From Black Mesa to City 17?

[Mutley]

How did they get from Black Mesa (Mexico?) all the way to City 17 (A European City) and is it a coincedence Barny/Alyx/G-Man etc' were all there too?

They knew Gordon was coming also and why did Gordon arrive later then everyone else and where from?

 

[ríomhaire]

BM, New Maexico.
Boat, plain, car? Who cares!


They knew Gordon was coming also and why did Gordon arrive later then everyone else and where from?
Play HL1.

 

[Laivasse]

This is pure speculation, but perhaps there was some kind of mass exodus from the US when the portal storms got bad.

We know from our experience in HL1 that some areas of the BM complex were far more prone to portal disturbances than the rest, with some places being downright infested with Xen life, and other parts being relatively free. Maybe the same spatial factors applied in the portal storms, and it meant that much of the US became uninhabitable quicker than the rest of the world (perhaps because the BM incident occurred there - who knows).

The BM crew would all have been likely to stick together because of old camaraderie and the knowledge shared between them. They're also a smart lot, and would likely have noticed this pattern behind the portal storms, and so it wouldn't have been unnatural for them all to decide to make a beeline for some other place in the world. That's my own little theory to account for them all ending up in some random point in Eastern Europe all at the same time.

I still maintain that they weren't expecting Gordon. But what with Gordon being who he is, and old friendships being what they are, the ex-BM posse may have figured somewhere at the back of their minds that he could track them down and turn up unexpectedly some day, accounting for why they may not be too surprised.

 

[dompreston]

Could be that Kleiner, Barney etc. went to City 17 because that's where Breen was basing his administration. When you're trying to start a revolution, that would be the obvious place to go, to try and take out Breen. Plus, if they had been counting on Gordon returning, they might have thought that he would head to City 17, for the aforementioned reason.

 

[iMMuNiTy]

My theory would be, that U.S. in Half-Life 2 world is uninhabitable. After the nuke went off in BM, New Mexico became uninhabitable, and probably the whole part between North and South Americas (because of the radiation).

Portal storms probably spreaded further into North, South too, America. Judging by the fact that all hell broke loose in BM in merely a couple of seconds, U.S. could've turned into a wasteland in a couple of hours. The U.S. Army was authorised to stop the alien forces from invading (I'm not talking about Combine, I'm talking about Xen creatures), but I seriously doubt they were capable of stoping the whole invasion, more like prolonging it, so that they could do a massive evacuation. This is how everyone ended up in Europe.

Kleiner, Eli, Alyx, Mossman & Barney had the time of 10 years to meet up. I think it's enough. When Breen settled in C17, in the Citadel, the crew probably thought that it'd be wise to operate not far from the Citadel. Not only that, but Breen began to re-locate everyone to C17, one by one.

This is my third transfer this year.
No matter how many times I've been relocated, I never got used to it.

The crew saw this as a great chance to use this to their advantage - they made a small "watch-out" kind of lab, which would be easy to clean up, whether Dr. Breen suspected anything. We've witnessed it after Nova Prospekt - the lab was as clean as clean can be, and when we went on our way, Alyx helped Kleiner to a safe spot, which has been probably already set up before they even settled in C17.

As for "expecting Gordon" bit, yes, they were expecting him. The HEV suit was prepared for use, and Kleiner installed a Combine power outlet in his lab. Only instead of the resistance conspiracy theory, I say that they were expecting him to meet up just like they did among themselves. Here is what the crew could've thought:

1. If they knew he was on Xen, and his other endeavours in BM.
Gordon did take the one-way ticket to Xen. He's probably having difficulties to come back, and it's taking him a while to return to our world. Judging by the fact how much he survived and how far has he gotten, he surely will find a way. If he did, though, he would still need to know where we are based. Refugees should let him know that. Even after that, he'd need to travel all the way to us. That is going to take a while, better not wait and hope for the best, but to prepare everything for the Red Letter Day.

