Antlions

[ríomhaire]

Are antlions from Xen?
I think so because the Vortigaunt know how to get bugbait.
Also are guards grown up antlion, or specialy bread?

 

[Grigori]

We will never know?

 

[sfc_hoot]

I tend to think that the Antlions are not from Xen. They don't look like the other Xenian aliens. Like, none of the Xenian aliens have armour like the antlions and the antlion guards do. The antlions also don't have eyes, which all Xenian creatures do (yes, even headcrabs had tiny, black eyes near the mouth). I beleive that the Antlions came to earth during the portal storms. And remember, it has been 10 years since the BMRF incident, so the Vortigaunts have probably been studying the Antlions, thus they know about the pherapods. Plenty of time to adapt.

It's hard to say whether the Antlion Guard is a fully developed Antlion or another specie of Antlion. If you compare a fully grown Headcrab (Gonarch) to a normal headcrab, they look nothing alike. It might be the same with the Antlion Guards, but since I don't think they're from Xen, I don't know if I should be comparing them to the Headcrab-Gonarch evolution. Anyway, just trying to say that by the looks of it, one creature can look completely different in it's end-state.

 

[Asknoone]

I tend to think they come from Xen, i mean, there was a alot of xen we didn't see, and, they most likley were some place large, not like the places you visit during Gordon's visit.

Originally posted by sfc_hoot
he antlions also don't have eyes, which all Xenian creatures do

How similar are we humans to ant's in appearance, how similar are we to moles?

Just because they don't have eye's, doesn't make them not Xenish, as our own species on earth proves, you don't need to look the same.

 

[ríomhaire]

If you had only ever seen foxes and badgers you would find it hard to believe that, insects, dolphines or rhinos are from Earth.

I fould something cool. Real antlions

http://kaweahoaks.com/html/antlion.htm
http://www.antlionpit.com/
http://www.wcsscience.com/antlion/page.html

 

[olopower]

I fould something cool. Real antlions

http://kaweahoaks.com/html/antlion.htm
http://www.antlionpit.com/
http://www.wcsscience.com/antlion/page.html

real antlions... dont you think that these antlions was mutated and became the antlions that u see in hl2? :bounce:

 

[Wilsonator]

Those who have read RTB know the Antlions have a patriarchal hierarchy, therefore the purpose of Antlions gueards is to protect the King and drones (normal antlions), the drones gather food for the King and Grubs which are raised into Drones and special ones into Guards.

 

[lasagne]

i always thought that antlions guards were just like evovled antions

 

[Angry Lawyer]

They have a Caste system, like proper ants - different ones are bred in a nest for different purposes. The little ones, tough as they are, are actually most likely workers, sent out to forage food.
If the Antlions brought their full arms to bear, you'd be screwed - in a typical social insect nest, there are a large number of combatant, Guard-type creatures.

I've often wondered about whether the Antlions are from Xen, and even had doubts at one points - but the thing is, if the portal storm was whipping things out of dimensions other than Xen, then there'd be one hell of a lot more angry, sentient, technological races brought to Earth.

The rocks of Xen you visit orbit something, and if you fall off of one of the meteorites, you fall 'downwards'.
There's probably a landmass at the bottom, large enough for Antlion burrows to prosper.

-Angry Lawyer

 

[Jandor]

I think your right about Antlions, although I dont think there is anything below Xen, except maybe a very dense Star.

 

[Angry Lawyer]

It could be just a gravitational field created by the asteroids, but there's probably larger rocks that the Antlions live on.
If there was a star at the centre, though, you'd notice.

-Angry Lawyer

 

[Eejit]

It could be a gas giant. A bit like Jupiter.

 

[Pai-Mei]

If not from Xen, then where did the Antlions come from? There were plenty of Xenian species that we never saw, at least up close, in the original Half-Life. Remember the final scene with the G-Man? I seem to recall a bunch of Xen bird-mantaray things

http://reticent.nocents.org/images/reviews/half_life/xen.jpg

...We explored so little Xen that I'm sure we could have overlooked a creature that spends 95% of its time underground during the hour or so we were there!

They don't look like the other Xenian aliens. Like, none of the Xenian aliens have armour like the antlions and the antlion guards do.

{sarcasm}Yeah, because we all know Gargantuan, Gonarch, and the green Tentacles had no armor either... {/sarcasm}

The antlions also don't have eyes, which all Xenian creatures do.

