The Cancelled & Lost, COMPLETED Half-Life Game

[@TylerMcVicker1]

Play World of Warships here wo.ws/33uX5X8 Use the code BOOM to get 200 doubloons, the St. Louis and Emden ships, 20x Restless Fire Camouflage, 2.5 million credits, and 7 days of premium account. The code is only applicable to new players.

[@supersonicguy556]

@@C.A._Old what

[@StarPointy]

@@C.A._Old what are you even saying

[@StarPointy]

@@C.A._Old I don't understand

[@StarPointy]

@@C.A._Old Maybe try speaking in coherent English?

[@kalmah456]

Your incoherent replies are the result of your poor english skills. Either find a better translator online or don't bother commenting at all.

[@CoreyLaddo]

Leave it to Valve to completely scrap a project months before completion

[@qwefhj3011]

No wonder why there is a term called Valve time lol

[@StereoTyp0]

Same as it ever was.

[@cortex8239]

@@StereoTyp0 Same as it ever was

[@jairiske]

@@cortex8239 Same as it ever was

[@blockhead4791]

@@jairiske Same as it ever was

[@WeAreHuman2]

Not gonna lie, exploring City 17 and listening to other civilians sounds pretty interesting. Kinda like HL2RP servers minus the cringe.

[@fibo4108]

The story actually sounds as convoluted as what you would find in an HL2RP server, makes me think that the original writer was probably a regular in those servers.

[@Lactosecow]

Would you like a stove?

[@SuperBoyboys]

HL2RP minus the cringe? Impossible, such an essential characteristic is necessary for it even to exist

[@mirk03_]

I couldn't agree more.

[@ardentparagon159]

Hl2rp minus cringe would be amazing but it will never happen.

[@TheEngieTF2]

So basically, they finished Half Life: Alyx in 2018 but decided to postpone it to polish the game more. They then decided to release it in 2019 but later postpone it AGAIN just to polish the game even further Truly the way how Valve works

[@MaxCE]

and I appreciate that they do that

[@MaxCE]

@@C.A._Old get some help

[@CourierSiix]

@@C.A._Old whyd you post this on a completely unrelated comment instead of just making your own? Are you old or something?

[@uglybad4]

With how much money they've been raking in for years through Steam alone, I imagine they're not exactly rushed to get a game out for profit. After resting on their laurels for so long, it's been very refreshing to see this kind of passion in AAA game development again.

[@nonsensicalhumanoid]

@@MaxCE he sounds like father grigori

[@ItsJustElenore]

"Eli sold out to the combine" Jesus, that's a terrible story. Eli is established as a character who would rather die than "sell out" to the combine.

[@shrub8644]

Yep.

[@grailw9221]

yeah it's like what greg bear did to the forerunners when he was hired to write at 343

[@davidcoghill8612]

Yeah pretty much the whole point of HL2 was that Breen sold out the whole of humanity to the combine, whilst Eli was one of the few people with the knowledge and contacts to build a meaningful resistance. Changing that in the prequel makes so little sense it's bizarre.

[@blezzeth5283]

They tried to do Eli like Disney did Luke Skywalker

[@mkmemes6277]

i like to think about it like this if this was the retail story i believe he would have did it for alyx so alyx could grow up with a somewhat normal childhood and alyx had to convice eli that him selling out to the combine would make things worse

[@marconarvaez9871]

8:03 Lazlo, the finest mind of our generation, and you call him a "side character" smh.

[@PossessedPanda]

POOR LAZLO

[@brothercharanus1927]

He was the greatest man that the resistance had.

[@yourlocalfbiagent8718]

imagine if lazlo was gordon freemans son, so in hl2 gordon unknowingly watched his kid die right infront of him

[@jjrambles683]

I legitimately laughed out loud when I heard that line in HL2.

[@TopHatDealer]

Lazlo, if he survived the antlions, could've told Gordon that he must become the Half-Life to defeat the Universal Union.

[@Mastrbuilder121]

Why did they make Han so God damn thicc

[@jackrutledgegoembel5896]

maybe she's got some kind of combine tech stored in her thighs lmao

[@SeriouslyNotTom]

Han do be looking like Grimace

[@Thefreakyfreek]

Not realy tick but like realy wide

[@goodluckgorsky3413]

They need to compete with Resident Evil

[@dannybagley9333]

Yeah she's got like cartoon proportions. It'd really weird next to all the more normal looking people

[@CashKingD]

Honestly? I'm glad they re-wrote the story. Half-Life games need solid stories, and so I'm not too beaten up that they scrapped it.

