Black Mesa East
This article is about the Resistance location. For the Half-Life 2 chapter, see Black Mesa East (chapter). |
For other uses, see Black Mesa (disambiguation). |
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| Black Mesa East | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Constructed |
Unknown, refurbished after the Seven Hour War |
| Destroyed |
partially or completely, during the uprising |
| Location | |
| Usage | |
| Era(s) | |
| Faction | |
| Game information | |
| Map(s) |
|
| Designer(s) |
|
Black Mesa East is a Resistance base located at the Wasteland end of the Canals, outside of City 17. It is nestled inside the hydroelectric plant of a nearby dam and its reservoir, and right next to the abandoned mining town of Ravenholm. Black Mesa East is where Doctor Eli Vance, Doctor Judith Mossman, Alyx Vance, and many other Resistance members, including several Vortigaunts, used to live before its destruction. It was named after the Black Mesa Research Facility. (see below)
Contents
Overview[edit]
Black Mesa East is situated several stories underground and includes various facilities that ensure its self-sufficiency. These facilities include power generators recharged by Vortigaunts, kitchens where Vortigaunts can be seen preparing Headcrabs, recreational areas, and most notably, Eli Vance's laboratory, where he continually refines the teleportation technology salvaged from the Black Mesa Research Facility, from which Black Mesa East derives its name. Eli collaborates with Isaac Kleiner, who also maintains his own laboratory hidden in downtown City 17. Together, they establish a functional teleportation system between their labs, which would have significantly shortened travel time between City 17 and Black Mesa East, potentially eliminating the need for the Citizen-operated Underground Railroad. However, Alyx Vance was the only person to successfully be teleported to Black Mesa East before it was invaded by the Combine.
The Vortigaunts at Black Mesa East appear to handle much of the labor, such as preparing food and powering generators using their natural ability to generate electricity. They also assist Eli in the laboratory, operating computers or installing and powering various machine components. Another area briefly shown is the dormitories and barracks for members of the Resistance, shared by both Vortigaunts and humans. In this area, Rebels rest and spend their free time.
All access points to Black Mesa East are under constant surveillance by CCTV cameras and are equipped with decontamination chambers, heavy blast doors, and turrets designed to prevent unauthorized entry. Black Mesa East is directly connected to Ravenholm via a tunnel, which has been barricaded since the shelling of Ravenholm to prevent Zombies and Headcrabs from infiltrating the facility.
Appearances[edit]
Half-Life 2[edit]
At the end of his journey through the canals, Gordon Freeman arrives at Black Mesa East for a short visit. He is greeted by Judith Mossman in one of the decontamination chambers, and she brings him up to speed on the scientific breakthroughs that have taken place in the last few months. She soon after takes him down to Eli's lab, where Eli and Alyx talk to him, and show him that much of the research begun at the original Black Mesa is continuing at this new facility.
In Eli's lab, Gordon also learns about events such as the Seven Hour War and the Portal Storms by reading newspaper clippings found in the lab: "Earth surrenders" on a cover of The Times with a picture of the damaged United Nations Headquarters in New York City under it, "Wallace Breen Declared Interim Administrator", "Black Mesa Admin Charged with Human Affairs Bureau", "Portal Storm Continues", "7 Hour War Ends in Combine Victory" and other unreadable newspaper clips. Other interesting things such as a Cremator's head in formaldehyde can be seen, as well as a machine, called the Rotato,[4] simulating a small Resonance Cascade, and containing a Xen crystal similar to the one used in the original experiment. Several books can also be seen (see below). Eli will make comments on various other things around the place, such as an old family photo containing him, Alyx, and his deceased wife, Azian Vance. The photo has been salvaged somehow from the Black Mesa East destruction and can be seen in White Forest.
Soon after Gordon arrives in Eli's lab, Alyx takes him to an outdoor scrapyard and gives him training with the Zero-Point Energy Field Manipulator (or Gravity Gun) Eli built. Originally designed for heavy lifting and the handling of hazardous materials, Gordon finds a much better use for it - turning it into a weapon that will serve him well throughout the rest of his mission. Alyx also introduces Gordon to Dog, the robot built by Eli to protect her while she was young. Gordon and Dog play a game of fetch using a Combine Rollermine which has had its ability to electrocute people disabled and use the Gravity Gun on various other objects such as crates, found in the scrapyard. Alyx also introduces the limitations of the weapon, ordering Dog to throw something bigger and stopping him upon choosing a dumpster the regular Gravity Gun cannot hold.
