This is "Ravenholm" - The Cancelled Half-Life Game from Arkane Studios

[@NoclipDocs]

If you have any questions about the gameplay showcase please reply here and we'll do our best to answer them. patreon.com/noclip if you'd like to support our work.

[@Kralich]

Hey Danny - fantastic gameplay and an amazing look at what could have been. Do you see any potential for a wider public release of this content in the future? There's been many fan petitions from the community and as I'm sure you know from your Black Mesa documentary, the Source Engine modding scene would do wonders even with the unfinished stuff seen here. If not, everyone - myself included - still really appreciate all the work Noclip has done bringing this relic to the visible limelight. Thanks again!

[@zac2806]

how did valve agree to this? Insane that you managed to even get a reply out of them! Amazing work as always

[@ГОСПОДИНН]

*EPISODE 4 IS SO MAGNIFICENT. IT`S MY DREAM* #RELEASERAVENHOLM

[@LazarheaD]

Why are the zombies not headcrab zombies? Seems like it's straying away from Half-Life, more so reminds me of Condemned. I can see why Valve were not into it.

[@SIsaacK]

It's interesting to hear that they had already composed an original score for the game (mentioned at 26:55)! I'm curious about that. Did they get Kelly Bailey to do more composition work for that, or did they have someone else composing?

[@edusszfx]

The fact that you managed to get Valve to agree on releasing this footage is a feat on it's own! Great stuff!

[@isucks891]

much footage was already released

[@unoriginalperson72]

I would pay for the build of the game

[@jamespaul6315]

Valve are lazy as fuck and overrated

[@MendicinoB]

Mr. Boom?

[@NoclipDocs]

When we originally did the documentary we checked with both them and EA (for the LMNO footage) to make sure everyone was cool and we weren't publishing anything sensitive. We always said we'd publish the unfiltered version as archival footage at some point in the future and two years felt about right. My hope is this format provides a responsible way of showcasing games at a stage of development that we don't often get to. Mostly I'm excited for the work of all those people at Arkane to be more public. You can see so much of the love and effort that went into making this. It's a shame it didn't get finished, but clearly the lessons they learned here went on to make some of the best immersive sims ever - so we can be thankful for that.

[@CoreyLaddo]

It's amazing how far this project went until being cancelled, it looks like it would have been an excellent Half-Life entry.

[@reptarien]

I would have loved to play it. Grigori was always an interesting character to me so having him as a main protag is dope.

[@UrikaTractor]

@@reptarien exactly

[@samw2670]

It looks like a mod than an actual game. Nothing amazing at all

[@evagineer9165]

@@samw2670 I wholeheartedly disagree

[@samw2670]

@@evagineer9165 easily pleased.

[@1upD]

I noticed a quirk of Source engine games that I thought was interesting and wanted to share. During the fight with the ape experiments (like around 48:54) there is a loud piercing mechanical shrieking sound. This is not actually the sound that's supposed to play, rather, it's a bug that affects Source engine games. There's a file sound.cache used for caching sounds. If a sound file used by the game is replaced after that sound.cache is already created, the sound sometimes doesn't play properly and instead creates that squealing sound because the cache doesn't match what's on disk. While working on a Source engine mod on Steam, this has been a huge problem. Devs sometimes replace sounds instead of adding a new one and then when the update comes down from Steam, opening the game again with that sound.cache file will cause unbearable shrieking sounds.

[@TWEEMASTER2000]

what a nightmare lmaoo

[@NoclipDocs]

Thanks for clarifying, I was wondering what that was!

[@fakerac3521]

@crypt that's wrong , the console will simply not play the sound and tell you it's over the sample rate limit

[@0Blueaura]

@crypt doesn't need a proof, this does happen. You get a red line of code saying unable to play sound. Open the game for urself, make a map with a sound then delete said file. Trigger it in game and check the console.

[@Jewifer333x2]

Havent ever noticed this in source games. Are you talking about the buzzsaw noise?

[@Harry101UK]

This is really cool! Interesting to see the parallels with Half Life Alyx too, with the electical wiring puzzles and tearing out the headcrab heart while saying "nourishment".

[@ZombieDeMierda]

well , i think someone at valve in the development of hl alyx said something like "why dont we use that cool mechanics and concepts that we saw on that cancelled project a long time ago?". Valve usually to do that , recicle concepts of the beta or another proyects that never came out

[@wookix]

There's more stuff being used in alyx. Like Gregory being sort of a guiding voice via radio very similar to Russell.

[@KenTWOu]

Valve took electrical wiring puzzles with wires inside walls and rotatable nodes from Watch Dogs games.

[@Arkaniet]

@@KenTWOu the concept of it is in this demo though which is from 2007. So it predates Watchdogs.

[@triplehelix3207]

I really wonder who's going to make something out of that electro gun, Arkane or Valve, since neither have used it since

[@LordOwenTheThird]

I'm not a merch person, but if arkane sold "I'm a placeholder" hoodies I'd get it in a heartbeat.

[@Dung30n]

I had to pause the video to make sure my eyes didnt deceive me. Arkane take my money !

[@royaltoadclub8322]

>I'm not a merch person >proceeds to outperform merch people

[@al112v4]

Not into merch? You're missing out.

