Black Mesa East

Black Mesa East is the 5th chapter of Half-Life 2.

Introduction

Black Mesa East is the name of Eli Vance's laboratory off the canals. Its attack leads to the player heading into Ravenholm.

Architecture

The lab is built out of some sort of waterworks facility, quite possibly an abandoned hydroelectric power station. Indoors, the building is largely concrete, with some high ceilings, long corridors, freight elevators and curved lower ceilings. There are larger tunnels, one of which is the entrance, one leading to Ravenholm, which are fairly similar to the smaller halls. All entrances in use are equipped with a body-scanning device. Otherwise, the lab is fairly simple.

Environment

Aside from the river outside the facility, and the rocky grotto where Alyx and Dog play, most of the area is indoors. The river area should have other similar buildings around it, to create consistency. Power cables are also wise additions. The land around the water should be grassy and lush, with plenty of trees.

Indoors, lab equipment should be commonplace. The small hallways are fenced in the official map, so consider doing the same. Living quarters are included in the building's structure, so including those in a level allows more variety. Despite being a distant location, Kleiner's lab can be used for inspiration in those areas.

The grotto appears to have once been a drainage lake, considering the pipes coming from the facility. There is now a large amount of crates and varied materials, allowing the mapper to create more linear paths, or full-fledged mazes.

NPCs

Within the game, only rebels, the Vances, Judith Mossman, Dog and vortigaunts appear within the lab. Some crows appear within the grotto as well. Scanners show up at the end, along with some Combine soldiers bursting in forcing the player to leave, but otherwise the hostile presence is limited. The setting can be used in a multi-player map, however, and will be more action-filled. In single player the peaceful Black Mesa East is used only as a kind of a resting place for the player. Humorously, there is a Vortiguant Chef in the kitchen.

See also

• Black Mesa East soundscapes
• Black Mesa East on Wiki
• Half-Life 2 Sky List - See maps d1_eli_01 and d1_eli_02.

Reference

• 

  Interior lab of Black Mesa East.

• 

  Outside Black Mesa East, with the lab on the left and the dam on the right.

• 

  A typical Black Mesa East corridor.

• 

  The scrapyard.

Half-Life 2 Chapters
Point Insertion d1_trainstation_01	"A Red Letter Day" d1_trainstation_05	Route Kanal d1_canals_01	Water Hazard d1_canals_06
Black Mesa East d1_eli_01	"We Don't Go To Ravenholm..." d1_town_01	Highway 17 d2_coast_01	Sandtraps d2_coast_09
Nova Prospekt d2_prison_02	Entanglement d2_prison_06	Anticitizen One d3_c17_02	"Follow Freeman!" d3_c17_09
Our Benefactors d3_citadel_01	Dark Energy d3_breen_01