Half-Life 2 Beta - Why Did The Weapons Get Removed?
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- Опубликовано: 18 сен 2024
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Got some information from half-life.fand... and combineoverwik....
#HalfLife #HalfLife2 #Valve
Hate to say it, but that guy was holding a PIPE! Not a socket wrench!
I think you don't know who's gordon freeman
@@ThatDudeWhoHatesGacha what the hell are you talking about
yup, that was my mistake, thanks for the feedback :D
@@cjlkicks He wasn't talking about Alyx
@@cjlkicks guy is a neutral term
The suitcase and food package were never meant to be equipped, they only exist for the citizens to use. The socket wrench does go unused, as the npc uses a pipe and not a wrench.
yes!
It's only called "mattpipe" because the guy holding it is internally named Manhack Matt.
Fucking hilarious
Having the Fast Headcrab as a weapon would be Half Life 2's variation of the Snark
It's actually just the normal Headcrab. They decided to stick with the classic design in the final however, and keep the new one as a different type.
In Gmod, you can see the fast Headcrab's rag doll name is "headcrab", while the normal one is titled "headcrab_classic".
@issam guiti maybe valve forgot about the snarks or the snark in hl Alyx is the last one
@@CJ-lz9jg could also be that snarks are not 'native' to the region and alyx found one that somehow got there
I think HL takes place in the US and HL2 takes place in europe? maybe the snarks havent been able to get there easily. maybe alyx's snark may have smuggled themselves on a transport?
@@ElHuevoRancheroWasTaken that makes sense as to why we have no bullsquid. Bullsquids are in America which is has an "X" on it meaning that there is no resistance presence, destroyed, uninhabitable, or infested
@@mccoytheboy3858 another theory that someone made a while back is that Alyx was trying to figure out where she is, and crossed out america as a potential option
also bullsquids and other HL creatures were said to still be alive during HL2 but are not encountered, so maybe the snarks are like that too, not encountered?
I wouldn't exactly call retail HL2 "light-hearted" at all. It's a lot less in-your-face about how dark it is than during development, but it's still one of the darkest and most depressing settings in all of fiction.
I agree plus HL2 beta was really edgy. However I'd still love to try out what it would have been like
@@KingMetalMario I liked That mysteriousness and atmosphere it took from Half life 1. Half life 2 retail really doesn't feel like a direct sequel to Hl1
@@teopazdrijan1008 Well yeah, in HL2 you don't go through a research facility fighting the military and then through an alien world fighting... Aliens
@@teopazdrijan1008 It quite literally isn't a "direct" sequel.
Half-Life 2 takes place about 20 year's from the first game's events.
@@madeyalook121 He meant that the atmosphere of the two games is very different.
I think the reason for a lot of the weapon cuts was just a simple matter of cutting down on redundancy and keeping things simpler once they scrapped the idea of a limited inventory and chapter specific equipment
Having like 5 rifles sitting in your inventory for the whole game would be a bit much y'know? (Plus some of the weapons were seemingly NPC only anyways)
in crysis its possible with hax
Smod:*laughs in 1 billion weapons*
I'm sure that it's because some guns were to be used in different sections of the game, like the Ice Axe existing in place of the Crowbar during the Borealis portion.
@@TheBreakingBenny Exactly. Having variants of the crowbar makes sense when weapons are limited and area-specific. But if you can carry everything, it's redundant.
i still wish there's an AK and an MP5K
The NPC never used a socket wrench, thats a pipe.
1:52 Ah c'mon, the AKM and its variants is one of the most overused and cliche weapons in all shooter games.
While the AR2 pulse rifle is unique and iconic to HL2.
Cut the AKM was the right decision.
But it would show that before Gordon the Rebels were just getting AKs rather than Combine tech guns
i agree with u using enemy weapons againt enemy its like giving them taste their own medicine
In my opinion it was a bad decision i would like to see the both guns in the game, with the rebels using the akm while they don't get the tech guns
Yeah but imo it would be better if the rebels used it instead of combine techs
Definitely
i strangely have a sense of that Gordon is riding a bike when he is holding the beta gravity gun
A little weird to speculate weapon's removal reason being "Its weak", when they can just change damage number/s to make it stronger, or change gun's stats in general. So better reason is design as whole, that needed remaking from ground up.
Its probably so the arsenal doesn't get too big, noclick makes a lot of stupid points in this video
Yeah, I feel like the reason a lot of these would have been removed is because their purpose was filled by another weapon which the devs liked more.
also, he says a good few of these weapons were probably removed due to arsenal bloating, but that's unlikely to be true. it's commonly guessed that a lot of these beta weapons would have only been available in certain parts of the game and you would've been stripped of your weapons relatively frequently. for instance, the fire extinguisher and ice axe would've only been present on the borealis. as a result, you would never have this full arsenal at once.
it's also weird for him to call the fire extinguisher stupid, as it would've been used for environmental puzzles much like the gravity gun, and it may have had other uses that we can only speculate on. i strongly doubt valve intended you to use it to kill things.
