Proto:Half-Life (Windows)/Half-Life: Day One
This is a sub-page of Proto:Half-Life (Windows).
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A pre-release demo for Half-Life called Day One was provided to game journalists two months before the release of the full game. Later builds of the demo were bundled with various computer hardware and peripherals, as well as released on the Half-Life: Initial Encounters compilation disk with Team Fortress Classic. The demo found its way onto the internet in September 1998 after people posing as journalists requested copies from Sierra, prompting the distributor to take legal action.
The earliest available press prototype (build 676) was compiled on August 31st and September 1st, 1998, almost two and a half months before the final game was released. OEM builds 693, 703, and 727 were also compiled before the release of the retail version.
Contents
Sub-Pages
 | General Differences Unlock the exclusive see-through weapons for |
 | Graphical Differences The lone nipple that remains. |
 | Weapon and Item Differences |
Entities
Alien Slave
The Day One Alien Slave has some unique animations missing from the final game, including some that suggest that the Alien Slave could be grabbed by Barnacles at one point. Its textures are also at a higher resolution than in the final game.
buttonpush: An Alien Slave hitting something with his middle hand.
Barnacle1: An Alien Slave is grabbed by a Barnacle.
Barnacle2: An Alien Slave is being dragged up by a Barnacle.
Barnacle3: Transition animation that has the Alien Slave go from his grabbed animation to his "being eaten" animation.
Barnacle4: Alien Slave's head is being eaten by a Barnacle.
Bullsquid
The Bullsquid has some animations that were removed from the final game.
die2: A removed death animation that has the Bullsquid flop on its back.
lake: A Bullsquid climbs up something.
slipnslide: A Bullsquid slides down a long hill on its stomach, then gets up. There is also an idle animation that loops the animation it uses before sliding down.
jerkc_throw: A Bullsquid throws something with its mouth while looking up. An unused scientist animation has a similar name to this animation, suggesting they were meant to be used together.
jerkc_idle: An idle version for the previous model.
| Day One | Final |
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eye2.bmp shows its pupil slightly more centered than in the final game.
G-Man
The G-Man is in Day One, but he has an odd behavior that was cut from the final game. When shot enough, he will run away very fast with a running animation removed from the final game.
While this sounds funny and harmless, it causes a problem in the middle of Unforeseen Consequences: shooting G-Man to the point where he starts to run during his Unforeseen Consequences appearance will prevent him from despawning. This prevents the player from leading the scientist near G-Man's location to the ammo-filled room to unlock it because G-Man is in the way.
run
Headcrab
The Headcrab has a slightly different set of textures than what it ended up getting in the final game. Its textures are whiter, and it has four eyes instead of the final's six.
| Prototype | Final |
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Human Grunt
Generally, Human Grunts are more interested in killing the player than killing scientists. This can cause some issues, such as during the sequence where the player first encounters the Human Grunt.
In Day One, the Human Grunt model uses textures of high quality compared to the final game version. The backpack texture is less pixelated and has noticeable pouches/pockets and the bottom part of the left pant leg has a slightly different camo pattern. The animations and the textures are all contained in the model itself, while the final game splits them up into groups.
Human Grunts only have the white gas mask head and the beret heads in Day One. The gas mask texture is significantly different from that of the final game, it is nearly identical to the one used by the friendly Human Grunts in Half-Life: Opposing Force.
Human Grunts do not use the Shotgun, and don't even have it in their model file. This is because Human Grunts armed with shotguns make their first appearance in the chapter On A Rail and the demo ends before the player reaches that chapter.
For some reason, the victorydance animation is a slowed down, duplicated reload animation. The frontkick animation is slightly slower and has extra frames. Both the 180L and 180R animations have the grunt actually rotate his body; in the final game the animations lack that and the rotating is instead done via code.
| Prototype | Final |
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Human Grunts have a number of unused animations.
shootcycle
assassin. Meant to be used with an accompanying Scientist animation.
ambush1. Meant to be used with ambush2 as part of a sequence in Apprehension.
ambush2. Meant to be used with ambush1 as part of a sequence in Apprehension.
headbite
getthrown
getsmashed
body_drag_ready
body_drag
Scientist
The Day One Scientist has several animations that the final Scientist model does not have.
assassin; Accompanies the hgrunt animation oif the same name.
jerk_chicken_throw: A scientist is hanging on something, then is thrown against a wall. Based on the name, it involved a Bullsquid (Bullchicken is the Bullsquid's internal name).
gluoncrawl: A scientist crawls out of a vent that appears to be near the top of a room, lands on something, then gets off of it. The name indicted it would be used as part of the Gluon Gun's introduction.
helicack: A scientist looks to the side, then is hit in the gut and falls down.
psst: A scientist looks to the side, then looks forward and appears to be making a whispering motion.
