Half-Life - Pit Drone Overview

Part of my Half-Life Fact Files series: • Half-Life Fact Files
In this installment of Half-Life minutia, we dive into Opposing Force to scrutinize the spikey-faced minions of Race X, the Pit Drones.
Read more about Race X at your local Combine OverWiki: combineoverwik...
Music:
Half-Life: Opposing Force (Chris Jensen) - Orbit
Half-Life: Opposing Force (Chris Jensen) - Name
Half-Life: Opposing Force (Chris Jensen) - Storm

[@MarphitimusBlackimus]

See also PurpleColonel's recent Cascade video which covers Race X in general: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jnrGeIt4m9J9nJo An aspect not covered in this video is the Pit Drone's eating habits which are identical to the Bullsquid's. This had been covered before here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pGimXqKBfK9pfKc

[@chungusbooper]

3:16 - Is it feeding?

[@mfaizsyahmi]

Who would've thought a mix of purple and black would be so pretty...

[@elysiumgaming2866]

you were a huge inspiration for my channel! thanks so much!

[@wpnmod]

Thank you very mutch for the opposing force video

[@PurpleColonel]

Oh shit, thank you so much!

[@tadpolegaming4510]

Press demo sounds: deer/elk call Final sounds: modified growling of tiny dog

[@All4Tanuki]

I'm chuckling just imagining the sound technician holding up a terrier to a microphone and shaking it to get noises for the alien he's working on

[@PinkFloydBootlegs]

Moose call*

[@XanderNiles]

Yeah, most of the aliens had heavily modified animal sounds just like the voltigore. The latter has pig sounds and also, the tentacle has cow sounds.

[@ytaken154]

Sounds like a dolphin to me lol

[@asteroidrules]

Definitely sounds like that, also sounds like both of the two sound sets were played in reverse.

[@deppo436]

That implication of the Pit Drones having a previous battle in that one section is such an awesome attention to detail that you'd probably never notice it during gameplay.

[@lemonov3031]

@@lord_razur feels like an anomaly because every solo gearbox game is kinda shit

[@MEDICGAMING7]

Yes

[@filipkohout4704]

@@lemonov3031 to be honest opposing force is probably one of the best expansion packs in any game, and the fact that it didnt even come from the same company is so cool, because opposing force feels 100% like half life, 100%.

[@Вгостяхугеймера-м1к]

​@@lemonov3031 What? Gearbox games are shit? *Borderlands quit the chat*

[@KnoxCarbon]

Borderlands 2 fucking slaps bro. I know Randy Pitchford is a greasy dickhole, but let's not dismiss the incredible talent working there because of his coke-induced antics.

[@Jensen8918]

The little detail of the pit drones who previously fired their needles against the Barney is amazing. Thanks for this.

[@jamesduncan6729]

"the Barney" made me lol 😆

[@tongbeiquanmaster6543]

@@jamesduncan6729 He's a vortigaunt

[@codename.ken-z]

@@tongbeiquanmaster6543 Ahhhh, the Tongbèiquánm

[@Mr.PhoenixBlues2369]

That's not barney that's otis

[@onutrof1157]

Shock Trooper: **fcking dies** Pit Drones to Shock Roach: _"You're not so tough without your friend are ya!?"_

[@asuperrandomguy8266]

Adrian appears: I'm about to adopt this electric bug

[@onutrof1157]

@Dragonwing Hi :)

[@Chunga9]

THE SHOCK TROOPER IS DEAD?!?!?!

[@onutrof1157]

@@Chunga9 Yes, HE DIED

[@gamertypeawesome]

wait... why dont shock roaches use their projectile attack by themselves?

[@Iknowtoomuchable]

"Although never normally seen, Pit Drones hate Bullsquids and Headcrabs." "Also, I hate Otis."

[@DavidovskiTM]

Pit drones on final: glglglgl Pit drones on press demo: *EEEEEEEEEE*

[@kizmetmars]

Like an angry seagull

[@Ahmadsyar]

More like REEEEEEE

[@ThatGenericPyro]

*Thank God they decided the Pit Worm was ear-rapey enough and changed it*

[@coomerjoe1031]

@@kizmetmars it's actually a deer call

[@kizmetmars]

@@coomerjoe1031 Thanks Coomer!

