The huge radiation spillage during intro sequence - Immersion breaking

Black Mesa Archive In-game Issues
#1

Hello, I’m having the following problem with the intro tram sequence:

“I”, Gordon Freeman, witness a huge radioactive spillage, and see 2 scientists desperately trying to contain it / escape.

Yet when I exit the tram, I DON’T TELL ANYONE that 200 meters from them, there’s a life-threatening situation.

This is seriously immersion breaking, because by not having the option to tell anyone, by “casually” going to work, I’m acting like the worst kind of scientist: I certainly must know that those 2 guys are in danger, there’s just no way to either miss the scene, or not understand it.

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Could anything be done about this? I understand it must have taken a long time to build and choreograph the sequence, but it just doesn’t work.

I could imagine a tiny leak dripping from the top of the big cylindrical thing, without any witnesses, as a sort of foreshadowing that not everything is done according to safety regulations (which is further reinforced by the forgotten Tram maintenance manual), to work, but this particular scene is just too drastic and breaks immersion. My Gordon would NEVER “not tell” anyone.

#2

Besides this not being a bug or glitch - Have you played HL1?

#3

Oh leave him be. I think this was an adorable post. :love:

#4

Yes I have. In 1999.

This is what it looks like in HL1

youtu.be/6ary5kS70Ng
Check at 4:12.

My understanding was: A robot is being deployed to fix some problem. No humans are in danger.

Care to elaborate on that?

#5

Only that what you describe is actually on purpose. It is meant to make you giggle over the absurdity of what is happening. That you are being told to report any leaks, and yet here you are now exposed as well as several of your colleagues. Your character does not talk, therefore he cannot ‘report’ anything so you are stuck wondering if your co-workers are going to start growing a third eye or not.

#6

So, I’m able to help a fellow colleague by giving him a roll of toilet paper, but I am unable to let the “authorities” know about a radiation leak…

#7

well Mystic, Gordon never talks, and if you look closely as you pull away a robot is entering the liquid and evidently rescuing the scientists afterward.

#8

At worst he’ll grow a few extra arms, I’m sure he’ll be fine.

#9

What you see is a scientist working the control panel for that area while alarms are blaring and a robot is moving in to deal with it. This means that those who can do something about it already are doing something about it. You job is to get the frack out of the way.

#10

tbh that bit did seem pretty out of place. Seeing the scientist slamming on the door, looking like he’s basically fighting for his life right at the beginning is a pretty jarring. It would fit perfectly after the resonance cascade starts, but sticking something that morbid in when everything’s basically supposed to be fine doesn’t really fit. If you made it like, guys in hazmat suits working to contain the mess rather than random scientists getting radiation poisoning, it would give the vibe of “Black Mesa is dangerous work” rather than “Black Mesa is a deathtrap”, because Black Mesa isn’t supposed to be a deathtrap yet. I get that it was in HL1, but the point of BM is to tweak the stuff in HL1 that doesn’t work that well, so it’s not really out of the question that something like this would be changed. My two cents anyway.

#11

The whole thing was meant to be nothing more than a comic relief.

#12

Also, all morning at Black Mesa things have been going haywire.

#13

True that. The computers went down, so I am sure they have their hands full with that as well. :wink:

#14

“Hey, what’s that green crap? What IS this? Jesus Christ! Look at this place! This is a DISASTER! That’s gotta be toxic. God, the EPA is going to tear us apart if they find out about that. Well, I’m not saying anything. I don’t want to get called into court as a witness on this once the cat gets out of the bag.”

youtube.com/watch?v=5SQhfkpX9bc

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.