessel for the player to inhabit oddly enough
I enjoy the insinuation that g-man had gordon repeatedly doing the hazard course over and over the whole time
@@xXSteelCapeXx gotta keep in shape man 💪💪💪💪
For 2001/2, those graphics are beyond words.
@Miss Tiacht GTA 3 came out on PC in 2001. I remember playing it on a relatives computer when I was 8.
To be fair, GTA III was an open world game with an entire city to explore. Until very recently, open world games were usually significantly less visually impressive than linear games, because spending the limited amount of system resources on more objects means that those objects have to be of a lower quality in terms of texture and polygon count. GTA III also had advanced streaming, whereas Half Life 2 instead used much simpler loading screens that interrupted the action.
What I'm saying is that both games tried (and succeeded) in achieving very different things and are as such not directly comparable. Both the Half Life 2 Beta and GTA III were at the cutting edge of 3D graphics at the time.
Compared to games of the time like Deus Ex yeah it was light years ahead
@@no1DdC Mafia TCOLH was a lot more graphically impressive than GTA3, VC and even SA. It had GTA4-grade in-game cutscenes, bullet holes, dynamic car damage, real-time reflections and lots of other stuff. Not to mention the details and a realistic world building compared to arcade-style pre-IV GTAs.
@@midge_gender_solek3314 Mafia was very impressive and I could and have written long essays about its many achievements, but they came at a cost: Unlike contemporary GTA games, it used a very short draw distance and old-fashioned fogging (which can be removed with mods on modern PCs) instead of the more advanced geometry streaming of the GTA series. It also had significantly higher hardware requirements, a much less stable frame rate and the console ports needed to be cut back significantly, whereas GTA was more or less the same (except for San Andreas) on PC and console. Mafia also relied much more than GTA on loading screens and separated levels for certain missions, going so far as to even divide the open world into more detailed sections for certain missions. This was hidden by the ever-present fog, but becomes apparent if you remove it.
I love the beta for HL2, so dark and depressing. Great atmosphere!
The way it should've been, imho.
I love the retail HL2, but I will admit I really wish there was more of a moody atmosphere within it, especially for chapters like the Coast or Water Hazard. Nothing like some grimy, rusty metal with a deep green and blue hued backdrop.
Try Dark Interval
How was HL2 not dark and depressing?
@@naturesquad9174 It definitely was, just not as much as the beta.
"Don't move until I return" never leaves
Aki Kanerva I’m not going to continue until you leave!!
Proceeds to dissappear out of sight when Gordon walks in.
I'd never betray Dr. Kleiner's expectations
I think that just adds to the dreamlike haze of the prison G-Man has Gordon in. Like there's just perpetually one or two things *off* about what's going on, and Gordon knows.
Man, HL2 back then looked like a horror game, i love it
So does retail HL2, you're just remembering it wrong
Eh only Ravenholm looked like a Horror to me
@@naturesquad9174 Half-Life 2 didn't really look like a horror game till Ravenholm.
@@DGISALWAYS The horror was there. Its part of the backdrop for the world building.
The only horror in Half life 2 is the atmosphere and the loneliness dark world that you played in. If you know what an environmental storytelling is, then you should look around at the environment to see the lore or some hidden sad stories in Half life 2. Seriously, theres a lot of them. Don't rush the game next time.
These old builds are so mysterious & fascinating.
The beta has such an opressing atmosphere, it gives you an overwhelming feeling of isolation and hopelessness I've never felt before from any other game.
Check Cry of fear if you liked this vibe
Free also
Higurashi nice
Can you believe this was made in early 2000s alongside far cry? And it was just 2 years after half life 1
doom 3 also was in state of alpha and had almost same look as 2003 release version
@@Dr_Hingis well, you know what i mean =) Just saying that graphics from doom 3 alpha 2001 look almost same as in release version
Now it take over 7 years to make a game like Cyberpunk and it’s not even done months after release
thank you random german kid from the early 2000s for hacking into the valve servers.
It may be the worst thing to happen at Valve. But hey, sometimes there's a plus side to a bad thing, HL2 leak is one of the examples.
