History Trivia / HalfLife2

** To a lesser extent, it also competed with ''VideoGame/Halo2'', both of which released just one week apart in November 2004, which had several story similarities (aliens invade Earth, a race that was hostile in the first game becomes allies, endings leaving on massive {{cliffhanger}}s), shared a TroubledProduction that culminated in redoing much of the game within the last year of development, and were the KillerApp for their respective platforms (''Halo 2'' for the UsefulNotes/{{Xbox}}, PC and UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} for ''Half-Life 2''). Neither really won or lost, since they were primarily made for completely different platforms (and so both became legendary in their own right without really impacting each other), and comparing them by ports is unfair no matter which way you go (''Half-Life 2'' was simply too much for the original Xbox to handle well, while ''Halo 2''[='=]s PC port was severely gimped by early-era Windows Vista and Games for Windows Live). If there's any place where one is superior to the other, it's in being able to finish a story, as ''Halo 2'' got [[VideoGame/Halo3 a solid conclusion]] to its story in the same amount of time ''Half-Life 2'' took to put out a three-part episodic continuation that [[LeftHanging petered out after two episodes]].

* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** Not long after Half-Life was finished, [[ExecutiveMeddling pressure was placed]] to set the sequel in Black Mesa, which Valve felt was creative death. The decision to have [[NukeEm Black Mesa nuked]] at the end of ''Opposing Force'' was partially to avert this temptation.
** The game's story was constantly changed during development Examples include:
*** On top of draining the oceans, the Combine were replacing the atmosphere with poisonous gas that forced humans to wear gas masks. City 17 had darker and more overtly Orwellian styling, with a skyscraper dominated skyline more in line with western cities. Valve felt this didn’t make the Citadel stand out enough, and pursued an eastern European city aesthetic.
*** An early concept had Gordon clad in a leather stealth suit that would have been functionally similar to the HEV but more sinister, with aesthetics inspired by the works of Creator/CliveBarker. Combined with other ideas of the early storyline, this was deemed to be too far of a departure from the original game.
*** The opening parts of the game had the player passing through locations like Combine factories and the Manhack Arcade, where citizens unknowingly took control of manhacks hunting down refugees under the guise of a video game. While interesting on paper, Valve didn't find these locations appealing enough in gameplay to keep around.
*** Ravenholm originally took place before arriving at Black Mesa East, and the Ravenholm mines would contained a vehicle called the Digger that would have been used to destroy a Gonarch pod used by the Combine to birth headcrabs.
*** Bridging the gap between Eli's scrapyard and the coastline was a journey through a cave system filled with Antlions. This concept would be revisited with the Victory Mine area in ''Episode Two''.
*** Eli was to give an ExpositionDump of the events between the first and second game in the form of a slideshow at his lab.
*** The area surrounding City 17 was much more desolate, consisting of a barren wasteland with beached ships, pockets of Xen wildlife and train depots that the player would follow along to progress. The idea was refined into both the canals and the coast, though a brief glimpse of the wastelands is seen during the first teleport sequence in the final game.
*** The story also featured arctic locations, such as a Combine weather control center and an icebreaker named the ''Borealis''. These were cut due to pacing and gameplay reasons, with the ''Borealis'' later being introduced as an Aperture Science vessel in ''Episode Two''.
** Characters underwent significant changes:
*** Eli was an old mechanic named Eli ''Maxwell'' who was living out of a scrapyard. Alyx's father was originally a white military man named Captain Vance who lead soldiers conscripted by the Combine, who would later revolt and join the Resistance. After the Conscripts were cut, Vance and Maxwell were merged into a single character, with Captain Vance's face model being recycled into a citizen in the final game and a hostage model in ''VideoGame/CounterStrike: Source''.
*** Alyx had red hair and wore a jumpsuit with knee-high boots, which Valve felt was too generic and changed her to her current look just before the game was shown at E3. According to her voice actress Merle Dandridge, Alyx was much more foul-mouthed, but both Merle and Valve felt it didn't fit the character.
*** Odessa Cubbage's face model came from a cut character named Odell, who was the engineer of the Borealis. When the location was cut, the character model went into freefall until a scene with a character demonstrating the RPG came into play. The leaked build shows that the character that would become Odessa was meant to directly attack the Gunship only to be killed, with the player having to pick up the weapon to finish the Gunship off.
*** Dr. Breen was originally The Consul, a straightforward Big Brother figure with no ties to the Black Mesa facility. One concept for the Consul had the player only seeing his face throughout most of the game, with TheReveal at the finale that he had his body replaced by a life support machine giving him immortality. He eventually morphed into Dr. Breen in order to have a more personal antagonist. Concepts seen in ''Raising The Bar'' show that Valve considered eyeglasses and contact lenses for Dr. Breen.
*** Dr. Kleiner was much older looking (in line with the “Walter” scientist model from the original game), and Valve toyed around with killing him off during the first teleport sequence. His model was changed when Valve employees had a chance run-in with a man who bore a striking resemblance to the “Walter” scientist model. The original Kleiner head, like Captain Vance's face, would be recycled for a hostage variant in ''Counter-Strike: Source''.
