The Internet has proven to be particularly well-suited for connecting threads that no one had shown could be connected – or should.
Another example of this came in December, when a discussion in a sub-group of the site Reddit noticed that an old photo from a forensics textbook looked suspiciously like a well-known model in Half-Life 2.
Specifically, the discovery took place on ir/eyeblech, an isolated group created for the sharing and analysis of disgusting and repulsive images, and it was a user there who realized that this image had been reused in the game.
This was then picked up YouTuber Richter Overtime which gave a brief history of the image and the model.
Part of a more somber game
Valve
The 3D model in Half-Life 2 is called «corpse01.mdl», and had been known for a long time as one of the more gruesome bits in the game from 2004. The model has been used many times in the game, and stands out in the landscape precisely because parts of it seem particularly detailed. Especially among what might otherwise seem like unclear and foggy, low-resolution textures.
The fact that the model is noticed has also meant that it has had sustained attention. It has even been reused in other contexts, most notably as a player skin in the popular Garry’s Mod.
It makes sense then that it stands out, since it’s a real forensic image of a burned corpse used as a texture for the model. The image is used with only minor changes – one of the eyes is copied on both sides of the head, which makes it a little less human, but still gruesome.
Valve
This model may be a holdover from a discarded version of the game. It was reportedly thought that Half-Life 2 should be a much darker and more gloomy game, with far more of a horror feel than the game ended up being.
The journey through the dark and abandoned zombie city is a clear element of this – and it is precisely here that we often see “corpse01.mdl”.
Controversial Practice
The use of images and videos of real death and injuries is not unknown in the development of games, but is usually only used in early stages of development and as more general references for the graphics.
Valve
Many think it is more ethically sound to draw the line by using artificial substitutes and analogues – such as potato skin textures and the sound of celery stalks snapping.
And for those who want to remove the macabre image from Half-Life 2, it already exists a mod that does just this.