Plus, they almost canceled Half-life 2 after the hacking
comment edited because some people seem to be offended :)
@@dieselgeezer18 what
@@Joey099 what
9:19 That sad moment when stalkers are having a stalker party, but they won't let you in because you are not a stalker
Very sad
Indeed...
Half-Life 2 but it's 1984 by George Orwell
Clearly you have never actually played Half Life 2
@@naturesquad9174 the retail version? That did not give me any Orwellian vibes!
@@naturesquad9174 I mean, the beta clearly has more similarities.
@@naturesquad9174 clearly you have no idea about Orwell and Half-Life.
@@bal_masque The retail version of Half Life 2 has a lot of 1984 reference such as the screens broadcasting Dr Breen's propaganda speeches everywhere, the camera robots that fly around and take pictures of everyone, the citizens reduced to slaves, control of human breeding etc
Graphics look really good as for late 2001
Maps are from late 2001-early 2002, but the engine is the leaked build from 2003.
Suit armor in retail: I'm too weak
Suit armor in beta: UNLIMITED POWER
Most ideas from the beta were wasted and probably never return since this is stubborn ass Valve
What’s the difference between the HEV suit in retail and beta? This comment is just misleading
@@sipeb587 Beta armor negates half the damage done to suit energy, lasting twice as long, it's the same as half life 1 armor
@@dk1480 maybe it was nerfed I guess? No clue
@@sipeb587 Armor was nerfed in half life 2 indeed. When in hl1 and hl2beta 1 armor = 2 health, now in hl2 1 armor = 1 health. HL2 npcs deal less damage all around.
i like how 90% of the maps are just func_details
Yeah
Wow
A fellow Mapper.
And yeah, but a lot of them looks like a props.
Very high detail, as i see
@spoon guess they didn't have the brush exporter yet to work on fleshing out the greyboxing
Oh god i love this dystopian Soviet-Futurist-Alien atmosphere,
Yuri Grebenshchikov логично что в втором карте воздухообмена вместо комбайнов на оделлов Господи как я ржу
What’d you call me?
Its like youre saying that the Soviets as a govermental entity is very inhumane-like by nature, thus deserving to collapse, the revisionists only made it more suited into a civilized world, but still distorted.
@@shaydensanders6448 The same can easily be said about religion.
@@jakespacepiratee3740same can be said about lgbtq
Viktor Antonov's early artwork was so grim and amazing.
I feel so proud that this guy worked on big amazing triple A games and is my fellow countrymen
@@ЦветомирИванов-т8ь No doubt he was one of the best. Greetings to Bulgaria from Buenos Aires, Argentina!.
@@lurpi5631 greetings to you too I can’t wait for all of us to see what he will do next
If you think that this version is more 1984-ish and darker than retail one, I think it's just a sensation caused by emptiness and dullness of beta levels. There are so little details in these levels and everything looks very crude when you compare it to finished game (and still over the top if you compare it wih any other FPS from 2001-2002, Valve are just geniuses!). No sounds, no details, no character - it doesn't equal darker or more oppressive atmosphere! Maybe it looks proising in this video, but I doubt anyone would play the whole game like this :) Actually there are and always were many games that was as empty and "dark" as this beta, but they feel like "well, and what should I do here..."
Nah, the game was originally intended to be hella dark.
You have to use your imagination of what it would have been, you're looking at it for what it is in this state. This was unfinished work. The design of everything seems a lot more low-tech and industrial/grimy than the final product. They were terraforming/poisoning the planet with the air exchange. The design and layout of the cities and the Combine tech just feels more interesting to look at and explore too. They have people in learning centers being suspended on chairs and desks in a giant room, forcing them to write/learn, and they can't do anything about it because they're suspended in air, there's nowhere for them to go. The whole thing just has a grimmer feel to it than what we ended up getting.
