Half-Life's Extraordinary Lost Location | Air Exchange | FULL Half-Life 2 Beta Lore 

Dark and Griddy. Also like and subscribe. I'll owe you a beer.

Something I like about the original beta wasteland concept art, which is a dry seabed, is how you can see the large facility in the distance and that is your goal to reach that, yet it looks like the character would have to traverse at least 10km of wasteland to reach it, but there appears to be small makeshift buildings along the way that are hijacking into the power cables possibly, essentially a true wasteland setting that is so dystopic it is incredible. Traversing this, while looking at your goal get closer, while possibly having to fight a few things along the way, getting equipment along the way, and just taking in the atmosphere of the area would have been amazing.

underrated part of this location is that it was seemingly going to be designed similar to indoor areas Black Mesa

The beta is like if Gordon freeman was awakened 10 years later

I know many beta mods exist but imagine if somebody filled in the blank space between the maps already in circulation and pretty much made an entire game it would probably take a very creative mind who is incredibly passionate about the beta version of hl2

Even without watching the video, if I’m correct, the air exchange map almost still works even if it’s been stuck in the files for this long which is quite impressive.

8:42 Good lord I couldn’t stop laughing, look at Gordon’s face, the man’s crosseyed. Looks like he’s living with full life consequences from all the head trauma he endured at Black Mesa lol.

Nova Prospekt basically merged the Depot and Air Exchange

Half Life 2 and Half Life 2 beta are like two sides of the same coin, the actual game is usually hopeful adventure dangerous experience and the beta is desperation and dark, but I still wonder what Gman think and what he is gonna do in this beta timeline.. no matter what form a HL game would take, Gman always has a role to play

air exchange was one of my most favourite things about half life 2 beta... it's just so scary thinking the combine were powerful and advanced enough to develop a factory to replace earth's natural atmosphere with it's own... i wish one day we can get the complete lore of air exchange... gosh it's really scary

Thank you for the shoutout! Dark and griddy video. Love to see it.

Love what you’re doing with the transitions and other editing tricks! Really cool stuff!

It is so interesting to see how dark and gritty the original Half-Life 2 was. Especially the Air Exchange that a place that basically makes the air of a whole planet toxic. Heck my Combine inspired army has a building of similar design and similar in name called the Air Trade which basically all it does is pump a poisons gas into the air. It is much weaker however as it couldn't spread the gas across a whole planet and is more of a weapon used for this Combine to take over the region they were in. Also since we got the maps I wonder if someone can find the file for it and implement them in Garry's Mod. I mean a lot of cut maps seem to be put into Garry's Mod.

They could bring it back, deep deep into the wasteland possibly even the other side of the planet, they could have the air exchange running in secret until the area of the converted air slowly grows and resistance camps start to go dark for unknown reasons and you're sent to investigate.

I really like the Half Life 2 Beta Aesthetic, the atmosphere of it really is fascinating. Also, awesome video!

This is my favourite video of yours yet... Thank you, man! Cheers!

You know the whole debate whether Gordon wears the suit helmet or not right? Do you think the HEV suit would have acted as his gas mask?

Amazing video as always! Thanks for producing so many interesting videos!

Valve could milk the shit out of the Half Life universe. They can revisit beta's and make them alternate universe games, They can revisit stories like they did with HL: ALyx and just change the outcome of another game. They literally have unlimited potential and theyre doing fuck all with it which is a real shame. But I guess the fact theyre doing so little with it gives the HL universe its charm and mystery

The transitions and the narrations to them are insane!

Love your videos. You make it so interesting!

''Gorden, that dropship coming right for us! ...'' ''AAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHRRRRRRRRRRRRR!'' *explodes in to a pile of guts*

Good stuff like always!

Never knew about the Air Exchange, sounds like a cool concept. Plus, I'm definitely checking out these channels out

It's ironic, while the beta is taken as darker, his ideas end with Freeman completely disarming the alliance's plans, taking down the final boss and finally saving the earth. While in the line we ended up seeing, Freeman defeated Breen, destroyed a citadel, yes, but And then? How the hell will he take down a monstrous army that is so big that even 3 games after we can't even imagine how their generals are like?

This is one of my go to lore channels .

Thanks for helping to keep this universe alive, Skyrionn!

Hey, Skyrionn! Love your content. Hope this year treats you well.

I reeally hope they make use of the beta idea in a future game tbh. it doesnt necessarily need to be a gameplay setting either, just hearing/seeing footage of other cities where the first air exchange factories are built, and how its affecting those areas, would be well enough imo.

