Easter eggs

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This page contains a list of Easter eggs featured in the Half-Life and Portal series.

Half-Life and expansions

Half-Life

Chapter(s)	Map(s)	Description	Images
Anomalous Materials	c1a0d	The names of the developers can be found on the lockers. There are also unused names in the files (see the List of minor Black Mesa employees for the names). The developers are also mentioned in announcements.
Anomalous Materials	c1a0d	Gordon Freeman's locker contains a couple of Easter eggs: a photo of a baby, and two books by Marc Laidlaw, The Orchid Eater and The 37th Mandala (a texture for The Third Force was created, but left unused). According to Harry Teasley, the baby in the photo is his daughter, Isabel Teasley, and was originally placed on a broken desk in a ruined office. It was later moved to Gordon's locker by another designer, most likely by Brett Johnson, the creator of the map. It should be also noted that Brett's locker is next to Gordon's.
Anomalous Materials	c1a0d	In the PlayStation 2 version, an Easter egg was added involving the two scientists occupying the toilet stalls in the locker room. The two now converse with one another utilizing existing scientist dialog lines in a humorous manner. While there are three normal exchanges which play at regular time intervals, a secret fourth scripted dialog sequence also exists which only plays once every five minutes.
Anomalous Materials, Unforeseen Consequences	c1a0a, c1a1	The very small text in this sign reads "If you can read this shit then you are really fuckin strange... with good eyeyeS / I need text of interest here. no really go ahead and picture something cool in your mind eye make something up of what you would like for this to say".
Unforeseen Consequences	c1a1b	The entity name of the first Vortigaunt seen breaking down the door is "georgeclinton". George Clinton is an American funk music artist.
Office Complex	c1a2, c1a2b	Dr. Newell and Dr. Van Buren door signs can be seen in the Sector D Administration Center, referencing Gabe Newell and Bill Van Buren, respectively. Unused Sgt. Harrington sign texture[i] can be found in the game files, a nod to Mike Harrington.
Office Complex	c1a2c	The Valve logo can be seen on a coffee machine in the Administration Center.
On A Rail	c2a2c	The name Riller (made out of brushes) can be found on a wall hidden under the stairs. Dave Riller is a Valve employee, and most likely the creator of the map.[i]
Various	Various	A newspaper called The Onion has a chance to appear whenever a trash can is destroyed. This is a reference to The Onion, a satirical web site.
Various	Various	The text on the back of the Gun-Nut ammo box reads "I'm just a crazy ol' kill-your-schoolmates kind of guy! Why dontcha join me in a spree?"
N/A	N/A	Dario Casali's signature (made out of brushes) can be found in every multiplayer map made by him.

Half-Life: Opposing Force

Chapter(s)	Map(s)	Description	Images
Boot Camp	ofboot0	The player can see the names of developers on each footlocker in the dormitory. This has been a tradition in the Half-Life series since the original game. David Mertz's locker is also next to Adrian Shephard's, the creator of the map, just like Brett Johnson's locker being next to Gordon Freeman's.
Boot Camp	ofboot0	There is an unreachable room below Shephard's dormitory. If the player uses "noclip" and goes in the room, they find a dark room with the initials, "D.M.M 1999". D.M.M is the initials of David Michael Mertz, the creator of the map, while 1999 is the release date for Opposing Force.
Welcome To Black Mesa	of1a1	There is a computer with an ultrasound image on its screen in the CAT scan room. This a picture of Randy and Kristy Pitchford's son.
Welcome To Black Mesa	of1a1	There is a computer that can be used by the player at the security checkpoint. When used three times, the computer crashes and it gives the Blue Screen of Death error message.
Friendly Fire	of2a4	Two dead scientists can be seen lying in front of their desks in an office. Their names are S. Reardon and S. Jones, a nod to Gearbox employees Sean Reardon and Steven Jones.
Friendly Fire	of2a4	There is an unreachable room used for the entities, with a message on its wall that says "What are you doing in my entity room?".
Friendly Fire	of2a5	There is a photo of one of the developer's babies in a file cabinet in the destroyed office.
We Are Not Alone	of3a1	A Chumtoad can be found inside a vent in the room leading to the Lambda Complex's portal room (see the article for the Chumtoad for more information).
We Are Not Alone	of3a1	The player can use the Displacer to visit the ruined Hazard Course. Here, there is a photo of Rob Heironimus (taken by his co-worker John Faulkenbury) from Easter 1998 with plastic Easter eggs in his eye sockets.
Vicarious Reality	of4a3	There is a broken glass case labeled 007 in the specimen room where the player finds the Barnacle Grapple. This is a reference to James Bond. James always escapes.
Pit Worm's Nest	of4a4	The puzzle to kill the Pit Worm involves both a "gearbox" and a "valve" to be used, which are obvious references to the game's developers.
N/A	N/A	An unused sound file "dsbossit.wav" can be found in the game's "misc" folder. When played normally, it sounds like a garbled voice speaking gibberish, but when reversed, it reveals the phrase "To win the game you must kill me, Randall Pitchford", mirroring the final boss from Doom II that similarly states "To win the game you must kill me, John Romero" backwards. John Romero and Randy Pitchford are developers of Doom and Half-Life: Opposing Force, respectively. In addition, dsbossit is the same filename used for the equivalent sound in Doom II. This Easter egg was voiced and added into Opposing Force by Gearbox programmer John Faulkenbury.

