Half Life thread - Discussions about Valve's FPS magnum opus(es) and any related content (spin offs, expansions and etc)

[JesusChristDenton]

this is great

Was just about to post this but it looks like I've already been beaten to it.
There's also a Google Doc version with some expanded detail like radio communications and uniform guides to the various groups.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BxTwDgq2AHDUA_daJaSVpGJ_2izbR9Cay7hHPQVVgGE/edit

Spoiler

One thing I found interesting was the idea that Black Mesa weren't the first humans in Xen.

 

[JesusChristDenton]

While looking at various Half-Life animations I came across this:

Seems pretty cool right? The creator even gave the HECU actual USMC vehicles from the time period Half-Life is set in.

Well, if it was just that I wouldn't be posting about it here.

The creator, Riva the Fox happens to be a Furry Troon.

Though it does seem that some people have noticed.

Overall I can't really say anything else. But Riva seems to at least practice basic internet hygiene, I can't find any mention of them on other websites like Furaffinity.

 

[Bill Kilgore]

So, the guy who was posting on the Half-Life subreddit about his designs has finally released the full product. Looks pretty cool, I guess. Honestly thought it was gonna be about the Seven Hour War when I first saw all that stuff. What do you guys think?

I'm honestly suprised no one has ever tried to make a fan-game/mod based on the seven hour war, the concept sounds interesting as fuck.

 

[Mr. Duck]

I'm honestly suprised no one has ever tried to make a fan-game/mod based on the seven hour war, the concept sounds interesting as fuck.

 

[The handsome tard]

I'm honestly suprised no one has ever tried to make a fan-game/mod based on the seven hour war, the concept sounds interesting as fuck.

I wont say that there isnt a mod somewhere that is set during it or the portal storms but I think after Hunt Down the Freeman, the fanbase mutually agreed to keep that time period vague as to not risk getting compared to that game.

 

[Involuntary Celebrity]

Has anyone posted about Abiotic Factor yet? Its a half life inspired open world survival game, but set in a facility ala black mesa.

I've been playing the last couple days and I can comfortably recommend it unless you really hate survival elements.
Though even then I think it's an interesting spin and an oddly good fit since the premise is basically the Black Mesa event dragging on for weeks instead of a couple hours and all the scientists hiding in broom closets needing to use their science team brains to stay alive.

And it is unapologetically Black Mesa, right down to vortigaunts not dying if they're mid-attack. It's full of shit like that. Really scratches that desire to jump off the tram during the intro and explore the rest of the complex.

Shitty title, though.

 

[NSJAP]

 

[JesusChristDenton]

View attachment 6193620

>Universal Union

 

[The handsome tard]

View attachment 6193620

I wonder if they made the combine soldiers as inhuman as possible to make the Combine seem more alien or/and to dehumanize them so the player doesnt feel bad to kill them. I mean, you did see that, despite everythig, the HECU were still human enough so you could still feel bad for them or that they are just tragically "just following orders" and that said orders may have even been manipulated by powerful players like the G-Man. Opposing Force was all about the acceptance of that humanization and showing that, in a way, they were just as lost about this whole thing as the scientists were because their government easily turned on them when it came down to it.

With the combine soldiers, you dont really get any of that. They are always focused on killing you and there is barely any dialogue between them that adds any sort of humanity or warmth to their existence. They are more machine than men, twisted and evil.

 

[Spruce Supremacist]

I wonder if they made the combine soldiers as inhuman as possible to make the Combine seem more alien or/and to dehumanize them so the player doesnt feel bad to kill them. I mean, you did see that, despite everythig, the HECU were still human enough so you could still feel bad for them or that they are just tragically "just following orders" and that said orders may have even been manipulated by powerful players like the G-Man. Opposing Force was all about the acceptance of that humanization and showing that, in a way, they were just as lost about this whole thing as the scientists were because their government easily turned on them when it came down to it.

With the combine soldiers, you dont really get any of that. They are always focused on killing you and there is barely any dialogue between them that adds any sort of humanity or warmth to their existence. They are more machine than men, twisted and evil.

It really makes you wonder how truly inhuman the Combine are. Considering Barney is able to wear Combine uniform without visible discomfort and perfectly blend in - voice changer and everything - that would lead me to believe that the Combine are very much human, at least physically: probably malnourished and drugged up, but still very much human.

 

[The handsome tard]

Considering Barney is able to wear Combine uniform without visible discomfort and perfectly blend in - voice changer and everything

That can be easily explained by Barney's uniform being adapted to a regular human to use. Externally it looks identical but inside it lacks all of mechanical parts.

that would lead me to believe that the Combine are very much human, at least physically: probably malnourished and drugged up, but still very much human.

Their bodies are still technically humans but it has been so altered that they are like a different species by that point. The Combine does seem to take sick pleasure in transhumanism to create the most horrifying tools for their control.

 

[JesusChristDenton]

It really makes you wonder how truly inhuman the Combine are. Considering Barney is able to wear Combine uniform without visible discomfort and perfectly blend in - voice changer and everything - that would lead me to believe that the Combine are very much human, at least physically: probably malnourished and drugged up, but still very much human.

Civil Protection are unaugmented, which is why Barney is able to go undercover so easily. Combine Soldiers on the other hand are all cyborgs.

