Half Life 2 Beta: The Air Exchange

Half Life 2 Beta: The Air Exchange
A remake of one of my earliest Beta videos. Taking a look at the Air Exchange maps from 2001/Early 2002.
BGM is a self-made track, and it's available on the 2nd channel (Anomalous Based Material III).
Intro Video (Credit To Ruffvan):
• [SFM] Gordon's Friday ...
Play the Beta Levels Yourself (Thanks to HL2 Project Beta Team):
hl2-beta.ru/index.php?PHPSESS...
❗Links❗
☢2nd Channel:
/ @hazardmusicyt
☢Twitter:
/ radhaz_
☢Instagram:
/ radiationhazard
#HalfLife2 #Beta #CutContent

[@RadiationHazardYT]

☢ I'm co-hosting a mapping contest with noclick! Check this post for details: kzbin.infoUgwQ_AbpPLoK_BXUjHx4AaABCQ ☢ Also - why not give my 2nd channel a quick look? kzbin.info/door/X4Tvo2wcHsZjOtSKPlxQhw

[@RadiationHazardYT]

I'm searching for the maps that were made in the beginning and the end. Will make that video once I find the maps with the info. And I'll see if I can make a music track like how you suggested.

[@AustinDallasPictures]

Valve has the ability to make unrealistic places feel realistic.

[@AustinDallasPictures]

@ThyPeasantSlayer haha thanks brother.

[@lekatte]

@@AustinDallasPictures yet they cant count to 3!

[@ultmatepotato]

Yup!thats valve!

[@theonlyplain]

Thats called pseudorealism

[@FatherMcKenzie66]

The only problem is that they waste it with not making games

[@scorchy81]

half life beta content is probably by far the most interesting stuff you can find on a game

[@unoriginalperson72]

The half-life 2 beta kicks the everloving shit out of all other betas.

[@KinerfV4]

HL2 beta is honestly something I wanna play. It seems like an amazing game that had ONE PERSON not existed, we probably would’ve gotten. (+) the octocows

[@Imetral0]

@@KinerfV4 the original 2001-2002 story was long scrapped by the time the beta was leaked, the story at that time was p much the same as retail.

[@KinerfV4]

@@Imetral0 A single ladybug not existing can change everything according to the butterfly effect so who knows

[@gae_wead_dad_6914]

@@KinerfV4 Ah yes, the butterfly effect. It's pretty BS if you ask me. Barely anything changed when he leaked the beta. This info, all of this stuff might have been even lost forever. Who knows how many other interesting beta stuff was out there that we will never know of because there wasn't a chance hacker to leak it all.

[@PanzerMan332]

We need more games with "golden hour" lighting. I think it could be used particularly well with horror games. Ravenholm kinda got this feeling right towards when you first arrive, if I remember correctly.

[@HyperMario64]

I believe a good portion of the boat section of canals use this lighting, the final map (chopper fight) looks really good and has a unique feeling

[@cacohat]

AirEx is the most visually appealing map set I've seen in all of Source Engine history. You wouldn't know how badly I want to experience being in an environment with that outdoor lighting in real life.

[@archimedesbird3439]

surf_zaza

[@gae_wead_dad_6914]

I suggest you google Californian wild fires for that Who knows, that might be the standard in the future

[@australopithecusafarensis214]

Borealis: A misterious ship that is suspected to be able to teleport. City 17: A dark city, where slave kids work to produce monsters that will incinerate other forms of life. Air Exchange: Stinky air.

[@babysnatcherjaguar9470]

Underrated comment

[@Sych_Hyich]

Well, actually many things in HL world are able to teleport, so teleporting ship is kinda common. The whole combine invasion, btw was teleported to Earth. So many people suspect this ship not in travelling in space, but travelling in time

[@RandomnessCreates]

Isn't Borealis time travelling

[@user-fo8ff2gl8n]

@@Sych_Hyich так а суть Борея заключается в том, что он телепортируется ВНУТРИ измерения. Комбайны этого не умеют (Они умеют телепортироваться между измерениями, но не внутри их), поэтому они и заинтересованы в получении такой технологии (К примеру, прототип телепорта в Нова Проспект, который по сюжету разрушается).

