Griggs and Sheckley
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| Griggs and Sheckley | |
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| Biographical information | |
| Homeworld | |
| Function(s) / Belongings | |
| Rank / Occupation |
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| Weapons | |
| Equipment | |
| Physical description | |
| Species |
Human |
| Gender |
Male |
| Hair color |
Brown (Griggs)
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| Eye color |
Brown |
| Chronological and political information | |
| Era(s) | |
| Faction |
The Resistance |
| Game information | |
| Voiced by |
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| Modeled over |
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| Designer(s) |
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| Entity |
npc_citizen |
| Voice sample(s) | |
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Griggs:
Sheckley:
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Griggs and Sheckley, respectively nicknamed Griggsy and Sheck, are Rebels who appear in the Half-Life 2: Episode Two chapter This Vortal Coil.
Contents
Biography[edit]
Background[edit]
Griggs and Sheckley were stationed at the main junction of the Victory Mine. Valiantly defending the area from Antlions for a long enough period to have painted elaborate designs on their reprogrammed turrets in the vein of WWII nose art,[2] they seem to have established a mutual camaraderie.
Appearances[edit]
Half-Life 2: Episode Two[edit]
Digging deeper through the Victory Mine, Gordon Freeman discovers the Resistance outpost manned by Griggs and Sheckley. He is briefly mistaken for an Antlion by Griggs due to the Antlion Detector lighting up, but after a short time, he is given supplies and reunited with the mortally wounded Alyx Vance who is being taken care of by the Lone Vort; both were apparently given shelter by the Resistance fighters. Sheckley explains to Gordon how the sensors at the tunnel entrances work, and the group then prepares their defenses.
Soon, Antlions approach in great numbers. Griggs and Sheckley, having Hoppers, their last two turrets, and Submachine Guns at their disposal, and assisted by Gordon, have to deal with progressively larger and larger swarms until backup arrives in the form of several Vortigaunts. After eliminating the threat, Griggs and Sheckley stay to help protect Alyx, while Freeman and the Lone Vort go deeper inside the mine to retrieve an essence from the Antlion hive that would heal her. Gordon soon returns, bringing the extract with him. With Alyx conscious and accompanied by the Vortigaunt, he leaves the Victory Mine, while Griggs and Sheckley bid the team farewell.
Personality and skills[edit]
- "They’re a team through thick and thin—and Griggs can be pretty thick."
- ―The Orange Box Prima Guide
Despite his combat experience, Griggs is rather naïve, and, seemingly, a little thick. He’s not afraid to state the obvious, ask dumb questions, or just annoy his companion.[3] He often panics during Antlion assaults, but his lightheartedness provides comic relief. Griggs is a combat medic, and unlike other medics, he can throw Medkits to Gordon instead of having to be next to him to heal him. Griggs is the only character in the series to exhibit this behavior.
As opposed to his colleague, Sheckley is stoic and professional. He has infinite patience when it comes to his partner, although under pressure he’s not above screaming at his buddy.[3]
Related Achievements[edit]
| Half-Life 2: Episode Two | |
|---|---|
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Into the Breach (5G) |
| Help Griggs and Sheckley hold off the Antlion invasion inside the mine shaft. | |
Behind the scenes[edit]
Before Griggs and Sheckley came to be, a different duo was to appear in Episode Two. They were originally named Chet and Erik, referencing Episode Two writers Chet Faliszek and Erik Wolpaw,[4] but they were later renamed by Marc Laidlaw to Cyril and Fred, after science fiction writers Cyril M. Kornbluth and Frederik Pohl. During these early stages of development, the duo was to appear in the outpost near the Muscle Car bridge in the map ep2_outland_06.[1][4][5] The two were described as being car nuts and the original builders of the Muscle Car. One gag that was cut from this initial meeting with the characters was Griggs seeing legs sticking out from under a car and, assuming it was Sheckley, pulling them out only to reveal it was actually the lower half of a Zombie torso.[6] Although the owners of the Muscle Car were cut from the final game, the Lone Vort, after emerging with Gordon and Alyx from the Victory Mine, mentions knowing "humans with a vehicle not far from here." References to a vehicle can be found in the Cyril and Fred audio file names listed in an Episode Two script file.[5]
The final design of Griggs and Sheckley was inspired by Abbott and Costello.[2][3] According to Erik Wolpaw, Sheckley was named after the science-fiction author Robert Sheckly.[7] Originally, both were only minor characters who informed Gordon how to defend the Vortigaunts from the Antlions before getting killed fairly quickly, leaving the player alone to fend off the rest of the attack. However, the developers discovered that this led to players being unsure of how to fight the battle and consequently often employing the wrong strategies. This led the team to decide to keep Griggs and Sheckley alive, having both constantly remind the player of how to handle the encounter and even suggesting which tunnels to defend. The team then had the idea of making the two humorous characters whose in-game conversations could serve as comedic relief during the battle.[2]
Griggs and Sheckley's comment about not stepping on the Grubs was originally intended for comedic effect. However, the developers discovered that some players took this comment too literally and would spend the rest of the level avoiding grubs for fear of spawning more Antlions.[2]
According to the actor's resume, Griggs may have been originally voiced by Earl Alexander, best known as the voice of Louis in the Left 4 Dead series.[8][a] Adam Baldwin recorded many more lines for Sheckley, but the character's full set of responses was not implemented into the game in time, leaving him only with his scripted dialog.[1] Temporary placeholder dialog for both characters had been voiced by Laidlaw himself.[9]
Examination of the map file reveals that Griggs and Sheckley are virtually invincible as they heal back to full health every time they take damage. They are nevertheless scripted such that, in the unlikely event one of them dies, they no longer chat with each other. Furthermore, both NPCs have their ammo resupply properties set to non-default values: 45 Submachine Gun bullets for Griggs and 3 Shotgun shells for Sheckley. However, an unchecked flag, in addition to Griggs's role as a medic, prevents them from ever supplying the player with ammo.
Gallery[edit]
Griggs.
Sheckley.
Sheckley showing a Sentry Gun they refurbished.
The Lone Vort tends to Alyx as the duo watches over.
Griggs and Sheckley defending the Lone Vort from Antlions.
Ditto.
Griggs throwing a Medkit to Gordon.
The duo stays back and provides support to the Vortigaunts.
Griggs and Sheckley bid Gordon and his companions farewell.
List of appearances[edit]
Main games[edit]
Other[edit]
- Source Particle Benchmark (First appearance) (Game files only) (Non-canonical appearance)
Notes[edit]
- ↑ Contrary to what is stated in his resume, previously unknown Episode Two dialog sound files that were discovered in a leaked build of the game Postal III only include several male rebel lines voiced by Alexander that were cut from the final game. There are no lines of Alexander playing Griggs present.
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Half-Life 2: Episode Two - Cyril, Fred, and friends on ValveTime
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Half-Life 2: Episode Two commentary
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 The Orange Box Prima Guide, page 26
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Early whiteboard diagram of the Episode Two journey
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Half-Life 2: Episode Two game files,
scripts/level_voices_episode_02.txt - ↑ Valve Interview Series - Part III - David Speyrer on Gamehelper (November 1, 2007) (archived)
- ↑
The NYU Game Center Lecture Series: Erik Wolpaw on YouTube
- ↑ Earl Alexander - Topo Swope Talent Agency
- ↑
Tweet: "Griggs! I still wish we used @marc_laidlaw temp audio for the final characters." @chetfaliszek (Chet Faliszek) on Twitter (October 11, 2017)
