The Vortessence Explained?

[fishdbaz]

One thing I've always wondered about the Vortigaunts is the exact nature of their Vortessence. Some of you may have just dismissed the telepathic hive mind-like Vortessence of the Vortigaunts as just being sci-fi magic or something like that, however, I think I may have come up with a (relatively) reasonable explanation for the Vortessence.

I'm assuming everone remembers the orange anomalous crystal that caused the resonance cascade in Half-Life. I'm also assuming you all remember how it was implied that the Nihilanth's brain had a giant anomalous crystal stuck in there, leading some to hypothesize that the crystal was what gave him his power. I postulate that this very same sort of crystal is in fact integrated into the brain of all Vortigaunts.

Obviously, as the events of the resonance cascade (not to mention the Nihilanth's ability to teleport the player) showed, the anomalous crystals (somehow) have the ability to break through the barriers between different universes. My theory is that the Vortigaunts use the hypothetical integrated crystals in their brains to essentially perform a sort of a "psychlogical Xen relay" by teleporting the neuro-electical impulses of their brains to each other almost (if not completely) instantaneously.

It seems to me this theory works pretty well. in fact, it may even help solve some Vortigaunt-related mysteries. For instance, it would explain why all the Vortigaunts in Half-Life (even the ones on Xen) knew what "Die!" meant (pointless detail mongering aside). It might even possibly explain why the heck they can shoot freaking green lighting.

 

[brad92]

I like that a lot. Well done. I had never thought of it.

 

[swan_song1973]

ive always thought it was like the force and that if valve explains it we'll get something like midichlorians to **** it all up.

 

[Botolf]

I think the simplest explanation would be that their physiology naturally lends itself to their abilities (weak telepathy and "electrical" attacks included), no invocation of crystals required. It's interesting to think about, but nothing seems to indicate a link between the Nihilanth's type of crystal and the Vortigaunts' abilities. They share some similar traits (chestarm) and were certainly in proximity for a long span of time, but we're probably drawing links between Egyptians and Hebrews here. It may very well be as simple as one being having to supplement itself with the crystal, holding power over theoretically more gifted beings.

I think we should more or less take the Vortigaunts at their word, that the Vortessence essentially is a vast membrane that holds connections to everything, essentially. Due to their unique physiology, the Vortigaunts are capable of reaching consciously and affecting this membrane. Due to this, they can in a way send information across this membrane to other Vortessence-sensitives, and perhaps use their knowledge of this vortal membrane to manipulate matter and energy on minute scales, enabling them to heal and use energy attacks. It's similar in ways to the concept of philotes in Orson Scott Card's Ender series of science fiction novels. Just like the Vortessence, philotes allowed those in the know to communicate across vast distances and at vast speeds, and even allowed for more bizarre possibilities such as body switching and what have you.

 

[fishdbaz]

I think the simplest explanation would be that their physiology naturally lends itself to their abilities (weak telepathy and "electrical" attacks included), no invocation of crystals required. It's interesting to think about, but nothing seems to indicate a link between the Nihilanth's type of crystal and the Vortigaunts' abilities. They share some similar traits (chestarm) and were certainly in proximity for a long span of time, but we're probably drawing links between Egyptians and Hebrews here. It may very well be as simple as one being having to supplement itself with the crystal, holding power over theoretically more gifted beings.

I think we should more or less take the Vortigaunts at their word, that the Vortessence essentially is a vast membrane that holds connections to everything, essentially. Due to their unique physiology, the Vortigaunts are capable of reaching consciously and affecting this membrane. Due to this, they can in a way send information across this membrane to other Vortessence-sensitives, and perhaps use their knowledge of this vortal membrane to manipulate matter and energy on minute scales, enabling them to heal and use energy attacks. It's similar in ways to the concept of philotes in Orson Scott Card's Ender series of science fiction novels. Just like the Vortessence, philotes allowed those in the know to communicate across vast distances and at vast speeds, and even allowed for more bizarre possibilities such as body switching and what have you.

I have to disagree.
First of all, Half-Life is a very "sciencey" series; I mean, obviously there's a lot of sci-fi babble going around like the original's "anti-mass spectrometer", however, even these bits all feel very plausible. However telepathy? Magic green lightning? These just aren't very plausible. I mean, I could buy aliens having these abilities in another Universe like Xen, with a different set of physical laws. However, in our Universe this stuff is, while not centirely impossible, is quite still impossible for a purely biological organism to achieve.

Second of all, I can't buy the idea of the Vortessence being a pan-universal force. Assuming that most Universes are different from that of the Vortigaunt's then it's unlikely that they would all have the physics to allow for a magic telepathic force in all of them. Besides, even if you were to argue that the Vortessence only works in SOME Universes and ours just happens to be one of them, it makes no sense that we wouldn't have detected this magical binding force somehow. I mean, if the Vortigaunt's could evolve the ability to harness it naturally then why wouldn't any species on Earth have?

Thirdly, doesn't it seem a little suspicious that the Vortigaunts would name the Vortessence, this binding pan-universal force after their own species? I suspect that the Vortessence is simply the Vortigaunt's form of religion. It's simply an important facet of their culture, not a miraculous telekinetic life force.

