The storyline to Half Life 2 makes no sense.

[bigburpco]

God, you are an idiot.

Who ever said the satellite told them of the LOCATION?

 

[Asknoone]

"The rocket in HL1 launched a satellite that needed to be in place for Gordon's teleportation and butt-kicking operation in Xen, but it also helped the Combine to teleport Citadels to Earth and whatnot."

*sigh* It let them know of the LOCATION of earth you... Once they know of it's location, it's like a map.

If the Citadel communication system goes blank, they lose Earth - they can't pin point it. They are in an different universe here, and the only reason they found us is because of the energy given off during the cascade. Space isn't a map, there aren't coordinates. And even if they could pin point it, which they can't, there's nowhere to teleport. They aren't very good at teleportation as it is and can only go between Citadels.

AND SINCE THE CITADEL TELEPORTERS DON'T WORK, THEY CAN'T TELEPORT THERE.

 

[bigburpco]

By the way, how did the Combine teleport their Citadels to Earth in the Seven Hour War? I never figured.

 

[Dr Issac Kleiner]

So basically when the synth started the 7 hours war, they warped in directly to citadels?

oh, and their were citadels on xen?

Show me citadels that let snyth warp in to take over vortigaunts on xen. or can you?

And yes, you can map space.

Ever seen Star trek? Just because you don't understand technology doesn't make it impossible. There's a strong possibly they could warp to places without needing teleporters.

 

[bigburpco]

The Combine were never on Xen.

Ever seen Star trek? Just because you don't understand technology doesn't make it impossible. There's a strong possibly they could warp to places without needing teleporters.

That's like saying 'I'm losing in my argument, but you don't know everything so I am still correct.'

 

[Asknoone]

Read through this forum: http://www.halflife2.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=51
The stickied thread in particular.


The Combine were never on Xen, and there weren't any Citadels on Xen either. The aliens seen on Xen were a band of refugees who fled from the Combine to the border world, Xen. None of the creatures seen in HL1 are native to Xen.

 

[Dr Issac Kleiner]

Herm.

Okay, you won that one.

But please, try explaining how they use teleporters, but yet when they teleported to earth originally, the teleporters did not exist yet...

And yes, you have a very primitive few of technology. If these combine are very advanced, surely they would be able to have built in computers that would let them teleport.

if I would make a guess, the teleporters are for the humanoids, since they don't have those build in computers.

 

[bigburpco]

If you don't rush when you play the game, you'll find that that isn't so. Remember Mossman's little speech in BME? Humans were ahead of the Combine in terms of teleportation technology, if only by a small margin.

 

[Dr Issac Kleiner]

Hum...

Well I dunno. it still doesn't explain how they can teleport without teleporters. Somehow they can do that. if they can only go from universe to universe, they still can map it somehow... Homemade maps? I dunno.

 

[AJ Rimmer]

Herm.

Okay, you won that one.

But please, try explaining how they use teleporters, but yet when they teleported to earth originally, the teleporters did not exist yet...

And yes, you have a very primitive few of technology. If these combine are very advanced, surely they would be able to have built in computers that would let them teleport.

The first time the Combine arrived on Earth, they found Earth because of a freak accident (The portal storms) made Earth like a big effin' lighthouse. The portal storms by now have diminished, which means the Combine need another way of establashing a link to our universe, ergo the citadels, which were originally brought in during the seven hour war. In my opinion, it's not so much a question of "knowing the coordinates" (How the hell does an alternate dimension have coordinates by the way?), as having a transmitter and a tranceiver on each end so can actually send something through. But, thanks to gordon, that connection is broken on one end.

And no, the combine do no invent technology, they mimic it. And so far, their teleportation tech is crap. Humanity has one big advantage over the combine in that field; Local teleportation within the same universe, something the combine do not possess at all.

Though someone gladly correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Narvi]

Actually, we have no idea how the Combine communicate between dimensions. It may be impractical or impossible to have a direct communication link. Therefore, a loss of communication with Earth may not be noticed for quite a while.

