Half-Life 2 demonstrations

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The E3 logo.

During Half-Life 2’s development, several demonstrations of the game were showcased, most notably at the E3 video game trade fair, among others.

Most of the maps of the E3 demonstrations can be found in the WC map pack from the Half-Life 2 leak, but will require some amount of work for them to work, due to missing files and engine differences.

SIGGRAPH 2000

This section is in the middle of an expansion or major revamping.

On November 15, 2024, the complete SIGGRAPH 2000 demonstration was released on YouTube as part of the Half-Life 2 20th Anniversary Update.

List of demonstrations

Get Your Free TVs!

• Set in the WC map pack map city_test, with publicly released versions ranging from "03" to "09".
• The demo consisted of numerous test sequences and designed to highlight all the new technology created for the game and test the NPCs and physics.

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"Demo Arctic"

• Set in the test map demo_arctic, last edited in September 2001, it consists of the Borealis stranded in the ice near a base and a cave.

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E3 2002

Half-Life 2 was originally to be presented at E3 2002. Following the enthusiasm sparked at Valve by the technology demo Get Your Free TVs! in summer 2001, Newell asked the team to prepare a "proof of concept" reel with elements that would resemble more a finished game. In late 2001, the team started work on the demonstrations, hoping to finish them in early 2002 and then unveil them at E3 2002. In March 2002, the team had completed a large series of demonstrations and were very satisfied with the results, given the short amount of time given to prepare them, and were ready to show it to Gabe Newell. But while he was impressed by the work put into the demonstration, he considered it not good enough to be shown at E3 2002. While the character technology was visually impressive, the dramatic scenes were deemed too long and boring; the physics gameplay was worth of interest, but there weren't any moments that really sold how the physics would take first-person shooters to the next level. The team started working on a new reel, which evolved into the more successful E3 2003 demos, and then the final game.

On November 15, 2024, the demonstrations were released on YouTube as part of the Half-Life 2 20th Anniversary Update.

List of demonstrations

Trailer

• The only E3 2002 demonstration that was publicly available prior to their full official release in 2024, when it was leaked around May 16, 2003. It reuses a track cut from the Half-Life: Opposing Force soundtrack titled "Mishaps In The Reactor Chamber Part 1 - Track 03", by Chris Jensen. It features footage of the E3 2002 demos "Town", "Terminal", "Kleiner's Lab", and "Strider" (both Strider and Hydra parts).
• Trailer on YouTube (official)

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"Depot"

• Set in the map e3_depot. e3_seacliff also exists.
• Featuring an Antlion Guard fighting against Combine Soldiers near the Depot and a lighthouse, on top of which the demo ends in a battle against a Combine Gunship, reused in the final game.
• "Depot" on YouTube (official)

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"Kleiner's Lab"

• Set in the map e3_lab.
• "Kleiner's Lab" on YouTube (official) (Timestamp: 9:15)
• Featuring an early Kleiner's Lab sequence. The player enters the lab, walks past Barney and Kleiner, touches the gas cylinder and blows up everything in the lab.
• The Final Hours describes it as featuring Isaac Kleiner and Alyx Vance, and consisting of about 20 minutes of dialogue, which was considered too long for an E3 showcase, and shortened for E3 2003.
  • The map ms_lab, last edited June 2002, features Alyx at the proper location in the lab, but the scripts are unrelated and Kleiner is not present.
• e3_lab found in the WC map pack along with the features the first half of the first part of the original teleportation sequence with Elena Mossman.

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"Ship"

• Set in the map e3_ship. e3_shiptest, e3_devtest and e3_meathook also exists.
• Featuring the Borealis level, without Odell.
• "Ship" on YouTube (official) (Timestamp: 10:25)

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"Strider"

• Set in the map e3_strider. e3_sewer also exists.
• Featuring Striders attacking Citizens through ruined streets, and Gordon Freeman and Alyx Vance escaping through sewers, in which a Hydra attacks a Combine Soldier. The sequences were updated for E3 2003, the Strider part for the demo "Striders", and the Hydra part for the demo "Tunnels".
• "Strider" on YouTube (official) (Timestamp: 16:43)

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"Terminal"

• Set in the map e3_terminal.
• Featuring an early City 17 Trainstation Plaza and Civil Protection's control over Citizens, and a Rebel attack launched against a Combine march (with Combots, Combine Soldiers and a Synth Combine Guard) on a nearby street.
• "Terminal" on YouTube (official) (Timestamp: 20:15)

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"Town"

