Shepherd in an expo?

[Kingreaper]

Does anyone else think that Adrian Shepherd deserves to be let out of his imprisonment for an expansion pack?

I don't think he deserves to be kept imprisoned forever, and I think that he's no more likely to give away some secret than Freeman is, as long as the G-man keeps an eye on him.

 

[Ennui]

he almost undoubtedly will...

 

[MaverickUK]

Bit of a coincidence that the Major who activated the ancient's stargate to the Pegasus galaxy is Major Shepard. Somebody like OP4.

 

[jimmyjam]

??? what are you referencing? my guess is stargate sg-1?
a military guy named shephard (not even the same rank?) isn't a huge connection to op4

 

[Cpl_Facehugger]

I'd love to see Shep return in an expansion. Think about the symbolism in HL2. Gordon is the "One Free Man." An obvious play on his name, and rather ironically, quite untrue.

Adrian could be "The Shepherd" who leads humanity out of the combine's shadow in Gordon's absence (this would take place at the end of HL2.)

I mean, Shep is such a perfect character foil for Gordon that it would be a shame not to use his character.

 

[dæmon]

Good ideas Facehugger. I'd at least like to see a reference denoting what, if anything, became of him.

I don't think he's a pivotal enough character to return though, since the G-Man preserved him partly to prevent him from "telling all," but now there is little left to reveal. I think it is more likely that any new Opposing Force will be played through the eyes of the Combine.

 

[jimmyjam]

Adrian Shepard, despite being one of the marines who so maligned you as Gordon, was a sympathetic character to play as
you/he helped scientists instead of killing them, etc
it seems unlikely to me that you'll get to play as a member of the combine, except in some sort of extreme situation, because they are so uniformly unlikable

 

[Ghost Freeman]

Shepard is OpFor. Nuff said, Valve bring him bacl.

 

[Mechagodzilla]

Adrian Shepard, despite being one of the marines who so maligned you as Gordon, was a sympathetic character to play as
you/he helped scientists instead of killing them, etc
it seems unlikely to me that you'll get to play as a member of the combine, except in some sort of extreme situation, because they are so uniformly unlikable

I'm sure I'm not the only one who's played through the game actually following the 'kill the witnesses' orders.

It would be cool if Shephard gets sent to city 17 by everyone's favorite G-person, and infiltrates Civil Protection like Barney did. Doing the damage from the inside and disobeying orders is what Shephard does best.

 

[El Professor]

It would be cool if Shephard gets sent to city 17 by everyone's favorite G-person, and infiltrates Civil Protection like Barney did. Doing the damage from the inside and disobeying orders is what Shephard does best.

Humm ... A stealth-style Half Life? That would be nice.

 

[Brian Damage]

Well... looking at what happened with DM... maybe if VALVe notices that there are enough fans of Shepherd to make an official expansion with his return worthwhile, they'll make one?

 

[gaine]

i dont think no comprisons can be made between hl grunts and hl2 combine grunts.

plus i finished op4 but forgot what was the ending? is it u fought some strange green alien and had barnacle weapon?

reminds me also that in hl2 there is not a single scene which requires stealth. its all walk in to the room guns blazing

 

[jimmyjam]

stealth is often possible, but never required
the end of op4 was fighting the gene-worm, which had a portal in it for spitting out shocktroopers

 

[Kingreaper]

i dont think no comprisons can be made between hl grunts and hl2 combine grunts.

plus i finished op4 but forgot what was the ending? is it u fought some strange green alien and had barnacle weapon?

reminds me also that in hl2 there is not a single scene which requires stealth. its all walk in to the room guns blazing

I used stealth quite often

There is a reason for this

I'm rubbish, so I had to

I couldn't win it on hard without stealth, not a chance

 

[big_king_frosty]

Shepherd as a big military commander, taking on the combine after the fall of the citadel. As he was military he'd be a good leader, big beefy guy that every one is scared of.

 

[eatbugs]

They bought Barney Calhoun back and Adrian Shepard does more for the planet than Barney.

 

[Max35]

I've often wondered what happened/what will happen to Shepherd. Personally, I liked Op4's story and gameplay better than BS. But it seems logical, I think Shepherd's story is strong enough to stand on its own, thus they should be creating an expansion pack for Op4 sometime in the future. I mean Valve already said they will do an Alyx Expansion pack, so that leaves what?, I guess Barney could have an exp pack, but I think Op4 was more of a hit than BS (seeing as how BS was developed for PS2 but merely got ported to the PC instead and was just an "extra").

 

[Is This Tea]

They bought Barney Calhoun back and Adrian Shepard does more for the planet than Barney.

