Other locations..

[coax]

Now I know Gabe has said you won't leave earth or anything, but I've been pondering what City 17 really is.

A guy on irc said he had a feeling that the story would be played backwards, and that you would end up at Black Mesa or something.

I have a feeling that City 17 isn't what it seems like, and that you will end up somewhere completely different.

Maybe you will leave earth, but gabe doesn't want to ruin the surprise.
This could all just be my hating for the east european setting and such, it's not really half-life to me. And I do hope they will have other locations that don't look like city 17 at all. BUT, if the story is good, then hey, whatever.

 

[thomashiles]

it's not really half-life to me.

Well, it's not meant to be Half-Life. It's Half-Life 2. Different game.
Seriously though, you can't expect the same game. The key important things (IMO) about HL that we'd want to see replicated are the clever story and very immersive atmosphere. If they've been able to pull it off in such a varied and open environment remains to be seen, though. Here's hoping!
And FYI, Gabe Newell has said at least once that HL2 will be set completely on Earth, but that elements of Xen may be brought to Earth, whatever that means....

 

[Brian Damage]

He probably meant that the same thing that happened to certain areas of Black Mesa is happening to places like City 17... the Xenian landscape (Some sort of fungus?) is taking over, giving things like those weird fungi and light stalks somewhere to live...

 

[thomashiles]

Yeah that's what I guessed...wouldn't be too interested in seeing that though, somehow...unless it was really hardcore, like miles of nests, tunnels and stuff..like a massive version of the biolabs in Op For

 

[Brian Damage]

I would be... why what's wrong with it? Had too much of it in HL?

[EDIT]: Oh, you edited. Well, I agree, and I think that'd be the best way to do it. Not sure about the invasion of the biolabs... did you mean those big enclosures with all the Xen lifeforms (Houndeyes, bladetrees, lightstalks, etc) in them? I think those were made by the scientists to study the Xenian ecosystem...

 

[thomashiles]

Oh, you edited. Well, I agree, and I think that'd be the best way to do it. Not sure about the invasion of the biolabs... did you mean those big enclosures with all the Xen lifeforms (Houndeyes, bladetrees, lightstalks, etc) in them? I think those were made by the scientists to study the Xenian ecosystem...

Yeah, sorry about changing my mind..idle thoughts come in waves..I don't really know why I didn't like it in HL...all I really remember is non-descript orangey "lumps" in several places, didn't think it was done too well. But my memory could be failing me.
I think Op For did it better (being set a few hours later I guess): The underground nests of those BIG insectile things with the pink/purple energy attack, and the green stuff growing across the hydroelectric dam.
Yes, the enclosures are what I'm referring to...allthough what I'm thinking would not be human-created. Large areas of Earth terrain converted (Xenoformed I guess) to the Xen-style ecosystem...except the sky will still be blue. Although I suppose this is kind-of what the Combine is, so it might be a bit redundant.

 

[Brian Damage]

I dunno... we don't know exactly what the Combine is/are yet... all we really know is that it's a bad thing, and it's got soldiers and cops working for it...

Hmmm... it does seem to be taking over the city though... maybe it's trying to do that before the Xenian ecosystem can take over?

 

[thomashiles]

Sorry, to clarify, I didn't mean that the Combine are neccessary Xen, just that it is the same principle of converting the human landscape. That's what I meant by redundant.

 

[Mechagodzilla]

I'd actually like it a lot if Gabe was being deceptive, and we get to see Xen 2004.

Having a big chunk of the city taken over and being infested with these new graphics would be just as good though.

Thanks to bump-mapping, they can give Xen the slimey texture it deserves.

 

[Brian Damage]

I always thought it'd be kinda dusty and woody... the textures didn't really give me the impression of being slimy...

 

[thomashiles]

Yeah, I hadn't thought of it like that before...I guess Xen did have a bit of a spooky Mexican desert/ghost town feel to it in a way...only with man-eating aliens of course.

 

[KurtCobain]

There will b sum Black Mesa looking places i presume , prisons , police stations mayb tunnels etc etc

This will help kick that good ol' half life feeling back

 

[Sulkdodds]

I can see it now: Vast swathes of land mutated into Xen-ish landsapes...green fire spewing from a giant gash in the sky...things teleporting randomly and aliens everywhere...a besieged government desperately trying to retain control...worlds collide...

Sorry, got a bit melodramatic there. But coudl this be the after-effects of the resonance cascade? Since it's likely that the G-man caused the resonance cascade so he could invade Xen, perhaps the forceful opening of portals disrupted everything, casuing the two worlds to merge - at the end of HL you see normal desert groundw ith burnign tanks but under an alien sky. In fact, since there are some sources saying Xen won't be in HL2, and others saying it will, maybe they're both right...get my drift?

 

[chimpmunk]

Looks possible, that'd be cool, since we won't go to xen, xen can come to us, YEA

 

[Brian Damage]

I wonder if that's where the Vortigaunts come in...

 

[DEATH eVADER]

They would have to have a nuclear power station location. Why else do you think they called it half-life if no radioactive related things appears in the second game

 

[Death.Trap]

I was always wondering about the end of HL where the G-Man is talking to you. First off, how is it that he is everywhere and never gets attacked by xenians. Secondly, the part with the tanks. Theres actually one tank I think; anyways the G-Man seems to ahve the uncanny ability to teleport anywhere anytime... You know how the screen would just fade to black, then you would be in a different place. I don't know, wierd shit.

I was just playing Op4 and I got past the part where you have to disarm the bomb in the car garage. Well I noticed that after barney opened the door to let me in, I walked up to a window and I could see the G-Man crouched over the bomb I had just disarmed...I went back out to check it out but of course the gates were closed. Hope we get a few answers in Hl2...

 

[Sulkdodds]

I was just playing Op4 and I got past the part where you have to disarm the bomb in the car garage. Well I noticed that after barney opened the door to let me in, I walked up to a window and I could see the G-Man crouched over the bomb I had just disarmed...I went back out to check it out but of course the gates were closed.

Yes, that would be the bomb that destroyed BMRF, one fo the Black Ops Troopers' main objctives wa to deliver 'the package'.