[@LordOwenTheThird]

@@al112v4 My thing is that I get tripped up over branding. Like a lot of art from games is really cool and could stand on it's own irl as merch, but so many companies need to slap their logos/game titles on a thing so you KNOW it's from their product, especially clothing. The only real merch I got is the operation elbrus shirt from destiny, since it's a cool design but apart from the tricorn on the back you can't really tell it's from the game.

[@BodywiseMustard]

Then you clearly ARE a merch person. That sounds like a god awful thing to spend money on and advertise in public

[@eccodreams]

That headcrab in the toilet with the cinderblock on it is something that Valve themselves would put in their game. Arkane has always been on another level of legendary with details, even this relatively early into development.

[@TheRacePig]

The fact that hunt down the freeman gets valve's blessing and this got cancelled is just infuriating.

[@Pacman009]

Well ravenholm was gonna he a offical game like BS and OP4 while HDTF is a mod

[@antonthenormaldude2609]

VALVE APPROVED THAT PIECE OF GARBAGE?

[@KibitoAkuya]

@@antonthenormaldude2609 it's not a free game so they had to get a license to use the engine commercially, so at the very least Valve knew about it

[@cxeroannuki2840]

@@Pacman009 HDTF is not a mod, it is a standalone valve-approved game.

[@SixtyFourJr]

What if Valve just "approved" Hunt Down The Freeman so more people could make fun of it?

[@crytracker]

Valve totally took some heavy inspiration from this gameplay to create the electric zombies in HL:A and possibly even the multi-tool gameplay

[@MaximG.]

The first very familiar thing I noticed is "tearing a heart out from a still living headcrab" scene, just with Grigori instead of Gary

[@DanielAnderssson]

Yes and the eating of headcrabs. In Alyx you can find a headcrab in the fridge

[@reallydontlikethem]

This is incorrect. A material brush of a headcrab fileted and garnished exists in half life 2.

[@PrisonMike196]

@@reallydontlikethem I wonder what a Headcrab tastes like...

[@ГОСПОДИНН]

*EPISODE 4 IS SO MAGNIFICENT. IT`S MY DREAM* #RELEASERAVENHOLM

[@Tayne195]

The "I'm a placeholder" t-shirt on that first zombie is hilarious

[@degamispoudegamis]

I would buy that

[@GeoStreber]

That zombie also looks like G Man

[@Daburubareru]

@@GeoStreber It doesn't tho

[@thealandude9146]

​@@GeoStreber these are just the male citizens model I'm sure

[@Grrt]

The electricity play is so cool, makes me hope there is another secret source half life in development

[@silent_stalker3687]

Half Life: Tech Support A text based half life game where you play as a combine tech support to help maintenance calls form combine officers and receive orders. Has some game mechanics borrowed from mech mechanic as to help keep the game fun when you order vehicles and other devices to your shop.

[@kornflakes8983]

Didnt think I'd see you here haha

[@sv_cheats1]

​@@silent_stalker3687windows tech support simulator

[@Nib_Nob-t7x]

@@sv_cheats1 India simulator

[@bychop]

The scene with Gregory tears out Headcrab's heart must be the inspiration of the brain damaged Vortigaunt in Half-life: Alyx.

[@darkl3ad3r]

It's exactly the same so it has to be where it came from.

[@svelle37]

Also the "Ahh there you are" is 100% a nudge towards the opening scene in HL:2 where Kleiner was looking for Lamarr.

[@pugway]

Man, I wasn't sure how necessary this would be since there was so much footage in the original doc, but wow, I'm glad you got this out! There's a ton of good stuff in here that didn't make the original cut in the documentary. I also really liked the commentary style to provide context to what we were seeing, mixed in with the raw gameplay. A really solid balance.

[@alexthompson3229]

I love the shirts the zombies are wearing that say "I'm a place holder"

[@thecorinthian85]

We need to get some of those shirts. I'd wear one

[@theblobconsumes4859]

Would love to see something like this on the cancelled DOOM 4. I still have a lot of questions about that game.

[@NoExplosionsMcgee]

This needs to happen!

[@BigOuterHeaven]

+

[@CanularRadio]

Like your dog also yes I would like a dooms canceled footage

[@theblobconsumes4859]

@@CanularRadio walter

[@horacegentleman3296]

The less i know about doom 4 the better

[@KillianC1C2]

As someone who has experience with game development I was a bit confused as to the reason for explaining the context, but now I get it. Most people that have never experienced not just game development, but software development or just creating art in general are not used to seeing the rough edges. Especially when it comes to Half Life, this is amazing work as always!

[@NoclipDocs]

Thanks so much - yeah we learned early in our videos on this channel that it's best to assume people don't know. Finding a balance between explaining context and not overdoing it is hard though so hopefully the inserts aren't too superfluous. Thanks for watching!

[@theblobconsumes4859]

Lots of people in the comments still don't entirely understand this was in-development. Game studios have sort of removed our sense of that with all the demos we get being called "betas".

[@Mini-wd7qz]

I’m confused because ravenholm wasn’t cancelled I gone on half life 2 and it’s there

[@Mini-wd7qz]

@@Largentina. ??

[@calmelbourne]

@@Mini-wd7qz This was a separate game, in development after HL2. It was set in Ravenholm, but not with the same maps obviously.