Also, Swansong, Half-Life is a bit different from Star Wars. I mean, from the begining, Star Wars was always just pulp action "sci"-fi; in fact, it was pretty much just a fantasy story in space when you think about it. Half-Life, on the other hand, has always been more grounded in reality. Don't get me wrong, the events of Half-Life are pretty crazy, but the story always manages to maintain a degree of plausibilty. Not to mention the fact that it's a story about a bunch of scientists darn it! Understanding and explaining things is what they do!

 

[huntingbear]

i was just playing through ep 2 the other day and noticed after the Vort finds ALyx and you he vocally calls to another Vort. Wouldn't their single conciousness know everything that single Vort knows ?

 

[Botolf]

I have to disagree.
First of all, Half-Life is a very "sciencey" series;

Not really. It's science fiction, first and foremost. Not hard sci-fi either.

I mean, obviously there's a lot of sci-fi babble going around like the original's "anti-mass spectrometer", however, even these bits all feel very plausible. However telepathy? Magic green lightning? These just aren't very plausible. I mean, I could buy aliens having these abilities in another Universe like Xen, with a different set of physical laws. However, in our Universe this stuff is, while not centirely impossible, is quite still impossible for a purely biological organism to achieve.

They're plausible when you consider the fact that humanity in this series is deliberately ignorant of deeper forces and presences in the universe, including naturalistic phenomena (see: Breen and his many references to universal branes, undiscovered and hypothetically impossible particles, intelligent life within the unlikeliest places, etc). You're assuming that the Vortigaunts are wrong essentially because it sounds weird to you. And no, it really wouldn't be impossible for a purely biological organism to achieve this sort of ability, it's made of the same dead matter as stars and everything else.

Second of all, I can't buy the idea of the Vortessence being a pan-universal force. Assuming that most Universes are different from that of the Vortigaunt's then it's unlikely that they would all have the physics to allow for a magic telepathic force in all of them. Besides, even if you were to argue that the Vortessence only works in SOME Universes and ours just happens to be one of them, it makes no sense that we wouldn't have detected this magical binding force somehow. I mean, if the Vortigaunt's could evolve the ability to harness it naturally then why wouldn't any species on Earth have?

All the universes we've seen Vorts in have had gravity and breathable gases for the native species. And species on Earth wouldn't have been pressured to evolve connections to such a force, but to suggest Vorts wouldn't because we didn't is a bit absurd. They're likely a much older species than us (more time to evolve), and they likely faced much fiercer competition (much, much fiercer than anything to have ever existed on Earth).

As for the Vortessence itself, it's already been established that human science in the story was unaware of many, many things in the universe. If it was all up to a crystal, then what possible purpose could antlion larval extract serve if not to "divide the false veils of the Vortessence" (enhance their connection to it)? There is no evidence of any crystal activity whatsoever, and heaps of evidence that the Vortigaunts simply understand and interact with some element of the universe at a deeper level than humans are capable of. Humans are not capable of seeing and interpreting most of the light spectrum, yet it's there and other specialized life could evolve to detect it.

And it's obvious the Vortigaunts understand a great deal more about the wider universe than all of the encountered humans so far, they can operate and repair human machinery, repair humans beyond human skill, and can communicate and travel beyond native human ability (see: weak telepathy and teleportation). Why is a crystal necessary to explain any of this? There is no evidence for such vortcrystals, and all the current understanding points to Vortigaunts being naturally equipped to do many of the things they do.

Thirdly, doesn't it seem a little suspicious that the Vortigaunts would name the Vortessence, this binding pan-universal force after their own species? I suspect that the Vortessence is simply the Vortigaunt's form of religion. It's simply an important facet of their culture, not a miraculous telekinetic life force.

Non-point. Suspicious? Not at all, it's merely a quirk of language. Besides, "vortal" has been used at times to describe links that don't even involve themselves, or with links that involve non-Vortigaunts (They describe the relationship of Gordon and Alyx as thus, and their relationship with Gordon as thus). There's also little to indicate that the Vortessence is a religious belief.

 

[fishdbaz]

They're plausible when you consider the fact that humanity in this series is deliberately ignorant of deeper forces and presences in the universe, including naturalistic phenomena (see: Breen and his many references to universal branes, undiscovered and hypothetically impossible particles, intelligent life within the unlikeliest places, etc).

I was under the impression that Breen was refering to the amazing phenomena of other Universes. After all, there's no evidence that the Combine ever explored our own Universe beyond Earth.

You're assuming that the Vortigaunts are wrong essentially because it sounds weird to you. And no, it really wouldn't be impossible for a purely biological organism to achieve this sort of ability, it's made of the same dead matter as stars and everything else.

No, I'm not assuming the Vortigaunts are wrong because they're abilities sound "wierd", I'm assuming that there's an (admittedly thin) logical explantion for them. Besides, in order for Vortigaunts to have developed telepathy, they'd need to have developed some sort of "wireless neurons" which, while I admit could exist in another Universe, simply can not exist in our own (unless of course you did something like simulate a Human brain on a computer and have it's digital neurons near instantly communicate with each other "wirelessly". Of course that's not biological is it.) Anyways, saying that biological life is capable of things like telepathy because it's made of the same matter as dead stars is ridiculous. Biological life is much more fragile and weak than a star. I.E. carbon is a very hard material, so using your logic, shouldn't we as "carbon" based organism be hard as well?

All the universes we've seen Vorts in have had gravity and breathable gases for the native species. And species on Earth wouldn't have been pressured to evolve connections to such a force, but to suggest Vorts wouldn't because we didn't is a bit absurd.

