Ok, imagine this...

[hbegg]

Valve makes a 7-hour war expansion.

You hugging cover as machine gun rounds rip through concrete around you. You radio in and 30 seconds later a naval round lands in the bunker. Concrete chunks rain down from the sky. You duck your head around and then tell your squad to advance. They use fire vectors, a combine scout comes from around a corner, and you bring your m-16 AU up to his head level. You squeeze out one well placed round and his body crashes to the ground. You scream out to hug cover as a squad of combine burst out from around the corner, for 30 seconds stalemate, then a helicopter flanks your position. Mini-gun rounds fire all around, they cut through your comrades, the squad is flanked and out gunned. Then a harrier flies overhead and a sidewinder missile blows the helicopter out of the skies. Your squad pops out of their cover to see the combine squad advancing. The combine fall in a hail of blood. Your squad advances up the hill, you come to the top to see a frigate in a bay below, combine helicopters and gun ships are shooting at it, then a combine jet squadron drop torpedoes and the ship explodes in an inferno, you see sailors being gunned down in the water. Then you turn around and see Breen announcing the unconditional surrender of earth and you say, no, no. You wont let this happen.

Wouldn’t that be awesome

PS: I am not a valve employee

[G-Dub]

Just to let you know, neither of the links in your sig actually work :|

[ríomhaire]

That is stupid. You are saying there should be Combine soldiers and choppers? They didn't get them until after conquering Earth FGS. The only thing you would fight in the 7-hour war would be synths, synths and more synths with a side of synths with synths on top.

[Feath]

That is stupid. You are saying there should be Combine soldiers and choppers? They didn't get them until after conquering Earth FGS. The only thing you would fight in the 7-hour war would be synths, synths and more synths with a side of synths with synths on top.

And Cremators.

[AJ Rimmer]

And Cremators.
Don't forget synths! And synths! And maybe a vortigaunt or two. And then some more synths!

[Samon]

Valve makes a 7-hour war expansion.

You hugging cover as machine gun rounds rip through concrete around you. You radio in and 30 seconds later a naval round lands in the bunker. Concrete chunks rain down from the sky. You duck your head around and then tell your squad to advance. They use fire vectors, a combine scout comes from around a corner, and you bring your m-16 AU up to his head level. You squeeze out one well placed round and his body crashes to the ground. You scream out to hug cover as a squad of combine burst out from around the corner, for 30 seconds stalemate, then a helicopter flanks your position. Mini-gun rounds fire all around, they cut through your comrades, the squad is flanked and out gunned. Then a harrier flies overhead and a sidewinder missile blows the helicopter out of the skies. Your squad pops out of their cover to see the combine squad advancing. The combine fall in a hail of blood. Your squad advances up the hill, you come to the top to see a frigate in a bay below, combine helicopters and gun ships are shooting at it, then a combine jet squadron drop torpedoes and the ship explodes in an inferno, you see sailors being gunned down in the water. Then you turn around and see Breen announcing the unconditional surrender of earth and you say, no, no. You wont let this happen.

Wouldn’t that be awesome

PS: I am not a valve employee

Your saying there are Combine soldiers and there can't be. The combine had no foot soldiers, only Synth

[scarecrow1]

cool idea.....especially if your idea includes: SYNTHS

[Samon]

The idea can only include synths...

[ríomhaire]

Cremators are synths I think

[Angry Lawyer]

Cremators aren't quite synth. To be a synth, it really needs to follow the chitin pattern that all the other synth have.
They're definately manufactured, though. Raising the Bar has an image of children producing Cremator heads on an assembly line. It's definately made of some kind of flesh, possibly another oppressed species. The metal parts seem to be similar to that used on Scanners, and the Citadel, and stuff, though.

But yeah, Cremators would feature, they're mentioned in an early draft for a short introduction Eli gives on the Combine. Synths and Cremators poured out of the citadels.

-Angry Lawyer

[Insano]

And Cremators.Cremators came after the Synths to clean up the mess they made.

[Razor]

What are Synths and Cremators?

[Angry Lawyer]

Synths are anything that look like they're made of the same material as a Strider.

Cremators are harder to describe.

-Angry Lawyer

[Samon]

Snowmen

[Mechagodzilla]

Synths are everything manufactured by the combine that is organic but wasn't once human.

Striders, dropships, gunships, type-2 scanners and those big mystery bugs from the end are all synths.

