Green "radiation" textures

Black Mesa Archive The Cafeteria
#1

My only disappointment with this mod (disappointment is actually too harsh of a word, I just can’t think of anything else) was the use of the “green glowing” textures for the radiation areas. Unforunately, this is based on a misconception by the public that goes back to the 1940’s.

The only exposure a lot of people had to radiation was “radioactive” watch dials. Watch dials were made of flourescent materials and painted with a radium-laced paint. There was not much radium (and in fact, the watches were safe to own and use - radioactivity was actually very low) - but it of course interacted with the flourescent materials and caused a green glow. This is how early “glow in the dark” watches were made. Unfortunately, it made a lasting correlation in the public mind, that sources of radiation glow green, when in fact they do not.

The original Half-Life sadly fell prey to this misconception. However, Half-Life 2, which predates this mod by 8 years, did not. I was actually pleasantly surprised when the “radioactive” areas of Half-Life 2 were given MUCH more realistic textures. If you’ve seen what REAL radioactive waste looks like, Half-Life 2 actually comes pretty close to the mark, or close enough considering the limits of 3D engines and hardware in 2004 when it was made. There was actually a little bit of a glow to some of Half-Life 2’s textures, where in real life there would not be, but it overall wasn’t too bad.

What I’m wondering is…since this is a Source game, if it would be possible to change/copy some files around and have it use the Half-Life 2 textures for the radioactive areas, rather than the green glow. This is really nothing more than a minor nitpick in a very well done mod, but as someone who does understand radiation and KNOWS that radioactive substances do not glow green, I find the green glowing water to be a distraction.

Here is a video that shows what real radioactive waste looks like. It’s low resolution, but this is why I said Half-Life 2 came pretty close to the mark. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2mYstiYhJs&feature=endscreen&NR=1

#2

It was intentional. They discussed it and decided that they’ll stick with the hl1 green goo.

#3

Did you also complained to GSC GameWorlds (Stalker games) that “visual noise” does only occur for video cameras? Seriously, it’s freaking game. Most video games are designed in every aspect to create an experience based upon a set of rules which are are willfully accepted by a person who plays the game. If green glow creates for a player the essential experience of hazard and radiation, the game has done it’s job.

#4

No need to be hostile, he’s just asking if there’s a way he can change it for himself. If he wants to, why shouldn’t he?

#5

Sometimes it is nice to be given a little visual indication to an otherwise invisible event.
You can’t see radiation, only it’s after effects. But rather than show Gordon in hospital suffering from cancer caused by high radiation exposure they decided to add a glow and some vision effects.

#6

Well, I love the green glowing radioactive water in BM :slight_smile:

#7

lol i think almost everyone knows that radioaktive materials don’t glow green… but i read somewhere, that radioactive rays can sometimes be seen during atombomb-explosions (gamma-rays), but allegedly it actually glows like faint blue… but i don’t know if this is true… havent found any example on the internet.

edit:

One reason which i remember now, why radioactive materials are often depicted as glowing-green, is uranium glass. its glass containing uranium-oxide. its green and its even glowing in black-light. already the old romans produced such glasses.

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#8

What…!!! Radiation ain’t green? My childhood has been ruined :[

#9

You might be able to replace the shaders/ textures with the HL2 ones just by renaming the HL2 textures and dragging them in to replace the BM ones, but I don’t think it will get rid of the glow. I’m pretty sure the glow is baked into the map’s lightmaps.

#10

I am pretty sure radiation beams glows green, dunno where you got that from.

Anyways i like it, although it would be cool if they added biohazardous waste and used the HL2 texture for it to create a distinction between the two wastes. I don’t even remember biohazardous or acid wastes in BM…

But seriously, i think radiation is green if you view it with the required hardware… and you got the H.E.V suit…

#11

Mirrors are green.

Seriously, when I think of Half-Life 2 I think of that annoying chapter Water Hazard (I think) and it’s brown, dirt hurty water.

When I think of Half-Life 1 on the other hand I think of LOTS AND LOTS OF GREEN. It just could not be Half-Life 1 without glowy green stuff.

#12

Mirrors are green?

If they reflect green color, yes.

Same thing with radiation, it has energy enough to reflect colors(like what you see in the cosmos) but some energy reflects different color. So maybe it happened to reflect green for whatever reason.

#13

It’s an iconic part of Half-Life, so they decided to keep it. And since when has HL been about realism anyway…

#14

Maybe HEV suit has some view-changers built-in (like nightvision goggles) that intensify hazardous waste’s color so that HEV suit user is warned about them.
But I think that’s a big speculation and cheap way to excuse this green color ;/

#15

Errr, no. You see the green waste on the tram even before you get into the suit. So nope

#16

And wouldn’t it need goggles or the helmet or something?

#17

Don’t even start about the fucking helmet or I will end you.

#18

if you put 2 mirrors facing each other, they always make an infinite tunnel that becomes green if you look far into it.

#19

In the original game I know u saw the radiation sign in your HUD, didn’t notice this in BM

#20

I think the only instance of radiation sign, so that hazardous waste harms you without you even touching it, was in Hazard Course. This sign is included in BM wiki, but stangely never seen in game. Maybe they wanted to use it only once (just like in HL) in Hazard Course before it was cut?

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.