2. If they knew that Gordon went up to the surface for help, and nothing more.
Gordon must've been evacuated with a separate group, considering his location. Gordon is a highly trained proffesional(Quote from HL1), so it's most unlikely he has died. Better to be ready for the surprise, instead of offering Gordon to fight in his lab coat beating manhacks off with a stick, if he does appear.

Hopefully I made sense.

 

[ríomhaire]

I think that everyone knows that Gordon saved the day (either the guys from the Lambda labs made it out[unlikly the bomb went of less than an hour latter I believe] or by the work of the g-man or both) which is why is a figurehead for the resistance(The One Free Man etc). Despite this none of them knew what he looks like(nobody even realised you were Dr. Freeman until the word spread). Maybe the g-man spread ideas about him coming (or just told the high up members) or maybe everyone just built up an messiah-like expectation of Gordon to come and overthrow Dr. Breen.

 

[cquinn]

The nuke(s) at Black Mesa were set off several hours after Gordon first went to Zen, IMO.
That's because Opposing Force ends a while after the point where Gordon is
sent over, and we can assume that the later chapters of OF take place a
significant time after Gordon's suicide mission.

Somehow, somebody found Gordon's HEV suit back on Earth, and some of the scientists
who saw him in action during HL1 knew he went on to Xen.
The way I see it, many people assumed he survived, made it back from Xen,
and was in some way able to help fix some of the problems caused by the
orginal resonance cascade failure.

That, and the Vortigaunts hailing him as some sort of liberator, may have help
spread something of a legend around what Gordon did. Over the years since
the portal storms, more people latched on to the idea of what Freeman went
thru as a symbol for the resistance; until he gained larger than life status.

After a while, even the people that knew him back at Black Mesa would
start to hold on to the hope that somebody like "the Freeman" would
show up to put on an HEV suit and lead the resistance on to overthrow
the Combine. So when the real Gordon Freeman shows up, they just
assumed it was a happy coincidence.

 

[Stuckinabox]

Well, Gordon was sort of in suspended animation for ten years, and during that time, maybe the g-man "dropped" his suit literally any place that someone from black mesa could find it. When the citadel was set up, as you guys said before, Eli Vance, Dr. Kleiner and Barney knew that it was a good place to set up camp so that they could strike back. Hoping or expecting that Gordon survived and that he would also come to City 17, they brought his HEV suit along just in case.

So of course, the G-Man dumped you in City 17 at the right time. Remember Alyx's
words: "Funny you showing up on this day in particular."

I personally don't think the G-Man is bad, considering what he let you do in Xen, and that he conviently dropped you into good hands, and at the perfect time to strike back at the combine. He even congradulates you after you take down the Citadel.

That, or as people have said before, that he is testing you for something greater to come.

Oh yeah, and immunity, about the radiation from the nukes... if the blasts from atomic bombs were that big, the ones that we dropped on Japan would have taken out Shanghai. You can safely assume that the nuke only took out BMRF, and as for the radiation, maybe the surrounding desert would have been contaminated.

I'd like to know a lot more about the combine. I mean, all of their forces are controlled by robots or humans. They should make a half-life story companion book for Raising the Bar. The stiders might have organic parts though, those cries they let out when they die aren't very robot-like. Those are some of the coolest sound effects. I turn my subwoofer up during that part of the game.

 

[DoctorWeeTodd]

My theory would be, that U.S. in Half-Life 2 world is uninhabitable. After the nuke went off in BM, New Mexico became uninhabitable, and probably the whole part between North and South Americas (because of the radiation).

Portal storms probably spreaded further into North, South too, America. Judging by the fact that all hell broke loose in BM in merely a couple of seconds, U.S. could've turned into a wasteland in a couple of hours. The U.S. Army was authorised to stop the alien forces from invading (I'm not talking about Combine, I'm talking about Xen creatures), but I seriously doubt they were capable of stoping the whole invasion, more like prolonging it, so that they could do a massive evacuation. This is how everyone ended up in Europe.

Kleiner, Eli, Alyx, Mossman & Barney had the time of 10 years to meet up. I think it's enough. When Breen settled in C17, in the Citadel, the crew probably thought that it'd be wise to operate not far from the Citadel. Not only that, but Breen began to re-locate everyone to C17, one by one.

