The Evolution of Half-Life 1. How the beta looked, and how it evolved into Half-Life. - Games

Call me insane, but I woulden't have any problems playing as Viking Freeman. Infact, I thought he looked cool. His beard, and the suit.

Hey postal, you forgot the chub weapon. It's a Chumtoad used as a weapon, but I don't know how it was used. [IMG]http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/4590/chubweapon1yk.png[/IMG]

[QUOTE=Statisk]Hey postal, you forgot the chub weapon. It's a Chumtoad used as a weapon, but I don't know how it was used. [/QUOTE] No he didn't.

I don't think this has been told, but the Beta Gordon (1st stage) was named "Ivan the SpaceBiker", as the Raising the Bar books says.

[QUOTE=Someone!]I don't think this has been told, but the Beta Gordon (1st stage) was named "Ivan the SpaceBiker", as the Raising the Bar books says.[/QUOTE] Been mentioned at least three times in this thread alone.

[QUOTE=Someone!]I don't think this has been told, but the Beta Gordon (1st stage) was named "Ivan the SpaceBiker", as the Raising the Bar books says.[/QUOTE] Space Viking sounds funnier though :q:. I need to look in mine again. Was that really what they were going to call him, or was it just a joke? Well, the game did start off a lot less serious, so I guess it's possible. Let me check and see... EDIT: Alright, I'm gonna be adding a lot more info from the Raising the Bar. But I'm still NOT going to be posting any scans, so don't bother asking. I'm not gonna type out everything it says, you'll have to buy it if you want that. Just a general synopsis of this and that. And yes, the chumtoad was going to be a weapon. Actuall, a 'bait', used to lure enemies in, so you could take 'em out easily. EDIT 2: It just says that Ivan was '[b]affectionatly[/b] known as Ivan the Space Biker', not officialy, just, affectionatly. Thus concluding that it was just a joke name. EDIT 3: 'Concept art' is also gonna be left out. That would be a huge chunk of info, and besides, most of the concept art is in "Raising the Bar", so just buy it if you're really that interested.

[QUOTE=supergism]Call me insane, but I woulden't have any problems playing as Viking Freeman. Infact, I thought he looked cool. His beard, and the suit.[/QUOTE] Heh, then he should have used an axe instead of that crowbar:D.

There's still code for most of those models :D Fun Fact: In Blue Shift, in Barney's locker, there's a Chumtoad in the box. You have to apply lots of damage to break it, but if you do, you'll get to see a little Chumtoad in an idle position.

[QUOTE=DaApocalypse]There's still code for most of those models :D Fun Fact: In Blue Shift, in Barney's locker, there's a Chumtoad in the box. You have to apply lots of damage to break it, but if you do, you'll get to see a little Chumtoad in an idle position.[/QUOTE] There's also a lot of the beta/alpha weapon models in the HL1 SDK if you look hard enough.

Added a bunch more information for several of the entries. If you want to help, I could use some screenshots of the HD NPC's. Also, don't suppose anyone here knows how I could get this translated from Czech to english: [quote=Snapbug description]Tento brouk je také pěkného vzhledu. Že by další varianta Headcraba? Nevím. Vím jen to, že není z nějakého důvodu dodělaný. Takže se nemůže ani pohybovat, natož pak útočit.[/quote] All the translators I found via Google didn't do shit. :/

[QUOTE=Rayne]There's also a lot of the beta/alpha weapon models in the HL1 SDK if you look hard enough.[/QUOTE] Umm... how do you get to the Half Life 1 SDK?

[QUOTE=SolidMoos]Umm... how do you get to the Half Life 1 SDK?[/QUOTE] You download it from the Valve Collective.

[QUOTE=Statisk]Hey postal, you forgot the chub weapon. It's a Chumtoad used as a weapon, but I don't know how it was used.[/QUOTE]It was planned to be used as bait to lure enemies out. Looking at all these alpha/beta pictures you really have to wonder "what if?"

What if you played a "mutha fucking space viking" instead of an MIT grad scientist.

Haha, look at the second and third promotional pictures. Notice the little picture's on the upper left of the second one, and the bottom left of the third one. So random.

[QUOTE=Geiger count]It was planned to be used as bait to lure enemies out. Looking at all these alpha/beta pictures you really have to wonder "what if?"[/QUOTE] Are you sure? I thought it was just a earlier version of the snark, in fact Azure Sheep has the chumtoad included and coded weapon. I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned this but the rat is included in the retail Half-Life, so it wasn't cut from the game (seen in Hazard Course). Also, a mod named "Quiver" (code name for HL) which is a recreation of the beta is in production, I would post some pics, but i'll get permission first.

Yes, it was meant as a 'bait' weapon. Even though it wasn't used like that in a 'mod'. And the rat was a 'generic' monster. Yes, it was cut.

Well, that explains why it was cut. Pretty useless since it's not a stealth game.

laugth my ass of!! the barny sounded like a texas cowboy and the sienticd sounded like a indian take away shop owner!!

Is there anyway to get HL1 beta? Or has it been wiped from the face of the earth due to HL being kick ass?

How should it be available?

Rats weren't cut. They're in the Hazard Course MP5 range. They give off huge green alien gibs, and human blood.

Don´t remember that, :/

[QUOTE=Ilya]Rats weren't cut. They're in the Hazard Course MP5 range. They give off huge green alien gibs, and human blood.[/QUOTE] Hah yeah, I remember that. They only die when you blow them up.

I don't remember Half-Life having hard shadows like that.

[QUOTE=ortzinator]I don't remember Half-Life having hard shadows like that.[/QUOTE] They were nerfed before the final release.

Adding some better pictures now... [QUOTE=Ilya]Rats weren't cut. They're in the Hazard Course MP5 range. They give off huge green alien gibs, and human blood.[/QUOTE] Like, I said, they aren't actual NPC's. They are 'generic' monsters. Meaning they have very little health, and have no AI. Generic monsters, are not the same as an NPC. It's just a model, with some animations. Lot's of mods, that had less-talented team members, who wanted to include a 'cut enemy' or something else would simply put them in as a 'generic' monster, usually in the background or something. You could make it walk, but that was it. They're not NPC's, and were originally planned to have somewhat bigger role. So, they are cut. Not completely, but still, cut.

In Sven Coop, well, more like the map the_betterthanbest_entmap2, there was a chubby. They replaced a friendly headcrab's model with the chumtoad. You could press your 'use' key on it and it would follow you. Too bad it didn't attack...:(

The construction worker has not been cut completely. In the intro levels (Gordon Freeman sure likes waking up on trains!) you see him driving a forklift, probably as a generic npc. Also, I can't help but notice a pattern in the basic skeletal structure of Xen sentients - two chicken legs with hoofs, one large eye and some little eyes, two things on the side of the large eye which might be ears, three hands, two of which can apparently be modified into anything from a flamethrower to an incubator. Does the book mention anything about this?

In Azure Sheep, I believe there is a Chumtoad weapon. Throw it and it explodes.