Gordon's job in Black Mesa

Dr_Crowbar

Dr_Crowbar

Spy
Joined
Jun 10, 2006
Messages
142
Reaction score
0
Alyx: "Doctor Kleiner says whenever he locked himself out of his office you and Barney used to compete to see who could get in fastest without using a key. "
Er... what?! Why would a M.I.T. graduate, Ph.D. in theoretical physics, Dr. Gordon Freeman crawl through the airducts to win a competition against a security guard?

Yes, he was a part of the research team, but I, for one, don't think that Gordon was a scientist like Kleiner, more like an errand boy(come on, pushing a cart? They couldn't make a robot do that?) with the HEV suit training. This and having a friend in BM security might explain his uber weapon skills...

Perhaps there is more information on the subject?
 
What, have you never seen people behave quite inappropriately with respect to their age/position? Never seen a 30-year old act silly or something?

Barney's a fun-loving guy, sure sounds like someone who would find doing that fun. Gordon, why not? He and the other employees live on-base, and probably didn't get to have much fun. So occasional vent-crawling wouldn't be implausible as Gordon's or Barney's way of relaxing. In fact, very smart people often do weird things ;).

Gordon quite certainly was not an errand boy in Black Mesa. In fact, I think he was considered one of BM's most promising scientists. In the test chamber, things happened that HL1 didn't exactly show - in the minutes before the resonance cascade, Gordon was taking readings and doing other stuff. "Work as quickly as you can, Gordon". They didn't just need the cart pushed - Gordon was doing some serious science work there.

Next, Dr. Freeman sort of stands out among the BM employees. Black Mesa was a top-secret multi-purpose, multi-billion dollar facility. It's safe to assume that only the best of the best worked there. However, most of the scientists were middle-aged men, some apparently even older. That makes sense - you usually see experienced scientists work at superbly important facilities. Dr. Freeman was 27 at the time, which means he had only recently earned his Ph.D. (27 is quite a young age anyway). So, a recent graduate gets to work at Black Mesa. Not only that, but he works in one of the, if not the most, sensitive departments. Freeman's assigned to the Anomalous Materials group, which studies alien samples.

Granted, Gordon didn't have the very high security clearance of some other Anomalous Materials folks, but the very fact that he was there says a lot. So, there you go ;).
 
"Research Associate".
 
Dr_Crowbar said:
This and having a friend in BM security might explain his uber weapon skills...
Click to expand...

Half Life 1, Opposing Force, and Blue Shift all sort of portrayed Black Mesa security personnel as dopes. Not exactly the kind of fellows you gather uber weapon skills from . . . at least not save-the-world uber.

Then again, this (as you pointed out) top-tier research facility wouldn't likely employ minimum wage red-patch guards. Sort of a HL1 contradiction there.
 
Bill Lumbergh said:
Half Life 1, Opposing Force, and Blue Shift all sort of portrayed Black Mesa security personnel as dopes. Not exactly the kind of fellows you gather uber weapon skills from . . . at least not save-the-world uber.

Then again, this (as you pointed out) top-tier research facility wouldn't likely employ minimum wage red-patch guards. Sort of a HL1 contradiction there.
Click to expand...

Well, it would seem likely that the military would be in charge of defending the base if it came to that at very short notice.
 
I won't say that the guards in Black Mesa are incompetent, or low-rank. Barney Calhoun, a level three security guard can battle through hordes of aliens and put up a fair fight for the HECU.

However, judging by their location and jobs in the facility, it seems that the guards act as the heart of the system, while the scientists are the brain. They are there to ensure the system runs smoothly and no security breaches are made. In an event of a larger incident, as stated in the Blue Shift manual, they are to support the military with their knowledge about the Black Mesa Research Facility's workings, status, area construction, access codes etc. This is further evidenced by the presence of a security guard at the second floor of the barracks adjacent to the helicopter landing zone in surface tension (after the booby-trapped warehouse), who has access to the armoury.

Also, see how the one in Office Complex tells you to head for the surface, as the troops are coming in to save the staff. It's done in a tone of a superior, not a friend.
 
Samon said:
Gordon is a scientist.
Click to expand...

Yup. And in any case he's an MIT graduate which means he's smarter than me.