Black Mesa East is eventually raided by the Combine. They launch a massive attack using Scanners, Headcrab Shells, Hunter-Choppers in the air and Combine Soldiers in the facility. The Vortigaunts present attempt to fight off the internal attack, but are overpowered and Eli Vance ends up being captured and taken to Nova Prospekt. The raid was actually made possible by Judith, as it was revealed while watching a conversation she has with Doctor Breen over a screen at Nova Prospekt that she had provided him the information on Black Mesa East's location, during which her secret alliance with the Combine is revealed.
During the course of the raid, Black Mesa East is heavily damaged, and much of its personnel are presumed to either have escaped or been killed. Due to hallways being blocked off by rubble and collapsed ceilings, Gordon Freeman is forced to go through Ravenholm on his way to the Coast, as it is the only remaining exit from the facility. After this, Black Mesa East is not seen again for the rest of the game.
Related Achievements[edit]
| Half-Life 2 | |
|---|---|
|
Zero-Point Energy (5G) |
| Get the Gravity Gun in Black Mesa East. | |
|
Blast from the Past (10G) |
| Find the HEV Suit charger faceplate in Eli's scrapyard. | |
|
Two Points (2G) |
| Use Dog's ball to make a basket in the scrapyard. | |
|
Flushed (5G) |
| Kill an enemy with a toilet. | |
Behind the scenes[edit]
- Originally, the Airboat would have been destroyed after landing from the dam prior to Black Mesa East. The chapter would start with the player surrounded by the wreckage. Playtesters felt disappointed after losing the Airboat, thus the vehicle was left intact in the level where the player would simply leave it on their own.[5]
- The Half-Life 2 leak features a more recent prototype ("orange") map of Black Mesa East, named
eli_lab. Similar to the final version, it features early/expanded dialogue also recorded by the final actors, and Vortigaunts in slave outfit. Of note is that this chapter is suppose to take place after Ravenholm and a mention by Alyx of Antlion activity outside or that the Gravity Gun is based on a Combine device along with any high tech equipment that the Resistance uses. The Combine also discovers the base before Gordon can test the Gravity Gun.[6]
The original teleportation sequence[edit]
- As heard in the dialogue files found in the Half-Life 2 leak sound files, the teleportation sequence at the start of Half-Life 2 was originally to be much different and much longer.[6]
- Kleiner and Barney, located at Kleiner's Lab with Gordon, and Elena Mossman, located at Kraken Base, were to discuss the best place to send Gordon, in a dialogue much longer than in the retail version (where several sentences survived, even though they were rerecorded), and not including Alyx.
- After the team agrees that Eli's facilities are too primitive to make use of Gordon, being, according to Mossman, more suited to mechanics than research scientists, and that its teleport is in pieces, therefore not working, and that the only way to reach the place would be to go on foot through the dangerous Canals, Mossman suggests to send Gordon to Kraken Base instead, and by teleportation. Kleiner seems hesitant about it, while Barney expresses even more doubts in very pessimist remarks. While Kleiner pretends to be sure about the reliability of his equipment, Mossman is very determined, since she says to have run seven sequences without a single failure.
- While the teleportation is being prepared, Gordon must do his part to set things up. Then the teleportation begins, and Barney thinks it is the best time to mention the issues about the cat they used for the previous test, saying that he had to turn the animal right side out again to make sure it was a cat (kept in the retail version for Alyx's teleportation, but minus the explanation), thus providing the information missing from the retail version. The teleportation then succeeds, and Mossman is able to introduce herself to Gordon and compliment him when he is still in the teleport instead of releasing him right away. At Kleiner's Lab, Lamarr jumps into the teleport like in the retail version, disrupting the connection between the two teleports and bringing back Gordon behind a window near Kleiner's Lab (like in the retail version) and damaging both teleports.