@@marriedtomychair considering that Deus Ex had a fire extinguisher as a weapon, and that Gabe playtested it, it wouldn't surprise me that it was considered for HL2
Plus in Deus Ex, it has use in combat, particularly in non lethal runs, as you could spray it on enemies to blind and stun them
Imagine blinding a Combine soldier's eyes or using the fire extinguisher as a melee weapon or throwable weapon.
The problem is it would never be used if the game made it so that it's generally easier just to shoot them. It might be more useful in situations where ammo is scarce or direct combat is inadvisable
@@CB66941 jeeze, don't tempt me to replay deus ex for the dozenth time like that.
that aside, yeah, i could reasonably see it being a multi-purpose utility tool. i was just saying that you probably weren't expected to use it in place of a gun, and that it would be primarily for environmental puzzles instead. i assume the creator of this video was thinking the fire extinguisher would be an ultra-niche combat weapon, because that's the only way i could see someone calling the inclusion of a fire extinguisher in half life "stupid".
"Having a fire extinguishee as a weapon is stupid"
CJ: you better lock me up cause otherwise you're dead
@Bendyzero 190 And its very useful in some missions
Actually i want to correct you. If you dont know the oicw is a real life weapon And was part of the future Combat system program, and in the old storyline combine was reusing human technology for its own purposes valve though that they would use that kind of future like weapons. After the Future combat systems program was a failure valve decided to delete oicw.
But valve took out the OICW before it failed
Its also because the whole re using human technology was scrapped
You can also found Merkava Tank witch is real Tank used by Israel Army, its unique design. But Man OICW look so cool, i think it have got scope and granade launcher such a cool weapon
a little dumb if u ask me, since HL series is on alternate reality
@@daegnaxqelil2733 True
By what I remember, the sticky launcher was a developer weapon they made not intended for normal gameplay reasons and the citizen weapons such as the food and the suitcase are only classified as weapons because they couldn't find out any other way to make the citizens have them in their hands, and weren't ever intended for Gordon to equip them
I think they used it on combine hunter's ranged attack
a bit strange position the author has.
Why does AKM is better then AR-2?
it isn't, IMO. If we are talking about aesthetics, you can argue that the AKM looks "cooler", but that is subjective.
Subjectively, the AR2 shows how the combine is utilizing their technology and human technology to meld a new weapon. I would not think the combine would arm their top soldiers with stock AK's when they spend so much time on soldier enhancements. Even the lower ranked soldiers are given a modified MP-7 equipped with sights and grenade launcher.
From a gameplay point of view, there is no point in having two weapons that fill the same role. They left out the stun baton and Binoculars for the same reason. Valve hates redundancy and likes to create a weapon kit with purpose.
-_-
I asked WHY is AKM cooler in the author's vision. I didn't said that it IS cooler.
If I'm correct the AR2 is the dismounted CP turret that's handheld but has a heavy recoil and the mag size is 60?
I think it was meant to be resistance's weapon. Because ordinary man with ar2, is like a school shooter with tomahawk (rocket).
IMHO: it would have been cool, if it was npc weapon with all Eastern European style of City-17 in game.
ok so i commented on something but instead it sent here,,, what
Eventually, Half-Life 3 will had some of beta Half-Life 2 weapons
Thats can be true actually
Yah semoga aja
Oh iya saranku ganti namanya jadi the demoman
If valve could count to three...
@@pawarad1526 If Valve would change their mind so that they don't think 3 looks like b*tt
Number 20, the socket wrench: the NPC picked up a pipe, not a wrench
The Jeep’s Tau Cannon was already planned. When you hide the Jeep later on, a Vortigaunt planned to detach it and give it to you afterwards.
The reason why the AKM was not added is simple, it would be unimersive and it wouldn't make much sense for the rebels (or anyone really) to use it have since they kill SO MANY combines which act as free source for the higher-tech weapons.
And since the AK would be an old weapon (since half life 2) it would be very hard to find ammo pickups for it since, as I mentioned, the combine have way better high tech weapons that probably don't use the same caliber as an AK.
My opinion, but it makes sense
The AK has been around since 1947 and there are still massive stockpiles of ammunition for it around the world to this day. It will probably never go away because it is the most popular small arm in the world.
@@PalindroneV2 well since the combine is all around the planet they most likely took away most of the ammo for an AK to prevent Rebels from having a chance
@@kat.3784 Then how come they still have ammo for 9mm and shotgun shells?
@@kat.3784 And not mentioning that aks had different bullet types like 5.45x39 or 7.62x39 it doesn't make any sense for the combine, to pick up those ammunition or many more to prevent them from using "old" guns, and the ak isnt even a "old" gun if you realize that many different types of aks exists, like akm or ak74m and ak100 series heck half life 2 retail version takes place in eastern europe, and it would make much sense for the rebels to use it, and it wouldn't be much reliable for them it doesnt have the best accuracy but good enough to get the job done, but isnt good at firing at long distances, snipers exist so they would just taken out and combine may know them using weapons left by the seven hour war or stockpiles, so they may use guns that are less advanced like MP7 or spas12 and spas12 is "old" and so they wouldn't get them, until gordon freeman finally comes back.