[@moeezS]

15:40 Was not expecting Batman Begins music to be used as placeholder! Thank you for sharing this, utterly fascinating.

[@timothydodds9414]

And the second track played in Chapter One was 'Mako Ballistics' from Deus Ex: Invisible War. It was really cool to see the devs pulling inspiration from all over the place.

[@Soniti1324]

I laughed out loud at the first thrum of the Batman begins soundtrack blasting out 😂😂😂

[@Harry101UK]

The music when they break into the first room is from Oddworld Stranger's Wrath too, haha

[@batman_2004]

😂😂

[@finodiez9227]

@@timothydodds9414 i can't hear mako ballistics anywhere. Anyways, have you guys found any other?

[@Daburubareru]

I'm finally glad they have made more footages, about the cancelled HL2's RTR it's really amazing.

[@littlefrank90]

wow, we're already calling it with an acronym?

[@gill8160]

@@littlefrank90 idk why he felt the need to say that... this is a video about the Ravenholm game, why did he need to specify that he was talking about the Ravenholm game lol?

[@Daburubareru]

@@littlefrank90 who cares why not

[@Nihilful]

Despite having enjoyed shooters a lot in my youth, I've been burnt out on FPS for over a decade now and have very little interest in them. But this seems like a whole lot of fun and I would've definitly played it. It just shows how the Half lLfe games were so much more fun and innovative than your typical modern shooters. A real shame this didn't come to fruition.

[@bateriayvr8988]

This! ^^

[@vintheguy]

Wish this got leaked

[@RQUKOfficial]

The unfinished features in this cancelled game blows most modern AAA games out of the water. So much inventiveness and innovation. Such a shame it was cancelled.

[@TwoWholeWorms]

This _absolutely_ should've been finished. That mechanic with the boltgun spreading the electrical arcs is fantastic!

[@horacegentleman3296]

Always remember Valve has killed more good things than they've released.

[@fausthanos08]

I wish valve was competent enough to finish this game and release it...

[@horacegentleman3296]

@@fausthanos08 they're highly competent that's not their problem. They're problem is that they collectively have crippling ADHD. This is coming from someone who has crippling untreated ADHD.

[@fausthanos08]

@@horacegentleman3296 what

[@takoshihitsamaru4675]

@@horacegentleman3296 Everyone's got something, it's not a prerequisite for having excuses though.

[@atomsofstardust]

That Pitch Black section, especially starting from 47:00 reminds me a lot of one level in Half Life: Alyx, also with very dark corridors, pipes and what not. Also, huge thanks for sharing this, it’s great to check out such rare footage.

[@Archman155]

the really annoying one with like 12000 explosives?

[@-Raylight]

It's really sad that it got cancelled, it looks amazing, might be an excellent addition to HF universe I wish we could get and play cancelled games, this and Prey 2 are my favorite cancelled games

[@alpharesearcher]

Cool how you reveal unknown chapters in the history of game studios. Half-Life Ravenholm is certainly an interesting and innovative project for the Half-Life series and it was intriguing to learn about it. I hope you can also reveal another game in the series called Hostile Takeover someday. It will be another great piece of history for all of us.

[@sexygolfball69]

Hostile Takeover would be so cool to see, didnt you play as a female GMAN in that one?

[@BorrisChan]

This is one of the greatest gifts you’ve ever given us! And that’s reeeaaallly saying something cause everything you do is a freakin gem. Noclip wins again!!

[@garyjohnheteau5400]

This is Huge. Thanks a Lot For your hard work Guys. You definitely Rule.

[@doctorcraptonicus7941]

You already posted that one.

[@BlatantThrowAway]

That inconsistent capitalization.

[@generallyunimportant]

@@BlatantThrowAway TH. TLFG. YR.

[@Parky64]

If this wasn’t cancelled I think this would have been the best half life game ever created. It has father girgori AND Adrian Shepard in the same game, the ability to use Melee with guns, amazing environments, and cool new enemies. No wonder people want this game back.

[@PrisonMike196]

Grigori* and Shephard*

[@iliaoblomov5468]

I loved the signes "никакой вход". It should be "no entry" signs on russian, but the correct translation would be "входа нет". "Никакой вход" is clumsy construction that can be approximately convey in English as "nothing entry" or "an entry that does not have the characteristics".

[@б8в6э]

Вы не знаете почему все надписи на русском? Делали во франции вроде же

[@blacksteelman]

@@б8в6э Чтобы подчеркнуть географическое расположение Рейвенхольма, как это было с Сити-17 в ХЛ2.

[@б8в6э]

@@blacksteelman а есть какие-то однозначные данные? Я может чего-то не знаю, но точная география вроде прямо никогда не обозначалась, а схожесть обычно связывают с родиной Антонова

[@blacksteelman]

@@б8в6э однозначных нет

[@okbVinyl]

@@б8в6э hl2 происходит в условной "восточной Европе", это может быть что угодно. Как таковая русская грамотность в надписях не обязательна, в hl2 были вывески "цимент", "хссг" и прочее, и всё можно было списать на "да это не та страна, а вообще вымышленная". Конкретно в этом проекте Ravenholm надписи скорее всего через гуглопереводчик набросаны, можно было бы и подправить, благо игра ещё в середине цикла разработки была, было бы желание.