[@Sych_Hyich]

@@user-fo8ff2gl8n ну да, ну да, а Кляйнер, собравший телепорт чуть ли не из мусора, наверное, умнее всех Комбайнов и додумался до телепортации внутри измерения. И Aperture Science, которые открыли телепортацию ещё во времена существования Чёрной Мезы, Комбайны почему-то не исследовали. Потому что им к чёрту не нужна эта технология, она в мире HL2;уже чуть ли не общеизвестна

[@TacBans]

I'm a bit of a sucker for the AirEx. It feels straight out of HL1, but with a more oppressive, smothering orange-ish tone. An analogy I'd do is this: It felt like this was a metal machine you'd see in a factory, chugging along, with stains on the side and some sort of liquid dripping out and making god awful noises. I love it.

[@roberthunter6122]

Man, I'm really addicted to the beta of HL2 It's- just so different. So cool! There's so much to it and yet, it feels empty in a way... Seriously, thank you for making these videos about the beta of HL2. It's truly incredible! ^^ And no, I kept getting a HL:1 feel from all this too, even before you mentioned that.

[@achromicfederalagentiv8014]

It feels empty because the beta is just a leaked early version of source with assets, and also the unpolished state of the maps.

[@BungieStudios]

I don't know whether to curse or thank the hacker that caused Valve to reboot Half Life 2.

[@inendlesspain4724]

@@BungieStudios There's evidence in the leaked maps that suggest that Valve was already in the process of rebooting the game to its final form.

[@xhaoss]

yeah i have the same feeling like i ask myself "What if Valve released this HL2 and not the one we have now and how it would have affected like everything"

[@dabogabo]

The AirEx maps are the most interesting ones in the beta since they resemble an US nuclear plant and a Star Wars Dark Forces Map. I think it's the only map pack that would've actually fit in the retail. Too bad they cut it.

[@dalesheen1816]

The orange glow of Airex is always great to just stare at. :)

[@tibersulla2305]

That orange sunset clashing against the greenish lighting of the facility and the skybox brings in some damn good MOOD. The overall scale of the maps is also amazing, I wonder why Valve decided to bring down the scale a notch as these look great, maybe the engine wasn't quite ready yet or it didn't suit the gameplay very well.

[@lukabrasi001]

the engine seems more than fine with it, i just suppose the idea got so blown up by scale that they didn't know how to fill and populate and direct flow of the maps properly, so they cut back on it before realizing the grand scale is the main factor, and cut it altogether

[@fightfortrump3905]

AIREX is my most favorite concept from all HL2 and HL2 "Beta" story, it's so damn emotionaly powerful, those images of desert unending, ruins of civilization beneath monostrous pipelines, the red sky, the complex itself that feels so alien and so familiar at the same time, an amalgam of modern indusrtrial giants and something from delirious dream; also, fake Beta Soundtrack pinpointed the feeling of this place and while the music was from game "Exhumed", it's assossiated for me ideally.

[@ac-251b37-yNx]

Gimme Maga hat, never got one when trump was in; Very sad.. I am sad

[@robertf7610]

@@ac-251b37-yNx he'll be Baaaaack

[@ac-251b37-yNx]

@@robertf7610 R-Really? Gabriel Happy!

[@tim3172]

@@robertf7610 How did that work out for you?

[@lonewolf6693]

Air Exchange is my favourite cut location from Half Life 2.

[@Hyperio606]

did you play it?

[@lonewolf6693]

@@Hyperio606 yes

[@Hyperio606]

@@lonewolf6693 ok thats nice!

[@brannanz]

Those air exchange concepts are so... I dont know how to explain it lol

[@simonzuckert5588]

liminal?

[@LaskyLabs]

The orange and blue lights are just beuatiful.

[@LaskyLabs]

It makes me think of the album cover for Neil Cicrega's Mouth Moods.

