User:Rezalon/Sandbox2
Food, both in edible and drinkable forms, plays several roles in the Half-Life and Portal universe. They can either play an aesthetic role, giving more depth to the universe, or be of use to the player. They sometimes have a specific brand.
Contents
Beverages[edit]
Alcohol[edit]
Alcoholic beverages are a recurring drink seen and referenced throughout the Half-Life series. While alcohol is usually simply referred to by its various types, several specific brands are named across various games.
Beer[edit]
Beer is the most common form of alcohol presented in the series. In Half-Life, one of the quotes a Black Mesa security guard may respond with when interacting with them during the Anomalous Materials chapter is "Hey, catch me later, I'll buy you a beer". This quote is later referenced by Barney Calhoun (who is based on the Half-Life security guards) in Half-Life 2; when Barney reveals himself to Gordon Freeman during the Point Insertion chapter, he jokes "About that beer I owe you".
A generic "Beer." bottle is a prop frequently seen throughout Half-Life 2 and its episodes; during the Point Insertion chapter, a drunk citizen can be seen drinking from one such bottle. The cut Brickbat and Molotov cocktail weapons seen in the Half-Life 2 leak feature beer bottles as part of their respective designs.
Half-Life: Alyx makes use of several different brands of beer, most of which are seen as interactable props.
Dis Bee Goot, Half-Life 2 leak
PalfAl, Half-Life 2 leak
Molotov cocktail, Half-Life 2 leak
Bashkir, Half-Life: Alyx
Chesterfield, Half-Life: Alyx
Klyuchevsky, Half-Life: Alyx
Red Beer, Half-Life: Alyx
Various beers on tap at the Northern Star, Half-Life: Alyx
Spirits[edit]
Spirits are a type of beverage that contain 30% or more alcohol by volume.
In Half-Life: Alyx, Alyx Vance must navigate the Golden Lion Distillery during the Jeff chapter, housing many bottles of its eponymous vodka, of which Russell is a fan; Alyx has never tried it. An achievement in Half-Life: Alyx requires the player to bring a bottle of vodka from the Distillery into the succeeding Captivity chapter.
Bitters, Half-Life: Alyx
Chatka vodka, Half-Life: Alyx
Golden Lion vodka, Half-Life: Alyx
Wine[edit]
A few brands of wine appear in Half-Life: Alyx as interactable props.
Kurdzhips, Half-Life: Alyx
Moldvinprom, Half-Life: Alyx
Rkaciteli, Half-Life: Alyx
Caffeine[edit]
Coffee[edit]
Whilst coffee itself is never seen, several non-interactable coffee machines can be seen dotted around the Black Mesa Research Facility in Half-Life, Opposing Force, Blue Shift, and Decay. Both Black Mesa scientists and security guards apparently partake in drinking it; one question a scientist may ask another in the Anomalous Materials chapter is if they've "seen my coffee cup". Similarly, scientists in Blue Shift may sarcastically ask security guards "Shouldn't you be guarding some donuts and coffee right about now?".
One of Cave Johnson's prerecorded messages in Portal 2 gives test subjects a heads-up that "the coffee we gave you earlier had fluorescent calcium in it so we can track the neuronal activity in your brain".
Coffee cans appear in Half-Life: Alyx as interactable props. One unique model owned by Alyx is labeled "NOT COFFEE", apparently being used to store snark food.
One of the selectable player models in Half-Life multiplayer is Too Much Coffee Man.
The now defunct Valve Store sold Black Mesa Research Facility-branded coffee mugs. The store description read: "A replica of the cafeteria-ware used at the Black Mesa Research Facility. This hydration tool is perfect for dispensing caffeinated brew due to the same non-patented thermal insulating materials found in the Aperture Laboratories mug."
Coffee machines, Half-Life
Sunrise coffee can, Half-Life: Alyx
"NOT COFFEE", Half-Life: Alyx
Too Much Coffee Man, Half-Life multiplayer
BMRF coffee mug, Valve Store
Soda[edit]
Black Mesa also provided several different vending machines found throughout the facility, including two models that dispensed soda cans. In Half-Life, Opposing Force, Blue Shift, and Decay, these act as improvised health stations, providing the player with 1 unit of health per can until the machine is emptied. Cans of Sprite have a chance of spawning as gibs when breaking certain objects; these cannot be used as health items.
"enjoy" vending machine, Half-Life
"soda pop" vending machine, Half-Life
Sprite can, Half-Life
Water[edit]
Water serves as a major aspect of world-building in the Half-Life series, appearing as both an environmental hazard and a consumable liquid.
When the player reaches Xen in Half-Life, Opposing Force, and Blue Shift, a new source of health introduced are the healing pools, rejuvenating the player's health points for as long as they stand in one; unlike the health stations of Black Mesa, these can be used indefinitely. The native bullsquids can be seen drinking from these pools.
By the time of Half-Life 2, drinking water is provided to the citizens of City 17 in the form of "Dr. Breen's Private Reserve" (or ">B"), available from vending machines not dissimilar to the ones seen in Half-Life and its expansions; however, the cans dispensed from these vending machines do not provide any health points and simply act as interactable props. It's inferred that the Combine have spiked the drinking supply with something causing amnesia in its consumer, as one citizen at the City 17 Trainstation at the start of Half-Life 2 warns Gordon "Don't drink the water. They put something in it to make you forget. I don't even remember how I got here."