*** Dr. Mossman was a blonde-haired woman named ''Elena'' Mossman, who worked in an underwater resistance lab named Kraken Base. Elena was more overtly villainous, betraying the Resistance without remorse. Lead Writer Marc Laidlaw changed her name to Judith as it was too close to Elena Hausmann, a character from a novel Laidlaw had previously written. After Kraken Base was cut, she was heavily rewritten and the performance of Creator/MichelleForbes encouraged the developers to make Mossman a more sympathetic character.
*** Father Grigori, according to voice files in the leaked build, was a more grim and serious character. An unused model that was leaked in 2016 shows a more [[https://combineoverwiki.net/images/4/49/Uh21q4Vunm5D.jpg stylized face model]]. He also has unused voice lines suggesting he was to give the player health and ammo.
*** Creator/RobinWilliams, a fan of the series, [[http://lambdageneration.com/news/valve/apparently-robin-williams-was-a-valve-fan/ was interested in voicing the Vortigaunts]], but his schedule wouldn't let him. They would end up voiced by Creator/LouisGossettJr in ''Half-Life 2'' and Creator/TonyTodd from ''Episode Two'' onward.
** The game's arsenal was originally much larger, as it was envisioned that the player would lose their weapons and gain new ones that would serve the same role throughout the story. Many were cut to give focus to the Gravity Gun, which Valve thought was more interesting.
*** Among them were a number of sub-machine guns and assault rifles, including the AK-47, [=MP5k=] (which was seen in the hands of Citizens and Barney during the E3 2003 footage) OICW (which was the Combine’s standard rifle in E3 footage, later replaced by the Pulse Rifle), and the Combine Sniper Rifle (which was a conventional weapon rather than an emplaced pulse weapon as later seen in ''Episode Two'').
*** The Gravity Gun appears to have its origins in the ‘Brickbat’, a weapon used as a means to throw objects and even headcrabs at enemies. Rioting citizens were also meant to make use of this weapon to throw bottles and rocks. The Gravity Gun and the ability to pick up objects by the USE key was the likely reason this was cut, though this weapon is still referenced in the map editor of the final game.
*** The Civil Protection stunstick was meant to be a usable weapon, but was rendered unusable as it was too similar to the crowbar. The SLAM mine, a weapon that combined the functions of the tripmine and satchel charge from ''Half-Life'', was also cut from the game, though both weapons would become part of ''Half-Life 2: Deathmatch'', with the stunstick being made slower but more powerful to differentiate it from the crowbar.
*** The model for the Pulse Rifle was intended for a different weapon called the Incendiary Rifle, which acted like a magazine-fed flare rifle. The model in the final game is still named “v_irifle.mdl”.
*** The arsenal also included tools like a Flare Gun, an Ice Axe, and Binoculars. The Ice Axe would have likely replaced the Crowbar during the ''Borealis'' levels. The Binoculars were refitted into the HEV's zoom function.
*** The Tau Cannon was also planned to be usable by the player while on foot, akin to the original game. Cut voice lines and animations suggest that a Vortigaunt would have decoupled the Tau Cannon from the Buggy at Lighthouse Point to give to the player. Leftover scripting in Nova Prospekt suggests that a Vortigaunt found within the prison would have been able to provide the Tau Cannon ammo by charging it, which would have solved the plausible ammo issue. This was ultimately cut due to there being not enough development time left to flesh out the concept.
*** Alyx's custom pistol has several unused animations where it transforms into sub-machine gun and rifle configurations.
*** One of the weapons in the leaked build was a throwable mine called the Hopwire. Supposedly, this was meant as an anti-Strider weapon in the later stages of the game, as it fires out several smaller explosives attached by tripwires after being thrown. This was cut likely for being too indirect and inefficient of a weapon.
*** The E3 2003 footage shows the player dropping a shotgun to pick up the RPG. Combined with an unused "dropprimary" command found in the development console, it's likely that Valve planned that the player would have been limited in how many weapons they could carry.
*** Interestingly, the .357 Magnum and Crossbow are two weapons ''not'' present in the original stolen build, indicating they were added late into development.
** A large number of enemies were axed:
*** Among them were returning enemies from the first game, such as the Bullsquid, Houndeye, and a Combine version of the Black Ops Assassin. The Bullsquid would have been reimagined as a more aquatic creature behaving like a crocodile, while the Houndeye was to be more aggressive with a LeanAndMean appearance caused by hunger.
*** The Ichthyosaur was meant to be appear along with the leeches as BorderPatrol to keep the player from swimming too far out in the coastline. It was ultimately reduced to a mere cameo during the teleport sequence.
*** The Hydra, which was featured in the debut E3 trailer, was cut as playtesters found it frustrating to fight against despite its impressive looks and technical wizardry (it used only a few pre-built animations, with most of its movements being handled by code).
*** Antlion Grubs were meant to appear prior to their inclusion in ''Episode Two'', with an early model and texture included in the leaked 2003 build. Concept art also showed a massive Antlion King, which was later refitted into the Antlion Guardian in ''Episode Two''.
*** Early in development, the main humanoid Combine enemy was the Combine Guard, who wore an [[PuttingOnTheReich all-black uniform with armor vest and a black trenchcoat]]. The look was dumped as Valve pursued a less heavy-handed aesthetic for the Combine, and was eventually split between the Civil Protection and Combine Soldier. The Combine Guard seen in the leaked build of the game was a new enemy entirely; a heavy humanoid synth who could only be damaged by launched objects from the Gravity Gun, an idea that would be explored with ''Episode Two'''s Hunter enemy being extremely vulnerable to objects thrown with the Gravity Gun.
