The HL Storyline Thread

so what does it do

measure anti-mass ?
Click to expand...

That's what I think, the scientists were just trying to do an analysis of an 'anti-mass' material. Here's some more of what the scientists say from the transcript site ...

Scientist 1: Ah, Gordon, here you are. We just sent the sample down to the Test Chamber.

Scientist 2: We’ve boosted the antimass spectrometer to 105 percent. Bit of a gamble, but we need the extra resolution.

Scientist 3: The Administrator is very concerned that we get a conclusive analysis of today’s sample. I gather they went to some lengths to get it.
 
I wrote to Gabe as suggested. He forwarded my question about the purpose of the satellite to Marc Laidlaw.

From: Marc Laidlaw [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Friday, September 26, 2003 3:09 PM
To: 'XXX@XXX'
Cc: Gabe Newell
Subject: RE: HL1 Plot Question

The sequence in Uplink was originally intended to be part of HL1. There was a satellite array which had to be active to tune the Lamdba portal. One section was in the Lambda core, one was in earth orbit, and one was in Xen (demonstrated in Blue Shift). Since the events of Uplink got splintered off the main game, this required some "other" Gordon Freeman to handle the Uplink sequence, while the "real" Gordon Freeman was on his way to the Lambda core. The events of expansions and side missions can be considered as taking place in splinter universes, sometimes running parallel to the main HL1 story, sometimes diverging wildly. Just one of the many side effects of the initial disaster.
 
This thread inspired me to start playing decay again, and I found some:

Mission 1 Useful(?) Decay Trivia
-Dr. Gina Cross, the hazard course hologram scientist, is also the inventor of the HEV suit. (They might only be talking about the new 'Mark 5' model though.)

-Rosenberg's first impression after the incident is that the machine was sabotaged.
Apparently, the resonance cascade was a result of the 'dampening coils' or 'dampening field' (or something) failing, which was theoretically impossible.
Also, the machine that should have warned of a dampening failure did not do its job. It was also sabotaged?
^ More evidence towards the "G-man intentionally broke the machine" theory.

-Dr. Keller, their wheelchair-riding boss believes it was only an accident, and Rosenberg eventually agrees. So, it still could go either way.

-Also, Dr. Kliener is mentioned at the start. He is said to see great potential in Freeman, but Dr. Keller is getting fed up with Gordan's constant lateness.

I'll post more Useful(?) Trivia as I beat future levels.
 
Some great info guys.. well done getting an answer from Ladlaw, Trachten!

Sorry I haven't come up with the doc yet, I've been really busy. Rest assured, I will, though, and if this thread keeps turning up useful and interesting info, it should be the most complete accoult of the story ever assembled next to Ladlaw's own one :)
 
Here's a really interesting analysis I found of the whole "resonance cascade" disaster:
(sorry about posting the whole thing here btw, but I can't find the original URL)
_______________

WTF is a resonance cascade

Author: Covax
E-Mail: [email protected]


Intro:

All right: This is for anyone who’s wondering WTF is a resonance cascade and what it had to do with all those portals opening in Half-Life.

First, I’m going to divert your attention to a neat little invention: The Atomic Bomb.

OK, to make an A-bomb, you first need to begin with some unstable material like Plutonium or Uranium. Now these substances are very unstable at the atomic level. They are constantly giving off energy (Alpha, Beta and Gamma radiation) because their atomic structure is falling apart, slowly. Now the energy can be used as heat to generate electricity, but the trick would be to get it to release the energy all at once for an A-Bomb to be effective.

The trick, however, is that these substances are only relatively unstable. You can’t just shove a stick of dynamite into a block of Uranium, you’d only spread radioactive materials about a block, and your enemies would die in perhaps 10 years from radiation poisoning. You can get atomic reactions by bombarding the stuff with sub-atomic particles, but that takes a huge lab, nothing you can fit in a briefcase or a warhead. So, your stuck with using conventional explosives.

The Trick (capital T) is this: you use the Plutonium’s (for example) own energy against itself. Charges are set around a nuclear core. The shockwave bounces off the core to the walls of the bomb, which is lined with various materials: copper, nickel, beryllium, etc. The reason for these materials is that ordinarily the shockwaves would be uneven. As each wave passes back and forth between the layers, the shockwaves would hit the nuclear material at exactly the same time , they must resonate.

(On a side note: shooting an A-bomb would be the best thing if the countdown is at 10 seconds, you probably die from the explosion or the radiation, but you’ll prevent the nuclear fusion.)

The Plutonium would be crushed perfectly and evenly, causing all of the pent up energy being squeezed in on itself. All the energy would release at once, flinging neutrons all over the place, causing your typical nuclear chain-reaction, each atom a neutron hit becoming a little bomb, exploding, flinging out more neutrons, onward and onward. A cascade. BOOM.

