Just beat it. Wow.

I know there's another thread, but that's descended into some "red is better than orange!" type arguments...I can see why people would have problems with HL2, but I don't want to have that debate here.

With that out of the way, I've got some speculation/questions:

1. Who are those skinny alien guys in the Citidel (the gray ones wearing boxer shorts)? It seemed like they were prisoners of the Overwatch...I thought they might have been mutated human prisoners (when Alyx is using the computer to search for Eli in Nova Prospekt she says something like "my God, these poor people!"). Are they the next step in human evolution that Breen was ranting about early in the game?

2. And speaking of prisoners, what's with all the trains? I guess the trains are how the Combine controls the human population (either Point Insertion's forced relocations or those prison trains), but it just seemed like there were a lot of train-type things in the game.

3. The Gman. For a while I forgot I was even working for him...were there any Gman sightings besides the beginning, the end and Highway 17? When Kleiner reveals that Alyx and Gordon have lost a week in the teleport, I assumed that was where the Gman had stashed Gordon (the HL wiki just says 'stasis', which is pretty unspecific). Who does he work for, and what does he have against Breen?

4. Why was 'Black Mesa East' called 'Black Mesa East'? The only thing I could think of was that it's an underground research dealie like Black Mesa, except in an Eastern-bloc country, but that sounds sort of flimsy.

5. Was Dr. Vance leader of the resistance? Alyx at least seems to be a very high-ranking member...but more than that, if Eli was in charge, and Mossman had been a spy all along, why didn't Breen and the Overwatch move against him much sooner?

6. Was there any point to Ravenholm besides Valve wanting to have a scary zombie level? mscbuck explained that it's the city that gets headcrab-shelled in Lost Coast (which I haven't played yet), but the HL2 wiki says that Lost Coast takes place between Highway 17 and Sandtraps, putting it after Ravenholm.

7. Is Earth overrun with alien mutants and such? I gathered that was the reasoning behind Breen's "it's safer here" speech, and the reason that the resistance was able to operate openly in the wilderness.

8. Is it ever explained why the Combine is keeping people from having children? And what were those ball things the Citidel released at the end of Red Letter Day (when Barney gives you your crowbar)? Speaking of that, what is a Red Letter Day?

One thing that occured to me was that maybe the Combine was importing people into City 17 and then turning them into those grey things...but for what purpose? Why have they taken over the world? (according to the wiki there was originally some lame story about the Combine draining the oceans. I'm glad that was dropped)

So yeah, this game has filled me with questions. Some people don't like it for being too scripted and not letting you solve things the way you want (which oddly enough is the reason I got sick of HL1), but it's the story that hooked me. I'd be interested to hear answers to my questions or further speculation...I'm not really expecting some stuff to be explained (especially the Gman), but meh.

Oh, and should I bother with HL1? I got sick of it at Surface Tension. I got tired of the scriptiness, and it didn't seem to have a good enough story to interest me.

EDIT - and what about Episode 1? From what I gather it's pretty short, but does it address these questions or just raise a bunch of new ones?

You're in luck for # 1.

1. Question answered in Half life 2: Episode 1
2. They look cool so valve put em in.
3. yes. On the boat level, he can be seen on a walkway above you. Also, when you find the vortigaunt and the human in the canals (the one who gives you your first "boost" in the cargo container) gman is seen on the TV behind them for a brief moment.
4. uhhhh? I dunno
5. too tired to think that hard
6. It's unrelated to lost coast ( I think ). It's essentially a big scary zombie level.
7. supposedly, earth lost after 7 hours or something, and surrendered.
8. Because they want humans to die off?

1) The gray guys are stalkers, play Episode 1 to learn a bit more.
2) Trains represent, to me at least, a much more oppressive environment. It conjures up images of the holocaust too I think.
3) No one knows who the G-Man is or what his ultimate goals are. You can see him hanging out sometimes for a bit if you're lucky.
4) Black Mesa East is called East because either a: it's just a reference to the original Black Mesa (Black Mesa 2 sounds dumb) or it references the "new" Black Mesa rumored to be in Episode 2.
5) Dunno, sure seems like he's one of the key players.
6) I think buck is right, that the gun you disable in Lost Coast is the one that shelled Ravenholm but honestly I can't remember where I read that.
7) Yes, Earth lost the 7 Hour war with the Combine.
8) Help, help! I'm being oppressed! A "red letter day" is a term for an important day.

