Ted Backman
Biographical information
Born	N/A
Occupation(s)	Art director Conceptual artist Illustrator Animator

 

Ted Backman is art director, conceptual artist, illustrator, and animator for Valve.

BiographyEdit

Backman has been a freelance artist and animator in the Seattle area since the mid 2000's.^[1] Prior to joining Valve in the summer of 1996, he studied painting at the University of Washington.^[2] He designed most of the Synth met in Half-Life 2.^[3] As most of the Valve employees, he also worked on Left 4 Dead.^[1] He is married to Vanessa Slough.^[4]

On Valve's official website, his function is described as follows: "Prior to joining Valve in the summer of 1996, Ted studied painting at the University of Washington. During his time at Valve, Ted has been responsible for designing and building many of the people, places and things that inhabit Black Mesa, City 17, and the outlying environments. A Seattle native, Ted finds drizzle comforting and insists Paynes grey is his favorite color."^[2]

Backman said that one of his inspirations for the Half-Life creatures was H.R. Giger's Necronomicon paintings and its sexual innuendos. It is possible he was also influenced by Wayne Douglas Barlowe's paintings.

He is also black belt karate instructor.^[5]

TriviaEdit

• His name appears in Half-Life as an Easter egg on a Sector C locker and can be heard in announcements. He also gave his likeness to the Citizen Male 02, "Ted". His name also appears as an Easter egg on a sign in the Hospital featured in Episode One.

Work for the Half-Life seriesEdit

Half-Life seriesEdit

Half-Life (1998)Edit

• The Barnacle^[3]
• The Black Mesa Research Facility^[3]
• The Bullsquid^[3]
• The Charger^[3]
• The Fast Walker^[3]
• The Flocking Floater^[3]
• Gonarch^[3]
• The Headcrab^[3]
• The Houndeye^[3]
• The Ichthyosaur^[3]
• The Kingpin^[3]
• The Leech
• Mr. Friendly^[3]
• Nihilanth^[3]
• An unidentified creature originally designed for Quiver^[3]
• Several weapons
• The Zombie^[3]
• Silo D^[3]
• Sector E Materials Transport^[3]

GalleryEdit

Half-Life 2 (2004)Edit

• The Advisor^[3]
• The Alien Combine Soldier^[3]
• The Alien Fauna^[3]
• The Antlion King^[3]
• The Combine Assassin
• The Combine Dropship (replacing the early design by Dhabih Eng)^[3]
• The Combine Guard^[3]
• The Combine Guard Gun
• The Combine Gunship^[3]
• The Combine Super Soldier^[3]
• The Combine Synth Elite Soldier^[3]
• The Consul/Wallace Breen (with Dhabih Eng)^[3]
• The new Headcrabs^[3]
• The Hydra^[3]
• "I.A. Latham"^[3]
• The Overwatch Elite^[3]
• The two first Overwatch Sniper versions^[3]
• The Overwatch Soldier (outfit)^[3]
• The Rebel/Citizen outfits (with Moby Francke)^[3]
• The Sacktick^[3]
• The Shield Scanner^[3]
• The Stalker^[3]
• The Stampeder^[3]
• The Strider^[3]
• The Tripod Hopper^[3]
• The Wasteland Scanner^[3]
• Several weapons
• The new Zombies^[3]

GalleryEdit

Citizen Male 02.

Half-Life 2: Episode One (2006)Edit

• The Zombine

Half-Life 2: Episode Two (2007)Edit

• The Antlion Grub^[6]
• The Antlion Worker^[7]
• The Hunter^[8]

GalleryEdit

Half-Life 2: Episode Three (TBA)Edit

GalleryEdit

Concept art for Episode Three, showing an Advisor and Gordon Freeman (collaborative work by Ted Backman, Jeremy Bennett and Tristan Reidford).

Complete gameographyEdit

• Half-Life (1998)
• Half-Life: Opposing Force (1999)
• Half-Life: Blue Shift (2001)
• Counter-Strike: Source (2004)
• Half-Life 2 (2004)
• Half-Life 2: Episode One (2006)
• Portal (2007)
• Half-Life 2: Episode Two (2007)
• Left 4 Dead (2008)
• Left 4 Dead 2 (2009)
• Alien Swarm (2010)
• Portal 2 (2011)

ReferencesEdit

See alsoEdit

• Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar

External linksEdit

• Ted Backman on Facebook
• Ted Backman's Steam Community profile
• Ted Backman on MobyGames
• Ted Backman of Valve Software - q & a