EDIT: Also, why would losing contact with the Citadels mean that the Combine cannot teleport to Earth? They know where it is, after all. It's not like the rebels can't teleport to Xen anymore.

 

[bigburpco]

Oh yeah, forgot to elaborate; the satellite you sent up to space indirectly caused the portal storms.

 

[Asknoone]

EDIT: Also, why would losing contact with the Citadels mean that the Combine cannot teleport to Earth? They know where it is, after all. It's not like the rebels can't teleport to Xen anymore.

The Citadel portals are down. Combine teleportation is different to human teleportation.

 

[Dr Issac Kleiner]

That was my point...

They may not have a direct way to get to earth, but they've been there, they know how to get there, and they probably have earth, and tons of stars, mapped out on computer systems.

They could find a way to return... Maybe on starships, maybe by tunneling their way back, but if they have Earth mapped out, it's only a matter of time before they return.

 

[bigburpco]

I doubt they know EXACTLY where Earth is. They probably have a rough idea of it, but not exactly.

 

[AJ Rimmer]

That was my point...

They may not have a direct way to get to earth, but they've been there, they know how to get there, and they probably have earth, and tons of stars, mapped out on computer systems.

They could find a way to return... Maybe on starships, maybe by tunneling their way back, but if they have Earth mapped out, it's only a matter of time before they return.

Starships can't travel through dimensions. And yes, for the last time; They know where Earth is, but their teleporters are broken! They are down, off-line, bereft of life they rest in peace. They are ex-teleporters!

 

[function9]

But please, try explaining how they use teleporters, but yet when they teleported to earth originally, the teleporters did not exist yet...

Um, did you ever happen to play HL1? The sample that started all of this was collected from Xen, meaning, there had to have been a way to send a team there in the first place. *HINT*Meaning we already had teleportation tech. Not to mention the little fact that we (Gordon) went to Xen, or did you happen to not play the last few parts of HL1? Traveling to different dimensions isn't like going across country or even to different planets. It requires a different type of transportation.

Damn, I don't mind arguing points, but sh*t you don't even know half of what you're talking about.

 

[Narvi]

The Citadel portals are down. Combine teleportation is different to human teleportation.

And why would that matter to the off-world Combine? Their portals aren't down.

 

[AJ Rimmer]

And why would that matter to the off-world Combine? Their portals aren't down.

Buuuuut, the recieving teleporters are. Look, Combine teleport technology sucks. Okay? We clear on this? And they are not trying to make the relatively short trip to Xen but the massive trip from Combine Homeworld to us. Earth to Xen doesn't need a recieving teleporter pad. Earth to Combine and vice versa apparentely does

 

[Narvi]

...and how did they get here in the first place? Don't say the portal storms made it easier to teleport here, all we know is that the storms made Earth a really big target.

 

[Atomic_Piggy]

Ffs.

 

[AJ Rimmer]

...and how did they get here in the first place? Don't say the portal storms made it easier to teleport here, all we know is that the storms made Earth a really big target.

*sigh*
Fine. The Portal Storms did not make it easier to teleport to Earth.
Does it feel better now?

 

[Narvi]

Yeah, I'm achieving a perfect state of nirvana here.

Honestly, I don't see why you are claiming that the Combine teleporters are down forever. They are down... for now. Episode 2 will deal with the aftermath when or if they get them back up.

 

[Ridge]

Exactly. Even in Kleiner's broadcast, it said the combine teleportation system is down...for now.

 

[99.vikram]

Yeah, I'm achieving a perfect state of nirvana here.

Honestly, I don't see why you are claiming that the Combine teleporters are down forever. They are down... for now. Episode 2 will deal with the aftermath when or if they get them back up.

It took a whole Dark Fusion Reactor like, 20 minutes to charge up for Breen's teleport.
Imagine how difficult and painful it must have been to teleport multiple citadels the same way...

To Zellio:
Ok, so lets assume the Combine can still teleport stuff here. There's still a way to stop them - create some sort of dimensional wall to seal ourselves from outer dimensions. Teleportation is a spontaeneous 'flip' from Location A to B. If we can prevent this connection between the points, it becomes impossible. Geddit?