*** The Cremator, who was effectively a Combine janitor that used a flamethrower-like weapon to dissolve trash. While cut, its head was used as a prop in Eli's lab, with Eli claiming "we're still not sure what that does" if you look at it. Two early synth enemies that were cut, the Crab and Mortar synth, were reused in the background of the Citadel pod ride scene.
*** Stalkers were meant to be fought throughout the game. The leaked build has the Stalker using vastly different AI over its final incarnation fought in ''Episode One'', with more agile movements and melee attacks.
*** The Combine Elite was originally a soldier using dynamic ''Franchise/{{Predator}}''-style camouflage to blend into any environment. After it was cut, it became a bipedal synth called the Combine Super Soldier, who lasted late enough to have its model viewer icon in the final game. It was cut when Valve felt its design clashed with the Citadel's architecture and they opted for a PaletteSwap of the regular Combine Soldier in its place.
** The Combine APC was originally intended to be driveable by the player. Playtesters found that its slow movement was unsatisfying compared to the Buggy, and so it was relegated to NPC usage only. Before Valve came up with the Airboat, the vehicle intended for the Canals sections was a Jet Ski. It was replaced due to feeling too much like running around on-foot, as well as having a poor reference as to where the front was while driving and looking around. The Airboat itself went through a number of visual redesigns due to severe motion sickness issues during playtests.
** Specific to ''Episode One'':
*** ''Episode One'' was originally titled ''Half-Life 2: Aftermath'' before Valve decided on the Episodic release model.
*** Unused [=G-Man=] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIPnyYsM3uw dialogue]] suggests the intro scene was longer, with the unused lines having him display a more severe reaction to the Vortigaunts' rescue of Gordon. Given that the unused lines have him [[PrecisionFStrike swearing]] and [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness uncharacteristically upset]], they were likely cut for being out of character and [[{{Narm}} unintentionally humorous.]]
*** A test weapon called the Vortex Hopwire existed within the files, acting as a grenade that generates a black hole that draws in and disintegrates anything in range. Its code suggests it was meant to be an anti-Strider weapon like the earlier "Hopwire" cut from ''Half-Life 2'' proper, the concept of which would be finally realized in ''Episode Two''[='s=] Magnusson Device. It was later removed from ''Episode One''[='s=] files, but can still be spawned in ''VideoGame/Portal1'' with console commands.
** Specific to ''Episode Two'':
*** The Muscle Car was originally the Jalopy, which had a much more ramshackle and junky design. That was changed when playtesters were disappointed with it.
*** Early trailers showed Alyx "[[DisneyDeath dying]]" by falling off the bridge at the very beginning, but Valve quickly saw it was an awkward way to start out and a deeply unsatisfying way to remove Alyx from the beginning of the game, and changed the intro to its current form.
*** Griggs and Sheckley were originally Cyril and Fred, who were mechanics that had built the Muscle Car. After they were reworked into an Abbott and Costello-style comedic duo, they were intended to die early in the fight against the Antlions, but that changed when playtesters became confused and overwhelmed during the fight without assistance.
*** According to Earl Alexander (''VideoGame/Left4Dead'''s Louis), he did voice work for Griggs but was replaced in the final game with the citizens' usual voice, John Patrick Lowrie. Unused ''Episode Two'' files from a leaked build of ''VideoGame/Postal3'' includes some of Earl Alexander's voice work, though it only consists of generic Rebel lines and no lines specific to Griggs.
*** A section in the Antlion tunnels had a choice of two paths where one path would progress and the other would loop back around and dump you back where you started. This got removed after they watched one playtester spend ''over half an hour'' taking this path over and over again, never realizing they were going in circles.
*** Valve strongly considered bringing back the Bullsquid enemy, but ultimately felt that it didn't fit the forest settings of the game. Most of its features were instead given to the Antlion Worker.
*** The original draft didn't feature Dr. Magnusson, instead simply having Eli and Kleiner running White Forest by themselves. The team quickly realized how implausible it was that Eli and Kleiner could travel there and set it up in less than a day, and the creation of Magnusson also allowed them to provide a bit of antagonism among the heroes, as Alyx, Eli and Kleiner get along very well.
*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCEQaMD8yj4 Early videos of the final battle]] had large numbers of Combine soldiers, Gunships, and Dropships alongside the Hunters and Striders. Everything but the Hunters and Striders were removed when playtesters felt overwhelmed and lost track of the objective.
*** An update to ''Episode One'' in 2013 accidentally included a test map that appears to have been an early idea for ''Episode Two'''s final battle. Taking place in a wasteland setting rather than a forest, the player would have needed to recover fuel for a helicopter at the resistance base while under constant Combine attack, with the final phase having the player hold off the Combine while Alyx prepares the helicopter to leave.
*** ''The Final Hours of Half-Life: Alyx'' states that when the decision was made to kill off a member of the main cast, they originally considered Dr. Kleiner for the axe. They ultimately felt Eli's death would have a more emotional impact, especially with his connection with Alyx.