Great content ❤

Always love a good Skyrionn Beta video

Very dark and griddy indeed. Also good job on the video! :D

I actually like the idea of the prison better. I think visually the idea of an alien atmosphere factory is interesting but thematically, a prison is a perfect for the start of the resistance.

10:07 For more that 10 years I have been wondering what the G-man's words means: "The right man in the wrong place...". Isn't that "the right man in the right place"? If he is in the wrong place, what can he do? However after this part of the video I think I finally get it.

KEEP HALF LIFE CONTENT COMING!!!

gotta love the kid with the jordans in the beggining

@11:02 let's all take a moment to appreciate the programmer who modeled an anatomically accurate horse schlong to put on a statue in the HL2 beta.

I love the HL2 Beta so so much

Been watching you for a year now I love your videos man. Have you ever played entropy zero and would you consider making a video on it ?

8:46 Gordon does appear completely unaware

Great choice for the first video of the year! Also I love how you read it as it's all real and you believe in this story.

I like your Beta Videos!

Ty skyrioon for making me lost a bet I was on a good track record of winning since the lost cost video but you have to mention the resonance cascade in this video

Hey skyrion! Do you have enough material to make a video about the way mentioned by barney and kleiner on the beggining of hl2 For an idea on wich quote to put at the start of the vid you could put "What cat?" Alix

I know this information has been in the open since Raising the Crowbar came out nearly 20 years ago, but it really showed how much more of a compelling story HL2 could have been and how sinister the Combine are. The Air Exchange and the Manhack Arcade were always my favorite and horrifying cut concepts.

Mashed potatoes with turkey gravy rules! It's so succulent and rich! So bowel-shakingly delicious! So comforting and wholesome! The combine can never take that away from us!!!!!! FAKK THEM IF THEY TRY!!!!! How DARE you question it?!

@Skyrionn I LOVE your channel!!! How you explains the lore of franchises as HALF-LIFE and DOOM, my 2 favorite ones. :) Could you make a short vid of the alternative story of HL, HL: UPLINK, the greatest demo of all times, please?!?

I love listening to your lore videos in the background while I play grindy games. Thanks for your content, man.

Hey! Will you be planning to do video about half life 2 beta conscripts? It will be interesting

I dont know what is about that art-piece (the thumbnail for the video) that was a concept for the Air Exchange but I llove it so much. I wanna run around in a massive open-area level based on that.

Thank you for the nice words :)

holy shit that was dark and griddy

It feels more like the first game to me, visually but also thematically. Some people say it's darker but it seems like you get more of a sense of "the right man in the wrong place makes all the difference in the world" than the bleak "just barely scratching the skin of this soulless war machine" that the final retail version projects. (Or at least gives us the idea of,when valve starts turning hostile to the notion of developing games instead of just milking them)

A modder on gMod added a short sequence of 7 Air Exchange levels, starting with entering the facility from the outside and ending with overloading the reactor, leading to the facility's demise, and it's still one of the best linear sequences I played in gMod. There is even a scripted sequence where you regroup with Captain Vance and his Conscripts inside a building, and he catches you up on things as well as tells you to go overload the reactor and how to do it. I wish more modders added scripted Half Life 2 Beta sequences like that.

You didn´t take into consideration that the grand leak of Half Life 2 might have influenced a lot of elements being cut from the game or them being changed. Great video though! And it´s cool to see that HL community Members mention each other. Together we´ll make it to HL3!

When you think you had all the half-life lore, boom, this guy comes with new stuff!

Another great narration, Sky!

Despite what we got with the retail half life 2 and it was amazing I atill wishwd we could experience this world of half life 2 with the beta .

New Skyrionn video just dropped

I'm pretty sure the Air Exchange was pretty much the beta version of Nova Prospekt causing the uprising to start after it collapse just like Nova Prospekt

Excellent

If you could talk about the dst universe it would be my new year gift

Thank you for making my request come true.

Thank you beyond English vocabulary ❤❤❤❤🙏

I really wonder how these meeting went where everyone came to an agreement that this would be a fitting continuation of Half-Life.

good video and... keep the beer. i don't drink

I can't think of much anything in the retail version containing traces of the air exchange and its effects, unless you count the gas masks of the Combine soldiers.

"Gordon, that dropships coming right for us. AAAAAAUUUUAAHGA"

honest question - Is there a way to play the half life 2 beta? if so how?

very good

Although all those channels covers a lot of Half-Life lore, would be very nice to see your own version of those same topics. Even a huge collab with all of them. Your style is very much nice and pleasant; relaxing, even. Thank you for this video!

Would Gordon be wearing his HEV helmet then, because ya know can't breathe

Would you ever do a video on half life 1 cut content?

