This article has a talk page!This page details pre-release information and/or media for Half-Life (Windows).
1996Valve begins development on their debut game.
1997Half-Life is revealed to the public, but much work still remains.
1998The final lap of development begins.
Concept ArtAll the doodles that never were.Development Timeline#
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1996
- August 24th - Valve is founded by former Microsoft employees Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington.
- Late 1996 - Gabe and Mike approach id Software about licensing the Quake engine.
1997
- September 4th - the Half-Life Alpha v 0.52 prototype is compiled.
- October 25th - [https://hiddenpalace.org/Half-Life_(Oct_25,_1997_prototype) An alpha build] is compiled.
- December 16th - [https://hiddenpalace.org/Half-Life_(Dec_16,_1997_prototype) Another alpha build] is compiled. Journalist Geoff Keighley acquires a copy of this prototype some time later.
1998
- November 1st -The [https://hiddenpalace.org/Half-Life_(Nov_1,_1998_prototype) Build 738] prototype is compiled.
- November 19th - Half-Life releases.
Wallpapers#
E3 1998#
Two E3 pre-release videos premiered in May 1998 containing a bunch of changes including early HUD, NPC models and voices.
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Office Complex (c1a2)#
This video shows off a small portion of The Office Complex. Watch on YouTube
- The battery HUD element is present in the corner, but is always empty.
- Barney has a model and design unique to this period, separate from the "scared" 1997, "weird" gray face, and final iterations. The Barney that helps kill the headcrabs in this section has a different voice actor and far more generic follower dialogue than in the final:
"Okay, I better wait here and help anyone else who comes by."
"Okay, why not? I didn't want to die alone anyway."
"Open fire!"
"Okay, I'll secure this area."- The Einstein scientist behind the window has different voice lines in a bizarre faux German accent. In the final, everyone has American accents. He says something more dramatic and ominous:
"If I were a braver man, I would run for the surface, but I'm afraid if the world finds out what we were doing here, Gordon... but please, just don't make me come with you. Well, it seems there is something to chaos theory after all, yes?"- When the scientists get pulled into the vent and gibbed, they don't scream.
- The zombies in the corridors are replaced by Vortigaunts in the final game.
- One of the headcrab zombies bangs on a vending machine. The Vortigaunts in the final don't interact with the vending machines in the hallway.
- The player comes across a stairwell with a Luther scientist who walks right below a barnacle and is grabbed, while in the final there is a glasses scientist cowering in the corner of the room instead.
- A scientist is performing CPR on a security guard in the same stairwell. This happens elsewhere in the final game.
Next Games #06, November 1998#
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A preview from French magazine Next Games #006, November 1998.