[@TheEngieTF2]

I have no idea Pit Drones shoots spikes from their foreheads. I always thought they just spit them out like Bullsquids

[@vtresa]

I have seen you everywhere

[@adrianshephard4526]

Pootis spencer here

[@standardzombie3454]

When I first played Opposing force, I had the same exact thought. I guess details can sometimes can be unnoticed.

[@Fenrize]

Exactly my thought, damn

[@patchmoulton5438]

@@vtresa Well, you know what they say: The Engineer is engi- here

[@TheEngieTF2]

Fun fact: The Pit Drone's A.I is basically the same as the Bullsquid with a few modifications

[@ryuuji498]

but even more deadly due to its speed. I often got pissed when I missed my shotgun shots & crossbow bolt on these things ngl

[@NinStarRune]

Considering it's from something Randy Pitchford worked on I'm hardly surprised.

[@nfwrambo]

That’s why they hate them so much, there can only be one!

[@FurgusFungus]

@@uncanny-hector-1906 tbh I hate the pipe wrench, it's too slow for me

[@hlscientist8760]

@@uncanny-hector-1906 yep

[@Onox792]

I like to think that Pit Drones kill Shock Roaches (despite being both of the same faction) because they don't want any human to take one of their living weapons and use it against them.

[@AitoJaOikeaNippeliFaktaa]

That makes sense

[@RadekCrazy1]

I am pretty much sure shock roaches as an AI are only redesigned headcrabs having the same basic code but different model. Even their behaviour is the same. The hatred is most likely because of the headcrab coding

[@MolkoKillStyle]

@@RadekCrazy1 But the Shock Roaches dies if you don't equip them

[@MechWarrior894]

Maybe they were shocked by their masters with them and hate the roaches

[@yapyapthedestroyer2562]

Originally, the pit drones had some metal device on their heads, possibly as some kind of mind control device. Despite it not being on them anymore, there’s still a chance in the lore, their treated pretty poorly like the vortigaunts, and they just take it out on the other weak memeber, the shock roaches.

[@amazingandy007yt3]

The long awaited sequel in this trilogy

[@BiodegradableYTP]

These little dudes are great. I love their wacky little run cycle that looks like the mad dash of a little kid who just heard the chiming of an ice-cream truck.

[@AresKusa]

Holy shit I can see why they changed the sounds from the initial Demo take good lord that is annoying. Can you imagine the underground parts in 'Foxtrot Uniform' where you fight infinite numbers of these until you close the gates? My head hurts just thinking about it

[@psychosis1767]

They sounded like elks

[@iremadeoldtdsgaming1355]

their death sound in the initial demo sounds like they are aggressively farting

[@Soundwave04]

All these years, I now know Pit Drones can eat Shock roaches!

[@lukecox6317]

I wonder if in the code Pit drones and Shock roaches are modified Bullsquids and Headcrabs, respectively, so the "Bullsquid" component of the Pit drone recognises Bullsquids, Headcrabs, and Shock roaches as enemies, just as Bullsquids fight one another and Headcrabs. The Pit drone probably would then have special code to exempt other Pit drones, but the base code still has hard coded enemy status with regular Bullsquids.

[@XanderNiles]

They eat everything, just like the bullsquid.

[@Mr.PhoenixBlues2369]

Damn it could've used it to distract them in my 2nd playthrough if i would've known!

[@DoctorBreenBB]

Also about OpFor AI in general, they all basically modified vanilla NPC's, Pit Drone, Voltigore, Gonome are based on Bullsquid, being just range+melee monsters, Shock Troopes are based on Human Military - they act almost incidentally, they throw spore grenades from their mount (Spore Launcher model in game files actually called baby Shock Trooper), they drop their weapon on death - Shock Rifle. And visually they look like hybrids of several species, like Voltigore have stripes body like HoundEye and small tentacles near the mounth and tail from BullSquid. Still, OpFor is basically ideal addon in my opinion - long almost like original game, have alot of new NPC's and new weapons to play with, sadly HL 2 Episodes in nothing like this, they just added few new NPC's and no new weapons.

