Talk:Half-Life: Opposing Force/Archive 1

Old talk

Bot revert is unnecessarily prissy - I made a small change uncensoring the word "fucked" and someone's damn bot reverted it. I was under the distinct impression that Wikipedia was not censored, so why has this been done? - 86.134.35.219 (talk) 20:00, 17 January 2008 (UTC)

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Nuke detonating at the end?

Is it completely clear that the nuclear warhead detonates in the end sequence? I have played through and finished the game, and I cannot remember anything like a nuke going off happening in the end sequence with the G-man (altough I do remember seeing the G-man tampering with the warheads). Anyone care to clarfiy (as I dont have the game installed anymore and can't check myself)? Brutulf

I doubt that, even if the thermonuclear warhead detonated, it would yield enough energy to destroy the entire vast BMRF. Here's an interesting logarithmic chart plotting yield vs mass: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/US_nuclear_weapons_yield-to-weight_comparison.svg

It's not 100% clear, but there was a white flash while riding in the Osprey. I don't remember if there is dialog in HL2 that would clarify. --Mrwojo 18:24, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)

As Mrwojo noted, there is a great white flash, and IIRC the G-man mentions something about the Mesa now being 'under control'. (In essence, sterilized.) I haven't played HL2 yet, but it seems like Shephard does not appear in it. Gordon left by another route, and Barney Calhoun left in time to escape the blast. Anárion 23:23, 5 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Considering that near the endboss, you need to disarm a thermonuclear explosive (which you do by pressing a button), and you can subsequently see the G-Man operating on it through the window, I'd say yes, it got blown up. Yar Kramer 05:10, 16 May 2005 (UTC)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqgCtMLUKUQ There —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.196.115.179 (talk) 04:51, 6 April 2007 (UTC).

"Occasionally"

I notice that the article mentions "occasioanlly" catching climpses of Gordon Freeman. I only remember seeing Gordon once, during the segment "We are not alone" in which you see Gordon jumping through the portal. (Once, incidentally, I jumped in after him, and rather than arriving at Hoomy the way he did, I found myself plummeting to my death, which was accompanied by the message "SUBJECT: SHEPHARD, OBSERVATION TERMINATED. Postmortem: Subject attempted to create temporal paradox.") Anyway, is the "occasionally" supposed to imply "more than once"? If so, I'd be curious to know where else you can see Gordon.

I agree. I only saw Gordon as he was running through the tunnel. However, Gordon's name is mentioned several times during the game. 69.42.5.52 23:02, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I know that, but the "catching glimpses" made me think that it meant you directly saw him. --Yar Kramer 23:12, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Having played through it recently, I'm pretty sure he only turns up once in person (although his face is seen in an Employee of the Month picture.) I'll change the article. --Sum0 20:16, 3 September 2005 (UTC)

Shephard sees Freeman as he is jumping through the Xen portal (if the player is quick). Freeman is also seen being dragged to the garbage dump, but I'm not sure now if that is OpFor or BS. Jordi·✆ 22:21, 3 September 2005 (UTC)

That's totally BS. (Sorry, couldn't resist. But yeah, it's Blue-Shift.) --Yar Kramer 02:37, 4 September 2005 (UTC)

A scientist can also be seen saying hello to Gordon while they pass each other in a hall way on a security screen near the start of BS. --Wexer9 (talk) 18:29, 7 May 2009 (UTC)

Race X

Having played every HL game (from the original to HL2), I'm confused as to what role Race X plays in the overall Half-Life story. Are they just something that was added in without much thought? Was it Marc Laidlaw's decision to involve Race X or was it just the people at Gearbox?

According to an interview with Laidlaw, RaceX was suggested by Gearbox (and okayed by Laidlaw). They don't have anything to do with either Xen or the Combine, apparently. Jordi·✆ 05:19, 31 August 2005 (UTC)

Neutrality of Story Paragraph

"In the original Half-Life, a "resonance cascade" opens an extra-dimensional rift, allowing an alien army to invade Black Mesa."

Here it is stated that the resonance cascade is used for the Xen troops to invade, this is theory, not fact.

Soundtrack

It appears that the soundtrack in Opposing Force and Blue Shift, while having the same music, has a different track list. It also appears that Opposing Force's music tends to have pauses or large amounts of silence in its tracks, while Blue Shift's music doesn't have an occurance like this.

