City 17 Trainstation
This article is about the Half-Life 2 trainstation. For the Episode One trainstation, see Technical Trainstation. |
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| City 17 Trainstation | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Destroyed |
The Uprising |
| Location | |
| Builder |
N/A, later refurbished by the Combine |
| Usage | |
| Era(s) | |
| Faction | |
| Game information | |
| Map(s) |
|
| Designer(s) |
|
- "Welcome to City 17. It's safer here. "
- ― Wallace Breen[src]
The City 17 Trainstation, also referred to as Workforce Intake Hub[6] in Combine phraseology, is the first location visited by Gordon Freeman in Half-Life 2. It is a passenger train station converted by the Combine as the primary hub of transit between City 17 and other cities or Nova Prospekt. It appears in the chapters Point Insertion, "A Red Letter Day" and Anticitizen One.
Contents
Overview[edit]
This section is empty or incomplete. Maybe you can help by expanding it. |
Under the main glass roof, several platforms receive Citizens from other cities and locations coming in old, battered and reused trains. Upon arrival, Wallace Breen welcomes them in one of his Breencast speeches. Citizens are instructed by Metro Cops to leave their luggage after getting off the train. City Scanners are flying around. After a turnstile follows a corridor leading to the waiting room where the schedules are displayed (which list other number cities, such as City 16, 15, 13, et al). After that follows a security checkpoint, with Metro Cops guarding entrances. From there, three paths are possible: one leads to the Trainstation Plaza, the second leads to interrogation rooms where Gordon Freeman reunited with Barney Calhoun and Isaac Kleiner, and the third leads to the platform where Razor Trains leave to Nova Prospekt. The Plaza path leads to a corridor that then leads to the former ticket hall of the station, transformed into a food hall, where Citizens queue for their food packages at a ration dispenser. There, another Breencast discussing the concept of instinct is also broadcast. Another corridor leads to the Trainstation Plaza, where the same Breencast is broadcast on a screen attached to an obelisk, facing the trainstation main facade. Each road is blocked by Combine Barricade checkpoints, leading to different precincts and watched by cameras. A Combine Watchtower is also attached to one of the buildings. By the time of the City 17 uprising, the main trainstation entrance is sealed by Combine technology[7] and the whole area is heavily damaged, with Combine Smart Barriers having destroyed most of the surrounding buildings. At this point, a Breencast about collaborating with the Combine is broadcast.[8]
Related Achievements[edit]
| Half-Life 2 | |
|---|---|
|
Submissive (5G) |
| Put the can in the trash. | |
|
Defiant (5G) |
| Hit the trashcan cop with the can. | |
Behind the scenes[edit]
Facade evolution[edit]
The WC map pack contains several maps showing the evolution of the trainstation facade and the plaza, most of them last edited in 2002, after which the trainstation was remade almost from scratch. The trainstation main entrance was never to be used since the player was to access the plaza from a tunnel coming from the Combine Factories area, the first City 17 area visited right after the trainstation. It is unknown what were the plans for the trainstation itself at this point of development, since the only known WC map pack maps of the trainstation's interior are from the same era that the ones used in the Half-Life 2 leak, which are almost identical to the final version; no maps of the early interior seen in the concept art by Viktor Antonov can be found in the WC map pack, only the maps it was derived from, i.e. the stenographer's chasm building in the adjacent Combine Factories area.[9][10][11] The old City 17 originally contained several plazas (the trainstation one, the Breen/Consul statue one, the Breen/Consulcast one, etc.) which were eventually merged into a single plaza.
