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Dr. Isaac Kleiner

Dr. Isaac Kleiner

@exxiion

Don't worry Gordon! She's debeaked and completly harmless!

Joined 22 Jun 2021
Black Mesa
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Took part in the #GabeGPT event
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Dr. Isaac KleinerValve
Dr. Isaac Kleiner
Nov 8, 2023
Valve
What's your favourite piece of Valve concept art? Mine's Aleph from "Prospero" (above image), a cancelled game that was supposed to be this interdimensional story-based MMO where you visit different worlds

What's your favourite piece of Valve concept art? Mine's Aleph from "Prospero" (above image), a cancelled game that was supposed to be this interdimensional story-based MMO where you visit different worlds

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Dr. Isaac KleinerHalf-Life
Dr. Isaac Kleiner
Oct 16, 2023
Half-Life
Exploring Valve Archive, part 32 - Unused rebel variety valvearchive.com>archive>Half-Life>Half-Life 2>Art>Creatures>Citizen>rebels.jpg One interesting thought keeps tickling my brain, and that's this: City 17 is comprised of of citizens from all around the world, so why do they all sound American? The reason is, of course, limitations of the time. Every citizen shares the same few voice actors, and it's left to our suspension of disbelief to see each character as their own individual. Marc Laidlaw himself actually highlights the diversity he wished the game to have, even asking modders to mix different language versions within the game to "create a truer picture of City 17 that was in our heads." [full quote here: https://combineoverwiki.net/wiki/References:Marc_Laidlaw_emails/Unverified#On_the_Citizen_nationalities] This further highlights the general citizen diversity the game was originally planning to have, not just in ethnicity and language but in design language itself. We see hints of this diversity in Half-Life: Alyx, in which citizen diversity is much more pronounced, with larger varieties of clothing combinations made possible by less limitations imposed from a newer engine.

Exploring Valve Archive, part 32 - Unused rebel variety valvearchive.com>archive>Half-Life>Half-Life 2>Art>Creatures>Citizen>rebels.jpg One interesting thought keeps tickling my brain, and that's this: City 17 is comprised of of citizens from all around the world, so why do they all sound American? The reason is, of course, limitations of the time. Every citizen shares the same few voice actors, and it's left to our suspension of disbelief to see each character as their own individual. Marc L…

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Dr. Isaac KleinerHalf-Life
Dr. Isaac Kleiner
Sep 21, 2023
Half-Life
Lore
I have a particularly strong head canon. I believe that Combine soldiers think just as much as you and me, but their memories are consistently wiped. Some of the Combine soldier lines from HLA supports this, promoting the idea that they're still "human" in there, but at any sign of questioning orders - "cognitive dissonance" - their memories are wiped, crushing any resistance they may have had. Imagine being in that scenario - you need to be completely compliant, both physically and mentally, because any rebellious thought you have leads to a significant wipe in memories. Maybe you still have some of your human memories left? Maybe they purposely left some intact to give you something to protect? You'll make sure to quell any rebellious thoughts you have in the future to make sure you get to hold onto any vestiges of humanity you might have, but it's difficult to control your thoughts. Time after time, your memories are ebbed away. Each passing day, you keeping forgetting things that were once meaningful to you. Your friends? You knew you had them, and they meant a lot, but you can't remember their names or faces now. Your family? Just a hole in your mind where you knew they once filled. Slowly, you manage to stop thinking for yourself. You comply, fall into line, perform atrocities against your own race; none of it matters to you now. All that matters is keeping what you have left intact.

I have a particularly strong head canon. I believe that Combine soldiers think just as much as you and me, but their memories are consistently wiped. Some of the Combine soldier lines from HLA supports this, promoting the idea that they're still "human" in there, but at any sign of questioning orders - "cognitive dissonance" - their memories are wiped, crushing any resistance they may have had. Imagine being in that scenario - you need to be completely compliant, both physically and mentally,…

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Dr. Isaac KleinerValve
Dr. Isaac Kleiner
Sep 14, 2023
Valve
Speculation

VALVE DECKARD SPECULATION TIME Given the recent news that Valve could be making a "consolised PCVR experience", I just can't get my mind of the thought of how is this going to change the industry? For those who aren't keeping up with the leaks and speculation, Brad Lynch (aka, SadlyItsBradley) and his team have been keeping on top of leaks and painting the picture of the "Valve Deckard", which was supposedly a successor to the Valve Index that was capable of running standalone ala Quest 2. Given the leaks of a supplementary console now doing the processing, it's looking less likely that this headset will be able to run VR games by itself. HOWEVER, my speculation proposal is this: This supplementary console, it could very well have a large battery for portable use. Perhaps not as elegant as having everything in the one headset, but separating the actual PC from the headset and making it portable allows for a lot of possibilities beyond just semi-mobile PCVR. If this were just a re…

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Dr. Isaac KleinerHalf-Life
Dr. Isaac Kleiner
Aug 28, 2023
Half-Life
Exploring Valve Archive, part 31 - Valve's design process valvearchive.com>archive>Half-Life>Half-Life 2>Art>Creatures>combot.jpg From Valve's portfolio, we can see glimpses of their design process through their early concept art. Observed above, the City Scanner we're familiar with in current HL2 started off as clean and well-labelled art, highlighting the physical characteristics and mechanisms of the machine. Certain features like the spinning rotor dictate speed, the adjustable mandible dictate hover state, and the iris dictate the mood of the machine ("Iris shrinks when pissed"). All this meticulous planning results in a fleshed out and iconic design that sticks in our heads due to its very mechanical and practical design. Among other things the Valve design team did when constructing the HL games, they planned everything to feel iconic, practical, and following the "rules" of Half-Life's reality. Elements of this meticulous planning can be seen in further HL games, with Half-Life: Alyx expanding on the Scanner design to be more detailed and physically based, and the Gravity Gloves cleverly using the rules set out by the Gravity Gun (according to the Final Hours, the Gravity Gloves contain a small Xen crystal behind the watch casing, giving it a fraction of the gravity-manipulation powers that the G. Gun does).

Exploring Valve Archive, part 31 - Valve's design process valvearchive.com>archive>Half-Life>Half-Life 2>Art>Creatures>combot.jpg From Valve's portfolio, we can see glimpses of their design process through their early concept art. Observed above, the City Scanner we're familiar with in current HL2 started off as clean and well-labelled art, highlighting the physical characteristics and mechanisms of the machine. Certain features like the spinning rotor dictate speed, the adjustable mandible …

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