Why wouldn't Earth life evolve the ability to tap into the Vortessence? I mean come on, it apparently grants telepathy, green lighting bolts of death and other various benefits.

They're likely a much older species than us (more time to evolve), and they likely faced much fiercer competition (much, much fiercer than anything to have ever existed on Earth).

You don't really have a basis for this argument. They might be an older species than us but for all we know they could be quite young. As for the "competition", there's nothing to back that up except perhaps the antions... And I don't see how hordes scary murderous bugs would be an accelarant towards oneness with the Vortessence any more on the Vortigaunt's world than our own.

As for the Vortessence itself, it's already been established that human science in the story was unaware of many, many things in the universe.

Like what? The validity of string theory? We're not talking about soemthing as obscure as subatomic energy particles here, we're talking about a magic force that somehow connects all living organisms! Besides, the things science ahs been unaware of throughout the Half-Life series has always been from outside of our own universe where all sorts of wierd things can hapen.

If it was all up to a crystal, then what possible purpose could antlion larval extract serve if not to "divide the false veils of the Vortessence" (enhance their connection to it)?

A chemical reaction with the crystal causing increased activity in it?

There is no evidence of any crystal activity whatsoever, and heaps of evidence that the Vortigaunts simply understand and interact with some element of the universe at a deeper level than humans are capable of. Humans are not capable of seeing and interpreting most of the light spectrum, yet it's there and other specialized life could evolve to detect it.

Yes, but as we can, in a way, with technology. With technology, we can see all of the light spectrum, including bits that no life can see. Just because we haven't evolved to do something doesn't mean we can't do it; just look at the entirety of Human history if you want evidence.

And it's obvious the Vortigaunts understand a great deal more about the wider universe than all of the encountered humans so far, they can operate and repair human machinery, repair humans beyond human skill, and can communicate and travel beyond native human ability (see: weak telepathy and teleportation).

Operate and repair Human machinery? I can only think of two instances where this might apply; once in Half-Life 2, I believe it was in Water Hazard, a Vortigaunt welded a combine pulse turret to the airboat. It doens't really require advanced knowledge of the boat or the gun. The second time I can remember is when Cecil from Episode Two activates thepower generators in the antlion infested mines. Once again, he's hardly doing something that rquires advanced knowledge of the machinery; he just blasts it with electricity, soemhow recharging the battery. Also, since when have Vortigaunts teleported of their own accord and without the aid of technology?

Why is a crystal necessary to explain any of this?)

Why do we have legs to walk? Or eyes to see?

There is no evidence for such vortcrystals, and all the current understanding points to Vortigaunts being naturally equipped to do many of the things they do.

What, just because we've never popped open a Vortigaunt's brain before, we're assuming there's nothing interesting in there?

Non-point. Suspicious? Not at all, it's merely a quirk of language. Besides, "vortal" has been used at times to describe links that don't even involve themselves, or with links that involve non-Vortigaunts (They describe the relationship of Gordon and Alyx as thus, and their relationship with Gordon as thus).

Actually I was thinking that maybe the Vortigaunts actually named themselves after the Vortessence.

There's also little to indicate that the Vortessence is a religious belief.

Oh come on now, you can't tell me that the whole vortal-saiance thing from Episode Two didn't remind you just a little bit of a shamanistic tribal cerimony.

(Wow. Talk about a lot of quotes!)

 

[orzhovslodier]

As for the "competition", there's nothing to back that up except perhaps the antions... And I don't see how hordes scary murderous bugs would be an accelarant towards oneness with the Vortessence any more on the Vortigaunt's world than our own.

Actually, it makes sense. Xen creatures have demonstrated a lot more evolutionary fitness than terrestrial creatures. So far they've out-competed everything but birds and humans as far as we know. In the world where vortigaunts lived, the ability to shoot lightning and heal people would be an advantage, so the vortigaunts that could do so survived, until all vortigaunts could. On earth however, things aren't as dangerous. Sure, an animal that could shoot green death bolts out of its hands might be more dangerous, but the energy they expend doing so might offset the cost of the death-bolts. Evolution's solution are always "good enough". in the vortigaunts world, lighting was "good enough" for them. But on earth, claws and teeth are "good enough". The lightning would be an energy drain.

 

[fishdbaz]

Actually, it makes sense. Xen creatures have demonstrated a lot more evolutionary fitness than terrestrial creatures. So far they've out-competed everything but birds and humans as far as we know. In the world where vortigaunts lived, the ability to shoot lightning and heal people would be an advantage, so the vortigaunts that could do so survived, until all vortigaunts could. On earth however, things aren't as dangerous. Sure, an animal that could shoot green death bolts out of its hands might be more dangerous, but the energy they expend doing so might offset the cost of the death-bolts. Evolution's solution are always "good enough". in the vortigaunts world, lighting was "good enough" for them. But on earth, claws and teeth are "good enough". The lightning would be an energy drain.

"Good enough"? Imagine if a cat could shoot lighting bolts at birds; surely the amount of birds killed and eaten would be MORE than enough to keep the cat alive. Besides that, evolution doesn't always go for "good enough" because evolution is the survival of the fittest. A species can't conform to the status quo without eventually dying out because another species became better at than them at doing whatever the heck the original species did. I mean that's what the definition of evolution is; a process of development or growth, not a process of becoming "good enough" and then not doing anything. Also, there's no evidence that Vortigaunts require more sustanance than any other creatures. The only thing we've only seen one eating (well, cooking) was a fast headcrab in Water Hazard and that's hardly a large meal.