* AllThereInTheScript: The names of certain Citizens can only be gleaned internally, either from script files, animation names, or within the map itself. For instance, the sole survivor of the Station 1 raid is named Mary, the guy with whom you fight the first Manhacks is Matt, and the man accompanying Lazlo at the beginning of "Sandtraps" is known as [[PunnyName Sandy]].

* DevelopmentGag:
** You can see a rather [[https://combineoverwiki.net/images/b/bb/Cremator_head_jar_BME.jpg strange object in a jar]] at Black Mesa East, which Eli states that they "still don't know what it does". It's actually the head of a [[https://combineoverwiki.net/wiki/Cremator Cremator]], a janitor-like enemy that was cut.
** During the pod ride in the Citadel, among the Striders and Gunships you see are the [[https://combineoverwiki.net/wiki/Crab_Synth Crab]] and [[https://combineoverwiki.net/wiki/Mortar_Synth Mortar]] Synths, two enemies that were cut from the final game.

* {{Vaporware}}: With no new games or Episodes after ''Episode 2'' in 2007 along with the death of Robert Culp, ''Half Life 2: Episode 3'' or ''Half-Life 3'' seem further and further away, if they will make them at all. In [[http://www.polygon.com/2015/3/18/8253189/gabe-newell-valve-half-life a 2015 Polygon article]] and a ''Gameslice'' [[http://podcast.gameslice.com/1-gabe-newell-and-erik-johnson-from-valve podcast]], it seems that Gabe Newell and other senior higher-ups at Valve don't want to put work towards the ''Half-Life'' series for the foreseeable future and with Marc Laidlaw, the writer of ''Half-Life 2'', retiring, it seems like the ''Half-Life'' series has ended on a depressing cliffhanger with [[spoiler:the death of Eli]] and the Combine still in control.

* TheResolutionWillNotBeTelevised: ''[[{{Vaporware}} Episode 3]]'' [[{{Vaporware}} never saw the light of day as intended.]] Instead, ex-series writer Marc Laidlaw released what would have been the story of ''Episode 3'' on his website under the name ''Epistle 3'' with [[WritingAroundTrademarks many names changed]] for obvious reasons to finally give fans closure.