There's plenty of eyeless fish and insects on earth. And no matter what you say, I don't think Gonarch or Barnacles had eyes.

I beleive that the Antlions came to earth during the portal storms.

Yeah, from where? Unless they came from the Combine homeworld... which seems odd that they would be the only species to accidentally hitch a ride. I doubt the Combine brought them here on purpose, they have enough problems to deal with without hordes of antlions and Bugbait wielding resistance fighters.

 

[Angry Lawyer]

Yeah, I surmise that if the Combine had accidentally brought along one of their own native pests, they'd have at least packed some very large form of native bug spray.

-Angry Lawyer

 

[Jintor]

They did, didn't they? Thumpers (Which may or may not have been native)

 

[Angry Lawyer]

Well, if the Antlions were native, wouldn't the Combine have designed something a little more effective? Like a tailor-made virus that liquefies them.

-Angry Lawyer

 

[FireCrack]

IMO the biggest argument for them not being from cen is having 4 limbs. Most xenian creatures have 5.


Still, xen is broken up into many different islands, an enviroment like that would creat considerable diversity between species.

 

[sfc_hoot]

{sarcasm}Yeah, because we all know Gargantuan, Gonarch, and the green Tentacles had no armor either... {/sarcasm}

I was talking about Antlion-type armour. As in, bony plates. Gargs and Gonarches seem to have a different type of armour. The tentacles don't have armour, they're just bulletproof.

There's plenty of eyeless fish and insects on earth. And no matter what you say, I don't think Gonarch or Barnacles had eyes.

You're right about the Barnacles. They don't have eyes. I think the Gonarch does though. There are plenty of eyeless creatures on Earth, but from what I've seen, all the ones on Xen (except the Barnacle ) have eyes. Of course, there's a large part of Xen that we haven't explored during HL1 so I think you might have a point there. No eyes doesn't have to mean that they aren't from Xen.

Yeah, from where? Unless they came from the Combine homeworld... which seems odd that they would be the only species to accidentally hitch a ride. I doubt the Combine brought them here on purpose, they have enough problems to deal with without hordes of antlions and Bugbait wielding resistance fighters.

From where? That's what we're trying to figure out. They aren't Combine, because they don't have any Combine features (e.g. mechanical implants), plus the Combine fight against them, so it wouldn't make sense if they were Combine, thus fighting against their own creatures.

 

[NJspeed]

The antlions are so clearly from Xen. I don't really understand what's debatable. Have you guys even played the game? Laszlo's buddy clearly says "We were going to the Vortigaunt camp to get some bug bait to fend off the antlions".

How the hell do you think the Vortigaunts know about the pheropods? Because antlions are from Xen! How else could Vortigaunts know about bugbait?? Did they just one day discover that by accident? Or did they know about it? Theres no way that a Vortigaunt could be on an alien planet with a species they never met before, yet somehow they figured out how to extract a very tiny amount of pheropods through an unhygenic process. If this was the case then where would they be from?

In this game theres either creatures from Xen, or humans changed into Combine. Gunships and striders are Combine technology, they aren't living creatures.. Valve didn't include anything else. The portal storms loosed creatures from Xen all over the world. There was no other worlds coming through, just Xen. Apparently Antlions were one species that came through. Headcrabs being another. The portal storms loosed more than just headcrabs.. ie.. antlions..

Its obvious.

 

[sfc_hoot]

How the hell do you think the Vortigaunts know about the pheropods? Because antlions are from Xen! How else could Vortigaunts know about bugbait?? Did they just one day discover that by accident? Or did they know about it? Theres no way that a Vortigaunt could be on an alien planet with a species they never met before, yet somehow they figured out how to extract a very tiny amount of pheropods through an unhygenic process. If this was the case then where would they be from?

Keep in mind that it's been 10 years since the BMRF incident, and the portal storms started happening soon after it. The Vortigaunts would've had plenty of time to learn about the antlions' biology (circa 10 years).

In this game theres either creatures from Xen, or humans changed into Combine. Gunships and striders are Combine technology, they aren't living creatures.

I'll have to correct you about the gunships and striders. As a matter of fact, they are living creatures, enhanced with Combine technology (just like the Overwatch). The striders, gunships, dropships etc come from another race that the Combine has conquered, called the Synths. They used to be self-replicating robot-like creatures that were constantly evolving.