The combine are draining the oceans. Didn't you notice all the high docks and stranded boats? They're really sucking the Earth dry and incorporating humans into the Combine (what they do with every species they encounter apparently).

I'm not a fan of HL1 But HL2 was pretty fun and Episode 1 is excellent in my opinion (although too short to justify $20).

1. Stalkers. They get into them in HL2:EP1, and more, in 2 & 3, I would imagine.

2. They looked cool, and possibly because they're reminiscent of the Third Reich's use of trains.

3. It's unknown who the G-Man works for. What he has against Breen is what he's apparently paid to have against Breen.

4. Black Mesa was ground zero, so it's reminiscent. East, because...it's...east of Black Mesa Research Facility?

5. Vance led the resistance; Mossman was in cahoots with Vance all along (at least, that was the impression I got).

6. Ravenholm = spinning blades + zombies. Pretty much all that it is. Oh, and crushing zombies with cars. Heeee.

7. Yes, anywhere not in the cities is considered unsafe, whether it's because of Xen creatures of antlions.

8. You keep a people from reproducing, and they have no children. Protection of children and a good future for those children give people a reason to fight.

Plus, Breen probably never got laid. Also, can you be specific about the "ball things"? Maybe a screenshot?

The Combine utilize a planet's/dimension's native species for its own purposes - for example, the Combine used the vortigaunts as foot soldiers to invade Earth at BMRF. There's some speculation that the alien grunts (the guys who fired hornets at you) were genetically-engineered hybrids, like the stalkers are to humans. Why they're making stalkers, I don't know.

As for EP1, it's 1/3 of Half-Life 3. I'd recommend getting it; you get 4 to 5 hours of gameplay, and then 4 to 5 hours of commentary as you run through the game again.

Those are Stalkers. They're Humans that the Combine didn't like for whatever reason (they caused trouble, or were just in the wrong place at the wrong time), and the Combine pretty much disfigured them and turned them into slaves. (Note that the actual soldiers and metrocops are just humans that converted to the Combine, not aliens or anything.)




I don't think there's any specific in-universe explanation, but trains are an effective means of transport. The Combine probably just converted existing train tracks for their own purposes (similar to a lot of other things we see in HL2)




The Gman makes an appearance in every chapter, I believe, but you have to know where to look. (There's a site with screenshots of everywhere he is through the course of HL1/OpFor/BS/HL2/Ep1, along with all of his dialogue, but I can't seem to find it right now.)



I think it's just because the scientists from Black Mesa are trying to finish the research that they started, except now they're somewhere in eastern europe. I think it's just a nod to the original game, and not terribly significant.



Because Mossman was trying to get him to join the Combine willingly, which you can somewhat gather from her dialogue in Nova Prospekt (and later in the citadel.)

She might have even been a "triple-agent" all along, to get close enough to Breen to take him out, but it's hard to say.



It's a resistance city that got shelled by the combine. It's not really spelled out in-game, but given the abundance of artillery shells (and headcrabs) in Ravenholm, and given the fact that BM:E has a tunnel leading to it, you can kinda piece that much together.



In short, yes.

Pretty much, after the resonance cascade at BM in the first game, portal storms started teleporting creatures all over the place. The population flooded to the cities which were easier to defend and keep safe, and then the citadels teleported into said cities and took over.

This you can gather from some of the notes you see in BM:E, Breen's speech, and, like you said, from all the aliens (and resistance cells) in the wilderness.



I think the ball things are supposed to be scanners, but I'm not positive.

a "red letter day" is a term that just refers to a special occasion (in this case, Freeman's return and the first test run of the new teleporter)

As for the whole no babies thing, I'm not sure. Breen goes into some detail in one of his first speeches in the train station, but he doesn't really address the issue directly.



No one's entirely sure why the combine is taking over. Speculation has it that they're some inter-dimensional empire that conquers and assimilates (similar to the borg of star trek), and that Earth was just their next stop.





It addresses some questions, and raises more. In either case, it's a direct continuation of the story, and if you enjoyed HL2 you'll enjoy Episode 1.

It is short (it took me about 6 hours of casual play), and it's $19.99. That may seem steep at first, but consider that there's going to be at least two more episodes, both approximately the same length and the same price, which would add up to $59.97 at 18 hours worth of gameplay (which is about the same as HL2 was).

I'd recommend getting it at some point, anyway.