*** According to Earl Alexander (''VideoGame/Left4Dead'''s Louis), he did voice work for Griggs but was replaced in the final game. Unused ''Episode Two'' files from a leaked build of ''VideoGame/{{Postal}} 3'' includes some of Earl Alexander's voice work, though it only consists of generic Rebel lines and no lines specific to Griggs.

*** Unused [=G-Man=] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIPnyYsM3uw dialogue]] suggests the intro scene was longer, with the unused lines having him display a more severe reaction to the Vortigaunts' rescue of Gordon. Given that the unused lines have him [[PrecisionFStrike swearing]] and [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness uncharacteristically upset]], they were likely cut for being out of character and [[{{Narm}} unintentionally humorous]].

*** A test weapon called the Vortex Hopwire exists within the files, acting as a grenade that generates a black hole that draws in and disintegrates anything in range. Its code suggests it was meant to be an anti-Strider weapon like the earlier "Hopwire" cut from ''Half-Life 2'' proper, the concept of which would be finally realized in ''Episode Two'''s Magnusson Device.

** And then Valve released ''VideoGame/HalfLifeAlyx'', [[spoiler: which [[CosmicRetcon overhauls the ending of Episode 2]] and ends with another SequelHook]]]]. So, maybe this isn't over yet.

** And then Valve released ''VideoGame/HalfLifeAlyx'', [[spoiler: which [[CosmicRetcon overhauls the ending of Episode 2 and ends with another SequelHook]]. So, maybe this isn't over yet.

** And then Valve announced ''Half Life: Alyx''. So, maybe this isn't over yet.

* TalkingToHimself: There is only one voice actor each for all male and female citizens and rebels. Any time two same-sex citizens or rebels have a conversation, it's with the same voice, respectively John Patrick Lowrie for males and Mary Kae Irvin for females. ''Episode Two'' added a second voice actor, Creator/AdamBaldwin, for Sheckley, since he was specifically written to converse with Griggs, who is still voiced by Lowrie.

*** Among them were a number of sub-machine guns and assault rifles, including the AK-47, [=MP5k=] (which was seen in the hands of Citizens and Barney during the E3 2003 footage) [[RareGuns OICW]] (which was the Combine’s standard rifle in E3 footage, later replaced by the Pulse Rifle), and the Combine Sniper Rifle (which was a conventional weapon rather than an emplaced pulse weapon as later seen in ''Episode Two'').

** On top of draining the oceans, the Combine were replacing the atmosphere with poisonous gas that forced humans to wear gas masks. City 17 had darker and more overtly Orwellian styling, with a skyscraper dominated skyline more in line with western cities. Valve felt this didn’t make the Citadel stand out enough, and pursued an eastern European city aesthetic.
** An early concept had Gordon clad in a leather stealth suit that would have been functionally similar to the HEV but more sinister, with aesthetics inspired by the works of Creator/CliveBarker. Combined with other ideas of the early storyline, this was deemed to be too far of a departure from the original game.
** The opening parts of the game had the player passing through locations like Combine factories and the Manhack Arcade, where citizens unknowingly took control of manhacks hunting down refugees under the guise of a video game. While interesting on paper, Valve didn't find these locations appealing enough in gameplay to keep around.
** Ravenholm originally took place before arriving at Black Mesa East, and the Ravenholm mines would contained a vehicle called the Digger that would have been used to destroy a Gonarch pod used by the Combine to birth headcrabs.
** Bridging the gap between Eli's scrapyard and the coastline was a journey through a cave system filled with Antlions. This concept would be revisited with the Victory Mine area in ''Episode Two''.
** Eli was to give an ExpositionDump of the events between the first and second game in the form of a slideshow at his lab.
** The area surrounding City 17 was much more desolate, consisting of a barren wasteland with beached ships, pockets of Xen wildlife and train depots that the player would follow along to progress. The idea was refined into both the canals and the coast, though a brief glimpse of the wastelands is seen during the first teleport sequence in the final game.
** The story also featured arctic locations, such as a Combine weather control center and an icebreaker named the ''Borealis''. These were cut due to pacing and gameplay reasons, with the ''Borealis'' later being introduced as an Aperture Science vessel in ''Episode Two''.