TLDR : ak isnt really old, ammunition like 9mm, shotguns shells, and many more would still exist, ak is not good at long distances, but good, and the combine always find a way to counter them...
@@AverageUsernames because they use shotguns and pistols?
The socket wrench model in HL2 is actually just a regular pipe
Yeah, how didn't he notice that?
The slam was cut because the AI would just blindly charge into the path of its laser. It was too effective.
Run. Think. Shoot. Live.
Tripmines was very fun in hl1
so they kept it in deathmatch because a player could avoid it, hm.
I'm pretty sure I remember commentary in Episode 1 of someone saying the hopwire got cut because the player was outside most of the time.
1:52 akm would be great like a weapon only for the rebels that has less resources than the combine, if u can get the ar2 and the akm, would be really cool
I’m not completely sure, the akm is rather redundant, since it dealed the exact same damage that the ar2 does, although I don’t see a combine using the weapon (just as you said) I do see a rebel or a refugee using this weapon, since the combine, thanks to their technology, prefer to use more powerful weapons, meanwhile the rebels with a limited access to resources related to weapons and other sort of devices, this kind of weapon would had perfectly matched within the rebels arsenal, but in a gameplay side of things, this weapon wouldn’t have been special or anything, it was just an AR2 without the plasma ball launcher that desintegrates everything.
Half life universe where rebels bhop, plant bombs and quickscope
@@imnolongerasking5933 In the first episode what you want to do it's start abh to the advisors and kill them with a baby crate glitch
The AKM does kind of seem obsolete in Half Life 2’a time period. The AK-103 would’ve been a better choice.
In a nutshell, Half Life 2 was the first Team Fortress 2
you are everywhere
@@Yawkzer no wonder why he have 203 comments and 70+ hearts here.
the first TF2 is still Brotherhood of Arms
@@meatycitadel Tf quake?
@@Yawkzer it's the cancelled TF2 from 1999 E3
I disagree with a lot of the points made in this video. When making and designing something, sometimes even if something is awesome, it just does not feel right in the end. All of the weapons shown can be tweaked and made proper with a balanced good use, but I do not believe that all weapons have had the time for treatment. They developed these things quickly, and as they moved, they settled with what we have in current HL2 and polished those instead. Even if it means less or more guns, they were happy with the selection they ended with. The AK gun would look like absolute shit in the half life universe btw.
Yeah it just doesn't fit with the half-life mood for some reason. Most of the guns in the game barely had any wood if at all.
Yeah, that's right. I still would've wanted the Molotov Cocktail, Flare Gun, and Tau Cannon to be added. I think they had some potential to be unique in the arsenal.
I like the idea of Alyx having her own melee weapon. It’s such a good signature, just like Gordon’s crowbar. A pipe, or some kind of tool, that could have multiple purposes.
@@smugplush yeah, it’s actually kinda stupid. I understand the first person perspective is misleading, and beleive me. ( I fell for it too), but eventually in the story they’ll find out their playing as Alyx, they have too.
@@Palexite i kind like that they cut it out, makes me more hyped to hit combine with the crowbar in the next hl game, and i think that was the main reason they teased it by the end of the game and it felt good seeing it too, aghhhh cant wait for the next upcoming title maan
@@nikolasoskic9006 yeah, I know.
5:31 rip citizen and vortigaunt friend
You forgot that you can also give yourself citizen food, I’m not sure if it’s from the beta, but it’s still there, if you use a console command
Doesn't that animation get used in the opening section of the retail game where you pass by the line at the food dispensers?
lol that's not a weapon
@@JosephWall117 yes but it’s only used by citizens, it’s basically the briefcase with a difrent model
@@werge1 you could say the same about the brief case, but no click put it in his video
@@sausum_real yeah I guess
The beta MP7 probably wasn't actually cut, but rather evolved into the retail SMG, and its performance became a mix of the two beta SMGs.
AKM makes sense as a weapon the Resistance would use but the old wood-and-steel design of the weapon probably felt conflicting with the future era of HL2. Although they could go around that by introducing AK-74M. It has a more lore-friendly full black furniture and the former one does exist in large numbers in real life to be a valid choice for the gun that the Resistance scavenged from the Russian military bases that went defunct after the Combine invasion.
XM29 OICW is a failed prototype gun in real life, the Combine probably wouldn't want to use a failure as their standard issue firearm. The reason might also be a technical mishmash of its role. It would have a secondary use mode in form of scope and an underbarrel grenade launcher which might've been problematic to implement since you most likely would have to reserve a separate key just for this weapon. Additionally, the scope would probably violate the sniper rifle / crossbow niche of use.