[@buzzfightbeer8023]

This game would have been so fantastic. If any studio could have been trusted with the Half Life legacy, it would have been Arkane. It is a crime to gamers everywhere that this was not allowed to be finished and released.

[@clarkbilly5670]

yup

[@Mess-Lab-Kitchen-Show]

Gearbox would be my pick. They nailed HL: Opposing Forces

[@Glenn_Quagmire]

​@@Mess-Lab-Kitchen-Showgearbox is different now. They still make good games but their writing has gone down in the dumps

[@Imbrockleedammit]

The way that the zombies are creeping around and grabbing pipes off the walls reminds me of Condemned.

[@Largentina.]

Absolutely.

[@VRchitecture]

Also got flashbacks 😄

[@mindrover777]

True

[@kawaguchihiroshi8237]

So I think the reason why there are just regular zombies is that the Father Grigori used the serum of headcrabs to prevent all citizens from headcrab attacks. And this is the result from the side effect and turned all the citizens into zombies.

[@CS_Uravity_PRO]

I'd love to see a build released maybe with the source code. I'm 101% sure the Half-Life community will give it the love it deserved

[@ramblingturian]

I can bet you someone watched this video and has already set to work on recreating this from scratch. Source modders are terrifying.

[@pyrosquid5549]

@@ramblingturian and none of them will ever get finished, good ole source projects

[@triageatdusk824]

@@pyrosquid5549 Yup. I’m looking forward to following the progress of the “Project: Ravenholm” fan game and then seeing the dev team go ghost after like 3 months.

[@vintheguy]

@@ramblingturian Behold, another whom assumes game development is easy

[@rus.t]

It's amazing to have a public archive of this. Thank you for sharing them

[@ChrisSmout]

Absolutely amazing work, Arkane, and thanks to Noclip for sharing it. A pity it never got to see a full release!

[@cptdoobs3691]

This is so cool, it feels like peering into somewhere we are not supposed to look. Love this type of content and am super psyched for all the stuff you guys are doing in the future.

[@savaque]

It looks very good even today. I like the mechanics in this game. Too bad it never got released. I would like to play this game.

[@greenbean2222]

@sunset lmfao facts

[@mancuniangamecat8288]

Less microstransactions than gran turismo.

[@EternallyEmber-Hehe]

exactly, that's my opinion too!

[@Deadlyparasite1]

This needs to be released…even as a mod this is insane! I really wish this had come out, would’ve probably been my favorite HL game.

[@AverageLeagueGamer]

It's really interesting how much is carried over from this into Dishonored. Like Arkane's distinctive facial and body animation, and even something as minor as bhoddyie"z disintegrating

[@lopiklop]

When I first saw Dishonored I thought it was a Source Engine/Half-Life 2 mod for the *longest* time. the mechanical walkers somehow made me think it was and the concept art shown

[@AverageLeagueGamer]

@@lopiklop Funny you should mention that. I forgot to also say that Viktor Antonov was the concept artist and art director for both HL2 and Dishonored

[@danielnewton2390]

"bodies," not "body's." Apostrophes make words possessive, not plural.

[@AverageLeagueGamer]

@@danielnewton2390 I'm going to make it worse now just to spite you, Daniel.

[@SirEpifire]

I would very much assume (given the time frames here) that they were many of the exact same developers. So you'll see their same methods and styles cross over directly. It's a really cool thing to see tbh.

[@youandme2988]

The song that starts playing around 7:42 is from "Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath". While I'm sure this was a placeholder, it still sounds really great during that particular scene

[@BiodegradableYTP]

I recognised it too almost immediately. Played that old game so much back in the day.

[@christiangottsacker6932]

Got excited immediately. Love that game

[@ACIoannina]

as soon as i heard it, i came to the comments to see if i was crazy or if anyone else noticed

[@peppermillers8361]

the track where Gregory shows up is from Deus Ex 2: Invisible War. I wouldn't mind a tracklist of all the tracks used in this build, honestly.

[@finodiez9227]

it is! its Oddworld Stranger's Wrath OST - Fighting Outlaws maybe we can find the rest??

[@Taltz100]

It would be really cool if you guys find out more about "They Hunger: Lost Souls", the story of this mod/game is all over the place. And it's possible one of the more mysterious development cycle ever, and one day "someone" released two builds out of nowhere a few years ago... I'm honestly suprised nobody has tackled this topic yet since it was one of the biggest things related to HL2 between 2005-2010? Not to consider how big the original one is among the community of Half-Life. Awesome video about Ravenholm nonetheless, hope we get a "build" of this one way or another some day. Could've been a true succesor to "Opposing Force" in terms of content.

[@INFILTR8US]

didn't Neil Manke die or something?

[@DuneJumper]

I was so amazed playing that leak a few years ago, it had the best map design for when it was developed.

[@siniorgolazo]

More than that, I'd REALLY want to know what happened with Neil Manke. That guy almost single-handedly inspired me back in the day to pursue a career in game development.

[@takoshihitsamaru4675]

@@siniorgolazo Apparently he's dead.