[@InnuendoXP]

Yeah, the cut story sounds like complete ass. Like the writer had been watching Game of Thrones & felt a need to 'subvert expectations' regardless of whether it made a good story.

[@namenotfound6954]

Yeah, but honestly Its still not up to the quality of Laidlaw

[@damienscott6561]

Story in Half-Life games was never extraordinary. Their narratives have a specific function - to connect every element of the game, but the story itself is not something special.

[@namenotfound6954]

@@damienscott6561 Why So?

[@damienscott6561]

@@namenotfound6954 because Half-Life is not story-centric game?

[@vvuuppee]

Wolpaw and Pinkerton fixing the entire games story last minute is such a great testimonial for the work that they do.

[@Thibmac49]

Now imagine having both of them lead a new HL project they started from scratch. Oh wait, isn't it what's already happening with HLX?

[@vvuuppee]

@@Thibmac49 a man can dream ♥

[@jharju2352]

@@Thibmac49 HLX?

[@kgpspyguy]

That's what you get when you hire actual writers to do your writing.

[@shadowrage2593]

And yet none of them matched Marc's level of writing.

[@mfaizsyahmi]

Other game companies: Crunches half-baked video games for the money. Valve: Spends years to develop concept after concept, idea after idea, and scraps them over and over again.

[@Masterwar15]

Also Valve: Let's make a MOBA lmao

[@BComet]

It's because Valve has near-infinite money with Steam and its games microtransactions alone. Money is the least of their concerns, so they can take ALL the time in the world, which is also a problem because it easily leads to development hell.

[@PXAbstraction]

Easy to do when you have Steam as an unlimited money press.

[@vijayvishwa6512]

Lool. There are companies like Naughty dogs, insomniac which delivery a great game at a reasonable time. Even rockstar releases games more often than valve and are better products too.

[@GuilhermeSantos-sd5uw]

@@vijayvishwa6512 ah yes jank horse simulator and online money printer 5

[@Memoquin]

It’ll all factor in eventually. Much like how the HL2 beta elements are slowly being repurposed and reused.

[@clamdove3292]

wait, they are? can you give a few examples?

[@delawarevex4976]

@@clamdove3292 in half life alyx and the beta iterations of the game, valve reused concepts Like the grenade Hopwire (xen grenade), the cremators (a cut enemy that was going to return but got scrapped again), combine aestethics, etc.

[@Fenrize]

@@delawarevex4976 Also the Vorti-cells

[@Memoquin]

@@clamdove3292 The Borealis now belongs to Aperture Science instead of a generic ice breaker, the ant lion mines were originally going to lead to a Captain Vance’s hidden base, the train crash from the start of Episode 2 is identical to the one that would have happened at the Air Exchange. The list goes on. I know the HL2 beta had done amazing ideas, but it was too ambitious and bloated. I’ve got a copy of Raising the Bar, but seeing as they’re in the hundreds of dollars try looking for pdf online if you haven’t read it. There’s plenty of cut content you’ll recognise.

[@UNSCPILOT]

@@delawarevex4976 all the unused assests and concepts will certainly give modders mountians of ammo to expand HL:Alyx, I do love that valve tosses in and includes a lot of this stuff, and it would be interesting to see some of the cut map sections restored/reimagined to fit with the (deffinitly better) story we got since it will probably take a while for HL3, HL:Alyx 2, or any other major VR project to come out, unless Alyx has put them in a VR making frenzy

[@AngryShooter]

The one thing that is mentioned here that I wish was in HL: Alyx is more NPC interaction at the beginning, introducing the living conditions under the Combine, as-well as more exposure to their propaganda, a bit like how Half-Life 2 started. If there's one small nitpick I can make about HL: Alyx (wish I absolutely loved) is that the starting residential area falls a bit short from feeling like a living world, you're literally trapped on the other side of where it's all supposedly happening.

[@shrub8644]

Yes yes yes!

[@issacclark1045]

God,that woulda been great. From voicelines to animations to worldbuilding, every bit gets used by modders and SFM creators!

[@pira707]

they can make another half vr game but have it centered on Lazlo and we can play through his life until he dies on the beach.

[@bleysingram7789]

I hope valve makes a DLC to half Life alyx where you can go through the residential area and talk to people and going to buildings and seeing the propaganda and other fun things

[@TKsh1]

Valve is honestly insane, they just develop games until the end, and if they're not up to their standards, they just throw up and do it all again; and that's considering they did that even before Steam was a money printer with Team Fortress 2. I just wished that more things from the beta were in the final game, it has some great concepts.