 

[Xevrex]

I read most of it, then reverted to tl;dr.

Anyway, I did notice a part of the argument referring to the development of the ability to "tap" into the Vortessence by Earth life--you may have forgotten (or I just didn't read it, lost my interest in the quote war) that Gordon Freeman did indeed tap into the telepathic Vortessence just after the Resonance Cascade occured. This obviously shows that humans have the ability to tap into it, but may not know how to unless they are "dragged" into it by another force (in this case, the Vorts dragged Freeman into the Vortessence); even if this ability is to specific to Freeman (and I'm not quite sure why it would be, there is no physiological difference between him and other humans), you can still extrapolate from his case that humans can tap into the vortessence or at least develop an ability to.

So unless humans have the anomalous crystal "brain" as well, you can't say that Vortigaunt's Vortessence ability is specific to them and other species with the anomalous crystal "brain" because Freeman's example demonstrates that humans can indeed tap into the Vortessence.

 

[fishdbaz]

I read most of it, then reverted to tl;dr.

Anyway, I did notice a part of the argument referring to the development of the ability to "tap" into the Vortessence by Earth life--you may have forgotten (or I just didn't read it, lost my interest in the quote war) that Gordon Freeman did indeed tap into the telepathic Vortessence just after the Resonance Cascade occured. This obviously shows that humans have the ability to tap into it, but may not know how to unless they are "dragged" into it by another force (in this case, the Vorts dragged Freeman into the Vortessence); even if this ability is to specific to Freeman (and I'm not quite sure why it would be, there is no physiological difference between him and other humans), you can still extrapolate from his case that humans can tap into the vortessence or at least develop an ability to.

So unless humans have the anomalous crystal "brain" as well, you can't say that Vortigaunt's Vortessence ability is specific to them and other species with the anomalous crystal "brain" because Freeman's example demonstrates that humans can indeed tap into the Vortessence.

I always thought that Freeman was just randomly teleporting around Xen. Is there any evidence backing up your claim that he had entered the Vortessence?

 

[Xevrex]

I always thought that Freeman was just randomly teleporting around Xen. Is there any evidence backing up your claim that he had entered the Vortessence?

Maybe no real evidence to back it up in Half-Life, but he was being controlled by it in HL2. He was able to see the purple images of the Vorts--he couldn't interact with the Vortessence, but he was aware of it and being controlled by it.

 

[fishdbaz]

Maybe no real evidence to back it up in Half-Life, but he was being controlled by it in HL2. He was able to see the purple images of the Vorts--he couldn't interact with the Vortessence, but he was aware of it and being controlled by it.

Perhaps they were messing with his mind by teleporting neuro-electrical impules into his brain?

 

[orzhovslodier]

"Good enough"? Imagine if a cat could shoot lighting bolts at birds; surely the amount of birds killed and eaten would be MORE than enough to keep the cat alive. Besides that, evolution doesn't always go for "good enough" because evolution is the survival of the fittest. A species can't conform to the status quo without eventually dying out because another species became better at than them at doing whatever the heck the original species did. I mean that's what the definition of evolution is; a process of development or growth, not a process of becoming "good enough" and then not doing anything. Also, there's no evidence that Vortigaunts require more sustanance than any other creatures. The only thing we've only seen one eating (well, cooking) was a fast headcrab in Water Hazard and that's hardly a large meal.

However, if a a cat can get enough food simply by sneaking up on birds (which they do) there is no reason to become better at doing so, until the birds wise up and get harder to catch. They aren't. On the vortigaunt's world, things are fast and dangerous, so you practically need to shoot lightning out of your hands to catch food (or have some of the abilities the xenians have). If there is no selective pressure to get better at what you do, you don't. Sharks have seemingly perfected their form, and there has been very little change amongst them because they don't have to change. Sure, they'd probably be much more dangerous if they could also fly, shoot lasers out of their mouths and had telekinesis, but their noses, jaws body shapes and other factors are good enough for them.

But headcrabs are dangerous. Gordon has his HEV suit, and Alyx is just that bad-ass, but the prevalence of zombies would make it seem that headcrabs are very, very dangerous. you need to be that much more dangerous too hunt and eat them. Sure a fast headcrab isn't a large meal, but you need to fight pretty hard to get it.

Theres also the possibility that earth life is simply locked out of entering the vortessence. Arthropods adaptions have effectively locked themselves out of the large animal niche, except under special conditions. Maybe very, very early earth life had the potential to tap into the vortessence, but the road they went down locked them out of it.

 

[fishdbaz]

However, if a a cat can get enough food simply by sneaking up on birds (which they do) there is no reason to become better at doing so, until the birds wise up and get harder to catch. They aren't. On the vortigaunt's world, things are fast and dangerous, so you practically need to shoot lightning out of your hands to catch food (or have some of the abilities the xenians have). If there is no selective pressure to get better at what you do, you don't. Sharks have seemingly perfected their form, and there has been very little change amongst them because they don't have to change. Sure, they'd probably be much more dangerous if they could also fly, shoot lasers out of their mouths and had telekinesis, but their noses, jaws body shapes and other factors are good enough for them.

