Explosive barrels

Angry Lawyer

Angry Lawyer

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Since everything else has been discussed to death, and we're reached the patch of "Why's the game called Half-Life/Are we going back to Black Mesa" posts again (it seems to arrive every three months), I've decided to bring up a new point.

The explosive barrels. They're everywhere.

Where the hell did the Combine get so many? Why do they insist on leaving them in public? How can they afford so many considering fuel prices these days??

It's just one of those unanswerable questions.

-Angry Lawyer
 
Maybe the combine are just so rich they can go to bulk stores and buy them up by the hundreds... then they leave them out to show off how rich and cool they are..................

Actually it is answerable.. the placement of the barrels makes no sense at all, from a logical standpoint... like in ravenholm where a zombie just happens to take a snooze right next to one of them... the answer is that they are merely there for a convenient way to blow the combine the fuck up.:cheers:
 
Well you got to store the precious fossil fuels somewhere.

For example, there were tons of barrels in Ravenholm because the town is right next to a mine.
 
Well, if you think about it, whats a FPS without explosive barrels ;)

Also they show off the physics in HL2

Meaning: Explosive barrels = marketing strategy :D
 
A True Canadian said:
Well you got to store the precious fossil fuels somewhere.

For example, there were tons of barrels in Ravenholm because the town is right next to a mine.
Click to expand...
You dont MINE gasoline, and they use pumps for that anyway... the mines that were set up under ravenholm were gold mines, hence the carts. I doubt seriously that anyone would haul crude oil around in an open cart on tracks.. even if it was possible to mine it. And for another example of conveniency.. the first level where you get your crowbar. After you get past the part where the two combine policemen beat this guy down in the hallway, you come to this other policeman on the stairs... right next to the guy is an explosive barrel. Now maybe he is retarded.. maybe he just didn't expect trouble.. but that is not logical. The combine aren't THAT dumb:rolleyes:
 
Bah, I don't think about it. I guess the combine own an explosive barrel factory :LOL:

Valve found this issue funny in PC GAMER.
 
Myxamatosis said:
You dont MINE gasoline, and they use pumps for that anyway... the mines that were set up under ravenholm were gold mines, hence the carts. I doubt seriously that anyone would haul crude oil around in an open cart on tracks.. even if it was possible to mine it.
Click to expand...

Perhaps the barrels were there to fuel the machinery the Combine used for mining?

Myxamatosis said:
And for another example of conveniency.. the first level where you get your crowbar. After you get past the part where the two combine policemen beat this guy down in the hallway, you come to this other policeman on the stairs... right next to the guy is an explosive barrel. Now maybe he is retarded.. maybe he just didn't expect trouble.. but that is not logical. The combine aren't THAT dumb:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

It is very close to a train station so barrels may get transported to and from each junction. Some barrels were likely stolen or moved due to a lack of proper storage space. As for the Combine soldier on the stairs...wrong place, wrong time. Out on a routine patrol and happened to get caught next to something explosive. :E

The Combine are smart in that they use the explosive barrels in the same way that Gordon does. You'd see them dropping them into the water, over a bridge, or down a stairway in hopes of blowing their enemy to pieces. But of course these plans would usually seem to backfire comically. :D
 
Samon said:
Valve found this issue funny in PC GAMER.
Click to expand...

This wasn't in PCG, but had you read the article about crates in games? According to them, the point you see the first crate is the point where the developers ran out of ideas. :rolling:
 
CommandoSR said:
This wasn't in PCG, but had you read the article about crates in games? According to them, the point you see the first crate is the point where the developers ran out of ideas. :rolling:
Click to expand...

Twas in PC GAMER, in their Aftermath preview.
 
And the barrels can't be bound to a parent for the easy creation of ludicrously complex barrel shooting brush devices. That's my real annoyance.
 