I couldn't agree more! Turning off the lights is not making the atmosphere darker. Visuals are just a part of experience. Music, sound effects, narration also set the tone of a game, and this beta massively lacks in these departaments. Level design seems very poor compared to what we got. I get that this is work in progress, and they had to cut the corners here a lot, but it is what it is - just a beta. It think that people give this beta more credit that it deserves. They give it credit for what they imagine it could become. Unfortunately for them we ended up with just another groundbreaking game ;)
It's not just the maps. If you know some of the cut storyline elements, it was a lot darker. Take for example the Manhack Arcade. It was an arcade where people would play an arcade game where they play as a manhack. Unknown to them it wasn't a game; they were controlling REAL manhacks and were killing real people elsewhere in the world.
rzygopierdolec I don’t know what you’re smoking because there are some stuff that was cut which was definitely darker in tone than the final game.
Timestamps for the maps during Late 2001 to Early 2002 complete with their dates, revision numbers & remnants:
hazard - November 7th 2001 (0:44)
c17_01 (revision 74) January 8th 2002 (3:14)
c17_plaza (revision 02) January 17th 2002 (9:54)
c17_04 (revision 38) January 22nd 2002 (14:04)
arcade - (revision 06) January 9th 2002 (17:57)
lab_01 (restoration) (20:46)
c17_road (revision 06) January 8th 2002 (22:41)
proto_quarrytown (revision 1) January 3rd 2002 (24:13)
proto_eliden - January 14th 2002 (26:04)
grub (revision 2) October 2nd 2001 (27:26)
guard3 - September 17th 2001 (28:01)
guard1 - September 30th 2001 (29:07)
guard2 - December 6th 2001 (30:22)
depot_1 - February 2nd 2002 (31:03)
depot_2 - February 4th 2002 (35:17)
wasteland_depot_inside - November 14th 2001 (36:47)
airex_start01 - December 2nd 2001 (43:16)
airex_start02 - December 2nd 2001 (45:30)
airex_01 - December 2nd 2001 (46:52)
airex_02 - December 2nd 2001 (48:34)
airex_03 - November 13th 2001 (52:14)
airex_04 - November 13th 2001 (54:33)
airex_05 - November 13th 2001 (57:17)
airex_06 - November 13th 2001 (1:01:05)
borealis_full (revision 01) September 17th 2001 (1:06:07)
jf-roof (revision 8b) January 22nd 2002 (1:12:50)
demo_citadel01 - October 2nd 2001 (1:16:56)
proto_citadel_garbage - October 2nd 2001 (1:20:09)
proto_citadel_advisors - October 12th 2001 (1:21:23)
Bump
while the retail version of half life 2 is really great in its own ways, i feel like there's a certain magic to the beta half life 2 that i can't forget. the original c17, arcade, canals, depot, air exchange, and even the citadel just feel unforgettable with their unique designs. there's this whole world that we never really got in the final product. i can't really imagine a world where this is the half life 2 we got though. the final product feels correct in a way, but looking back at this it always feels like it's missing something.
47:05 the lighting still looks amazing here. Like wow.
Very nice work. I find the beta of hl2 extremely fascinating. Hope you continue working.
damn shame valve is so tightly hold on their beta content when they make little to no profit off it and just leave it to rot away.
In some ways, I respect Valve for it... they're not going to rape HL's image like EA did to C&C and countless other games. While they feel they didn't have anything substantial enough for fans, they decided not to tarnish HL with something half baked.
OTOH they've been too comfortable leeching off Steam revenues to bother making games. That's the shame.
the biggest issue is Valve have no idea where 3/4 of their content is. they don’t even know where their gman model is from hl2 (see the geoof keighley interview with Noclip)
+1 for the Dedan profile picture from OFF
it would be nice for valve to freaking find their betas and alphas to patch them up for recent operating systems and put them on steam for free dislike this reply if you agree
Valve want to recycle a lot of stuff so it makes sense for them to hide a lot of it.
Many many many thanks for fixing all this up, I always wished someone would, so others could experience what it was originally like. I first saw these levels around 2007. The ambient sounds of c17_plaza, c17_04 and the airex maps still give me goosebumps and add to the atmosphere of this early concept :D
yes I am so buffled that they didn't include those maps. Especially the AirEx
Fascinating by how different of a game half life 2 could've been
2:19, i've finally found the audio file "Trans6" in-game.