** Eli was an old mechanic named Eli ''Maxwell'' who was living out of a scrapyard. Alyx's father was originally a white military man named Captain Vance who lead soldiers conscripted by the Combine, who would later revolt and join the Resistance. After the Conscripts were cut, Vance and Maxwell were merged into a single character, with Captain Vance's face model being recycled into a citizen in the final game and a hostage model in ''VideoGame/CounterStrike: Source''.
** Alyx had red hair and wore a jumpsuit with knee-high boots, which Valve felt was too generic and changed her to her current look just before the game was shown at E3. According to her voice actress Merle Dandridge, Alyx was much more foul-mouthed, but both Merle and Valve felt it didn't fit the character.
** Odessa Cubbage's face model came from a cut character named Odell, who was the engineer of the Borealis. When the location was cut, the character model went into freefall until a scene with a character demonstrating the RPG came into play. The leaked build shows that the character that would become Odessa was meant to directly attack the Gunship only to be killed, with the player having to pick up the weapon to finish the Gunship off.
** Dr. Breen was originally The Consul, a straightforward Big Brother figure with no ties to the Black Mesa facility. One concept for the Consul had the player only seeing his face throughout most of the game, with TheReveal at the finale that he had his body replaced by a life support machine giving him immortality. He eventually morphed into Dr. Breen in order to have a more personal antagonist. Concepts seen in ''Raising The Bar'' show that Valve considered eyeglasses and contact lenses for Dr. Breen.
** Dr. Kleiner was much older looking (in line with the “Walter” scientist model from the original game), and Valve toyed around with killing him off during the first teleport sequence. His model was changed when Valve employees had a chance run-in with a man who bore a striking resemblance to the “Walter” scientist model. The original Kleiner head, like Captain Vance's face, would be recycled for a hostage variant in ''Counter-Strike: Source''.
** Dr. Mossman was a blonde-haired woman named ''Elena'' Mossman, who worked in an underwater resistance lab named Kraken Base. Elena was more overtly villainous, betraying the Resistance without remorse. Lead Writer Marc Laidlaw changed her name to Judith as it was too close to Elena Hausmann, a character from a novel Laidlaw had previously written. After Kraken Base was cut, she was heavily rewritten and the performance of Creator/MichelleForbes encouraged the developers to make Mossman a more sympathetic character.
** Father Grigori, according to voice files in the leaked build, was a more grim and serious character. An unused model that was leaked in 2016 shows a more [[https://combineoverwiki.net/images/4/49/Uh21q4Vunm5D.jpg stylized face model]]. He also has unused voice lines suggesting he was to give the player health and ammo.
** Creator/RobinWilliams, a fan of the series, [[http://lambdageneration.com/news/valve/apparently-robin-williams-was-a-valve-fan/ was interested in voicing the Vortigaunts]], but his schedule wouldn't let him. They would end up voiced by Creator/LouisGossettJr in ''Half-Life 2'' and Creator/TonyTodd from ''Episode Two'' onward.

** Among them were a number of sub-machine guns and assault rifles, including the AK-47, [=MP5k=] (which was seen in the hands of Citizens and Barney during the E3 2003 footage) [[RareGuns OICW]] (which was the Combine’s standard rifle in E3 footage, later replaced by the Pulse Rifle), and the Combine Sniper Rifle (which was a conventional weapon rather than an emplaced pulse weapon as later seen in ''Episode Two'').
** The Gravity Gun appears to have its origins in the ‘Brickbat’, a weapon used as a means to throw objects and even headcrabs at enemies. Rioting citizens were also meant to make use of this weapon to throw bottles and rocks. The Gravity Gun and the ability to pick up objects by the USE key was the likely reason this was cut, though this weapon is still referenced in the map editor of the final game.
** The Civil Protection stunstick was meant to be a usable weapon, but was rendered unusable as it was too similar to the crowbar. The SLAM mine, a weapon that combined the functions of the tripmine and satchel charge from ''Half-Life'', was also cut from the game, though both weapons would become part of ''Half-Life 2: Deathmatch'', with the stunstick being made slower but more powerful to differentiate it from the crowbar.
** The model for the Pulse Rifle was intended for a different weapon called the Incendiary Rifle, which acted like a magazine-fed flare rifle. The model in the final game is still named “v_irifle.mdl”.
** The arsenal also included tools like a Flare Gun, an Ice Axe, and Binoculars. The Ice Axe would have likely replaced the Crowbar during the ''Borealis'' levels. The Binoculars were refitted into the HEV's zoom function.
** The Tau Cannon was also planned to be usable by the player while on foot, akin to the original game. Cut voice lines and animations suggest that a Vortigaunt would have decoupled the Tau Cannon from the Buggy at Lighthouse Point to give to the player. Leftover scripting in Nova Prospekt suggests that a Vortigaunt found within the prison would have been able to provide the Tau Cannon ammo by charging it, which would have solved the plausible ammo issue. This was ultimately cut due to there being not enough development time left to flesh out the concept.
** Alyx's custom pistol has several unused animations where it transforms into sub-machine gun and rifle configurations.
** One of the weapons in the leaked build was a throwable mine called the Hopwire. Supposedly, this was meant as an anti-Strider weapon in the later stages of the game, as it fires out several smaller explosives attached by tripwires after being thrown. This was cut likely for being too indirect and inefficient of a weapon.
** The E3 2003 footage shows the player dropping a shotgun to pick up the RPG. Combined with an unused "dropprimary" command found in the development console, it's likely that Valve planned that the player would have been limited in how many weapons they could carry.
** Interestingly, the .357 Magnum and Crossbow are two weapons ''not'' present in the original stolen build, indicating they were added late into development.