The machine gun feels like a simple beefed up replacement for the AKM/OICW/OSIPR which might've been just boring.
The sniper rifle was replaced in favour of crossbow for gameplay purposes most likely. Valve didn't want you to break difficulty with an instant deletion weapon which has no extra challenge in using it unlike the crossbow or RPG.
"Why Did The Weapons Get Removed?"
7:00
i think slam is still in the game you can use it if you type impulse 101 in the console or even in gmod
About the sticky launcher: I think they used the idea later, in Half Life 2: ep 2 as the magnusson device.
I think they used that idea in tf2 too
Sticky launcher became Demoman weapon for tf2, not the Magnusson Device
@@cyrid1038 You're probably right. I just said this, because everyone activates the Magnusson device with the pistol and the pistol on the picture reminded me of that.
3:15 I think that they left in the mp7, because it looks futuristic.
Personally I would have kept the "Brickbat" or let you damage people with smaller improvised weapons, but used the Gravity gun as an obvious upgrade once you got it since it'd hit harder and go longer let you pick up larger stuff etc. I imagine had they let the random crap you pick up be used as a weapon the early areas would have even been more fun to mess around in
5:13 I dont think that's the reason. Its probably 2 things.
1. The art style changed from the combine mostly reusing human tec (like APC's and tanks) and changed it to be more alien looking, to convey that the combine are not human
2. They probably found that the energy ball had much more potential as a secondary fire in most gameplay circumstances. Having a energy ball bounce around chaotically and insta zap enemies in the room is more dynamic and interesting than a grenade launched out of the gun, so they'd need an gun that would look appropriate for such a sifi concept.
2:34 Unless it's a melee
What about all those dope levels with the spinning error boxes everywhere screaming at you. Those things were terrifying honestly. Some of those fights/maps were pretty cool but they cut them entirely. What about all the weird monsters they cut. This video tickled my nostalgia, lol playing leaked versions kinda before they were really leaked.
Gotta say, I disagree with you saying that Valve's decision to remove AK was "stupid".
There are many practical reasons it was removed (from game design perspective):
- it's visual design didn't fit the game style
- it didn't have any interessting fire modes despite being a large weapon
- it took a slot in weapon menu which made weapon changing clunkier and slower
- it broke balance and made both mp7 and AR2 nearly useless
- it didn't make much sense story wise, resistance got their guns by killing combine
- 3 automatic weapons are just too much
- AK in Half Life just feels wrong
B-but but bu- muh klashnikov
Here's my counter to this:
- The visual design may not fit entirely due to the possibility of the Combine confiscating major weapon depots - it is however consistent with the Rebels way of life, AK's are quite simply easy in manufacture and maintenance and have a huge surplus. It adds a juxtaposition between human tech and combine tech, of primitive and of the advanced.
- The gun functions to be a storming weapon, the possibility that it could be modified to have a grenade launcher or extensions may have been considered. But the way they function in the beta, suggests it would've been a skilled-based weapon and an attribution to CS.
- hud_fastswitch or scripting negates this entirely - if you play the game long enough you will spot ways to make your gameplay better. Personally I use eventnames and the +use keybinded for fast weapon switching.
- Balance wise, I found myself using the mp7 for breeching and the AR2 for tight energy ball devastation. Frankly both of the guns projectiles feel wimpy due to the recoil system being nerfed comparatively to HL1. HL2:BETA tries it's way with a CS-like system that actually works quite well.
- Here's something that bothers me with the story -the Combine technology has no biometric encryption in the guns design itself makes no sense either, how did the Rebels know this alien weapon functions? How do they maintain it's operation? Is their ammunition able to be manufactured?
- Hmm, maybe but HL2: Beta was to have a tiered ammo system, preventing the player from running into ammunition problems too early or too late.
- Really? I feel it fits considering the AK's origin is Russia which is an Eastern European place, of which HL2 is mostly inspired from. Look at Raising the Crowbar and you'll find a lot of imagery of Bulgarian tenements (Victor Antonov the artist for the game took many pictures of the buildings) it wouldn't of looked out of place in places such as Ravenholm or Rebels HQ.
@@MAGNUSWAKERS Would have been cool if others used it, but not Gordon, so we still have something, right?
@@teopazdrijan1008 Yes but HL:ALYX makes it even more difficult to fashion a consistent weapon design, we are practically swimming in combine tech in that one. In fact, I think I have never seen a citizen of C17 use a gun in that one _at all_ or at least I can't remember. Apart from Russel who appears to be the only damn guy armed in this dystopian hellhole.
I hope someone would make a mod based of the hl2's beta storyline.
Especially if made like it was 2004 (neither too depressing nor too light hearted).
Also an idea for the inventory, if one thinks that there's too many weapons would be to make a way to edit the player's loadout, like in hdtf but without limiting which weapon can go on which slot. So to have 2 slots per key and making it faster to switch to a specific weapon without cluttering the inventory with tools.