Also, see how the one in Office Complex tells you to head for the surface, as the troops are coming in to save the staff. It's done in a tone of a superior, not a friend.
Click to expand...

Well I think that might be because in a situation like that they are essentially in command.
 
Mikael Grizzly said:
I won't say that the guards in Black Mesa are incompetent, or low-rank. Barney Calhoun, a level three security guard can battle through hordes of aliens and put up a fair fight for the HECU.
Click to expand...

Barney would certainly be the exception, given his performance in Blue Shift. In fact, being as the player controlled Barney in BS, Gordon in HL1 & 2, and Shephard in OF, they could all be considered equally bad ass.

But in HL1 the other security guards sort of stood there shooting at headcrabs and following Gordon around. In OF they were portrayed as living-in-Mom's basement losers (at last that fat guy was), and is BS they changed the voices to sort of a slow, 85 IQ type drawl.

Funny that Barney was the voice for every security guard at BM. ;)
 
The security guards in HL1 may have seemed to have 80 IQ because of the limitations of technology when the game was released ;). From a story viewpoint, it's safe to assume that they were reasonably well-trained and tasked with ensuring the work at BM goes smoothly. The guards were also probably expected to react in case of an alien threat and hold them off until the military arrives. Of course, the guards didn't know that when that actually happens, the military will have orders to eliminate everyone...

Remember "Questionable ethics"? That was a pretty secure facility, and protected by those guards. Though again, from a realism viewpoint, there should've been many more guards than we saw in HL1 - one can assume that Gordon sees so few because most are already dead.
 
Bill Lumbergh said:
Barney would certainly be the exception, given his performance in Blue Shift. In fact, being as the player controlled Barney in BS, Gordon in HL1 & 2, and Shephard in OF, they could all be considered equally bad ass.

But in HL1 the other security guards sort of stood there shooting at headcrabs and following Gordon around. In OF they were portrayed as living-in-Mom's basement losers (at last that fat guy was), and is BS they changed the voices to sort of a slow, 85 IQ type drawl.

Funny that Barney was the voice for every security guard at BM. ;)
Click to expand...
Maybe they were doing cloning experiments too......
 
:LOL:

Don't forget the obvious cliche "Barney" as in "Fife" meaning as well.

I agree with Solver about the AI and that the security at BM should have been reasonably well trained. I just think that Valve fumbled there and went for the easy humor gag. They probably wouldn't have done that in today's era, where HL2 takes on a more serious tone in addressing themes of genocide, et al.
 
Dr_Crowbar said:
Alyx: "Doctor Kleiner says whenever he locked himself out of his office you and Barney used to compete to see who could get in fastest without using a key. "
Er... what?! Why would a M.I.T. graduate, Ph.D. in theoretical physics, Dr. Gordon Freeman crawl through the airducts to win a competition against a security guard?

Yes, he was a part of the research team, but I, for one, don't think that Gordon was a scientist like Kleiner, more like an errand boy(come on, pushing a cart? They couldn't make a robot do that?) with the HEV suit training. This and having a friend in BM security might explain his uber weapon skills...

Perhaps there is more information on the subject?
Click to expand...

You make a good point. and don't forget how Barney mocks Gordon in 'it's a red letter day':
Wow gordon... throwin that switch en all, I can see your MIT training really speaks for itself

or something along those lines. But what from I remember, Gordon was a new employee recommended by his professor and sent to BM from some place in Europe. I got this from the little pics of papers and documents in the manual for HL 1 on PS2.
 
I know how weird adults can get. I've played a 30-year old in DnD, and he was nice and was fat!
 
Gordon was only assigned menial tasks at Black Mesa. "Start the rotors," "press that button," "flip that switch," "place the sample in the anti-mass spectrometer beam." He was a glorified cart-pusher.

Bill Lumbergh said:
In OF they were portrayed as living-in-Mom's basement losers (at last that fat guy was)...
Click to expand...
Otis was hands-down the most effective security guard at Black Mesa, with the inclusion of the "real" Barney Calhoun (as seen in HL2), and even if you played a perfect game of Blue Shift without taking any damage at all, had max possible ammo at the end, and completed the game within an hour, he still wouldn't stack up to Otis.
 