This is my third transfer this year.
No matter how many times I've been relocated, I never got used to it.

The crew saw this as a great chance to use this to their advantage - they made a small "watch-out" kind of lab, which would be easy to clean up, whether Dr. Breen suspected anything. We've witnessed it after Nova Prospekt - the lab was as clean as clean can be, and when we went on our way, Alyx helped Kleiner to a safe spot, which has been probably already set up before they even settled in C17.

As for "expecting Gordon" bit, yes, they were expecting him. The HEV suit was prepared for use, and Kleiner installed a Combine power outlet in his lab. Only instead of the resistance conspiracy theory, I say that they were expecting him to meet up just like they did among themselves. Here is what the crew could've thought:

1. If they knew he was on Xen, and his other endeavours in BM.
Gordon did take the one-way ticket to Xen. He's probably having difficulties to come back, and it's taking him a while to return to our world. Judging by the fact how much he survived and how far has he gotten, he surely will find a way. If he did, though, he would still need to know where we are based. Refugees should let him know that. Even after that, he'd need to travel all the way to us. That is going to take a while, better not wait and hope for the best, but to prepare everything for the Red Letter Day.

2. If they knew that Gordon went up to the surface for help, and nothing more.
Gordon must've been evacuated with a separate group, considering his location. Gordon is a highly trained proffesional(Quote from HL1), so it's most unlikely he has died. Better to be ready for the surprise, instead of offering Gordon to fight in his lab coat beating manhacks off with a stick, if he does appear.

Hopefully I made sense.

We're talking about your run of the mill nuclear weapon here not some freaking Cobalt bomb. One bomb making two continents inhabitable? And just looking at the newpapers in Eli's office we know thats wrong since we see the United NationsH.Q and New York behind her standing strong although being pwned by the Combine.

 

[kupocake]

How did they get from Black Mesa (Mexico?) all the way to City 17 (A European City) and is it a coincedence Barny/Alyx/G-Man etc' were all there too?

They knew Gordon was coming also and why did Gordon arrive later then everyone else and where from?

There are about 10 years between the two games. They could have crawled over land and the bottom of the ocean and got there in time. Is it a coincidence that Gordon is put where the rest of the BM team are? City 17 seems to be a very important city as it is Breen's headquarters. BM team worked with him and begrudge him, and G-Man sees it as a main objective.

 

[iMMuNiTy]

We're talking about your run of the mill nuclear weapon here not some freaking Cobalt bomb. One bomb making two continents inhabitable? And just looking at the newpapers in Eli's office we know thats wrong since we see the United NationsH.Q and New York behind her standing strong although being pwned by the Combine.

Either you don't read posts carefully, or I didn't show my point clearly enough.

The nuke made Mexico uninhabitable. What made North America, and probably South America unihabitable, are portal storms, Xen wildlife, etc. Imagine yourself running to school while avoiding bullsquids, and during lunch breaks you have to watch your head not to get crabbed. :dozey:

 

[Asknoone]

Imagine yourself running to school while avoiding bullsquids, and during lunch breaks you have to watch your head not to get crabbed. :dozey:

That'd certainly liven up my day

 

[cquinn]

Either you don't read posts carefully, or I didn't show my point clearly enough.

The nuke made New Mexico uninhabitable.

It would have affected the area around Black Mesa for miles, but the
rest of the state would have been fairly safe from the immediate blast
effects.

What made North America, and probably South America unihabitable, are portal storms, Xen wildlife, etc.

Why does everyone assume that the portal storms only happened on
one side of the planet?

Imagine yourself running to school while avoiding bullsquids, and during lunch breaks you have to watch your head not to get crabbed. :dozey:

Sounds like a typical day in some parts of Florida to me.

 

[Asknoone]

The portals storms occured all over Earth.

 

[Is This Tea]

Post Deleted. Nothing to see here folks.

 

[iMMuNiTy]

The portals storms occured all over Earth.