RTB:R and Dark Interval
look up Dark Interval. It's a great mix of Beta's dark atmosphere and aesthetic mixed with Retail's story and characters
3:38 The Hopwire Grenade’s model looks like it may have been remodeled to be the Xen Grenade from Half-Life: Alyx.
im think this physgun was used for garry's mod
true
Yes
no it wasnt
oicw have originaly had a grenade launcher later it replace with scope also flare gun still in the game but broken and the reason of cut the ak47 is good also the physics gun reused in gmod
ya but gmod is not associated with valve in any way shape or form other than the engine
As you said, the ak47 was much better than the ar2, so I suppose for that same reason they discarded it, since looking at it carefully, all weapons have an equal level of effectiveness (for example, the pistol doing a little more damage than mp7 but shooting slower). A weapon that was a direct improvement of another without any disadvantage would have ruined the gameplay.
Ah yes, the socket wrench (Shows pipe) what an amazing tool...
Valve be like: Let's make a shit ton of cool content and then discard it
(Btw i was thinking maybe we could get some of these if opposing force 2 gets realesed)
It seems counterintuitive, but that's actually how great things are made. The first version of Half Life 1 that Valve made was unsatisfying to them, so they scrapped everything and started over. There's a story about it in the book "Raising The Bar" where they say that the retail version of Half Life 1 could actually technically be called "Half Life 2" since it's a completely new game they made from scratch after scrapping the original version of Half Life. Obviously this same development method stayed with them through the development of Half Life 2. All of the best songwriters do the same thing, they write hundreds of lines, lots of them probably pretty good, yet they only use four in a stanza. You only take the cream of the crop.
I mean they could have made these weapons cheat exclusive and that you could not get them in normal game play thru any means
Because these features, while cool, are redundant in the context of the rest of the game. Why have like 5 rifles with almost similar purpose, when you can have 2 that fit different roles. Why have 4 grenade variants, when grenades are so underused? Why have 3 melee weapons? Why have binoculars, when you can just set a zoom option with a press of a key? You see where I am getting at?
While some of the weapons in the beta are very cool-looking and intresting (tau cannon, oicw), most are rather counterproductive to have and just waste space.
AKM was a little Cliche, glad they removed it.
it seems like aperture science partnered with the combine same bullets same force fields but better in aperture turrets would do the same thing when they fell
Another theory was that the game had so many weapons because you were supposed to lose them or replace them in different sections of the game.
I.E., you'd start with the icepick, throw it away, pick up a baton, and then replace it with the crowbar as it would make the most sense to break wooden barriers with it once needed.
The OICW would be the weapon given to Gordon in the uprising, or maybe in a special op where he's all alone.
And the SMG count was probably for flavor.
The guard gun was removed due to how the game was balanced. If you actually had the cut combine super soldiers (if we go by the strider's design, they would be bulletproof due to their similar armor) and guards were still in the game you'd probably be expected to use that during fights against them, OR, the RPG was the better alternative and it was a lot more fun to use.
The tau cannon being a boring car gun really shattered my heart when i first played hl2
We almost got to experience Barney giving us the beer he promised from the 1 half life
god fucking damn it
Just an addition about the weapons, there is also the Citizen Package that must use the command give weapon_citizenpackage, in the beta there are these weapons here that are the, give weapon_thumper, something that the Combines use on Highway 17, give weapon_manhack, the cutting disk of the Manhack could be used by the player, but it was removed, it also has this give weapon_beerbottle, sometimes this command works, sometimes it goes directly to the Brickbat, it has the Alyxgun that the player could also use, the command and the same as in the final version , give weapon_alyxgun, there is also a very strange one which is the give weapon_ml, which is a Rocket Launcher, which does not have a laser, but it is just a regular rocket launcher without the laser, and a test one that has in the final version and the give weapon_cubemap which is a test weapon, one that I almost forgot and the same as Beer Bottle, the command is give weapon_beerbottle2, one that is in the final version, and Father Grigori's weapon, using the command give weapon_annabelle, you get it,
Additions
One more, the Socket Wrench, was changed to be the Pipe that is used in the game, on Alyx's waist, There are the mouths of the Socket Wrench that was on her, but this weapon was only changed, another one that doesn't exist, but is mentioned in the EP2, and the unknown AR3 that never made an appearance in the game, unfortunately we don't have models or whatever it is, but in theory it must be the Emplacement Gun those weapons seen in the war part of City 17, an interesting thing was that the 357 did not exist in the beta, so some weapon gave space for it to enter the game, another weapon not used, and that I never saw in the beta, but in the game's Wiki it shows, and the Energy Grenade that there is not much knowledge of it, the ML and a FIM-92 Stinger that is in beta but it is not possible to acquire it in normal ways, the Lost Coast Harpoon should also be a weapon used by the player, but it is not possible to acquire it, using the command give weapon_oldmanharpoon, you manages to Spawn it, these are some things I've been researching to give a complete give in your video
I think give weapon_ml is not the regular RPG.