[@hazzmati]

They even did that with Half-Life 2 and 1

[@spikem5950]

Yeah, they really are. But you have to give them credit, "it'll come when it's ready" is something they actually live by, unlike every other company to utter those hollow words.

[@britishbeef4890]

Valve has the money to take their time, others have investors to please

[@barple367]

@Wayne's Odyssey that may be so when it comes to waiting on content but when it releases it sure does please.

[@daemonvanmeir9697]

@@barple367 this

[@Ddarkan]

I hope that when Half Life (or at least Gordon Freeman's) story is eventually concluded, Valve will loosen it's grip on story and details and just release all their past works and open up about what they were considering.

[@justchill1617]

I doubt that. Valve just let the community modders do the hell they wish if they want to just like create a bridging story for their games.

[@johnnyringo5777]

There's definitely not going to be a conclusion. Valve makes way more money from steam and they have basically stated that they have no reason to develop any more games

[@Ddarkan]

@@johnnyringo5777 Half Life: Alyx's existence goes against all that though. They clearly care enough to continue making games. It may not be the financial focus, but I would be extremely suprised if they didn't use the set up from the end of HL:A to continue and eventually conclude the Half Life story.

[@johnnyringo5777]

@@Ddarkan this is literally like the meme from invincible. Think, there wasn't even readily available VR tech for average people until 2010. That means that they couldn't even have started production of Alyx until 2010, and they didn't even begin making it until February of 2016. Alyx released in 2020 so it had 4 years of development, 4 YEARS, Alyx was in development for less time than half life 2! They haven't been working tirelessly on its story and features for 17 years, it only took them 4, so therefore they could've released half life 3 by now and they would've if they wanted to. The fact is that they left fans hanging for 17 years for no reason. They aren't "taking their time", they simply aren't even working on it.

[@TerraSept]

Pessimist vs Optimist

[@PekaCheeki]

The cremator stays as the most iconic character in the half life universe while never even implemented in the games officially.

[@mono_si]

Combine Guard's my first, and Cremator's a close second. Just LOOK at the massive cannon it has!

[@free4fire]

For me personally mr. friendly holds the number 1 spot, but I agree the cremator is probably the best known and also the most interesting in terms of lore.

[@trager8933]

There are a lot of references for the cremator In half life 2. For example the "weird head looking thing" In black mesa east and some charred bodies throut half life 2. The most subtle one must be at the begining of hl2 when g-man says "So wake up Mr. Freeman. Wake up and smell the *ASHES* ".

[@trager8933]

Key word -ashes It could mean many things. Ashes as If they are the only thing that Is left of the past human culture before the 7 hour war.

[@Pinkman999]

@@trager8933 I don’t think the cremator exists,it could be just a reference.It makes no sense why they wouldn’t know the weird head is a cremator because they roam in the city too.As for the ashes part i think it’s a reference to the aftermath of the “fire” that Gordon started at Black Mesa,thus the ashes.

[@KalkuehlGaming]

The only thing I didnt like about HL Alyx is that you dont come in contact with normal citizens.

[@shrub8644]

I agree. I was waiting for actual npc interactions the entire game

[@aelamf]

Its so comforting to know that valve actually cares about their games if it was any other componay they would release it with the index no quastion

[@fatis2745]

Cries with tf2

[@pooploser619]

@@fatis2745 Cries in Kazotsky Kick Taunt

[@S1nwar]

release it with index? they would put it ON PREORDER WITH AMAZING NEW SKINS DLC

[@toy_bonnie]

Tf2 👀

[@johnnyringo5777]

Actually any other company would've made a proper sequel a decade ago 🥶

[@brastionskywarrior6951]

“A darker version of half life vr” Is there a single HL full game that wasnt darker at the start? HL1 and HL2 were darker originally. This seems to be a common trend

[@commisso3806]

Yes, the first one. Half-Life's Alpha is much more cartoony, stylized, and less realistic than the final game.

[@brastionskywarrior6951]

@@commisso3806 early half life also featured guards killing scientists for causing the cascade and ditches full of dead bodies being burned. it seemed to be much more dissonant with its silly kind of textures and dark actions.

[@TheGoober019]

@@brastionskywarrior6951 im also adding the fact that monster who...eh you know...that monster yeah...

[@ssg-eggunner]

Dark and Griddy

[@vj7248]

Han looks like a Pixar Mom turned Disney Villain

[@adog3129]

lol

[@xande5345]

Please make an 1 hour+ video with all of this story and lore, PLEASE

[@Smol-vehvi]

If you want to know more, you can buy the final hours of half life:alyx on steam for 9.99 I highly recommend it and it’s worth every penny!