Those barrels defenatly are not full of pertol
#1: Gordon can lift them easily
#2: Gordon is a nerd who can't lift barrels full of petrol
#3: Petrol barrels don't blow up that easily
I think they're full of hydrogen.
 
ríomhaire said:
I think they're full of hydrogen.
Click to expand...
Or some beverage with a really high-alcohol content. That'd explain why Metrocops were so easily swayed.

-Angry Lawyer
 
ríomhaire said:
Those barrels defenatly are not full of pertol
#1: Gordon can lift them easily
#2: Gordon is a nerd who can't lift barrels full of petrol
#3: Petrol barrels don't blow up that easily
I think they're full of hydrogen.
Click to expand...
that makes sense. but then theres the question of why there's barrels of hydrogen all over the place! who knows.
 
ríomhaire said:
Those barrels defenatly are not full of pertol
#1: Gordon can lift them easily
#2: Gordon is a nerd who can't lift barrels full of petrol
#3: Petrol barrels don't blow up that easily
I think they're full of hydrogen.
Click to expand...

They cant be full of hydrogen, their too rusty and if you look at the bottom of barrels they have cracks

Also hydrogen has to be packed in containers that can resist the high pressure :rolleyes:

Gordon dosent need to be strong to lift them, because you cant see his hands, therefore he meditates and lifts them with his mind the same way he pushes switches and floats in the air with his legs crossed because we cant see those eighter :cheers:
 
They cant be full of hydrogen, their too rusty and if you look at the bottom of barrels they have cracks
Click to expand...
But if the cracks could actually leak something out then the petrol would leak meaning their full of coal!
 
Well their not really full cracks, just rusted parts than are almost cracked

Petrol whould stay in but high-pressured hydrogen whouldnt :p

Exploding coal, nah

Gun powder :LOL:
 
I doubt they’re full of fuel; fuel shouldn’t really explode when it catches fire. It always seemed to me that they were full of a volatile waste product. That’s why you find them in sewers and stuff, but not so much around where people live.
 
Well hydrogen is always packed in high-pessure, and hydrogen containers arent just rusted barrels that are barely holding

google hydrogen containers and see

EDIT: As Gecko said they chould be various unstable chemical wastes thsts why the blow on impact when the normal barrels dont even dent
 
Not hydrogen, not possible nor petrol or any liquid. I'd guess its natural gas whic forms in huge air pockets above oil reserves. Just basically vapours given off by oils, in different fractions. ethanes, methanes, propanes etc...all in vapour form. They'd blow good, under pressure more so. And can be canned, but im probably looking too deep into this :)
 
gasoline doesnt just explode in a container when punctured, but then again what movie or video game actually follows that rule?
 
PickledGecko said:
but not so much around where people live.
Click to expand...
Well the problem is that you DO see them around populated areas in HL2. While the gasoline theory makes less sense in how they are stored/blown up, it makes more sense in their placement.. it isn't logical at all for a policeman to sit next to a barrel full of waste products.. especially since the waste product canister is right infront of a 20 story appartment building. Maybe that lawyer dude should email gabe about this...?
 
Myxamatosis said:
Well the problem is that you DO see them around populated areas in HL2. While the gasoline theory makes less sense in how they are stored/blown up, it makes more sense in their placement.. it isn't logical at all for a policeman to sit next to a barrel full of waste products.. especially since the waste product canister is right infront of a 20 story appartment building. Maybe that lawyer dude should email gabe about this...?
Click to expand...


Maybe the reasoning for them cannot be explained in normal human thinking. I mean, we're talking about a world where little monsters are jumping onto peoples heads and turning them into zombies. Think outside the box, people.
 
Well I doubt they just happened to find some new chemical that would explode under pressure.. and just happen to station them conveniently at gordons feet where ever he goes.. come on now. The question is not what is in them.. we have strayed.. the question is why they were placed where they were. Future or not, that is retarded (not from a gameplay point of view).
 
this reminds of how the other day i saw someone using explosive barrels as cover in lockdown, swear to god.