As the name says,it's probably the Missile Launcher,or the FIM-92 Stinger from beta
9:22 probably any weapon would be better, basically all it has going for it is that it has alot of ammo, but whats the point when another weapon can kill an enemy quicker than this does, reloading doesnt matter too much unless it takes long
I think AK would be nice to have during coastal and city 17 levels. And it would make perfect sence since it fits for resistance to use and have ammo on resistance's waypoints on the coast, and later be used during uprising, brought to the city from stashes beyond it's borders.
And AR-2 could be made more powerful to better represent it's off-worldness
I believe the Brickbat existed to let the player use environmental objects offensively before the physics engine was fully implemented into the (at the time very new) Source Engine. Once the player was able to just pick up and throw objects with "e", the Brickbat became entirely obsolete.
The Combine Guard Gun was cut because the Combine Guard was cut, simple as that. Probably nothing to do with the weapon's functionality directly.
The SMG2 was almost certainly a prototype version of the retail MP7, and that's why it was not "cut" per se, but rather more developed into its retail successor organically. There were several SPAS-12 models throughout the beta with different animations and sounds, but you wouldn't say that they were "cut" and replaced with the retail shotgun, would you?
The OICW was present throughout most of Half-Life 2's development in one form or another, being the game's main assault rifle as late as E3 2003. I believe the reason it was cut was because of its two secondary abilities, scope and grenade, competing for the same keybind. Mods that implement it today either have two separate keys (i.e. middle click and right click) for these features, a la Missing Information, or a button that let's you alternate which function is bound to right click, a la Coterminus. Both of these are solutions to the problem, but not terribly elegant ones. Either way you end up with a separate keybind only used for one weapon, and not one like the "g" function for the gravity gun, which acts as both a utility and a weapon simultaneously. Being that somewhere down the line of development you lost the ability to shoot while suit zoomed, their eventual solution was to give the grenade launcher to the SMG1 (MP7), leave the scope for the crossbow, and replace the OICW with a different weapon to fit into the assault rifle category. Given that this was rather late in development and Valve was pressed for time, it makes sense that they would reuse the model and animations of a scrapped weapon (the I-rifle) that already fit the combine aesthetic.
I’d argue with the AK, the AR2 didn’t exist yet, they probably removed the ak since they already had 5 different weapons in the third weapon slot (smg1, smg2, ak, xm and i think the irifle made it there too.) this would be extremely hard for the player to manage and they wanted to keep the weapons low to stop the game being too complex, the AK was replaced with the irifle and the irifle became the AR2.
With the cremator, the immolator was moved to the strider after the cremator was cut, then when the combine guard was cut (too op for players as i remember.) the combine guard’s gun was removed to the strider aswell.
The SMG2 was replaced with the actual MP7 we see today having a grenade launcher from the XM29.
The suitcase still exists in the game and you can spawn it! Pretty sure its called “weapon_citizensuitcase”, its only used on NPCS
I disagree with you on the AKM. It wasn't a stupid decision to remove it and I'd even say that it was the right decision to do so.
The problem with the old AR2, which is basically an AK-47/AKM as you pointed out is that it's jus thatt... an AK. It looks generic. And it's honestly boring.
What makes Half-Life 2's arsenal special is how unique it looks. Sure, _"It's just a USP / MP7 / SPAS-12"_ but the game has it's own twist on them. The pistol, for exemple, it's an USP. But have you seen a USP that looks like Half-Life 2's in another shooter? Probably not. It's not an USP, it's Half-Life 2's USP. That more blocky look combined with it's silver finish is really unique. Half-Life 2 has a very distinct visual style for its weapons and it is, in my opinion, one of the most iconic one of all time.
It's simple, I can remember EVERY animations of that game up off the top of my head and I would recognize any of the sound made by that arsenal. And I don't need (nor have) thousands of hours in that game to get that. Years ago, I played that game for the first time and all of its weapon remained stuck in my head ever since.
The AK-47 or AKM has such a distinct look that it would've been almost impossible to make it look "Half-Life 2-esque". Most people are not into guns. Show them an MP7 and they won't be able to tell you that it's an MP7. An MP5, though? It's more likely. An M16? They've definetely seen it. Everyone can recognise and probably name an AK-47. We got the Combine Pulse Rifle over the AKM for this reason, I'm sure of it. And yes, _over_ it, because it would've been redundant to have two assault rifles.
Good video by the way! Half-Life 2's beta looked quite interesting, to say the least.
Considering that gameplay was based around idea that Gordon would have replaced weapons in his arsenal during the game, complaints about "too many weapons" are off the mark. Not to mention some of them are very situational.
Complaints about Combine Guard Gun are quite strange - this is a weapon, which seemingly could have been a "reward" for defeating Combine Guards, which seemingly were most likely act as minibosses. CG Gun has only 3-4 charges and they can not be recharged, so it is very situational and limited weapon, which player would have kept on themselves up until very last moment. So it being an overpowered special weapon does fit very well, considering that seemingly only way you could get them is from C Guards.