- It is also suggested by Barney's sentences that something happens to Kleiner, dying or being hurt and left unconscious, since he ceases to talk after he approaches the teleport, worried by Lamarr's fate. The failure having blown their cover and the lab's roof about to cave in, Gordon finds himself forced to journey to Eli's lab on foot. Barney leads him to the Canals, where the next chapter begins, and leaves at some point, like in the retail version.[6]
- Arrived at Black Mesa East after the Canals and the Ravenholm chapters, Gordon discovers a very basic, primitive underground lab installed in some kind of scrapyard cave, indeed more suited to mechanics than research scientists, since it looks more like a garage than a real lab. Prototype maps of this original lab, "Eli's den", can be found in the WC map pack under the names
proto_eliden003(August 2001) andproto_eliden(January 2002). It does not contain any hint of a lab, but rather some sort of garage with a damaged school bus and several damaged cars, mirroring Mossman's sentence about the facility being more suited to mechanics than research scientists.
- Arrived at Black Mesa East after the Canals and the Ravenholm chapters, Gordon discovers a very basic, primitive underground lab installed in some kind of scrapyard cave, indeed more suited to mechanics than research scientists, since it looks more like a garage than a real lab. Prototype maps of this original lab, "Eli's den", can be found in the WC map pack under the names
- Gordon meets there Eli, at this time unrelated to Alyx, and Dog. Eli demonstrates the abilities of the original physics manipulator and shows Gordon a slideshow of what happened during the last 10 years (which was later said to be 20 years[7]), including the Air Exchange and the loss of his leg to a Particle Storm[6] (changed to a Bullsquid in the final version).[8] It is possible that, being in the Wasteland, the lab was to be surrounded with many junked vehicles and machines, relics of the Seven Hour War, and inspired by the scrapyards near Chernobyl where rust irradiated vehicles, and where from Eli's team would have probably collected parts.
- Eli's lab was finally transformed into a real underground base, the scrapyard being kept only for playing fetch with Dog and the introduction of the Gravity Gun. Then Eli was merged with Captain Vance to become the Eli Vance of the final version. Kraken Base being cut from the storyline, the choice of the destination was simplified, and thus the dialogue.
Trivia[edit]
- Some players have been confused about Black Mesa East is the "east" section or wing of the Black Mesa Research Facility, the research facility where the majority of Half-Life takes place. However, this is not the case - they are actually two separate places. The Black Mesa "Research Facility" was located in Black Mesa, New Mexico, USA, while Black Mesa "East" is situated outside of City 17, which is located in Eastern Europe, hence Black Mesa "East". A possible reason why "Black Mesa" is in the base's name is that it may have well been founded by Eli Vance, who originally worked at the Black Mesa Research Facility, and might have wanted the name to live on. The only things the two facilities share in common are the name, and that it is self-sufficient on its own level somewhat like Black Mesa. It is, however, doing similar research. Eli Vance explicitly states, "It's not Black Mesa, but it's served us well enough."
- In Eli's lab, several books can be found on the shelf located left of the teleport (they are also featured in the Half-Life 2: Deathmatch map Steam Lab). They include:
- Lost Socks (a reference to Hal Robins' The Meaning of Lost and Mismatched Socks[9])
- Calabi-Yau Space
- Book apparently written in Chinese
- To the 8th Dimension and Back Again
- From Here to There in Under a Second by Isaac Kleiner (likely about teleportation)
- Aeronautical Robotics by William C. Wood
- The Extreme Aggrotato by Marc Laidlaw
- Strings, Quarks and Me
- Applied Dynamics
- Advanced Modular Theory and Speculation
- The Big Book of Big Text by Dayyan Eng (Eng is the brother Dhabih Eng, who designed Black Mesa East and produced one of Dayyan's short films)
- The Half-Life 2: Deathmatch map Steam Lab draws some inspiration from both Kleiner's Lab and Black Mesa East, and includes a teleport as well.