The portal storms loosed creatures from Xen all over the world. There was no other worlds coming through, just Xen.

Sure? What about the Combine?

 

[Pai-Mei]

You know NJSpeed, although I completely agree with you this time, you seem to have a really stubborn posting style. Every time I've seen you post, its that you are always right, everyone else is always wrong, there's no middle ground, despite the fact that your opponents bring up excellent evidence and you consistantly bring up... none.

We were going to the Vortigaunt camp to get some bug bait to fend off the antlions".

Yeah, because Vortigaunts are ridiculously smart and COULD have learned about the pheropods since they've been on Earth. Its not that difficult... if you've been fighting Antlions for the past 10 years, I assume that you would have found some way to ward them off.

Using your peculiar logic, the helicopter gun that the Vortigaun welded to your airboat MUST be Xen technology b/c there's no way that Vortigaunts can learn to use things here on earth. For that matter, the broom that the Vortigaunt uses in the openning Train Station must also be Xen technology.

Look, I believe that the Antlions came from Xen, at LEAST because there seems to be no non-Xen wildlife on Earth, but your making the rest of us look bad.

The tentacles don't have armour, they're just bulletproof.

Try shooting their "face"... I think it is armored. Oh, and Tentacles don't have eyes, either!

They aren't Combine, because they don't have any Combine features (e.g. mechanical implants), plus the Combine fight against them, so it wouldn't make sense if they were Combine, thus fighting against their own creatures.

Yeah, but it is possible that the Combine brought them to Earth to make most of the countryside uninhabitable... even if they do have a few occasional Antlion Uprisings, Antlions seem to be easilly controlled by those who have the resources, ie thumpers. Thus, the benefits of bringing Antlions to earth (forcing everyone into Cities... killing those who dont) might have been cost effective enough for them to do so.

 

[mooma]

I don't think that antlions came from Xen. But those Synths and antlions are coming from same planet... I think.

 

[Angry Lawyer]

Just to clarify - most creatures from Xen weren't five limbed; only the sentient, true Xenians; Vortigaunts, Controllers, Grunts, and Gargantua.

The 'Charger' creatures only had two limbs!

-Angry Lawyer

 

[sfc_hoot]

Try shooting their "face"... I think it is armored. Oh, and Tentacles don't have eyes, either!

No, their "face" is actually not armoured. In fact, shooting it will result in them coiling back into their pit for a short time. And they do have eyes. Would you like a screenshot?

Yeah, but it is possible that the Combine brought them to Earth to make most of the countryside uninhabitable... even if they do have a few occasional Antlion Uprisings, Antlions seem to be easilly controlled by those who have the resources, ie thumpers. Thus, the benefits of bringing Antlions to earth (forcing everyone into Cities... killing those who dont) might have been cost effective enough for them to do so.

So you're suggesting that the Antlions have been "introduced" to Earth from whatever planet as biological weapons (like the Headcrab canisters). That is possible, but for that the Combine had to go into the whole trouble of building thumpers and security systems against the antlions. Depends on how badly they wanted to wipe resistance out from the Coast. Could be a possibility. The antlions could've bred over time and developed whole underground societies (like ants). Perhaps the Combine brought antlions over, but they've now gotten a little "out of control", shall we say.

 

[NJspeed]

You know NJSpeed, although I completely agree with you this time, you seem to have a really stubborn posting style. Every time I've seen you post, its that you are always right, everyone else is always wrong, there's no middle ground, despite the fact that your opponents bring up excellent evidence and you consistantly bring up... none.

Yeah, because Vortigaunts are ridiculously smart and COULD have learned about the pheropods since they've been on Earth. Its not that difficult... if you've been fighting Antlions for the past 10 years, I assume that you would have found some way to ward them off.

Using your peculiar logic, the helicopter gun that the Vortigaun welded to your airboat MUST be Xen technology b/c there's no way that Vortigaunts can learn to use things here on earth. For that matter, the broom that the Vortigaunt uses in the openning Train Station must also be Xen technology.

Look, I believe that the Antlions came from Xen, at LEAST because there seems to be no non-Xen wildlife on Earth, but your making the rest of us look bad.