- This first known version shows the trainstation located along a road near the Combine Factories area. The facade is made of bricks and features three pediments and three arches on the main building.[12] As seen in concept art, the platforms are located behind, in a large hangar with a glass roof (derived from the stenographer's chasm building), black and white tiles on the floors and a deep chasm in the middle, reaching down into the rock. Two tracks are parallel to the trainstation's main facade and connect to the Combine Factories area on one side and other parts of the city on the other side. Many other tracks go in several directions above and below the main tracks, deep into the chasm. The exterior is filled with Metro Cops and Combots. A brush APC is parked nearby while Citizens are queuing.[12]
- The road is enlarged to become a plaza, the building is opened, some prototype Combine technology is added inside (not shown). The brick textures are replaced by stone textures and the building is emptied. The glass-roofed building is completely remade and features more stone ornaments. Two stone columns are added on the plaza.[13] The nearby Combine Factories are moved to another map, while the improved glass-roofed building can be found in some subsequent versions.[14]
- The building with pediments is replaced by another smaller stone building, also with three arches on the main building. The plaza gets even larger.[15]
- The new stone building is modified, more columns are added, and it features a lift and a cable car that crosses the plaza. The stone columns are replaced by actual models, each one with a horse on its top (one exemplar of the column appears at the end of the Half-Life 2 chapter "Follow Freeman!"). The APC is also replaced by the first APC model. The Citizens queuing, the Metro Cops and the Scanners are still there. The Combine Factories are now completely separated from the map (they are present in
e3_industrial, which is based on the directly preceding map). This is the mape3_terminal(a modified version ofd1_terminal_01), which was to be shown at E3 2002 and involve a battle between Rebels and Combine forces, including a Combine Guard. It is also featured in the Half-Life 2 E3 2002 Trailer. The next version, remade almost from scratch, is the current seen in Half-Life 2.
Gallery[edit]
1.
2.
3.
4.
Miscellaneous[edit]
- The City 17 Trainstation was designed by Viktor Antonov. In Raising the Bar, he states that the first version of the Trainstation was much more fantasist and very close to a trainstation located at Budapest and designed by Gustave Eiffel, designer of the Eiffel Tower. He adds that the final version was more closely based on the Austerlitz train station, near where he used to live in Paris.[16][17] However he might refer only to the inside of the trainstation (thus the halls and corridors), as the final version of the main facade and the platforms in the back are still reminiscent of that Budapest trainstation, that appears to be the Budapest-Western Railway Terminal ("Budapest Nyugati pályaudvar" in Hungarian). Simplifying the facade clearly reveals the Half-Life 2 trainstation.
- The player's path through the trainstation was meant to play a role similar to that of the tram ride in Half-Life, i.e. reveal the story setting to the player. In Half-Life 2, the story would unfold at the player's own speed, rather than on a fixed rail, and come about through interaction with the characters naturally found in that setting.[16]
- The Trainstation Plaza was originally called "Terminal Square", then "Terminal Plaza", which constitutes most of the E3 map "Terminal". The "Terminal Hotel" seen on the plaza in the retail version is a reminiscence of this old name.
- The scene where Barney calls Kleiner in his lab to tell him Gordon has returned is a bit longer in the Half-Life 2 leak. Most of the sentences were kept but rerecorded, while others, revealing more plot and setting information to the player, have been cut.[18]
- Early Half-Life 2 screenshots and the leak show that the Citadel originally appeared in the first map, and was to be seen from the tracks behind the platforms, where the game starts. As Gordon does not go to that location after the teleportation failure in Kleiner's Lab, as he was not to discover the Citadel before the plaza and as the area beyond the glass roof cannot be seen in the final game, it was deemed irrelevant and was removed.
- Strangely enough, Kleiner's Lab is extremely close to the City 17 Trainstation. Obvious security precautions would have rather placed the lab very far from a very crowded and security-enforced place like a train station. An explanation for this choice is that several levels originally set between the train station and the lab were cut from the final version, such as the Manhack Arcade and the Combine Factories. Therefore the original lab was originally much farther from the train station than it is now.
Gallery[edit]
Concept art[edit]
Concept art of the interior, possibly based on a modified version of the stenographer's chasm building.
Reversed version of the previous image, with a different crop and changes made around the locomotive.
Composite image of the two previous ones.
The same area seen through the broken glass roof, with the image seemingly having been mirrored.
View of the ceiling.
Another inside view, with Razor Trains and people.
Shelter on the Trainstation Plaza.
Screenshots[edit]
Pre-release[edit]
The back/side of the trainstation seen from the Combine Factories area, in
d1_garage_01.
Other view of the first facade version in
c17_01.
In front of the first version in
c17_01.
Bus shelter in
c17_plaza02.
Pendulum in a building left of the City 17 Trainstation in
d1_terminal_01.
The Terminal Plaza, known today as the Trainstation Plaza, in one of the earliest Half-Life 2 screenshots, in
e3_terminal, showing Metro Cop and Citizens' old skins.[a]
The Terminal Plaza in the same map.[b]
Rebels near the Terminal Plaza, in the same map.