18:22
This escalator ride with the wall display gave rise to a memory of a similar ride in Portal with a display with a cake
14:10 The ambience in this map is really something else. I love what they were going for, and I'm so sad we never got to see the finished product.
Edit: obviously final hl2 is way better tho
its spooky
Very liminal af
Nah. I prefer hl2 beta
Man I fucking love the beta, the dark gritty atmosphere is just amazing, although the beta didn't have polish or level transitions it is still a platform where mod creators can work on, whenever I see the concept art of hl2b (half life 2 beta) I get really excited, I understand why valve changed the tone. But I wish they had made a game from their old game tone.
At least we have mods like rasing the bar redux, dark interval and so on, I just hope they will finish soon. Because my god, the beta is amazing, just the whole idea of a mass polluted planet and a inslaved hopeless human race under the control of a dark combine is amazing.
The wasteland, Air exchange and that couple city 17 levels with the factories and train tracks above then show this fucking amazing tone. The counsil, combine as a whole, and the various cut enemies help with it too,
I could talk about the beta for hours, I'm glad you guys, (project beta & mod creators) can work upon this rough draft of hl2, in my eyes it would be a masterpiece, the dark tone, everything. Perfection, although not playing the beta due to a lack of a PC, I still love the beta, I constantly click on a hl2b video every day, shame to see not many people on the hl2b genre compaired to base hl2.
Hl2b could and or will still have the key functions that hl2 had, just harder to pull off, but basic ones like the physics engine could still work with minor modification of the beta we have now.
I can't wait untill you, (project beta) can finish working on hl2b, with a rough but serviceable level transitions, lore, gameplay. Compaired to the state of the beta without your work, it's well... it isn't pretty, your miles ahead of the beta from the source code but still have a long way to go until the end. I'm really excited to see the end result of a rough but serviceable beta, or if you can a average game minus the 2001 - 2003 look, god I can't wait untill then. Good luck! I hope you can finish it soon.
I think that, funnily enough, the first Portal nailed the lonely and creepy tone of the HL2B. Sure you might not be fighting against an alien empire, but the feeling of loneliness and the overall scary tone of the Aperture backrooms reminds me a lot of what the original HL2 aspired to be. Especially the music. Jesus Christ, Portal had an amazing soundtrack that only amplified your solitude.
The problem is that it was mostly a bunch of ideas strung together very roughly. The story wasn’t entirely finished, and Valve just decided they wanted to change it anyway. Our only real hope of getting a beta story mod is if the modders make part of the stories themselves
This looks like a soviet cyberpunk.
Ever read 1984; by George Orwell? Its eerily similar to this.
Soviet cyberpunk it is better bright-future of humanity in cosmic space! George Orwell did not come and live in the Soviet Union, he described the prospects of the capitalist system.
Cyni
ok furry.
@@axelrage222 based
@D. Lol just admit it, you're a commie yourself and you're upset.
oh, and quit telling people how they look when you sound like an 14 years old yourself.
As a big fan of George Orwell’s “1984”, and its great importance to our current society, I would love to see this beta version become an actual game.
*Borealis confirmed but not realised*
The first few maps really bring home the whole "the right man in the wrong place makes all the difference in the world" quote
I really appreciate that German hacker. I can't think of any other game where you can play so many old in-dev pieces of content. Video games are still a developing medium, archival is a low priority and many old builds and assets are simply lost to time. But Half Life 2 has a whole community of fans who have archived the history of its development and even fixed the maps so that people can view them, like a virtual making-of reel.
Also it's fun to load up the E3 maps and pretend you're a Valve employee showing the game off back in 2002 and 2003.
I mean, the German hacker also almost made Valve cancel Half-Life 2’s actual release, so if history was just a little bit different then you wouldn’t be all too appreciative of him.
this version had more of a vibe like eye divine cybermancy. i love that orwellian dream like feel.
how do i download or play this game, can you help me?
@@zaferhayta No
Так стоп, а что с небом? Где-же наши любимые зеленые/красные тучи?)
Только на ооочень старых концепт-артах и на фанатских переделках. Вообще даже на картах 2001 года за пределами города небо чистое, да и в самом городе просто зеленоватое, без фанатизма.