• Set in the map e3_town.
• Featuring early docks and Zombies near Ravenholm. Reused for the E3 2003 demo "Docks".
• "Town" on YouTube (official) (Timestamp: 24:00)

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"Industrial" (cut)

• Set in the map e3_industrial. This demo was cut for the E3 presentation.
• Featuring an industrial part of City 17 as the Combine Factories, featuring a Razor Train passing by, children workers, a simplified stenographer's chasm, and various factories and workshops.
• "Industrial" on YouTube (unofficial)

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E3 2003

Following the cancellation of Half-Life 2’s unveiling at E3 2002, a new reel was prepared and shown to Newell in September 2002. It featured mostly updated versions of the demos of the previous reel, along with several new demos. Feedback was very positive, and in October it was decided that the team would get ready to showcase the game at E3 2003, and have it released in September.

While heavy work was being made on the game thanks to Valve's "cabal" design process, the subject of the E3 presentation was still to be determined: first Newell wanted the team to create an extensive 30-minute demo that would feature Alyx guiding the audience through a science lab that showcased the Source technology. Then, halfway through the demo, the lab would suddenly be attacked and the player would have to escape alongside Alyx. It sounded like a great way to break the fourth wall and show off Valve's character technology. But in the weeks leading up to E3, the team didn't have enough time to create such an elaborate demo, so they decided to showcase several short sequences. The showcase was very successful, which made Half-Life 2 the buzz of the show, to the point of winning the "Best of Show" award.

The demonstrations are listed here in showcase order, as seen in the full sequence as filmed at E3 in 2003.

List of demonstrations

Half-Life 2 logo

• Set in the map e3_hl2logo.
• Used on a black background for the demo's introduction.

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"G-Man"

• Set in the map e3_techdemo_1.
• Showcasing Source's facial animations and language support through the G-Man, it starts with the GoldSrc version of the G-Man fading into the Source version. The G-Man says various sentences, including one in Chinese.
• "G-Man" on YouTube (official)

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"Techdemo 2"

• Set in the map e3_techdemo_2.
• Showcasing physics with the Physgun.
• "Techdemo 2" on YouTube (unofficial)

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"Techdemo 5"

• Set in the map e3_techdemo_5.
• Showcasing textures and shaders, as well as a working video camera on a tripod filming the G-Man, with the image projected on several monitors, until a Headcrab topples the camera.
• Reused with small changes for Counter-Strike: Source's "Video Stress Test".
• "Techdemo 5" on YouTube (unofficial)

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"Docks"

• Set in the map e3_techdemo_6.
• Featuring the early docks and Zombies near Ravenholm originally to be shown at E3 2002.
• "Docks" on YouTube (official)

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"Kleiner's Lab"

• Set in the map e3_lab. e3_techdemo_4 also exists.
• Featuring a much shorter version of the Kleiner's Lab sequence from E3 2002. The conversation is interrupted by a Strider attack, reminiscent of the original concept for the whole E3 2003 showcase.
• "Kleiner's Lab" on YouTube (official)

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"Traptown"

• Set in the map e3_phystown.
• Featuring the use of traps and physics against Zombies and Combine Soldiers in Ravenholm.
• "Traptown" on YouTube (official)

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"Tunnels"

• Set in the map e3_under. e3_hydra also exists, and features the Hydra sewer only.
• Featuring sewer areas involving fighting Civil Protection and Manhacks, ending with Gordon reuniting with Alyx for the Hydra sequence originally to be shown at E3 2002. While a playthrough was recorded, it was cut from the demonstration. The map is partially used in the playable leak, in the map d1_under_03, and in the final game, in the map d3_c17_08, with CPs replaced by Combine Soldiers.
• "Tunnels" on YouTube (official)

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"Barricade"

• Set in the map e3_c17_01.
• Featuring a street battle against Civil Protection protected by a Combine Barricade, with Barney and Rebels, and ending with a Combine Gunship attack.
• "Barricade" on YouTube (official)

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"Bugbait"

• Set in the map e3_bugbait. e3_prison also exists.
• Featuring a daytime Nova Prospekt, in which the use of the Bugbait on the Antlions to defeat the guards is showcased. Mostly consists of cell block C1 from the final game, featuring the laundry facilities.
• "Bugbait" on YouTube (official)

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"Coastline"

• Set in the map e3_seafloor.
• Featuring an early Dock 137 sequence with the Combine Gunship attacking from the start.
• "Coastline" on YouTube (official)

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"Striders"

