Combine Prisoner Pod
 
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| Combine Prisoner Pod | |
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| General information | |
| Faction | |
| Type |
Portable prisoner pod |
| Usage | |
| Used by | |
| Game information | |
| Designer(s) | |
The Combine Prisoner Pod,[5] also known as the Prisoner Pod,[5] Combine Cell,[5] or Combine Iron Maiden,[6] is a confinement device used by the Combine to contain prisoners—oftentimes insubordinate Citizens or Refugees—as well as Stalkers.
Contents
Overview[edit]
When Rebels and disobedient Citizens are captured by the Overwatch or arrested by Civil Protection, they are imprisoned in Prisoner Pods and transferred by Razor Train to Nova Prospekt or other Combine facilities equipped with Prisoner Pod rails and support mechanisms such as the Citadel or the Overwatch Nexus to be "reevaluated".[6] Typically, they are turned into Stalkers afterwards.
The Prisoner Pod consists of two main components: The outer part is a casket/iron maiden-like external shell with a mechanical arm on its back which opens in two vertical halves; the inner part is a straitjacket-like frame that holds the prisoner in place inside the casket for storage and transportation along railings. While a closed casket with the straitjacket locked inside is the most common configuration of the Prisoner Pod, the straitjacket alone is also sometimes used for transportation, allowing the prisoner to have visibility during their journey. Straitjacket Pods can also be forced open by other devices like Alyx's Multi-tool.
The Pods are usually controlled automatically or remotely and can be attached or detached to walls through their arm, which can move the Pod onto a fixed conveyor rail, allowing it to travel through the facility it is stored in. The Prisoner Pods represent an important element of any Combine facility meant to house prisoners or Stalkers since they are the primary means of captive transportation for both possible detainee types. Razor Trains often carry Pods as cargo, and both the Nova Prospekt Depot and the Citadel have extensive railway systems meant to transport and store the Pods. In the Citadel, even Dr. Breen's office is connected to this system, allowing him to summon prisoners at will, as seen during Half-Life 2’s thirteenth chapter Dark Energy when the captured Gordon, Alyx, and Eli are brought up to him.
In the ninth chapter Nova Prospekt / Entanglement, when Gordon Freeman and Alyx Vance infiltrated the Depot and searched the Prisoner Pods for Eli Vance, they found many unconscious prisoners in other Prisoner Pods. Eli Vance himself was unconscious, but he almost immediately returned to life once the casket opened, suggesting that the Pods use some means of pacification to render the prisoners in a state of stasis.
Prisoner Pod straitjackets can be sterilized through a large device similar to the one used in the Confiscation Field which will "spray liquid-hot metal"[6] into it, instantly killing any living being contained in the Pod. During the process, the double device will generate a cylindric Force Field around the Pod. They also sometimes go through two simple Combine power generators connected with a red laser that acts as a detector which, when the Pod's occupant appears to be abnormal, will sound a buzzer and photograph the Pod with a Combine Camera for analysis. The Pod will then change course, sending the irregular passenger to a different location to be taken care of. As seen in the Depot, Prisoner Pods can be selected and brought to an interrogation chamber, where the prisoner can be interrogated from behind glass without leaving their Pod, with only the casket shell opened during this process. Prisoner Pods are controlled through Combine interfaces to the left of the glass, while information about the prisoner's health status is shown on two transparent green screens on the right. In such a room Alyx is able to explain to her prisoner father how they are going to rescue him.
Behind the scenes[edit]
The Prisoner Pod went through several iterations:
- At the time of Half-Life 2’s development, when the Combine only recycled Earth materials, and the interior of the Citadel was covered in tiles, the Pod was the brush of a large container made of grey metal on the outside, and of yellow metal on the inside, as seen in the WC map pack map
demo_citadel01, last edited in 2001. It was to have a double door on both sides, with a small barred window on both sides as well, or simply bars instead of the double door. The Pods moved using rails, and were placed in allocated spaces inside the walls, using cranes. The prisoner was apparently able to move freely inside, and have some free room for themselves, close to a traditional "cell" design, as well as that of an industrial cargo container. The missing model found in the Borealis mapd3_borealis_01_017, "combine_cage001c.mdl", is probably a model version of that variant. A "freezer" variant is also found on the Borealis, there used to contain Combine Assassins, and with a window instead of the double door with a barred window/bars.
- At the time of Half-Life 2’s development, when the Combine only recycled Earth materials, and the interior of the Citadel was covered in tiles, the Pod was the brush of a large container made of grey metal on the outside, and of yellow metal on the inside, as seen in the WC map pack map
- As seen in Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar, the next known design, still used in the tiled Citadel and the Depot, has a design closer to the final overall Combine designs. It is more similar to the retail Pod, but still has bars and is still encased in the tiled walls, with a metallic structure around it. It is also still moved by cranes, but the prisoner has less room to move.
- The third known design is the model featured in Half-Life 2 leak files, with a design even closer to the final overall Combine designs. Consisting only of the casket part, it is opened on each side except the left and right sides, and has no animation. It can be found for instance in the Borealis map
d3_borealis_01_017, where the Combine cage model is also found.