You forget that other species are competing for the same niche; if a certain species of cat could shoot lightning then it would outcompete the old species. It's not just a competition between predator and prey. And about that whole selective pressure thing; that's a load of balony. A species is no less able to stumble upon meaningful random mutations if it's under pressure than it is if the species is succesful. It doesn't matter if these cats are succesful; eventually if one of they're brood were stumble upon a useful mutation that somehow allows them to shoot lightning it would be more succesful and would probably reproduce, leading to more of this mutant varient which will eventually outcompete the boring old non-lightning cats.

But headcrabs are dangerous. Gordon has his HEV suit, and Alyx is just that bad-ass, but the prevalence of zombies would make it seem that headcrabs are very, very dangerous. you need to be that much more dangerous too hunt and eat them. Sure a fast headcrab isn't a large meal, but you need to fight pretty hard to get it.

Not really. You just have to have good timing or be really sneaky... You know, like most Earth predators. I mean, as long as you can keep the headcrab away from your head, all it can really do is just scratch you up a bit.

Theres also the possibility that earth life is simply locked out of entering the vortessence. Arthropods adaptions have effectively locked themselves out of the large animal niche, except under special conditions. Maybe very, very early earth life had the potential to tap into the vortessence, but the road they went down locked them out of it.

I say pshah to this. The reason arthropods are "locked" out of so many different niches is because they're already occupied by species much better equiped for them. I can guarantee you that if all non-arthropods species were wiped from the Earth, the remaining arthropods would eventually take over those niches.

 

[orzhovslodier]

You forget that other species are competing for the same niche; if a certain species of cat could shoot lightning then it would outcompete the old species. It's not just a competition between predator and prey. And about that whole selective pressure thing; that's a load of balony. A species is no less able to stumble upon meaningful random mutations if it's under pressure than it is if the species is succesful. It doesn't matter if these cats are succesful; eventually if one of they're brood were stumble upon a useful mutation that somehow allows them to shoot lightning it would be more succesful and would probably reproduce, leading to more of this mutant varient which will eventually outcompete the boring old non-lightning cats.

I'll grant you this one. I'm not even sure what I was trying to say. However, selective pressure is one of the biggest forces in evolution.

Not really. You just have to have good timing or be really sneaky... You know, like most Earth predators. I mean, as long as you can keep the headcrab away from your head, all it can really do is just scratch you up a bit.

Then why is it that once headcrabs infiltrate human settlements everyone dies, extraordinary individuals like grigori notwithstanding? Headcrabs are dangerous, make no mistake. Besides, even with earth predators, sometimes sneaky ones fail. Headcrabs seem to only fail in a select few instances.

I say pshah to this. The reason arthropods are "locked" out of so many different niches is because they're already occupied by species much better equiped for them. I can guarantee you that if all non-arthropods species were wiped from the Earth, the remaining arthropods would eventually take over those niches.

Not really. Arthropods got on land first, but they still didn't go gigantic until the carboniferous. By your logic, all large land animals would have been arthropods from the beginning. The fact is that armour like that gets heavy when you don't have internal support when you get large, and absorbing oxygen through spiracles is not efficient when you get to large sizes unless there's a lot of oxygen in the air.

 

[fishdbaz]

Then why is it that once headcrabs infiltrate human settlements everyone dies, extraordinary individuals like grigori notwithstanding? Headcrabs are dangerous, make no mistake. Besides, even with earth predators, sometimes sneaky ones fail. Headcrabs seem to only fail in a select few instance.

I think this is really mostly a plot thing. i mean, if you look at headcrabs from a gameplay standpoint, armed citizens can defeat them relatively easily. If you look at them from a more realistic standpoint, they still aren't that good; they're slow, stupid and only really dangerous if they manage to latch onto a single, relatively small part of your body. Really, I think the only reason that the headcrabs are as widespread as they are in Half-Life 2 is because the Combine have been deliberately spreading them around as much as possible.

Not really. Arthropods got on land first, but they still didn't go gigantic until the carboniferous. By your logic, all large land animals would have been arthropods from the beginning. The fact is that armour like that gets heavy when you don't have internal support when you get large, and absorbing oxygen through spiracles is not efficient when you get to large sizes unless there's a lot of oxygen in the air.

You misunderstood me; when I said that eventually the arthropods would take over all of the Earth's niches I meant that they would do so by evolving into them, meaning they'd probably change to suit those niches... Essentially just what they already did eons ago.

 

[orzhovslodier]

Not really. You just have to have good timing or be really sneaky... You know, like most Earth predators. I mean, as long as you can keep the headcrab away from your head, all it can really do is just scratch you up a bit.

Still, most people aren't armed when not part of an active paramilitary group. I'm not sure wherre the resistance gets their weapons.

You misunderstood me; when I said that eventually the arthropods would take over all of the Earth's niches I meant that they would do so by evolving into them, meaning they'd probably change to suit those niches... Essentially just what they already did eons ago.

? How can they change? If the arthropods could have changed, they would have done so back when they colonized land. They didn't because at the time they couldn't. Unless earth becomes a hothouse again, arthropods are going to stay small.

 

[fishdbaz]

Still, most people aren't armed when not part of an active paramilitary group. I'm not sure wherre the resistance gets their weapons.

Even if someone were unarmed, they'd have to be pretty lame to get headcrabbed. I mean honestly, just stick your arm over your head and you've got a defense that's at least good enough for you to get away.

