Physgun

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	The subject matter of this article contains in-development information that was cut from the final version of an official and/or canonical source and appears in no other canonical source. It may also contain incomplete information since not all cut material is publicly known.

Physgun
Technical specifications
Damage	Varies depending on the target
Magazine/reload type	16 Sticky Bomb-like welding balls (cannot be reloaded)
Max ammo	16
Accuracy	Varies with distance
Range	Short to high
Usage
Used by	Gordon Freeman
Game information
Entity	weapon_physgun

 

The Physgun, or Physics Gun, is a physics manipulation weapon used during the development of Half-Life 2. It can be found in the Half-Life 2 leak.

Overview

• The Physgun model is very similar to that of the Gravity Gun. The differences are some texture variations, a red wheel turning when operating in the place of the orange (or blue) glowing parts of the end of the Gravity Gun, and a beige pipe above. The gauge is very similar, and is held with the same tape in both weapons. The pincers are quite different, and simpler. However it has no worldmodel.

• The weapon was created to assist integration of physics objects into the gameplay of Half-Life 2. It was also used in the Source engine physics demonstration at E3 2003.

• Using its blue beam, the Physgun is useful when the player is unable to reach objects too far to be taken with the Gravity Gun, acting as a long range version of the latter.

• While holding the primary fire and the Use key, the mouse scroll button can bring the target towards and away from the player.

• When holding an object, its weight in pounds and kilos is shown.

• The version of its model is v35, which needs to be converted to v37 to appear.

• The Physgun's beam is also able to kill enemies and allies. It will also push Antlions extremely far.

Sending a car flying with two weld tanks attached to it in the map dangerted.

• The Physgun's secondary fire (with a red beam) produces a Sticky Bomb-like ball (as it is the same model) that the player can use to "weld" two props together, when throwing a ball on each prop (the balls need to touch each other for the welding to work). When two props are weld together, using the primary fire on one of them will have the ball of the other produce sparks. The ball(s) of a prop will also change its color when the prop is selected. Gameplay wise, this option is very unstable and difficult to use efficiently. Sometimes the red beam will change and attach the prop to the ground after a few seconds. When the attachment is achieved, a flare sound also used by the Flare Gun and the IRifle will be heard. This feature is reminiscent of what can be achieved in Garry's Mod, and hints at a possible sandbox physics feature (even multiplayer) removed from Half-Life 2. Indeed, in the Half-Life 2 leak, the Physgun is able to perform simple to complex physics contraptions similar to those featured in Garry's Mod, and without making changes to the game settings. The WC map pack map dangerted (named after the Citizen ragdoll present in the map, male Citizen 02, Ted) for instance is a sandbox map that the team used for testing physics with the Physgun. Furthermore, two canister models, "W_WeldTank.mdl" and "W_WeldTank2.mdl", were apparently designed only to be weld to specific objects and make it fly away when ignited, as they contain volatile gas. They were removed from the retail files, hinting at their purpose being nil in the final game.

• In an interview with RetroGamer magazine, David Speyrer stated that the Gravity Gun, originally dubbed the Physgun at the time, was initially just an in-game tool built by Jay Stelly to allow the developers to pick up props and reel them in or push them away with an energy beam. They then came up with the idea of assembling physics contraptions by welding objects together, also adding this functionality to the device. The Physgun would eventually evolve into the Gravity Gun.

Trivia

• The Physgun is featured in popular mods such as Garry's Mod and SMOD, in the former of which the model has been swapped with that of the supercharged gravity gun. Its functions remain the same, except a few additional features such as rotating objects and freezing them mid-air.

• In the Half-Life 2 files, several texture files for HUD weapon icons can be found, most of which still containing the icons for almost all of the cut weapons. The Physgun is among them.

• The Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device features Physgun-like functionalities in the Portal 2 Sixense MotionPack DLC.

• During 2023 repository leak, a 1999-2000 viewmodel of the Physgun was leaked.

Gallery

• 

  HUD icon.

• 

  Alternate icon, without caption.

• 

  Sticky Bomb model.

• 

  The Physgun in the Danger Ted Construction Set.

• 

  "W_WeldTank.mdl".

• 

  "W_WeldTank2.mdl".

• 

  The 1999-2000 leaked viewmodel of the Physgun, leaked during the 2023 repository leak.

List of appearances

• Half-Life 2 (Game files only) (Non-canonical appearance)