- "Why do we all have to wear these ridiculous ties?"
- ―Black Mesa scientist[src]
The Black Mesa Science Team comprise the overwhelming majority of Black Mesa's population. Along 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.[2]
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 (Level 3 Research Associate)
- Rosenberg (Advanced Physics Researcher)
- Richard Keller (Level 5 Researcher)
- Gina Cross (Level 4 Research Associate)
- Colette Green (Level 4 Research Associate)
- Wallace Breen (Administrator)
- Isaac Kleiner (Sector C Researcher)
- Eli Vance (Sector C Researcher)
- Arne Magnusson (Sector C Researcher)
- Complete list
In-game[]
In game, scientists may exhibit moments of timidity and clumsiness, they offer invaluable assistance to players, particularly in utilizing retinal scanners for door access. Despite their lack of combat prowess and vulnerability to injury—succumbing quickly to enemy attacks—they possess first aid skills. When a player's health falls below 50 points, scientists can administer a 25-point medicine boost, except for those in cleansuits who lack this ability.
In moments of danger, scientists exhibit reasonable reactions, emitting screams of terror during chaotic encounters which became a household internet meme. They will cease accompanying the player if too far or if under direct attack. Moreover, if harmed by the player or witness the player's aggressive actions toward their colleagues, scientists will flee in fear.
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.[1]
- Security guards and scientists were also to have a much more frightened, almost cartoonish face.[3]
- Half-Life was also to feature female scientists other than the Holographic Assistant, that were to be found scarcely along the journey.[4] 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.
- There's a scientist seen talking to The G-Man in the Anomalous Materials chapter.
- There are numerous unused audio files that were never heard in the retail Half-Life. Based on the amount of cut content, it is likely that Valve planned to feature unique scenes which involved at least one scientist. However, the majority of Half-Life was overhauled and these projects were most likely abandoned.
- Scientist NPCs in Half-Life had the ability to react to dead corpses near them. If another NPC died near them they would make comments for the odor like Barney NPCs do. It is unknown whether the ability is broken or cut in the final release.
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). The Half-Life Alpha also featured two more types of scientists: a generic male scientist, nicknamed 'Egon', and a female scientist variant. Both were ultimately cut.
Most of the time, scientist models are used randomly by the game. However, in many specific instances the same model is used each time.
Early game models | Game models | HD game models | Models | Names | Comments |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
scientist 01 | Walter; Glasses[5] | Was turned into Walter Bennet, used for Smithers and Harold, and was the basis for Isaac Kleiner. It also has a player model for the Half-Life multiplayer version. It also has a HD civilian version, with or without his lab coat on his arm, and another civilian reading The Mesa Times. | ||
scientist 02 | Einstein | Was used for S. Reardon. He is featured on Kleiner's Lab photo; he has yet to be adapted into a distinct character. He also has a HD civilian version, with or without his lab coat on his arm, and another civilian reading The Mesa Times, although it is not seen in-game. | |||
scientist 03 | Luther | Was used for S. Jones and Simmons and was the basis for Eli Vance. | |||
scientist 04 | Slick | Is featured on Kleiner's Lab photo; he has yet to be adapted into a distinct character. His original model had brighter hair. | |||
cleansuit scientist | Was introduced in Opposing Force, in the chapter Welcome to Black Mesa. In the HD model, only the head is changed. It also has a player model for the multiplayer version. | ||||
player / helmet | Its Half-Life model is "player.mdl" and features Gordon's head or a suit helmet. Used for the dead Survey Team members found around Xen. A different model is featured in the multiplayer version. | ||||
scientist redhead | Egon | Appears in the v0.52 build (AKA Half-Life Alpha), was removed some time after. | |||
f_science | Was meant to appear in the v0.52 build, but was not actually included due to the developers not knowing how to implement the scripting properly. Instead, her texture appeared in the files of Half-Life: Source. |
Trivia[]
- Through a security camera, in the Blue Shift chapter Insecurity, a scientist can be seen briefly dancing to himself, while another is watching skeptically. 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 it's named "hambone" in the Steam version.
- While scientists can heal the player only once, it is possible for same scientist to heal the player twice if they both go to the point where the next map loads. This will allow the player to be healed for 50 health points in total, which is useful on hard difficulties (where the syringe used by scientists is not dependent on difficulty and it always gives 25 health points) or in areas where the Medkits are rare.
Gallery[]
Pre-release[]
Retail[]
Half-Life[]
Half-Life: Uplink[]
Half-Life: Opposing Force[]
Half-Life: Blue Shift[]
Half-Life: Decay[]
Half-Life 2[]
Advertisement[]
List of appearances[]
- Half-Life: Day One (First appearance)
- Half-Life
- Half-Life: Uplink (Non-canonical appearance)
- Half-Life: Opposing Force
- Half-Life: Blue Shift
- Half-Life: Decay
- Half-Life 2 (As former members)
- Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar
- Half-Life 2: Lost Coast (As former member Gordon Freeman) (Non-canonical appearance)
- Half-Life 2: Episode One (As former members)
- Half-Life 2: Episode Two (As former members)
- Half-Life: Alyx (As former members)
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar
- ↑ Half-Life Audio Script
- ↑ Half-Life Beta
- ↑ Old Half-Life section on GameSpot
- ↑ Half-Life Beta / Worldcraft 2 / Half-Life 2 Beta files (hl_ent.hlp)