I was under the impression that ravenholm was like was already sugested, a resistance town, once a peasceful town, many resistance fighters used it as a base and alot of anti combine activity arose there, the main rebel base Black Mesa East did indeed have a tunnel, presumably for easy acess to the town for supplies and stuff.

the combine then decided to make an example of that town and shelled the hell out of it with crab's and it became infested with rebel zombies and innocent civillian zombies, thats why they don't go to ravenholm anymore, and thats why the tunnel into BME was sealed.

I always thought the stalkers were just combine genetic experiments gone wrong, so they used them as slave labourers in the citidel and other combine instalations.

Stalkers. Humans modified by the Combine to act as workers (as opposed to soldiers -- the ones you usually fight). You get a closer look at them in Episode 1.



It's a thematic thing. The train ride in the beginning and the "on a rail" chapters were train-parts in HL1. Story-wise, the trains in HL2 are what relocate humans from place to place, and to places like Nova Prospekt. It's definately meant t draw parallels to things like the Holocaust.



His sole purpose is be a character of questionable standing -- you're not meant to know if he's a good guy or a bad guy. He was introduced in HL1 because, originally, they were only intending to make bad guys, but when they were able to program "good guys" like Barney and the like, they were inspired to add a shady character into the mix. Half-Life is a suspense/horror/action game, so it's only natural. Valve may have something in mind for the G-man now, but I think they make it up as they go along. So it's uncertain what his real motives are. As for G-man sightings, you can google that -- they got websites soley on that.



Actually, that's likely exactly what it is. The original Black Mesa is in New Mexico, where as City 17 is in Eastern Europe. Talk of a "new" Black Mesa in the upcoming episodes is new to me, but not entirely unexpected (having seen someone play Episode 1).



As someone else said, I was under the impression that Mossman was acting as a double agent. Even if she was being a traitor, you're given the impression that she wouldn't have spilled the beans on everything.



Scary zombie level. It fits well enough in that it was likely a nearby town that the Combine suppressed with their headcrab missles, but it's mostly meant as a side-track thing. Popular mods for HL1 almost certainly influnced HL2, including one called "They Hunger." That's my guess.



Yes. Freeman actually was the cause of it too -- in HL1, he was told to launch a sattalite into space that triggered a "portal storm" which allowed the Xen beasts to overrun Earth. Places like City 17 became the only safe place. Poor manipulated Freeman.



Red Letter Day is a day of unveiling -- in this case, the teleporter that didn't require going into Xen. As for keeping humans for having children, it's a control thing -- sooner than later, all the humans would be turned into Combine or stalkers, as the Combine were in the process of turning Earth into a suitable planet for their own kind. As for the "ball things" -- those were scanners. They're just floating cameras, meant to search for Freeman and the like.



As someone else said -- the ocean draining is still there. The Combine are your usual inter-planetary conquorers, and they're sort of Borg-like in that those they conquor are usually assimilated, hence, "Combine."



Don't hold your breath -- Half-Life is inspired by series like the Outer Limits and the like. If and when it ends, it'll likely leave you with only more questions. And I actually like the environment in HL1 more for some reason. I felt like I was exploring more, even if it was super-linear.



Honestly, I'd say you should "skim" it via no clip, god mode, and other cheats. At that point, you're not going to be introduced to much of anything new, and if you got sick of it at that point, you probably won't feel any different later on. The Xen part is unfortunately a bad last part to the game, but the ending is fun enough.



Not really, but it's still cool.

I'm a bit of a HL buff Hopefully this will have helped you out some.

Yeah, the oceans are still drained, though it's not explained how in the game (likely a teleporter in the ocean, or vast pumps gulping it up, or maybe ecological means such as raising atmospheric temp, which would have no clear use except to maybe make the planet more habitable for other combine species). The Combine have removed the ability to mate from humans for a number of reasons: There's no "Future Generation" to fight for, the humans become more docile due to decreased sexual aggression, etc.
It's possible that the Combine would have allowed humans to breed again in the future. If human soldiers became more prevalent in the Overwatch, the demand may have gone up. Soldiers are already allowed "non-mechanical reproductive simulation" if I remember correctly. Plus, if the Combine doesn't allow mating for a long period of time, then allows it, then within 60 years (give or take) the entire species will have existed for it's entirety under the control of the Universal Union (like in Childhood's End, which kinda shares similarities in alien cultures).
According to... uh... that one dude, Portal Storms (caused by the resonance cascade tearing the membrane seperating Earth from the Borderworld being re-directed and amplified by a Black Mesa satellite) continue to this day, though the Combine keeps them in check.
I used to have a sick, twisted theory that the events of Lost Coast took place after HL2 (possibly between it and Episode 1) and that the Supression field both prevented mating urges and, simultaneously, dulled sunlight and inhibited portal storms. The idea was that the machine, destroyed when the Citadel Teleporter went bonkers, was used as a basic supression device on any occupied world. When the supression field went off, we suddenly had HDR lighting.
And there ya go.