[@jlewwis1995]

15:13 to me it looks like an abandoned nuclear power plant the combine took over and converted, it makes a lot of sense if you look af some structures like the main reactor tower for example it has that stereotypical flask shaped nuclear plant look to it

[@osamabinqueefin5264]

if you think about it, the half life 2 beta looked like it took place in the US, and the production model of half life 2 takes place in a eastern European city, so this city could still exist in the universe.

[@BeastBottaroMUGEN]

I'm in love with the AirEx conceptual unfinished maps, feels like I'm in a weird dream just apreciating the minimalism of the buildings (a dream very familiar and common for me), feels nostalgic, like a place that I already visited, potencial liminal spaces, I have the same feeling with some GoldSrc maps but the feeling in the HL2 Beta 2001/02 Era maps is stronger (sorry for my messed up english I'm learning Dx)

[@barackyobama6139]

Wait til the combine found out you can create oxygen

[@wadmodderschalton5763]

Air Exchange looks very much like Lambda Core from Half-Life but with larger details and very few enemies & characters.

[@DonnyKirkMusic]

I love the red sunlight on these maps. Really good attention to detail as iirc that is a sign of a lot of smoke and stuff in the air, but it also makes the maps look very striking.

[@bartex180pl]

Stalkers running at you like mall security XD

[@alicjaszewczyk7673]

Dark and gridy, dark and gridy, dark and gridy, dark and gridy!!! Btw love ur vids, I love the music you pick to those beta vids, cuz this music fits really well with beta HL2.

[@Haunuva]

Nie możesz być dziewczyną

[@alicjaszewczyk7673]

What do you mean?

[@theattacker4135]

while I love hl2, this honestly feels much closer to a natural extension of hl1

[@spacecaptain6608]

This section looks like it was remade into Episode One Citadel , exactly!!

[@experimental0000]

While HL2 wasn't sunshine and rainbows, I do wish it was darker. Nice to see that was the original intent based on what you found. I kind of wish they'd stuck with it and fleshed it out more. The short war and all out destruction from it after the portal storm from the first game would've left the world in bad shape, far worse than what we were given in HL2.

[@lukabrasi001]

the thing is, i don't suppose dark atmospheres would make a good show of HL2's Source graphics, which is why i guess they made the initial parts sunny and not overcast and gloomy. just walking in the city and you see a great deal of the quote en quote PBR materials and properly implemented normal maps and specular maps

[@gladosbutstupid8807]

Half-Life 2 is a dark game, but it isn’t as obvious as it is in the beta. While you could say it’s “laziness” that Valve kept things subtle, it ultimately improves the gameplay and atmosphere more because it feels rewarding to discover it and it isn’t boring to go back to, one of the reasons why the Half-life 2 Beta wouldn’t work well as a game, any other piece of media would’ve been better than a video game.

[@BungieStudios]

A lot of this reminds me of maps from Destiny. I wonder if that map designer worked for Valve at one point or was a fan of Valve games.

[@trashaccount5106]

It's so weird how these places technically look like these rough, 1990-style amateur-made quake maps - and yet they're such a far cry from amateur work and clearly made by pros. They just know stuff about map design that eludes standard creators.

[@Friendly_Lad]

Why is it that valve has such amazing beta/concept art? It makes valve an even more interesting place!

[@sothatsdevintart2562]

Even in it’s basic stages, this is an absolutely beautiful map.

[@arty3475]

Finally a hl2 beta

[@DoubleOTism]

Happy to see you making even better videos now. Keep it up, brother!

[@RadiationHazardYT]

Thank you my dude!

[@unfa00]

I imagine a crowd of passionate people carefully investigating every single file from an old game project I worked on that never got released. Surreal.

[@nixofox]

its scale reminds me of portal 2 levels (the ones underground), they made me feel very small...

[@simonilisei1311]

Would be nice if anyone made a fan finished version

[@mattylad7453]

There already is, look up Air Exchange mod.