I'm not the one to argue with a man who has RtB, but, nontheless; The portal storms remained thicker and stronger in America. Both North and South that is. I'm not saying Europe is portal-storm-free, but there must've been a reason most of people have fleed from our hero-full U.S. to an all forgotten Europe.

 

[Asknoone]

I'm not the one to argue with a man who has RtB, but, nontheless; The portal storms remained thicker and stronger in America. Both North and South that is. I'm not saying Europe is portal-storm-free, but there must've been a reason most of people have fleed from our hero-full U.S. to an all forgotten Europe.

Why has everyone fled to Europe? I'm sure there are Combine cities in America as well. People are there because they've been relocated there. And if you're referring to Eli etc - they are there because thats where Breens administration is...if they are going to start up a resistance force, what better place to strike.

 

[DoctorWeeTodd]

Either you don't read posts carefully, or I didn't show my point clearly enough.

The nuke made Mexico uninhabitable. What made North America, and probably South America unihabitable, are portal storms, Xen wildlife, etc. Imagine yourself running to school while avoiding bullsquids, and during lunch breaks you have to watch your head not to get crabbed. :dozey:

Ahem...

My theory would be, that U.S. in Half-Life 2 world is uninhabitable. After the nuke went off in BM, New Mexico became uninhabitable, and probably the whole part between North and South Americas (because of the radiation).

You plainly stated that the nuke already made it uninhabitable while storms made it worse.

 

[OD-Black_Fire]

OFF TOPIC: I can't wait untill the show House is back, it think that's September 19th. (I just remembered that when I saw DoctorWeeToad's avatar)

 

[Asknoone]

OFF TOPIC: I can't wait untill the show House is back, it think that's September 19th. (I just remembered that when I saw DoctorWeeToad's avatar)

No off topic chat in the Rumours and spec board please.

 

[Mutley]

So why is everyone in City 17 American, well speak US-English anyway? I don't see any French or Germans or Russian people (sure maybe it would suck if everyone spoke Russian, but no accents!).

What country would you say City 17 is in? Belgium?

 

[Asknoone]

So why is everyone in City 17 American, well speak US-English anyway? I don't see any French or Germans or Russian people (sure maybe it would suck if everyone spoke Russian, but no accents!).

What country would you say City 17 is in? Belgium?

They speak like that because they've been relocated.

 

[Polaris]

My theory would be, that U.S. in Half-Life 2 world is uninhabitable. After the nuke went off in BM, New Mexico became uninhabitable, and probably the whole part between North and South Americas (because of the radiation).

Why? New Mexico and Nevada has been testing site of nuclear weapons during Cold war and WWII (do you remember Trinity?)...
There is no fallout in America (almost).

 

[Ageless Stranger]

The nuke made Mexico uninhabitable.

I know that the nuke comment has already been addressed by others, but I would like to mention that according to Opposing Force the bomb has a 3-4 kilometer blast radius. I doubt that the fallout from that could render an entire state uninhabitable.

 

[ríomhaire]

the safe distance to be away from the nuke was 55km I think.

 

[Taliesin]

does it actually say taht city 17 is in europe?
cause i dont remember it saying that anywhere.
but hey i could be wrong.
IMO city 17 is in north america (just cause the city was designed by some guys hometown in belgium doesnt mean the city is in europe)

 

[CrazyJeepDriver]

Taliesin, the City has Slavic lettering, Slavic design, old Slavic Cars
It is in Europe, probably Eastern Europe, there are dozens of sources stating that.
So, youre probably not looking hard enough

 

[Langolier]

Well... aside from the fact that it'd be hard on the gamer if everyone spoke German/Russian/French/ect... I think it makes the best sense, story-wise for everyone (or some) to speak English (and American english) do to the relocations. One theory I have is that by keeping people always moving they never feel attatched to anything, they never feel that they are at home, and furthermore, they never feel secure. It makes sure the Combine has complete control over every aspect of their lives. I wouldn't be surprised if their shoes and clothes were uncomfortable just to further keep them off-balance.