I see a teammate returning fire on an enemy player from behind those damned barrels, there wasn't even enough time for me to tell him to move his ass, i just see BANG and a very stupid combine ragdoll flopping about.

as for why they are everywhere and a half, http://www.hlcomic.com/view.php?date=2005-06-24
 
Oil barrels are everywhere because Northern Petrol owns most of the city and has like a billion refineries in the area.

The combine use the oil on their APCs and other mechanical equipments, I bet, hence the distribution everywhere. Barrels are also found mostly around overturned trucks and other vehicles, and near garages and other places with lots of storage or mechanical equipment. The combine also use them strategically, moving some of the barrels out of their places and using them as makeshift bombs and traps against resistance folks.

As for why they explode, it's not the oil that ignites, but rather the fumes. Used oil and oil mixed with gasoline are especially volatile. Given the setting, I'd be willing to bet those barrels are not all new. Since the barrels float, they are probably well over 50% full of nothing but a mix of air and accelerant vapors.
Lots of sparks are generated by hitting metal, at least in the game, and that one spark would be enough to cause a big explosion. Oil drum explosions have taken out entire buildings, although that's mostly due to fire damage.

So it's really not too unrealistic. It's mostly just the sparks that happen when you break metal stuff in the game.
 
Maybe because your crowbar is metal, the canister is metal, and metal on metal = spark/explosion.
 
City 17 (mainly around the canals) is a pretty industrial place, you would probly expect to see alot of barrels in. But they wind up in weird places for no reason.
 
Friction from the crowbar would generate heat as well, which can light the fumes, exploding the barrels...
 
My anus generates heat.

Explosive barrels generate dead lawyers.
 
Very good question, Lawyer.

I'm tempted to use an old chestnut to answer it: those barrels are there for the same reason the healthpacks are there, and for the same reason those healthpacks can "heal" all damage.

But I'm not gonna do that. Chestnuts suck.

Anyway, my take is this: I remember having a discussion a few months back about why exactly headcrabs are shelled onto a land to convert the people into zombies. Among the various theories suggested, one was that it was a relatively easy way to terminate human life in that area.

Now could those barrels be placed there for a similar reason--or rather, to counterattack any potential setback of the above (to kill the zombies in case of a security breach, for example)? Drop a few barrels in strategic points, then fire a single missile at predetermined spot and boom! All zombies are dead.

There are quite a few loopholes in this theory, but it's all I can think of right now.
 
There are quite a few loopholes in this theory
Click to expand...
Like the fact that it would probably be easier just to send the missles?
 
The barrels are everywhere because it's easier than dreaming up a decent gunplay sequence.
 
They came out of the warehouses by the beach area. And they just took them out so they had room for a base. Yeah, that's it.
 
you know what i think would have been MUCH cooler

1. If the barrels actally sounded like they were actually full of some liquid, right now they sound as empty as regular barrels. A swishing noise would be in order while they were moving.

2. Instead of blowing up when shot at by bullets, they should leak. Have a the barrel begin leaving puddles of flammable liquid ala Postal 2. If the puddle is shot and the fire reaches the barrel, or if blown up by an explosive, THEN it should explode. it should also leave behind a nice roaring fire.

3. If slammed somewhere with the gravgun, the barrel should rupture and leave behind a huge slick of flammable liquid.

4. Make the barrels a lot less common

5.smacking the barrel around with a crowbar should just make it leak, not catch fire or blow up
 
Flyingdebris said:
3. If slammed somewhere with the gravgun, the barrel should rupture and leave behind a huge slick of flammable liquid.
Click to expand...
Yeah! Rupture it on a zombie and then pull out your Black Mesa Match Book(new weapon), and light that mother ****er up! :D
 
Myxamatosis said:
Yeah! Rupture it on a zombie and then pull out your Black Mesa Match Book(new weapon), and light that mother ****er up! :D
Click to expand...

Couldn't you just light it up with the heat generated from an ordinary bullet?
 
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