Water is also used as an ingredient for other drinks, such as the tea that Alyx prepares a cup of for her father, Eli, at White Forest in Episode 2.
Xen healing pool, Half-Life
>B vending machine, Half-Life 2
>B can, Half-Life 2
Eli holding a mug of tea, Episode 2
Fruits and Vegetables[edit]
- Several fruits and vegetables are seen or mentioned throughout the games. Watermelons are seen prominently, and can be torn apart by the Gravity Gun; they also seem to be the diet of Lamarr as seen on Kleiner's Lab corkboard. The Black Mesa East kitchen also features carrots, red onions, herbs, a bag of beans, and some sort of stew/soup. Pumpkins can be found on the Outskirts, and function the same as watermelons. Russell has cabbage and zucchini in his fridge.
- In Portal 2, GLaDOS is attached by Wheatley to a potato battery, capable of powering only her consciousness and most basic functions. The potato-based energy is introduced earlier, in the "Bring your Daughter to Work Day" experiments found in the Employee Daycare Center.
- Near the end of Test Shaft 09 Cave Johnson goes mad and ends up going on an illogical rant about lemons.
Meals[edit]
- A fast food outlet is visible along the Area 8 Topside Dormitories tram ride through the East Personnel Entrance. It sells tacos, pizzas, and other meals.
- The Anomalous Materials facility features a small cafeteria with a microwave oven in which the player can ruin the meal, revealed later to have been a casserole belonging to Arne Magnusson.
- Sector D features a cafeteria in the Administration Offices. Early in the game's development, the humorous idea of a food fight was proposed to occur in there, but the idea was eventually rejected.[1] The cafeteria has a large walk-in freezer which stores a number of hanging slabs of beef.
- The Level 3 Dormitories also feature a cafeteria.
- Combine Dispensers are also used in the Combine Cities to deliver food packages to Citizens. One can be found in the City 17 Trainstation main hall.
- The Combine provides its citizens with rations of egg-flavored "Gelatinated Calorie Pastes" and water-flavored "Desiccated Sustenance Bars". According to citizens, they have a bad taste.
- The picture of a Metrocop can be seen on a fast food bag.
Meats[edit]
- Xen creatures such as the Bullsquid and the Barnacle, are seen feeding on humans.
- When a Pit Drone dies near another and there are no enemies nearby, the creature will show to resort to cannibalism, and briefly eat at the other creature's corpse.
- Some of the Earth animals used as food by humans, such as pigs and turkeys, are implied to have gone extinct.[2][3]
- Xen creatures are also shown to be edible: A Fast Headcrab is roasting in the Singing Vortigaunt cave, and Vortigaunts are seen preparing a Classic Headcrab at Black Mesa East. In Episode One, human resistance members are heard wondering why Headcrabs are called "crabs" even though they don't taste like them. The Vortigaunt Gary rips off Headcrab's hearts and drinks their fresh blood, and then cooks their body. He keeps Headcrabs captive in his hideout to be cooked later. He gives one of his cooked Headcrabs to Alyx Vance for "sustenance".
- As seen in the Victory Mine, Antlion Grubs feed on human remains. The cut Sacktick was to do the same.
- Barnacles are seen feeding on birds.
Snacks[edit]
- The Black Mesa Research Facility features numerous vending machines, selling sodas or snacks, using fictional brand names.
- Some security guards are fond of donuts, which is sometimes mocked by scientists. In the shooting range of the Area 3 Medium Security Facilities, a security guard is humorously seen holding a donut with his right hand, while trying to get his gun with the left hand, instead of simply putting the donut in the left hand, and grabbing his gun with the right hand.
Note to self: separate + expand these after above stuff[edit]
- Empty food packaging can be seen littered around the streets and canals of City 17.
- Some of the composite garbage props contain foods and drinks that can't be found elsewhere. These include coffee cups, soda cans, and fast food bags. (Caffeine | Meals)
- During the City 17 uprising, starving Rebels fantasize about food, saying things such as "I could eat a horse, hooves and all." or "Sometimes, I dream about cheese". (Meats | Dairy?)
- Fresh bread can be found in Half-Life: Alyx. According to Russell, they are provided in breadlines and don't taste as good as bakery bread. (Baking?)
- According to Russell, when he talks about how to make a club sandwich to Alyx, he mentions variations of vegetable 'paste' is also provided and consumed by citizens. (Meals | F&V)
- The cake is featured prominently in Portal, as it is promised by GLaDOS to Chell for when she concludes the tests. The quote "The cake is a lie." by Doug Rattmann has become very famous in popular culture since then. A cake recipe is also frequently seen on monitors. (Baking alongside bread)
- The Ratman dens feature several food and drink containers of water, milk and beans. (Water | Dairy | F&V? or Plant-based?)
- The Repulsion and Propulsion Gels were originally designed as dietetic substitutes, but eventually were shown to be toxic, pulled from the shelves and turned into testing elements. (I can't even hazard a guess)
- Baking soda [volcano] (Baking?)