[hbegg]

Why not combine? Why couldn't they steal a human and clone it? Then replicate human technology. Synths would be impossible for a realistic soldier to kill, unless... you got a personal minture tactical warhead in which case it would not be very fun any way. (which do actually exist)

[Mechagodzilla]

Why not combine? Why couldn't they steal a human and clone it? Then replicate human technology.

Because it's the 7 hour war. You can't clone an entire army and create thousands of vehicles in seven hours.

[Angry Lawyer]

Yeah, what Mecha said. Although there are probably a few exceptions to that rule. If Cremators are manufactured, they're not Synth.

-Angry Lawyer

[AJ Rimmer]

Synths would be impossible for a realistic soldier to kill
Now you're getting the picture of how exciting the 7 hour war would be.

[Mechagodzilla]

Yeah, what Mecha said. Although there are probably a few exceptions to that rule. If Cremators are manufactured, they're not Synth.

They could count as synths. It depends on how much they've been merged with technology. Overwatch soldiers just have a few implants, but all the other monsters are mechano-organic hybrids in every respect.

So if the cremator is just some lowly creature with a mechanical head, it's not a synth.
If it's entire body is vaguely mechanical, it is a synth.

[Angry Lawyer]

I'd more stick to Synth as a category describing any life form created with the sort of sandy carapace that the Combine use so much. But then again, I've never seen any evidence of anything else they've produced that's not a Synth.

-Angry Lawyer

[Dag]

Plus, I don't think much of the world would be willing to fight some aliens that just start teleporting in everywhere. It would be a huge moral sap. I mean, if an alien grunt or combine synth teleported into my room right now, I probably wouldn't get mad and fight it, I would run screaming.

[Epsi]

Combine teleport tech looks like it's best suited to punching a massive portal through to Earth, sending as much stuff through in one go as possible, then closing it up again.

To support this, look how long it takes for the dark fusion reactor to get Breen across, or how long the Nova Prospekt teleporter takes to warm up.

The upshot of this is... in any 7 Hour War scenario, it's likely that the Citadels were brought through, with the entire invasion forces inside, and then used as a beachhead from which to conduct the invasion. Which would make for interesting gameplay.

[Dag]

And the gameplay would only last 7 hours maximum anyway. :)

[Samon]

Why not combine? Why couldn't they steal a human and clone it? Then replicate human technology. Synths would be impossible for a realistic soldier to kill, unless... you got a personal minture tactical warhead in which case it would not be very fun any way. (which do actually exist)

When you say Combine, I guess you mean the soldiers. Well they are not technically combine. In 7-hours they wouldn't have had time, and they don't clone things. Synths are the reason it lasted 7 hours.

[A True Canadian]

7 Hour War = War of the Worlds :)


It's an interesting idea, but I have a feeling we won't be experiencing the 7 hour war until after Half-Life 3 (when the "real" synth enemy models are finally created).

[Sufferin-rebel]

And the gameplay would only last 7 hours maximum anyway. :)

I was thinking about after Corpal Sheperds leaves, Another guy is sent in to literally clean up the mess in Black mesa.. then he gets hit uncousnislc then wakes up during the 7 hour war.. But manages to survive but died during the CP's Reign

[AJ Rimmer]

I was thinking about after Corpal Sheperds leaves, Another guy is sent in to literally clean up the mess in Black mesa.. then he gets hit uncousnislc then wakes up during the 7 hour war.. But manages to survive but died during the CP's Reign
Black Mesa was nuked.

[Samon]

Or you could clean out the crater?

[AJ Rimmer]

Or you could clean out the crater?
Oh right right, he's a hazardous waste cleanup crew. Sorry. Boy, that sounds like fun! :D

[French Ninja]

It's silly to think that the Combine only invaded Earth with Synths. Synths are large, slow and easy targets for AT crews. Im guessing that the Combine also had Synth "infantry", something that looks like the Supersoldier not used in HL2.

Therefore, the 7 Hours War could work.

[FCBob]

It's silly to think that the Combine only invaded Earth with Synths. Synths are large, slow and easy targets for AT crews. Im guessing that the Combine also had Synth "infantry", something that looks like the Supersoldier not used in HL2.

Therefore, the 7 Hours War could work.

Gunships are synths too (i think) and they are not exactly what i would call clumsy and ineffective. Also during the seven hours war the combine were not up against AT crews who knew what striders were and how to take them down. These things literally dropped out of thin air on to a completely off-guard humanity. The shear destructive nature of the striders would scare any force into an early submission their is no question there. Plus we haven't seen all of the synths yet (their could be a smaller "infantry type synth, yes, but I doubt it. I think the combine were relying on a shock and awe type tactic, thus the war only lasting 7 hours).