• Set in the map e3_c17_02.
• Featuring an updated version of the 2002 demo "Strider", it also features a Resistance battle against Striders in a ruined City 17. At the start of the demo, a tram passes by in the middle of the road. Parts of the map were reused in the final game as d3_c17_07 (the arch building) and d3_c17_13 (the street, the tram tracks and the shelter).
• "Striders" on YouTube (official)

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"Psyche"

• Set in the map e3_end.
• Featuring a dreamy sequence with the G-Man and other pictures, notably the earliest known models of Eli and Alyx Vance and Barney Calhoun. While the pictures are simple textures files, the demo ends with the actual G-Man who will say "Well, well, isn't this just like old times.". Also set at the end of the WC map pack map hazard, dating from 2002, but with an alternate G-Man speech.
• "Psyche" on YouTube (official)

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E3 2004

Except for the teaser and G-Man's monologue, the sequences are identical to the final game.

List of demonstrations

Teaser

• Made in a near final build of the game, which has some differences in textures compared to the final
• E3 2004 Teaser Trailer on YouTube (official)

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Trailer

• Made in a near final version of the game.
• Trailer on YouTube (official)

"G-Man Monologue"

• Featuring a sequence close to Half-Life 2’s final introduction.
• "G-Man Monologue" on YouTube (official)

"Train Station"

• Featuring the very start of the game, from exiting the train until right before Barney Calhoun reveals himself.
• "Train Station" on YouTube (official)

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"Tenements"

• Featuring the tenement buildings set between the City 17 Trainstation and Kleiner's Lab, right before the raid.
• "Tenements" on YouTube (official)

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"Ravenholm"

• Featuring the start of Ravenholm until right before the plaza where Father Grigori is first met.
• "Ravenholm" on YouTube (official)

"Coast"

• Featuring the Dock 137 area until the player has killed all Combine Soldiers in sight with the crane. Updated version of the "Coastline" demo from E3 2003.
• "Coast" on YouTube (official)

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Half-Life 2 launch party

• Set in a variant of the retail map d1_trainstation_04.
• A launch party for Half-Life 2 was held on the island of Alcatraz in San Francisco on September 30, 2003, in partnership with graphics card manufacturer ATI. However while it was expected, Half-Life 2's release date was not announced. Instead, a benchmark video showcasing the HDR in the (back then) upcoming Source engine was shown, titled "Source Engine High-Dynamic Range Rendering", and involving an Antlion Guardian on the rooftops of the tenement buildings set before Kleiner's Lab, and high quality reflections on the roof materials not included in the final game. Half-Life 2 was released about a year later, and the HDR was not implemented before Half-Life 2: Lost Coast, released about two years later.
• "Source Engine High-Dynamic Range Rendering" on YouTube (official)

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Miscellaneous demonstrations and test maps

Several in-house demos and test maps were made but not used in E3 presentations; they can also be found in the WC map pack. This is a non-exhaustive list.

"Aliens Test"

• Set in the test map testroom_ripley, last edited in March 2002, and aliens_test, probably last edited around September 2003, but not present in the files.
• Scene reusing partial dialog from three scenes of the 1986 film Aliens, used for lip sync tests. Alyx says Ripley's lines, Barney says Hicks', the player acts as Hudson.
• Restoration of the scene on YouTube

Segments

Location: sound/vo/alien_test

Transcripts taken from the official film subtitles.

Segment set around 70 min. in the director's cut for the film:

Sound file	Quote
A01-Rip01	How long after we're declared overdue can we expect a rescue?
A02-Hicks01	Seventeen days.
A03-Rip02	Listen to me.
A04-Rip03	Hudson, just deal with it, because we need you and I'm sick of your bullshit.
A05-Rip04	Now I want you to get on a terminal, call up some kind of floor plan file. Do you understand?
A06-Rip05	Construction blueprints. I don't care. Anything that shows the layout of this place. Are you listening?
A07-Rip06	I need to see air ducts.
A08-Rip07	I need to see electrical access tunnels,
A09-Rip08	subbasements,
A10-Rip09	every possible way into this complex.
A11-Rip10	We don't have much time.
A12-Rip11	Hudson!
A13-Rip12	Just relax.