** Among them were returning enemies from the first game, such as the Bullsquid, Houndeye, and a Combine version of the Black Ops Assassin. The Bullsquid would have been reimagined as a more aquatic creature behaving like a crocodile, while the Houndeye was to be more aggressive with a LeanAndMean appearance caused by hunger.
** The Ichthyosaur was meant to be appear along with the leeches as BorderPatrol to keep the player from swimming too far out in the coastline. It was ultimately reduced to a mere cameo during the teleport sequence.
** The Hydra, which was featured in the debut E3 trailer, was cut as playtesters found it frustrating to fight against despite its impressive looks and technical wizardry (it used only a few pre-built animations, with most of its movements being handled by code).
** Antlion Grubs were meant to appear prior to their inclusion in ''Episode Two'', with an early model and texture included in the leaked 2003 build. Concept art also showed a massive Antlion King, which was later refitted into the Antlion Guardian in ''Episode Two''.
** Early in development, the main humanoid Combine enemy was the Combine Guard, who wore an [[PuttingOnTheReich all-black uniform with armor vest and a black trenchcoat]]. The look was dumped as Valve pursued a less heavy-handed aesthetic for the Combine, and was eventually split between the Civil Protection and Combine Soldier. The Combine Guard seen in the leaked build of the game was a new enemy entirely; a heavy humanoid synth who could only be damaged by launched objects from the Gravity Gun, an idea that would be explored with ''Episode Two'''s Hunter enemy being extremely vulnerable to objects thrown with the Gravity Gun.
** The Cremator, who was effectively a Combine janitor that used a flamethrower-like weapon to dissolve trash. While cut, its head was used as a prop in Eli's lab, with Eli claiming "we're still not sure what that does" if you look at it. Two early synth enemies that were cut, the Crab and Mortar synth, were reused in the background of the Citadel pod ride scene.
** Stalkers were meant to be fought throughout the game. The leaked build has the Stalker using vastly different AI over its final incarnation fought in ''Episode One'', with more agile movements and melee attacks.
** The Combine Elite was originally a soldier using dynamic ''Franchise/{{Predator}}''-style camouflage to blend into any environment. After it was cut, it became a bipedal synth called the Combine Super Soldier, who lasted late enough to have its model viewer icon in the final game. It was cut when Valve felt its design clashed with the Citadel's architecture and they opted for a PaletteSwap of the regular Combine Soldier in its place.

