Given Valve's past expansions.. (speculation time!)

[Foxtrot]

Here is an idea that I like: You play a citizen and for about the first 20 minutes of the game you just get a feel of how horrible life is and how you want somthing better, and you could somehow be given 2 options. 1 you join the underground resistance, they arm you, train you and take you into hiding. You could carry out raids and other guerrila tactics and then Gordon comes(you will never see him) maybe even Barney could lead you on a mission, or you could lead them. It would be cool to meet that British Colonel too. The other could be you chose to join the combine, and you could go through the transhuman process all in a sweet first person perspective, the game could focus on squad tactics too I hope...which would be a change for Half-Life but would fit the setting better, maybe you could even be one of those elite combine guys, sent out to assasinate Gordon but you never meet up with him.

Another idea I liked was playing as a vortigaunt(sp?). You could be some prophet or somthing, like a religious leader(they seem very spiritual). Somthing like Gordon Freeman is to the humans. You wouldn't have any weapons, just psychic powers and the green thing, and other sweet alien weapons, they could upgrade through the game. You could learn more about where the vortigaunts came from, who Nihilanth was and why he was so important, and some more history of the combine.

 

[Farrowlesparrow]

I was going to suggest the vortigaunt...It could be interesting, though the attack they have is pretty powerful in hl2

Other suggestings of mine would be:

Baney (During that week or a prequel)
Alyx (Prequel)
The resistance member from City 14 as suggested
Shephard (I'd like it to be the same time as Gordon, but a prequel would be nice as well)
Grigori might be good when the combine first set up a power base, and shortly before/during the headcrab shells landing in Ravenholm

 

[Sparta]

Here is an idea that I like: You play a citizen and for about the first 20 minutes of the game you just get a feel of how horrible life is and how you want somthing better, and you could somehow be given 2 options. 1 you join the underground resistance, they arm you, train you and take you into hiding. You could carry out raids and other guerrila tactics and then Gordon comes(you will never see him) maybe even Barney could lead you on a mission, or you could lead them. It would be cool to meet that British Colonel too. The other could be you chose to join the combine, and you could go through the transhuman process all in a sweet first person perspective, the game could focus on squad tactics too I hope...which would be a change for Half-Life but would fit the setting better, maybe you could even be one of those elite combine guys, sent out to assasinate Gordon but you never meet up with him.

Another idea I liked was playing as a vortigaunt(sp?). You could be some prophet or somthing, like a religious leader(they seem very spiritual). Somthing like Gordon Freeman is to the humans. You wouldn't have any weapons, just psychic powers and the green thing, and other sweet alien weapons, they could upgrade through the game. You could learn more about where the vortigaunts came from, who Nihilanth was and why he was so important, and some more history of the combine.

Those idea's rock, and i would love it if they actually did the first one with the civilian.

 

[Cpl_Facehugger]

I, as many others have said, would like to have Adrian Shepherd come back. Specifically, here is my idea:

Gordon is a symbol for freedom, his name being interpereted as 'the one free man' and such. Adrian Shepherd could be someone who Gman sends in on the heels of Gordon's success. I just think that since Gordon's last name played a major role in his character (to the other NPCs), that Adrian's name would play a similar role.

Now, to be more concise:

Shepherd is floating around in his osprey, until Gman comes to recruit him. (Assume that the Osprey was kept in the same sort of storage that Gordon was between HL1 and 2 so that Adrian isn't an old man, or driven insane from being alone floating around on an osprey for ten years.)

We get Gman's trademark vague mission statement, and Shepherd is teleported to...we'll say Kleiner's lab although most resistance bases would work fine. The time frame is just after the end of HL2, the Citadel has been destroyed and there is chaos. Shepherd must now help train and lead the resistance while Freeman is...occupied.

Alternatively, we could have Gman give Shepherd a combine uniform, and have him be a combine guy until (if) he decides to help his fellow man against the alien invaders. Only problem I see with that is that Adrian would have to get those cybernetic implants, and I figure that those would have some sort of remote control/detonation/something in them to prevent combine troopers from rebelling.

 

[RakuraiTenjin]

Playing as a CP (since they're volunteer humans, and seem to be unaltered) at the start of the full out rebellion, just after Gordon's one week teleport.

It'd be fun and interesting to play from the other side, I'd waste quite a few rebels. If it came out, I wouldn't want it to be like Op4 either in the sense that Shephard became friendly to all the people. I would want to be fighting the rebels and such, have all the Combine's might on my side.

 

[Zento]

How about:

The Gman drops in Adrian as a Combine Soldier against the resistance. Then half-way through you fight alongside them against the combine

 

[nrjizer]

I'd like to see an expansion starring Random J. Citizen, that details the events since Black Mesa that lead up to HL2. It would be badass if you were riding a subway train to work (ahh yes, the obligitory train ride intro), when suddenly Xen aliens began to teleport in, forcing you and others to start fighting for your survival, and try to make it to the protection of a large city... then the combine came in!

There would be plenty of room for a vehicle chapter, perhaps as you're fleeing to the city.

 

[SkateXer99]

Why not Dr. Breen.... -_-

 

[Hercules331]

They def. need a mod (or perhaps even hl3) that explains what the **** has happened from black mesa to now. Gordon has been out for a long time and they (valve) need to explain wtf happened after black mesa and why gordon just popped up on a subway w/o his hev suit- (still one of the biggest things that perplexes me in the game) They could have a mod that either explaines what happened to earth in general after black mesa or what happened to gordon specifically. Either would be awesome.