[@siniorgolazo]

@@takoshihitsamaru4675 I had heard something like that. The thing is that just as there are circumstances that lean towards his death, there are others that lean the other way. There is no specific, tangible proof. Until more is known, I prefer to think he's living his best life 😣

[@radman_music]

Such a fantastic video. I'd absolutely love to see more showcases of early gameplay of released or unreleased games.

[@thevinylfrontier1]

Thank you so much for uploading this footage. It’s incredible to see this and yet also pains me. Half Life 2 is something near and dear to me and not being able to experience this myself is a shame. Keep up the incredible content Noclip, truly appreciate your hard work in preserving video game history.

[@TheG_Boy]

Now release the build

[@MeatNinja]

This is amazing! I never thought I'd get to see high quality gameplay of this project after seeing those fuzzy screenshots a decade ago. Thank you!

[@brandonmakridis1565]

It's incredible you were able to get the okay to share this footage of an unfinished game! How great is it to be able to archive something like that, publicly?! I hope you somehow get more access to do stuff like this in the future.

[@archerfighter438]

It's nice to have a bit of closure for Father Gregory. I love that they kept him as this resourceful, determined, and faithful companion to the player. His lone-wolf badassery is also greatly appreciated. I can tell this would've been an awesome way to spin-off the Ravenholm story, so it was nice just to see where it was headed. Thanks for making this video and giving big fans of Half-Life, like myself, a way to see it :]

[@Srcsqwrn]

This would have been a sick game. I personally wouldn't have been really into Gregory becoming a L4D type zombie. but oh well. Everything here looked like it could have been really fun!

[@generallyunimportant]

i hope valve makes an aperture desk job kinda thing where they kill father gregory. actually thinking about it tho, it wouldn't work, because gman directly changing the timeline probably makes some events cancelled or some shit

[@finodiez9227]

The music is all placeholders from other places. So far the people found these: Chapter One: Kitchen talk -> Deus Ex Invisible Wars - Mako Interior Chapter One: Kitchen fight -> OddWorld Stranger's Wrath - Fighting Outlaws Chapter One ending: Meeting Grigori again outside -> Batman Begins movie song (only the starting part) Can anyone help find more please

[@dxvdvss3252]

I just messaged my friend an hour ago saying how sad it was we would never get to experience this. Thanks, Danny. You're a legend

[@LongStar117]

Even better. We got the last of us part 2.

[@VEN0M415]

It was so good to see more from this project, I always love the quirks that people add in that just feel so right to a game. I only wish it could have been finished.

[@OldChannel2023]

This is incredible! Thank you Danny!

[@Vycter_Real]

Yeah!

[@doruksega]

omg it is the famous nailgame man! huge fan!

[@Daburubareru]

@@doruksega omg it's doruk

[@Daburubareru]

Yeah!

[@michaelbarrett9061]

This is so cool. Love the detail of Father Gregory constantly injecting himself just to build up to zombie Gregory.

[@gosbodin]

This looks like Dishonored and Half-Life 2 combined, and I am so here for it. Even the way you can knock enemies down is cool!

[@ericfloortje]

Also a pinch of l4d with the zombies and spitters

[@SHINYREDBULLETS]

Thank you for taking the time to put this together!! I would have loved to have played this, would've played it over and over again, too. Such a shame so much incredible content has been lost over the years!

[@liquidchato]

this is truly incredible, thank you for putting this out there, i wish this had released

[@anthonyspring3270]

sad. the creation of something i love leads me to miss it and hearing of its return and cancellation is almost to much to stand. very very sad that i can't experience this

[@IronThumbs]

Hey, Noclip Team! Is there a possibility for you guys to release a raw DOOM 4 1.0 gameplay like you guys did for Ravenholm in this video? You guys are amazing uncovering this unseen project at its fullest!

[@NoclipDocs]

Yea we're working on doing exactly that. We're hoping to get a few more assets released this year and that's top of the list.

[@kishibbydiggy]

@@NoclipDocs What about the Quakecon 2014 footage?

[@reyhan0447]

@@kishibbydiggy that's the "renewed" iteration of Doom 4 and is closer to the final product of Doom 2016, 1.0 have a very different artstyle and story in general

[@ВадімКуриляк]

If this happens please show if team can full gameplay from vertical slice level aka destructive city/new York public library.

[@ВадімКуриляк]

@𐌺𐌳𐌻𐍂𐌽 мы не можем знать ли Грэм ли полностью Грэм Джойс до отмены и смерти дописал ли сценарий,в 2009 разрабы намекали что дум 4 типа приквел к дум 2,сам жду билд и сыграть в уровень ashes это настоящие название уровня библиотека он встречается в коде рэдж 1.

[@Swerver416]

Since the last video you guys made about hl2 ep4 return to ravenholm i became obsessed with it so this video going to be scratch that itch for me.

[@urazoktay7940]

Amazing video, i have watched it throughly and enjoyed it thoroughly. Thank you.

[@denifnaf5874]

Fun fact: most zombies that lack the head humpers where just place holders

[@peppermillers8361]

maybe their models are, but it seems like the zombies in this game were seperate from the traditional headcrab zombies.