Temporary American textures and Combot in an earlier version of the same map, as seen in the first Half-Life 2 trailer.
Combots in an earlier version of the same map, as seen in the first Half-Life 2 trailer.
The first known APC model and Metro Cops beating Citizens in the same map, as seen in the first Half-Life 2 trailer.
Very basic brush train bringing Gordon to the trainstation in an older version of
d1_trainstation_01.
The food hall with direct access to the plaza in the same map.
The tracks behind the trainstation, with the Citadel visible in the same map.
Metro Cops at the checkpoint between the waiting hall, the Trainstation Plaza, the Nova Prospekt platforms and the interrogation rooms in the same map.
Retail[edit]
Showcase of trainstation models created by Laura Dubuk.
Railway opposite the trainstation.
Main platforms from far. As seen in early screenshots and the leak, the Citadel originally appeared in the background.
Ditto.
Citizens on a train on its way to the trainstation. This is the first real-world thing Gordon sees when he wakes up.
City Scanner welcoming Gordon to a brand new dystopian world.
The first Breencast seen by Gordon.
Stationed locomotives in the trainstation.
Sweepy sweeping.
A Citizen being harassed by a Civil Protection officer.
A Citizen watching ongoing harassment.
Citizen in the corridor between the platforms and the waiting hall.
Citizen sitting under the clock in the waiting hall.
Citizen looking at the schedule in the waiting hall.
Ditto.
A Citizen warning Gordon not to drink the water.
Citizens getting into the queue.
Schedule found in the waiting hall. It also appears in Left 4 Dead, in the Blood Harvest campaign, where it can be found in the Train Station chapter.
Metro Cops at the checkpoint between the waiting hall, the Trainstation Plaza, the Nova Prospekt platforms, and the interrogation rooms.
Razor Trains on the Nova Prospekt platforms.
Refugee having his relocation questioned in an interrogation room.
Ditto.
Interrogation chair in an interrogation room.
Barney reveals himself.
Old friends reunite.
Overview of the food hall.
A Combine ration dispenser in the trainstation food hall.
The main facade columns on the Trainstation Plaza.
City Scanner following a Citizen.
A Citizen passing by on the Trainstation Plaza.
The main facade as seen from the Trainstation Plaza.
Ditto.
Ditto.
The Trainstation Plaza before the uprising.
The back of the trainstation as seen at the start of Gordon's escape.
Metro Cops shooting at Gordon at the back of the trainstation at the start of his escape.
Ditto.
Rebels taking down the Trainstation Plaza Breencast device during the uprising.
Combine Smart Barriers on the Trainstation Plaza.
The sealed trainstation entrance on Trainstation Plaza during the uprising.
List of appearances[edit]
Main games[edit]
- Half-Life 2 (First appearance)
Other[edit]
See also[edit]
Notes[edit]
- ↑ This image is still on the Half-Life 2 cover art as of today, even if that map and the NPCs' skins were cut from the retail version. The first Half-Life 2 trailer features other signs on the building on the left.
- ↑ Note that the cable car and its mechanism on top of the trainstation building appear to be scrapped in this version of the map, instead being replaced by three Combine Watchtowers.
References[edit]
- ↑ Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar, page 193
- ↑ Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar, page 194
- ↑ WC map pack
- ↑
Half a life: Laura Dubuk on her 12 years at Valve on YouTube
- ↑ File:Laura station.jpg
- ↑ Half-Life 2 game files, "
V_G1_LOCATION_MAP" insentences.txt - ↑ File:Trainstation plaza war entrance.jpg
- ↑ File:Trainstation plaza breencast uprising.jpg
- ↑ File:Trainstation 2.jpg
- ↑ File:Trainstation5.jpg
- ↑ File:Trainstation7 high.jpg
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 c17_01_15
- ↑ train_depot06, train_depot10
- ↑ c17_01_74
- ↑ c17_plaza06
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar, page 195
- ↑ Half-Life 2: 20th Anniversary Documentary on YouTube
- ↑ Half-Life 2 leak
| Preceded by N/A |
Half-Life 2 story arc journey | Succeeded by Kleiner's Lab |