IT WASN'T HIS FIRST DAY!

GraAraARGH!

Just because that's all he did in-game doesn't mean that's all he ever did!
 
Well, I must've been mistaken, but as I mentioned, there are several pictures of documents in the PS2 manual. And on the PS2 game co-op 'Decay', Dr. Keller mentions that Gordon's already late on his frist day...
 
Ooh, I havn't played Decay. But I'd swear blind it's not his first day, according to the various other ones. I believe several characters near the beginning mention previous altercations with Gordon beforehand, so I don't think it's his first day...
 
Hmmm, well, you gotta get HL1 for PS2. though it might be discontinued. I only got it pre-owned.
 
It was his first day, according to the Half-Life manual. It was his actual first day on the job, but before that he had orientation. There were ten days between the offer of employment and his first day on the job, from May 5 to May 15, 200x. It was also stated that it would take "some time" to conclude his duties at the University of Innsbruck, Austria, and return home to the United States. You might figure maybe two, three days for that at most? This leaves only a week for orientation, and then he had his first assignment that morning of May 15.

HOWEVER

Valve seems to have completely thrown this out of continuity, because Gordon has somehow found time to not only be on amiable terms with the rest of the science team AND Barney Calhoun, but he'd managed to gain some sort of reputation among scientists not from the Anomalous Materials sector, had vent-crawling challenges with Barney, take photos with members of the AM group...lots of stuff one wouldn't expect in a WEEK at the facility.
 
mmmm, not to mention, in OP4, after you're saved by the scientist, there's a callendar, (in the room) and it's set on december, you might want to check that one out too!
 
Crisis on Infinite Earths time!

*reboots continuity*
 
Yeah, right; In ep1: Hey, if you didn't know, you Barney were a pack of buddies....*silence*...*walks out of his room, gets HL1 instruction manual*....*can't find manual, runs back to pc and writes this phrase* K, since I appearently lost my manual *sob* I'll take the information above into credit..He had time from 5- to 15? So 15th May was the resonance cascade minus one day flying to US and a view days at the university..he might have also begged the headmaster to give him some holiday, you don't get always get such opportunities..So it must at least have taken two or three days in all, and then..you'd really only have left a week, no only six days, as on the 15th Gordon only got to his job, no having the time for photgraphs or haunting vents with Barney...Also did he not speak for the remainder of that morning ;) So, from the 5th on 9 days...minus two would give us *still* a week, but he already must've visited Sector C, as the staffphotograph was taken there..Therefore, we'd plausibly have 6 or 5 days for becoming friends with Barney, obviously pretty quick, certainly sped up by the need for crawling in to Kliener's office ('Hey buddy. How was the hazard course? Want more? :naughty: ) and exploring the facility. Also does he seem to have gained (or always had) a very reserved peronality, being so talky :p
 
Darkside55 said:
It was his first day, according to the Half-Life manual. It was his actual first day on the job, but before that he had orientation. There were ten days between the offer of employment and his first day on the job, from May 5 to May 15, 200x. It was also stated that it would take "some time" to conclude his duties at the University of Innsbruck, Austria, and return home to the United States. You might figure maybe two, three days for that at most? This leaves only a week for orientation, and then he had his first assignment that morning of May 15.
Click to expand...
Gordon has his HEV suit training on May 16th :p. (And insterestingly they had an anti-mass spectrometer overload simulation 3 days before)

I would post the timetable if Imageshack wasn't being such a bitch.

Edit: If anyone downloaded that HLstuff file I put up a while ago the pic should be in that as Hazard Course Timetable.
 
Gordon was only assigned menial tasks at Black Mesa. "Start the rotors," "press that button," "flip that switch," "place the sample in the anti-mass spectrometer beam." He was a glorified cart-pusher.
Click to expand...
So in an FPS you were supposed to be doing scientific research?
 
Always take Manuals with a pinch of salt, especially the PS2 manual, which likely never went anywhere near Valve software due to the fact that Valve didn't port the game. The only Half-Life game that Valve have ever even developed that came with a manual was the original PC version of HL. All other manuals have been for Gearbox titles, and there are no Source-era manuals. All of the manuals were most likely authored by Sierra/Vivendi. You only need to take a look at the fact that Valve never made a HL2 or Ep1 manual to realise that there's a good chance they didn't create the manuals. When Valve made HL1, they wouldn't have had the kind of leverage to authenticate the manuals either.
 