- The third known design is the model featured in Half-Life 2 leak files, with a design even closer to the final overall Combine designs. Consisting only of the casket part, it is opened on each side except the left and right sides, and has no animation. It can be found for instance in the Borealis map
- The fourth known design is the one appearing in Half-Life 2, introduced in Nova Prospekt. A pod in which the prisoner is kept restrained, it is attached to walls with an arm which can move it to a fixed rail allowing it to travel in the facility it is stored in.
- The fifth design appears in Episode One, and is used for the train transport of Stalkers. Upon leaving the Citadel, Gordon and Alyx board a Stalker train that crashes in the City 17 Underground. Following the crash, Alyx is trapped under a Pod, with its Stalker occupant trying to break loose from the Pod. Panicked, she is promptly set free by Gordon's Gravity Gun.
In-game, the Prisoner Pod acts as a sort of vehicle, and is to be entered using the Use key. However, the player cannot control the Pod's movement, and can only look around, although their perspective is limited. The file prisoner_pod.cfg gives the following description of the Prisoner Pod: A combine prisoner pod. Used in the Citadel sequence in which the player is taken captive, this vehicle is intended to be attached to a path follower (such as a func_tracktrain) via a hinge constraint. A vehicle was used so that we could do the enter/exit animations, and any view dampening or constraints that were necessary. Since the player is a captive they cannot affect the motion of the pod, they can only look around.
During the development of Half-Life 2, the concept for a prisoner pod variant named "Vorti-Cell" and used for harvesting power from Vortigaunts was designed but eventually cut from the game. However, the idea was recycled for Half-Life: Alyx by using Combine Prisoner Pods as a way to harvest the energy of Vortigaunts and use them as power generators.
Gordon's journey through the Citadel in a Prisoner Pod during Half-Life 2’s twelfth chapter, Our Benefactors, is similar to Half-Life’s first chapter, Black Mesa Inbound, in which the player is able to observe the facility he is in, from a rail-mounted vehicle.
Gallery[edit]
Half-Life 2[edit]
Pre-release[edit]
Concept art for Prisoner Pods in the Depot.
Ditto.
Ditto, based on a Citadel map.
Combine Cells being moved inside the prototype Citadel prison.
Ditto.
Inside the prototype Citadel prison.
Ditto.
Ditto, here an open Cell likely on display for the rest of the development team.
Combine Assassin in tank aboard the Borealis.
Several Assassin tanks on the Borealis.
Leak Prisoner Pod casket.
Retail[edit]
Prisoner Pod casket (outside).
Ditto, open.
Prisoner straitjacket (inside).
Prisoner Pod casket variant in which Alyx is kept upon Gordon's arrival in Breen's office.
Prisoner Pods in cell block D7 in Nova Prospekt.
Cell block D8 in Nova Prospekt, with Prisoner Pods in the back.
Prisoner Pods in the Depot.
Ditto, with a Razor Train passing in the middle.
Alyx looking for her prisoner father at the Depot's security station above the tracks.
Alyx finding her father at the security station.
The interrogation room located above the Depot tracks.
Alyx explaining to Eli in his Pod how they are going to rescue him from the Depot.
Prisoner Pods in the Overwatch Nexus.
Ditto.
Pod being sterilized in the Citadel.
About the enter a Pod for the first time in the Citadel.
Razor Train transporting Pods passing by in the Citadel.
Pods in the Citadel.
Ditto.
Overwatch forces attacking Gordon in the Citadel, with Pods visible on the walls.
Pod contents detector along a conveyor in the Citadel.
Ditto, another angle.
Gordon being photographed after being detected as irregular.
Stalker being transported in a Pod in the Citadel.
Overview of Breen's office, with Eli and Alyx prisoners in Pods, as well as other Pods attached to the wall.
Alyx about to spit at Breen's face in Breen's office, while being held in a Prisoner Pod with her father and Gordon.
Alyx and Eli in their Pods in Breen's office, about to be sent to an off-world location.
Mossman freeing Gordon from his Pod with Alyx's Multi-tool after Breen's escape.
Half-Life 2: Episode One[edit]
Prisoner Pod variant used for transporting converted Stalkers.
Pod being sterilized in the Citadel.
Stalker Pods in a Razor Train car.
Alyx trapped under a Stalker Pod after the train crash.
Stalker in its Pod after the train crash.
Half-Life: Alyx[edit]
Vortigaunt Prisoner Pod model used for interactions.
Vortigaunt Prisoner Pod model used for backgrounds.
Vortigaunt generators at a Vault substation.
Freeing a Vortigaunt from its prisoner pod.
Prisoner pods under a bridge.
Ditto.
Gary conjures up the image of a Prisoner Pod.
Prisoner Pods being delivered by a Razor Train via Terminal Gardens to the Northern Star hotel.
Vortigaunt Prisoner Pods used as generators at the Holden Company Processing Plant.
Vortigaunt Prisoner Pod generators and dedicated Combine interface at the Processing Plant.
Ditto, from above.
List of appearances[edit]
Main games[edit]
- Half-Life 2 (First appearance)
- Half-Life 2: Episode One
- Half-Life: Alyx
Other[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar, page 177
- ↑ Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar, page 225
- ↑ Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar, page 228
- ↑ WC map pack
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Half-Life 2 game files
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Half-Life 2 Prima Guide
