Combot

The Combot is the direct predecessor to the City Scanner.

Overview

 * Mostly the City Scanner with a different skin, it is the first known mechanical Scanner to have been scripted. The other differences with the City Scanner is that it throws deadly gas and fire from the small ergots on its two sides as a defense, has slightly different sounds and its tail appears shorter than the City Scanner. It is featured in the playable Half-Life 2 Beta and can be found at the very start of the maps " " (where several are seen in various places) and " " (on the Borealis).


 * The mechanical Scanner design was initially modeled after the shape and movement of a piranha.


 * 11 sound files found in the playable Half-Life 2 Beta files indicate that the mechanical Scanner was to talk directly to people via prerecorded messages. Spoken by a robotic female voice, they include sentences such as "Citizen, do not move", "You may proceed", "Hold still for scan", "Hands on your head" or "Violation has been noted".


 * Other sounds found in the very Combot folder also indicate it was to charge itself, possibly at undefined Combine charging stations.


 * The Combot appears in the first Half-Life 2 trailer, in the map " ".


 * The Combot appears in most of the oldest City 17 maps from the WC mappack.


 * The name "Combot" is likely a portmanteau between the words "Combine" and "bot/robot" or with the words "combat" and "bot/robot"

List of appearances

 * Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar