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Black Mesa: Blue Shift
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Baldarek 17. okt. kl. 16:56
Focal Point - lore questions
A lot has already been said about how tedious and frustrating the experience of playing Focal Point is and I don't have much to add there. However, I do want to talk about the lore of BMBS's Xen chapter. I actually find it pretty neat for the most part; I like the idea of Black Mesa having built a number of facilities in Xen over the years for studying local fauna and crystals until things started to go wrong. However, there are a few things that left me scratching my head, and I'm hoping someone can help me explain them.

1. Before we get into Focal Point itself, how did Walter and Simmons get into the Prototype labs? They are already there when we get there, yet the whole place has been sealed off for quite some time, and I'm pretty sure at some point it was said that the entrance which Barney and friends broke through was the only remaining one.

2. Throughout Focal Point you can find the remains of Black Mesa's outposts in Xen right next to alien structures. It seems clear that BM built their structures first and then eventually Nihilanth's forces encroached on them, as otherwise the timeline posters in the Primary Habitat would have reflected the humans discovering alien architecture from the very begining. So, did Nihilanth and his forces not yet flee to Xen when Black Mesa first established their presence there, or where they just elsewhere in Xen? And why did they specifically build their weird facility that Barney sabotages right next to the human outposts?

3. As Barney traverses Xen, the new bullsquids randomly teleport in around him. Is it Nihilanth and/or alien controllers dispatching them in an attempt to stop Barney? I just find it a bit strange that it doesn't happen with any other animal enemies in Xen.

4. Just before the final reactor thing that Barney works to destroy, there is a section where several humans and human objects are held in suspension, presumably for study. But if you look at the top level, there are also two antlions (which we don't see on Xen at all and which wouldn't show up on Earth until much later) as well as some other alien creature. Why are they also there, and what is that other creature?

https://steamcommunity.yuanyoumao.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3588826639
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AdrianDogmeat 18. okt. kl. 6:30 
Oprindeligt skrevet af Baldarek:
A lot has already been said about how tedious and frustrating the experience of playing Focal Point is and I don't have much to add there. However, I do want to talk about the lore of BMBS's Xen chapter. I actually find it pretty neat for the most part; I like the idea of Black Mesa having built a number of facilities in Xen over the years for studying local fauna and crystals until things started to go wrong. However, there are a few things that left me scratching my head, and I'm hoping someone can help me explain them.

1. Before we get into Focal Point itself, how did Walter and Simmons get into the Prototype labs? They are already there when we get there, yet the whole place has been sealed off for quite some time, and I'm pretty sure at some point it was said that the entrance which Barney and friends broke through was the only remaining one.

2. Throughout Focal Point you can find the remains of Black Mesa's outposts in Xen right next to alien structures. It seems clear that BM built their structures first and then eventually Nihilanth's forces encroached on them, as otherwise the timeline posters in the Primary Habitat would have reflected the humans discovering alien architecture from the very begining. So, did Nihilanth and his forces not yet flee to Xen when Black Mesa first established their presence there, or where they just elsewhere in Xen? And why did they specifically build their weird facility that Barney sabotages right next to the human outposts?

3. As Barney traverses Xen, the new bullsquids randomly teleport in around him. Is it Nihilanth and/or alien controllers dispatching them in an attempt to stop Barney? I just find it a bit strange that it doesn't happen with any other animal enemies in Xen.

4. Just before the final reactor thing that Barney works to destroy, there is a section where several humans and human objects are held in suspension, presumably for study. But if you look at the top level, there are also two antlions (which we don't see on Xen at all and which wouldn't show up on Earth until much later) as well as some other alien creature. Why are they also there, and what is that other creature?

https://steamcommunity.yuanyoumao.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3588826639

I can answer these as best as I could, based on personal interpretation and various in-game details plus some other dev material:

1. It's likely possible the entrance seen in Captive Freight isn't the only one, per Rosenberg: "Most of them were either sealed off, or re-used to build up the Freight Yard Complex", after all A-17 was a massive underground complex with likely tens of accessible entrances.
- The Steam Tunnel System probably was still left operational as seen in CF, and that also had multiple security checkpoints too to access A-17 according to Rosenberg again
"Before this area was decommissioned there were multiple entrances, with security checkpoints around the Steam Tunnel System"