Half-Life: Blue Shift

Chapter(s)	Map(s)	Description	Images
Living Quarters Outbound	ba_tram1	There is a soccer ball under the tracks at the beginning of the game. The model is from Team Fortress Classic map Push.
Living Quarters Outbound	ba_tram1	A security guard and a scientist are playing a fighting arcade video game named Prax Wars 2: Dante's Revenge. This is a reference to Prax War, a cancelled video game by Rebel Boat Rocker. The key members of the studio later founded Gearbox Software.
Insecurity	ba_security2	Barney Calhoun's locker contains a couple of Easter eggs: two photos, two fictional books The Truth About Aliens by RH (Rob Heironimus) and Government Conspiracies, and a Chumtoad in a cardboard box (see the article for the Chumtoad for more information).
Insecurity, Captive Freight	ba_security2, ba_teleport1	Rob Heironimus's photo from Opposing Force can be found inside a toilet stall in Insecurity and inside an air duct in Captive Freight.
Insecurity	ba_security2	A dancing scientist can be seen through a hidden security camera in the video surveillance room.
Insecurity	ba_security2	The very small text in this sign reads "Yes, those men are fine examples of natural born man killers. Black Mesa employs nothing but the best!".
Duty Calls	ba_canal1	The photo of Randy and Kristy Pitchford's baby from Opposing Force can be found in the flooded lab.
Captive Freight	ba_yard3	A box of gears can be found, which is a nod to Gearbox Software.
Captive Freight	ba_yard3	Sean Reardon's name plate from Opposing Force can be seen on a desk in the room where Harold is found.
Captive Freight	ba_yard3	There is a photo of a baby in a locker in the room where Harold is found.

Half-Life: Decay

Mission(s)	Map(s)	Description	Images
Domestic Violence	ht05dorms	In the personnel dormitories of Level 3 Dormitories, each room except two is occupied by two people, all named after Gearbox employees involved in the making of the game (save for Gordon Freeman).
Domestic Violence	ht05dorms	The book The Truth About Aliens by RH (Rob Heironimus) can be found in Gordon Freeman's room. The same book is in Barney Calhoun's locker in Blue Shift.
Domestic Violence	ht05dorms	Destroying the guard's scripted corpse (it has 3000hp, more than the final Alien Craft boss does, therefore 600 crowbar hits are required) in the swimming pool will make him explode spawning Snarks in his stead, useable as a weapon. See the video.
Intensity	ht11lasers	At the very beginning of the map, after it has already been loaded, shooting the button within the first 5 seconds will make Richard Keller say the alternative conversation line. Exists in the NTSC-U PS2 version of Half-Life, but cut for the PAL version. See the video.
Rift	ht12fubar	After beating the boss, switching to Colette Green's perspective will unveil the sparking computer. Its electrical arcing paths, if connected together by imaginary lines, will appear as a signature left by Gearbox level designer Matt Armstrong. See the video.