[@fagglebag]

The episodes were good tho. Would’ve been nice to change things up a little more but they were still great additions. Shame we didn’t get the 3rd before valve went on a 13 year hiatus tho

[@DoctorBreenBB]

@@yurionedge2199 its was from one side is sad, since its have both Adrian as main character, plus have one of cool characters from HL2 - Father Grigory. But from other side, all these headcrab-less zombies kinda doesn't fit setting, probably it was canceled because of that, but still, its interesting to look at HL universe from perspective of other developer like it was with OpFor or Blue Shift.

[@zombine7103]

@@DoctorBreenBB yeah but instead we got alyx, just a nerd that opens doors for us solving puzzles and messing with combine computers, her game is kinda boring too. And dude, they canceled the best half life episode which is half life 2: episode 4. Damn it that game is so fcking good but they just canceled it. Do you prefer an abondoned corporal or a megabrain HEV suit scientist or a woman that tells bad jokes and just a nerd? Also its not that hard to improve half life 2: episode 4 and use it. I mean, at least the weapons. They already used it for left 4 dead. And man, the title doesnt need to be half life, just name it as ravenholm also make some old technology weapons like a harpoon shooter gun. I mean a VR game is so dumb, who played it? Nobody! It's not that fcking hard to make a half life 3 i can just write it for free, it can be amazing and would sell more.

[@DoctorBreenBB]

@@zombine7103 basically what devs needed it was just slaps headcrabs on their zombies, so its fit HL setting, and about HL Alyx, well I was kinda tired of her in Episodes, where she always follows you, plus I never liked her as female character too, not in my taste I guess, and we get a game about her, and HL Alyx is VR elusive, so I can't play it anyways. Also sad what they cut that addon for Half-Life 1, Hostile Takeover if I recall, singleplayer with TFC classes sounds interesting.

[@dkskcjfjswwwwwws413]

@@zombine7103 point of half life is to innovate. hl1 brought a new way of storytelling plus graphical advancements, hl2 brought physics and even better graphics, and hl alyx improved on source 1 and brought vr

[@pyromanic8]

I love this series so much, you've taught me so many new and interesting thing about my favourite game/s. Thank you so much for these videos!

[@profdobbs4918]

Jesus christ I thought someone commented with my account

[@crispycream6503]

@@profdobbs4918 LOL

[@HiroshiOmega]

@@profdobbs4918 LMAOOO

[@MillywiggZ]

The attention to detail in the ‘Half-Life’ and spin-off games are amazing. You have to wonder what the games would be like without technical/time/budget or upper management limitations.

[@Pinnaporaptor]

For the technical side, good ol' Mr. Friendly probably would've made the cut

[@BirdmanDeuce26]

One thing that has stuck out for me with Marphy's Half-Life studies is that, unfortunately, a lot of this really cool AI behaviour and detail probably got missed/ignored by many players in 1998. The gameplay practice of many FPSes didn't require careful observation of the environment and entities beyond "enemy", "ally", or "item"; while you certainly can stop and take in your environment, you can just as easily blow past all of it and turn Gordon into Doomguy

[@CB66941]

Attention to detail and feature creep is unfortunately what led to DNF's notorious delays Sometimes it's best not to include too many features in your game, especially if they won't be seen, which is apparently what Half Life 2 did

[@8166PC1]

The early versions of OP4 weren't that different from what we got, the original HL1 on the other hand was very scaled back in a lot of ways.

[@8166PC1]

@@BirdmanDeuce26 As a kid playing Opposing Force I definitely didn't pay attention to those small details, but I still loved it.

[@XanderNiles]

I didn't know why some pit drones only used melee attacks meanwhile others shoot spikes and I finally know what was the reason for it. Those small details, like the spikes they have, can easily slip by.

[@captaincancer7786]

That the Drones go after the Shock Grubs is a neat touch. I wonder if it's part of their original lore that the Shock Grubs are what are used to "Shock" them, so they go after them first chance they get. Or maybe it's just recycled headcrab programming and it just transferred over.

[@TeaserTravlein]

I think it’s more likely the shock roach is naturally aggressive so they get rid of it if it doesn’t have a carrier.