[@xande5345]

@@Smol-vehvi idk, that would translate to approximately 60 bucks in my country, but I might buy it one day lol

[@Imagopher]

I already knew everything he said in the video plus a ton of extra details just from binging his streams. If you want more details, he talks about this stuff all the time in them

[@CorredorDigital_]

@@xande5345 spotted a brazilian

[@xande5345]

@@CorredorDigital_ unfortunately

[@SkeleTonHammer]

Sounds like this version of the game would have been all about force feeding the player tons of plot and exposition, something Valve is famously not wild about.

[@grailw9221]

yeah it sounds like the halo media written by greg bear, halo 4 the foreunner trilogy etc, which is a bad sign

[@NaruSanavai]

@@grailw9221 I knew there was a reason I couldn't get into those books (apart from them being in first-person).

[@Peetfighter]

This is the 3th HL game where Valve made big changes at the last moment.

[@cloudedarctrooper]

"3th"

[@bonjolor8298]

@@cloudedarctrooper lmao

[@someguystudios23]

threeth

[@romanrhodes815]

Thirth

[@cdcb5918]

3rd half life still sounds so weird lmao

[@countersphere2924]

I wish we got a DLC to HL:A with some elements of this story, maybe even playing as a new side character. I kinda liked how some of the human combine soldiers and workers were more "humanized" in HL:A. And some of these cut concepts sounds like they coulf make for an interesting DLC

[@NinoJoel]

Problem being that Valve hates DLCs and will probably hide this content as much as possible

[@RossMitchellsProfile]

Half Life Alyx Episode 1

[@cocojumbo539]

leaked half life x will probably be a hla dlc. I hope that its main character will be adrian so much

[@hynekschreiber241]

4:30 The man on the right is faded af lmao

[@talideon]

Eli selling out makes no sense whatsoever in the context of HL2. What was the writer thinking?!

[@dustojnikhummer]

I would love to see Half Life Alyx: Deleted Scenes

[@omegasquadfrisk6397]

I'm not sure if you were referencing it, but nice nod to Condition Zero's Deleted Scenes.

[@dustojnikhummer]

@@omegasquadfrisk6397 I was thinking of CZ:CS, good catch

[@FluorescentApe]

Thirty Seven After Six. Good choice, Tyler. It's a masterpiece

[@frogmud]

this isnt a bad thing for valve, every single half life game so far out of valve has had a complete rework from the ground up like this, team fortress 2 had a complete rework from the ground up like this, it is only a mark that valve took their time to make sure they have done it all right before they put anything in the waters

[@ShadowSumac]

TF2 had 3 reworks. Portal 2 had one.

[@royliber3824]

I mean... Its really the truth about Valve. Every game they remade from scrap argueably was better from what they initially planned. After what Tyler told us here, im not sure Half Life: Alyx would be praised the same way like the final build would have been. The ending of Half Life: Alyx got me goosebumps not any other Valve game ever made me have... That ending was simply pure, watching it the first time 2 years ago I remember I was all like "NO FREAKING WAY, THEY JUST CONFIRMED HL3???!!". It simply was the best ending ive seen from a Half Life game. All jokes aside, HL3 is going to happen even if its going to take few more years ahead of us... It IS going to happen. And im sure they would rework everything from the ground up when it does lol, I would even say more than once sense this is going to need to be their best HL game ever made. And I can see why Valve are probably currently afraid to work on such a thing but with that been said, im so happy they are quite literally back in the game.

[@CoolSs]

Valve is the type of company that will make a full game but end up cancelling it so they start making a new game as basically spiritual sequel and sell that second improved attempt as the full game .

[@Wyattporter]

Skip sponsor 1:45 Edit: i’m glad the story was changed. I wish Hahn was further explored in the final game because she shows up, but the final story is much better and far more impactful and important.

[@Ferdam]

yeah, story wise/direction/progression of the game, well it looks kinda meh to me but the idea of gathering info from citizens/npcs around a more open world is awesome. I wish they could introduce more RPG elements to Half-Life to enhance story telling and at same time not frustrating fans that would hate gameplay rpg mechanics (I'd love that too but I understand it could be risky)

[@ElephantsDoingCrack]

Honestly, I wish they had sort of combined these two stories together. Obviously there's some weird things that could have been rewritten or just flat out bad ideas, but there were also a lot of good ideas that I wish made it in the final product.

[@xande5345]

Yeah and the saddest part for me is that they cutted SO MUCH of the city's map, I would love to see Alyx talking with people and exploring places

[@ElephantsDoingCrack]

@@xande5345I think it could have been a bad thing for replays, but the world building would have been awesome!