2. Focal Point's sector of Xen is for one, very far away from Nihilanth's base of operations (400 miles according to the whiteboards, implied) which houses most of the living quarters and manufacturing facilities, and two - it was left mostly inhabited by various wildlife before the vortigaunts came in
- They built their facility (a.k.a, The Interceptor) there right next to the relay emitter because A: they wanted to quarantine the relay site (Lambda), and B: Prevent any Black Mesa Survey Teams from approaching said site
- Not to mention the vast quantities of Xenian Crystals on that island alone (seen throughout Focal Point, the one with multiple spikes protruding out) made for a perfect spot to build a giant alien facility

3. I can't think of any reason other than just gameplay really, they mostly fall into the wildlife category unlike controllers, alien grunts and whatnot

4. It's mostly a "server room", expanding more on the implication of Xenians collecting humans as samples, as a form of pushback from the same thing happening to them by the survey teams (a point expanded on in HL1 & BM)
- As for the antlions, it's mostly a callback to HL2 and I wouldn't rule out the existence of antlions in an another sector of Xen
- The other creature however, is a cut enemy called the "Mortar Synth", only seen once in "Our Benefactors" in HL2. Now it's a bit outlandish having a captured combine enemy in Xen of all places (a cut NPC no less), but it's kinda cool to think about
Sidst redigeret af AdrianDogmeat; 18. okt. kl. 6:33
#1
Baldarek 18. nov. kl. 5:38 
Thank you for your reply. I forgot I made this thread lol

Oprindeligt skrevet af AdrianDogmeat:
1. It's likely possible the entrance seen in Captive Freight isn't the only one, per Rosenberg: "Most of them were either sealed off, or re-used to build up the Freight Yard Complex", after all A-17 was a massive underground complex with likely tens of accessible entrances.
- The Steam Tunnel System probably was still left operational as seen in CF, and that also had multiple security checkpoints too to access A-17 according to Rosenberg again
"Before this area was decommissioned there were multiple entrances, with security checkpoints around the Steam Tunnel System"
Yeah, I guess there are other entrances. It seems I got my memories of Black Mesa and BMBS mixed up, as in the former they tell Freeman that all other entrances to the Lambda Complex are closed.

Oprindeligt skrevet af AdrianDogmeat:
2. Focal Point's sector of Xen is for one, very far away from Nihilanth's base of operations (400 miles according to the whiteboards, implied) which houses most of the living quarters and manufacturing facilities, and two - it was left mostly inhabited by various wildlife before the vortigaunts came in
- They built their facility (a.k.a, The Interceptor) there right next to the relay emitter because A: they wanted to quarantine the relay site (Lambda), and B: Prevent any Black Mesa Survey Teams from approaching said site
- Not to mention the vast quantities of Xenian Crystals on that island alone (seen throughout Focal Point, the one with multiple spikes protruding out) made for a perfect spot to build a giant alien facility
Fair enough, but why did they need to quarantine the relay site, especially if the crystals wrecking chaos and Xen wildlife have already been driving humans out anyway?

Oprindeligt skrevet af AdrianDogmeat:
4. It's mostly a "server room", expanding more on the implication of Xenians collecting humans as samples, as a form of pushback from the same thing happening to them by the survey teams (a point expanded on in HL1 & BM)
- As for the antlions, it's mostly a callback to HL2 and I wouldn't rule out the existence of antlions in an another sector of Xen
- The other creature however, is a cut enemy called the "Mortar Synth", only seen once in "Our Benefactors" in HL2. Now it's a bit outlandish having a captured combine enemy in Xen of all places (a cut NPC no less), but it's kinda cool to think about
It makes sense for Antlions to exist elsewhere on Xen (we know that Vortigaunt ancestors used to practice Antlion husbandry), but it's weird to see Antlions contained specifically alongside "alien" exhibits. It's like if Black Mesa scientists kept a couple of regular Earth cows next to all the Xen fauna in their labs.

As for the Mortar Synth, I didn't know about it, but it kinda makes sense. If Nihilanth fled from the Combine to Xen, it's plausible that one of Combine creatures got caught up in the moving process and was accidentally brought along and stranded in Xen, where it was captured for study.
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