 

[bbson john]

That was my point...

They may not have a direct way to get to earth, but they've been there, they know how to get there, and they probably have earth, and tons of stars, mapped out on computer systems.

The position of our dimension shifts in time. Combine knows the position of Earth in this moment, but Earth moves towards another place in the next moment. The movement of Earth can be continues and smooth. But even then the exact position of Earth can be hardly determined without a direct measurement. You would surely know what is the consequence if Combine troops is teleported into the outer space.

They could find a way to return... Maybe on starships, maybe by tunneling their way back, but if they have Earth mapped out, it's only a matter of time before they return.

You are right. They will return, but being to another dimension is not a matter of starships travel. The starship travel trick is for 3-D only. Like when you are driving a car, you can neither go up nor go into the ground. You must follow the ground surface. Spaceship is the same, it can go forth, back, left, right, up and down, but it cannot travel between the fourth dimension. You cannot go to another parallel universe via any normal means. You need a teleportation, like constructing a tunnel between the two dimensions. After the citadel fell, a side of the tunnel collapsed. The combine can no long go to Earth by this tunnel. They need to dig another one. However, as I said previously, Combine must know the exact coordinates of their destination, Earth, before they can build another tunnel. Even then, it takes a much longer time for Combine to dig the tunnel on their own side only.

 

[bigburpco]

Honestly, I don't see why you are claiming that the Combine teleporters are down forever.

... no one ever claimed they were down forever, dumbass.

To Zellio:
Ok, so lets assume the Combine can still teleport stuff here. There's still a way to stop them - create some sort of dimensional wall to seal ourselves from outer dimensions. Teleportation is a spontaeneous 'flip' from Location A to B. If we can prevent this connection between the points, it becomes impossible. Geddit?

Why can't people realise this? I said that earlier, too.

 

[Langolier]

Where exactly was it revealed that the sattelite Gordon launched in HL1 spread the portal storms and helped the Combine reach Earth? It certainly isn't in the games anywhere. Infact, it's contradicted by Decay... Zellio does have a good point; somehow the Combine were able to dig a tunnel to Earth and teleport large numbers of troops enmass to conquer our planet. Why can't they do that now? ... or can they? How long did it take them to prepare their invasion the first time, I wonder?

 

[99.vikram]

Where exactly was it revealed that the sattelite Gordon launched in HL1 spread the portal storms and helped the Combine reach Earth?

It didn't help the portal storms. :|
My theory is -

PAST:
*Black Mesa resonance cascade begins (when humans find Xen).
*Gordon launches satellite to close Black Mesa portals on the earth side.
*Gordon kills Nihilanth to close Black Mesa portals on the Xen side.
*Instead, Nihilanth's death completely destabilizes the dimensional barriers, causing the nasty portal storms across earth.
*Gman is happy with Gordon, for whatever reason.
*Combine detect the portal storms, follow it to earth.

CURRENT:
*Earth gets f*cked over next 20 years; Vorts ally with humans.
*Gordon comes back, incites a rebellion (freeing City 17, and cutting off earth to Combine empire).

FUTURE:
*Combine come back to annihilate earth, humans fight back.
*Humans find a way to cut off earth to Combine controlled dimensions.
*Barney buys Gordon a beer. Finally. And Alyx has Gordon's baby.

:cheers:

 

[Jintor]

Where exactly was it revealed that the sattelite Gordon launched in HL1 spread the portal storms and helped the Combine reach Earth? It certainly isn't in the games anywhere. Infact, it's contradicted by Decay... Zellio does have a good point; somehow the Combine were able to dig a tunnel to Earth and teleport large numbers of troops enmass to conquer our planet. Why can't they do that now? ... or can they? How long did it take them to prepare their invasion the first time, I wonder?

Let's see. (Warning: THEORY, feel free to dispute)

If the portal storms are not still occuring at this time, then I assume that all Combine Teleporters are the only beacon (if you will) for the Combine to teleport or tunnel in from their dimension.