[@mf-de8hf]

​@@peppermillers8361 i think they're supposed to be headcrab zombies, but they're definitely smarter and apparently stronger

[@Ne0S0ft]

​@@mf-de8hfa bit late to this, but it could be like half life opposing force where after 5 days the headcrabs hosts mutated into faster stronger enemies.. However this time since they were probably modified by the combine this could have resulted in a much much slower mutation which would take a fairly long time to happen, and Ravenholm has been filled with headcrabs for a very very long time. It could also be that due to the modification by the combine that by having to take a longer time to take over the host, that they also would fully gain control of them, as we still know that the regular headcrab zombies still have people screaming in pain underneath them. Also they are regular humans now instead of Marines. being controlled.

[@therebellion96]

This is crazy! There was so much potential in this! It's a shame it couldn't see the light of day officially!

[@nipunjayatunga3929]

Hey Noclip, loving the amount of dedication y'all put into all your videos. I'm hoping to see y'all make a video on The Stanley Parable, one of the most mind bending, unique experience I've seen and would love to see the creative process and inspiration for it.

[@nintendude794]

Stanley Parable AND Beginner’s Guide documentary

[@chillhour6155]

@Karmins if you consider the programming of sequence triggering events that split into multiple scenarios of meta interactions that define 4th wall breaks that also deconstructs the very essence of what gaming is..I guess nah you're right COD is better, pew pew little buddy, pew pew

[@generallyunimportant]

@@chillhour6155 [SPOILERS TO TSP] why did you saying that make me thing of a script purposefully calling non-existent voice lines in the escape pod ending?..

[@TheBuisnessPyro]

this just makes me want the build to get released again after the original documentary. Nice work!

[@heberb]

The opening sequence being in a chemistery classroom makes me think that Grigori was a chemistery teacher before becoming a priest after the 7 hour war, that would explain why he's so good at making traps.

[@chocofrolik834]

Grigori is and was a monk, none of his HL2 traps use chemistry, and what chemistry teacher believes in homeopathy...

[@long_chin_man]

JESSE WE NEED TO SAVE PEOPLES SOULS FROM SATAN JESSE

[@idioticed4379]

@@long_chin_man where is my 2003km/h of holy bread jessir

[@MrDanno]

@@idioticed4379 I see a fellow Jixaw fan, good shit!

[@peppermillers8361]

@@chocofrolik834 was he? I figured took the moniker of monk because he went bananas and got and obsession with scriptures after losing all his friends.

[@oliwardcomics]

I cant believe we got this close to a full length Ravenholm game

[@xX_Thaddeus_Xx]

You know, for dev placeholder VO, that Grigori impression for the beginning dialog could be a lot worse. Took me a quick second to be sure it wasn't Jim French. Props to whoever recorded it for putting that effort in--must've been having fun.

[@squarecranium4592]

Don't know if this is true, but somewhere I heard it was Mark Laidlaw, apparently.

[@OrangeDog20]

The other VA in the second section was... less accurate. It would be interesting to know who they both were.

[@ElectromasterTech]

The VA in the opening section was definitely Marc Laidlaw, he confirmed it a couple times on Twitter

[@xX_Thaddeus_Xx]

@@ElectromasterTech Heh, that tracks. Marc's always come across as the kinda guy who's always passionate about his work.

[@carson123987]

I’m almost positive that Raphael Colantonio (Arkane founder) is doing the VA work for the second sections. He has a very distinctive tone and you can almost hear the slight French accent. Look up some of his interviews and let me know if y’all agree

[@mantra1229]

The only gripe I have with this 'game' is that they had zombies without head crabs, it kinda breaks the canon of the game and the small detail of putting head crabs on all of them would have kept that. I also wouldn't have liked to fight Gregory as the final boss, kind of seems like an "evil robot Jeff bridges moment" Having said all that thank you for your hard work in getting this to us, its an interesting view of what could have been and is also something of a time capsule

[@Glenn_Quagmire]

I think the zombies without head crabs are either placeholders or there was a different virus that made smarter zombies that can use basic weapons

[@MrsGordonFreeman]

Yeah I felt the same way. They need to have all of the og enemies from hl2 for sure. But that might have been a plan, they just used placeholders here.

[@Glenn_Quagmire]

@@MrsGordonFreeman it would've been a different virus. The whole twist with father Grigori only works if the zombies weren't headcrab zombies.

[@MrsGordonFreeman]

I suppose. But the original monsters weren't technically zombies or sick with a virus, they were conscious and were only being driven by the head crabs. A virus isn't cannon at all and imo over done and out of place in the Half-Life universe. Gregory messing himself up with injections would make sense, but he's essentially biohacking himself, which wouldn't make much sense unless he was also injecting everyone else.

[@FR4M3Sharma]

Mapping looks incredible for even something in the "Developmental" state.

[@deus_nsf]

Right!

[@WooKong]

This was fantastic, thank you for all your hard work guys

[@antobatta1551]

Immersive sim Half Life sounds like the coolest possible idea and natural evolution for the franchise Absolutely robbed

[@TheRedJadex]

Yes

[@Zelousmarineinspace]

There is no such thing as an “Immursive sim”

[@rileyosteen6470]

@@Zelousmarineinspace Yes there is. Games like Deus Ex, Thief, and System Shock are generally considered to be the grandfathers of immersive sims.

[@iBoujin]

@@Zelousmarineinspace please be bait

[@Shoxic666]

@@rileyosteen6470 Immersive sim is such a poorly defined genre it has no right being used in any serious capacity. 90% of "immersive sims" are just shooters with lots of reading.