Half-Life 2 and Episodes

Half-Life 2

Chapter(s)	Map(s)	Description	Images
Point Insertion	d1_trainstation_01	The name of Wright Bagwell, a former Valve employee, can be seen on a clock face in the City 17 Trainstation.
Point Insertion, Anticitizen One	d1_trainstation_02, d3_c17_02	The doll model seen in the playground appears to be based on a mutilated doll from The X-Files episode Born Again.
Point Insertion	d1_trainstation_04	When Alyx and Gordon first meet, she asks him "Doctor Freeman, I presume?", likely referencing the famous quote "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?".
"A Red Letter Day", Black Mesa East, Entanglement	d1_trainstation_05, d1_eli_01, d3_c17_01	Near a desk at Kleiner's Lab can be seen two crates marked as radioactive. One of them is yellow and bears the words "PLUTONIUM HANDLE WITH CARE". This is a reference to the plutonium case featured in the movie Back to the Future. The same desk model was used in Black Mesa East.
"A Red Letter Day", Black Mesa East, Entanglement	d1_trainstation_05, d1_eli_01, d3_c17_01	A photo of Mark Twain can be found in Kleiner's Lab on a desk. The same desk model was used in the surveillance room at Black Mesa East.
"A Red Letter Day", Black Mesa East, Entanglement	d1_trainstation_05, d1_eli_01, d3_c17_01	On a security workstation in Kleiner's Lab can be seen a CD player indicating the name "Blue Scholars", which is the name of an alternative hip-hop band. One of its two members, Sabzi, is the cousin of Dhabih Eng, one of the designers of the location. On the same workstation can be seen a radio tuned to FM 89.50. KNHC, also known as C89.5 FM, is a music station run by students at Nathan Hale High School in Seattle, Washington. It can be heard in a small radius around Puget Sound, but also streams live to the Internet.
"A Red Letter Day", Entanglement	d1_trainstation_05, d3_c17_01	A console in Kleiner's Lab displays the text "42FF". It was placed by Gary McTaggart, a former Valve programmer, and is a reference to a friend group called "42 Freedom Fighters" that he is a part of.
Black Mesa East	d1_eli_01	Eli's Lab at Black Mesa East contains a couple of Easter eggs: a couple of fictional books The Extreme Aggrotato by Marc Laidlaw, The Big Book of Big Text by Dayyan Eng (Dhabih Eng's brother), The Meaning of Lost and Mismatched Socks (this is in a fact real world book by Harry S. Robins), and Aeronautical Robotics by William C. Wood (included by Matt Wood as a reference to his father). The Cremator's head, a cut enemy from the game, in a jar, and also on a computer screen nearby (see the article for the Cremator for more information).
Sandtraps	d2_coast_11	The names of the Vortigaunts conversing in Vortigese at the Vortigaunt Camp are Dum and Dee, which is a reference to the Tweedledum and Tweedledee characters in an English nursery rhyme and in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass.
Anticitizen One	d3_c17_08	Apparently referencing the Super Mario series, this map features a narrow corridor with three metal pipes and a Headcrab set to move back and forth between two of them; it is instantly killed when touched by the player.
Various	Various	The alphanumerics "V952" can be seen on several Combine devices, including the Combine Sentry Gun, the Emplacement Gun, the Hunter-Chopper, the Hunter-Chopper Bomb, and the Overwatch Standard Issue Pulse Rifle. The textures for these models were created by Tri Nguyen; "V952" is the badge number of his brother, who is a police officer in Ottawa, Canada.
Various	Various	The number "24724" can be seen in a graffiti. It is the ZIP Code for Freeman, Mercer County, West Virginia.
Various	Various	In the game files, an unused texture for the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four is present, the most direct reference to George Orwell's work.
Various	Various	Graffiti seen frequently throughout the game features Russian text alongside an image of lemons and oranges being bombed. This is an inside joke made by Valve level designer Matt Wood. The text "ДЕЙ", which actually says "DEY" in Russian, is actually meant to visually represent the English word "Ren", the nickname of his then-girlfriend who was said to be a vegetarian at the time. Therefore, the bombs dropping on the fruit jokingly suggests a hatred for them.
Various	Various	A headline reading "SIFF reviews" can be seen on a paper sheet texture, which appears to be a page about the Seattle International Film Festival.
Various	Various	When played backwards, Classic Zombie sounds reveal phrases, such as "Help, God, help! Help me!"

Half-Life 2 leak

• When first launched, the Valve Hammer Editor featured in the Half-Life 2 leak plays a 3 seconds MIDI intro of the song "U Can't Touch This" by MC Hammer (named "hamrtime.mid"), an obvious play on the name of the artist, and the infamous sentence featured in the song, "Stop... Hammer time!".

