Combine Factories



The Combine Factories is a cut concept from Half-Life 2 located in a part of City 17 that was cut early in the creating process of the game and never really finalized, doomed by gameplay issues, as many of the cut ideas. According to the book Raising the Bar, these levels were located at the start of the game, between the business/entertainment levels containing the Manhack Arcade (set right after the Trainstation Plaza) and Kleiner's lab. The workers of these factories were to be closely watched by Metrocops and Combots.

Features


The levels would have probably been filled with citizens working and passing through in all directions, watched by Metrocops and Combots. Most of the workers would have consisted in children, but some concepts also show adults. This area was to contain two important sections.

The Child Factory
In this factory, children were building Cremators.



The "stenographer's chasm"
It was an attempt to create a nightmarish environment, but gameplay was again an issue. The place was to be filled with citizens typing information on stenographs.

Fate
As the concept of human reproduction being disabled by a Combine suppressor field evolving, children finally got cut with the whole area, as long with the Cremator, also very close to this early universe style. It was also easier to avoid censorship issues in many countries and not restrain the game to an older audience by removing all children.

Although some ideas sounded good on paper, the developers found themselves unable to find a satisfying gameplay for this area. Like the Manhack Arcade, this area didn't have a purpose strong enough to be kept.