So no, I can't see why it is silly for the combine to invade earth with just synths.

[French Ninja]

To route out resistance, you need ground troops, which can get into narrow passages deep underground. Last time I checked, a Strider can't move in a hallway. Infantry are highly moveable.
The Combine forces would need infantry synths to keep the peace in the cities until the Overwatch was created.
A successful Army also needs to be made up of a mixture of different units, including Infantry.

[Dag]

They also had technology on thier side. Manhacks, Pulse Rifes, ect. And they did have small synth. Remember those crab synth? They couldn't have been much bigger than a person. And all that aside, using large scale explosions or large head-crab bombardment would clean up areas where resistance fighters are heavily populating. And wasn't wildlife from Xen coming through too, so that would also cause huge panic and chaos. And during all of this, the Combine wipe out all the smaller areas, (Anything that isn't a big city) with heavy head-crab saturation, high explosives, ect. And when the humans are all in the city, BAM! You have an overwhelming army there, and thus, humans lose.

[Samon]

Oh right right, he's a hazardous waste cleanup crew. Sorry. Boy, that sounds like fun! :D

Oh man that should be a mod :D

[hbegg]

Ok, what is the combine did a little preperation before hand? Say a meagre 25 years of constant cloning and manufacture? Why do you imply that the mighty combine would do no recon? Why invade with synths? They are huge and destructive, hardly the sorts of OCCUPYING troops the combine NEED as to not SLAUGHTER the human population. Sorta like shooting a lone guy with a pistol with a tank. Stupid. If you knew anything about military tactics you would know that synths are clearly designed for shock and awe, not capture. Unless there were some sort of humanoid synth troops as suggested.

[Mechagodzilla]

In order for that to work, the combine would have needed to teleport an entire citadel to earth, capture some people, and then somehow remove it without anyone noticing. In 1980.

The synths went in en masse, blew everything up indiscriminately, and forced everyone to surrender in exchange for their lives. Then they built the human army that would police the people out of the surrenderees.

[ríomhaire]

They also had technology on thier side. Manhacks, Pulse Rifes, ect.
They are derived from human tech so no

And they did have small synth. Remember those crab synth? They couldn't have been much bigger than a person.
they;re mortar synths and hence long-range

And all that aside, using large scale explosions or large head-crab bombardment would clean up areas where resistance fighters are heavily populating.
Where do they launch the crabs from, I can't realy picture crab canisters shooting out of the citadel

[Angry Lawyer]

Pulse rifles are derived from human tech?? I've yet to see the military use energy weapons as standard issue. Pulse rifles are existing Combine tech adapted so that the Combine soldiers can easily hold them. The Pulse tech was likely already implemented on things like Gunships and Striders, they just scaled it down for infantry.

Which brings up another odd point. If the Combine controlled Xen, why weren't any of the Xenians armed with Pulse tech?

And Crab Synths are huge.

-Angry Lawyer

[Sufferin-rebel]

The Combine Helicopter is a merge of Combine Techongly and Human Tech, The Gunship is a merge of Combine Tech and Synth Tech, so the REAL synths are probally the same look as we see in the citadel.. But I guess the Real forces that did the war actually got held up in other parts of the planet or they are stuck on Combineastopia.. (Combine Homeworld.. I named it :D)

[Mith']

Which brings up another odd point. If the Combine controlled Xen, why weren't any of the Xenians armed with Pulse tech?
Maybe earth had the resources needed to mass produce energy weapons and Xen didn't?
And why eould they bother arming them with pulse rifles, they are strong enough without them, look at the controllers, they're attacks are far more stronger than saome pulse rifle or gunship..

And the seven hour war is way to massive to be playable, and what if you use 9 hours to complete it :p

[Samon]

Pulse rifles are derived from human tech?? I've yet to see the military use energy weapons as standard issue. Pulse rifles are existing Combine tech adapted so that the Combine soldiers can easily hold them. The Pulse tech was likely already implemented on things like Gunships and Striders, they just scaled it down for infantry.

Which brings up another odd point. If the Combine controlled Xen, why weren't any of the Xenians armed with Pulse tech?

And Crab Synths are huge.

-Angry Lawyer

They use the energy orbs, which are most likley combine - but the actual weapon is human designed, it's quite obvious from the handle.