Как по мне первые наброски Half-Laif, были интереснее чем то, во что мы играли.
DaFuq!?Boom! Тю, а я не знал, что ты русский. Неудивительно, что видео - огонь
@@dkkanofkash8798 я не думаю что он русский, скорее всего он просто пользуется переводчиком?
Кент Кентович ни один иностранец не использует просто скобочки вместо смайлов))
I really like the OICW and MP5K.
i,m love mp5k
It's nice to see certain layouts of the Beta maps being reused/altered in the final version of the game, like the first part of Ravenholm or Kleiner's lab.
Urban exploring: The Game
Walking in spoopy places: The Game
1:16:50 AI looked like a biorobot from Chernobyl cleanup.
I really like those beta barrels
Soaring Man Me too. I like crumpled barrels. There is no crumpled barrels in retail :(
Of all the things to note... barrels?
@@TheJayson8899 do you have something against barrels
I guess they were saving the whole breaking-out-of-the-tutorial schtick for portal.
Is this a Radiohead video
am i the only one who prefers this over the release version?
I think despite the combine soldiers being nearly the exact same as retail HL2, their HECU voicelines make them so much more entertaining to fight
?
What I think is the most interesting in seeing the different builds is the change in tone and visual design, stuff changed drastically from the first build to release.
Imo this beta is far, far too edgy, and I even think that they could have dialed backed some of the stuff in the final game. Like the Stalkers and their design for example, though they're sort of ok as they're only seen inside the Citadel.
Indeed, many of the aspects of the beta where just unnecessary and wouldn’t change the gameplay that much.
Imagine playing this right after HL1 lmao. Such a goofy fuckin game with a vibrant artstyle and B-grCe action move feel then you get this bleak dystopia.
A thing I love about the visual design of HL2 is how it uses clashing styles. It's a normal city with alien technology scattered about clashing with the architecture of everything else, it's not in your face but it's always there, gives the game a uncanny feel. Here even the citadel looks like it belongs in the city.
8:05 Disney in the Half-Life 2 Beta universe.
XD
Haha
It's honestly amazing how much content was made for this game that ultimately would have never seen the light of day.... Im so happy I found this and that these are even existing somewhere online
This channel is a gem :)
The original concepts for this game looked fascinating, but it seems pretty clear why most of these areas were scrapped or modified into what we have in retail. That said, I like the original city 17 better, and the Air Exchange looks like a neat idea, but it's hard to imagine the maps they had for it ever being fun without dramatic reworks. It's fun to imagine what could have been, but I think the final product we got was likely the better deal. Still I wish we could have gotten some of these ideas reworked as possible Episodes to retail.
This mod will try to bring this beta to a finished reality. www.moddb.com/mods/half-life-2-raising-the-bar-redux
HL2 Ep1 was going to revolve on Alyx and Gordon in the beta wasteland for sometime in development
0:46 Hazard Course, more like "SCP-453 - The Interdimensional Man in the Blue Suit".
I like how c17_road, feel like it was probably inspired by the tram section you'll seen in the original HL1 with the iconic intro.
Wrong, it would likely have been a shoot out section with Barney driving you away from the combine in a bus considering the map that came before it
looks awesome so far!
can't wait until relese date~!
Release date of what?
@@hl2-beta The upcoming game of course....
*H A L F L I F E 3*
The total emptiness of the city 17 maps make them feel like some random gmod rp maps
I really hope the next HL game goes for a darker setting, i feel like Valve could definitely pull off a more horror based HL game, i would love to see the combine become a terrifying force instead of target practice that runs at you mindlessly or seeing concepts like the combine draining the Earth of its resources and thus destroying it slowly.
Tbh alyx was pretty horror based, between Jeff and the electric headcrab thing, it was a pretty scary and immersive game
valve is too lazy to make a sequel remember
2001: "wow, they're already on the beta of Half Life 2, I can't imagine how soon we'll have Half Life 3!"
all that work, all those ideas, awesome concept art. All thrown in the trash, maybe for something greater but I genuinely believe this could've been given to a different studio and turned into an interesting story named something other than half-life..