- The model consisting of a desk with on it a shelf with monitors found in the main lab of Kleiner's Lab (map
d1_trainstation_05) and the surveillance room at Black Mesa East (mapd1_eli_01) features the reversed version of a 1907 photo of Mark Twain can be seen on the desk with the monitors shelf on it. The same model is used in both areas, with texture-based views of City 17 on the small monitors and a real-time view on the center monitor using thepoint_cameraentity in a separate area andfunc_monitorfor the monitor (Inside the City 17 Trainstation for Kleiner's Lab and the kitchen for Black Mesa East).
Gallery[edit]
Pre-release[edit]
Concept art for Eli and the prototype physics manipulator, with Dog in the back.
Start of Eli's den in the map
proto_eliden003.
The same spot in
proto_eliden.
Tank and pipes in
proto_eliden.
Tank and parts of a wrecked plane in a pit in
proto_eliden003.
The same spot in
proto_eliden, with a wrecked car instead.
Catwalks, shacks and tank in
proto_eliden.
Dumpster and fridge in
proto_eliden003.
Barrels and chargers in
proto_eliden.
Signs, tank and barrel in
proto_eliden.
The garage in
proto_eliden003, with brush cars and a school bus.
Detail of the cars in
proto_eliden003.
Closeup of the school bus in
proto_eliden003.
The same area in
proto_eliden, with model cars.
Another view of the garage in
proto_eliden.
The area beyond the garage in
proto_eliden003.
The same spot in
proto_eliden.
Glimpse of the sky in
proto_eliden.
Retail[edit]
Alyx safe and sound after her teleportation from Kleiner's Lab.
During the teleportation failure from Kleiner's Lab.
The dam before Black Mesa East.
The generating station facing Black Mesa East.
Black Mesa East's hidden main entrance seen from outside.
Decontamination chamber at the main entrance.
Mossman and Chester greeting Gordon in the airlock.
Vortigaunt playing chess with a female Citizen in a common room.
Ditto.
Another view of the common room.
Vortigaunts cooking in the kitchen.
A Vortigaunt tasting soup while another one chops a Headcrab.
Vortigaunts providing power to the generators.
Eli and Mossman telling Gordon how they are pleased he is back, somehow mirroring one of the first Half-Life screenshots.
Judith Mossman.
The Rotato with Xen crystal in Eli's lab.
Closeup of the crystal.
The Cremator's head in a jar in Eli's lab.
The Cremator's head on a computer screen.
Eli and a Vortigaunt inspecting a part.
The Vortigaunt installing the part onto a corner unit.
Eli's workspace.
Mossman looking at monitors showing that Black Mesa East is keeping a look at City 17, even though it is exactly the same model group of screen as the one seen in Kleiner's Lab.
Eli teasing Alyx about Gordon.
Ditto.
Ditto.
Alyx showing her disagreement with Mossman.
Alyx fixing a device in Eli's lab.
Alyx and Mossman arguing.
Alyx using a keypad to unlock the airlock door to the scrapyard.
The overview of the scrapyard.
The Gravity Gun stored in its cupboard in the scrapyard.
Alyx opening the Gravity Gun's cupboard.
Alyx introducing the Gravity Gun to Gordon.
Alyx waiting for Gordon to take the Gravity Gun.
"Beware of Dog" sign in the scrapyard.
"Beware of Dog" sign model.
Alyx and Dog in the scrapyard.
Ditto.
The gloomy access to Ravenholm.
A Hunter-Chopper invading the scrapyard.
A Headcrab Shell dropped at the scrapyard.
Alyx talking to his dad after the Combine's invasion.
Alyx instructing Gordon to go through the Ravenholm.
The teleport room in the Half-Life 2: Deathmatch map Steam Lab.
_(Black_Mesa_East).jpg)
List of appearances[edit]
Main games[edit]
- Half-Life 2 (First appearance)
Other[edit]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar, page 208
- ↑ WC map pack
- ↑ Matt Wood's personal website
- ↑ Half-Life 2 Prima Guide
- ↑ Half-Life 2 commentary
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Half-Life 2 leak
- ↑ Half-Life 2: Episode One: The story so far
- ↑ Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar, page 141
- ↑ Interview: Hal "Dr. Kleiner" Robins on HLFallout.net
| Preceded by Gate 5 |
Half-Life 2 story arc journey | Succeeded by Ravenholm |