[@planetofthegapes]

The vent zombies are absolutely terrifying.

[@joshuabenton3785]

Hopefully this is a sign that Valve is changing its game creating ethos! It’s such a shame we never got more in the Aperture and Half Life world

[@giacomopc]

They've released Aperture Desk Job (Aperture) this year, and in 2020 we got Half-Life Alyx. It seems that Valve is on the right track again!

[@Feasco]

@@giacomopc yeah maybe in a decade they'll come out with a product that doesn't require expensive and hard to acquire peripheral hardware

[@DegenWeb]

@@Feasco a 1650 and a 12 year old cpu ran half life alyx perfectly. The game is one of if not is the best optimised vr game I’ve ever played

[@Feasco]

@@DegenWeb and a VR set? and space to set it up in? adds up very quickly also desk job was designed to promote the steam deck which is not available where I live neither was the index or their game pad if I'd ever wanted it

[@DegenWeb]

@@Feasco you can get a new oculus rift s/quest 2 for £300 or if you have to, get a preused one for like £150 or even potentially cheaper. And you really don’t need a lot of space

[@supermegabenji1026]

This is better than Hunt down the Freeman, But this Cancelled game is like Left 4 Dead and The Walking Dead but in a Half-Life Universe with Adrian Shephard, And it takes Place in Ravenholm. Looks like Valve wanted to make a Full Game Based on a Scary Chapter.

[@GavinUK_86]

I really want a "I'm a placeholder" hoody now lol

[@NoclipDocs]

I'm so glad you noticed

[@rikki.stardustt]

im a huge Arkane fan the care and love put into all of those NoClip docs is unparalleled!! i was scared theyd never get the spotlight they deserve as a studio

[@alexandr2892]

Guys, thank you so much for such a high-quality, and new material. You are amazing. I'm a Half Life fan and I'm happy to see it.

[@uraniumbirb]

Such a shame that this project got cancelled. Omg imagine half-life mixed with some rpg and melee elements... Such a wasted potencial!! 😢

[@getitstandswithukraine6637]

This is awesome. Its so satisfying to get such an extensive look at one of many mysterious cancelled games. I'm always impressed by the effort you guys put into your work. Now excuse me while I rewatch your bethesda documentar for probably literally the 30th time.

[@Fottrel]

I never thought anyone would see footage from this game. The electricity shenanigans looks so cool! thanks for all your work

[@ShellComics]

Hope this doesn't get a copyright claim 😅

[@HertCervus]

I think in the future someone will want to recreate and make the fan made version of it

[@Replatforming]

Imagine the magic that could happen if Valve would hand over this project to the HL modding community.

[@nfwrambo]

I would be cautiously optimistic, one only has to glance at the graveyard of hl2 beta recreation mods to see how these can turn out sometimes

[@degamispoudegamis]

It's almost like not having the profit motive as a driving force for your project really gets things done

[@nfwrambo]

@@degamispoudegamis eh I’d say it just depends really, sheer dedication has moved mountains before in modding communities

[@martinmartin4958]

thank you for publishing this, and also thanks to everyone that made this possible. I hope that someone will bring this, or something similar to this to light.

[@Srcsqwrn]

The nailgun and electricity idea are absolutely amazing!

[@FrankCastiglione]

Great! Good ambiance and the new mechanics are really cool. Father Grigori is a very charismatic character, it's nice to have him back. I love the "episode expansions" of Half-Life². But I confess that after seeing this video, I was thinking how good it would be if we also had expansions with other characters at the same time, but in other places in relation to Gordon Freeman. The first idea that comes to mind is a sort of "Opposing Force 2", showing how Barney "became" a Combine cop, ending the game when he rejoins Gordon. Or even with events running in parallel, after Freeman's arrival at City 17.

[@ClarkKentai]

Putting the player in Barney's shoes during the week or so that Freeman and Alyx were in limbo transporting from Nova Prospekt would be perfect.

[@Sputnik34]

its actually insane that this footage exists. it's a shame that i never saw the light of day because it really is such a cool idea. but i guess Alyx is pretty much the "official" version of this game in a sense

[@Xfade81]

It's not insane it exists. He recorded it after all. Its insane that the build is that far along, but got canned anyway.

[@protocetid]

@@Xfade81 Valve moment

[@LivresAudio]

For over 80% of Half-Life fans Alyx is just like a Pachinko game not for everyone. still waiting for a non vr edition (not talking about the mod i'm talking about an official version from valve)

[@protocetid]

@@LivresAudio They’re not going to make a non VR HLA, IIRC they said so in an interview. -What I know they said for sure is HL3 won’t be a VR exclusive.- edit: I got their statement about exclusivity wrong, they just assured us HL3 wouldn't be SteamOS only.