Having Fire Extinguisher as a weapon is not stupid when you need to put down a fire. Especially since something similar was used in Metal Gear Solid 2, where you could use Coolant Spray to put down fire (and scare insects).
Flare Gun is not used in HL2 as is - Metrocops launch flares without it, through the script and always when player can't see them. Also, since this weapon was most likely used on Borealis and Kraken and those location were basically tight corridors, it would have been quit effective in those levels.
I am not really sure if HMG can be considered "as is" - it was clearly unfinished weapon. Since it was cut before even its model was properly finished, I feel like Valve had some other consideration for why it was cut from the final game.
Not sure if bugs were a real reason for cutting Hopwire - it is not like they couldn't fix. It seems the design of the weapon was at fault - it seems initially it was supposed to be used against Striders, but was either too powerful or too unpredictable, with the way it behaves in the world.
Molotov could have stayed as a weapon for rebels.
OICW also could shoot grenades with an alt-fire (it was replaced by zoom ability in the leak), ability transferred to MP7 in a final game. HL2 is not significantly more light hearted than Beta. No need to confuse style and story.
Physgun allowed much more versatility than GravGun, but it can't be used as a weapon in the same manner. You could reel in objects and could weld them together (which was fairly broken at the time of the leak).
I don't think suitcase was supposed be wielded by Gordon - most likely it is designed that way, due to how citizens handle objects in their hands (i.e. it should be classified as a weapon). For example food packets in the beginning of the game are also classified as a weapon, if I am not mistaking.
Good video, but some stuff doesn't really make much sense and there are some weird conjectures.
fun fact ! the pipe used by the npc in route canal to fight off manhacks is called ‘mattpipe’, because the npc’s name is ‘matt’
the usp match placeholder is also used on alyx gun on garrys mod,but you only have 30 of ammo and unless you install breen guns and ammo addons you only have 30 shots
I think that we can have that weapon replace system in the game,
we can choose if we want to pick up AKM or AR2 , but one must replace another.
Why Valve removes the beta weapons?
my opinion: Valve had its own budget, they don't want to spend much costs just to make this game
They made an entire game, scrapped it, and remade it completely differently, only the concept stayed mostly intact. I'm sure Valve has enough budget and hella lot of time to torture its devs.
Its more of the fact that Valve highly prefers quality, and I'd say everything they scrap might just not pickup the same traction as retail versions did. There's a reason to why Valve is so well known and highly praised.
I don't think they ever intended to have every weapon they put in the beta in the final game, they just wanted to test a large variety of weapons and select the best ones
HL2's development seems like it was a continuous process of making a whole bunch of stuff and then viciously trimming it down, saving the best ideas
I like that there are only a few weapons in hl2 because it feels like your using whatever you can get from killing combine and adds to that feeling of clawing your way to the top of the combine controlled c17 to destroy it using their own weapons
Saying an AKM should be in the futuristic setting of HL2 is like saying they should’ve use orbital space laser cannons on D-Day.
They should've used throwing spears during the Alamo
I remember seeing unused models for Alyx's gun in a carbine mode. Were there ever plans to let the player use that? I know you can still equip it in retail, but it doesn't have it own viewmodel.
I think the ak47 was cut because it was just simply too normal. all the weapons you use in the retail version of the game are either combine or theyre made by rebels, so a normal pre war gun wouldnt really fit into that
But it would have been cool if you saw at least one rebel carrying it, or like see him fighting on the rooftops in City 17 with the gun, it would be more interesting, not everyone having regular weapons
I think that if the AKM didn't appear in HL2 is because the game take place 20 year after the Black mesa incident, so why did an AK-47 would do in a world controlled by combines?
And i think that the MP7 got replaced by the SMG because it was the same weapon but bad.
(Sorry if my english is bad)
9:00 Fun fact: U can actualy hold down right mouse button to fire a stronger beam
I hate that they cut the AK. Makes so much sense having it as a resistance weapon, since its known in the real world as...a weapon of resistance. AND Russel in HL:A said that the combine hard codes their weapons so no one can just pick them up and use them. That's where the AK would come in for the resistance, same as molotovs. Hoping to see cut weapons make a return in the next game (hopefully HL3.)
i wish they keep akm in the game make sense for retail take place in eastern europe , very fit for rebel is they have fewer ar2 and got what they have .
Cliche.
the only weapon I would've liked to see kept in the game would be the OICW. perhaps it could've had automatic fire as its primary, and bolts as its zoomed-in fire, effectively replacing the crossbow.
They also probably cut out the AKM because it’s quite out of place considering the other weapons.
Both the rebellion and the combine use ‘modern’ stuff like
MP7s, H&K handguns, SPAS-12s, _alien pulse rifles._
I don't think the AK47 was supposed to be in HL2. I think it was modeled for CS:S wich was supposed to be the multiplayer part of HL2 at release.
you can charge up the tau cannon on the buggy with right click, also the pulse rifle was a better idea than the akm
I think theres a few misunderstandings in this video
The MP5 and MP7 were probably not *cut* from the game, instead the ones you see in the betas were just iterations on the concept throughout the development. Not cut, just not done yet.
