Half-Life - Ivan the Space Biker Overview

Part of my Half-Life Fact Files series: • Half-Life Fact Files
On this 25th anniversary celebration, we go back to reveal the man who started it all: the great cyber-lumberjack himself, Ivan the Space Biker.
Music:
Half-Life (Kelly Bailey) - Vague Voices
Half-Life (Kelly Bailey) - Adrenaline Horror

[@soylentgreenb]

Humans are cursed with being *amazing* at spotting when an animation looks even the tiniest bit wrong and the complete inability to articulate what exactly is wrong and how to fix it.

[@user-hc7bo9zk2p]

True for literally everything else.

[@Adriethyl]

It's very weighty and a bit snappy. Running animations could easily make loud af footsteps and damage the floor

[@vantuz8264]

@@Adriethyl Which would fit the space biker perfectly

[@googleygareth]

You get better at it with time, but never really 100%.

[@LordRambo]

Its a form of the uncanny valley effect, an instinct ancient humans used to identify those in the tribe who were injured or sick and/or sus out skinwalkers

[@lambdaspecialist_source]

That ominous music, man Kelly Bailey did some real good work.

[@512TheWolf512]

Such a shame he left valve in 2013

[@BeezOne84]

IDK about ominous, Black Mesa Inbound always sounded mysterious to me.

[@ismaelherrera8844]

I just wanted Kelly Bailey to keep making more music today. The last thing he made was CSGO music pack.

[@TaRAAASHBAGS]

I was surprised to learn from the documentary just how much of the game he was responsible for.

[@TechnologicallyTechnical]

ikr, that jazz tune sends shivers down my spine

[@r.g.thesecond]

I wish my colleagues were as cool as Half-Life dev team in the 90s

[@Insanabiliter_In_Linea]

My boy finally got his missing triangle back, no more hole in the shoulder. Most wholesome damn thing I've ever seen.

[@FuroskiGoRawr]

fr tho

[@copmmer6117]

Good ending.

[@l-l]

finally made whole

[@canobenitez]

​@@l-lIsaac make us whole

[@FaracyConfines]

GODDAMMIT, I TRUSTED YOU! F*CK YOU, AND F*CK YOUR MARKER!

[@Feasco]

Ivan does not experience the resonance cascade the resonance cascade experiences Ivan

[@StephenBa91]

2:20 Me and the boys on our way to bike into space

[@xxrodangamerzxx3177]

Lol

[@AlyphRat]

That missing polygon in his right shoulder is ticking me off

[@SaintRedFox]

worry not, he got his missing polygon back

[@roadkyl49]

the missing polygon was the only thing limiting his power... now that he has it back... the world is doomed...

[@lunaticberserker5869]

3:18 The music fits him so well.

[@bunnyonabunwithagunnicepun5689]

He was the first person they sent to Xen, but they never got him back and lost track of him, presuming him dead. Without access to a razor, he ended up growing a beard. By coincidence, one of the portals that Freeman went through appeared right before him as he was on his morning (after waking up) jog, and was teleported somewhere on the surface of Black Mesa, running into the desert, desperate to go home and see his wife and kids again. Some say he still lives on, to this day…

[@genericwhitekidthesecond4330]

It actually makes me wonder if Ivan's suit could be an earlier version of the HEV suit We know the one in the games is called the Mark IV implying that three previous iterations existed.

[@bunnyonabunwithagunnicepun5689]

@@genericwhitekidthesecond4330 At LEAST three official standardized previous iterations, not including modifications, spinoffs, upgrades, special-purpose redesigns, and experimental prototypes.

[@Jayfive276]

"да Heavy is glad Comrade Ivan is now in game. Is good."

[@darkscorp4415]

After so many years Ivan finally get his deserved place in game.

[@TheEngieTF2]

No GoldSrc Forever 2.0 for 25th Anniversary? 😢

[@RedGoldDolfin-ez9iy]

I think we will get something on 30th anniversary

[@TheEngieTF2]

If they had kept Ivan as the protagonist, Half-Life could've been another Doom-esqe FPS game (In my opinion, at least). But Gabe was like "We don't want this game to be a soulless cash grab!" and decided the game needs an overhaul, wise decision right there

[@awsomebot1]

bit of a reach to assume all that based on protag's looks alone

[@goombamario1144]

I don't know if I completely agree about the whole "Doom-like" theme the game would have if Ivan stayed as the MC, but I do agree that Gabe's decision to delay Half-Life's release did a huge impact to not only the franchise, but their entire company as a whole

[@512TheWolf512]

Actually it went differently, as stated plainly in the documentary. One day the entire company gathered round and Gabe played through all the maps made up to that point. Upon seeing that it was shit, they remade it mostly, and with actual direction this time around

[@SahekSevenSomeGuy]

Indeed, I believe so

[@zanpanfun7124]

L opinion Go eat grass

[@StillTheVoid]

Happy 25th Birthday, Half Life Fans. As a gift, here's a headcrab.🦀

[@Alfa33905]

I always thought "Ivan the Space Biker" was a great nickname. Ivan the Cyber-Lumberjack has a nice ring to it as well.

