So what was going on while Gordon was away?

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function9

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I know it's understood that Gordon has been away for almost 2 decades or there abouts. But I was playing through Ep1 for the first time in months and noticed something on one of the "Kleiner-casts". He says something along the lines of having more hope now, than in the past decade. What happened 10+ years ago to give them hope? Was this the second attempt at a revolt?
 
Cheomesh said:
They LOST their hope ten years ago.
Click to expand...
That's my point. What had their hopes up over 10 years ago? I mean if my life's work is abolished and an alien race comes in and completely takes over earth in a matter of hours, it's not going to take me almost 10 years to realize the situation isn't getting better. The way it was said made it sound like there was something that happened between the BMRF incident and present events.
 
...You're not getting it. Hope hit an ALL TIME LOW ten years ago.
 
This is just sweettalk of Dr. Breen trying to blame the current miserable situation of the Eart to the normal human instincts like reproduction and self-preservation, and showing the combine as our saviours who will help us get rid of this 'plague'.

While in fact the planet is suffering from the grip of the combine sucking it's resources and enslavering it's population.

Btw. alot have happened between the BM incident and the return of freeman. The major event is the 7 hour war which was so devastating that turned most of the once green planet into a smoking nuclear desert. The survived population went into the few intact remaining cities who were under an Overwatch control.
 
No I understand what you're saying. What I'm saying is what had their spirits up so many years ago? For almost 10 years did they think they would just wait it out? Then after 10 years they finally see that's not going to happen? There had to be something to make them think the situation was going to improve. Or something terrible happened to squash any hope they had.

It just seemed too specific. Instead of saying in years past, previous years, etc.
 
It was my understanding that Freeman was in stasis for about 10 years, not 20, and that Kleiner's statement refers to the period before the Combine arrived.
 
Sorry I didn't state it earlier, but that was something else I was trying to get at. How long was Gordon actually gone? What you said Laivasse would make sense and in that context, Kleiner's message would make sense. I just thought I remembered people saying there was something in RtB that implied almost 2 decades.
 
Laivasse said:
It was my understanding that Freeman was in stasis for about 10 years, not 20, and that Kleiner's statement refers to the period before the Combine arrived.
Click to expand...

Alyx was 2 years old when Gordon was put in stasis... She doesn't look 12 to me... It's been at least 20 years. RTB ftw. :D

I see what you're saying, maybe someone had spread false word that freeman had returned before, and everyone got excited. :/
 
Van_Halen said:
Alyx was 2 years old when Gordon was put in stasis... She doesn't look 12 to me... It's been at least 20 years. RTB ftw. :D

I see what you're saying, maybe someone had spread false word that freeman had returned before, and everyone got excited. :/
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How do you know Alyx was 2?
 
heer0 said:
While in fact the planet is suffering from the grip of the combine sucking it's resources and enslavering it's population.
Click to expand...

As opposed to humans doing different?

heer0 said:
once green planet into a smoking nuclear desert.
Click to expand...

The planet seems to be doing quite well, nature wise. No greenhouse gases, no human industrial activity, no one's actually seen the Combine taking earth's minerals and stuff, except for the ocean.

The only desert we see is that place we get teleported to during the Red letter Day accident, and even there, crows seem to be doing well.
 
Tuskin said:
How do you know Alyx was 2?
Click to expand...

... I remember it from somewhere... Where did I see that... She was about two, cause she's in, or near her 20's. I say this for obvious reasons. Just look at her and you'll agree, she's gotta be in, or near her early 20's.

But we know her mother died in the BMI, so she was definitely already born.
 
I don't remember seeing anywhere that Alyx was 2.
 
The picture shows that she was indeed an infant at some point in her life :rolleyes: I guess that settles it then...
Cheomesh said:
Infer a connection.
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No.
 
Cheomesh said:
Look at the picture of her family in BME. It shows her as a toddler. Infer a connection.
Click to expand...

You don't know when that picture was taken. Tho Eli does mention that he took it from BM when escaping.
 
In any case, we know that Alyx was at most a toddler during Black Mesa, seeing how Eli mentions carrying her out of there. That, plus the utter lack of children in the world, seems to indicate to me a period of 18-20 years between the 7 Hour War and the events of HL2.
 
i'd say that the picture of alyx, eli and alyx mother were taken about 2years before the events of black mesa, so i'd say alyx is probably 19 or so
 
Planetary said:
The planet seems to be doing quite well, nature wise. No greenhouse gases, no human industrial activity, no one's actually seen the Combine taking earth's minerals and stuff, except for the ocean.

The only desert we see is that place we get teleported to during the Red letter Day accident, and even there, crows seem to be doing well.
Click to expand...

Many species can survive long periods of radioctive axposure. Have you seen any other normal animals exept the crows?
But, yes, there are lots of untouched places on the planet, such as the city 17 where refugees have taken shelter, and it's surroundings. The fact that we've never seen a desert is because the game is concentrated mostly into the populated areas. And by sucking the water out of the planet the combine will eventually make it a desert.
How do you expect the combine to annihilate most of the Earth's population without using weapons of mass destruction. Genocyde? I bet the Earth's armed forces also tried using nukes against the combine but i think it happened so fast they wasn't even able to react.
 
This thread has made me face-palm 3 times.

No one knows exactly how long HL2 happens after HL1. Dr. Kleiner mentions a decade, which may refer to the Black Mesa or the Seven Hour War. Raising the Bar says ten years. The EP2 site says almost two decades.

The photo of Alyx could have been taken at any time before the Black Mesa Incident and proves nothing about the time-frame. The thing about Eli carrying Alyx out of Black Mesa could easily be a figure of speech too so that's not really something to base a timeline off of.