And where do all the titles come from? Is there a link or some site that confirms that track listing? -TonicBH 12:51, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

The situation with the music in Opposing Force and Blue Shift is actually rather confusing. I think what really needs to be determined first is what music Blue Shift was actually supposed to have. Just to keep things clear for myself, I've put together a list of what I know:

• The original version of Opposing Force was released with its own original soundtrack composed of 19 tracks. Obviously, the music was made for the game, so it fits.
• The Dreamcast version of Blue Shift, which chronilogically speaking comes after the original release of Opposing Force, uses Half-Life music, not OpFor music. This is most likely because Blue Shift was an add-on to the DC version of Half-Life, so to save space they made it share the same music. The music cues appear fit the game perfectly, so I presume Gearbox had developed Blue Shift with the HL music originally in mind.
• Blue Shift is released on PC in America packaged with a full, standalone version of Opposing Force. The game comes with Opposing Force music. At first glance the soundtrack appears to be exactly the same as the original OpFor soundtrack as it has 19 tracks. However, the tracks are in an entirely different order, and one of the tracks is simply total silence. Playing through Opposing Force using the BS cd would cause some quite confusing music cues.
• While I can't verify this last part myself, according to the Blue Shift wiki, Blue Shift's release in Europe was lacking the full, standalone version of Opposing Force the American release had. Hence, no OpFor soundtrack. In fact, evidently no soundtrack at all.

The only explanation I can come up with is that Blue Shift was designed to use the Half-Life music originally, but when it was converted to the PC and then bundled with Opposing Force, they changed it to OpFor music instead since both games would have to share the same PC cd. However, in order for the music to partially fit Blue Shift, they had to rearrange the OpFor track order, which would consequently also affect Opposing Force itself. By rearranging the OpFor track order the music would fit the original Half-Life music cues that they originally put into BS. However, comparing the HL track order and the BS track order, it seems that the music still doesn't match, which would make the track rearranging quite perplexing since it wouldn't appear to have done anything. One theory that I have not considered yet is that Gearbox changed the placement of the music cues within the Blue Shift levels of the PC version, and possibly also music cues in the Opposing Force version bundled with BS. To verify this without somehow being able to edit and check the bsp files, I would have to play through the DC version of BS, the PC BS version, the original version of OpFor, and then the standalone version of OpFor that came with the PC version of BS. Then I would have to play the PC version of BS with the HL soundtrack which would probably confirm or disconfirm everything up to that point. God I'm confused. Are you too? :P

As for the titles on the Opposing Force tracks, I can't find out where those came from either. To be honest, I'm not sure where the track titles for the original Half-Life came from either. I guess there were revised names on the HL2 soundtrack, but how are the original names known? Was there a HL1 soundtrack released? I don't recall one. MarphyBlack 19:58, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

for my own amusement, i'm ripping both my op4 CD and my BS CD's soundtracks and comparing the tracks, and it appears that one track on the blue shift CD is actually BROKEN! track 06 on the op4 CD (if you assume the data track is track 01) is quite conspiciously missing from blue shift. i noticed this right away when i first bought the game a few years ago, as the track in question is my personal favourite in op4. thus, blue shift's track 17 and its 6 seconds of silence is meant to be the same as track 06 on the op4 CD. apparently they screwed up; all the other tracks match up if you do some comparative listening. given the name of the track ("fright") the song itself is rather appropriate for where it plays.

due to this, i've edited the soundtrack section with a note. I've also gone ahead and updated the BS page. 72.49.242.131 06:32, 13 May 2006 (UTC)dethtoll

Article Title

This game is referred to in Steam simply as "Opposing Force," without the Half-Life prefix. Suggest an article move. -- Jason Jones 03:53, 2 July 2006 (UTC)

Steam also calls Blue Shift "Half-Life: Blue Shift" rather than just "Blue Shift". The naming conventions in Steam are not consistent, mainly because Valve are quite lazy or mostly incompetent (Or possibly both), so I'd go with what Gearbox says instead. According to the Opposing Force box, Gearbox's website, and etc, the name of the game is "Half-Life: Opposing Force". MarphyBlack 06:09, 2 July 2006 (UTC)

I was just looking into this, and sent in a support ticket, and they said that was the name of the game. So I checked the Trademark office, and apparently it is only listed as "Opposing Force"[1], without the prefix. Blue Shift has 2 trademarks, one with [2] and one without [3] the prefix, however. So technically the game's name is indeed lacking the "Half-Life:" prefix, however as everyone else uses it, we should, per common name. 69.182.123.147 04:02, 16 November 2007 (UTC)

Interesting info, but that still doesn't change the fact that the box, the websites[4][5], the strategy guide, and just about everyone and everything else on the face of the planet call it (And justifiably so) "Half-Life: Opposing Force". The simplest explanation for the discrepency in Steam is this: Valve is lazy and they're unwilling to fix the issue (Despite how obscenely easy it would be to fix). Considering they haven't even updated the Steam version of OpFor to use the latest patch (released in early 2002), I'm not surprised that they wouldn't take the time to add about 10 characters to its name. MarphyBlack 04:23, 16 November 2007 (UTC)

69.182.123.147 was agreeing with you, MarphyBlack, in regards to keeping the "Half Life:" prefix. − Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 05:10, 16 November 2007 (UTC)

I know that. However, he's stating that the name of the game is "technically" just "Opposing Force", as if this were official. This is not correct. 05:40, 16 November 2007 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by MarphyBlack (talk • contribs)

I'm saying the trademark is official, and Valve is too cheap to register the correct name :P Someone should register it and sue em. Oh and, the sessions expired for the links, so here's how:

Click here to start: http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?...glish&p_d=trmk
Then, click "New User Form Search (Basic)"
Then in the "Search Term" box, type "Opposing Force" (WITH the quotes). It's the first result.