[@thebaker525]

It was so cool learning Chuck Jones was the face of the final Gordon. His art was always so eclectic and out of the usual half life aesthetic, seeing him in person talking about it was so trippy.

[@TechnologicallyTechnical]

Crazy that he went from Looney Tunes to Half-Life

[@tokyotokyo9194]

@@TechnologicallyTechnical Different guy than the Looney Tunes Chuck Jones. Valve Chuck Jones did a lot of work for Apogee on Duke 3D and Shadow Warrior, and the former's influence can kinda be seen with the designs for the Alien Grunts and their armor.

[@TechnologicallyTechnical]

@@tokyotokyo9194 I was joking.

[@AgsmaJustAgsma]

@@TechnologicallyTechnical What a transition from cocaine to LSD does to a mf.

[@tokyotokyo9194]

@@TechnologicallyTechnical Damn, really? My bad for not picking up on that, haha. Admittedly I guess part of that was me thinking "Wait, it's not *that* Chuck Jones, is it?" the first time I saw his name pop up in regards to Half Life...

[@draculesti]

3:56 "100% Straight up Biblical Beasting"

[@battlefieldhuyattlefield4088]

Oh, been a while not seen Ivan, finally Maestro gives his scientific analyzis. cheers!

[@C.A._Old]

*They added after 26 years later... official... This company its nuts for anniversaries.*

[@NiiRubra]

I wonder what would have been Ivan's surename. Initially "Dyson Poincaré" was floated as the name for Half-life's protag, before the less exotic "Gordon Freeman" was chosen, so I wonder what they would have assigned to the guy. I think I'll headcanon his name as "Ivan D. Poincaré" haha. Happy to see him return officially!

[@itdobelikedattho8112]

Is he russian?

[@cocojumbo539]

Can we get much higheeer

[@xxfalconarasxx5659]

Ivan is a nickname the fans came up with, and wasn't his official name at this stage of development. As Marphy said earlier in this video, the protagonist was unnamed at the time. Dyson Poincare was probably the earliest name considered for what would become Gordon Freeman. If Ivan has a last name, it's "Space Biker".

[@CourierSiix]

​@@xxfalconarasxx5659not a fan name. Hes first called ivan the space biker in 'raising the bar'

[@xxfalconarasxx5659]

@@CourierSiix Raising the Bar was published 6 years after Half Life 1 came out.

[@hamtown4757]

2:47 it might be a reach... but the last hecu grunt camo looks very similar to Swedish m90. it could also be tiger stripe though which doesn't make much sense for the area and period its in

[@kattybratt1353]

thats hella neat, also this game has a grenade-launcher-less mp5 that can fire grenades, so im sure they took creative liberties there too

[@Jolis_Parsec]

@appledrawss1353 Easily rectified by using the Gearbox HD models, though you wind up with an entirely different gun in the form of the M-16 as a result. Oh well, at least Gearbox added an under barrel launcher to the weapon model.

[@TarenGarond]

@@kattybratt1353 "grenade-launcher-less mp5" Then what is the grenade launcher looking thing on the models?

[@Oppen1945]

​@@TarenGarondYeah weird thing to say. I think the fact the MP5 has a suppressor but doesn't sound suppressed is a bigger thing.

[@0neDoomedSpaceMarine]

@@kattybratt1353 There's a distinct launcher-ish looking tube attached under the barrel on the MP5 in Half-Life. Maybe you're thinking of Half-Life 2, where the MP7 has its regular looking barrel copypasted right underneath it, implying that the 30mm or 40mm grenades you find and then shoot with that gun come from that little 4.6mm bore.

[@jamesbakker9656]

Love this! I am however also still interesting in finding out why Valve at the time decided to use the V-22 osprey for the Grunts instead of the more common helicopters. The V-22 was at the time not an actuall transportation vehicle but just a prototype.

