Regarding The Borealis.

[i am HOLLYWOOD]

So after beating the HL:Ep2 i sat in my office chair doing two things,

One: catching my breath from the sheer amount of information thrust upon you at the end of the game. and

two: something about that darned ship bothered me to bits. . . and the more i thought about it, the more i knew i had seen it. then i realized it. . .


the ship in Missing Information is also named Borealis. infact, all i had to do was boot up the addon and lo and behold, the side of the ship bore not only a striking resemblance, but the same name.

so what does this imply? has the fate of the HL2 universe been decided by valve as early as 3 years ago? Because i severely doubt this is some bizzare coincidence. . .

i dont know if we're allowed to discuss Missing Information. . but i thought that was. . . odd.

 

[Iron_cube]

The Borealis was planned to be in HL2 months(years?) before it's release.

The one in ep2 is pretty much the same thing except it's Aperture Science property.

MI simply compiled and made old valve map files playable.

 

[PimpinPenguin]

It's just Valve reusing materials they already got, for example the Antlion grub is in the beta but never got used. It's not the exact same ship the original has Stalkers and Cubbage as captain. And i think you used it to get to Nova Prospect, i'll have to check that.

 

[Apocalypse89]

It was going to be in HL2 in a different form(ie, no Aperture Science), got cut, and now they're re-using it.

 

[Barnz]

Borealis (or Hyperborea) was also the first (and start) map Valve created for Half-Life 2.

 

[i am HOLLYWOOD]

i am aware of that, which is what is making me puzzle.

Maybe they are just re-using old material. . . but it almost feels as if they have the whole story mapped out and are feeding it to us slowly.

 

[Omnomnick]

Of course.

The Borealis was propablly schedualed a come back (if you can call it that) since the creation of Ep1, with characters like Gman and a story this good, you can't just make it up as you go along.

 

[Narvi]

You know, an outline is not the same thing as a blueprint. Things change in the writing and development. It's entirely possible that they know what happens next. This does not mean it will stay static.

 

[kupocake]

http://www.halflife2.net/wiki/index.php/Borealis

 

[stintage]

Found This Lurking On Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1oY5v-DDW4

 

[Apocalypse89]

Valve have definitely planned the general outline of the plot since the beginning...for example the 'Project' was mentioned as early on as Episode One and we still don't know what it is. Or the way they're gradually revealing the Advisors...as quick glimpses in HL2, a close look in Ep.1, direct interaction in Ep.2, and probably fighting in Ep.3.

There are some things that are definitely changing though...for example, I don't know when Valve hired the Narbacular Drop team, but I doubt that they intended to integrate Aperture Science into the plot when they first started work on Ep.1. And of course all the little changes that happened to Ep.2 since it was first previewed (remember the 'dark' hunter?)

 

[Asknoone]

The 'dark' Hunter was just a prototype. It was never going to be final. This kind of thing happens with every Valve creation. It's put through its gameplay paces before anything.

 

[L3N!N]

lolwut? Things were definitely in the beta when the Borealis was first put in the HL2 beta, and then Valve took it out. But Things might be different this time.