Half-Life & Portal series, general discussion (v3) - Games

[QUOTE=Im Crimson;39071171]Now that's something I'd be down for. Set the first part of the game after the intro chapter in the belly of the Borealis, now infested with evil creations straight out of Lovecraft. Finish the franchise as you started it: Make the first two hours of the game survival-horror-esque, gradually make the shooting element evolve from there and keep ramping up the stakes and tempo from there into an explosive crescendo.[/QUOTE] Now THAT's what I'm talking about; following a similar theme to the original game in an effort to finish Gordon's story similar to how it started.

[QUOTE=Marcolade;39071288]I think it'd actually be pretty awesome if Valve used some of the silliness of Portal, and it turned out there was actually nothing really useful to either the Combine or the Resistance on the Borealis except some crazy ideas Cave Johnson came up with way back when, like combustible lemons or something.[/QUOTE] It'd be hilarious if the Combustible Lemon Launcher was the most powerful weapon in all of Half-life. Like, makes the Super Gravity Gun look like the pistol.

[QUOTE=Marcolade;39071288]I think it'd actually be pretty awesome if Valve used some of the silliness of Portal, and it turned out there was actually nothing really useful to either the Combine or the Resistance on the Borealis except some crazy ideas Cave Johnson came up with way back when, like combustible lemons or something.[/QUOTE] Borealis is infested with Mantis Men.

Maybe the borealis is a warship in disguise. Made by aperture "just 'cause". Activate it, see it rise up, tear open a portal-esque hole in front of the ship and go through it straight into the combine's home planet. Well we have the combine dialing-code, it had been used to close the superportal I think, but why not use it to take the fight to them?

[QUOTE=hogofwar;39071588]Maybe the borealis is a warship in disguise. [/QUOTE] One of the old blueprints had guns on it, so it's not impossible, but it wouldn't make a lot of sense given the ship in EP2.

[QUOTE=Marcolade;39071288]I think it'd actually be pretty awesome if Valve used some of the silliness of Portal, and it turned out there was actually nothing really useful to either the Combine or the Resistance on the Borealis except some crazy ideas Cave Johnson came up with way back when, like combustible lemons or something.[/QUOTE] I don't think Aperture is as silly as most people think they are. Sure, at the start Aperture was trying pretty much everything and hoping something would work, but later on they were a bit more serious and by the time of the current Aperture in the 80s the majority of the really silly ideas were gone. Obviously they had some crazy ideas but they must of been based on some sort of science otherwise they wouldn't of bothered trying them in the first place. I think that some of their 'silly' ideas were actually quite dark when you think about them though. Can anyone tell me if this is canon? [url]http://aperturescience.org/var/log/maillog.1.txt[/url]

[QUOTE=hogofwar;39071588]Maybe the borealis is a warship in disguise. Made by aperture "just 'cause". Activate it, see it rise up, tear open a portal-esque whole in front of the ship and go through it straight into the combine's home planet. Well we have the combine dialing-code, it had been used to close the superportal I think, but why not use it to take the fight to them?[/QUOTE] I thought Breen or someone said that the Combine Overworld was incapable of sustaining humans. That's why he needed his body transferred to an advisor's body.

[QUOTE=Neo Kabuto;39071661]One of the old blueprints had guns on it, so it's not impossible, but it wouldn't make a lot of sense given the ship in EP2.[/QUOTE] [I]Disguised.[/I]

[QUOTE=tempunary;39071562]Borealis is infested with Mantis Men.[/QUOTE] Personally I'd rather it be infested by giant spiders or Nurglings or horrific things from worlds where the Vortessence is strong enough to warp and mutate living things into eldritch horrors.

[QUOTE=tempunary;39071703]I thought Breen or someone said that the Combine Overworld was incapable of sustaining humans. That's why he needed his body transferred to an advisor's body.[/QUOTE] We have teleportations and portals, as well as aliens and zombies. Why not a environmentally sealing force field? Or you know, the ship is airtight. If you mean having troops attack them, I was kinda meaning it was just the ship shooting them. [editline]2nd January 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=nightlord;39071689]I don't think Aperture is as silly as most people think they are. Sure, at the start Aperture was trying pretty much everything and hoping something would work, but later on they were a bit more serious and by the time of the current Aperture in the 80s the majority of the really silly ideas were gone. Obviously they had some crazy ideas but they must of been based on some sort of science otherwise they wouldn't of bothered trying them in the first place. I think that some of their 'silly' ideas were actually quite dark when you think about them though. Can anyone tell me if this is canon? [URL]http://aperturescience.org/var/log/maillog.1.txt[/URL][/QUOTE] I don't see anything saying it isn't canon. Also, that food comment really means that anyone who was onboard is probably dead, and pretty soon after leaving due to starvation at least. And it's probably built like a tank, probably stronger. And the "thing" is apparently huge.