 

[Darkside55]

I like your idea, nrjizer. That'd be fun, to be riding a subway train, aliens pour in, train crashes and you have to make it out of the subway station and through the city to safety.

I'd like to play as a civil protection officer in City 17 before or around the time Gordon Freeman arrives, not during his week away. That way I get some time to relax at the beginning of the game, beating up on helpless citizens with my stun prod, knocking luggage over, telling people to pick up cans, etc.
Then as the game picks up there are more fights against the resistance, all culminating up to the point where you eventually get a bullet in the head as your reward for completing the game.

And lastly I'd like a 5-minute long expansion that starts off with the camera flying through Xen, homing in on a large asteroid, and panning down to reveal that Shephard's osprey has crashed into a rock. Camera zooms in closer and shows that he's dead, rotting away under the nebulous sky, because he was neither important nor interesting and I wish someone would explain the "Boba Fett" factor surrounding this guy to me. Why does everyone like him so much? He had a cool adventure, yes; he kicked royal alien ass, yes, but he was just some marine that was really good at surviving. Why don't we just focus on like...Welder Marine that's Smoking the Cigar, or Medic Marine with the Emo Glasses? What about those guys? They had less screen time but shouldn't their stories be important too?

I'm not trying to be an ass and rain on everyone's Adrian-loving parade, I just really want to know why everyone likes him so much and seems to think that he means anything to the overall story of the game. He's past his time. The G-Man wouldn't even hire the guy, c'mon. Somebody fill me in here.

 

[dæmon]

I don't mind Shepherd, but I think "Race X" is Race Xen, but the marines don't know about the border world. Lots of people seem convinced they are at war with Xen, but the only time you see anything like that is shock troopers shooting the garg at the dam.

The G-Man detained Shepherd to stop him from "telling all", but there doesn't seem much to tell any more. I don't think he will have an expansion because the on-going story revolves around Freeman.

I think we should finally get to play as the man driving the forklift truck from the beginning of Half-Life. His hard hat would keep the headcrabs off until he escaped the base, and from there he gets trapped in a portal. The G-Man finds one of his precious holding cells has an unwelcome guest and ejects him to fight his way to a city, and then you see the Combine arrive. :thumbs:

 

[Fighter]

They def. need a mod (or perhaps even hl3) that explains what the **** has happened from black mesa to now. Gordon has been out for a long time and they (valve) need to explain wtf happened after black mesa and why gordon just popped up on a subway w/o his hev suit- (still one of the biggest things that perplexes me in the game) They could have a mod that either explaines what happened to earth in general after black mesa or what happened to gordon specifically. Either would be awesome.

That is a really long timespan to cover. Besides we know what happened, Earth was invaded by an alien species. After the aliens won they established an oppressive regime led by Dr. Breen. Alien citadels are turning humans into, well we dont quiet know what and eating up our cities slowly.

Gordon was "employed" by the G-man at the end of HL1. He was held in some sort of unconcious state until the time has come for him to make good on his "employement".

Why now? What exactly was the goal? That is a mystery put there by game design. I suspect wont be fully explained until the the "last" Half-Life game.

What else is not clear?

Dont expect an expansion that will provide all the answers. It will probably be just like HL2 with subble clues to further the story, making the mystery abit clearer but also reinforcing it by providing even more.

I doubt they will change the time frame significantly. It will either be just before Gordon arrived, during the time he was active, when he was missing for a week with Alyx or directly after the end of HL2.

I suspect you will play a character we already know for a first expansion. Barney, Alyx or possibly Shepard will be back.

Gabe Newell specifically stated that he would like to see a game about Alyx Vance and Dog if that is any indication. That is also why I doubt Valve killed her in HL2 before somebody brings it up.

My two cents.

 

[kupocake]

Gabe Newell specifically stated that he would like to see a game about Alyx Vance and Dog if that is any indication. That is also why I doubt Valve killed her in HL2 before somebody brings it up.

I doubt that Valve will cover the period after such a significant event as the destruction of "Citadel 17". True, Opposing Force covered the period after Freeman kills the Nihlianth, but that is different. It seems pretty likely to me that an Alyx expansion will be about the time leading up to the events of HL2. There they can make up pretty much anything they want, though it wouldn't suprise me if it had something to do with completing Kleiner's teleportation machine (something he thanks Alyx for right at the beginning).

A Barney expansion would be great, and I suspect that the "missing" week of the uprising was written for some purpose. Following Barney's exploits in this time would be pretty logical... though unless they're having him talk, it would have to end rather abrubtly (or perhaps he defeats a really important enemy before Freeman gets back and it ends there?). Shepherd I can take or leave... I'd hate for Valve to pass over something a little more exciting like a Metrocop or Resistance fighter. The problem with Shepherd is that his whole act was as an "Opposing Force". If the G-Man employed him, he wouldn't be this force and someone else may as well have been used in his place. An "Adrian becomes a Combine Solider" story is just plain Convoluted. It'd be pretty stupid of Valve to make even more questions when HL2 didn't answer all that many.

As a side note, I hope that the Azure Sheep and Point of View mods get sequels. Playing as a Vortiguant had it's moments of coolness...