[@BonJoviBeatlesLedZep]

I think they cut it out for a reason. Eli doesn't really seem like himself here. And the G-Man stuff doesn't seem to make a ton of sense. AND it doesn't really seem to lead in to HL3 or play with timelines, unless there's stuff in there we don't know.

[@Deremixproductions]

While HL:A's story is fantastic, and seems to be leaps and bounds better than what we almost got - there are small things from this that I wish could have made it in. Two hours spent in City 17 sounds wonderful. That version of the cremator. More time spent actually interacting with NPCs, more scripted sequences, instead of just a voice over the radio... kinda makes me sad in a way. But! The next part will surely improve upon what we got.

[@KalkuehlGaming]

Valve should release this as a dlc and call it non canon. I would love to see all the interactions. This two hours you talked about before you get a gun would be awesome for a nice VR walk to just enjoy a story.

[@Y3SkyBreaker]

If they called it non canon then they'd have to confirm that canon actually exists for Half-Life, which they don't seem to like the idea of doing

[@KalkuehlGaming]

@@Y3SkyBreaker all their released games are canon.

[@EmApex]

@@KalkuehlGaming Marc Laidlaw has said before that the canon is something for the fans to come up with and that Valve don't have an official stance on what is and isn't canon. That stance might have changed over time but looking at their games it still seems like they're following it, given that they retcon stuff constantly. All their games are technically canon but they're also non-canon so that they can rewrite the story if they need to, same reason they haven't given a definitive timeline of events for HL/Portal either If you want a weird retcon that not many people mention and doesn't make any sense otherwise, take a look at Kleiner. According to HL1's manual, Kleiner was Gordon's university professor and he's the one that recommended Gordon for the job at Black Mesa. He didn't work there. Kleiner being a researcher was later retconned into HL2, which wouldn't make any sense if every game was canon Long story short I wouldn't think too much about the canon of Half-Life because it doesn't really exist. The best way to think about it is to think of every game in the series as its own canon (HL1 + the expansions, HL2 + the episodes, HLA + whatever they release next). There are shared elements between each major installment, such as character names, designs, etc, but every game is its own standalone story pretty much

[@GravityTrash]

Geoff: *gets mostly censored on Final Hours of Half Life Alyx Tyler: "Fine, I'll do it myself"

[@protocetid]

We are lucky we even got the Final Hours.

[@Acrolvm]

Imagine if games came with B-sides like old Albums would. Just an entire game made up of unfinished concepts or ideas that just weren't as well received. I'd pay for that.

[@scoople6]

That's incredible how they were able to re-stitch a near complete project into something entirely different but using the same parts. I wonder if they want to keep this unreleased game secret in case they might want to use sections and ideas for future games.

[@shrub8644]

I hope they make a HL2 remake, maybe even for VR. That'd be the dream. I just want more lore about City 17, and I feel like it's only possible in prequel games, since Ep2 was in white forest, and Ep/hl3 is probably in the Arctic Knowing about the politics of Combine, daily lives and struggles of citizens and more about metrocops, and so on is so interesting and it seems like a waste to never return to it HL3 lore stuff will probably be completely over the human/combine relations stuff already and just focus on G-Man, Vorts and maybe even Combine home world, leaving all these interesting questions behind

[@JCDentonCZ]

I just hope they'll decide to properly retool all the cut content for future games, Episode 1/2 style. Valve has such a wealth of potential ideas that I really want to see explored in a retail release - Air Exchange being one such thing.

[@BonJoviBeatlesLedZep]

Yeah I think that's exactly what they'll do. They probably censored Keighley because some of this stuff is getting re-used in HLVR2.

[@chewy99.]

The only part of the story that seems cool is that Azian had an impact. I’m not sure I like that she knew the resonance cascade would happen and just didn’t tell anyone, including her husband, but it would be cool if she made a deal with the vortigaunts to save her child by alerting the g man about the child’s potential. It was the g man who saved Alyx, and I don’t want him to directly know that Azian was involved in saving her, but maybe they could’ve gone about it in a way where it was basically g man’s idea, just kind of indirectly influenced by a deal Azian made with the vortigaunts. I just wonder how she would’ve been communicating with them since they didn’t know English.

[@ThatTravGuy]

Valve going back and rewriting/building Half Life Games in a short time span before launch seems to be a common occurrence.

[@enissp6197]

imagine some footage of half life alyx time traveling to youtube 2013-15, it'd be mindblowing

[@tkain61]

I just really want to see what those cutscenes would have entailed. Do you have any leads on where you/we might find the voice clips, or can we at least get a skilled lip-reader to figure out what Eli was saying?

