Combine Factories

The Combine Factories is a City 17 cut area from Half-Life 2 that was to be seen in the first chapters of the game, between the Trainstation Plaza and the Manhack Arcade. It was originally to be accessed through a small tunnel located on the right of the City 17 Trainstation when it is faced.

Features
The workers of these factories would have consisted in both adults and children Citizens, working as slaves, as well as Stalkers and Vortigaunts. They were to be closely watched by Metrocops and Combots. Details about this levels are given in the book Raising the Bar and the WC mappack. A map cut from E3 2003, "Industrial", depicts most of the Combine Factories in an incomplete stage. Other maps include maps starting with " " (1 and 2) and " " (coming in around 15 versions, some featuring the nearby trainstation) (not to be confused with the E3 map ).

An elevated railway for the Razor Train was also crossing the area, transporting Citizens to the nearby trainstation. Big pipes and catwalks were filling the streets. "Towers" were used by Metrocops to open Combine doors while APCs and other vehicles were traveling around the area.

The factories area was to contain several sections that can be found in the several different maps :

Burned rooms
Several underground rooms that seem to have undergone a fire can be accessed through a door on the street. The area leads to a small sewer area where a scripted sequence involving rebel Vortigaunts was to be seen.

The Child Factory
In this factory, children were to build Cremators. It can be seen from the street.

Garage
A standard garage featuring an APC and a small crane.

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. The scripted version of this room contains other types of machines and children.

Vortigaunt factory
Vortigaunt could also be seen working in a room filled with generator-like green devices near the garage.

Fate
As the concept of human reproduction being disabled by the Suppression 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. A game where children could be shot could have become a contentious issue in the media. Several other violent video games, such as those of the Grand Theft Auto series, have no children for that reason. However, some who are in opposition to this theory may bring about the fact that no non-player character in the game who is meant to be an ally (such as members of the human Resistance or Vortigaunts) can be intentionally shot by the player. Furthermore, laws exist in some European countries that expressly forbid children appearing in violent situations in computer games. Their absence can therefore be easily explained as a way to ease the adjustments needed for European release. Just as there are no children in the game there are no babies and adolescents present either. Despite their absence as characters in the game, throughout City 17 and other areas the player can find many graffiti paintings of what appears to be either a Combine soldier or a Resistance member holding a baby.

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.

The slavery/factory themes were recycled in the Citadel chapters and the slavery work was made for the Stalkers instead. In the final version of the game, Citizens seems to have no occupation nor any form of entertainment.