Lambda Core

Lambda Core
Game information
Designer(s)	Unknown
Map(s)	c3a2 c3a2a c3a2b c3a2c c3a2d c3a2e c3a2f
Previous chapter	"Forget About Freeman!"
Next chapter	Xen

 

Lambda Core is the fourteenth chapter of Half-Life.

Overview

The player finally arrives at the Lambda Complex. A scientist was left behind to let the player into the complex. He explains that this is the last entrance to the complex, as every other entrance has been sealed off to contain the invasion. They're waiting for the player at the tip of the Lambda Reactor. The reactor is shut down. The player is required to activate both pumps to flood the reactor, and also activate it in the process, to reach the teleportation labs above.

There is a scientist and security guard waiting for the player at the top (or final) level of the reactor core. The science team suspects that there is an immense portal in the alien world, created by the intense concentration of a single powerful being. The player is tasked to find this creature and kill it to stop the invasion. To prepare for what lies ahead, the player is given a Long Jump Module for navigating in the alien world, and the equipment of the survey teams.

A scientist is waiting for the player at the main portal. He begins opening the portal from the control panel above - a process that takes an excruciatingly long time. While the scientist works, the player has to protect him from the aliens that warp into the room. When the teleporter is ready, the player can jump into the portal and travel to Xen.

Development

Alpha

Reactor Lab is the predecessor of Lambda Core, and is the sixth and the final chapter in the Alpha version of the game. The chapter shares the same general premise. The main goal is to disable and flood the reactor core to reach the inaccessible areas above.

Other versions

In the Dreamcast version, the maintenance access that leads to the reactor features a new room, which serves as a level transition area. The level code for the chapter in the Dreamcast version is "Scientist At Work". The Source version contains a couple of test maps that include portions of the chapter.

Behind the scenes

The original chapter title was Down And Out. In a cut scripted sequence, a Vortigaunt was to play with a valve on a steam pipe and kill itself with steam leak, either in the map c3a2c or c3a2d. The animation (valvefry) can be found in Day One files. The design of the large lift appears to be based on a design from the manga Akira.

Trivia

• The entity names of two Vortigaunts who talk over a dead scientist are "abbott" "and "costello" (map c3a2a). Abbott and Costello were a comedy duo.
• In the map c3a2f, there is a dead scientist with the numbers "247" written in his blood. This is a reference to Room 237 in The Shining, a movie by Stanley Kubrick, based on a novel by Stephen King. In the book, the room number is 217. This is also the solution for the portal puzzle in the teleport room.
• In the final map of the chapter, there is a scientist that points a shotgun at the player. In Half-Life 2, Kleiner greets the player with a shotgun, mirroring the scene from the original game, in the chapter Entanglement.

Gallery

Pre-release

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  Level editor shot.

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  Tau Cannon's beams reflecting on the walls of Lambda Core.

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  The reactor core.

• 

  Ditto.

Retail

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  The entrance.

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  The test firing chamber.

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  The Vortigaunts who's entity names are "abbott" and "costello".

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  Using the Gluon Gun on an Alien Grunt.

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  The G-Man.

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  The dead scientist with the code for the teleport puzzle written in his blood.

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  The reactor core.

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  The survey team room.

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  Ditto.

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  The Long Jump Module.

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  The teleporter.

Other

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  Possible level plan.

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  Ditto.

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  The reactor core map.

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  Akira lift.

Associated media

• Additional images related to Lambda Core
• Half-Life soundtrack
  • Cavern Ambiance
  • Scared Confusion Short
  • Steam in the Pipes