[ríomhaire]

Pulse rifles are derived from human tech?? I've yet to see the military use energy weapons as standard issue. Pulse rifles are existing Combine tech adapted so that the Combine soldiers can easily hold them. The Pulse tech was likely already implemented on things like Gunships and Striders, they just scaled it down for infantry.

Which brings up another odd point. If the Combine controlled Xen, why weren't any of the Xenians armed with Pulse tech?

And Crab Synths are huge.

-Angry Lawyer
I mean that pulse rifles are designed after human rifles but use different types of bullets.

And STFU about Combine-on-Xen.

[Dag]

Pulse Rifles, Pulse Orbs, none of that was around before the Combine came, so one must think thats what they were using. And the crab synths, the ones that look like they have a mouth full of spikes, are about the size of a person.

And the combine never were on Xen. Didn't Raising the Bar say that the Combine were attracted to Earth just because of the Portal Storms?

[ríomhaire]

Crab synths are as big as a small truck. mortar synths are about the size of a bullsquid.

[Samon]

Pulse Rifles, Pulse Orbs, none of that was around before the Combine came, so one must think thats what they were using. And the crab synths, the ones that look like they have a mouth full of spikes, are about the size of a person.

And the combine never were on Xen. Didn't Raising the Bar say that the Combine were attracted to Earth just because of the Portal Storms?

It did, somewhat, as did the walkthrough but...we'll see.

[Feath]

Pulse Rifles, Pulse Orbs, none of that was around before the Combine came, so one must think thats what they were using. And the crab synths, the ones that look like they have a mouth full of spikes, are about the size of a person.

And the combine never were on Xen. Didn't Raising the Bar say that the Combine were attracted to Earth just because of the Portal Storms?

Only in the sense that there were Portal Storms THEN the Combine appeared. There are arguments both for or against the Combine being in Control of Xen, but the Combine being attracted to Earth isn't one of the.

[EVIL]

whatever it is, earth got defeated in 7 hours, earth suffored majour losses, I seriously doubt any soldier would had a good chance against the synth

"you get dropped by an airplane, land, untangle your kit, and die"

I seriously don't think earth would have battled it out with alot of foot soldiers.

[Reginald]

*digs out RtB*

OK, the Combine would have had access to:

Strider,
Gunship,
Dropship,
Shield Scanner,
Crab Synth,
Mortar Synth,
The frickin huge bipedal synth with fron stabilizers (p89 RtB),
The hovering Synth thing (p89 RtB),
Combine Synth Elite Soldier (It is a biped, and supposedly based on humans, but the story can be adapted to allow easy indoor combat with small easy ragdolls) (p106 RtB),
Alien Combine Soldier (Another easy human sized enemy, but it actually looks quite crappy) (p107 RtB),
Combine Sniper (the original concept was a very small Synth with Sam Fisher googles) (p108 RtB),
Combine Elite (the Synth form, different from Combine Synth Elite Soldier) (this could have been the original design the Combine used until they could get hold of the human form) (p109 RtB)
Combine Advisors (they have attack animations after all ;))
Any other monstrosities the developer cares to throw in. And of course there would be all the Xen creatures. (I can just imagine a bomber plane shelling an area with Pherapods so that all the antlions attack.) Or did the Xen animals get in during the 7 hour war? I'm a bit fuzzy on my HL history :p


I don't think Cremators would exist, because my perception of them is a Stalker in a trechcoat with a weapon.

All in all, there is enough concept art there to create whole army of Synth. The reason we don't see them all in City 17? They are localised around the world because on some are better suited for different climates and terrain.

I think if Valve put their minds to it, they could make a very effective game. Or even a very dedicated mod team. The weapon models are already there from CSS.

In theory, the whole thing could fit together very well, and I would personally love to see it, because the Synth fascinate me.

[Mechagodzilla]

7-hour war would work as a game, but only if prefaced with a couple hours of cleaning up the results of the portal storms.

Spend the first half of the game clearing out bullsquids and earth-locked agrunts. Then BAM, synths everywhere and you try to survive for seven hours.

[Krabjuice]

Generally, those in the 7 hour war who actually lasted more then an hour were the civilians. And I mean the ones cowering inside the subway stations, deep into the tunnels where it would take a synth an hour to reach them.