? How can they change? If the arthropods could have changed, they would have done so back when they colonized land. They didn't because at the time they couldn't. Unless earth becomes a hothouse again, arthropods are going to stay small.

After a while, even a stupid spineless bony fish could become an intelligent terrestrial mammal. Given enough time, an organism can change quite dramatically; that's the beauty of DNA. I'm fairly certain that arthropods don't defy this rule.

 

[Botolf]

I was under the impression that Breen was refering to the amazing phenomena of other Universes. After all, there's no evidence that the Combine ever explored our own Universe beyond Earth.

He was also talking of bizarre phenomena in our universe, unknown to human science.

No, I'm not assuming the Vortigaunts are wrong because they're abilities sound "wierd", I'm assuming that there's an (admittedly thin) logical explantion for them. Besides, in order for Vortigaunts to have developed telepathy, they'd need to have developed some sort of "wireless neurons" which, while I admit could exist in another Universe, simply can not exist in our own (unless of course you did something like simulate a Human brain on a computer and have it's digital neurons near instantly communicate with each other "wirelessly". Of course that's not biological is it.) Anyways, saying that biological life is capable of things like telepathy because it's made of the same matter as dead stars is ridiculous. Biological life is much more fragile and weak than a star. I.E. carbon is a very hard material, so using your logic, shouldn't we as "carbon" based organism be hard as well?

You're slapping down arbitrary limitations on a very alien and much more specialized life, you know. And the carbon comment, really dude? If life can evolve to sense light, chemical smell, and tactile stimulus, then it's a pretty simple to suggest the Vortigaunts have evolved to sense the Vortessence. If the Vortessence is a membrane of sorts that binds all matter and energy together, then telepathy is easily explained (one only needs to be aware of the connections and be able to send data through these connections, thus allowing one to communicate over farther distances than their voices would allow them to). The Vorts have been confirmed as being weakly telepathic (refer to an Episode Two commentary node, if you can't find it but would like to listen to it, I'll dig around for it).

Why wouldn't Earth life evolve the ability to tap into the Vortessence? I mean come on, it apparently grants telepathy, green lighting bolts of death and other various benefits.

You're assuming evolution would always result in a bigger and better being. It doesn't, all it means is that a creature is better suited to survive in its niche. There was insufficient selection pressure on Earth (we didn't need such abilities to survive) and likely insufficient time. It's really very simple.

You don't really have a basis for this argument. They might be an older species than us but for all we know they could be quite young. As for the "competition", there's nothing to back that up except perhaps the antions... And I don't see how hordes scary murderous bugs would be an accelarant towards oneness with the Vortessence any more on the Vortigaunt's world than our own.

Hostile Xen creatures, the Nihilanth's kind, the Combine, that's a huge amount of pressure, and much more fierce than anything to ever have walked the earth. The stresses of survival for Vortigaunts in those other universes would have been far greater than any stresses encountered by hominids, and the fact that they survived itself indicates that biologically their abilities are a result of this tremendous pressure.

Like what? The validity of string theory? We're not talking about soemthing as obscure as subatomic energy particles here, we're talking about a magic force that somehow connects all living organisms! Besides, the things science ahs been unaware of throughout the Half-Life series has always been from outside of our own universe where all sorts of wierd things can hapen.

Nobody said anything about magic. If the Vortessence exists as a physical thing in the canon, then it's perfectly explainable and rational. Just because the HL scientists are at a loss to explain it doesn't indicate that it isn't there. The Combine exert much of their "magical" technology in our universe without much apparent trouble.

A chemical reaction with the crystal causing increased activity in it?

That'd be an admirable guess if you actually had something to substantiate your belief the crystal is there in the first place.

Yes, but as we can, in a way, with technology. With technology, we can see all of the light spectrum, including bits that no life can see. Just because we haven't evolved to do something doesn't mean we can't do it; just look at the entirety of Human history if you want evidence.

Our current day technology isn't limitless, it can reveal some things that are undetectable to us, but not all things. What I'm proposing is that in the HL canon, the Vortessence lies mostly obscured to human technology and science.

Operate and repair Human machinery? I can only think of two instances where this might apply; once in Half-Life 2, I believe it was in Water Hazard, a Vortigaunt welded a combine pulse turret to the airboat. It doens't really require advanced knowledge of the boat or the gun. The second time I can remember is when Cecil from Episode Two activates thepower generators in the antlion infested mines. Once again, he's hardly doing something that rquires advanced knowledge of the machinery; he just blasts it with electricity, soemhow recharging the battery. Also, since when have Vortigaunts teleported of their own accord and without the aid of technology?

Human machinery. You're forgetting much more complex devices such as electrical generators (One is seen repairing one in Black Mesa East) and perhaps even the White Forest rocket (They don't give labcoats to janitors, sir).

Teleportation of their own accord. Uh, are you serious? The beginning of Episode One blatantly answers your question.

Why do we have legs to walk? Or eyes to see?

Because both better enabled us to survive in our niche of the time.

What, just because we've never popped open a Vortigaunt's brain before, we're assuming there's nothing interesting in there?

I'm assuming that a highly advanced alien brain is interesting, yes. Adding a crystal we don't have any evidence for to the equation is obfuscation. If the Vorts can shoot lightning and teleport, the simplest explanation is that they have evolved and learned to do such things.