 

[WULULULULU]

>Universal Union

I hate how "Universal Union" is being normalized where the closest we ever got was Combine. I blame HL2RP fags for doing this faggotry.

It really makes you wonder how truly inhuman the Combine are. Considering Barney is able to wear Combine uniform without visible discomfort and perfectly blend in - voice changer and everything - that would lead me to believe that the Combine are very much human, at least physically: probably malnourished and drugged up, but still very much human.

Higher ranks = higher augmentation. Except Stalkers, where that is beyond augmentation and just full transhumanism.

 

[Chunky Salsa]

I always did wonder how much of 'you' is left if you really go balls in on being a combine patsy. Breen was IIRC brain transplanted into an advisor; and he chose that over Gordon beating him to death. So there has to be something of you in there still.

 

[BirdUp]

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the guy who makes these is great

does anyone have a link to his deviantart or whatever

 

[JesusChristDenton]

I always did wonder how much of 'you' is left if you really go balls in on being a combine patsy. Breen was IIRC brain transplanted into an advisor; and he chose that over Gordon beating him to death. So there has to be something of you in there still.

Probably not that much.

You tend to sacrifice a lot when you become a proud race traitor.

 

[The handsome tard]

Altho I have mixed feelings towards the HL Alyx ending (where I think it cruelly blue balls the audience with a new cliffhanger that will never be picked up upon, at least until Valve needs to test some new hardware. Not to mention it retcons HL2's ending which takes away some of its impact) but the conversation between G-Man and Alyx is prime Half Life.
The most eye opening tidbit is where Alyx "wishes" for the combine off Earth and G-Man replies

"Now thats a particularly large nudge. Too Large. Given the interests of my employers"

It horrifyingly implies the G-Man is so powerful he COULD remove the Combine off Earth single handedly if he so wished, he just simply doesnt because it goes against of the extremely vague plan of his employers. Its something that does and doesnt make sense for the G-Man to be able to do since it really makes one wonder just what ARE the limits of what he can do.

And if his employers are hiring him because of said powers or because they simply dont want to bother doing it themselves so they are hiring a "lesser" being to do it for them.

I always did wonder how much of 'you' is left if you really go balls in on being a combine patsy. Breen was IIRC brain transplanted into an advisor; and he chose that over Gordon beating him to death. So there has to be something of you in there still.

IF we take "epistle 3" in consideration, which is fine if one doesnt, but Breen was apparently somehow still alive as a giant slug of sorts (always imagined if that was a Dune reference, except its a pathetic version of the slug concept). He clearly hates this existence, which implies enough of him is still there, and asks Alyx and Gordon to put him out of his misery. Alyx refuses, believing Breen deserves this but it is left ambiguious if Gordon mercy kills Breen or just leaves him there too.

So I assume the idea is that Breen was still himself through all of it, tho he eventually wishes it wasnt.

 

[RSU 1741]

He clearly hates this existence, which implies enough of him is still there, and asks Alyx and Gordon to put him out of his misery.

Laidlaw even went for a weirdo Twitter account larping as the Breen-slug (must have been BreenGrub or something). It suggested that the Advisors themselves were nothing bar cloned grubs from a race of philosopher-dreamers that lived in a completely different paradigm compared to Man, and were essentially hijacked by whatever the leading intellects of the Combine are. In a transhumanist twist we discover the Combine adapt and use "patterns" that are stored in grubs and reapplied as needed, and Breen was cloned and terminated quite a few times until his mind broke. The Half Life 2 mod Entropy: Zero and its sequel play around with the concept and despite the amateur production values I found it interesting (the protagonist get "patterned" for his success in the first game, meaning the Combine kill his ass and extract his personality and dump it again and again on random Combine Elites. Hell, one of the bosses is one of your previous patterns).

Also, Lazlo is still there somewhere.

 

[Granada Granola]

Laidlaw even went for a weirdo Twitter account larping as the Breen-slug (must have been BreenGrub or something). It suggested that the Advisors themselves were nothing bar cloned grubs from a race of philosopher-dreamers that lived in a completely different paradigm compared to Man, and were essentially hijacked by whatever the leading intellects of the Combine are. In a transhumanist twist we discover the Combine adapt and use "patterns" that are stored in grubs and reapplied as needed, and Breen was cloned and terminated quite a few times until his mind broke. The Half Life 2 mod Entropy: Zero and its sequel play around with the concept and despite the amateur production values I found it interesting (the protagonist get "patterned" for his success in the first game, meaning the Combine kill his ass and extract his personality and dump it again and again on random Combine Elites. Hell, one of the bosses is one of your previous patterns).

Also, Lazlo is still there somewhere.

Let me guess, Valve is just going to outright show that the combine are actually led by the sentient portal storms/clouds/vast meteorological intelligences that were cut from HL2 and mentioned directly by both Dr Breen in Retail HL2 and Cave Johnson in Portal 2.

I think that given drones becoming popular in current wars and the Manhack being a staple of at least civil protection, the Combine OICW cut from HL2 could be converted into a successful anti-drone/manhack rifle.

 

[PunkinMan]

TWHL Tower: Source has released, development started in 2021. - Link for release article.