With all due respect Pai Mei I often fill in my posts with "Maybe I'm incorrect but it's my view that.."... or "I believe that... but I could be wrong..." though reading back on my post my wording was a little aggressive you could say..

However in this particular instance I just don't think I'm far off the beaten trail. We could "maybe" and "perhaps" this game to death. Anything could be maybe. Maybe G-man is Gordon's half alien grandson from the future. Maybe G-man is the Antlion King who can stop time and shapeshift. Who knows? But I just think it's really clear that antlions are truly from Xen. Then again, like you pointed out, I could be completely wrong.

As for the helicopter gun I don't really see your point. I never said vort's are morons and can't use non-Xen technology, did I? They could probably use any gun and weld it to a gunship, in this case, its off a helicopter.

This was the point I'm trying to make: Look at it another way. If a huge group of humans were transported to an antlion homeworld, or an alien world infested with antlions... a creature we never saw before, we wouldn't know how to deal with it.. . Nobody would know how to fight them, and we'd be annihilated. Pretty fast I'm sure we'd figure out to avoid sand.. but I doubt anyone would figure out in 10 years how to pull a tiny little organ out of an Antlion Guard, and then figure out how to actually use it effectively. It's one thing actually going into one and pulling out some wierd substance. Then it's a whole another thing figuring out how to use it. What are the odds a human would actually do it right and have it become common knowledge? We're talking about a creature that up until this point they've had no experience in dealing with. On the other hand, if Antlions were on Earth for thousands of years, and we evolved with them, by that point it would be common knowledge how to defeat them and ward them off, and the knowledge could be spread far and wide. In my opinion, this is a likely scenario for the Vortigaunts.

Another thing is if Antlions aren't from Xen, where are they from? I don't think Combines would loose them on purpose.. they live in the sand on the coasts.. and the Combine want our oceans and our resources.. why would they unleash something that would work against them? Perfect instance is right before you get into the crane.. you see Combine running away from antlions.. If they worked for the Combine, I'm sure that the Combine would have plenty of pheropods for all units near the coasts. Like the poster above me stated, maybe the Combine unleashed them and they got out of control. But then you'd think they would at least know about Pheropods and have supplies of them for all units near to the coast.. but again, in my opinion, the likely scenario is that the Combine don't control them, and don't know about pheropods.

Then again I could be totally wrong about everything! :smoking:

 

[NJspeed]

I'll have to correct you about the gunships and striders. As a matter of fact, they are living creatures, enhanced with Combine technology (just like the Overwatch). The striders, gunships, dropships etc come from another race that the Combine has conquered, called the Synths. They used to be self-replicating robot-like creatures that were constantly evolving.

Indeed I am aware of the Synths although I was under the impression they weren't truly 'alive'. I guess it makes sense they are some sort of semi-alive biomechanical creation.. I don't know though.. you see them in the Citadel just waiting like a vehicle would.. They aren't moving or and don't seem concious.. one thing is clear they are truly under Combine control.. The point I was trying to make about this in my post is the Resonance Cascade was simply Xen portals to Earth. As far as I know, besides this, the only other way creatures could have arrived is with the Combine portals. Maybe the Combine did release the antlions but in my opinion they didn't.. There could be something we're missing out on.. I just don't think Valve would make the Antlions from somewhere other than Xen.. it would open too many questions. Then again I really don't think we know anything about HL2, and the reason I say that is because when HL1 ended.. who would have guessed anything that we know now? So perhaps in HL3 even more will be revealed that totally destroys our theories about everything, since thats all we have.. theories.

 

[Seppo]

Where did you get that information on the Synths? "Raising the Bar" maybe?

 

[Jandor]

Where did you get that information on the Synths? "Raising the Bar" maybe?

Prima Strategy Guide says it I believe.

Also I think Antlions are from Xen, I also think Xen is like a Gas Giant with numerous Fragments floating in the Upper atmosphere, and a Barren desert on the Surface, inhabited by Antlions and some other Fanatastical Creatures.

Well, Maybe closer to a Gas 'Dwarf' so to speak, otherwise Antlions would explode when they came to a Planet with much less pressure than theres. (Gas Giants have crushing pressures down at the surface, I think, though I may be wrong)

 

[kingsize]

Somebody else said on another thread that headcrabs can also burrow which might be that some xenian lifeform is capable of burrowing... At least in HL1 in the level surface tension (or was it opposing force ?) the headcrabs are burrowed in to the SAND and then in the end o route kanal te headcrabs are alsow burrowed... dunno and antlions burrow

 

[Angry Lawyer]

Burrowing doesn't prove anything, either way, because Moles burrow, and Moles are Terran.