[@mattylad7453]

@Josh JeanJacket Jaeger Oh that makes sense. That'd be really cool if that did exist actually

[@vincent7584]

Love ur vids about HL2 beta content, keep up good work. Btw musis you choosing, fit perfectly to beta.

[@deviateedits]

20:58 could be a beksinski painting, the skybox is gorgeous

[@theshab4769]

Man I love these videos so much! It's such a shame that the beta doesn't get a lot of love (as far as I know) I hope these awesome videos bring more people into the beta community. Keep up the amazing work!

[@cynthiablackthorn]

I find it interesting that we got the version of half life 2 that we got, and I bet out there, in the multiverse, is a universe where we got this version of half life 2, I wonder what happened in that universe, maybe a completely different version of half life 3,

[@cynthiablackthorn]

what was I on when typing this out?

[@pixeltheman]

@@cynthiablackthorn ketamine

[@wizardlycash2507]

I was praying for this video or someone to make this video. I love the air exchange, and it's lore is very nice.

[@8BitEggplant3]

This video makes me feel like Ep1 was at least in part a way for Valve to hash together some of the scrapped elements of pre-release HL2, while still being beholden to the design constraints set by the retail version of the game. It doesn't quite have the grand scale of the beta concepts, but the much darker atmosphere compared to HL2, the deeper look into the inner workings of the Combine's imperial death machine, even tiny things like the hallway energy dodging puzzles which seem to have been reappropriated for Ep1, point to a lot of that game's ideas having been older than I ever knew.

[@erykzysk3330]

Ohhh hell yea! I haven't seen this channel in some time, and the first thing I come back to is a mod that I've played not long ago, seriously though that mega build is some good shiet. I prefer this over the retail because it actually motivates you to explore if you want to continue the level, it's not so hand holding anymore.

[@1everysecond511]

This whole section looks like a cross between the Lambda Complex and the Citadel and I love it

[@awesomemouse]

I really like the color scheme in this chapter. Red color together with dark cyan. Amazing atmosphere.

[@pauldeddens5349]

Imagine if we get to see something like this in a VR Half-Life installment. The pure atmosphere (pun intended) the place brings would only become pants shittingly terrifying with the render quality, and immersion that Alyx style gameplay could bring. Though I wouldnt be able to guess how they would fit something like that into the story. Unless they did another alternate reality prequel.

[@derfbngg254]

the electric bolt dodging puzzle reminds me of the part of Episode One when you have to dodge the energy balls in the citadel vents. Wouldn't be surprised if the concept was reused from this.

[@soharp]

Yet again, amazing video!

[@Levrifon]

The AirExchange scale is very impressive , when you go through it it gives a vertigo sensation. However, I feel that this zone is quite "off" the actual universe (maybe it fitted better the beta) because it reminds me the classical industrial parts of video games and looks like a on-combine-purpose building instead of an occupation building like the nova prospket prison with old structure but hightech installations inside it. It is also reminding me the scale of Black Mesa facility, I think they did a great job to translate this part into the Nova Prospekt zone but I wonder what the Air Exchange would look like in a full made version Good video as always thanks :)

[@Oden-gp8xu]

i quite like your intro 0:10, its neat, i feel like someone could actually put that into a mod or something

[@matijajovic8125]

Nothing better than to wake up to a new HL 2 beta video from Rad Haz! This has to be one of your best videos! I really wish that they didn't cut this chapter from the game. . .

[@fruitylerlups530]

man i loved like the terminal rooms with the old tvs and shit, it really captures that like vibe that places like nova prospekt, white forest or the nexus touch on of like soviet era and 90s era architecture living on whilst the combine change the world

[@kiokkiok4590]

I love airex. Thank you for covering this!

[@anueutsuho7425]

The opening map is my favorite. Reminds me of the entrance to the Citadel in the final game.

[@anueutsuho7425]

Also I never saw those lightning platforming parts before. Feels like a different genre really.

[@cooper5185]

Someone should make a mod that is the whole beta storyline

[@greenman1200]

Amazing video as allways!

