Story?

[snakebite105]

Do the two half life expansions Opposing force and blue shift have a story or do you just have any actual story in terms of dialog?

[gorpie]

They kind of have stories:

Blue Shift (http://half-life.wikia.com/wiki/Half-Life:_Blue_Shift_storyline)

Opposing Force (http://half-life.wikia.com/wiki/Half-Life:_Opposing_Force_storyline)


They aren't considered canon, though.

[barneyinblue]

Ignore the user above, they're considered canon.

[gorpie]

Ignore the user above, they're considered canon.

Source please? I can give you mine (from the thread Marc Laidlaw [Writer for HL] Vault (http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=920482)):



Barney + Blue-Shift + Expansion Involvement

Hi, Daniel, I won't be able to clear up much. It was a deliberate decision to have Gearbox never call him Barney in Blue Shift, only Calhoun. Raising the bar is not a game, so material is presented differently there; manifestations differ in every medium. Gearbox took our Barney and did their own best version, but I'm not sure that Barney is the same Barney I'm picturing when I picture Valve's Barney. In the time BS was created, there were many Barneys. Only gradually have the redundant creature and character types slowly settled into iconic individuals...it's an ongoing process. Gearbox did what was right for their games.

Even though they had feedback and guidance from us, they didn't always listen to it, and they steered by their own lights, etc., etc. I wasn't very close to the creation of the expansion packs, and much more concerned with how to move the story forward and open up the universe; so I only take the games created by Valve into consideration when I am working on the story...there are more than enough potential contradictions in our own designs without me worrying about contradictions in the inventions of other developers who were not part of our initial creative meetings. I know this is confusing to fans; it's partly a byproduct of the way expansion packs were created, the way they were packaged and published, and also I was very new to this whole concept at the time.

It never occurred to me that large chunks of the story would be taken out of our hands, changes made beyond our control, and then have the stuff handed back with some odd unexpected kinks in it. So I try not to worry about it, and simply do my best with material directly in my control. However, as to your last question, there was pressure on us to set Half-Life 2 at Black Mesa, which a lot of us felt would be creative death; it was important to break new ground. Nuking Black Mesa was a good way to ensure that we had a way to avoid setting Half-Life 2 there. You might say I gave the G-Man his orders. The whole issue of canon is something the fans came up with. I guess you will be able to identify as canon those story elements we continue to build on and develop and mention repeatedly as the story progresses. Others might fall by the wayside once they've served their purpose. Couldn't you say the same of us all?

Marc laidlaw

[snakebite105]

It sounds from what I just red there that it doesn't matter if they're canon or not until the subject matter is put into context in a future game.

Basicly until we see Corpral Sheperd again who cares. I wasnt overly concerned if they were canon or not but since the sale has ended my question doesn't matter anymore I bought HL:Source and ignored the others.

[barneyinblue]

gorpie, can you read Laidlaw's reply again, and tell me where he says they're not canon? He neither denies or confirms anything.

Basicly until we see Corpral Sheperd again who cares. I wasnt overly concerned if they were canon or not but since the sale has ended my question doesn't matter anymore I bought HL:Source and ignored the others.

Your loss, buddy. Opposing Force is a great game, and it's much better than the useless Episodes.

[Hive Mind]

Your loss, buddy. Opposing Force is a great game, and it's much better than the useless Episodes.
This. This game is amazing, and if he is really too cheap to buy it for 5 dollars then it's his lost.

[gorpie]

Ignore the user above, they're considered canon.

gorpie, can you read Laidlaw's reply again, and tell me where he says they're not canon? He neither denies or confirms anything.

Show me where he says they are canon, dude.

I don't really give a rip. I'm not one of the people who says "ooh! But that's not canon!!!" However, I'm also not going to say that it is canon. Because until they are confirmed by Valve, story elements from the expansions are not canon.


Your loss, buddy. Opposing Force is a great game, and it's much better than the useless Episodes.

And, that's your opinion as well.

Can you tell me why so many of your posts come across as rude?

[Hive Mind]

Can you tell me why so many of your posts come across as rude?
'Cause it's the internet.