Old Map Entities

This is a sub-page of Proto:Half-Life (Windows)/September 1997 Prototype/Entities.

This needs some investigation. Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page. Specifically: Verify whether certain entities are in the game's code.

Base Flags#

Four flags seem to be used with a majority of the entities in the prototype: "Not in Easy," "Not in Normal," "Not in Hard," and "Not in Deathmatch," which were all leftovers from Quake. Of these four flags, only "Not in Deathmatch" would be included in the final game.

Cut blur effect#

Blur is a cut render FX parameter visible only in Software renderer. FX amount specifies how intense blur is.

Point Entities#

Point entities are entities that occupy only a single space in a map.

AI Hints#

Several point entities that were designed to help NPCs navigate difficult terrain. Only "hint_stairsup" and "hint_stairsdown" exist in the game's code. In the final game, these would all be consolidated into one entity, "info_node."

"item"#

Mentioned in the game code, entity named "item" has no functionality and no model.

Quake 1 Items#

Both the .fgd and the game's code make references to Quake's items. Despite this, however, their entities have been removed from the game's code.

Quake 1 Lights#

In addition to the aforementioned item entities, there also exists a number of light entities that came from Quake 1 that were removed from the final game.

air_bubbles#

What appears to be a deprecated point entity version of the "env_bubbles" entity. Does not exist in the game's code.

env_sound#

Same as retail, except the .fgd file misspells the room type parameter "Concrete Medium" as "Concrete Meejum."

env_spark#

Fading sparks effect. Despite the fact that you can use "Sparks" flag on func_button and see them in-game, env_spark does not exists in the game's code.

explode#

Shows gunshot effect upon triggering. No mention in FGD.

item_book#

A book item that's mentioned in the .fgd, but not included in the game's code. Its comments indicate that it was part of a demo of some kind. It's likely a leftover from the cancelled game Prospero, as both it and Half-Life were being developed by Valve in tandem at the time, and Prospero would've taken place in a library.

info_player_start2#

A leftover entity from Quake 1, where it was used as a player's spawnpoint when returning to the hub after completing a level.

weapon_supershotgun#

The Quake super shotgun is mentioned in the prototype's .fgd, albeit commented out. There are no mentions of the code for the weapon.

//@PointClass base(Weapon) = weapon_supershotgun : "Super shotgun" []

Solid Entities#

Solid entities are entities that can be tied to world geometry, giving the brushes they're paired with unique properties.

func_glass#

A brush that drops sprite shards upon destruction. Uses sound that is different from func_breakable's glass material.

func_dm_only#

A teleporter for the Deathmatch gamemode. Left over from Quake 1.

func_door#

Aside from missing several properties that were added into the final version, the prototype's func_door has a flag that was removed from the final game: "Silver Key Required," which is left over from Quake 1. Interestingly, the "Gold Key required" flag from Quake 1 was not included in the prototype's func_door flags.

func_door_secret#

Doors that, as their name implies, hide secrets — they're fake walls that open and reveal a hidden room upon being shot. Left over from Quake 1, and does not work in-game.

func_forcefield#

A forcefield entity. There's no mentions of it in the code, but several parameters in the .fgd file imply that the forcefield would create spark particles and deal damage on contact. It's possibly a Prospero leftover.

@SolidClass base(RenderFields) = func_forcefield : "Force Field" 
[
    spawnflags(flags) =
    [
        1 : "Don't Spark" : 0
    ]
    
    targetname(target_source) : "Name"
    colormap(integer) : "Spark Color" : 255
    health(integer) : "Touch Damage" : 0
    delay(integer) : "Off Time" : 5
]

john_train#

Not mentioned in FGD, it is unknown what this entity does exactly. Reverse engineering shows that it contains 5-9 strings of code.

trigger_libraryportal#

A brush trigger that was likely a leftover from Prospero. Though no code for it exists in the game's files, its .fgd file parameters indicate that the Library Portal functioned the same as "trigger_changelevel," with the only difference being that its targetname could be changed, a property that the prototype's trigger_changelevel had been missing at the time.

trigger_onlyregistered#

A Quake leftover.

trigger_secret#

The "trigger_secret" brush entity from Quake 1. As well as having an entry in the .fgd, a string still exists for it in the code. However, it does not have an entity and cannot work in-game.