-Basically, HL2's cool. I'll get Episode 1 when the whole trilogy comes out.

Raising the Bar says they use teleporters in the ocean.

There was originally going to be a sort of "air factory" (the Combine are changing the air mixture of earth) in HL2, but it had to be cut to meet the release date.

On the Route 17 level you can tell the ocean is being drained by all the shipwrecks that are just sitting on the beach away from the water. Also it's possible to note the old water level (it's gone down A LOT, maybe 20 feet).

Humans aren't allowed to mate because the Combine intend on eventually turning them all into stalkers and trans-human combine, if I remember correctly.

I read somewhere that from the ocean draining and the "air factory" thing, someone came to the conclusion earth was being transformed for new occupants... I have to agree.

Oh yeah, I remember launching the satellite. Who tells you to do it?

...and Geb plays video games?

I actually noticed all the boats and docks not in water. Cool. And as for this holocaust trains thing, now that I think of it Eli says that Breen is complicit in committing genocide against humanity. I guess the Combine terraforming Earth makes sense: when Breen is talking to the green blob thing (which I assume was one of humanity's "benefactors") he says that he can't survive in the atmosphere he's being teleported to.

Note: For everyone who says that Ravenholm is that town being shelled in Lost Coast, that's not true. The fisherman says that the town is called Olga. Lost Coast has no real connection to the HL2 universe at all, it was just a technology showcase; so you can forget it ever existed.

St. Olga. >_>

And it is connected to an extent, as much as any deleted scene for a movie is. It was a section of the game originally, but then it got cut, so they decided to use it as a tech demo. Doesn't mean it's completely seperate from the rest of the universe.

There's a combine the field next to me, but he's messing with the field. Should I grab one of my dad's shotguns and go shoot it?

I think I once heard that you can see St. Olga from Highway 17 or Sandtrap or something, at one point, which is cool and would place it appropriately.

-I dunno where or when Lost Coast takes place, but I'm still clinging to the "Suppression Field" theory of HDR Lighting.

No. Valve planned to have HDR in HL2 since the beginning. But for whatever reason they couldn't implement it and they never will.

?

Isn't HDR in HL2?

The option is in HL2, but not the actual feature, though the Steam system seems like an excellent way to deliver it.

-And, just to piss Sol off, I'm still gonna say that's what causes HDR. It would be the only time I can think of in VG history when a graphical upgrade is explained in-universe (besides the destruction of the Moldy Crow and the Mark V HEV suit).

Wait, what? What about the destruction of the moldy crow and graphical upgrades?

I want this game... it sounds sooo awesome, and yet, no store carries it! I'm broke anyways

Quick question, how important is it to play half life 1 to truly appreciate half life 2? Is a quick summary of the events in hl1 enough?

I guess so, but HL1 is still a lot of fun

Not very important.

But still recommended. I played it in maybe 2004, it still blew my mind away.

Umm, tons of stores have it here

I bought the Anthology for $20. It was HL, Opposing Force, and Blue Shift. It was also the first time I had played any of them. Freaking amazing!

Try looking online. I think even Walmart.com has it.

I gotta echo Chewbubba's sentiments. I too purchased the Anthology, and love it. It still blew me away though the games were half a decade old for all intents and purposed.

It's available on Steam. I think it's [url]www.steampowered.com[/url]


Well, in JK the Moldy Crow, a low-poly and junky looking spaceship, is destroyed at the end. In JO, you have the sleek, curvy, and shader-riddled Raven's Claw.

-In HL, you wear the Mark IV HEV suit, in HL2 it's the Mark V.

Of course I do! I hope to get a career in the videogame industry. What made you think I wasn't a gamer?

*Shrug* I don't know...I guess it's just that you never really post in any of the game discussion threads and I've never seen you do any sort of editing stuff.

I sort of always assumed you wanted to be a professional writer.

Gamer is an understatement, from what Geb told me as he looked at his nintendo wall shrine.