[@monkeywithocd]

A lot of this looks like it was recycled into both Nova Prospect and the Citadel. The dodging puzzles in particular reminded me of the energy pellet dodging sections in I think EP1. Edit: Ravenholm, too. Some of the outdoor sections give me a Ravenholm feel

[@Yulenka-]

Things like this is why HL2 is such a great game. Valve didn't get attached to the first design they came up with. They iterated, playtested, scrapped and cut, redesigned, until the maps felt just right. This is true artistic process 👩‍🎨

[@notsofan9740]

As someone who has gone through the nightmare of making these maps playable in Gmod, I can relate about how much I like the half life 2 beta

[@hhuuuk]

I wish they remake these beta maps in another half life instalments

[@stupidopinion3379]

Looks so brutal yet comforting

[@Lambdagon]

Another radhaz video! Amazing

[@EliteFreeman]

this vid was really interesting to watch. it has a real good 2000s feeling to it thats complemented with the music playing in the background. too bad this didnt come in the final release. also if you're reading this, can you link the music you used in the video?

[@RadiationHazardYT]

Sure. All my tracks are uploaded to the 2nd channel in compilations. It's the first track in this one: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fWa3kJt7o9R_p6c Just a note, the compilation version is a tiny bit different from the one used in this video.

[@EliteFreeman]

@@RadiationHazardYT thanks man appreciate the reply. also to let you know ive already subbed :P

[@judsongaiden9878]

1:32 That gas mask is set up in left-handed configuration (filter on right side) in a world where everyone is right-handed. See also the TF2 Pyro and Krieg from Borderlands 2. "Do you expect me to believe that you don't know your left from your right?!" ~Gunny Hartman

[@Journey_Awaits]

Usage of large plain blocks for every structure is very surreal, looks like minecraft

[@ShirtStacker]

I have been working on a remake of the air exchange map for like a week now

[@Hyperio606]

can you show screenshots?

[@AustinDallasPictures]

Yeah, please show it.

[@ShirtStacker]

@@AustinDallasPictures well right now im working on details of the land scape and experimenting with hdr

[@dogwilliam3768]

I think those eletrical dodging parts looked really cool and i wish we could have seen it in the retail, that thunder tunnel did got adapted for episode 1, but the climbing one did not made it when it was really intresting

[@POTUSenclave]

My man! Excellent video! But I need to know the name of the background song, its a banger!

[@RadiationHazardYT]

Thank you! The track is from this compilation (first track) kzbin.info/www/bejne/fWa3kJt7o9R_p6c

[@POTUSenclave]

@@RadiationHazardYT Thanks for the answer man! Keep up the good work, it ain't much but you got my subscription!

[@greggfreemen2994]

this is so good I honestly really would like to see a full on hl2 beta game mod

[@henryfleischer404]

I really like the feel of these maps. The only other piece of media I've seen with a place that feels similar is girl's last tour. The whole show takes place in an abandoned city in the distant future. It's hundreds of stories high, and in about half of the episodes the main characters are the only living things visible. The city has many of the signs of having been inhabited, but it's also empty, there are no skeletons or bits of old furniture, in some areas there are barely any signs that anyone lived there. The architecture is at once familiar and immense and unknowable.

[@sipeb587]

Incredible, incredible video

[@char7490]

You should consider making shorts, it’ll really help your channel grow and I want more people to know about you!

[@RadiationHazardYT]

Thank you! I did consider making shorts, but I'm not sure what to make shorts about...

[@char7490]

@@RadiationHazardYT maybe shorts about half life facts? Or some interesting things about the story or some little videos to introduce new people to the game

[@RadiationHazardYT]

@@char7490 Yeah that can work

[@Athesies]

Dang there's tons in this video I've never seen before and I've been a fan of the beta for years wtf

[@tehcooler]

If you enjoy the video please consider subscribing to the channel, cuz if you do, the combine may not come to Earth and build the Air Exchange .

[@victobe]

How dare Valve to cancel Radz for making beta videos!

[@dsg3012]

The air exchange has to be my favourite bets map. Shame it got removed...