[@supersonicbros23]

Perhaps at the time the media was still flooded with Blackhawks and Hueys they wanted something that stood out. Alternatively the internet was still in its infancy in the 90's, I like to think maybe one of the devs was thumbing through a military technology magazine looking for inspiration, and there was an article on that prototype V-22. "Oh look the military are testing a new plane chopper thing, I'm sure by the time our game is out that will be standard issue" and if tech fluff magazines I used to read are anything to go by, they often speculate right in the articles unsubstantiated claims such as "....and they are expected to enter full deployment by 1999" then years later that isn't the case. The speculative future of technology is a mainstay of science fiction, too.

[@atomicanachronism8849]

looks cool

[@kaffykathy8729]

Interestingly enough. The 4 suit colors sorta remind me of Doom's colors for the marines in co-op

[@Hardman5509]

100% Straight-Up Biblical Beasting. Got a story behind that shotgun name?

[@JimsMusicDungeon]

2:21 The Beatles looking good

[@Matt-md5yt]

Happy anniversary Half life. Crazy how stuff has changed for the better

[@andresbravo2003]

4:00 “That Heavy is a Spy!” Lmao

[@XanderNiles]

The Half-Life Alpha content will always be a really good work to admire. The early ideas and concepts didn't need to be scrapped and it's good to see them being reused and there's a mod called Half-Life Absolute Zero that is being reworked again and it captures the Alpha version of the game perfectly.

[@Eyepoke42]

I just got done checking that mod out... I was curious how accurate it actually is.

[@adirblazkowics7717]

Ngl, the term cyber-lumberjack sounds cool though

[@georgelincolnrockwell6248]

Ivan could absolutely fit into the canon too, maybe as a prospective 'Gordon' or fallback option in case Gordon died. He could be an old member of the Black Mesa science team and one of the first to test their teleporters. Maybe he was 'lost' and considered dead, but in truth fought like a madman and somehow survived wherever he ended up; in turn impressing the G-man and his 'employers'? I could see him coming in out of nowhere to save Gordon and Alyx's asses on the Borealis!

[@ryguy07777]

Can't believe valve gave us Ivan before re-adding bhopping

[@champagnesupernova1839]

what are you talking about bhopping was never capped or removed in hl1

[@ryguy07777]

@@champagnesupernova1839 after WON version 1.1.0.8 the speed cap was reduced from 2000ups to 544ups. I don't see why valve couldn't just make a setting to change the speed cap back to 2000.

[@dkskcjfjswwwwwws413]

@@champagnesupernova1839 im pretty sure its capped in hldm

[@user-hc7bo9zk2p]

I really wish that the full maps in the early screenshots are publicly released. Maybe one day.

[@GreenChillZone]

We just need someone to break into Geoff Keighley's stuff for those alphas Valve won't let him release. Not that I would condone such a thing, of course. 🤐

[@HQ_Default]

My headcanon is that Ivan was the research assistant before Gordon Freeman, and he's wearing the Mark III HEV Suit

[@RussianSevereWeatherVideos]

That just looks like a character form a Soviet space cartoon.

[@zoltanperei4789]

Aragorn: If by my life or death I can protect you, I will. You have my sword... Legolas: ...and you have my bow... *Ivan:* ...and my shotgun.

[@marianaguardiaa.k.amariana4780]

The differences between Alpha Version and the actual version are really huge, starting for Ivan

[@kirillmaloshenko1281]

Is it possible to find the chronological order in which all, or at least some, of the Half-Life screenshots were publicly released, beginning with the pair of May 27, 1997?

[@Simte]

Good to see you Marphy, with the release of the update I was sure we would get some videos, many thanks.

[@ditboi3736]

tbh they got to redd the old hlalpha deathmatch map of stalkyards that will be a dream come true

[@Bolloxed]

Very interesting video as usual Marphitimus!

[@FuroskiGoRawr]

bolloxed!!!! hi!!!!!

[@SneedFeedAndSeed]

0:16 wow, houndeyes used to have a lot more eyes

[@drake52]

i think it would be interesting if Ivan was a part of the half life series perhaps Gordon could find him on the way to the borealis and his suit could be earlier version of the hev suit.

[@L3RNA3AN]

I really like the movie references in the game files. For example, Reservoir Dogs at 0:15.

[@cheffdonty]

The alternate suit showcase made me think of deep rock galactic

[@tehcooler]

I thought I mention this, but the 25th anniversary documentarry actually has the Ivan and red suit Gordon renders in "raw" quality I guess. Although I'm not entirely sure

[@halfhawk718]

Happy birthday to the awesome classic!

[@advang4820]

Now I wanna see what kind of space bike he rides on.

