Net Test 1
 | Attention, all citizens...
|
Net Test 1 is the first of two known development builds of Half-Life that were sent to playtesters to test the game's multiplayer features. It was leaked on October 19th, 2024 by Chad Jessup.[1] This build is labelled "B9" (Beta 9) and comes from a fairly late point the game's development, but still contains plenty of nice things. Net Test 1 was compiled on October 16th, 1998, 4 days before the compilation of Net Test 2 and 34 days before the release of Half-Life.
Contents
Content
Maps
This build contains maps that were likely made to test cooperative multiplayer, a feature that was ultimately scrapped from the final build of Half-Life.
| Filename | Notes |
|---|---|
| assault.bsp | Presumed cooperative map. This map was previously seen in a series of screenshots for Valve's Team Fortress, and appeared in screenshots for Team Fortress 2: Brotherhood of Arms. |
| battle.bsp | Short scenario of a three-way battle between Alien grunts, the military and the player. Later featured in Surface Tension. |
| c2a2_ects.bsp | |
| c4a1.bsp | This map opens with a cutscene that moves the camera to simulate the player gazing at Xen's floating islands. |
| c4a3a.bsp | An early Xen map. |
| c4a3b.bsp | Another early Xen map. |
| c4a3c.bsp | Another early Xen map. |
| gruntdm1.bsp | Presumed cooperative map. Would later evolve into the Deathmatch map Subtransit. |
| loot1.bsp | Multiplayer item collecting map. Would later evolve into the Deathmatch map Boot Camp. |
Models
This build contains models that were intended for Half-Life's German release, namely the Human Sargent and the Zombie, the latter of which also giving us a glimpse at the Scientist's model. Additionally, the p_model for the MP5 is identical to that from Day one, and the Crossbow and RPG p_models use their earlier designs. The latter two are also in the Net Test 2 files.
Skyboxes
This build contains all the skyboxes for Half-Life in the Targa (.tga) file format without banding or compression. However, they are all limited to a 256x256 resolution.
Music
Within Net Test 1, an earlier version of the game's soundtrack was discovered with incomplete mastering. Additionally, there are two songs that don't appear in the final game.
Multiplayer Customization Menu
Within the Multiplayer customisation menu, several options exist here, and only here. Firstly, only two playermodels are listed; "Gordon Freeman" and "Gina Freeman". Gina, the holographic instructor, was originally intended to be Gordon Freeman's wife before development constraints nipped that idea in the bud. She was later renamed Gina Cross in the expansions. Secondly, the playermodels were intended to have toggleable attire, as evidenced by the popup with "Casual Wear" and "Hazard Suit". Lastly, the option to toggle a player's face existed. It is unknown what faces were to be toggled but it is speculated to have been faces uploaded from the user's computer. All three of these options were removed by Net Test 2 and are non-functional in this build, implying they were already being phased out at this point.