Still, I doubt the Combine would use them as a weapon, simply because their other biological weapon - headcrab launchers - tend to starve themselves over time. Once all resistance is gone, the Zombies die of hunger, so the Combine are saved a job.

-Angry Lawyer

 

[Jandor]

Headcrabs Burrow, Antlions Burrow, Moles Burrow. There all from Xen

 

[Angry Lawyer]

Dear God, you're right - the Xen are already with us!

-Angry Lawyer

 

[Pai-Mei]

No, their "face" is actually not armoured. In fact, shooting it will result in them coiling back into their pit for a short time. And they do have eyes. Would you like a screenshot?

First of all, they DON'T have eyes. That single glowing thing is something, but the manual specifically states that they have no eyes...

"Lacking eyes, ears or other animalian sensory organs, [tentacle] is nevertheless capable of detecting and targeting emitters of motion and sound in its immediate vicinity, by some process which is incompletely understood. "

It can somehow "hear," though. You toss a grenade to the other side of the map and stay prone, and it will continue "batting" at the place where the grenade went off. You can even move around, crouched, without it detecting you... so it has something that can detect motion or sound vibrations, but it cannot see.

Just to clarify - most creatures from Xen weren't five limbed; only the sentient, true Xenians; Vortigaunts, Controllers, Grunts, and Gargantua.

Gargs actually have 6 limbs... they have 2 tiny little arms between their massive claws. And don't forget Itchthys... they only have 2... or 3 counting the tail.

Where did you get that information on the Synths? "Raising the Bar" maybe?

It is in raising the bar as well.

"The Synths, self-replicating robots that evolve, were created or taken over by the combine... we tried to incorperate elements that were neither strictly organic nor purely mechanical."
-Dhabih Eng

 

[FireCrack]

Heres' a peice of antlions are xen evidence: Yellow blood

If you stand completely still antlions still seem to be able to find you, my greatest guess for the "red spot" is that' it's a light senstitve spot like on certioan species of earthern protista.

Yeah, gargs have 6, antlion guards also have two tinny inner ones, connection?

Antlions could come from a more isolatted area of xen, as i sauid, it's an ecosystem that promotes great diversity.

 

[sfc_hoot]

@ Pai-Mei - What manual is this in? The only Half-Life manual I have is the one I got in the Platinum Edition, and that has nothing about any of the monsters. Or are you talking about the Prima HL1 Strategy guide?

Anyway, as far as I know, the two red glowing things on the head are the tentacle's (blind) eyes. I think the tentacles listen for vibrations, which is how they orientate.

 

[Darkside55]

Antlions are most definately from Xen. Evidence to support this is that there were organic thumpers in "Interloper" to keep antlions at bay on the larger landmasses, and the original design of the antlions had tell-tale Xenian markings and coloring.

 

[Angry Lawyer]

The things in Xen aren't thumpers, as far as I can see. On Xen, the machines are grouped too close together to do what they do, and they don't have a hammering motion, like the ones on the beach - they do a pumping motion, like an oil derreck.

Besides, just because something's hitting the ground, doesn't mean it's used to keep Antlions away/controlled by the Combine.

Still, I assume the Antlions are Xenian, as you say, because they just look right. And their short flight would propel them massive distances between asteroids due to the low gravity.

-Angry Lawyer

 

[Pai-Mei]

Pai-Mei - What manual is this in? The only Half-Life manual I have is the one I got in the Platinum Edition, and that has nothing about any of the monsters.

Its actually from a transcript of the manual online at www.PlanetHalfLife.com... I lost my own long ago.

;(

 

[kingsize]

Burrowing doesn't prove anything, either way, because Moles burrow, and Moles are Terran.
-Angry Lawyer

Moles dig, antlions and headcrabs shuffle them self into the ground. plus moles are slower and dont have spikey limbs... ok whatever... nevermind :thumbs:

 

[olopower]

what if... the antlions are BUGS from a far far planet away.. like in STARSHIP TROOPERS??? haha