I'd be surprised if this hasn't been mentioned yet....

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Trompe-la-Mort

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At the start of 'Freeman Pontifex' you get to see the Combine forces moving across the bridge. Tensions rise when the characters by your side reveal that Oh no, they're heading north, towards White Forest!


But I've always wondered, even on my third time playing through, why is it that you end up going the opposite direction of the Combine Forces to get to White Forest?

Anyone else notice this? As far as I can tell, you gun the car the opposite way the whole way there.
Maybe Alyx was having trouble with her directions.


:bounce: <-----------that's hypnotic. Don't see what I'd ever use it for, but it's hypnotic.
 
Hmmm...

Well, we have the maps off the Steam Ep2 stats survey. Anybody want to piece them together to figure if that's true?
 
I didn't happen to notice the direction of the sun and time of day.
 
Judging from their approval ratings, I'd say it's a declining line, not straight.


On topic, I think you turn at the inn.
 
The Combine don't have a Tom Tom GPS. That's why you have so much time to shoot the shit with Eli before they attack.
 
Can't be going the wrong way, there's a whole horde of them at the inn (unfortunately) :hmph:
 
Joking aside, they were probably heading somewhere to set up a forward base before they attack. I doubt they would head into battle with something as precious to them as a bunch of advisors in tow. It still doesn't fit with Alyx's "OMG, they're heading for White Forest" remark, but that's the best canonical explanation I can think of.
 
It's not exactly a straight road to White Forest, and Alyx and Gordon take a slightly non-direct route anyway; the path the Combine are heading in is directly toward the 'peak'. They would probably turn at some point, set up base and what have you.
 
So nobody else really noticed? I could be wrong then, I'll check it out yet again sometime after Thanksgiving dinner. Maybe I'M the one with a bad sense of direction.

I know it's not a straight line to White forest, but from where you see the combine moving, all in all you end up going the opposite way, so I think.


I think I'll noclip it this time so I can't f up.
 
I don't think those are the same forces that were heading to destroy White Forest. If it is the same force, then where did the gunships go? And scanners, etc?
 
What I love in Ep2 is that always the main road is blocked off. The tunnels are always collapsed. Sometimes you just can get in them because Valve needed something to make the map changings.

So, right when you get the car it's like "looks like we have to take a detour". But well, the game wouldn't be so kickass if it is just straight road to White Forest.
 
Yeah, my noclip run just made things more apparent. Go to the start of Freeman Pontifex and noclip to the top of the bridge where the Combine are. Directly behind them is the Portal/Citidel. Behind them and slightly to the right is that peak. White Forest is somewhere between the two. They're going away from White Forest.

The Vort says two things, that they're gathering Scattered Combine and that they're heading North. I can understand going out of the way to gather their forces, but either White Forest isn't North, or the Combine aren't really going North. But the whole point of Alyx saying 'North!? Oh noes White Forest!' is that they are going toward White Forest, which clearly isn't where they're going. :D

The car then takes you to the area between the Peak and the Portal/Citidel. I'm not bashing the game. This doesn't even make me like the game any less. It's just interesting.
 
The scene in 'Freeman Pontifex' was made long before they've finished their concept of battle at white forest, and after their concept of the last battle in Ep2 was ready, the had not changed the scene at the beginning of 'Freeman Pontifex'.
At the beginning, they wanted Gordon to fight against striders, hunters, combine elite, combine solders, civil protection, etc. , but later they decided to let Gordon fight against striders and hunters instead of an mixed army.

Edit1: Gabe told it Gamestar (a pc magazine).
 
SpectreBlofeld said:
I don't think those are the same forces that were heading to destroy White Forest. If it is the same force, then where did the gunships go? And scanners, etc?
Click to expand...

Shot down on the way? Sure they came up against other problems on their travels.
 
Samon said:
Shot down on the way? Sure they came up against other problems on their travels.
Click to expand...

Probably, being out in the wilderness with all its xen beings and whatnot. To be clear though, unless you guys are talking about something else, the fact that the Combine are rounding-up/regrouping/going-the-long-way-around isn't the descrepancy, it's that the Vort says they're going North and that White Forest, which is behind where the Combine are seen walking, is also said to be North. They can't both be North.

I know there can be explainations about development and what went in first, but it doesn't change that it's a funny mistake for those who are paying attention. :P
 
Correct me if I'm wrong but it's not a mistaken if there's an explanation, right? Where they are going is North.
 
Samon said:
Correct me if I'm wrong but it's not a mistaken if there's an explanation, right? Where they are going is North.
Click to expand...
Then that would mean, by the circumstances I've hitherto explained, that White Forest is South. Or, based on the newly posted image above , dead West.


Useabuse, how accurate do you think that image is? I wanted to keep playing up till and past the Inn, but my game kept having errors and pissing me off. I was hoping something like that would prevent me from having to go back through.
 
EDIT: I think that map, give or take, is pretty accurate. Some areas are more spaced apart, though.
 
I think my map of the travel between the Combine Bridge vista and White Forest looks a little different than yours. I'm pretty sure I got it all oriented correctly (except that mine is upside down compared to yours)...plus I wrote up a little exposition on a few discrepancies in the continuity.
[ Episode 2 Travel Map ]
 
The answer then is that neither are the Combine seen traveling north, nor does Gordon set out going north in the car. This doesn't mean that the Vort saying that they are headed north is erroneous. The road on that bridge is a northbound round that at that moment is taking a turn to either east or west. Gordon and Alyx start out taking the opposite route, but are still headed north as soon as possible. They take a different route, because it's the one available to them, and because sitting in mile long jams behind striders is less fun even than the M25.
 
I know what you mean, the combine are heading out of city 17 and moving to the top end of the map, when we get the car we take it across the bridge above the field where we fight the antlion guardian, opposite to white forest apparently.

Also at the beginning of the game we see that the train track is facing across a small valley, which is used for the synamatic physics scene, but if i remember rightly, we are heading directly away from the citadel in episode 1, then we wake up, we're facing completely the wrong way...
 
Nicky 0123 said:
Also at the beginning of the game we see that the train track is facing across a small valley, which is used for the synamatic physics scene, but if i remember rightly, we are heading directly away from the citadel in episode 1, then we wake up, we're facing completely the wrong way...
Click to expand...
A Car hit Gordon in the face. It's perfectly conceivable that the train carried on moving sometime after that. Would give time for Alyx to put you at the front end of the train too.
 
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