[@CallMeAsna]

When everyone Needed him the most He came at the most opportune time

[@DoctorBreenBB]

Another interesting fact in OpFor is what friendly marines still hostile to Black Mesa personnel, despite they both are being player allies, but in game you can't bring them together to see that. Without cheating you only can see this maybe in few moments, for example moment where ally marines blow the wall after you use radio, and you have guy in beret and engineer, in that room there is a pit from which you are climbed with scientist, you can bring soldiers to pit and they will kill that poor fella. Also HL1 marines are still present in game, and they hostile to player and ally marines. (since they belong to same group as Assassins)

[@RainingMetal]

Shame we never really get to see hostile Black Mesa personnel in OpFor; kind of defeats the purpose of being one of the soldiers, doesn't it?

[@norwegianboyee]

@@RainingMetal The name of opposing Force kinda gives the impression that you are the "opposing force" yet there is very little fighting going on between Black mesa and Military personell in that game. It's an good game otherwise, but i always thought it was a bit cheap to not make the player feel a bit more like a "bad guy" in some certain scenarios.

[@highwaymanF2]

@@norwegianboyee Problem with that is how Adrian never got his orders to kill Black Mesa personnel and didn't really have much reason to once he figured out what the HECU were really there for.

[@DoctorBreenBB]

@@norwegianboyee media often avoid making protagonist a bad guy, often even if you play as bandit, you probably still be some sort of "good" Robin Hood type of criminal who rob "bad" people. Still its best addon for HL series was made. Also about playing as "opposing force" you can check Entropy Zero mod where main character is Combine Metrocop and fight the resistance and in EZ2 we will play as Combine Elite. From non mods, usually only in RPGs or immersive sim you can be a bad guy.

[@8166PC1]

@@RainingMetal I don't think the game would have been as good if we were fighting black mesa personnel instead of the assassins. They needed a good human enemy so changing the story a bit where the assassins are against the grunts instead of on the same side like in the original HL1.

[@onionero]

I HAVE COME TO RELIEF OF TENSION

[@articusramos808]

REMOVE OF HIS THROAT! REMOVE OF HIS THROAT

[@matthewgagnon9426]

No wonder they changed the Pit Drone's sounds. It was too cute originally and would make you feel really bad for killing them.

[@channel5980]

They are the sounds that a real-life animal makes, I think a deer, and they were most likely just a placeholder until they could create better-fitting sounds.

[@AgsmaJustAgsma]

They're stock elk sounds with minimal changes, so I'm sure those were there as placeholders more than anything else. I personally find them unfitting for the pit drone.

[@ahandsomefridge]

Yeah that just sounded confusing to me, a elk connoisseur :') Final sounds are good though.

[@CodenameBolts]

ALSO THEY'RE REALLY DAMN EAR PIERCING

[@ActualDavis]

Well the Pit Drones were originally going to be controlled, much like the Vorts they wouldn't actually be hostile except if under control, when that idea was scrapped the devs changed the sounds to be more scary and evil sounding, less cute. I don't think they were JUST placeholders.

[@RichterOvertime]

Great vid as always Marphy! And thanks for commenting on my Ravenholm video :)

[@paragonrobbie9270]

All I can think of now when I see these little gremlins is *"Remove of his throat! Remove of his throat!"*

[@gameplaysolotheblade]

That Alert sound of the pre release demo, was used in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, the area with the large waterfall. It was used as an ambiance/environmental sound.

[@Defender98TV]

It's an elk sfx

[@gameplaysolotheblade]

@@Defender98TV yea, after seeing a couple of comments saying the same thing. It was used in Legacy of Kain as well!

[@slambler6702]

hE sHaLl SuMmOn GeNe WoRm To DrInK pLaNeT

[@vashmty]

Now go eat rocks outside

[@void-creature]

WE MUST SUMMON GENE-WORM!

[@Synthonym]

"You wish to be of the medicine, Pit Drone?" "I WISH TO FALL OFF ROOFS"

[@VarunGupta3009]

3:30 Aren't I so glad to have lived in the right timeline...

[@feznaughts]

What a goofy creature, looks like he would enjoy being thrown off roofs.

[@DefinitiveDubs]

They probably cut the "drone" aspect because it would've been too similar to the relationship between Alien Controllers and Vorts.

[@here4good]

It's always fun to use the wrench's secondary on those. Those little squeals going along the satisfying crunch

[@Rod0411]

What the hell he kills and even eats a Shock Roach

[@k96man]

Guess It was hungry

[@Eiphory]

Order: it must destroyed before player can take it as weapon.