[@baussier134]

It's funny that I played Half-Life multiplayer today for the first time ever... I always associated Half-Life multiplayer with Counter-Strike, so I never gave it a try. The first character I chose? Ivan the Spacebiker. Only through your video, I discovered that I choose the character that was just implemented lol

[@champagnesupernova1839]

I feel like Ivan could be wearing an earlier model of HEV canonically :3

[@Monody512]

Yeah! Could be the MkIII.

[@badideagenerator2315]

I could totally see Ivan being a HEV/PCV suit technician that the resistance is trying to recruit in half life 3. He'd be older and look even more grizzled. Ivan is hesitant to cooperate in case his work falls into the combine's hands. Ivan eventually upgrades Gordon's HEV with new gadgets and features that he developed over the 20 years of combine occupation.

[@champagnesupernova1839]

@@badideagenerator2315 I always imagined Ivan was who you play in uplink

[@PotentialGrim]

I thought of it as the Mk. I or Mk. II

[@amphibiousgaming877]

​@@champagnesupernova1839why does this suddenly make uplink have more sense

[@ad7799]

Wish they make him canon in HL3

[@someguy34hnt]

That would be cool. Like, he be the Lobo of HL or something

[@ASimpleGodzillaFan]

Imagine if he's one of G-Man's Employers

[@AthenaKolva]

Ivan officially added to the game at last... Holy shit that is so cool

[@rapappathepepper3996]

To this day for some reason i like to re-visit Half-Life 0.52 with multiplayer, it is what makes the alpha cool and special to re-play for me.

[@El-Burrito]

Just like Zoolander, poor Ivan can only turn right

[@Orang3Eric]

I miss the cannibal model

[@arieou1106]

1:51 KZbin Kids:

[@georgeoldsterd8994]

How strange, I could have sworn I've seen Ivan as a multiplayer model even before the update.

[@EmbeddedWithin]

Half life still has so much content to the point this dude has been covering it for over 15 years

[@misterkeys2893]

0:56 Oh I am so using these next time I'm at the club.

[@securityofficerthefonz5835]

Im impressed with this update so far. Nice to see a new HL fact vid too!

[@paulevans9307]

3:20. The HUD element at the bottom left. Shifty-eyed thing with a giant nose.

[@norank4802]

Great job Marphy, love your work! Keep 'em videos coming!

[@ShepHard_199]

the legend is back!

[@OscarGreenworth]

1:52 ROCK AND STONE!

[@Cats-TM]

We love Ivan the Space Biker.

[@machrtin]

2:13 ROCK AND STONE

[@R3sulツ]

That one pic named “reservoirdogs” is probably a reference to the original movie

[@norwegianboyee]

Still can't believe that the first draft of Gordon Freeman was an biker lumberjack with an history of sex convictions.

[@Mtik333]

Hm, in this 25th anniversary video around 36th minute there is some info about "preview copy" of Half-Life with 3 levels that supposedly leaked somewhere (and got reviewed in some magazine). Do you know if this something different than this 0.52 alpha or these demo builds from September/October 1998 on Hidden Palace?

[@Tamamo-no-Bae]

It is Half-Life Day One.

[@LonelySpaceDetective]

Day One is the only real candidate yeah, though describing it as "leaked" is a bit odd since it was publicly released (though only packaged withcomputer peripherials). Disclaimer: Haven't launched the 25th anni video. Maybe the person just misremembered the details regarding this obscure pre-release demo.

[@quaker2636]

​@@LonelySpaceDetectiveday one did get leaked two months before the game's release. Combine Overwiki has a link to a review from September '98 that mentions it

[@aaclovern9804]

I wish valve would explain what that sax music was intended for 😂

[@Dr.W.Krueger]

One of my fav games from '98. I remember looking rather confused at those alpha(?) screenshots in magazines and then hopping on IRC to (pointlessly) speculate with friends and colleagues for hours. 🤔

[@AlkoPRO11]

HIM BAAAAAAAACK❤❤❤

[@orwinsen4510]

its one of my favorite character idk i love hox he's out of the half life one style he's ENEGIC

[@FriedBacon88]

your "however, modeler Chuck Jones went forward with" statement. How much drama did the 25th anniversary video leave out that you feel was a direct contribution to the success of half life

[@Ultimaximus]

Love to see that you're enjoying the update too

[@andresbravo2003]

“Ha Yeah! Let Me Hear You One More Time!” Happy 25th Anniversary to Half-Life!

[@Zombuzzz]

1:51 rock and stone!