The thing about children is an interesting one. Combine-occupied Earth doesn't seem very child-friendly in the first place, but they did originally have children that have grown up in Combine cities? That would probably set it around or after 20 years.

There is one other thing I'd like to add. From Alyx's first dialogue (or, rather, monologue) with the player, it seems to me that Alyx probably knew and had a crush on Gordon even before the shit hit the fan.
"I'm sure you don't remember me though" *fixes hair*
Which would mean that she would have had to have been at least close to a double-digit age at the time.

In response to heer0:
Raising the Bar explains how the Combine took over: Because of the portal storms bringing so much Xenian life to Earth, most of the planet was uninhabitable, as it was roamed by antlions, bullsquids, tentacles, etc. Most of the remaining populations were forced into large cities and the armed forces of each country were mostly occupied with defending the last bits of society. When the Combine attacked they did so in one huge suprise attack. Citadels suddenly teleported into the middle of the remaining cities and poured out huge armies of synths. Humanity was taken by suprise, from behind, by vastly superiour firepower. Nukes could not have been used, because doing so would have wiped out the remaining human populations.
 
BMI != Seven Hour War

Alyx could have been two by the time of the BMI and still be 22 in HL2.
 
:|.

BMI + 10 years = 7 Hour War.
7 Hour War + 10 Years = HL2.

Does that satisfy you?
 
So the Combine's invasion actually was a while after the BMRF incident? I always assumed it happened within days or something.
 
Me, too...doesnt seem like humanity could survive a decade with headcrabs and vortigaunts and bullsquids randomly spawning all across the globe...particularly considering the amount of ammo it takes to take em down, combined with the complete lack of manufacturing capability...
 
According to RTB;

*People clustered at a cylcone fence topped with razor wire, city skyline rising behind them; cops stand tensely on guard towers, blasting away at headcrab zombies outside the perimeter.

Eli:
"There was an illusion of safety, for a time. And then the Citadels appeared. It happened in a split second, all over the world."
 
The "lack of manufacturing capability"? What are you talking about? Military bases have ammunition stockpiles and heavy weaponry ready. Unless you didn't notice, only Gargantua and other larger Xenbeings require artillery to take out. You could take out bullsquids and headcrab zombies with armoured bulldozers.

It's implied that they came through in huge numbers, admittedly, but it still should not be enough to bring industrialization down on civilization's head. Muster a proper military response and containment is quite possible in factories.
 
A military base may have lots of ammo, but seeing as the human race was crowded into cities, where military installations are far fewer, and besides, when you use ammo, you run out...if ammo factories are in the wasteland, you are screwed...
 
Ridge said:
A military base may have lots of ammo, but seeing as the human race was crowded into cities, where military installations are far fewer, and besides, when you use ammo, you run out...if ammo factories are in the wasteland, you are screwed...
Click to expand...

...

You realize they wouldn't just abandon the ammunition stockpiles out in the wasteland? Besides, the air is still Humanity's stronghold. I've seen very few hostile Xen air beings. Helicopter supply drops are quite plausible for off the beaten track areas. They probably used armoured trains like the Overwatch currently do for transport of materials from city to factory. Armoured trucks aren't implausible as well. Xenbeings are quite dangerous, but not that dangerous.

I suppose a few factories would be abandoned due to being too far off the grid or too costly to protect or maintain supply lines with, but there should still be enough manufacturing capability to make ammunition or any other necessity.

Especially with Vortigaunt aid in identifying the capabilities of Xenbeings.

*wishes again for game set in Black Mesa aftermath*
 
What were the bat-like things in HL1? I recall seeing them take one of the V-22s out of the sky in Op4...
 
@ Narvi: Helicopters require a lot of fuel, and oil fields are probably difficult to hold down from the Xen creatures.
 
riomhaire said:
@ Narvi: Helicopters require a lot of fuel, and oil fields are probably difficult to hold down from the Xen creatures.
Click to expand...

Unless the Portal Storms are destroying massive bits of infrastructure, or sending in thousands of Xenbeings (I like that word) at once, a proper military garrison should be capable of holding down oil fields and refineries. Xenbeings are animals, that's all, powerful animals but not capable of holding out against human military forces. Don't forget vortigaunts eventually join the humans.

Of course, the destruction of infrastructure and loss of population due to the initial Portal Storms should mean that the newly formed human society won't need as much fuel. Also, if you centralize around the cities, cars won't be as necessary, so there's a few million barrels of oil per day freed up for government use. Public transport FTW. Even not counting this, military oil reserves should hold up long enough to secure important places.

Now, if they use alternative sources of power like fission or the funky generators in Eli's lab, a country, say the US, can electrify the rail system so electric trains are commonplace. (In fact, only the US can do this easily.) Simply have a few inspectors checking the tracks weekly for Xenbeing assault, armour the trains, and voila; you have a supply network that is reliable and relatively proof against Xen assault. Armoured trucks can be used for places which are inaccessible by rail, though any place inaccessible by rail would be very inconvenient for its inhabitants, so I suspect such places would eventually be abandoned. There are quite a few derelicts in HL2, so I expect shipping went on without massive aquatic Xenkraken eating oil tankers.

Of course, third world nations and quite a few others are ****ed, but what can you do? The refugee situation would be horrible as well. Post Portal Storm Earth would be quite bleak, unfortunately.

The biggest problem would be food. Agriculture would be hit hard. Imagine evil coyotes that use sonic blasts and hunt in packs and require a few rounds each to take down. It would be... inconvenient.

Xen creatures would probably become a quick and easy food substitute, since they come in large numbers, and are edible to a degree. Wouldn't be a delight though.

I love speculating.
 
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