Combine Soldier (Evolution)

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Revision as of 16:22, 7 December 2020 by MTD (talk | contribs) (Fixed some text that no longer made sense after the merging. V2 is also no longer the only one with red eyes)
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The Combine Soldier is a transhuman enemy fought in Half-Life 2 and its episodes. It went through a long and diverse revision history, a lot of which pictures have been released for.

Concepts

There is a large amount of art of the Combine Soldier, much of it is radically different from any versions we see in-game.

Early Suit Designs

A few early concepts show different ideas for the Combine Soldier's design. For example, the "flames" soldiers reuse the head from some metrocop concept art.

Early Color Schemes

These are from a later point, when the general design of the Combine Soldier was decided on. Some of the concepts here experiment with a different head, along with coloration and smaller body details.

It's worth noting that in Half-Life 2 Survivor, the Combine medic models make some use of the alternate head designs.

Alternate head

Versions 1 and 2's order is speculation. If proof comes around, change 'em!

Version 1: 2000

CombineCloseup.png

This single screenshot of two Combine Soldiers located in the map c1a3a_port is the earliest known in-game screenshot of Combine Soldiers. This image was found in one of Lars Linden's presentations by c.marti on 18th November 2020. This version of the Soldier bares somewhat of a similar appearance to the Pre-2002 version, but having an overall browner coloration to it, as well as a unique armband that seems to have the number 5 on it. There seems to be magazine pouches on the waist of the model similar to those of the Combine Elite, hinting that this model may have derived from the Elite or vice versa.

Screenshots


Version 2: Pre-2002

Version 1 borealis zoomin.png

This is no longer the earliest version of the Combine Soldier that there are screenshots of. It still features the visibly red eyes from Version 1, and has a red arm-patch also seen later on Version 3. It has a visible finger on its hand which appears to come from an early version of Counter-Strike: Source.[1] The helmet appears white in its e3_hydra screenshot.

Screenshots

Version 3: 2002

Version 3 zoomin new 1.png
Version 3 zoomin new 2.png

The earliest version of the Combine Soldier we have the texture for. Unlike the earlier versions, this one has a navy blue helmet, and yellow eyes.

The Soldier_Stripped from the Leak appears to be from this version. The pants textures from this version are identical, and the boot textures while moderately different, are still fairly similar. Oddly, the hand textures here are recycled directly from the Gasmask Citizen.

Screenshots

Textures

Version 4: Leak

V4 zoomin.png

The first (and last) early combine soldier we have the full model of. The helmet color has been changed to black, the emblem has changed to a blue-and-brown 314, and the eyes are now a darker, reddish brown.

Screenshots

Textures

Version 5: Early 2004

Version 5 zoomin.png

Far further along, this version of the Combine Soldier is nearly the final, but with some differences. The armor plates are the same color as the rest of the suit, and when comparing this to the final version, it has noticeably less shading.

Trivia

  • Stangely, it is used instead of the final texture for the Zombine and GMod player version of the Combine Soldier.

Screenshots

Textures

Version 6: Retail

Combinesolder render1.png

This is the finalized version of the Combine Soldier in Half-Life 2, varying primarily in shading and plate color from Version 5. No official screenshots are known to exist of this, as the Combine Soldier changed to Version 6 fairly late in development.

Textures

Version 7: Episode 2 Retail

This is final known version of the Combine Soldier in the Half-Life series. The the only difference between version 6 and version 7 is that version 8 has a dirt overlay in the texture sheet, to fit the outland theme of Episode 2. Apart from that, much is the same, even the shading is the same.

Textures

Miscellaneous

Ep1 c17 020023.png

This early Combine Shotgunner texture was used while Episode 1 was still undergoing development under the name of "Half-Life 2: Aftermath."

Texture Sheet Comparison

We have 5 revisions in total.

References