[@cosmicmeatball375]

@@LivresAudio there probably won't be a non vr hla unless valve announced it and i missed it

[@nicefloweytheoverseer7632]

Ironically, Gregori injecting Headcrab blood into his neck turned him into a zombie, which he thought he was *immunizing* himself from. I'm surprised all the Headcr Headcrabs he stole blood from were the same type as him (assuming he isn't an AB-, not to mention the biochemical *nightmare* injecting alien blood into yourself would be!) It would at the very least provoke an immune response due to being foriegn biological material (hemolytic transfusion reaction), which could be potentially lethal. Symptoms include: Back pain Hematurua (bloody urine) Chills Fainting or dizziness Fever Flank Pain Flushing of the skin So, actually, that would be *better* than what actually happened, which is gross zombification. Though given Grigori did the same thing to hundreds of other primates (both human and chimp), and the _exact same thing_ happened, which is zombification (increased intelligence in the chimp's case a la planet of the apes, and increased hydrochloric acid production in some humans)... Zombification is a given, huh? Though in the case of the Spitters, it mutated. Either way, Headcrab blood turns at the very least Earth primates into zombies. What was Grigori drunk on to think _this_ was a good idea? Apparently Headcrab blood.

[@MonsterJuiced]

I suppose the only oddity is the zombies. There's never been a case of just normal zombie in this universe I think, just headcrab ones

[@ThisIsGlitch]

they ( the models ) are as far as we know place holders

[@5xg378]

@@ThisIsGlitch not so much, i remember that it was confirmed that the placeholder was the texture, not the model. Specially considering the spitting zombie has his own model already without headcrab

[@megacitymedia2047]

Agreed. It's generic and straying too far from what made Half Life and its world so interesting.

[@peppermillers8361]

@@megacitymedia2047 eh, I personally don't mind it since the gameplay with them makes up for the fact that they're just zombies, and the concept behind them could've changed later in development. Game just needed more enemy variety.

[@megacitymedia2047]

@@peppermillers8361 Hey! Cheers for the reply. Actually it looks brilliant in its own right, I just personally didn't feel like it felt right in the Half Life universe - Although It's still sad to see it was cancelled, it could have been something special. The environments and game mechanics are awesome for sure.

[@ChiroTheSkunk]

You can see how Adrian still has that soldier-like attitude. the way he can melee with the weapons reminds me of the kicks the HECU give you in HL1 when you get close to them.

[@Gabriel_Drake]

It reminds me of a horror mod for the first Half Life called "They Hunger". A wonderful Total Conversion trilogy.

[@saibot20194]

They released the builds for hl2 years ago, no one ever finished sadly :'( I think the creator died of a decease and the development got stuck and later got cancelled.

[@fed0r644]

It's cool that you use half of the action with the help of the environment and tools, it's a pity that there wasn't so much of this in the original games

[@CB66941]

I really appreciate you putting in subtitles btw

[@JohnDoe-ss2nn]

I really wish Valve would let Arkane come back to this and finish it with the latest source engine build.

[@TWEEMASTER2000]

this would look so cool on Source 2, you're right

[@zerodornar]

15:38 gosh, it was circa 2007 and this moment looks like an excerpt from Alyx. Incredible lighting!

[@bundjohn]

It's a pity that the files can't now be made opensource so the community can finish it off and release it as a mod but a fan can dream.

[@chocofrolik834]

Who said they can't be shared?

[@itsgeegra]

@@chocofrolik834 I daresay there's too many legal wrinkles - uncleared placeholder assets/music etc

[@Pinnaporaptor]

Knowing modders, they'll probably end up recreating the textures themselves.

[@SuneSensei]

It's a shame stuff like this gets cancelled and then we get stuff like Red Fall...

[@Glenn_Quagmire]

Red fall was only made because arkane had a ps5 exclusive so Xbox wanted an exclusive of its own

[@contra7631]

Exactly.

[@anasshahid224]

Man Arkane Games are always incredible, from Dishonored to Prey, Deathloop, Ravenholm always sounded like it would have been great, thank you so much No Clip for getting gameplay footage and getting Valve to agree to release the footage 👏👏👏👏👏

[@私の名前を翻訳しないでください]

Seriously, Arkane is such a talented studio, and I'd imagine a game developed by Arkane and Valve would have been legendary. It's a shame this was canned, hopefully we'll get another project similar to this sometime in the future.

[@anasshahid224]

@@私の名前を翻訳しないでください hope so man

[@Bluestrikekurt]

Guess I can see the cancelation in this, it did not feel like anything I would expect from a game using the title Half-life : Ravenholm. Haven't seen anything remotely resembling Ravenholm in this footage, it appears to be city 17 and has more of a Left For Death vibe then anything else. (wich was still under Turtle Rock at this time I believe) While the game may be fun and all, I would have been dissapointed because I don't see the Half-Life in this besides some used assets and I sure don't see the Ravenholm part. As for as the final battle in this video, I realise its unfinnished but it would have been more fun if the weapon energy loader was near the turrets and reacher so you just had to keep them going and could enjoy the spectacle. I really wanted to see them shooting from up close...

[@gediminasmureika9648]

This project should be given to Crowbar Collective so they could finish it!

[@NoclipDocs]

Can't wait to make the doc 15 years from now!

[@peluchefps]

@@NoclipDocs damn XD

[@Samwow]

This game looks really fun, but I think having some enemy variety would of made the combat a bit more engaging. Maybe throw in some combine soldiers that wear armor that's immune to electricity to create more dynamic encounters. That nail weapon is genius though, would love to see that in a half life game.

[@JiF28]

Absolute goldmine, thank you Danny and Noclip

[@cimar14]

And Arkane