Reference Textures

A general repository for the reference images used for the textures in Valve's titles. Find one? Add it to the page, and put your name in the credits.

Half-Life 2

Although this rediscovery is fairly recent, information about Marlin's role in Half-Life 2's textures is present, dating back to 2007.

Marlin Studios Pack 2

Subtitled "Rustic Exterior Textures", it contains a variety of wood, rust, metal and concrete exterior textures. It is unclear when this is released, although the earliest archived version of March 1, 2000 shows it already released, with the fifth pack being the latest.

Credits	Reference Texture	Original texture
Liblung		Metal\metalwall043a

Marlin Studios Pack 7

Subtitled "Great Textures of Europe", it is one of the most used of the packs, containing an array of European textures and a few unedited shots from the author's trip to Europe. The textures date back to 6/10/2000 and 9/27/2000, with the shipped HTML files in the base folder dating to 8/6/2000.

Credits	Reference Texture	Original texture
Bun		Brick\brickwall007a
Bun		Brick\brickwall017a
Bun		Building_Template\Building_Trainstation_Template002n
Slartibarty + Bun		Building_Template\building_template012l
H.Grunt		Composite\buildingset015a
H.Grunt		Composite\buildingset019a
H.Grunt		Composite\buildingset022a/b
?		Composite\buildingset035a
Bun		Composite\buildingset052a
H.Grunt		Composite\buildingset053a
H.Grunt		Composite\buildingset054a
H.Grunt		Concrete\concretewall015d
Bun		Decals\Decalmetalgrate014a
Slartibarty		Decals\Decalmetalgrate019a
Bun		Decals\decalmetalmanhole004a
H.Grunt		Metal\metaldoor015a
H.Grunt		Metal\metaldoor036a
H.Grunt		Metal\metalfence007a
H.Grunt		Plaster\plasterwall001g
Gmadador		Plaster\plasterwall001h-j
Bun		Plaster\plasterwall007a
H.Grunt		Plaster\plasterwall007b
H.Grunt		Plaster\plasterwall050a
CrazyBubba		Stone\stonewall013a
Bun		Stone\stonewall020a
H.Grunt		Stone\stonewall021h
H.Grunt		Stone\stonewall034b
H.Grunt		Stone\stonewall038b
H.Grunt		Stone\stonewall038e + f
H.Grunt		Stone\stonewall037c
Bun		Stone\stonewall051a
H.Grunt		Wood\wooddoor002a
Bun		Wood\wooddoor003a
Bun		Wood\wooddoor006a
Bun		Wood\wooddoor016a
H.Grunt		Wood\woodshutters002ax
H.Grunt		Wood\woodshutters003a
Bun		Wood\woodshutters004a
H.Grunt		Wood\woodshutters005a
Bun		Wood\woodwall017a

Envato

A rather strange appearance, considering the service started in 2008. The textures here may have been imported from an earlier texture gallery.

Credits	Reference Texture	Original texture
Alex		Tile\tilefloor011a

Surfaces Collection

'Surfaces: Visual Research for Artists, Architects, and Designers' is a 1996 book + CD collection of 1,200+ architectural images from designer Judy A. Juracek. This collection was found after Juracek brought a complaint against Capcom, alleging that her photos were illegitimately used by the company - in the complaint exhibits, two photos were found that Valve had used for HL2 textures brickfloor001a and woodshutters001a (among others).

A scan of the book was not available, and so most of the reference photos below are photos taken of a library copy of the book.

Credits	Reference Texture	Original texture
Bun		Brick\brickfloor001a
Bun		Glass\glasswindow046a
Bun		Glass\glasswindow012a
Bun		Metal\metalgrate002a
Bun		Stone\stonerail001a (based on)
Bun		Stone\stonewall038e + f
Bun		Tile\tilefloor017a
Bun		Wood\woodshelf001a
Bun		Wood\woodshutters001a (+ others)

Unknown Origin

Credits	Reference Texture	Original texture
Jancias		Wood\wooddoor022a

Counter-Strike Source

Marlin Studios Pack 2

Credits	Reference Texture	Original texture
Liblung		models\cs_assault\washer_box