Segment set around 129 min. in the director's cut for the film:

Sound file	Quote
A14-Hicks02	Next time you walk right up and knock.
A15-Rip13	Yeah, but they don't know that.
A16-Rip14	They're probably looking for other ways to get in.
A17-Rip15	That'll take 'em a while.
A18-Hicks03	I want you two walking perimeter.
A19-Hicks04	Move!
A20-Hicks05	Hey, listen.
A21-Hicks06	We're all in strung-out shape,
A22-Hicks07	but stay frosty
A23-Hicks08	and alert.
A24-Hicks09	We can't afford to let one of those bastards in here.
A25-Hicks10	How long's it been since you got any sleep?
A26-Hicks11	Twenty-four hours?
A27-Rip16	Hicks, I'm not gonna end up like those others.
A28-Rip17	You'll take care of it, won't you?
A29-Hicks12	If it comes to that,
A30-Hicks13	I'll do us both.
A31-Hicks14	Listen, let's just make sure it doesn't come to that.
A32-Hicks15	All right?

Segment set around 143 min. in the director's cut for the film:

Sound file	Quote
A33-Rip18	They cut the power.
A34-Hudson1	How could they cut the power, man? They're animals.
A35-Hicks16	I want you two with trackers, checking the corridors! Move!

"Look Lab"

• Set in the map looklab, in the folder "marc", last edited in February 2003, with temp Kleiner dialogue sound files created in November 2001.
• Set in a small room with green metal walls within an Arctic location, as seen through the window. In it, the ability for Kleiner to comment on specific objects is demonstrated, in a showing of what is used in the final game for Kleiner's Lab and Black Mesa East. The objects include a Combot decoy, a Rollermine, a painting which is actually an image to be used for distant buildings, and a broken window revealing the Arctic landscape. His voice was recorded by another voice actor, most likely Marc Laidlaw.
• "Look Lab" on YouTube (unofficial)

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  General view with Kleiner, the Rollermine and the painting.

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  The Combot on its pedestal.

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  The Rollermine on its pedestal.

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  The window with the Arctic landscape behind it.

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  View from the skybox.

"Nether"

• Set in the map nether_01, in the folder "marc", last edited in June 2002.
• Takes place in a large underground collector. Near the beginning, a brief scene with a whistling citizen named Joe plays out, ending in a swarm of Manhacks flooding the place. Later in the level, Stalkers appear, using their laser beams to collapse a section of a pipe and to attack Freeman.
• "Nether" on YouTube (unofficial)

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  The starting area.

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  The area with the laser-cut pipe setpiece.

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  The citizen, Joe, moments before the Manhacks attack.

"Outpost"

• Set in the map e3_outpost_test, an early sketch last edited in March 2003.
• This demonstration appears to have been intended for E3 2003, but was cancelled early in the development. It features a Combine outpost somewhere in The Wasteland, infiltrated by Gordon Freeman. To trick Combine Soldiers into opening the Combine Smart Barrier blocking the entrance, Gordon would use a disguise in the form of a stolen Armored Personnel Carrier.
• "Outpost Test" on YouTube (unofficial)

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  The entrance to the outpost.

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  Outpost's interior.

"Boxing"

• Set in the map boxing, last edited in May 2002.
• Consists of a small dark room with a boxing ring in the middle, lit by a single lamp. There two Zombies start fighting each other when a bell rings. When the first one is killed, the bell rings again and the remaining Zombie remains still.
• In the map, the Zombie are named popinksi and vonkaiser, a reference to the characters Soda Popinski and Von Kaiser from the boxing video game series Punch-Out!! by Nintendo.
• "Boxing" on YouTube (unofficial)

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"Techdemo 3"

• Possibly planned for E3 2003, but not demonstrated at the expo.
• Set in the map e3_techdemo_3, last edited in May 2003.
• Based on the map testroom_standards seen in Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar, designed as a reference for measurements of level elements, with various modifications.
• Showcasing a scripted sequence of a Citizen waking up a Zombie, then running away and covering behind barrels and a stair while the Zombie is trying to attack the player and pounding on a door, and shooting the Zombie with the Submachine Gun.
• The version of the map in the WC map pack is incomplete, as the map entities required for the sequence to work are missing or not properly connected to each other.
• "Techdemo 3" on YouTube (unofficial)

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"Techdemo 4"

• Possibly planned for E3 2003, but not demonstrated at the expo.

• Set in the map e3_techdemo_4, last edited in late April 2003.

• Begins in a Half-Life-styled rendition of Kleiner's lab: very basic and consisting solely of brush geometry, with ported HL textures. On cue, the view jumps to a Half-Life 2-styled rendition: still only brush geometry, but with modern bumpmapped materials, better lighting, and more detail. Finally, the view jumps to a fully detailed version of the lab, with all of the props and special effects in place.

• The jump from Goldsource-level technology to Source-level is similar to what was showed in the official "G-man" demo for E3 2003.

• "Techdemo 4" on YouTube (unofficial)

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