Kenoid on 30 January 2010
It's a fair question, really. It certainly seems like the whole building was designed to contain all the scientists inside, where they could be easily killed, in the event of an emergency. Consider the following:
1. According to HL: Blue Shift, the top priority for security personnel is to save as much of BM's EQUIPMENT as possible. The scientists come second.
2. Most of BM is not wheelchair accessible. For that matter, if there are ANY problems with the trams, elevators, or other mechanized transports, there often isn't a secondary way for people to get from one part of the building to another (assuming that most people DON'T climb the ventilation ducts).
3. All of the indestructable locked doors serve to hamper mobility much more than they ensure safety.It seems like almost all of them go one way; it's easy to go inside BM through the doors, but working outwards and upwards is nearly impossible.
4. A lot of the metal catwalks and suspended bridgelike things are not held up by any kind of supports, ensuring that they will readily collapse if too much weight is put on them or if there's an earthquake or other tremor in the building.
5. Because most of the building is underground, any large explosions will be mostly contained inside the building's substructure rather than bursting out into the sky and leaving the basement intact.
6. Heavy ordinance, including giant (possibly nuclear?) missiles are just left lying around, even in areas that do NOT require a high security clearance. There's a disaster waiting to happen...
7. The live alien lab specimens have not been properly contained, for the most part.
8. The autoturrets are designed to shoot anything that moves.
9. Because of Black Mesa's location, and assorted problems mentioned above, mechanical failures or hazardous waste spills are not easy to fix quickly, so any problems in the BM system can get compounded fast.
10. The retinal scanners and security keypads that are set up all over the place cannot be overridden. On top of that, only a few people can use them, thereby ensuring that anyone trapped behind an electronically secured door is likely to STAY trapped behind an electronically secured door.
11. According to HL: Opposing Force, in the event of an emergency, there is a special team of marines whose sole purpose is to go in and "Contain" any survivors while a spec.-ops. group nukes the building.
12. The vending machines are not properly sealed, and cockroaches can get inside even if the machine is not broken. This presents a health-risk.
So, what do you think? I'm asking if there's a possible in-game justification for the death-traps of Black Mesa, as opposed to a metagame justification like "It's more fun that way," or "Because the designers said so."
1. According to HL: Blue Shift, the top priority for security personnel is to save as much of BM's EQUIPMENT as possible. The scientists come second.
2. Most of BM is not wheelchair accessible. For that matter, if there are ANY problems with the trams, elevators, or other mechanized transports, there often isn't a secondary way for people to get from one part of the building to another (assuming that most people DON'T climb the ventilation ducts).
3. All of the indestructable locked doors serve to hamper mobility much more than they ensure safety.It seems like almost all of them go one way; it's easy to go inside BM through the doors, but working outwards and upwards is nearly impossible.
4. A lot of the metal catwalks and suspended bridgelike things are not held up by any kind of supports, ensuring that they will readily collapse if too much weight is put on them or if there's an earthquake or other tremor in the building.
5. Because most of the building is underground, any large explosions will be mostly contained inside the building's substructure rather than bursting out into the sky and leaving the basement intact.
6. Heavy ordinance, including giant (possibly nuclear?) missiles are just left lying around, even in areas that do NOT require a high security clearance. There's a disaster waiting to happen...
7. The live alien lab specimens have not been properly contained, for the most part.
8. The autoturrets are designed to shoot anything that moves.
9. Because of Black Mesa's location, and assorted problems mentioned above, mechanical failures or hazardous waste spills are not easy to fix quickly, so any problems in the BM system can get compounded fast.
10. The retinal scanners and security keypads that are set up all over the place cannot be overridden. On top of that, only a few people can use them, thereby ensuring that anyone trapped behind an electronically secured door is likely to STAY trapped behind an electronically secured door.
11. According to HL: Opposing Force, in the event of an emergency, there is a special team of marines whose sole purpose is to go in and "Contain" any survivors while a spec.-ops. group nukes the building.
12. The vending machines are not properly sealed, and cockroaches can get inside even if the machine is not broken. This presents a health-risk.
So, what do you think? I'm asking if there's a possible in-game justification for the death-traps of Black Mesa, as opposed to a metagame justification like "It's more fun that way," or "Because the designers said so."