[@concentratedcringe]

Since it does the animation again after the shock roach has disappeared, do you think it might've actually been eating the dead shock trooper?

[@faceless2302]

Well they're hostile towards headcrabs, and roaches are functionally very similar to headcrabs, it wouldn't surprise me if the devs just recycled the headcrab code for the roaches and left in whatever part makes the drones hostile towards them as an oversight.

[@mrgrinderman8861]

Ah yes the pit drones Idk why but i always found the spikes shooting out satysfying (also is it me or the press demo sounds kinda sound like an elk lmao)

[@Stevosss]

and the final just seems to be a lion(?) and dog sounds

[@wackyt.bobcat7576]

race X is such a cool aliens desings

[@zaphero5518]

I love the pit drones, they really get you dancing around the room in a way no other Half-Life enemy type does with their projectile shots, fast movement, high melee damage, and them coming in packs.

[@darkranger116]

I always loved the hell out of pit drones. Absolutely adorable and ruthless, the perfect little minions.

[@psywarveteran]

Bullsquids are coded to hate headcrabs and other bullsquids. Because pit drones use modified squid AI they also have the same relationship with those creatures. Similarly, shock roach's AI is just a headcrab that is coded to die after a few seconds. And since pit drones hate headcrabs they also hate shock roaches.

[@iug5672]

it surprisingly works tho, in a way

[@HESHRocketWarhead]

And that one can be acquired as a weapon. So the first one that tries to attack you instead just jumps into your arms.

[@NeatChill]

That security guard took 7 pit drone spikes before going down? Even with a bullet proof vest that’s boromir levels of awesome

[@Meme_Man_]

I saw you announce this one on cascade!

[@buggyboy2849]

So press demo Pit Drones were alien raptors and in the final release they are my neighbour's dog? Ok.

[@pezus553]

back with the bangers, I see

[@dek5775]

creature turned from a deer to a dog 3:35

[@apsimetlis8842]

final release sounds: alien press demo sounds: autotuned horse

[@manuelvillalobos3678]

I like your information about features of Half-life, Blue Shift and Opposing Force. Are amazing.

[@DaxAxeOffical]

1:39 really shows valves attention to detail

[@nnikitov57]

it's made by Gearbox

[@thebaker525]

Oh god those demo noises are just suffering

[@ironicivan4928]

Yeah sounds like a little dog

[@bubbadoo10]

@@ironicivan4928 The final sounds are what sounds like a little dog

[@mitkoogrozev]

@@bubbadoo10 Exactly, they're dog sounds with some modulation added. And the demo sounds are just an elk with pretty much no change.

[@bubbadoo10]

@@mitkoogrozev Yeah I was just saying that it wasn't the demo version that sounds like a little dog is all, because they replied to the comment talking about the demo noises and it's like no that's what it actually sounds like in the game lol

[@sonic_exe2312]

Even now a days there some secrets that we still don't know, but little by little you discover them. Awesome.

[@liamthurston7679]

wake up babe new marphy black upload

[@ethnol3842]

Ok but imagine how itchy that area with the spikes is.

[@nimak7633]

EAT FLOOR

[@natalie6811]

Honestly kind of wish they had a few occasional instances of Race X fighting Xen creatures

[@Dovah2798]

Marphitimus i cant really tell how much i love your videos, they have an special touch that i instanly like very much. Thank you so much for this really good and incredible content!!!

[@Scott.E.H]

Man if the Black Mesa team does OPFOR like they're doing Blue Shift, these little buggers are going to be a trypophobia nightmare. Also good lord I don't remember them doing so absurdly much melee damage...

[@MrElpizo]

I always thought it was some kind of eye/mouth mix on their heads, but turns out, they have actual eyes.

[@Noblecheesehead]

These videos are always a treat

[@harper5128]

i can understand the press demo sounds going unused due to filesize restraints, but man theyre so much more lifelike its scary

[@FlymanMS]

2:38 “Who are you? - I’m you but cooler”

[@swapertxking]

after ALL these years, there are still so many new things to learn about each half life game.

[@ghoulhellbilly2528]

3:27 the "press demo" section gives me strong GTA V hunting minigame flashbacks since a lot sounds are literally the same

[@a.k8185]

Ah, marphitus maximus, the one zoo-ologist that managed to survive black mesa, and has traveled to our dimension to provide us with half life content

[@maciejkamil]

You never fail to deliver.