An idle animation for the previous animation.
c2a3_slip_n_fall: A scientist slips on something, falls down a bit, and appears to drown. The final's C2a3c has a cold area with ice in it, but no water to drown in. This seems to suggest C2a3c's freezer area had water at an earlier point.
compthrow: A scientist on his back is flung onto a wall, where he does a brief electrocuted animation, then slides down. There is a Zombie animation in the prototype that has the same name, so it's likely this animation is connected to it.
compthrowidle: Idle animation for the previous animation, showing the scientist on his back.
bulljumpscientist: A scientist is running from something, stops to look back, and is thrown. Based on the animation name, the attacker would be a Bullsquid.
corpsefloat1: Day One has two animations of dead scientists floating in water, both of them named "corpsefloat1". This is the first one.
corpsefloat1: Day One has two animations of dead scientists floating in water, both of them named "corpsefloat1". This is the second one.
Security Guard
The Security Guard has many animations that cannot be found in the final's Security Guard model.
Barney_fight: A guard notices something, uses some martial arts moves on it, and is then picked up and tossed at the wall. This seems to go with the "zombie_fight" animation the Day One Zombie has.
C1a4_top: A guard tries to get someone's attention, then pulls something, which causes him to fall down and land on his back.
c1a4_bottom: A guard climbs up several objects.
c1a3_barney_thrown: A guard is thrown by something and hits the ground.
barneyfallidle: A guard standing and waving. This is used in Blue Shift.
barneyfall: A guard plummets to his death. This is used in Blue Shift.
inspect_floor: A guard is on his knees and looking at the floor.
kibbitzidle: A guard presses something while crouching, then gets up and stretches his back.
leanidle: A guard leans against a wall.
leand: A guard gets up from leaning and pushes a button.
truckdie: A guard, on his knees, looks up, hits something, then dies. This is used in the Playstation 2 Version.
The idle version of the previous image.
Zombie
The Zombie has animations that do not appear in the final game.
zombie_fight: A Zombie walks while doing the typical "arms out" zombie walk, turns, fights something, then throws something. This was meant to be played in the area that C1a2d takes place in, but was removed for a simpler sequence.
spaz: A Zombie jerks around on the ground. A version called spazlong adds the occasional head movement as well.
compthrow: A Zombie tosses something at someone. There is also an idle animation called "compthrowidle" that has the zombie's pre-throw animation looping.
Player
| To do: Show animations |
Most of the animations in the Player model are completely different from the final version. The model itself is the same as the final.
It has one unused animation of particular note, "ambushplayer". This was meant to be used in conjunction with the Human Grunt's "ambush1" and "ambush2" animations in a sequence meant for the chapter "Apprehension" in the section where Gordon is captured by the HECU. The full 3DS Max file for this scene was leaked in 2024.
The model also has two bodygroups ("gender" and "weapons") that are not in the final version. The gender bodygroup allows the model to switch from Gordon (the default model) to Gina. This was likely intended for the cut cooperative multiplayer mode. The weapons group is similar to the equivalent bodygroups on NPCs; it has choices between the Shotgun (default), the SMG, and no weapon at all. The final game uses p_ models to show weapons in third person. Also, for some reason, the SMG submodel is backwards.
Alternate gender submodel.
SMG weapon submodel.
Maps
c1a0e
Meeting the Alien Slaves
In build 676, the area seen during the Resonance Cascade in which Alien Slaves surround the player is brighter, its walls can be seen with a flashlight, and the player's movement is not blocked.
c1a1g
The map files of build 693 onward include c1a1g, an unused map containing the entrance to the Anomalous Materials lab. In the final game, this area is a part of c1a1f.
c1a2
Path to the Storage Room
In build 676, the path to the storage room and the door the Zombie breaks down are both on the same path in the prototype. Build 693 and the final game split them into two separate paths.
| Prototype | Final |
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Missing Boxes
The corridor to what is c1a2d in the final game does not have any boxes and is much shorter in build 676.
| Prototype | Final |
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c1a2d
c1a2d is merged with c1a2 in build 676.
c1a3
Invincible Scientist
The scientist that bangs on the window, then runs into the Tripwire Mine behaves differently in build 676. He will only die after leaving the SMG room. He'll run through the Tripwire Mine without a problem, then stand in front of a chain-link fence and absorb Sentry Gun bullets without any problem until the player leaves the SMG room.