The Briefcase was probably never intended to be used by gordon, its probably just entirely there as an entity for NPCs to hold.
7:31 That's a pipe, not a socket wrench. Lmao!
7:53 this probably inspired the sticky launcher for demoman
even tho this was 2 years ago im gonna make a correction real quick, the physics gun (physgun) was an entirely seperate weapon and was not the original gravity gun, the gravity gun did actually exist in the half-life 2 beta and the model was different, the physics gun did resemble the retail gravity gun, but just because the physgun model is similar to the retail gravity gun model does not mean it was the original gravity gun
I think that the beta weapons was better than the retail version
The SMG2 is not actually an MP7 as well, but literally a H&K SMG II, a real-life experimental sub-machine gun from the 1980s for the U.S. Navy.
No?
it would be very interesting if hl2 had the mechanics of human error and snowdrop escape, of being able to change weapons.
the pulse shield is actually used by combine soilder in hl2 mod called coterminus
im glad the AK was removed, it served the same purpose of the AR2 and didn't really fit in with the art style for HL2, also with the limited amount of ammo the game forces you to use the gravity gun, which is way cooler than just being given a ton of AR ammo, otherwise HL2 would have been just another hallway shooter
Noclick in 25. suitcase: you said ''it was most likely cut out because Valve realised it made no sense for gordon to have a suit case'' does that mean Valve confused about why gordon freeman bring a suitcase. he didn't even bring a suitcase because the combine took it from a Train station or somewhere location. In HL2: Beginning when you enter to the cafeteria and then you talk to a citizen were siting a chair to a table it might be a man siting on a right middle and if you go talk to it he said: ''i see they took your suitcase too, they can't get away much longer'' in a cafeteria then you should find it by yourself.
I can see that a lot of these were probably trying to emulate the critics between HL1s DLCs, OpFor and Blue Shift. Everyone loved OpFors armory of weapons and how they were all used, while the simplification of them in Blue Shift was negatively criticized. They just probably couldn't figure out how to mimic the effects of HL:OpFor in the far more diverse arenas of HL2, going from CQB, to medium distance urban, and then larger outside areas.
Of all weapons that were cut out, I think Valve should have kept at least the Immolator and the Guard Gun. They have the coolest designs and belong to two different enemies that shouldn’t have been removed too.
Never heard this music before outside of Freeman's Mind intro lmao
The ak47 really fitted the theme of Ravenholm
Looking at some models and textures, you can see what was kept in the game from the beta
when i seen the tau cannon in half life 1 and i seen the weapon in the buggy from half life 2, i realized that the buggy have a tau cannon
About the socket wrench part, unless its in game's code you can make the crowbar not render in game and play the pipe pick up animation. The NPC could be using a regular crowbar there
In my personal opinion, I wished Valve kept the opportunity for Gordon to use to the Tau cannon detached from the buggy car. It would've put much more of a role into it besides just being on a car. Don't get me wrong, it's still useful and nice they at least added it but on a car but I just wanted there to be more into it.
And it was really weak
The G-Man doesn't use the suitcase as a weapon, instead the suitcase he holds is actually a bodygroup, as evident in Garry's Mod.
Tau Cannon on jeep can actually charge strong shot, just hold right click
no mention of how originally the tau cannon was intended to be removed from the buggy to be wielded by gordon
That npc in canal is using a pipe, not a socket wrench
my bad i guess
2:38 "Sound of crying survivor in nmo_boardwalk"
An AK would be so cool. Give it a consistent spray pattern like counter strike and headshot ability too. Man that'd be fun.
SLAMs basically combine the satchel charge and tripmines into one weapon.
it's a shame they were cut.
I can imagine that the reason that gordon freeman would have a suitcase could be that they were planning on have a flash back sequence to black mesa.
i remember that a guy say that the AK whas cut because of the time that its half life 2 and it doesn't have much sense putting there because of all the futuristisc things (sorry for my bad inglish im from Argentina)
you're correct, valve did cut most of the weapons in hl2 due to have so many it'll just be pointless, rather it's best you have 1 varation of a weapon than have 3 different varation that play as the same thing.
the mp7 was probably picked oved the mp5 to justify it having shorter range than the AR2 so that valve could feature 2 automatic weapons without their roles overlapping.
The tau cannon is still in the game it’s on the buggy though it does explain why the model looks like it was re used from half-life on or something
I think the AR2 was ultimately picked over the AK47 is because it's a good demonstration of how the Combine have co-opted humanity and their technology for their own means. An alien energy weapon modeled after human design principles, yet odd and uncomfortable enough in construction to make it clear it was created by something that doesn't really understand (nor likely care for) how humans act or think.
The AK47 is a cool gun that makes a cool noise when you shoot it, sure. But that's all it is: an AK47.