Valve does this a lot, they had a game that took place in the half life universe but it was similar to portal where it would only cross over somewhat. It was a space game with tons of concept art and mentions of the combine in the story. There is also there 100s of half life 3 attempts. The HL:A story they scrapped after it being the main story of the game for a few years, slapping together the better one we have now barely before we got our first glimpse of the game. The idea of Gordon being a special agent in HL2 and getting a new power suit was also pitched but Gabe told them that that wasn’t half life. Valve has had such a large amount of ideas it’s hard to think we may see them return to this concept like this someday
The level design of the city 17 beta is giving me Dishonored vibes
ох уж эта прекрасная, непередаваемая атмосфера бета-версии…. жаль что мы не увидели полную версию такой, какой её задумывали разработчики( но все таки некоторые мододелы делают своё, и довольно не плохо)) мне нравится релизной версия, но такое чувство что мы многое потеряли, не получив релиз таким.. эта атмосфера сравнима с атмосферой именно тех лет (1995-2003), и она почему-то лично мне напоминает кошмарные сны, которые снились мне в те года, вспоминая сны, я вспоминаю что-то похожее. когда я увидел бета-версию, я такой: «о, я видел это во сне!» жутко, но приятно до глубины души… люблю бету
Hl2 back in the day looked like 1984 in a futuristic london.
That be so dope
If I can recreate Kleiner’s Lab scene from 2002, I’d leave everything in, but cut Dr. Kleiner’s Death
This is amazing.
By the looks of it, things were very bare-bones at this point. Eventually would be worked on, and eventually a lot would be cut, merged, or shortened
If i'm not mistaken the reason the game was completly reworked was because aside from the game and the engine getting leaked the entire storyline was also stolen, so valved had to restart from scratch, so no surprise soo many things were changed
@@carso1500 valve had scrapped the beta stuff before the leak
@@carso1500 you’re completely wrong, when these versions got leaked, valve was almost about to finish half life 2,
@@sipeb587 this! Lol
The HUD and the oicw are Gorgeous
I get weird good vibes type nostalgic vibes just by focusing onto the map for a not known reason. I like it
Borealis ?! In 2001 ? I knew the Half Life 2 we got was a cut down version of the real project Valve wanted to make but I didn't think it was that cut down.
What's the big deal? They had a ship idea that was removed from the game on an early stage, but they later reused that idea in a sequel as they did with some other discard ideas. Too bad that we didn't get a chance to set foot on Borealis, but that's whole different story.
Valve didn’t want to make this, that’s why they cut it. The Borealis isn’t what your thinking, it is literally just a boat that has some relationship with members of the resistance, that is all. Which do you prefer? Teleporting boat or boat?
Bless you guys for doing this. It's super intesting
They're talking about you
This was amazingly awesome to see and watch
So, the depot maps shown within this video. Correct me if I'm wrong, but were the depot maps in the hl2 beta the original take on Nova Prospekt? Because judging by the cell blocks & some of the areas shown in the depot maps resemble an early Nova Prospekt
ManintheBox 101 yes, Depot is what eventually will become Nova Prospekt. And there’s even earlier map called “wasteland_depot”, that was shown in our “2001 storyline” video, where there was no prison and depot was a freight station, not Combine structure.
This feels so nostalgic, even though I haven't seen nor played any of these... it's like in a dream.
1:55 Dat sounds INCOMING!
THIS IS PRE - SOURCE ENGINE AND LOOKS AMAZING REALLY, FOR A BETA 2001 -2002 GAME ITS FANTASTIC
Half-Life 2's beta is like the released version of other games. :D
Not really, its very incoherent and messy and all over the place. Thats not to say it isnt cool or fun to mess around in, but the beta lacked a LOT of the story bits that where later revealed in "Raising the bar" and trough other means.
Absolutely incredible!
Can you put the maps on the Steam Workshop (for Garrys Mod) or are they incompatible?
They won’t work on retail hl2 or garrys mod
you could potentially tinker with bsp format by changing a few things with scripts. effectively converting said formats into modern .bsp formats. although it might take a step by step process.
