Half-Life - Another day

Design files for a Half-Life mod. At this point it's still in the conceptualising stage.

Premise

The experiment goes normally, you spend like 15 minutes in the test chamber, then spend the rest of the day working at a desk or something or in the cafeteria. Barney buys you a beer at the end.

Name

The working title for this project, Half-Life: Another day, has several meanings:

• That this is just another day at the office
• That this it is possibly another universe/timeline which split off from the timeline of the official Half-Life story when the experiment proceeded without causing a resonance cascade.

This is still just a working title at this point. Some options are:

• Half-Life: Have you seen my coffee cup?

Timeline

8:47 - After his HEV Suit Training, Gordon Freeman starts his tram ride from Level 3 Dormitories at Black Mesa. He is 30 minutes late.

8:58 - The Black Mesa Incident. Freeman conducts an experiment on sample GG-3883 in Sector C's Anti-Mass Spectrometer. The experiment goes wrong and triggers a Resonance Cascade, teleporting Xen creatures to Earth.

Source: http://half-life.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline_of_the_Half-Life_universe

If we estimate a successful experiment takes about 15 minutes, and we allow another 15 minutes to acclimatise the player to the modded game environment, introduce new game features, then the player will have to "survive" seven and a half hours (9:30 to 17:00) before being able to leave the office.

Main stages of the game

Getting to the test chamber

Just like the original Half-Life.

In the test chamber

Starts like the original Half-Life but nothing goes wrong and the experiment is completed successfully. It should go something like this:

1. Gordon pushes the sample into the beam, pushes the button to start the rotors, etc
2. The Anti-Mass Spectrometer powers up then sparks fly and some of the original audio of the scientists screaming should play ... whatever is needed to make the player thing the experiment has gone wrong again
3. New scientist audio plays informing Gordon that there is nothing to worry about, the scientists were just screaming over split coffee and the experiment is proceeding normally
4. Experiment is proceeding normally; Gordon has to twist some knobs and push buttons while the scientists mutter about the great readings they're getting
5. The experiment ends and Gordon leaves the test chamber. The other scientists thank him, mention again how interesting the new readings are. They start to explain how these readings could drastically change their current understanding of the universe, etc. but ultimately stop short because Gordon is "just an experimental physicist" and probably wouldn't understand it all.

Post experiment

Gordon changes back into his lab coat and prepares for a day at the office. In this stage we will need to train the player of the mechanics of the game, introduce them the Gordon's office, etc. Gordon should run into Barney Calhoun on the way, who will promise to buy Gordon a beer after work and (indirectly) communicate the rules of the game to the player; specifically the fact that the Gordon can not leave the office until the end of the day and the only way to progress to the final stage of the game is to meet Barney at the exit.

Main stage

Gordon wanders around the office until 5pm.

This is the majority of the game. All the game dynamics below will apply to this stage.

End game

Gordon and Barney leave Black Mesa. Barney drives to a nearby tavern for a few beers. The drive takes about 15 real world minutes during which Barney tells a long boring story. The screen fades to black and game ends when Gordon and Barney reach the bar. Cut to credits. Job well done.

Game dynamics

Some notes and ideas that need to be fleshed out further.

• Sit at desk
  • Shuffle papers around
  • Move pencil
  • Write on things
  • Newton's cradle
  • Computer
    • Email
    • Fill out report on the experiment
      • Possible check boxes for outcome of experiment
        • No observable result
        • Science!
        • Resonance cascade
• Locker room
• Cafeteria
  • Drink and snack machines
  • Microwave
• Rec room
  • Pinball machine
• "Weapons"
  • Wrist watch
    • Looking at your watch too often should make the day go by slower
    • Perhaps we could subtract game time every time the player looks at the watch
  • Pencil
  • Hands
    • Possibly make Gordon's hand work like a short (arm length) ranged Physgun so the player can interact with nearby objects
• Suiting up
  • One of the ??adjective?? memories I have of playing the original Half-Life is getting into the HEV suit; music starts ups, an animation shows Gordon's hands as he gets used to the suit, etc. It's an exhilarating experience.
  • The part of this mod where Gordon changes out of the HEV suit and back into his lab coat should be equally distinctive although perhaps not so exhilarating.
• G-man
• Chess game
  • Gordon likes chess ... probably
  • Gordon should be playing a game of chess with one of the other scientists in the office
  • The player should not ever see this scientist as he/she is far more important/busy than our (non-hero) Gordon
  • Gordon will be allowed to make a single move and then must leave the room for a some (possibly random) amount of time before the computer moves the other scientist's piece