I would still like to see proof of HL1 taking place of May 15 Darkside had :rolleyes:

Edit: Here's the original, with Gina's scriblings
hazardcoursetimetablemv9.jpg
 
kupoartist said:
Always take Manuals with a pinch of salt, especially the PS2 manual, which likely never went anywhere near Valve software due to the fact that Valve didn't port the game. The only Half-Life game that Valve have ever even developed that came with a manual was the original PC version of HL.
Click to expand...
I was referencing the original PC manual. The one from the original orange box version of HL, and the slightly-changed manual from the GOTY edition, both featuring the same "Offer of Employment" letter stating May 15. But, you know what? I actually AM wrong. Turns out I've been reading this thing wrong for years.

"Please bring this offer letter and all documents listed on the attached sheet to the Black Mesa Personnel Department no later than May 15."

First time I read it I guess I got it in my head that it meant his term of employment BEGAN on May 15, not that he simply had to submit his forms by the 15th. I would've kept on thinking that if it weren't for you guys posting the timetables and making me be like, "Argh, these people making me go back and look at the manuals!"
emotarghbz3.gif


:LOL:

Well, it's up in the air now how long it was from orientation to Incident. So he did have time to have vent races with Barney, but according to Breen he still wasn't at the facility long enough to make any sort of name for himself. That could be anywhere from a week to a few months though.

Man, I'm glad you guys pointed that out, but now it's just not as funny, Gordon causing the incident when he'd already been at work for awhile instead of blowing everything to hell on the first day. It almost makes him seem like a capable individual, and that's terrible.
 
Well, that I doubt. :p He would've been pretty known in that timespan. Lots of experiments, lots of chances to "distinguish himself." I'd put it in the months at most, and likely less than six.

Personally I'm going to believe it was less than three, perhaps one or under one. I can at least choose to believe this was his first experiment, if not his first day on the job. :p
 
ríomhaire said:
You have to change your sig now :p
Click to expand...
Haha, I know, I was thinking about that yesterday when I realized. I have no problem admitting when I'm wrong, but my sig makes it like, both feet in mouth. :LOL:

But it's ok, because the dead scientist I stole this quote off of probably didn't know everything either. You notice you always encounter the guys who say this early on in the game, and the closer you get to Lambda Complex don't say it at all (at least they never did when I was around).

Also polycarp, you can be employee of the month without having been there for a month. :p But maybe it was a month. I dunno, it's called canon but always take OpFor with a grain of salt. Even if it was a month, the Incident still could've been Gordon's first experiment. His position is research associate, and he was just a visiting fellow at Innsbruck, which suggests that most of what he did at BMRF would've been calculations and paper research more than mechanical or hands-on. Maybe he came up with something good and they were like, "Wow that deserves employee of the month!"
 
Darkside55 said:
Also polycarp, you can be employee of the month without having been there for a month. :p But maybe it was a month. I dunno, it's called canon but always take OpFor with a grain of salt. Even if it was a month, the Incident still could've been Gordon's first experiment. His position is research associate, and he was just a visiting fellow at Innsbruck, which suggests that most of what he did at BMRF would've been calculations and paper research more than mechanical or hands-on. Maybe he came up with something good and they were like, "Wow that deserves employee of the month!"
Click to expand...

Arrrgh, but now that it's not his first day (I WAS RIGHT HAHAHAH!) I can't shout "It's my first day!" at marines when I'm in a furious firefight anymore.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

B
The cut missions of Half-Life: Decay
Replies
2
Views
21K
Evo
Evo
Acurt1982
The Success and Failure of Silence: Gordon Freeman in 'Half Life' and 'Half Life 2'
Replies
1
Views
2K
Chowder
Chowder
Colonel Kernel
What is YOUR Gordon's personality?
2
Replies
49
Views
6K
T-6000
T-6000
T
My Half-Life "book"
Replies
2
Views
1K
Sam Raven
Sam Raven
h31s
Half-Life Novel
Replies
19
Views
2K
[Dragoon]
[Dragoon]
Back
Top