Do the same for "Blue Shift" and "Half-Life: Blue Shift" 69.182.123.147 (talk) 00:12, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

Uncyclopedic?

In the shock-roach paragraph it says:

"Thus, shooting electricity at water will result in a lot of dispersal along the surface, and not much effect on any horrible mutant creatures inside it." (Bold-text added by me)

Whilst it is probably true (haven't played it in a while, so I can't be sure), and did make me laugh a little, it is a bit out-of-place in an encyclopedia article, I think. Crimson Shadow 08:59, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

Changed. They're not horrible mutant creatures; aliens are people too. :( MarphyBlack 10:39, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

Laser trip mine

When playing the game and having the trip mine out, you can see the words, "M23B Property of U.S.M.C." printed on it. I suggest the trip mine in the weapons section should be changed to, "M23B laser trip mine"

Please post a screenshot for confirmation Veritas Panther 04:32, 9 September 2006 (UTC)

I can take a screenshot, but where do I find it and how do I post it.

Post it on imageshack or if you want to add it to the article you'll need to upload it to wikipedia.Veritas Panther 22:21, 11 September 2006 (UTC)

Here's a picture: http://www.nextdimension.org/other/tripmine.jpg. This text is only readable on the high definition model. On the original model, it's just some black splotches on the texture. MarphyBlack 21:37, 12 September 2006 (UTC)

Yes, thank you. Also, when planted on a wall and viewed from above, you can see the words "Point towards Enemy" accompanied by an arrow pointing forwards.

That settles it, doesn't it? I think then HL & BS articles need the change too. Veritas Panther 07:35, 21 September 2006 (UTC)

Left out?

I've never actually played the games (I'm reading these articles because I don't have anything better to do), but isn't there somebody named Otis who appears in this game? The article on Blue Shift says he was introduced in this game and is killed in that game. I don't see anything about him in the plot section.

Otis is a class of security guards that was introduced in Opposing Force, meaning that they're just generic NPC helpers much like the Barneys in the original Half-Life. There is no one real Otis encountered, so "he" didn't die (Rather, some Otises/Oti in Blue Shift died, not one person). However, now that you mention it, I see that there was no mention of the Otis class of guards in this article. Strange. I have addressed this problem. MarphyBlack 02:07, 24 December 2006 (UTC)

Questionable trivia entry

• The office areas of the chapter "Friendly Fire" are the same as those in the original Half-Life game, as while the player traverses the vents, he can fall into one of the usually inaccessible areas seen in the original Half-Life chapter "Office Complex".

Are we sure about this? The office flooded with electricity-filled water in Opposing Force doesn't look like any office seen in "Office Complex," accessible or not. Is this the area this trivia entry is referring to? If so, which part of "Office Complex" was it found in? If not, which area does it refer to? Bhamv 17:24, 30 September 2007 (UTC)

I think the writer is attempting to say that the offices in OF are in the same office complex that we see in HL. While it's plausible, I doubt that they're in the same complex- there most certainly can be more than one dedicated administrative complex throughout Black Mesa. dethtoll 00:35, 15 October 2007 (UTC)

In that case, any objections if I remove that particular entry? Bhamv 14:43, 15 October 2007 (UTC)

None. dethtoll 18:00, 24 October 2007 (UTC)

Worth noting?

After you destroy the Black Ops Apache and enter the garage, there's a bunch of Pit Drones and several cars marked "POLICE" (I believe), and all the doors are opened. Maybe the local police (if there is a town near Black Mesa) got one of the distress calls? Mr. Raptor 04:49, 24 October 2007 (UTC)

Additional trivia

in the training mission, stay in the first area (the living quarters), listen to the sarge there. you'll hear another quote from Full Metal Jacket. "Where did you come from boy? Texas? only 2 things come out of texas; Steers and Queers... AND YOU DONT LOOK LIKE A COW" I'd add it into the trivia, but apparently wiki is trying to remove trivia. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sephiroth111 (talk • contribs) 18:30, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

He doesn't actually say that. He only says "Where you from, soldier!? Texas? Ohhh you know what comes outta TEXAS!" Which in a way is actually funnier without offending anyone's delicate sensibilities ;) dethtoll (talk) 22:19, 23 July 2008 (UTC)