[@GodFatherGB]

I love the Concept of the AirEx!

[@EliteWood1337]

Thanks for the based video Doc!

[@patrickblack6283]

Air Exchange looked like it was some fictional nuclear power plant, one of the gives of this is the large cooling tower towards the back of the facility. The pit at the start would most likely be where the water was being pumped in to cool the reactor.

[@JourneyToTheSky]

I know the intro was a joke, as usual, but as I recall valve didn’t care too much about the beta being leaked as long as nobody profited off of it

[@goodluckgorsky3413]

That raises the question, is making monetized videos of the beta technically profiting off of it?

[@RadiationHazardYT]

*oh no...*

[@JourneyToTheSky]

@@RadiationHazardYT they meant like selling copies of the beta, making videos is fine lol

[@R3TR0--93]

*Boop-Boop-Boop* "WARNING! HAZARDOUS. CHEMICAL. DETECTED!"

[@Evanski]

9:54, looks like the wire lift part in retail, where its like a giant shed and you need to move the lift with barrels on it to get to the level exit, then you get attacked by combine elite

[@rusty2804]

You may make beta HL2 videos but your channel is the Alpha

[@RadiationHazardYT]

Ayyyy thank you :)

[@AevilJ]

Always when I see all those beta maps, i know more about origin of maps from gordon freak man, kleiner's life, ptsd mod.

[@adeen_chee]

i don't know why, but some of the maps of this chapter give me aperture vibes

[@paplinko]

they honestly feel like the backrooms of portal 1

[@kmsthanks]

HL2 Beta is such a fever dream :( I wish we could have both retail and beta

[@curlyfry2047]

Idk if you know but there's a community mod in the making called Vance which is a alternate timeline where Gordon refuses G-man's offer and dies and Alyx has to take over and do what Gordon was meant to do. Any ways I think this map would be great if it could somehow be used in the mod

[@tehcooler]

Valve please don't cancel Radhaz because he is uploading Beta content again 😳🙃

[@ElmeriThePig]

First I thought. Wait didn't you made a video about this topic earlier? But then read the description.

[@armitx9]

there are so many beta maps I'll probably start seeing them in my sleep

[@Sno6403]

someone on another youtube video commented about how half life 2 beta is basically the future where dr breen didnt collaborate with the combine

[@Katsabian]

Best beta map

[@Drebin416]

I was always curious why there were health kits and batteries at the bottom of the ravine at the beginning of the Airex mod, but it almost makes sense considering where you originally started. Odessa for scale?

[@gamepad3173]

This would have been an awesome chapter to play,as much as I may like nova Prospekt this trumps it.

[@flying6476]

Great video

[@Vntagonize]

If I can recall correctly, there was supposed to be a twist here that revealed the combine wasn't just poluting the air with harmful chemicals, they were polluting the air with air from the combine overworld so that the advisors could thrive on earth. I personally thought that was cool but I'm not really sure if that was ever supposed to happen or just community speculation. Who knows, but either way, what an intriguing mystery the hl2 beta is.

[@TinyDeskEngineer]

Oh so _that's_ what that texture tag was for.

[@experimental0000]

I still wish there was a HL and Portal mashup. Maybe Chell turning out to be Gordan's kid as part of his backstory (he does have a baby's pic in his locker in HL1). What if she pursued science and ended up at Aperture and then put in stasis when the portal storm and war broke out. Maybe the G-Man being involved in that meeting and perhaps even Freeman getting to meet chell.

[@-Zakhiel-]

It's Gordons niece I think. But even if it was Gordons daughter, how could she "pursued science"??? The Combine took earth in 7 hours, not 20 years after the resonnance cascade.

[@Half-Life-Dev]

I love your job

[@TheSandwhichman108]

Maybe the facility was originally intended for the manufacture of various types of chemicals before the combine took over. Plus maybe the facility was intended to have only been recently found by the combine.

[@VojtaTravnik-cj2xo]

why is there the old tuxedo labs logo on the yellow thingy on the bridge at 11:47