I dont remember the process, sadly to say. But i do recall it's compatible with post 2006 source engine "The orange box" update. if you're desperate enough, you could download a pirated version of Half-life post 2006 release, once you do get it, head to your bin folder and run hammer from there where you could load said maps and tinker around. I recommand you to head down to the Source Engine modding community for more info and potential help. Cheers.
There already is quite a few of these map packs, just look on steam workshop. Also theres nothing stopping anybody from opening any of these map files in a hammer editor thats able to compile maps to a format garrysmod etc understands.
@@hl2-beta It does work. I moved some Materials and scripts from hl2 beta TO Gmod then moved the map in and it worked.. Some missing textures and errors but it works stop lying tho
It's so creepy and atmospheric... I hope someday someone will make a remake of the Beta so that it looks like in HL Alyx 👀
Imagine if valve did a horror game, that would be cool, and have it compatible with VR.
Alyx
@@jogolord8122 Jeff
Amazing. This game was way ahead of its time.
No it wasn’t.
@@TheJayson8899 I think it was
You know, after having watched this video; I now know what I felt was missing from Half Life 2. The dystopian theme in the beta would have been better in my opinion and Airex definitely should have been in the game. The level design is just very impressive in those.
I have been looking for someone who would bring it up. Right you are! AirEx all the way! I just cant believe they cut it. It would have fitted into the HL vibe so much!
apparently the reason it was cut was because they were working on having complex facial animations and they wouldn't be able to show it if everyone was wearing gas-mask the whole time
so they took off the gas-mask but as a result couldn't have the air exchange because it was the reason that everyone was wearing the gas-mask in the first place
so when they went to re-write the story they decided to just cut this section along with much of the stuff directly before it and much of the stuff directly after it
"Wait until i return"
*stays until out of vision*
1:40 is it just me, or it looks like in Halo:CE, where sciencist observed Master Chief at the start of the game? 😀
It so crazy to notice the beta elements preserved in retail versions of HL2 and it's episodes. Like, many of airEx disigns went to the citadel section. And the pipe section with energy beams went directly to the episode 1
8:30 Gordon Freeman is returning to academia.
Damn... For a 2001-2002 prototype...this is cutting edge
I know it's always easy to say "oh what we didnt have would have been way better than what we got", but I really think that's true for Half Life 2. A darker, sinister totalitarian feel would have really done this game a favor. Rusty metal and a dark alien-looking skybox (like in the preview picture for this video) gets the message across that the Combine are evil in a much grittier, better way. Not saying what we got in the end is bad, but follwing this path honestly would have been a LOT better.
Air Exchange is perhaps the most impressive chapter out of the bunch, you can clearly see they've made some very neat wind and electricity gimmicks, kind of sad they didn't make it to the final game in any form.
It made it's way into HL2 Episode 1
@@naturesquad9174 pretty sure it didn't
@@gamesergeanthd He means some of the electricity dodging puzzles made their way into a very small section of EP1
The bus segment fits with on the run by pink floyd
Heartworn Fox everything does when you’re high
As cool as the dystopian vibe of this is, it would’ve been weird for the genre to go from full science fiction to dystopia. I think the retail had a good balance of it but kept the science fiction element the first one had
Someone please remake this and add all the missing stuff! The atmosphere and art style are way better than the final
Excuse me?
The beta version, yeah I don’t deny that has some interesting features, but the story and many of the assets where just messy or unnecessary.
That G-Man scene is nightmare fuel.
It may look more dark and cool, but also more generic.
i feel like the issue is just the fact it looks so empty. most parts of the beta have little to no props or anything, and there’s no life other than enemies
@@username-yc3bd well, remember it is a beta. If they stuck with this they could’ve probably added more props
The scary dark dystopian vibe of the beta version hits different
43:18 OMG I wish that level could be in the retail version.
The stereo separation from Goldsrc is so shit :P
Great effort on the maps though guys, do keep it up!
Stereo separation? What are you talking about?
@@hl2-beta the sounds panning left and right
You should make portal 2 beta next that has the core hub and carcass GLaDOS
This version of city 17 intrigues me, but i prefer the final version. I find it more Alien than the combine themselves, still interesting though