Build 693 and the final game fix this by having him automatically die soon after he runs past the Tripwire Mine or soon after he stops in front of the chain link fence.
First SMG
In Day One, a dead security guard can be found next to the SMG at the start of We've Got Hostiles. The final game changes it to a dead Human Grunt, likely because security guards are never seen using SMGs and a dead Human Grunt lets the player see one before they start appearing in full.
| Prototype | Final |
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Vents in SMG Room
The SMG room in build 676 has two unbreakable vents that were removed in build 693 and the final game.
| Prototype | Final |
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| Prototype | Final |
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Cafeteria Table
The table in build 676 will break into two pieces if the player jumps on it. After destroying it, the sides are not fully flattened, which can be fixed by jumping on it again.
Build 693 and the final keep the table, but move it slightly and the player cannot jump on it to break it in half.
The unbroken table.
The broken table, with one side flattened and the other one not flattened.
Both broken table sides being flattened.
c1a3a
First Human Grunt
In Day One, the first Human Grunt the player encounters will begin attacking the player as soon as the player comes into sight, ignoring the scientist running down. The final game fixes this by having the Human Grunt wait for the scientist and attack him, then go for the player once the player gets closer.
Strangely, Half-Life: Source undoes this fix and has the Human Grunt attack the player while ignoring the scientist.
| Prototype | Final |
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c1a3c
Time of Day
The Day One C1a3c takes place during the day, while the final one takes place at dusk.
This is kept for C1a3d as well.
| Prototype | Final |
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c1a3d
Ending
The large vent at the bottom of the map has a large grate in front of it, preventing the player from continuing. This marks the end of Day One.
Oddly, the game will only begin the fade out/ending sequence if the player starts climbing down the yellow ladder that leads to the bottom of the air shaft. If the player jumps directly to the bottom catwalk, the game will keep on going until the player goes to the top of the yellow ladder.
| Prototype | Final |
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Videos
Day One comes with two videos removed from the final game. They show Gordon Freeman and Gina's models rotating 360 degrees.
Of note is the fact that both carry helmets. In the final version there is no indication that Gordon wears a helmet.
gina.avi
gordon.avi
Difficulty Differences
The prototype has some differences in how much damage enemies do and how much health they have in each difficulty.
Of note is that the Gonarch and Alien Controller are not listed in the skill.cfg file at all. The Day One version of the file also lacks listings for medkits, batteries, health and HEV chargers, and the amount of damage the Nihilanth does.
Easy
| Parameter | Day One | Final |
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| Alien Grunt Health | 100 | 60 |
| Alien Grunt Hornet damage | 4 | 5 |
| Alien Grunt Hornet damage | 4 | 5 |
| Gargantua Health | 2000 | 800 |
| Gargantua stomp damage | 25 | 50 |
| Female Assassin health | 50 | 30 |
| Human Grunt damage | 3 | 4 |
| Icthyosaur Health | 80 | 200 |
| Icthyosaur melee | 10 | 20 |
| Nihilanth Health | 200 | 800 |
| Scientist Health | 8 | 20 |
Normal
| Parameter | Day One | Final |
|---|---|---|
| Alien Grunt Health | 100 | 90 |
| Gargantua Health | 2000 | 800 |
| Gargantua stomp damage | 25 | 100 |
| Icthyosaur Health | 80 | 200 |
| Icthyosaur melee | 15 | 35 |
| Nihilanth Health | 200 | 800 |
| Scientist Health | 8 | 20 |
Hard
| Parameter | Day One | Final |
|---|---|---|
| Alien Grunt Health | 100 | 120 |
| Alien Grunt Hornet damage | 4 | 5 |
| Alien Grunt Hornet damage | 5 | 8 |
| Bullsquid Health | 80 | 120 |
| Female Assassin and Security Guard damage | 5 | 8 |
| Gargantua Health | 2000 | 1000 |
| Gargantua stomp damage | 25 | 50 |
| Human Grunt damage | 4 | 5 |
| Icthyosaur Health | 80 | 400 |
| Icthyosaur melee | 15 | 50 |
| Nihilanth Health | 200 | 1000 |
| Scientist Health | 8 | 20 |
Version Differences
| To do: Add the differences between the different OEM builds and the press demo. |