[Feath]

*digs out RtB*

OK, the Combine would have had access to:

Strider,
Gunship,
Dropship,
Shield Scanner,
Crab Synth,
Mortar Synth,
The frickin huge bipedal synth with fron stabilizers (p89 RtB),
The hovering Synth thing (p89 RtB),
Combine Synth Elite Soldier (It is a biped, and supposedly based on humans, but the story can be adapted to allow easy indoor combat with small easy ragdolls) (p106 RtB),
Alien Combine Soldier (Another easy human sized enemy, but it actually looks quite crappy) (p107 RtB),
Combine Sniper (the original concept was a very small Synth with Sam Fisher googles) (p108 RtB),
Combine Elite (the Synth form, different from Combine Synth Elite Soldier) (this could have been the original design the Combine used until they could get hold of the human form) (p109 RtB)
Combine Advisors (they have attack animations after all ;))
Any other monstrosities the developer cares to throw in. And of course there would be all the Xen creatures. (I can just imagine a bomber plane shelling an area with Pherapods so that all the antlions attack.) Or did the Xen animals get in during the 7 hour war? I'm a bit fuzzy on my HL history :p


I don't think Cremators would exist, because my perception of them is a Stalker in a trechcoat with a weapon.

All in all, there is enough concept art there to create whole army of Synth. The reason we don't see them all in City 17? They are localised around the world because on some are better suited for different climates and terrain.

I think if Valve put their minds to it, they could make a very effective game. Or even a very dedicated mod team. The weapon models are already there from CSS.

In theory, the whole thing could fit together very well, and I would personally love to see it, because the Synth fascinate me.

The Combine Sniper, Combine Elite and Combine Synth Elite Soldier are all human-based Combine soldiers, so they wouldn't exist then. As for Cremators, they definately took part in the Seven Hour according to the cut Eli Slide show.

[SteelMeister]

If the sniper, elite and synth elite are human based then what is the Cremator?
Trenchcoat based maybe?

[Angry Lawyer]

Oh, and back on the Pulse tech - admitted, the rifles the Combine Soldiers use are a fusion between human and Combine tech. But, the Striders had to have been armed with something when they attacked - Pulse Weapons existed waaay before the Combine visited.

-Angry Lawyer

[Samon]

Lawyer let's keep this thread Xen/combine war free :P

[Feath]

If the sniper, elite and synth elite are human based then what is the Cremator?
Trenchcoat based maybe?

Another Alien perhaps? All those three Combine soldiers have human proportion sized bodies. Even the Stalker has a human head and human sized arms and limbs (although the hands and feet have been cut off).

Whereas, the Cremator has a tiny head and really long arms. It's kind of obviously that he isn't human.

[ríomhaire]

I think that cremators are made from humans, made tall to be intimidating.

[Feath]

I think that cremators are made from humans, made tall to be intimidating.

Well, the Eli slide show specifically says that Cremators poured out of the Citadel in the 7 hour war.

[ríomhaire]

Well, the Eli slide show specifically says that Cremators poured out of the Citadel in the 7 hour war.
Oh, sorry, I missed that in the game, where was it

[Feath]

Oh, sorry, I missed that in the game, where was it

Tut. Of course I meant in Raising the Bar. You damn computer, you.

[ríomhaire]

I know, but it was never in the game and it isn't confirmed as fact like other things in Raising The Bar, just an idea.

[Feath]

I know, but it was never in the game and it isn't confirmed as fact like other things in Raising The Bar, just an idea.

Well, we are talking about a creature that doesn't actually exist in the game (except for a head in a jar), so I think pointing to references in Raising the Bar is perfectly valid.

[Angry Lawyer]

Feath wins, sorry Riomhaire.

And the weird smiley heads they have seem to be mechanical. There's an image in Raising the Bar where kids are making them for the Combine.

-Angry Lawyer

[SteelMeister]

I have seen the picture and I agree that they are making cremators. BUT...
1. There are no longer any children left in the world.
2. It does not prove that the combine used them under the 7-hour war.
3. You can only see the heads that maybe is nothing more than helmets.

[Angry Lawyer]

I have seen the picture and I agree that they are making cremators. BUT...
1. There are no longer any children left in the world.
2. It does not prove that the combine used them under the 7-hour war.
3. You can only see the heads that maybe is nothing more than helmets.

Well, there's the fact that there's a Cremator head in a jar in Eli's lab, and the fact that City 17 is littered with charred bodies. They were left in when the Cremator was cut.

-Angry Lawyer

[SteelMeister]

Im talking about if they were used in the 7-hour war or not. I do not say that they dosent exist.