Half Life Alpha: The Technology

if you enjoy the video please consider subscribing to the channel because if you don't valve might replace gordon with ivan the space biker today we look at an engine which became gold source the engine that powered half-life 1. in the demo map included in the half-life alpha cd there's quite a bit to look at not jaw-dropping by today's standards but it was revolutionary in 1997. first there's the color lighting room the neat thing here is how the colors mix up one advancement valve made here was to use a 16-bit color palette instead of an 8-bit one that made the game look prettier with better texture support then there's the skeletal animation system in older games like quake each part of the 3d model was separate which made animating them very difficult this connected system of each limb made animation smoother and easier to work with this is the probot by the way we'll look at him in the cut enemies video shooting it showcases some of the animation it has then there's the transparency room in the 90s game developers had to use dithering to display transparent objects this was because of the hardware limitations they had to face valve was able to develop proper transparency for the gold source engine with different colors and materials to use on the surfaces and a higher resolution texture option allowed for better decals on surfaces as well the flocking system this was to demonstrate how these void creatures would pick a leader and follow it in a flock this was all unscripted and their flight pattern was dynamic this meant that they could traverse through the area on their own judging by themselves where to slow down and where to turn it's an early demonstration of how valve implemented artificial intelligence very well this is the sound room i'll cut the music and i'll quiet down a bit you'll notice how the sound effect changes in each little area of the section the echo the reverb wet areas will dampen the sound wide ones will amplify it fun fact kelly bailey programmed all of these sounds by himself a composer and a programmer and he did it himself in 1997 what a great man now this is the scripted sequence room it shows how they have a set of animations playing together to show a little event happening that is the panther eye by the way we'll look at it too in the cut enemies video the early 3d models of the human characters look a bit cartoonish i don't think i like this style at all the high poly count room is the most impressive one for me personally for comparison the most sophisticated enemy designed in quake had 500 polygons valve made their most sophisticated one at 6 000 polygons now i'm not sure if this is that model with the 6000 polygons but it sure is an impressive feat to achieve within one year this robot kinda reminded me of the msx metal gear designs for some reason and it dances again showing off their skeletal system as well after these little rooms we end up in a hall with four different routes to take the route on the left and the one behind me goes to the same place we'll go through each of these and see what they have i went into the back door first again these rooms were just there to show off the engine's capabilities not impressive today but transparent water was a revolutionary thing to see in a game and climbing ladders jolted you side to side which i'm glad they got rid of there's this little area with the guards and scientists in it some of the textures on the equipment i noticed was different than the retail after this i was back at the hall again this time i went straight ahead it was surprising to see that the blast pits chapter monster was in here the hyper suctor sensitiva or simply the tentacle even the area felt like a precursor to the blast pit chapter the monster does no damage here to us or the guards then i found a room here which had a couple of hecu soldiers in it these were extremely hard to kill so i died a few times and went back back in the hall we go into the path on the right it's basically a 3d model gallery the age assault or the human sergeant used a minigun and was slated to be a mini boss within the game unfortunately he was cut shooting at these models plays some of the animations they have here's the hecu soldier the immediate difference i noticed was the weapon he was carrying in retail it's an mp5 the panther eye i really like this enemy and wish it was in retail it's cool looking and is frightening the alien grunt had some minor changes to his model his textures felt a bit brighter than retail the vortigaunt similar to the grunt had brighter textures as well and his green lock on the neck was a bit bigger the scientists and the barneys got a complete overhaul in retail the cartoonish element in their appearance was dialed down a lot a morbid detail on their textures here was the little splashes or streaks of blood on their clothes as if they went through something horrifying and here's the hound eye 3d model resembles the retail one but the textures are different i'll uh look away now because i don't like looking at this thing and now we're back at the hall and there you have it the half-life one alpha tech demo the leap in technology if compared with quake is significant they improved many things and implemented new ones as well the next step in this evolution would be the source engine but that would come years later so if you have any fun facts to share about the alpha share them down below and thank you for watching you

Channel: Radiation Hazard

Views: 8,719

Rating: 4.9506936 out of 5

Keywords: half life 2, valve, beta version, dark atmosphere, grim alternate reality, leaked hl2, half life leak, city 17 beta, blade runner, alpha version, half life 2 development, Half Life 2 Beta: City 17 - The City That Never Was, The Fascinating & Depressing World of Half Life 2, the citadel, citadel, Half Life 2 Beta: The Citadel - Inside The Titan, Half Life 2 Beta: City 17 - In A Different Timeline, half life 2 beta, Half Life 2 Beta: Cut Characters & Enemies, radiation hazard

Id: gNK9DMHNonQ

Length: 8min 25sec (505 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 05 2021