Actually I was thinking that maybe the Vortigaunts actually named themselves after the Vortessence.

Oh come on now, you can't tell me that the whole vortal-saiance thing from Episode Two didn't remind you just a little bit of a shamanistic tribal cerimony.

Reminded me of shamanic rituals? Perhaps, but that's hardly a point. Earth shamans don't go around shooting electric bursts from their hands and phasing in and out of locations in the blink of an eye.

Ultimately, all the evidence points to a naturalistic explanation, that of extraordinary biology brought about by eons of existence in hellish conditions. To add weight to your crystal theory, you obviously need to find evidence of crystals in the Vortigaunts themselves. You have nothing so far beyond a tenuous connection to the Nihilanth. You get kudos for making the effort, but this theory just has no foundation at all.

Edit: And Xevrex brings up a good point. The Vortessence appears to have at times manifested connections between Vortigaunts and Freeman (or his mind). Humans may not be biologically capable of tapping into the Vortessence and using it, but it might appear that humans may be drawn into it by Vortessence-sensitives.

Vorts by nature!

 

[Noodle]

Wow. I have never seen the most basic concepts of Darwinism and genetics butchered to such an extent.

It goes like this. Every being has one goal: Survive long enough to reproduce effectively.

The first Vort that had the genetic mutation of shooting lightning from their hands was better equipped to survive for a longer period of time than his non-lightning companions. This also allowed him to reproduce a lot more. Through generations, the lightning ability spread because it allowed the Vort to live longer, and thus reproduce more.

Also, the mutation was a dominant genetic trait.

The Vortessent mutation, which I guess we are presuming is the presence of Nihilanth-type crystals in their heads, or something like that, was a dominant trait. It just so happened that the mutation of Vortessence was passed on until they all had it.

 

[orzhovslodier]

Even if someone were unarmed, they'd have to be pretty lame to get headcrabbed. I mean honestly, just stick your arm over your head and you've got a defense that's at least good enough for you to get away.

Headcrabs are close onto ten pounds. Anything hitting your head that heavy is going to hurt. Couple that with a sharp beak and claws and/or venom, and you get a dangerous creature.

After a while, even a stupid spineless bony fish could become an intelligent terrestrial mammal. Given enough time, an organism can change quite dramatically; that's the beauty of DNA. I'm fairly certain that arthropods don't defy this rule.

The question is, when given the chance, why didn't they? Nothing was holding that niche at all. It was completely and totally open, but it wasn't taken until vertebrates showed up.

As others have said, your argument is essentially an argument from personal incredulity and you have no evidence to back it up.

Wow. I have never seen the most basic concepts of Darwinism and genetics butchered to such an extent.

Could you be more specific? I like to learn from and correct my mistakes.

 

[Noodle]

The question is, when given the chance, why didn't they? Nothing was holding that niche at all. It was completely and totally open, but it wasn't taken until vertebrates showed up.

There is no way for animals, arthropods in the previous debate, to voluntarily, or forcefully adapt and evolve. It's like a monkey deciding to walk erect as a genetic trait. If arthropods haven't adapted to another niche, it's because they have experienced no random (use of the word "random" here implies unpredictability) genetic mutations. More importantly, they have no mutations that allow them to a) survive in the said environment, and b) reproduce and pass on the specific mutation. Granted, these mutations are gradual, spanning generations, but are still a random occurence.

The openness of a niche affects the occurence of evolution providing it with inhabitants, only by making survivability within that niche easier to accomplish. For example:

A fish gets a mutation allowing it to walk on land. There is only one island nearby. Unfortunately, that island is the niche of a large bear. (yes, this example bizarre, but it's right in principle) The fish's mutation won't let it take up that niche because the mutation doesn't help it not get killed by the bear. If the niche is open (no bear), then mabye the fish can occupy it, and the island. HOWEVER, this does not affect dependence upon the occurence of a random mutation that makes breeding (which requires surviving) possible. The mutation must also be a dominant trait.

I'm not a teacher, so excuse the somewhat lack of clarity. Hope this helps.

 

[orzhovslodier]

There is no way for animals, arthropods in the previous debate, to voluntarily, or forcefully adapt and evolve. It's like a monkey deciding to walk erect as a genetic trait. If arthropods haven't adapted to another niche, it's because they have experienced no random (use of the word "random" here implies unpredictability) genetic mutations. More importantly, they have no mutations that allow them to a) survive in the said environment, and b) reproduce and pass on the specific mutation. Granted, these mutations are gradual, spanning generations, but are still a random occurence.

The openness of a niche affects the occurence of evolution providing it with inhabitants, only by making survivability within that niche easier to accomplish. For example:

A fish gets a mutation allowing it to walk on land. There is only one island nearby. Unfortunately, that island is the niche of a large bear. (yes, this example bizarre, but it's right in principle) The fish's mutation won't let it take up that niche because the mutation doesn't help it not get killed by the bear. If the niche is open (no bear), then mabye the fish can occupy it, and the island. HOWEVER, this does not affect dependence upon the occurence of a random mutation that makes breeding (which requires surviving) possible. The mutation must also be a dominant trait.

I'm not a teacher, so excuse the somewhat lack of clarity. Hope this helps.

Wait, he said the reason arthropods hadn't taken the large animal niche was because vertebrates had already taken it.

I said that arthropods hadn't taken that niche essentially because their adaptations made it difficult if not impossible to get larger than they were.

