Where does Half-Life the name come from??

[swiss]

If u think about it, its a kinda strange name. Other big shooters like Call of Duty, Halo, Doom series, Rerturn to Castle Wolfenstein all had names that had something to do with the game.
The only thing i know is that in Physics, the half-life; is the time it takes for radioactive material to decay by half.

 

[Wraith]

this is a game about a scientist. so yes, its just a neat-souding scientific term. same as "blue shift" and "opposing force"

 

[trevjim]

sum1 did mention it once, suming 2 do with a chemical equation i think i remeber

 

[Admin_Winnuting]

The only thing i know is that in Physics, the half-life; is the time it takes for radioactive material to decay by half

I think that's what it's named after.

 

[ZoFreX]

The physics name sounds right - Half-Life, the game about physics, is named after a physics term. Opposing force is a military term. Blue shift is physics..? Mebbe. Red shift is, so I guess blue is too. And of course condition zero is a military term.

 

[we11er]

There have been countless threads on this - go do a search.

 

[Iconoclast]

There have been countless threads on this - go do a search.

Truer words have not been spoken.

 

[Reaperman]

Half life = Radioactive Decay

Opposing force = Friction, "Equil and Opposite Reaction"

Blue/Red Shift = Color spectrum given off by objects based on movement (Blue = High pitch, Red = Low pitch)

 

[Ennui]

I remember reading that although half life is radioactive decay, Valve had another significance for it... don't remember what it is though.

 

[Kristafon]

until i bought hl1 myself i thought it was a zombie game for some reason, they have "half" a "life".

 

[Jeehde2]

Well

You guys surely all remember the famous Half Life symbol.... it on Gordons Suit for example...

This is the symbol for the lab where Half Life ends.

Its called ,,Lamda", from the ancient Greek alphabet (11 I think)

This symbol is used for ... yes ... Half Life or that thing with nuclear babalabam (dont have much time )

So just count it all together...

the symbol, the meaning of it, Gordon being a scientist, and most important: its sounds great

This should answer it all, or else, just use the search button

 

[X|Rolando]

the lambda symbol = half life (C14 method)
Examine the hl splash screen, and youll find some calculations (0.5/t = bla bla bla... radon, uran... Etc

 

[silverstealth89]

If u think about it, its a kinda strange name. Other big shooters like Call of Duty, Halo, Doom series, Rerturn to Castle Wolfenstein all had names that had something to do with the game.
The only thing i know is that in Physics, the half-life; is the time it takes for radioactive material to decay by half.

you just said the answer

 

[Ennui]

It just sounds cool I think is the main reason. It has some but not a lot of significance.

And the lambda is hot.

 

[Danman60]

As a working author and composer, I can tell you that titles are ALWAYS more than they seem. My prediction? Half-Life will in some way refer to Gordon and the G-man. Apart, they each live a half life. Or each of them is one half of a whole. Like the Gman is from the future, and is the future Gordon, and Gordon Freeman is in the past. Together, they are a full life. The name G-man and Gordon are similiar for a reason, and the title will be a dual meaning to do with this theme.

 

[eiric]

I'm nor really to good at this but I think Half-Life means the decay time of an atomic substance. And the λ (lambda) symbol comes from this formula:
T½ = ln2 / λ

Where T½ is constant time decay. In is an interger and λ is the decay constant... Actually, I don't understand a s**t of this, hopefully someone does. Anyway, the formula is correct so now you (kinda) know where the λ comes from in HL.

Looked it up again, should be something like that.

 

[bliink]

And of course condition zero is a military term.

all the games have names with both game and context related names.

the original working title for hl was "quiver"

 

[bate18]

if you examine there names Freeman and G-man. free-man, government-man, quite the opposite if you ask me. this may tie into HL3 somehow

 

[Sharrd]

if you examine there names Freeman and G-man. free-man, government-man, quite the opposite if you ask me. this may tie into HL3 somehow

Yes! G-Man will be shouting "AGH! The IRONY!". No, this most likely won't be mentioned, although you will understand it. Just like nobody mentioned what BFG stood for in Doom 3.