Maybe: Teleportation testing was being undergone at the Combine homeworld, or cluster, or dimension or whatever. The portal storms caused by Nihilith's death auto-magically attracted the teleportation testing, or became a beacon for teleportation on the Combine side of things. So the Combine, drawn by the beacons, end up on earth, and start dumping their shit here. The first thing they do is bring teleporters so once the Portal storms die down, then they can still funnel junk in from their home (world, dimension, cluster, whatever). Because all teleporters are now offline because some idiot linked the entire system together and then blew one up, the Combine cannot teleport in. They may not have any idea where we are anymore. Coordinates may not be a suitable frame of reference for dimension-hopping. They're stranded. And if the Combine Trans-human Overwatch don't bring the teleporters back online, maybe they'll never be able to find us again.

*stands back* Ph-eeeew. That's an awful lots of ifs and mays. We'll see how wrong I am in a minute.

 

[Oppressor]

Jeeez, the point was pointed out from the start of this thread... The only reason why it keeps going on is cause 2-3 people don't get (refuse to get) the Half-Life storyline.

A tip is to play Half-Life, Half-Life 2 and Episode One and be very careful with all details revealed in the game, such as dialouges. They reveal alot in a cryptic way.

And of course, more information is to get in Raising the Bar. What is there not to get in this fantastic story? You have argued with the people who knows about everything there is to know about the plot (at this point). Everything makes perfect sence, hence some minor plotholes.

 

[AJ Rimmer]

Yeah, I'm achieving a perfect state of nirvana here.

Honestly, I don't see why you are claiming that the Combine teleporters are down forever. They are down... for now. Episode 2 will deal with the aftermath when or if they get them back up.

I never said they are down forever.

 

[Asknoone]

Infact, it's contradicted by Decay...

Well, Decay/Blue Shift/Opposing force aren't really canon, or so it would seem based on Laidlaw's emails. I don't know how much of these games they are taking into account when considering the overall storyline.

 

[ríomhaire]

The satilite was sent up to stop the resonance cascade, there is zero evidence it was supposed to do anything else or that it helped anyone in any other way. The Combine broke through to Earth without citadels already there once, they can probably do it again but they aren't just going to charge in again right away, they aren't f*cking stupid. We know that the Combine chased Nihilanth to Xen but never got there themselves (prior to HL1 in any case) so perhaps it is possible to block them from teleporting in. We don't know how long it will take the Combine to get back to Earth, we don't know anything about how they got here in the first place and we don't know what will happen in EP2 so stop pretending you do.

 

[Leviticus]

... no one ever claimed they were down forever, dumbass.

Do you randomly put interjections at the end of sentences in real life also or does the internet just make you feel empowered? Hate to nit and pick, of course, as you are definately not the only one who does it, but it is an interesting behavior to me.

 

[Narvi]

Yeah, brain fart. You didn't claim that the teleporters were down forever. Since you were going on about how just because the teleporters on Earth are not working, the entirety of the Combine empire couldn't make it to Earth. This confused me a bit.

 

[bigburpco]

They could, BUT the receiving end of the teleporters are not working as of now, so not yet. Maybe they'd find an alternative, but it's 0-1 to the Resistance for now.

Do you randomly put interjections at the end of sentences in real life also or does the internet just make you feel empowered? Hate to nit and pick, of course, as you are definately not the only one who does it, but it is an interesting behavior to me.

I'd use it in real life if it was in the same situation. Why? Because you put words into other's mouths, and that's pretty stupid, really, especially in an argument.

 

[Dr Issac Kleiner]

If they depend on teleports to get their, then teleporting in citadels must've required huge arse teleports that some people wanna pull out their arse existed...

 

[99.vikram]

If they depend on teleports to get their, then teleporting in citadels must've required huge arse teleports that some people wanna pull out their arse existed...

Yes, it required huge arse teleporters to send the citadels. What's your point?

And stop using arse as a sentence enhancer.

 

[Jintor]

Yes, it required huge arse teleporters to send the citadels. What's your point?

And stop using arse as a sentence enhancer.

'Huge' is relative.

They're the Universal Union! They span planets and galaxies! There's a fairly big chance they have huge-arse teleporters!