Now quantum electronics, which deals with interactions involving quantum energy levels and resonance (as in lasers), plays off the idea that energy travels in a wave pattern. You have an event, and the energy is spread in a spherical shape (say, light from a candle).

Now with the Xen crystal (the “sample” in Half-Life, the crystal in Nihillanth’s head and around his cave, on the guns on the final level of Opposing Force), we can imagine an element with a high energy potential. For argument’s sake we’ll say that it does not radiate energy. The Mass-Spectrometer (tm) the Black Mesa scientists were trying to (I imagine) measure the atomic weight of a molecule of the sample. Normally an energy beam, being controlled by some EM field like in a cathode ray tube, would hit the sample. The beam would bounce off and the surrounding scanners would make a map of the crystal. Three things were different this time though:

1- This was a pure-er sample than normal.
2- The equipment was either old, damaged, sabotaged or a combination.
3- The scientists had pushed the energy flow a bit higher that normal.


We all know what happened (even before we played the game), but how? Imagine this: A crystal with a high energy content being hit with a focused particle beam. One little atom would be displaced. In the core of the crystal, the scanning probe’s energy would be collected, exiting the surrounding atoms. The energy, with nowhere to flow but back UP causes a minor feedback (“Uh.... It’s probably nothing”). The EM field kick’s in a bit harder to block the returning energy, causing an energy buildup withing the crystal. The crystal then begins shooting off it’s own energy, as the surrounding atoms decay (“Shutting down now”), causing an energy shockwave within the crystal. The crystal itself contains the energy at first, but each wave build up mare energy as each time it reflects it picks up more juice.

The crystal begins shooting off strange particles, some of them traveling out side dimensional barriers (tachyons perhaps?). The EM field is useless at micro-portals begin to open, letting out crystal energy and letting in EM field energy. The EM energy would cause the portals to grow wider, as more and more of the crystal begins to decay. The crystal energy begins to travel back up the scanning beam, up to the main power generators, causing the short out.

The portals, with no direct focus, begin to interfere with the portal systems in Xen, letting in all sorts of weirdos. (I subscribe to the idea that Xen was preparing to attack, but was caught buy surprise by the resonance cascade.)

And you know the rest of the story.
 
More Useless Decay Trivia:
Nothing much happens in mission two that's very important, but here's some stuff from 3&4:

-In mission 3, it is discovered by Dr. Keller that after the aliens were accidentally warped in by the test chamber incident, some started warping in intentionally.
This is during the same mission where alien grunts and controlers begin to warp in, so it can be assumed that he's refering to them.
-This would imply that the headcrabs, bullsquids and barnacles were all warped in without Nihilanth's say-so, and have no reason to kill people besides instinct.
-It also implies that the alien slaves were warped in by accident too at first, but then were sent in with controlers and grunts to get revenge on the humans for 'taking' thier stuff. This also relates to when Nihilanth calls Gordon a thief in HL1.

-In mission 4, you are told by Dr. Keller that the lambda team satelite sent up by Gordon will be used to help create a 'resonance reversal'. This will presumably repair the dimensional breach caused by Gordon's experiment, and prevent more accidental alien warp-ins.
(At the start of mission 5 it is confirmed that they are refering to the same satelite.)

Also, for you HL trivia freaks out there, here is a complete list of the stuff found in Gordon's living quarters:
-A bed, endtable and entertainment center.
-A small bathroom containing a toilet, shower and sink.
-About two dozen books.
-A T.V.
-A five-month old calendar that he apparently forgot to change.
-A box of tissues.
-A tiny light-blue box, like the kind that hold perscription drugs or contact lenses.

Since many people don't know what decay is like, here are some scans of the instructions that show the new characters:
 
Also, remember the letters at the beginning of each manual? Here are the ones for Decay:

In this one we learn that Walter Bennet is an actual scientist, Otis' last name is Laurey, and the exact time that Gordon goes through the Hazard course!
 
8.17.2001 11:54:05 PM
PS2: Half Life: Decay News

Word has come out of Sierra that Half Life: Decay for the Playstation 2 is mere days away from going gold.
Developed by Gearbox Software and set for a September release, the game, once gold, will go to Sony for verification and then head out for duplication. The title will offer new modes of play and updated graphics that take advantage of the Playstation 2 hardware.
Click to expand...

lol
 
Here's part 2 of the letter:

It appears that Dr. Green was in charge of studying the samples brought back from Xen.
 
Originally posted by Mechagodzilla
Also, remember the letters at the beginning of each manual? Here are the ones for Decay:
Click to expand...

Ha, a training schedual, nice.