[@josephdouglas6482]

Oh holy hell thank God they changed their soundboard

[@8166PC1]

Honestly your videos reveal things I didn't know about Half Life and I've been playing it for 20 years

[@theabsolutecat915]

I'm convinced the demo sound source is just some dude playing with a creaky door hinge, then chopping and screwing it

[@moistman4910]

Final: *oyoyoyoyoyo* Press demo: *painfully fails to play the flute*

[@ElPeppito]

GENE WORM

[@insanejughead]

PERFECT TIMING! I had never played Opposing Force before, but I played it yesterday on stream for the first time. I saw you had uploaded this right after my stream ended. As a Half Life 2 fan, I am thoroughly impressed by the tech and enemy differences in HL:OF!

[@yurionedge2199]

That's good to hear! OP4 was really ahead of its time and still the best HL1 expansion to date!

[@EerieYetSoothing]

Who else just wants to eat a pit drone

[@seva809]

I like how every newly introduced enemy in OpFor is fast and blood thirsty.

[@FurgusFungus]

So glad they changed the sound, those old ones gave me a headache

[@AgsmaJustAgsma]

1:53 POV you're the mom carrying the pizza rolls.

[@TARINunit9]

I love how they eat shock roaches too

[@hansonkerman7286]

i like how it cleans itself off after murdering the headcrab. it's like the satisfaction of a job well done.

[@vtresa]

Keep making videos, we want more info about monsters xen

[@Billy_Wyatt]

Learning more about Half-Life with Marph is like a never ending story. There's always something new to know more about.

[@blckmesa8978]

""When in doubt, Pit Drone it out" - Sun Tzu" - Martincitopants

[@CB66941]

I still remember seeing a pit drone eat the corpse of another pit drone while I was in combat It was so weird seeing that behavior since it should have heard the myriad amount of gunshots

[@andresbravo2003]

I love true facts that I still have saved your playlist on KZbin to watch later.

[@DarkOmegaMK2]

If you look at the pit drones very closely you can see they carry tiny bags filled with grease on them.

[@notfreeman1776]

Damn, now i want the old Pit drone AI and lore back into the game, thats almost reminiscent of the combine

[@theloosedonk5645]

You can also hear a little bit of the antlion "rattling" sound

[@cringetrash3498]

Everything ties to mind control, them being called Drones, them killing Shock Roaches (rebelling against their dead controllers), it all makes sense

[@robotcrime6868]

also a cool detail that makes fights with them allot more fun is that their spikes can get destroyed by shock roach shots which also may explain their hatred for them

[@ryobibattery]

Randy pitchford lying as far back as 1999. Incredible

[@adirblazkowics7717]

I'm sure glad they made the drones sound like an alien dog rather than a cracked up donkey

[@1everysecond511]

I can't believe I never noticed how the spikes went away as they were fired, I just thought they were for decoration and all those pictures of them with and without the spikes was just a prerelease difference or the Mandela effect or something

[@calabee2362]

From an old bigmacdavis opposing force video, the pit drones are also cannibalistic

[@mrsubject1]

Those original sounds are so sweet

[@gimpscam9976]

I kinda like the idea they had for their sounds in the press demo. Ones like communicate kinda can make it seem like the elk noises are alien to us. They should’ve edited the elk noises instead but the final is perfect

[@ДмитроНикишенко]

2:56 the headcrab got t-bagged

[@DrCoomer_1]

"When in doubt, pitdrone it out" ~ Sun Tzu.

[@guhguh22]

Damn i never realized those spikes in their heads

[@TheG_Boy]

im surprised he hasn't made a video about this before

[@moosecat00]

Who doesn't hate shock roaches tho?

[@lukecox6317]

Except the first one. Gotta love the free and unexpected new weapon.

[@antinewtypenewtypeclub3428]

i hope the day never comes in which theres no more half life content

[@AtaAndrada]

I'm totally addicted to these videos.

[@EXMachina.]

Press demo sound : Elk Final sound : Content Aware scaled Dog

[@Мирич-з4е]

0:50 Sounds like the beginning of one of the Cry Of Fear soundtracks called "Dark City".