Black Mesa Science Team

"Why do we all have to wear these ridiculous ties?"

- Black Mesa scientist

The Black Mesa Science Team is the overwhelming majority of Black Mesa's population. With the Black Mesa Security Force, it is one of the most important bodies of the Black Mesa personnel.

Overview
Each scientist is granted a different security clearance specific to his or her duty, with an average clearance of Level 5. Like other employees, scientists have an assigned uniform, consisting of a blue shirt, white lab coat, red striped tie and white (or beige) slacks. In Opposing Force, a cleansuit-wearing variation of the normal scientist appears in limited areas. Some scientists are trained in the use of the MP5 submachine gun as part of Hazard Course training, but most have little or no combat skills or experience.

In the Half-Life Audio Script, the scientists are described as follows: ''The scientists are brisk and businesslike; faced with the stress of fantastically improbable situations, they either devolve into hysterical panic and shock, or shield themselves with hyperrational analysis. They are your coworkers, mentors, and allies; although occasionally they are too busy to even notice you. When you are injured, they will inject healing agents, making them extremely important to your existence.''

Positions

 * Research and Development - The largest portion of the scientists are assigned to research and development positions, where they conduct experiments and create new technologies. The research conducted ranges in focus from particle physics to biological study to space travel. Most R&D scientists have a limited knowledge of first aid, and can heal some wounds.


 * Research Associate - Research Associates work alongside R&D scientists, but with a lower status in the employment hierarchy. They are usually required to conduct the more mundane or less desirable portions of a given experiment. Dr. Gordon Freeman and Dr. Colette Green are notable research associates.


 * Hazardous Environment Supervisor - Supervisors act in a similar role to research associates in that they assist in experiments, but they are primarily concerned with maintaining a safe work environment. Dr. Gina Cross works in this position.


 * Instructor - Scientists will often take on additional work training employees and conducting simulations in the Sector A Training Facility, as themselves or their hologram counterparts.


 * Survey Team - Survey Teams were organized soon after the first teleportation labs were constructed in Black Mesa. Their assignment is the most dangerous, as they are tasked with entering the borderworld Xen to collect samples and conduct experiments. Because of the danger, Survey Team members are highly trained in the use of the HEV Suit and a variety of weapons. Many Survey Team scientists have died on Xen.

Notable members



 * Gordon Freeman
 * Rosenberg
 * Richard Keller
 * Gina Cross
 * Colette Green
 * Wallace Breen (Administrator)
 * Isaac Kleiner
 * Eli Vance
 * Arne Magnusson
 * Complete list

In-game
Although cowardly and clumsy at times, scientists can assist the player with certain tasks such as using retinal scanners to open doors, but they also tend to be physically weak, dying within a few shots, as well as having no combat capabilities. Scientists have some first aid skills and will administer a 25-point medicine boost to a wounded player with a health level under 50. Cleansuit scientists do not have this ability.

Scientists are also notable to say random, sometimes humorous sentences, most of the time when they are triggered.

Behind the scenes

 * Originally, all Black Mesa employees were to be hostile to the player. The Barney NPC was then used by Valve's AI programmer Steve Bond to run experiments in enemy squad behavior. By putting the player in the role of squad leader, and forcing Barney to follow instead of fight the player, Bond hoped for an easy way to test navigation rules. The unexpected result of this experiment was a working companion character, which instantly appealed to every playtester who saw Barney in action. This caused the team to rethink large portions of the story and Gordon's role in it, and the game was completely overhauled in late 1997. In that process of converting enemies to allies, the team also came to think about characters that were neither allies nor enemies to the player, leading to the creation of the G-Man.


 * Security guards and scientists were also to have a much more frightened, almost cartoonish face.


 * Half-Life was also to feature female scientists other than the Holographic Assistant, that were to be found scarcely along the journey. The texture files for the model can be found in the folder "f_science" (likely the name of the model) in the Half-Life: Source texture folder, but not in that of the original Half-Life. Female scientists were finally introduced in Decay, as Gina Cross and Colette Green, although Cross is mentioned in a Black Mesa Announcement System message at the start of Half-Life. Half-Life 2 features another yet unidentified female scientist, seen in the photograph in Kleiner's Lab.

Scientists list
The scientist NPC features four standard models, with a cleansuit variant and the dead Survey Team members in HEV Suits found on Xen, as well as the Zombie version. Each four standard version has two HD versions (one introduced in the High Definition Pack, the other in Decay).

Most of the time, scientist models are used randomly by the game. However, in many specific instances the same model is used each time.

Trivia

 * Through a security camera in the Blue Shift chapter Insecurity can be seen a scientist briefly dancing to himself, while another is watching, skeptical. The dancing animation was originally in the Gonome model, under the name "veryhappy" in the original model, and "sohappy" in the Steam version. In the original scientist model, it is named "sohappy", and "hambone" in the Steam version.

List of appearances

 * Half-Life: Day One
 * Half-Life
 * Half-Life: Uplink
 * Half-Life: Opposing Force
 * Half-Life: Blue Shift
 * Half-Life: Decay
 * Half-Life 2
 * Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar
 * Half-Life 2: Lost Coast
 * Half-Life 2: Episode One
 * Half-Life 2: Episode Two