[QUOTE=nightlord;39071689]I don't think Aperture is as silly as most people think they are. Sure, at the start Aperture was trying pretty much everything and hoping something would work, but later on they were a bit more serious and by the time of the current Aperture in the 80s the majority of the really silly ideas were gone. Obviously they had some crazy ideas but they must of been based on some sort of science otherwise they wouldn't of bothered trying them in the first place. I think that some of their 'silly' ideas were actually quite dark when you think about them though. Can anyone tell me if this is canon? [url]http://aperturescience.org/var/log/maillog.1.txt[/url][/QUOTE] If I remember correctly, that was a hoax by Dougley who'd abused his 'chosen one' reliability from the Portal 2 launch ARG. Just checked, yep that's the one; it's fake.

[QUOTE=SL128;39071918]If I remember correctly, that was a hoax by Dougley who'd abused his 'chosen one' reliability from the Portal 2 launch ARG. Just checked, yep that's the one; it's fake.[/QUOTE] Ah, didn't check the domain when i said "I don't see anything saying it isn't canon". My bad! As for the turrets/cannons/artillery on the blueprint I wonder if it was intentional or just because the used USS Newport News as a base for the blueprints. [t]http://images.wikia.com/half-life/en/images/5/5e/USS_Newport_News_MainDeckAft.jpg[/t]

I'm curious as to just how large the Borealis will be. Surely it can't be more than a few chapters long, its a research vessel, not a floating fortress.

[QUOTE=Magmacow358;39072505]I'm curious as to just how large the Borealis will be. Surely it can't be more than a few chapters long, its a research vessel, not a floating fortress.[/QUOTE] That's what I've said; it'd probably only worth a chapter or two of exploration before whatever crazed forces that commandeered the ship pull the Borealis back into whatever eldritch dimension it got hauled into. Perhaps the first Borealis chapter would involve getting to the "core", fighting against the Combine in an effort to secure (or destroy) whatever lies at the heart of the ship, with the occasional glimpse of something unspeakable darting through a vent or around a corner, then Judith accidentally jumpstarts the "Warp drive" as she fawns over the technology behind it and everything shakes as the ship is dragged back into the Screaming Glowy Place. Then the second Borealis chapter involves getting out of the Borealis as unspeakable long-dormant horrors start using the bodies of the Combine Soldiers as "portals" through which they can manifest with all sorts of tentacles and fangs and extraneous eyeballs, whether keeping Mossman with you or briefly lamenting how she got eaten by a tentacle beast, and once you reach the bridge or deck, you realise that you are somewhere far worse than Xen as you look over pools of searing bile and a black sun surrounded with a green swirl. And from there you'd and your allies would probably have to find something to help get back to Earth again, maybe finding some sort of power source or dimensional charts. Speaking of which, since Valve said their future products would have a multiplayer component, I'm hoping and assuming that there would be a co-op mode wherein three players can play through the story together as Gordon, Alyx and Barney. If that's the case, however, then they would need some sort of "revive" mechanic to avoid frustrating game-overs because 1 of the characters died; maybe Medkits could be kept in some kind of inventory storage and be used like "Phoenix Downs"?

[QUOTE=Magmacow358;39072505]I'm curious as to just how large the Borealis will be. Surely it can't be more than a few chapters long, its a research vessel, not a floating fortress.[/QUOTE] Maybe to increase the ambient, Gordon and Alyx will suffer an accident in the half way, and well... your gameplay start there, walking kilometers and kilometers to finally reach the Borealis.

[QUOTE=nightlord;39071689] Can anyone tell me if this is canon? [url]http://aperturescience.org/var/log/maillog.1.txt[/url][/QUOTE] Valve doesn't own that domain, it was registered with GoDaddy.