He then said that arthropods would fill the niche if there was nothing occupying it, and then I asked why they didn't take the niche when it was open earlier. My reason why not is basically the reason you have in your example with the fish.

I apologise if I'm stupid and still not making sense.

 

[fishdbaz]

Okay dokey, this quote fight is geting out of hand. Let me get back to my basic argument. Really, I suppose all I'm trying to say is that there's got to be some sort of explanation for the abilities of the Vortigaunts that conforms to established science and physics. Whether or not their lighting bolts or telepathy was naturally evolved really doesn't matter too much. So long as the Vortessence isn't some crazy pan-universal force akin to fantasy magic or the force or something, I'm fine with whatever the explanation may be... Speaking of which, has anyone ever tried asking Marc Laidlaw or someone like that about the nature of the Vortessence? I mean, there's always a chance...

 

[Xevrex]

Think of the Vortessence as a different version of reality where things on the other side can be manipulated if enough energy is concentrated and used. Vortigaunts exist within our reality, along with the other beings in the universe.

Aww, screw it. Think of it has a plane, ascending from the one that the humans, Vorts, and Combine are in. The higher plane can interject with things on the lower plane if directed by the will of the individual who concentrates their power enough to intersect themselves with it, to ascend to the plane. From there they can do things like pulling Gordon Freeman and Alyx Vance out of the end-game explosion at the Citadel.

Also, we know from Episode 2 that Vortigaunts must call out to their brethren using a ululation to get their attention, which means that possibly from a farther distance they cannot communicate to each other using the Vortessence. Think of a Vortigaunt's telepathic communication to other Vorts being limited by distance, sort of like an out-of-range signal; this corresponds to the lower plane, the plane in which life and matter exist naturally. On this lower plane, our technology of radios, cell phones, wireless connections--all of them have a signal strength that is not interceptable outside of a specific radius. Because the plane exists within the same universe, the same rule also applies, but the telepathic "signal" is much stronger in the Vortessence, as it would most likely be; after all, the Vortessence is a plane that connects others via minds, and those especially with strong minds should be able to reach out far to others.

Furthermore, within the Vortessence "plane" lies levels of interaction with the physical plane that can only be channeled with large amounts of energy, allowing the user or users to interact on a much higher level, being able to prevent death and heal a body from mortal wounds. Thus, the saviors of Alyx Vance had to use the extract--possibly a mind-enhancing drug to their kind--and concentrate their power together to "divide the false veils of the Vortessence" that prevented them from being able to prevent the death of Alyx. By bonding their augmented minds with one another, they were able to reach a higher level of the Vortessence plane that allowed much further interaction with the physical than that of a lone Vortigaunt. Other evidence of this lies within the saving of Alyx and Gordon from the Citadel explosion (end of HL2, not Ep1), as multiple Vortigaunts (their images telepathically presented to Freeman, as an avatar that is interacting with the plane) saved them from death and preventing the G-man from re-admitting Freeman into stasis. They all concentrated their minds to the same point, and forced the hive-mind of the mentally-bonded Vorts into the higher levels of the Vortessence, thus rescuing their salvation from the Combine.

Though, hell, this is just a theory I wrote up with lack of sleep, food and drink at 3 AM. What do I know?

EDIT: I must imagine that any Valve employee that reads these forums must always laugh at us trying to figure out the fiction in their video game. I bet they're just laughing and thinking, "Nope, wrong again guys. We can write it a different way."

 

[Botolf]

Anybody know Marc Laidlaw's e-mail address? I wouldn't mind asking some questions related to this topic.

 

[Barnz]

he doesn't have his mail adress on valve's page, so i guess he wants to keep it private for his own personals reasons

...whatever, his mail adress is: "laidlaw @ valvesoftware . com"

just don't beg him for ep3 info, okay?

 

[Botolf]

just don't beg him for ep3 info, okay?

Wouldn't think of it

Thanks.

 

[fishdbaz]

I wouldn't count on getting a solid answer (or any real answer at all, for that matter) from Marc Laidlaw.
See this thread http://www.halflife2.net/forums/showthread.php?t=143156 to see what I mean.

 

[Xevrex]

I believe my post makes a lot of sense.

Someone please read my post and agree/disagree with it. I'd like some idea on it, damnit.

 

[gFrohman]

To tell you the truth Xevrex, your theory makes the most sense with me. Vortessence seems like it does exist (we've seen that firsthand with Alyx's healing and your rescue at the Citadel), but since humans' Vortal imputs are "impaired", they can't access this "plane". Perhaps it's some sort of Vortigaunt extra sense (kinda like how sharks can sense electromagnetic fields, but we can't...maybe, I dunno).

I think you're also on to something in regards to the Vorts telepathy. I see this kinda like how telepaths were in the show Babylon 5 - Telepaths can only establish telepathic contact in a line-of-sight contact(they can't be in another room or be in a seperate building), and they can vary genetically in strength. As for the specifics for how it exactly works, I dunno (we may never know). This could be applied (theoretically) to the Vorts IMO.


Then again, I am sleep-deprived as well and could be randomly babbling, but that's just my view on the matter.

 

[jet_porkins]

You're all wrong.

Midichlorians.

 

[Swilly]

Wow XD

Actually one of the main points of my story is what happpens when the vortigaunts don't have a human subject to base their repairs off of. What happens to the human being healed?