The Official Half Life Theory / Discussion Thread

[Blightmare]

Since it seems that the Freeman's Mind episode threads keep getting taken over by discussions about the Half Life universe, I feel this thread is very much needed. This thread is for any and all discussions about Half Life from theories to what you feel is canonc, etc. Try to keep it civil. ^_^

 

The last discussion I saw involved a mysterious Third Power being allied to neither the Combine or the Gman and his employers, the motives behind the Gman, and whether or not the Combine view Earth as a threat. Seems like a good enough place to start if any.

[ThePest179]

whether or not the Combine view Earth as a threat. Seems like a good enough place to start if any.

 

Easy. Was Poland a threat to Nazi Germany? Was Saddam's Iraq a threat to the US? Was Chechnya a threat to Russia?

 

Hell no, definitely no, and mostly no.

[BTGBullseye]

Earth + the Vortigaunts that are helping Freeman: Hell yes they're a threat!

[ThePest179]

Earth + the Vortigaunts that are helping Freeman: Hell yes they're a threat!

 

No they aren't. Freeman has had no trouble killing Vorts, neither have the Marines. It would be easy for the Combine.

[Blightmare]

The way I feel is that Earth isn't so much a threat as it is a nuisance. Not only did the war last only 7 hours, but it only ended because we "surrendered" meaning we were close to annihilation anyways. On top of that, the line by Eli, "It'd be the Seven Hours War all over again. Except this time we won't last seven minutes." not only tells me that they have to resources and firepower to wipe us out at any moment, but that we already know they could. the only reason they haven't up until the events of the episodes is because we've kept in line and never done anything to warrant action beyond local forces. And as made evident by Episode 1, our only real advantage is that they can't bring everything they have here without resorting to extreme measures.

 

As for the Vortigaunts, they aren't Earth native and while they do pose more of a threat than humans do (that lightning is nasty) I'd figure if they became a problem themselves that Earth wouldn't be where they struck them first.

 

My thoughts on whether earth itself is a threat. I haven't put as much time into these thoughts as others, I'm just using what the game has given me.

[Vapymid]

The Earth is just a part of a bigger game for the Combine. It is clearly important strategically for their future plans but not immediately. They are planning to do something here but it requires time and labour and that's why they have striven to keep part of the population alive and healthy and not simply exterminated everyone.

 

On the other hand, this is a project that, while being important, is not yet critically so and thus they've put human collaborators in charge, as opposed to managing everything hands-on by themselves, which was a big mistake.

 

The Combine is clearly involved in a long term (existential?) war with another Power, which, while being as powerful as the Combine itself, is not in a position to contest Earth in an open engagement. Yet.

 

That Other Power, instead, is using special operators (G-Man, Freeman etc) to disrupt and delay the Combine's project, positioning themselves for a decisive action.

 

However, the Other Power has unfortunately suffered a serious set-back, having relied on Valve to progress matters further on their behalf. Not having dealt with people before, they have completely misunderestimated the power of procrastinators like Gabe Newell to, well, procrastinate. As the result, with the Earth cut off from the Combine and Valve doing bugger all about Half-Life, the Combine and the Other Power are locked in a stalemate which is likely to last forever and 3 days...

 

Regards

 

P.S. Oh, also, the Combine's main forces could have wiped all humanity off the face of the Galaxy but that would have left them to do all subsequent work themselves, which is not ideal when you may need the labour resources elsewhere, with a big war going on and all that.

[BTGBullseye]

Earth + the Vortigaunts that are helping Freeman: Hell yes they're a threat!

 

No they aren't. Freeman has had no trouble killing Vorts, neither have the Marines. It would be easy for the Combine.

Individually, yes... As a group, not the same.

 

They are greater than the sum of their parts, as all resistance groups are.

[ThePest179]

snip

 

This is by far the most logical reason I've heard on why the Combine don't kill off humanity. Perhaps their long term goal is to expand across the universe that we reside in? They are a "Universal Union" after all.

[Vapymid]

I have a copy of "Raising the Bar" somewhere - I'll try to dig it out and see what it says on the issue...

 

Regards

[ThePest179]

Well, since this is a thread centered on HL theories...

 

I'm going to take a leap and say that HL takes place in 2006-early2007. Why? Because that's the year when the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns escalated considerably; given the quality of the troops taking place in the Operation at Black Mesa, it would make sense for the best and brightest to be deployed overseas.

[Vapymid]

I found the book. It did not anything much clearer.

 

In the original plot-line there were supposed to be additional locations, such as Air Exchange and Weather Control, which suggest that Combine has started a long-term terraforming program, as well as plundered some of the Earth resources, such as water and O2. That concept was later dropped and/or diluted and for the better, if you ask me...

 

In addition, there were other locations, showing various plants and factories manned by humans. These were also dropped but simply because they did not contribute anything interesting to the gameplay.

 

Regarding timeframe for HL1 - I think it took place earlier than mid '00s because all computers in the Black Mesa facility still had CRT monitors. I would say - mid '90s look more likely to me.

 

Regards

[ThePest179]

Regarding timeframe for HL1 - I think it took place earlier than mid '00s because all computers in the Black Mesa facility still had CRT monitors. I would say - mid '90s look more likely to me.

 

Regards

 

Word of God states that HL takes place in the 2000's. The 90's look is just a product of the times.

[BTGBullseye]

You'd be surprised how many government run facilities still use CRT and tape drives as of January 2015...

[Vapymid]

Word of God states that HL takes place in the 2000's

 

Yes, it appears so...

 

many government run facilities still use CRT

 

Well, having thought about - it seems plausible. Seeing how stuff was always breaking and leaking at Black Mesa, perhaps upgrading the PCs and monitors was not a high priority.

 

Regards

[ThePest179]

snip

 

This is by far the most logical reason I've heard on why the Combine don't kill off humanity. Perhaps their long term goal is to expand across the universe that we reside in? They are a "Universal Union" after all.

 

Building up on this, perhaps where the Combine come from is a 1984 style distopia across multiple universes.

[ThePest179]

Quick quip: While I criticised some guy for suggesting it before, I'm starting to think that the HECU force is only about 5,000 in number, with around 3,000 infantry and the other 2,000 spread out over pilots, tank crews, etc.

[ThePest179]

Xen is refered to as a "Great Filter" by Marc Liadlaw, isn't it? building up off this, perhaps Race X is 'native' to Xen, but is never encountered there as they are located in a different part of it.