The 37th Mandala

[[46] pushit [2]]

I don't know if anyone remembers this, but in the original Half Life during the beginning of teh game look in teh locker room with all teh "staff" lockers. In Gordon's locker there is a book called The 37th Mandala. I googled it and found out it was written by Marc Laidlaw, same person who wrote the HL story.

"The mandalas have always been among us, unseen and uncalled. Those few occult masters who have encountered them have known to leave them alone. For those unholy forces we are playthings, insignificant tools to be used, fed upon -- and eventually discarded.

When New-Age charlatan Derek Crowe learns the secrets of the mandalas he sees only the opportunity for easy money. He ignores the warnings, alters the mystical texts to make the dreaded mandalas seem benevolent to a gullible public, then publishes his book and waits for the profits to roll in. But Crowe is all too successful. For he has inadvertently released upon earth a horror that is beyond all understanding or control -- a horror both infinite and hungry."
-synopsis from palmdigitalmedia.com

kind of sounds like this Derek Crowe is somewhat akin to the Gman. that is, if gman is using the aliens for his personal benefit.

just something to think about, i love when developers throw in little stuff like this.

 

[GWalker]

What about his other book The Third Force?

Elena Haumann arrived in Grand Central Station at precisely 9:37 p.m., September 3, in the Eighth Year of the Empire. Disembarking from an Alpha-type train, she found herself alone on the polished tile walkway at an hour when she would have expected the station to be bustling with citizens....The echoing silence of the station had begun to remind her of the vast archives where she spent her life.
So begins Elena's journey into a dark landscape of totalitarian rule and paranoia, a place where time, truth, and memory can be manipulated by men and machines. Once a privileged member of the ruling class, she now belongs to the Underground, a group determined to overthrow the dictatorship of Paolo Orlovsky.

 

[exoeight]

that's pretty cool, i'm going to have to check that out. thanks for the info.

welcome to hl2.net btw.

 

[merc]

that is interesting... the Third Force sounds a lot like hl2 if u ask me

-merc

 

[Platinum]

right on man ... welcome to hl2.net

 

[Kanehdian]

You can find a couple of Marc Laidlaw's books in Gordon's locker in Half-life...

 

[GWalker]

It's no wonder that Halflife was so good, I've got to get The 37th Mandala now, started to read it and it's sucked me in, hell It's a way to kill some time. :cheers:

 

[Yombi]

i saw that book in the locker, even took screenshots hehe. Just forgot to do a google

 

[johnnypoopoopant]

cool nice find,

i never pay attention to those small details

 

[jimbones]

holy crap! and welcome

 

[Clavius]

I hope to find things like that in HL2, those are the things I like most, the little pearls of creativity that most people just run by.

 

[Fender357]

You should have stuck with the name of ONE tool song for your name.

But "Third Eye" Is taken Thats my Steam name


(I actually saw a guy on CS:S that had the cool squares symbol on Danny Carey's bass drums for his name)


And yeah, I've been looking into trying to get some of Marks work to read.

I'm betting he's good

 

[[46] pushit [2]]

well i love both songs so much...and i just think it looks really cool. haha. glad to see a fellow tool fan out here

if you're into sci-fi pick up some of Marc Laidlaw's stuff. I've stared The 37th Mandala and although it's realyl weird, i've been thoroughly enjoying it.

 

[groovy]

If you want more insight onto where Half-Life 2 got a lot of its theme from, then read Nineteen Eighty-Four, written by the one and only George Orwell. This book is the book of all books, a remarkable piece of literature, worthy of a nobel prize. George Orwell wrote this book sometime just after the Second World War, and he was attempting to predict what the future, year 1984 may be like. It's a political satire and an extreme scary book because something like that is actually possible.

The story is of a totalitarian government that controls EVERYTHING. The people are brainwashed with propaganda and are treated like crap. There are "telescreens" everywhere that monitor that everything is under control (hence all of the screens with Mr. Breen). There are the thought police which detect what thoughts people are thinking, so if they're thinking something the party doesn't want, they'll correct it. The thought police are like the combine soldiers, brutal and cold. The history is continually re-written so that everything is made to think that the totalitariate government invented electricity, this and that.

A truly powerful book, anybody with a brain should read it.

 

[Yogibbear]

the 37th mandala sounds like a good read....cheers... :cheers:

 

[Burn]

Those are cool finds, Im going to have to buy those books now.

 

[omni]

Another Tool fan here, by the way.

I've known about The Third Force and how parts of it parallels our favorite game's story arc, but I didn't know about The 37th Mandala. It seems Laidlaw has put all his previous works together into Half Life. What, if any, other books has he written? Maybe they contain more snippets of lore that is used in Half Life?

 

[Icarusintel]

What about his other book The Third Force?

Elena Haumann arrived in Grand Central Station at precisely 9:37 p.m., September 3, in the Eighth Year of the Empire. Disembarking from an Alpha-type train, she found herself alone on the polished tile walkway at an hour when she would have expected the station to be bustling with citizens....The echoing silence of the station had begun to remind her of the vast archives where she spent her life.
So begins Elena's journey into a dark landscape of totalitarian rule and paranoia, a place where time, truth, and memory can be manipulated by men and machines. Once a privileged member of the ruling class, she now belongs to the Underground, a group determined to overthrow the dictatorship of Paolo Orlovsky.

Wow, sounds familiar, kinda like, I dunno, HL2, awesome stuff there

 

[Dougy]

Its spelled THE not TEH.

(i realise the word teh is common place on the net but its a shit word)

I honestly think there is no hidden secrets about anything that was in HL, lets face it...

the game was destined to flop so horribly, they completely reworked it and somehow pulled off the biggest fluke in history... i dont belive that valve had another 2 games planned for it in the way that some people do.

ie...

You were never supposed to annalyse every single poster and message in the game to find the true meaning of life.

 

[omni]

... the game was destined to flop so horribly, they completely reworked it and somehow pulled off the biggest fluke in history... i dont belive that valve had another 2 games planned for it in the way that some people do.

I find your lack of faith disturbing.

 

[Viperx14]

I find your lack of faith disturbing.

I liked that...what is that quote from, I just can't quite grasp it? Was it one of the Matrix movies?

 

[Ateoto]

I liked that...what is that quote from, I just can't quite grasp it? Was it one of the Matrix movies?

My God man! Its Darth Vader from Star Wars: A New Hope. Im seriously doubting your credentials to be posting in forums at this moment. I don't think you are nerdy enough

 

[omni]

I liked that...what is that quote from, I just can't quite grasp it? Was it one of the Matrix movies?

Darth Vader, Star Wars: A New Hope.

 

[[46] pushit [2]]

ie...

You were never supposed to annalyse every single poster and message in the game to find the true meaning of life.

I just like little details and "eggs" if you will. Playing through HL1 again I happened upon this discovery and found it very interesting. And HL is life, at least by me =D haha. i don't about you, but HL was a work of genius, as HL2 will be.


omni, good to see another tool fan. i love em.

 

[LeXo5]

My God man! Its Darth Vader from Star Wars: A New Hope. Im seriously doubting your credentials to be posting in forums at this moment. I don't think you are nerdy enough

quoted for truth :|