Though... in the game everyone sounds exactly the same (whether you have them speaking German/French/English/ect...) because Valve didn't want to hire that many voice actors. Again, it'd also be hard on the gamer. Though I think it's worth noting that Gordon studied in Austria at some point so it's not impossible that he'd speak a few European tongues.

I think it makes sense that Eli, Kliener, and Barney were all in City 17 because that is the 'capitol' of the Combine government on Earth. It only makes sense. It is my opinion that Barney, Eli, Kliener, and Alyx all know/knew about the G-Man. Kliener doesn't say he has designed a new HEV Suit, he says that he's upgraded your HEV Suit which was selectively given to you by the G-Man at the end of HL1. I also find it a little strange that Barney just happened to be stationed where he was and that the Tele-port was ready for use on that very day. Of most importance is this quote by Kliener,

...so soon? I expected more warning!

 

[$kelet0r]

the gman offered gordons services to the lambda crew in hl2 - that's how they know he's arriving and that they have his suit
it also explains the ultimate showdown with breen where gordon is told that his services are open to the highest bidder
alyx and eli try to silence breen frantically -'don't listen to him'
the real question is what have they offered the gman in return for gordon's exceptional talents......

 

[AlecRazec]

Damn, John. You beat me to the point.

Yeah, you had to consider that the G-Man, or perhaps one of his affiliates(The crow?!) spoke to Kleiner or Eli Vance about Freeman's services. As John stated, the highest bidder remark really seemed to hit a chord with Alyx and Eli. They were desperate to keep you, not "Gordon, WTF is he talking about, highest bidder?"

I've never seen any of them address the G-Man or mention him specifically, but you do see the G-Man speak with the rebel outpost before you shoot down the combine dropships. Hence the rocket launcher. Which was probably in G-Man's Suitcase of sv_cheats 1/impulse 101

 

[Solver]

Interesingly, while there are Russian words appearing in several places throughout City 17 and surroundings, some are wrongly spelled (probably intentionally by Valve).

 

[Freelancer]

In Blue Shift they escape in a car as far away as possible because there was military everywhere that just want to kill them. Though this doesn't make any sense: Were is Alyx and Mossman? Ah now it makes sense. Mossman lost Eli and Eli flied in that car Mossman and Alyx flied another way away from the military.

OR

Alyx hates Mossman because Mossman was actually working for Breen all the time and Alyx knew it but she said never tell this to anyone or ill kill you? nah ... now im just too tierd

 

[ríomhaire]

In Blue Shift they escape in a car as far away as possible because there was military everywhere that just want to kill them. Though this doesn't make any sense: Were is Alyx and Mossman? Ah now it makes sense. Mossman lost Eli and Eli flied in that car Mossman and Alyx flied another way away from the military.

OR

Alyx hates Mossman because Mossman was actually working for Breen all the time and Alyx knew it but she said never tell this to anyone or ill kill you? nah ... now im just too tierd

Mossman wasn't in BM. Alyx escaped with Eli. Alyx hates Mossman because she is going out with Eli.

 

[bboymatty]

city 17 is crap. BM was so much cooler in ever way

 

[Flyingdebris]

i agree with the gman/resistance conspiracy

the resistance and the gman totally set you up as a messiah on purpose, considering your aptitude at totally pwning things in a creative manner.

 

[Sam2k]

Mossman / Alyx / Kleiner weren't in BM (not sure about Kleiner)

 

[Absinthe]

city 17 is crap. BM was so much cooler in ever way

Thank you for your pointless comment, schmuck.

 

[Asknoone]

Mossman / Alyx / Kleiner weren't in BM (not sure about Kleiner)

Kleiner was in Black Mesa.

 

[ríomhaire]

Mossman / Alyx / Kleiner weren't in BM (not sure about Kleiner)

I think Alyx was(RTB says that both her parents were researchers)
Dr. Kleiner defenatly was "I so envy you working with Eli and Dr. Kleiner when they were at the top of their field". Also Eli and 'Izzie' seem to be old friends.

 

[Asknoone]

And Kleiner got you the job in the first place.