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Combine Factories
General information
Location	City 17
Usage
Era(s)	The Uprising
Affiliation	Combine
Game information
Map(s)	e3_industrial d1_garage_01 d1_garage_02 factory_08 c17_01 and its variations[1]
Designer(s)	Viktor Antonov (concept art)[2] Aaron Barber (mapping) John Guthrie (mapping)[1]

 

The Combine Factories,^[2] also nicknamed "garage" or "industrial",^[1] is a City 17 area cut early in the development of Half-Life 2.^[2] It was to be seen during the very first chapter, between the City 17 Trainstation and its plaza.^[1][2] It was to be accessed from the back of the trainstation, although Gordon was likely to first pass through the area while arriving to City 17 on its train.^[1][2]

OverviewEdit

• A quite noisy and sinister area,^[1][3] it was to show the player human servitude under the Combine.^[2]

• Workers of these factories would have been consisted of both adult and child Citizens, as well as Stalkers and Vortigaunts. They were to be closely watched by Metrocops and Combots.^[1]

• The map "e3_industrial", cut from E3 2003, depicts most of the Combine Factories in an incomplete stage.^[1] Other maps include maps starting with "d1_garage" (1 and 2) and "c17_01" (not to be confused with the E3 map e3_c17_01), coming in around 15 versions, some featuring the nearby trainstation.^[1]

FeaturesEdit

The area was to contain several specific sections illustrated in Raising the Bar or found in the several different WC mappack maps, in which a specific journey was to be made by the player, before reaching the front of the City 17 Trainstation main facade through a tunnel closed in the most recent maps. The areas include:

Railway and streetsEdit

• An elevated railway for the (brush) Razor Train was to cross the area, transporting Citizens from the Wasteland or other locations to the nearby City 17 Trainstation. Big pipes, catwalks, electric cables, huge chimneys pouring smoke were to be seen everywhere.^[1]

• Door Towers were to be used by Metrocops to open Combine Barricades while APCs and School Buses were traveling around the area.^[1]

• In early maps flying APCs ("shuttles") are also seen circling the area.^[1]

• The Vorti-Cell was also to be introduced there.^[2]

• A Sensor Gate was also to be seen at the start of the journey.^[1]

GalleryEdit

Gloomy street at the start of the map. The junk on the road is to be moved by the wind when approached. On the far left is located the Sensor Gate (here unseen).

First broad view of the area, introducing the chimneys, the electric cables and the elevated railway.

A Razor Train passing above the streets among the factories.

The same spot viewed from the other side.

The back/side of the City 17 Trainstation seen from near the garage, with the Vortigaunt building on the left (with green light).

Buildings and pipes.

Combine Door Tower in an early map.

View of the street from catwalks.

Elevated railway and pipes in an early map.

Concept art for the Vorti-Cell.

The area glimpsed from the Trainstation Plaza in the map "e3_terminal", on the right.

"Worker", likely to be seen in the area (mostly the "Borealis worker" model with another color), with what became the head for the Citizen Male 07, here more faithful to the original reference model.

Back, revealing the common Combine logo.

Underground / sewersEdit

Sewers and underground rooms can be accessed through a large webbed trapdoor located on street level, then through a ladder that breaks before the player reaches the ground, forcing them to follow a specific path. After journeying through a small sewer where Xen Light Stalks and a scripted sequence involving Rebel Vortigaunts were to be seen, the player was to reach underground rooms having undergone a fire (they are also partially used in Vertigo). A small portion of the ceiling of one of the rooms was to have collapsed, allowing the rain to pour in. After several dimly lit corridors, the player was to reach the street again.^[1]

GalleryEdit

The entrance to the sewers. The four red lights on each side are blinking.

Ladder in the sewers.

Above the ladder.

Xen Light Stalks in the sewers.

Ditto.

The burned/flooded room also present in Vertigo.

Right after the flooded room.

The damaged corridor that follows.

The end of the corridors, showing elements also present in Vertigo. Opposite is the door leading back to street level.