** ''Episode One'' was originally titled ''Half-Life 2: Aftermath'' before Valve decided on the Episodic release model.
** A test weapon called the Vortex Hopwire exists within the files, acting as a grenade that generates a black hole that draws in and disintegrates anything in range. Its code suggests it was meant to be an anti-Strider weapon like the earlier "Hopwire" cut from ''Half-Life 2'' proper, the concept of which would be finally realized in ''Episode Two'''s Magnusson Device.
** Unused [=G-Man=] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIPnyYsM3uw dialogue]] suggests the intro scene was longer, with the unused lines having him display a more severe reaction to the Vortigaunts' rescue of Gordon. Given that the unused lines have him [[PrecisionFStrike swearing]] and [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness uncharacteristically upset]], they were likely cut for being out of character and [[{{Narm}} unintentionally humorous]].
** The Muscle Car was originally the Jalopy, which had a much more ramshackle and junky design. That was changed when playtesters were disappointed with it.
** Early trailers showed Alyx "[[DisneyDeath dying]]" by falling off the bridge at the very beginning, but Valve quickly saw it was an awkward way to start out and a deeply unsatisfying way to remove Alyx from the beginning of the game, and changed the intro to its current form.
** Griggs and Sheckley were originally Cyril and Fred, who were mechanics that had built the Muscle Car. After they were reworked into an Abbott and Costello-style comedic duo, they were intended to die early in the fight against the Antlions, but that changed when playtesters became confused and overwhelmed during the fight without assistance.
** According to Earl Alexander (''VideoGame/Left4Dead'''s Louis), he did voice work for Griggs but was replaced in the final game. Unused ''Episode Two'' files from a leaked build of ''VideoGame/{{Postal}} 3'' includes some of Earl Alexander's voice work, though it only consists of generic Rebel lines and no lines specific to Griggs.
** A section in the Antlion tunnels had a choice of two paths where one path would progress and the other would loop back around and dump you back where you started. This got removed after they watched one playtester spend ''over half an hour'' taking this path over and over again, never realizing they were going in circles.
** Valve strongly considered bringing back the Bullsquid enemy, but ultimately felt that it didn't fit the forest settings of the game. Most of its features were instead given to the Antlion Worker.
** The original draft didn't feature Dr. Magnusson, instead simply having Eli and Kleiner running White Forest by themselves. The team quickly realized how implausible it was that Eli and Kleiner could travel there and set it up in less than a day, and the creation of Magnusson also allowed them to provide a bit of antagonism among the heroes, as Alyx, Eli and Kleiner get along very well.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCEQaMD8yj4 Early videos of the final battle]] had large numbers of Combine soldiers, Gunships, and Dropships alongside the Hunters and Striders. Everything but the Hunters and Striders were removed when playtesters felt overwhelmed and lost track of the objective.
** An update to ''Episode One'' in 2013 accidentally included a test map that appears to have been an early idea for ''Episode Two'''s final battle. Taking place in a wasteland setting rather than a forest, the player would have needed to recover fuel for a helicopter at the resistance base while under constant Combine attack, with the final phase having the player hold off the Combine while Alyx prepares the helicopter to leave.
** ''The Final Hours of Half-Life: Alyx'' states that when the decision was made to kill off a member of the main cast, they originally considered Dr. Kleiner for the axe. They ultimately felt Eli's death would have a more emotional impact, especially with his connection with Alyx.

* The game's arsenal was originally much larger, as it was envisioned that the player would lose their weapons and gain new ones that would serve the same role throughout the story. Many were cut to give focus to the Gravity Gun, which Valve thought was more interesting.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: See the [[WhatCouldHaveBeen/HalfLife series page]].

* AllThereInTheScript: The names of certain Citizens can only be gleaned internally, either from script files, animation names, or within the map itself. For instance, the sole survivor of the Station 1 raid is named Mary, the guy with whom you fight the first Manhacks with is Matt, and the man accompanying Lazlo at the beginning of "Sandtraps" is known as [[PunnyName Sandy]].
** This can occasionally extend to non-human [=NPCs=] in the form of an amusing reference. Did you know that the two Combine Gunships you have to fight in the Nova Prospekt courtyard are referred to as Creator/PennAndTeller?

* AuthorExistenceFailure: The gap has been long enough between Episodes ''Two'' and ''Three'' that this has begun to take hold, with Dr. Breen's actor (Robert Culp), Eli Vance's actor (Robert Guillaume), and Father Grigori's actor (Jim French) having passed away in the interim (thus becoming unavailable for any potential flashbacks, recordings, backstory cutscenes, etc. that Valve didn't get around to recording when they were alive). Indeed, Eli Vance was recast for the prequel, ''Half-Life: Alyx''.

** With ''VideoGame/Doom3'', both of which followed on from games that had their last installments [[SequelGap several years prior]] and pushed graphics technology of the time to its limits. It wasn't quite the curbstomp that its predecessor gave to its competition in 1998, but ''Half-Life 2'' still soundly won, beating out ''Doom 3'' in critical scores, sales numbers, and lasting influence through its engine and gameplay innovations.

* {{Vaporware}}: With no new games or Episodes after ''Episode 2'' in 2007 along with the death of Robert Culp, ''Half Life 2: Episode 3'' or ''Half-Life 3'' seem further and further away, if they will make them at all. In this [[http://www.polygon.com/2015/3/18/8253189/gabe-newell-valve-half-life Polygon article]] and ''Gameslice'' [[http://podcast.gameslice.com/1-gabe-newell-and-erik-johnson-from-valve podcast]], it seems that Gabe Newell and other senior higher-ups at Valve don't want to put work towards the ''Half-Life'' series for the foreseeable future and with Marc Laidlaw, the writer of ''Half-Life 2'', retiring it seems like the ''Half-Life'' series has ended on a depressing cliffhanger with [[spoiler:the death of Eli]] and the Combine still in control.