Graphical Differences

This is a sub-page of Proto:Half-Life (Windows)/Half-Life: Day One.

Oh dear, I do believe I have the vapors. This page contains content that is not safe for work or other locations with the potential for personal embarrassment. Such as: A close-up of a human nipple (seriously).

Main Menu#

Prototype	Final

There are several options missing in this build (including Custom Game and Multiplayer), "Day One" text is present below the logo and the option descriptions are formatted differently. Also, there are no minimize or exit buttons in Day One. Just like Half-Life: Uplink, the "Order Half-Life" button redirects you to a defunct website.

Skyboxes#

Dawn#

The prototype contains a skybox named "dawn" that is not used in the prototype nor in the final game. Based on its looks, it appears to be an early version of the "morning" desert skybox, but this one is 3D-rendered and looks completely different from the morning skybox used in the final game.

C1A3#

A unique sunny desert skybox, more closely within the style of the final game's skyboxes. Used in a single map, C1A3B. It does not appear anywhere in the final game.

Early "OUT_MUD1" texture#

Half-Life: Day One is using embedded textures on maps, allowing to run them without WAD file. C1A3B has preserved an early variant of OUT_MUD1, which is using different gamma than retail one.

Prototype	Final

Earlier Menu Background#

The file named "splash8bit.bmp" contains an image of a scientist with a Gonarch. The scientist is similar to the one seen in the September 1997 prototype, suggesting this comes from an earlier point in development and was never removed or updated.

The file "splash.bmp" is used for the menu's background, which suggests this image was used for an earlier background.

Ammo Pickup#

Day One does not show how much nor what kind of ammo the player has picked up. The HUD graphics for the ammo icons are in the game.

Loading Background Texture#

The "loading" graphic that plays when a savegame is loading is different in Day One. The prototype has a black background with the lambda logo, while the final mixes the boxart with art of Gordon Freeman.

Prototype	Final

320px HUD Graphics#

The final game separates the train HUD and status effects graphics into two separate files, while the prototype keeps them in the first two 320px HUD graphic files.

Battery HUD Image#

The prototype's HUD graphics contains graphics for a battery and a charge meter inside it, which were removed from the final game.

Several pre-release images have a very similar battery icon on the HUD. Considering that the game uses batteries to restore armor points, it's likely that the battery graphic was a way to represent how much armor the player had left.

Prototype	Pre-release image

PALETTE.BMP#

This image found in the Pak0.pak file of the Day One release in the "gfx" folder inside is an image called palette.bmp which is of a crudely drawn face.

Training Room Layout#

Some of the later builds feature this texture of an early iteration of the Hazard Course. This is likely the training room mentioned in the unused holographic assistant voicelines in the German release of the final game.

Nipple#