• There is a line^[i] that was to be said by a security guard in a port of the Hazard Course from the original game. The line is: "Sorry, sir. You know I can't let you through here without your good friend Superfly Johnson. Wa hah. Just kidding, Gordon. You go on through. Hah haha!". This is a reference to Superfly Johnson character from the video game Daikatana, best known for his poor pathfinding skills. He is an ally, and has to follow the player through some levels. If the player reaches a loading point and the character is not with the player, the player character will say: "I can't leave without my buddy, Superfly!". It also a reference to a line^[i] said by the security guard when Gordon tries to go through a checkpoint without his suit on. The line is: "Sorry, Mr. Freeman, I got explicit orders not to let you through without your hazard suit on."

Half-Life 2: Episode One

Chapter(s)	Map(s)	Description	Images
Undue Alarm	ep1_citadel_00	The "Modified bear" logo of the rock band Radiohead can be seen on the steering wheel of the car Alyx and Gordon use to enter the Citadel.
Urban Flight	ep1_c17_02a	The names of the developers can be seen on room signs in the Hospital.

Half-Life 2: Episode Two

Chapter(s)	Map(s)	Description	Images
This Vortal Coil	ep2_outland_04	There is an unreachable section of the Victory Mine's Antlion colony tunnels in which a message reading "How did you get back here?!" can be seen.
Our Mutual Fiend	ep2_outland_11	In the White Forest base, an Easter egg referring to the TV series Lost can be found. In Uriah's lab, there is an inaccessible room containing a computer terminal with the six factors of the Valenzetti Equation shown on the screen and, on the wall, a Dharma-style octagon with the three pines from the White Forest logo in the middle. According to Steve Bond, many Valve employees are fans of Lost, and they noticed several strong Half-Life references in the first season of Lost. Gabe Newell and Lost creator J. J. Abrams exchanged e-mails, and Newell promised Abrams there would be a Lost reference in Episode Two, and this room was created.
Our Mutual Fiend	ep2_outland_11	The text on Episode Two's clipboard model texture uses excerpts from an article about rocket propulsion from the Rocket and Space Technology website created by Robert A. Braeunig.

Half-Life: Alyx

Chapter(s)	Map(s)	Description	Images
Is Or Will Be	a2_train_yard	Graffiti of the Aperture Science Sentry Turret can be found in Fairview Junction.

Portal series

Portal

Chapter(s)	Map(s)	Description	Images
N/A	N/A	An unused wet floor sign texture, humorously referencing the film 300 and the infamous meme "This is Sparta!" can be found in the game files. The texture file is located in the folder props_facemovie, while its corresponding model can be found in the Source Filmmaker files with a plain texture. It is based on a picture made no later than May 2007.
Various	Various	The keyboards seen in enrichment center offices have several letters highlighted. These letters can be rearranged to spell ASHPD, the acronym for the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device as well as an abbreviation of Adrian Shepard. In the menu background seen after completing the game, there is a keyboard which has all letters of Adrian's name highlighted.

Portal 2

Chapter(s)	Map(s)	Description	Images
The Cold Boot	sp_a2_fizzler_intro	At the start of Test Chamber 08, the turbines of the Enrichment Center malfunction and GLaDOS has to temporarily leave, giving Chell only the "fast" version of the test's explanation, which is an incomprehensible sped-up sentence. When slowed down, the sentence reveals itself to be "and methodically knocking people’s hats off—then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can.", an excerpt from Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick.
The Fall	sp_a3_transition01	In one of the office sections in Test Shaft 09, there is a partially obscured doorway that leads to the empty dry dock of the Borealis. Life preservers bearing the ship's name can be found in the same room.
Various	Various	Karla, a minor employee featured on a poster in Test Shaft 09 and nicknamed "the complainer", is named after Jay Pinkerton's wife, Karla Pacheco.

Source SDK

• The icon used for Hammer's obsolete entities consists of what presumably is the head of Jay Stelly pasted on the bust of Fonzie from the TV sitcom Happy Days, with his trademarks thumb up and leather jacket.
• Typing the example coordinates "200 -4096 1154" into the "Go To Coordinates" dialog in Hammer results in a dialog appearing, which reads "Seriously? (I mean, that was just an example, you were supposed to type in your own numbers)".
• A line in the file sdk_weapon_parse.cpp from the 2013 edition of the Source SDK features a nod to Douglas Adams, author of the series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and its number 42: m_iDamage = pKeyValuesData->GetInt("Damage", 42) // Douglas Adams 1952 - 2001.

See also

• The G-Man#List of exact in-game locations