The Cremator FactoryEdit

In this factory (also named "Children Factory"^[2]), children were to prepare Cremator heads while being watched by a single Metrocop.^[1][2] It was to be seen from the street, then from above on a catwalk, but never directly accessed.^[1] The rest of the process of the preparation of Cremator units was apparently not to be seen.

GalleryEdit

The earliest known Cremator Factory with adult Citizens, in "c17_01_42.vmf".

Concept art for the Cremator Factory.

Same spot in the map "e3_industrial.vmf".

The Cremator Factory in "d1_garage_01.vmf" (the children and the Metrocop are missing in that fix).

Ditto, detail of the machine.

Male child model, holding a Cremator head.

Ditto, female model.

Animation of the female child model transporting a Cremator head.

The Stenographer's ChasmEdit

• This huge room with a glass roof and it walls covered with white tiles (like one of the early Citadels) and City 17 posters was an attempt to create a nightmarish environment, but it proved bereft of gameplay. The place was to be filled with Citizens wearing light blue outfits and typing on stenographs.^[2]

• It was not to be directly accessed, and only glimpsed from the outside. Corridors run beside it, and one includes stairs with machinery that pierced the wall under them.^[1]

• In the playable Half-Life 2 Beta files, only the textures of the Stenographer's Chasm worker model can be found. Added to the light blue outfit, it was to have the head of the retail "male cheaple" Citizen model. A sheet of paper was also to be used, as well as a desk model, also missing.^[3]

• More recent versions contain other types of machines mostly involving pistons, as well as working children and Metrocops.^[1]

• Early concept art images for the City 17 Trainstation seem to be based on variations of that area.^[1]

GalleryEdit

Stairs right before the Stenographer's Chasm, with machinery going through the wall.

Concept art for the Stenographer's Chasm.

Fixed Stenographer's Chasm in the mod Half-Life 2 (GabeN).

The most recent Stenographer's Chasm, without stenographer (children should be present but are missing from the fix).

Ditto.

Ditto, drop-down view.

Back texture file for the Stenographer's Chasm worker model.

Front texture file for the Stenographer's Chasm worker model.

Texture for the sheet of paper used by each worker.

The Stalker buildingEdit

Stalkers were to be seen welding a container using their laser tools in a building located at the end of the small linear journey.^[1]

The Vortigaunt buildingEdit

A Vortigaunt was also to be seen working under a room filled with generator-like green devices near the Stalker building.^[1]

GalleryEdit

The Vortigaunt on the ground floor. He is idle because of the missing scripted sequence in that fix.

View of the first floor.

The garageEdit

A standard garage featuring an APC with its engine removed and a small operable crane were to be located opposite of the Vortigaunt building, near the back of the City 17 Trainstation. Odell's model was to be found there, used as a placeholder as it is often in the WC mappack. The building was also to include several props such as the early brush vending machine.^[1]

GalleryEdit

APC in the garage. This fix replaces the old brush VAB APC by the early BRDM-2 model. Odell's model is also not included.

Other factoriesEdit

Other unidentified factories were also to heavily rely on children.^[2]

GalleryEdit

Concept art for children working on an unidentified machine.

Concept art for children working on machines similar to the ones seen in the latest versions of the Stenographer's Chasm.

FateEdit

• When the Cremator was cut and the team decided that human reproduction had been disabled by the Suppression Field, the presence of children as well as their factory were rendered irrelevant. The whole area then disappeared when the journey to Kleiner's Lab was heavily shortened and the general atmosphere of the game changed.

• The slavery/factory themes were recycled in the Citadel chapters and the slavery work was kept for the Stalkers only.

List of appearancesEdit

• Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar (First appearance) (Non-canonical appearance)

ReferencesEdit

Half-Life Wiki has more images related to Category:Combine Factories images.

See alsoEdit

• Half-Life 2 original storyline#Combine Factories

External linksEdit

• Overview of a fixed "e3_industrial", with working Cremator factory on YouTube
• The Combine Factories partially remade in the CryEngine on YouTube