I know it’s memes a bit but 2 really didn’t hit the same level of dark that 1 did. It has its moments, but it feels bland at points for what is supposed to be a taken-over earth

Kinda hoping we see a mod to take on the darker idea of hl2

It would explain why Gordon have to use HEV suit

2:15 where is this place?

@2:03 I woke up from a doze to see the poster I thought it said fart surrenders not earth surrenders

Out of all the cut elements of HL2’s beta storyline, this one always was a favorite of mine. Between the way it effected the visuals of the game with the more dramatic colors, the journey to the Air Exchange itself and the level, it’s place in the story as where the revolution of humanity truly begins, and just conceptually how horrible it is. Personally speaking, I have asthma that tends to flair up fairly often and can get pretty bad. The idea of all the clean air on Earth being forcefully removed and replaced by a toxic alien atmosphere deadly to humans hits a lot harder than I imagine it might otherwise as a result. It’s definitely one of the more unnerving elements, and I think it would have made the later stages where Gordon’s helping lead the human/vortigun resistance way more triumphant as now not only have you struck a critical blow to the combine’s power, you literally helped restore a basic function of life to everyone on Earth. This would also be a much clearer show of progress even visually as the sickly dark green and red skies are restored to their proper clear blue. I love the Nova Prospekt levels, don’t get me wrong they’re some of the best in the final game, but it does feel comparatively more understated. Maybe that’s why it worked though in the final game, as the entire design of HL2 got more grounded and subtle compared to how overpoweringly grim the beta concepts were (though also ironically adding probably the darkest with the suppression field). It’s definitely interesting to see how things changed there though.

The Erick's Change

Gordon Semen’s dark and griddy Ice Spice bussin’ gyatt

How about Aiden Walker (3650) from Entropy: Zero?? It would be cool...

What s this ? Another Half Life Lore video ? It s been a while i hope you are well.

Can we get a video about the conscripts?

it can dark, it can gritty, and it can griddy

Captain Vance kinda looks like Bill from Left 4 Dead

This guy deserves more than 100k lmao😮

"The air excahnge was an incredibly important stronghold for the Combine. To protect it from any harm or resistance activity, the Combine ordered the human arm of their army to defend it." Hmm... between that and the fact that they were almost completely defeated by just one man, Gordon Freeman, I'm beginning to think the Combine aren't all that and the 7-hour war was an inside job.

Here's how Air Exchange can still make into the retail Half-life universe with some modifications: The plant itself would be in the centre of United States. The location itself is unrecognisable now, compared to how it was 20 years ago - it has been proclaimed by the Combine as "Contamination-source Hazardos State", which is isolated by VERY tall and advanced version of Combine force field. The "State" is basicly most unstable, even for the Combine, place on the ENTIRE Earth - it's riddled in "Xen Storms" (weakest form of Portal Storm, so weak it is impossible to use as interdimensional portal, hence why Combine didn't try to exploit them), which periodically scuddeling through wastes, sucking poorly secured objects (like Xen grenade, but it's moving and is a storm), and teleports in varios Xen stuff (mainly biological things); Xen biosphere hazardous leaks and fumes; large amount of varios advanced Xen infestations and creatures; and barely connected Human and Combine "settlements". There are major Combine-ocuppied sities (including tallest (on average) Combine city), mainly surviving big cities of old United States, but Combine never has full control, as ever present infestations and constant raides by several human groups, including United States Armed forces survivors (mainly HECU remnants) and most radical groups of Resistance united into "Revolution Hazard" shoddy union, coupled with unpredictable "Xen Storms" prevents Combine to have even a semblance of full order. It is considered second highest punishment by the Civil Protection to be sent "Hazard State"; the highest punishment, considered by Civil Protection is "Permanent off-world assighment". This place looks and pieces is essentially a mix of Half-life Alyx and Half-life 2 Beta. The plant itself is called "Contamination Cleansing Proccesing Facility" or "Combine Air Filter Plant". It is designed to replace contaminated air in the "State" on clean atmoshere with "Cleaser", which is basicly gas poisonous only to Xen biosphere.

HL2 would have had a timeless aesthetic had they not abandoned the beta look

DARK AND GRIDDY!!12!

The HL2 Beta was Gordon in stasis for 40 years instead of 20.

In an parallel universe we got the beta version of half life 2

i woundnt be suprised if the Air Exchange would make an apenrance in Free Fan Game on Steam.

Portal Revolution mod lore perhaps?

In your description, it says “do many” instead of so many

11:06 no one noticed the horse was packing? or are we still trying to forget it ever existed?

I wonder who would win in a fight, the strogg or the combine?

Half Life could've been the gift that keep giving but Gabe be like "nah"

gordon that dropship is coming right for us map?