[@flwerz420]

I CLICKED THIS SO FAST THANK YOU TYLER

[@chairshoe81]

REEEEEEEEEEEE

[@toy_bonnie]

You clicked faster then gman can be confusing

[@NotSoMelancholy]

Like with Valves older VR experiences, I’d love to see them do some kind of “walk through city 17” like those planned exposition dumps.

[@FIAWOLpi]

I have a lot of respect for valve having the guys to do a 180 and do what it took to fix what they thought as a mistake. HLA is my first Half-life game and I have been so impressed, it is the benchmark that I judge all other VR games by. VR is very new and stories are hard to tell and that being said Half-life Alyx is able to match a great story with painstakingly polished immersion mechanics to make something unforgettable.

[@danielsurvivor1372]

9:16 WAIT A SECOND. Does that mean, HALF LIFE ECHOES MOD IS CANON? In it, the protagonist goes to Eli house to save Alyx, it's presumed you're either a friend... Or a lover of Eli, and you see Baby Alyx taken away by G Man while you get to experience Black Mesa being nuked.

[@AshleyCollingwood]

Do we know who the original writer was? I honestly feel sad for them, they clearly put a lot of work into it for it to just get completely scrapped for the most part. I hope their relationship with Valve didn't sour.

[@Maddin1313]

I can understand Valve not wanting to show any more of this cancelled game. I don't upload my blurry photos of birds.

[@shrub8644]

Plus they might want to revisit some things and don't want to reveal it to outside

[@rinyas]

1:44 ad skip

[@elielc.8459]

Still waiting for Tyler to come back to this story to show off all this cut content in a more in depth manner. Like he said at 9:29, he glossed over a lot of things here: the gman dream sequences, yosif, combine worker's party, Eli's videocalls, cutscenes and dialogue in general, etc... Also, I really hope someone attempts a restoration mod. From what Tyler said here, it looks like it was pretty much done - animation work, voice acting, level design and all.

[@datingsim]

Yeah, he kept saying another time, did anything end up happening with this. Is there a video about it?

[@JamieCurrant]

5:56 Eli looking like Alyx is caught by the Combine and he just needs my credit card number, PIN and three digits on the back

[@Da-PaNtz-GuY]

It would be cool if they released this version of the game as a free dlc.

[@TwistedEgg]

It wouldnt make much sence

[@Da-PaNtz-GuY]

@@TwistedEgg its wishful thinking, obviously it wont happen.

[@parkketler7088]

It’s kinda funny. Cause the main reason they seemingly never released a half life game is because they felt they couldn’t keep up with the hype. Turns out they were telegraphing their moves. They weren’t happy with it and they knew it wouldn’t meet hype. Noice!

[@shattenofficial]

this stuff is insane to learn about

[@rabburtt1841]

I feel like it's become a Half-Life tradition at this point for them to scrap a large chunk of the game's content and/or story at least *once* before the game's release

[@Magx451]

Thicc scientist lady making me act up

[@zwolf2376]

I don't think this story is nearly as bad as you say it is. I think this is at least better than the first half of hla with the rescuing eli like you did in hl2

[@shrub8644]

HLA is somewhat overrated in story. I like the ending but I don't like Eli being captured again, and I don't like how the Vortigaunt side plot was half assed

[@anteaterzhell]

Yeah sounds like it would of went way more into the workings of Combine society and the citizens lives within it which is just something we get a brief glimpse at in HL2, the combine sympathizer party is an interesting concept as well this honestly sounded more interesting than the current HLA plot which is pretty barebones and I really didn't like some of the stuff they did like imprisoning G-man and retconning the Episode 2 ending.

[@wiktorwojciechowski8889]

All I can now feel is *PAIN* and *DISAPPOINTMENT*

[@Anon.G]

Why

[@DCMakesArt]

It would be cool if they repurpose the city 17 exploring sections (mainly just the map and some of the citizens, not the story) into some kind of small vr experience or hlx

[@SuperCityscan]

The story much more convoluted than a Half-Life story usually is. What I really like about this franchise is that all the games are approachable easily, but there is a great dept of lore behind it, that the player only needs to explore if they want to. But I liked that Eli wasn't 100% pure beacon against the Combine and that the vortigounts shad some light on Alyx's past, most importantly interacting with more humans and exploring more of City 17.

[@johnathanegbert9277]

It had Cremators? So that's how Alyx got that Cremator head, huh?

