Gordon's first zombie

Black Mesa Archive Suggestion Box
#1

In HL1 the player is introduced to the Headcrab’s coupling behaviour after seeing a headcrab sitting atop a scientists head.

In HL2, this experience is presented in a more cinematic event; the player watches helplessly as a citizen struggles for his life after being mounted by a headcrab.

With Source’s cinematic capabilities, I would like to see a brutal and dramatic zombification as the player’s introduction to headcrabs and zombies. Or at least tell me you guys have something cooler in store besides a headcrab humping a dead scientist.

#2

Wotchu’ talkin’ 'bout Willis?

Can’t think of nothing cooler than some good ol’ head humpin’!

#3

Well, there is this scene:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR3dfU8d1K4#t=4m32s
Which is the predecessor to the HL2 scene that you described.

As for a ‘brutal and dramatic zombification’ scene (which I assume you mean watching a scientist convert into a zombie in real-time) certainly won’t be happening. For future reference, please use the Got A Quick Suggestion topic.

#4

Blind much?

#5

A headcrab found sitting on a body is not quite the same as a headcrab jumping onto and knocking a man down. Retarded much?

#6

I see what you did there. I see it :hmph:

#7

A headcrab sitting on a body is very much a headcrab sitting on a body.

The scene you had linked wasn’t the scene I was refering to.

On the same video, at 2:04 you see a headcrab sitting atop the body of a scientist, propped up against the wall. THAT is the scene to which I was refering to. I had actually forgotten entirely about that later scene. I suppose a remake of that scene would satisfy my desire to watch some headcrab ownage.

#8

a thread about headcrab rape in its many forms as well as the traumatizing after affects. jesus you guys are some sick people.

this sounds like jolly good fun :slight_smile:

#9

No, you will not see a human to zombie transformation scene. I don’t think the BM dev team is able to do that on the Source engine without having access to the source code.

#10

You haven’t seen a bit of it.

I would say they could maybe do it with an well animated model and changing texture, but it’s really not worth the effort.

Here’s how I think it could go with source: Scientist gets Headcrabbed and falls to the floor. The headcrab and the scientist are then deleted and replaced with a model, which then plays the transformation animation, an animated texture gives the appearance of blood spreading. Then the model is deleted and replaced with a zombie npc, which then gets up and attacks.

Possibly? Probably. Worth it? Probably not. Do I know what I’m talking about? Not really.

#11

That doesn’t sound too bad.

#12

We’re not saying that they can’t do it, we’re saying that they wont do it. This idea has been suggested hundreds of times before & the answer will always be the same.

#13

That idea is EXACLY what I was thinking

#14

I personally don’t care how cinematic or dramatic the first headcrab zombie is, all I care about is that it communicates the idea of a parasitically controlled necromorph as quickly as possible. HL1 did it kind of sloppily, with a kind of gradual realisation which really felt kinda meh. HL2 was a step up, showing an actual headcrabbing, however this can be easily spoilt by a trigger happy player. Perhaps if BM invoked the dreaded bullet proof glass they could make a decent introduction?

I’d say actually showing a transformation is out of the question, since there is no definite indicator as to how long the mutation takes, or whether a host can be controlled without mutation at all.

#15

I shot that citizen as soon as I saw that he had a headcrab on him. I mean that I killed him and the headcrab.

#16

What ‘gradual realization’ from HL1? In Both HL1 & HL2 you encounter headcrabs, then zombies, then you witness a scene where a headcrab jumps a guy as if it weren’t already obvious enough. I don’t see how it was any less obvious between 1 & 2. They both had a scene where a guy gets headcrabbed, the only real difference is bulletproof glass.

It doesn’t take a mind reader to figure that out. :\

#17

That’s what I mean, it’s slowly revealed over several encounters, when a single event brutally showing the parasitic method of the headcrabs would be far easier and effective.

#18

So basically it is possible, but it looks like crap?

#19

Yup, I’m pretty sure you are, since you’ve totally missed my point.

#20

It’s not that long; in the headcrabbed shanty town, there’s a zombie who breaks through the wall at from where you were previously. If you go back the guy you saw being headcrabbed is gone, implying that’s they are the same person.

Founded in 2004, Leakfree.org became one of the first online communities dedicated to Valve’s Source engine development. It is more famously known for the formation of Black Mesa: Source under the 'Leakfree Modification Team' handle in September 2004.