Calhoun ha!
 
Heres my theory on HL. We have the administrator, who might be this LM person in all the letters. Then we have the G-Man who works under the administrator. They may, or may not be human, but they have a great understanding and knowledge of the worlds beyond. Anyways, they may know of the "Combine" who apparently go around consuming planets or something of the sort, for resources perhaps.
The administrator instructs the G-man to sabatoge the experament Freeman is involved in to purposly open direct portals between xen and earth. The G-man is also assigned to observe certain people and evaluate them. In the long run it would seem this is all a sort of master plan to take over Xen, and its life forms for the good of man kind. The Black Mesa Incident was all an evaluation, and means to have a gateway between earth and xen. However we have a little oopsy that happens when Grdon goes to xen, and that would be Race X. They were sort of un unexpected variable, but Shepard Took care of them, and was later detained by the G-man for future use.
Once Nihilanth is killed, the xen aliens come under the administrators control.(think the administrator might be a supperior being like nihilanth perhaps?). Now for some reason the G-Man and Administrator either have a use for earth, a thing against the combine, or are just hippys who are ever earth loving.
Now once the g-man realises what an asset Gordon is, they also put him into use for a later time.
To keep things from getting out and causing a wide panic, Black mesa is leveled. What you dont know cant hurt you, right? Well for then thats true anyways.
Sometime in the near future, the combine come along to earth. They have evry intention of conquering it. Now we have the G-man who is staging a rebellion against the combine. We also have the newly aquired army of xen aliens to fight the combine with, and all of humanity. Theres probibly a few major resistance cities, and it just so happens Half-Life 2 takes place in the 17th resistance city, better known as "City 17". Gordon is brought into use as kindof earths savior, along side our old pal Barney(perhaps hes run into the g-man by now) and who knows, shephard might be deemed useful by now(if hes still alive). I would also assume fighting has been raging on for a long time before Gordon is brought back into the mix. This is it, this is the battle for earth. Everything up until now has gone according to plan, now everything just needs to fall together correctly to win the rebellion against the combine.
Theres one things I cant figure out though, and that is what the Ant Lions are. Are they a newer race? Perhaps a 3rd race of aliens is brought into the mix somehow? Portals from other dimensions have been opening perhaps? Heck, they might even be a nasty experament for all I know. My best guess is the G-man has somehow brought many people from Black mesa together at City 17 for some reason.
I would also be assuming City 17 is an essential battle ground for some reason, which is why Gordon and the G-man are there. Gordon is kinda like the administrators ace up his sleve.
This is about the best I can make of the story as Im trying to peice it together. If it doesnt make much sense, im sorry, Im writing this as Im REALLY tired. Im probibly wrong anyways. :D
 
Originally posted by Logic
Not useless at all! It actually answers a lot of questions. Thanks :)
Click to expand...

I mean useless in respect to enjoying the game.
You don't need to know this stuff, but it really helps out the understanding of a very complex 4-way plot.
It's like that simpsons episode with Linguo the robot. :) each section is fine on its own, but put 'em together and you've got the best plot ever. :cool:
 
I also just beat the rest of decay, and it turns out that the last few levels are full of juicy bits that I must have missed or forgot the first time around.

Nothing of real importance occurs in mission 6. You just relay the sat launch codes, the end.

-In mission 7, You find out that the last few missions take place in a section of black mesa called the Gamma Labs. (Note the name similarity to the Lambda Complex.)
This section of BM, according to Keller, is used to warp in alien specimens so that they can be studied without having to go to Xen and capture them.

This mission is to raise a large device called a displacement beacon from an underground chamber beneath the Gamma Labs, so that you can use it later to try and close the dimensional rift between the two worlds, or at least stop it from growing.

-In mission 8, You need to power the raised beacon with a 'beam matrix'
This involves shining lasers at crystals (possibly from Xen) and charging them with power.

The beam matrix is located in the midst of the 'Alien Quarantine Lab', where numerous experiments were being done on some captured aliens, until the reasearch team was killed. This part has some really neat visuals.
The experiments are as follows:
-A dead alien slave is lying naked on a table. Beside him, the green metallic cuffs and collar he used to wear are hooked up to a computer.
Press a button on the computer and they shoot. Could this be a preview of a future HL2 weapon? :eek:

-A dead headcrab is lying pinned (literally) to a table, and the top layer of skin has been removed to expose what looks like raw skinned chicken or turkey. Ewww... Headcrab organs...
Nearby, the body of the zombie they pulled it off is lying on a table. The headcrab was latched on so tight, that his head was removed right along with it. Beside the zombie is what looks like a very tiny brain or skull.
The implication is that the headcrabs consume or shrink the heads of thier victims so that they can fit better. It's hard to tell though, since the remains are so small.