[QUOTE=EpicRandomnes;39056876]None of the 'crabs are modified, JSYK. According to Marc Laidlaw, anyway. Also, Vortiguants are able to defend themselves well. That may be a "story-line" factor in it. Besides, we didn't get a Combine zombie until Episode 1, or a military zombie until Opposing Force. And I don't think we ever got a Security Guard zombie... Regardless, there's a lot of NPCs in Half-Life that haven't got a zombie model or took a while to get one.[/QUOTE] Poison Headcrabs are created by toxic sludge if that helps

My theory, they go to the Borealis to use Aperture's portal technology to get to Xen; then from Xen Gordon goes to the Combine home world; then back to Earth. Also lots of explosions...

[QUOTE=ojcoolj;39073733]Poison Headcrabs are created by toxic sludge if that helps[/QUOTE] Is there a source for this? I haven't heard of poison headcrabs being mutated.

1. Poison and Fast Headcrabs have their own Gonarch. 2. The Combine manufactured them. 3. Or maybe just toxins and radiation.

[QUOTE=tempunary;39075139]1. Poison and Fast Headcrabs have their own Gonarch. 2. The Combine manufactured them. 3. Or maybe just toxins and radiation.[/QUOTE] I believe they are just variations of the same species, they all came from a primitive headcrab and then suffered adaptations due to weather and ecosystem. Pretty much what happened to dogs in our world. There are probably poison and fast Gonarchs since they're pretty much just grown up headcrabs. It's just too hard for them to reach the Gonarch phase.

I heard that the poison and fast headcrabs were 'evolutions' of the vanilla headcrab. Like how the zombies evolved in Opposing Force.

[QUOTE=tempunary;39075139]1. Poison and Fast Headcrabs have their own Gonarch. [/QUOTE] Jesus Christ, imagine how horrifying Poison or Fast Gonarchs would be.

[QUOTE=Sergeant Stacker;39075087]Is there a source for this? I haven't heard of poison headcrabs being mutated.[/QUOTE] The Orange Box guide is about as canon as it gets until something refutes this. Unless another official source contradicts it, it can be canon Its like Race X. Except with more Canon But its just a game guide, they could crush that with a small throwaway line It also says Shield Scanner's have small machine guns, which'd be pretty epic [editline]3rd January 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=Bokito;39077267]Jesus Christ, imagine how horrifying Poison or Fast Gonarchs would be.[/QUOTE] Poison Gonarch would secrete acid like the normal Gonarch, except it slows the player and leaves them at one health, while spawning poison headcrabs that leave it vulnerable to the Gonarch's charge attack. The headcrabs would have to be very, very weak to allow even a tiny chance of winning Fast Gonarch's would do less damage, but basically be like noclipping speed. [editline]3rd January 2013[/editline] Oh crap the Wiki's turned Christian :suicide:

I hope this four year old PC will be able to run EP3 when it's released at least at minimum settings(knowing valve,it will probably be that)

[QUOTE=Sergeant Stacker;39075087]Is there a source for this? I haven't heard of poison headcrabs being mutated.[/QUOTE] "I think the poison headcrabs must have eaten something poisonous at one point, and liked it so much they added it to their repertoire." Source: [URL]http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2503050[/URL]

Since portal storms are apparently still happening, I wonder if we will see one in ep3...

[QUOTE=hogofwar;39079149]Since portal storms are apparently still happening, I wonder if we will see one in ep3...[/QUOTE]they are? you talking about the one(s) in Ep2? wasn't all that just part of the Combine's whole 'Main Superportal Turn On All Your Earth Are Belong To Us' plot?

[QUOTE=Joazzz;39079193]they are? you talking about the one(s) in Ep2? wasn't all that just part of the Combine's whole 'Main Superportal Turn On All Your Earth Are Belong To Us' plot?[/QUOTE] [QUOTE]Originally Posted by Marc Laidlaw Those things came through during the portal storms, which continue erratically to this very day. Some of the critters came early (immediately after the Black Mesa incident) and adapted to earth. I think the poison headcrabs must have eaten something poisonous at one point, and liked it so much they added it to their repertoire. The Bullsquids are around here somewhere.[/QUOTE] The portal storm in EP2/EP1 (I think it was a portal storm, or something), was artificial, there are still "natural" ones apparently.

So I found this CG Set, it's pretty sexy: [img]http://cghub.com/files/Image/350001-351000/350719/991_max.jpg[/img] [img]http://cghub.com/files/Image/350001-351000/350717/703_max.jpg[/img] [img]http://cghub.com/files/Image/350001-351000/350721/380_max.jpg[/img]