[@FlawedbyDesign777]

1:45 adskip

[@kellerweskier7214]

tbh. there is a set system of stories in Halo, Starwars, and other major titles... like WH20k~40K. Its called Extended Universe. A good way to add backstory and ideals to the main point. It can be backstories of Rebels getting info of creating a massive military force to fight the now weakened combine now that just a garrison force is stationed on earth, which is why the Combine forces still seemed a bit low for being the epicenter of the combine control of the earth. It can be the story of a Rebel turned Metrocop to feed his family and decides has a slip-up, causing his entire city block including his family being exterminated by incinerators, so he runs off and a new adventure begins. A group of civilians emerges from a bunker after 20 years from hiding at the beginning of the 7-hour war. They talk to local Trans-human security, and are brought into the combined umbrella as an observable test subject, only for the base to be raided by Rebel forces with heighten military tech, connecting the first idea with this one to further expand the EU. But, if something like this is implemented, id suggests it being made like the SCP-wiki. stories need to be filtered and make sense. Try to make things connect as 2nd writers. So no toes are being stepped on.

[@Thefreakyfreek]

Han made it in to the final version you cant see her but you hear her talking

[@GTAram855]

Nah, that was clearly Mossman. However I agree that it may have been Han originally and just kept that in, that's why the voice is different.

[@sarcasmselftestcomplete5508]

@@GTAram855 The combine scientist in HL:A is not Mossman

[@bigshobe]

@@GTAram855 not Mossman

[@BonJoviBeatlesLedZep]

It's definitely a version of her. That one scene is the sole remnant of that entire cut character and she provides one of the most important twists of the game.

[@Thefreakyfreek]

@@WASTOIDSUPREME jep she has no name in the game han is a bit wierd

[@YZYE]

Valve really like changing their games at the last second, oh well, it’s not hurting anyone. (I still want Return To Ravenholm.

[@ultgamercw6759]

Id love to see the cut version of this plot even if it's not cannon simply to see how it was changed over the course of development and to see what it was like before that massive plot change.

[@BenisDD]

God that plot sounds so pretentious. Good on Valve for scrubbing that off.

[@shrub8644]

I agree, though I like the ideas the plot was based on. Should've been tuned down and made into optional lore stuff.

[@NaruSanavai]

@@shrub8644 It would have been cool to learn more about the Vortessence, but Eli selling out to the Combine? That would _never_ happen. Talk about breaking character...

[@shrub8644]

@@NaruSanavai I mean that's the one thing I really didn't like about this plot

[@LukesOffline]

Hahn is thicc

[@FlawedbyDesign777]

>No missing texture thigh-highs my disappointment is immeasurable and my day slightly less enjoyable.

[@samanderson4166]

I'm glad we got the best version of the game. I was hoping to have more interaction with humans. Maybe even talk to them and they respond naturally. But that is me living in fantasy land.

[@breakdancegoose1005]

This version of the story seems to be really disrespectful towards Eli, the man died for the rebellion and in this early version of the story he just sells out to the combine for a nice house.

[@At_Amsterdam]

This all reminds me so much of the half life 2 beta. With exploring city 17 and learning about the lore through expositional moments littered throughout the large map. It’s a really cool concept but it just doesn’t work after two major attempts by Valve. I really do love their show don’t tell way of making games. If you research and look for the tiniest details, you learn a ton about the world. You never have to be fed the lore, you can just play and have a good time without thinking hard if you want

[@sbalazstibor]

I BET there will be a firestation in HL:X... I BET!

[@TReeseTV]

Its refreshing to hear about a developer actually deciding to just restart and delay as opposed to building hype and releasing garbage cus they over promised.

[@PTSDDDEVIL]

I like how there's also humans who can be bosses to the combines, this makes me feel like the uprising would've had only half of loyal citizens from the city 17.

[@FOX_0510]

1:06 the bird moving sideways XD

[@verylostdoommarauder]

Seemingly, Valve doesn't care how long a project takes, and making the game good takes priority. Good on them.

[@Craft2299]

My karate teacher explained the efficiency of karate and hand to hand combat, he gave an example of a teacher who would do a big combo of attacks before striking the opponent to fall to the ground, comparing that to his efficiency being with just one attack and then tripping them. The story of this old HL:A seems like the ineffective mess that throws a combo of attacks before making the landing, while the HL:A that we got is simply just simple and effective. Despite HL:A 2018 seems interesting, I feel we got the more worthwhile version.

