Background Art (Evolution)
Before the retail release, the background for the main menu was a texture image instead of a 3D background, different background textures was used throughout development
2003 Leak
Version 1: City 17
located in the leak under gfx/shell is a file named "splash.bmp", this artwork depicts a very early version of city 17, back when it took place in America, as the artwork depicts American-style buildings and skyscrapers. The artwork itself is from 1998 (based on the copyright info on Splash8bit.bmp), meaning that this artwork was created during the Pre-Pitch Era. Based on how it's formatted as the non-steam/retail Half Life 1 and how other files in this directory are pre-steam Half Life 1 menu remnants, this background has likely been used very early in development, likely between 1999 to early 2000, which was during the Hyper Era. It should also be noted that the bottom right of the artwork could very well be one of the earliest logo for Half Life 2.
Oddly, Splash8bit.bmp, which is located in the same directory, depicts the same image, but with a copyright noticed on the left-hand side
This background art also has a loading texture as well located in gfx/status called "loading.bmp", which, just like Splash.bmp, is also formatted as the non-steam/retail version of Half Life 1. The texture itself appears to be an almost exact copy of Splash, except now it's black and white, and has text that says "Loading" in yellow color.
An oddity of the loading image is that, while appearing exactly the same as Splash (minus the obvious differences explained above), it does have 1 new difference, the "2" on the logo is much bigger than on Splash.bmp, which might suggest that these versions are earlier iterations of Splash.bmp
Another oddity is that 2 other background files exist in this directory as well besides loading.bmp. The first background is titled "gordon_loading.bmp" which, besides the new file name, appears to be an exact copy of loading.bmp. The second background, titled "Logo.bmp", appears to be the same image as loading.bmp but without the loading text
gfx/status
"loading.bmp" and "gordon_loading.bmp"
"Logo.bmp"
Version 2: Gordon Freeman
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Version 3: Citadel
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Retail
intro.bsp
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Final
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Other
Dark Messiah of Might and Magic: Blurred HL2 Logo
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