-A live bullsquid is strapped to a table and is having the toxic goop sucked out of it and into a container through a hose in its mouth. Possibly for a future biotech weapon?

Mission 9, the last mission, has you manually focus the 'displacement beacon'. By doing this, the beacon will power three huge Xen crystals, creating a 'resonance reversal' which will turn off the 'resonance cascade'.

The beacon startup check sequence is:
Beam matrix activated,
Displacement beacon is in working order,
Beam Capacitor charged to 100%.

This will cause a 'Gamma Reversal' (I think that's what Keller calls it).

The End:
An alien ship warps in and drops off a constant supply of alien grunts, while also shooting the displacement beacon occasionally with its belly laser. If you kill it (which is very hard to do) before it destroys the beacon, the ship explodes and you finish off the last of the grunts.

Once all that is done, random warps pop up, and you warp from place to place, and get stuck in darkness occasionally.
Here's the kicker:
During one such blackout, you can hear the sequence where Rosenberg tells Calhoun that he "can't keep the portal open much longer" when Calhoun is leaving Xen in Blue Shift.
You then see the silhouetted figure of Calhoun jumping into the yellow portal that Rosenberg is talking about. :cool:

You warp around a bit more and then find yourself back in the Gamma Labs. Keller tells you that the erratic warping you experienced was the result of a 'Harmonic Reflux'.
A 'Harmonic Reflux' is caused by two displacement currents hitting one another.
Keller has no idea where the other displacement came from, but we know it was Barney in Blue Shift. ;)

Could this also be the cause of Barney's transporter dilemma

Keller then congradulates you, and the credits roll.

But it's not over yet! If you get at least one 'A' ranking on each mission, it unlocks the bonus 'Xen Attacks' Mission, where you play as two alien slaves.

You start off the mission on Xen, in the same area where Gordon warps in during the accident and sees two peaceful Bullsquids.

You then hear Nihilanth say: "Thieves, you all are thieves, you all are", and are promptly warped to Black Mesa.

You battle a bunch of Marines, plus some Black Ops and turrets, until you find a large white truck with 'B.M.R.F. transport division' written on the side. There are some Xen crystals in the back, and your mission is done.

If you die, your obituary (which I assume is from Nihilanth's POV) refers to you as 'Drone Subjects X-8973 and R-4913'

^ More proof that Nihilanth sent in the troops after the constant stealing of his resources, and the apparent massive attack that the Incident must have looked like to him.
 
I personally think that the Xen aliens were defending the borderworld (or thought they were). After all, if a bunch of aliens from a strange blue world warped in to your planet and started taking your resources without asking you, kidnapping your workers and poaching your wildlife, wouldn't you be a little miffed? When the resonance cascade occured, the Nihilanth either thought that the humans were invading, and counterattacked, or he(it?) decided to seize the opportunity to strike back at them for their thievery.

The race X aliens might have been the alien equivalent of pirates, or opportunists, or whatever. I do, however, believe that both races, Xen and X, were from the same place, as they both had the same coloured blood. I think. Yellow blood... what kind of chemicals would that be based upon? Red, mammalian blood is based on haemoglobin, which is composed of iron compunds. Hmmm... the xen crystals were yellow, weren't they? I'd check, but I've misplaced my HL cd.;(

I reckon that, in HL2, the alien slaves, which I think are properly referred to as "Vortigaunts", are in awe of Gordon, as he is the one that killed their all-powerful(or not) boss. Thus, they end up following him. Just a thought.

Seeya.
 
I played through HL1 and Opposing Forces but I'm still totaly confused. I don't know who is who, who is Nihilanth etc. I hope this new HL1 story document will explain everything and will not only be uderstandable for total insiders.
 
Originally posted by MMhardKy
I played through HL1 and Opposing Forces but I'm still totaly confused. I don't know who is who, who is Nihilanth etc. I hope this new HL1 story document will explain everything and will not only be uderstandable for total insiders.
Click to expand...
That's the plan :)
 
We have the administrator, who might be this LM person in all the letters.
Click to expand...

The line that looks like this at the end of Gordon's offer of employment letter ....

OTA:lm

... just indicates the initials of the person who typed it ('lm') and who dictated the letter ('OTA'). OTA is probably just 'Office of the Administrator'. Wonder if we will meet 'lm' (who I guess is the Administrator's secretary) in HL2.

Here's a link to a brief memo format style guide:

http://www.kanten.com/styleguide/memform.html
 
Originally posted by MMhardKy
So? Whats up whit the doc file?
Click to expand...
Yeah, sorry, I got really busy for a while. I'll start typing the doc up tonight. Should have something to show tomorrow.
 
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