Yeah but the question comes down to one thing. Do you think that valve takes Opposing Force as canonical or part of the half life apochraphya? That is really the heart of these debates… If it’s canonical then it would be asinine if they left him in limbo like that… If its part of the apochraphya… well he’s screwed. I can’t really say how canonical it’s meant to be taken these days… Some people have pulled up quotes from marc saying that it is “official” but if valve doesn’t decide to back up that statement by adding opposing force elements into futures games…. I’m thinking that is a statement made for legal purposes only… I’m waiting to see if they make any references back to it… As it stands now I can think of at least 2 glaring contradictions between it and hl2…

First… no super zombies in hl2 like in opposing even though there would be plenty of time to for them to develop.

Second… in opposing force a scientist (whose job it was to study barnacles) states that a barnacle will only latch onto organic matter…. But this is clearly not the case in hl2.

Oh and for the record… Yeah I would love to see Shepard return as npc even if valve doesn’t decide to make him playable.

 

[Flib>Noone]

Opposing Force: Source and Opposing Force 2 anyone?

 

[jimmyjam]

Yeah but the question comes down to one thing. Do you think that valve takes Opposing Force as canonical or part of the half life apochraphya? That is really the heart of these debates… If it’s canonical then it would be asinine if they left him in limbo like that… If its part of the apochraphya… well he’s screwed. I can’t really say how canonical it’s meant to be taken these days… Some people have pulled up quotes from marc saying that it is “official” but if valve doesn’t decide to back up that statement by adding opposing force elements into futures games…. I’m thinking that is a statement made for legal purposes only… I’m waiting to see if they make any references back to it… As it stands now I can think of at least 2 glaring contradictions between it and hl2…

yea, laidlaw has said it's canon...if that's not enough for you then...what can I say?

First… no super zombies in hl2 like in opposing even though there would be plenty of time to for them to develop.

not really a contradiction
there are no gonarchs or baby headcrabs either

Second… in opposing force a scientist (whose job it was to study barnacles) states that a barnacle will only latch onto organic matter…. But this is clearly not the case in hl2.

that's the barnacle gun that they have managed to derive from the barnacle

 

[Is This Tea]

yea, laidlaw has said it's canon...if that's not enough for you then...what can I say?

I'm really agnostic on this... My point is that people say a lot of things they don’t really mean… just to please some people… I’m wondering if valve is going to continue ignoring opposing force or work its elements into new games… cause if it had no repercussions for previous games… it might as well not have existed. Seems like, yes they should try to deal with it though…

not really a contradiction
there are no gonarchs or baby headcrabs either

yeah but those aren’t supposed to have evolved from an earlier stage in 48 hours or less...

that's the barnacle gun that they have managed to derive from the barnacle

The scientist says “we were able to detach the creature from its point of gestation..." so I think that gun is a actual barnacle... not a derivative. Which btw is kind of lame design…

 

[Brian Damage]

Well, I think we might have come up with a good reason for the lack of Gonomes in Ravenholm in this thread:

http://www.halflife2.net/forums/showthread.php?t=60815

Also, there were originally going to be references to Gonarchs in the game, but that was one of the things that was changed.

As well as that, it occurs to me that the tendency of Barnacles in HL2 to grab inorganic objects could be a mental adaptation to a world in which many of the larger organic inhabitants wrap themselves in synthetic coverings, like the mass-produced suits of the citizens and the armour of the Overwatch...

 

[Kingreaper]

First… no super zombies in hl2 like in opposing even though there would be plenty of time to for them to develop.

IMO Toxic zombies are more advanced Gonomes (when they start self-reproducing)

The reason you see no Gonomes is the combine won't leave a zombie nest in a residential area for that long, but the toxics can reproduce themselves without lots of time

Second… in opposing force a scientist (whose job it was to study barnacles) states that a barnacle will only latch onto organic matter…. But this is clearly not the case in hl2..

The Barnacle Larvae may be more picky than an adult barnacle

Oh and for the record… Yeah I would love to see Shepard return as npc even if valve doesn’t decide to make him playable.

 

[Is This Tea]

Iffy but workable theories briandamage… thanks…

IMO Toxic zombies are more advanced Gonomes (when they start self-reproducing)
The reason you see no Gonomes is the combine won't leave a zombie nest in a residential area for that long, but the toxics can reproduce themselves without lots of time

Seems to me like the ravenholm zombies were left on their own for some time… Longer then the timespan between Half life and Oposing force in any case.

 

[Kingreaper]

Iffy but workable theories briandamage… thanks…

Seems to me like the ravenholm zombies were left on their own for some time… Longer then the timespan between Half life and Oposing force in any case.

But the rvenholm zombie weren't in an area full of slave people, so the combine didn't worry, and because everyone got headcrabbed the zombies had no food

 

[BRODIEMAN2k4]

Well i loved Op4 and i really want Shepard back. Op4 made you sympithise with the marines, but the assasins,they we're evil.

 

[Asknoone]

I hope not, and i dont think we will either as marc laidlaw mentioned he was gearbox's creation and they had no interest in pursuing it...

 

[Kingreaper]

I hope not, and i dont think we will either as marc laidlaw mentioned he was gearbox's creation and they had no interest in pursuing it...