[@grailw9221]

honestly the 2018 version of hl:a sounds so much like the stuff by greg bear it's disturbing to know that it could have came out with a story like that

[@89nights66]

0:27

[@Channel9iNE]

Hahn got me acting up

[@Enders]

Tyler McVicker turning in the Dan Bell of abandoned video games on this one. Had big "dead mall" vibes at the end. Thanks for sharing these great facts and history Tyler!

[@FeedJaeGonlol]

11:28 Lazlo? U mean the finest mind of his generation?

[@MegamanNick]

The thing that strikes me most about the cut content and storyline is that some of it is actually good material and that it would show more of Half-Life’s world, even the smallest bit of details like the manor or talking with civilians. It would be cool to see all of this if it ever comes out in a new half-life title.

[@TerraSept]

Eli? A traitor? Combine workers party? Yeah Half Life: Alyx's story was a million times better

[@shrub8644]

First part, meh. Second part? Awesome, if done right. Would've been a cool lore thing on the side but probably shouldn't be the main plot.

[@TerraSept]

@@shrub8644 I don't see how the combine workers party would be a thing, consenting humans for the combine cause?

[@shrub8644]

@@TerraSept Nazis and stalinists and cultists all exist. People aren't immune to propaganda and maybe there were benefits like with civil protection.

[@TerraSept]

@@shrub8644 I can see the benefits yeah and if that were the case then it'd make sense, and maybe very few people would join based off of belief but, cultists and Nazis and stalinists all have this idea that what they're doing is right, I don't know what kind of mental gymnastics would have to happen for someone to see the complete take over of earth, the draining of the oceans, the subjection of every human, as something that is good, even with immense propaganda. Maybe I'm giving humans too much credit

[@TerraSept]

@@shrub8644 Also there's the case of family and friends. I doubt that anyone would see what the combine would do to their family and friends and still be able to be brainwashed to that extent

[@qwertylesh]

what a bizarre take on the hl universe, eli as a defector could only work if it was some startrek-discovery like mirror universe twist, or some twist where there's a secret motivation like bringing back alyxs mum from the dead or something. nonetheless the game would be amazing to see just out of curiosity sake, and maybe some of those asset that got cut out could find its way into a future game of some sort.

[@igna3385]

7:48 I wonder if the cutted part in the elevator it's still in the map of the final game

[@santiagocarlini]

whats the outro music? it bothers me tyler doesnt put sources for it in the description, so many good songs.

[@shrub8644]

That actually sounds awesome. It's just too MUCH. It should be like 25 minutes of exposition and leaving talking to civilians optional. Especially the vort hideout and ofc all the combine political party/propaganda stuff.

[@shrub8644]

And yeah the character writing didn't seem good, but I wish they kept some of these ideas in the final product. I basically wanted more lore and interactive/story elements.

[@LeafMaltieze]

I really wish the cut enemies were used in some way. Give me the flamer thrower combine. Give me all that gameplay that was so good, but with the better story. They don't need to change the base game, just release some linear level packs, with small bits of lore, maybe use some of the side characters they cut that don't conflict with the story, and reintroduce the pieces of gameplay that we never got to see. There's so many models that exist, that just go unused, and I really want to see them used.

[@RodrigoChavezz]

That's pretty impressive that they could have really caught that - talk about real agile management!

[@HDMI0]

At this point I'm pretty confident that the G-Man is after control of the Vortessence. To add to that, we know from these leaks that Alyx is connected to the Vortessence, so I guess it would make sense that the G-Man would be after Alyx instead of Gordon. I don't know, just my thoughts from this.

[@jaredgunkle1562]

they never would have had any story problems if they put lazlo in charge

[@joempoem478]

I feel like missing multiple planned release dates has become like a tradition at valve

[@JaredWeiler]

3 things are sure in life: Death, Taxes, and a scrapped Half-Life storyline that fans will never give up on.

[@crassirus]

The one thing I feel I've noticed between this and, for example, all the aborted sequences in portal 2 is that when people at Valve know something isn't gonna work they're not afraid to throw near everything away and pivot hard. It feels like they are the antithesis of the sunk cost fallacy and I'm here for it tbh.

[@PGtheVRguy]

I hope this becomes a series ^1 year later^

[@toy_bonnie]

I’m so glad this was finally uploaded

[@gentaillahi6153]

Valve making the game is like when you bake a bread, and when you take it out from the oven, it becomes a Pizza...

[@littlesnowflakepunk855]

more like baking a pizza, and when it comes out it's a cake somehow

[@gentaillahi6153]

@@littlesnowflakepunk855 fair enough

[@SzymonParys]

1:56 second line from the bottom

[@TackerTacker]

There are lots of games that are very different from their final release for most of the development, it's not actually that unusual.