Topside Motorpool
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| Topside Motorpool | |
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| General information | |
| Destroyed |
200-, during the Black Mesa Incident |
| Location | |
| Usage | |
| Era(s) | |
| Faction | |
| Game information | |
| Map(s) |
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| Designer(s) |
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- "You're heading for the Lambda Complex, aren't you? I was heading there myself, until I wound up here and...well, simply lost my nerve. Take one look through that door and you'll see what I mean. I'm just going to wait out the catastrophe in here. If you intend to go on, then I beg of you...proceed with extreme caution."
- ― Black Mesa scientist[src]
The Topside Motorpool is a Black Mesa Research Facility area located on the surface of the compound. It is visited by Gordon Freeman during the Half-Life chapter Surface Tension.
Contents
Overview[edit]
This area features the bulk of Black Mesa's still-functional military facilities, as well as maintenance and storage areas for the Black Mesa SUVs. Connected by a sewer system to a large cliff and located not far from the Topside Hydro Plant, it includes, among others, an Ordinance [sic] Storage Facility surrounded by two HECU Snipers and Land Mines, and containing two ICBMs topped with nuclear warheads and trapped with Laser Trip Mines, which Gordon must navigate through carefully or risk setting off a nuclear explosive chain reaction.
A barracks building including the Topside Armory (containing Grenades, a Shotgun, Submachine Guns, 9mm Pistols, an RPG, a Crossbow and their respective ammunition, Tau Cannon / Gluon Gun ammo, .357 ammo, Laser Trip Mines, and finally Satchel Charges), a double helipad where an Osprey continually unloads HECU troops, at least three helicopter hangars (Hangar 16, seen in-game, and Hangar 1 and Hangar 4, only mentioned by the Black Mesa Announcement System), a garage with three Black Mesa SUVs, a small indoor parking lot where a Gargantua fights HECU soldiers and destroys Black Mesa SUVs, and other ruined buildings. The indoor parking lot leads to the Waste Processing Area 3, where the Gargantua is destroyed by Freeman thanks to the Tactical Map installed there.
The area is swarming with Alien Grunts and Vortigaunts, and Freeman is caught in the crossfire between them and the overwhelmed HECU soldiers, who set up an Artillery Cannon and Tripod-Mounted Heavy Machine Gun in the area. There, Freeman also first witnesses the Alien Crafts that unload Alien Grunts in the area, at some point bombarded by a jet, first acquires the Hivehand, and is first confronted by the two HECU armored vehicles, the M1A1 Abrams and the M2A3 Bradley.
Behind the scenes[edit]
- The name of that area is given in Black Mesa Announcement System announcements both heard and not heard in-game.
- One unused scientist sound indicates that a Gargantua was apparently to be fought on the helipads instead of later in the parking lot / Waste Processing Area 3.[3]
- Early Half-Life screenshots indicate this area was at some point to be visited during nighttime, starting in the previous area, the desert.
- The Overwatch Nexus in Half-Life 2 also features an area filled with Laser Tripmines, which must also be avoided at all costs.
- The Arms Race chapter has a level in Half-Life: Alyx that also features a room filled with Laser Tripmines, which must be avoided or defused and includes an achievement 'Blast From the Past'.
Trivia[edit]
The map where the Topside Armory is located was turned into a Team Fortress Classic map with minimal modifications named Hunted.
Gallery[edit]
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Pre-release[edit]
The cabal of a large HECU camp in the area.
Early Surface Tension map.
Retail[edit]
A fortified HECU compound.
M1A1 Abrams tank encountered after coming out of the pipes.
An M2A3 Bradley.
HECU soldiers in the fortified compound.
Exploded minefield near a Sniper.
The Sniper.
Ditto, closeup of his rifle.
The electrified towers.
Parked M44 cargo truck.
An Alien Craft about to drop Alien Grunts onto the street.
Ditto, unloading.
The final encountered Sniper.
The same Sniper after being killed.
The interior of a storage room.
The helipad of the Topside Motorpool.
A Bradley deploying Marines into battle.
A Gargantua crushing Marines with an SUV.
The same Gargantua kicking another SUV.
List of appearances[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ Half-Life section on Karen Laur's personal website
- ↑ Half-Life section on Brett Johnson's personal website (June 5, 2016) (archived)
- ↑ Half-Life files
| Preceded by Black Mesa desert |
Half-Life story arc journey | Succeeded by Waste Processing Area 3 |