[@DohEntertainment]

I can't believe Armenian Cory was going to be in Half-Life.

[@leoneldoleschal1194]

Great timing with the awesome 25 aniversary

[@fella_named_smokey]

It makes me chuckle that Ivan could've been an inspiration for the dwarves in Deep Rock Galactic

[@GamePlayShare]

I am glad they have canceled that space biker bullcrap.

[@joannes4321]

"100% Straight Up Biblical Beasting"

[@havoc3-243]

Valve added cl_bob back to Half-Life 1 before CS2 xdd

[@genericwhitekidthesecond4330]

I always liked Ivan as a character because he was the turning point for the games development when Half-Life went from the typical late 90s arena shooter to Half-Life developing an identity unique to itself. I mean Ivan The Space Biker looks like something straight out of Quake and could never fit in the HL universe. Very fitting given the roots of where HL started development.

[@L.Mandrake]

I kinda hoped this video would explain the thing with "lemme hear that one more time". Everytime I hear it used as a meme I feel out of the loop lol

[@undestony2669]

time, mr ivan? is it really that time again?

[@TerenceJansen.coolkid]

There's actually a reference to ivan, or at least the suit he wears, in black mesa, when you go to put on the hev suit, there's a scientist in there who if you talk to him, he'll tell you about how he worked on the hev suit mk 1 or 2, I can't remember exactly (it's been a while since I've played it because the flashlight is bugged and will only produce light on moving objects, like the anti mass spectrometer, or physics props) and I'm pretty sure that he's talking about the suit that ivan wears

[@cupcayuk]

Marphy do you want to trade your Max's head for two scrap metal

[@jazz8000]

What is that saxophone solo that is associated with Ivan, i have to knowwwww.

[@delawarevex4976]

in half life alpha, if you press a button (i forgot which one) the saxophone solo plays, it was made to test the sound effect and reverb.

[@Whomobile]

That early HUD looked painful

[@Superlagg]

5:57 Gore Ultimate Soldier had the best voice acting, for real.

[@SamArt_YouTube]

What an interesting character, it's a shame he was cuted.

[@Feedee97]

What happen with this channel? I miss it :(

[@cischsr2794]

it's normal. he needs an idea and a reason

[@theleopeople5771]

@@cischsr2794well new and recent hl3 rumors are very valid!

[@codeine69]

its time to talk about abiotic factor

[@michaelandreipalon359]

And so the past never died indeed, for it has fervently ascended!

[@JackPorter]

3:05 where's that trumpet rhythm from? can't find anything on google "half life 1 trumpet"

[@The_Mister_E]

it'd probably help to search for saxophones instead of trumpets lol

[@LonelySpaceDetective]

I don't think anyone found out during the period when the alpha leak was fresh. I'm not sure if _anyone_ knows, besides maybe the hypothetical programmer at Valve at the time who would've added those sounds for testing.

[@mrbrusselpatch316]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/f6Gndn-fbpKcos0si=bIi9lca5SCiD-BdT It's called the hoot.

[@kickerguy]

it originates from a stock sound library

[@CopperLoveAndKisses]

They should add Ivan as a plot character in hl3

[@iEatTheGrassAndTheWorms]

"You see, Ivan..."

[@genyakozlov1316]

Ivan doesn't need to hear all this. He's a highly trained professional.

[@Sgt.McHale]

I was hoping you were gonna talk about that soldier at 0:20 It's been 25 years since this game was released and nobody ever talked about him. Nobody (seemingly) knows who he is. An early grunt? guard? Maybe even CIA?

[@ViewpointProd]

Hearing that uplink was designed as a mini-campaign post launch is weird, because ive allways thought it was a cut chapter, as an uplink facility was supposed to be part of the game. was Uplink just *based* off of that concept? or was it genuinely a patched up chunk of game that was cut. it was a post-launch thing so, it feels weird releasing something that was cut, to demonstrate features of the game, when it dosent exactly represent the game itself (the hightened zombie shenanigans)

[@Tamamo-no-Bae]

They used parts of some cut levels such as satellite dome, put it together, upgraded it, and made a campaign out of it. The voicelines were from the cut level. So in a way it is a little bit of both, but most of Uplink is original material made post-launch.

[@LonelySpaceDetective]

The impression I have is that Uplink repurposes cut assets such as voice clips and textures and reuses the general idea of sending an all-clear signal to unlock a door, but the actual levels aren't directly based on anything that was planned for the original game. I'm not an Uplink expert though.

[@Doomslayer151]

3:33 gordon looks like guys in matrix