HL2 took Barney from BS, in BS you see referencces to shephard's existence, therefore Valve appear to be recognising the existence of Shepherd


*OT* what happened to that bossy scientist form BS *OT*

 

[Mechagodzilla]

First… no super zombies in hl2 like in opposing even though there would be plenty of time to for them to develop.

Second… in opposing force a scientist (whose job it was to study barnacles) states that a barnacle will only latch onto organic matter…. But this is clearly not the case in hl2.

Indeed there were no gonomes in HL2, but that doesn't mean there are none in City 17. Gonome stage appears to be what happens if the zombie gets lotsa food. If he starves, then no change. Gordon just didn't find any well-fed zombies.

And the barnacle latching onto organic matter thing is inconsistent, unless you assume that the scientist is only talking about the ability to stick to immovable surfaces.
The barnacle will suck up anything easy, but if it meets resistance like if the object weighs four tons, it'll act choosy and only try if the prospect of food is in the mix.
Otherwise, every barnacle would just latch onto the floor beneath it and pull itself off it's base.

It could also be a question of food too. The Op4 barnacle gun was well-fed, but the HL2 barnacles have been hanging there for years maybe. They could be starving to eat anything, and are sucking up barrels out of desperation.

 

[Is This Tea]

HL2 took Barney from BS, in BS you see referencces to shephard's existence, therefore Valve appear to be recognising the existence of Shepherd


*OT* what happened to that bossy scientist form BS *OT*

I didn't think of that.. good point...

 

[oldagerocker]

ah Dr Rosenburg? yeah if they were going to carry on the expansions keeping the story the same, im sure Rosenburg would be a major scientist, like Kliener and Vance. I think there will be an Alyx expansion and an OpFor one but not with Adrien Sheperd.

 

[Combine Hybrid]

I've never played this OP4 so I don't know anything abou this barnacle gun or whatever. So, well fed barnacles won't try to latch on things? And how does barnacles move to other places from ceiling to other ceiling? Baby barnacles? Is that a small version of normal barnacle just like baby headcrab from HL1?

 

[Kingreaper]

I've never played this OP4 so I don't know anything abou this barnacle gun or whatever. So, well fed barnacles won't try to latch on things? And how does barnacles move to other places from ceiling to other ceiling? Baby barnacles? Is that a small version of normal barnacle just like baby headcrab from HL1?

a) play it, it's got some good gameplay, not as long as HL but well worth it (if you bought silver HL2 you already have it on steam)

b) The well-fed barnacles might be more picky about what they will latch on to

c) Personally I doubt adult barnacles do, but it isn't actually explained in HL,OpForce, BS or HL2.

IMO the larval barnacles, which you can easily carry, are gonna be much more mobile

c) It's not much smaller ythan the adult barnacles, but we don't know what size it started off, it's probably the same size as the shockroach or hivehand

 

[jimmyjam]

barnacles move from place to place by latching on to organic xen fungus growing all over

edit: and for the record, I'm not sure headcrabs ever self-reproduce
I'm pretty sure they rely on gonarchs...

 

[Kingreaper]

barnacles move from place to place by latching on to organic xen fungus growing all over

edit: and for the record, I'm not sure headcrabs ever self-reproduce
I'm pretty sure they rely on gonarchs...

Toxic headcrabs seem to, how else would the toxic zombies always have a huge supply of tox headcrabs when there's often only one in an area

 

[Kaen]

I would definitely like to see Shepard in an expansion. Not taking down the Combine from the inside, but in true marine style, leading a hugely overt assault. Possibly in another city. I mean looking at the train timetable in HL2, there are at least 20-odd cities.

Oh yeah, and as for an explaination to why barnacles do not attatch to organic matter in all the old games and do in Source, I believe Source is the reason. It is very likely that the modified Q2 engine could not differentiate organic and inorganic entities at the editing level and therefore, a plot point was made in OP4 explaining it away. However, in Source, the differentiation is easily possible. And thanks to physics, any object can be picked up and thrown about by the barnacles, at their 'tounge' in HL2 is a physically affected object, whilst in HL1, it is more of a solid 'track' objects travel up.

 

[Sparta]

I'd like it if he was a part of the combine though. That would be good. And it would warrant the name "Opposing Force 2" now wouldn't it.

 

[AzzMan]

Who says the poison headcrabs are grown out of the zpoison zombies? It's a possibility, but it could also be possible that they just jump on to hitch a ride, until a sutiable host is detected.

 

[dæmon]

It's a possibility, but it could also be possible that they just jump on to hitch a ride, until a sutiable host is detected.

I think so too, because the poisoned zombies throw the headcrabs at you. It's the special attack of what would otherwise just be a heavy zombie.

 

[jimmyjam]

Toxic headcrabs seem to, how else would the toxic zombies always have a huge supply of tox headcrabs when there's often only one in an area

there's often only one in an area because they all jumped on toxic zombies