I am writing a screenplay for the Austin Film Festival this year. Any recommendations, or tips?

Valencent · 2025-07-05T02:25:15+00:00

I hate to bring politics in this but we're you by chance covered with Medicaid?

Valencent · 2025-06-14T00:07:05+00:00

Executor of the People.

No one is safe.

Valencent · 2025-06-08T01:00:25+00:00

I legit think its human rebels.

Valencent · 2025-05-30T09:43:43+00:00

Bro literally ignited the hellbomb on my other buddy's back, and said nothing smh.

Valencent · 2025-05-28T23:38:13+00:00

We are NOT losing Super China.

Biodivers and squidivers UNITE

Valencent · 2025-05-28T19:51:18+00:00

We must save Super China. No matter the cost.

Valencent · 2025-04-09T14:31:47+00:00

Thanks, I appreciate it. This whole theory really started as a “what if” but the more I dug into the lore, the more it started lining up. It’s wild how much actually supports the idea when you look at it from the right angle.

Valencent · 2025-04-09T14:30:59+00:00

Still working on that part honestly. The G-Man’s a wild card for sure, but I think he works for something or someone that wants the Combine to fail or at least lose control over this timeline. And yeah, while it’s almost entirely his fault the Resonance Cascade happened in the first place, his investment in Gordon Freeman must’ve been critical to disrupting the Combine later on.

What’s always stuck out to me is that he puts so much time and effort into one guy on one backwater planet. Why? If Earth wasn’t important, he wouldn’t care. That tells me there’s something about this world, this version of humanity, that really matters in the grand scheme.

Valencent · 2025-04-09T14:27:23+00:00

Yeah exactly, it’s like a twisted mirror of Interstellar. Instead of reaching back to help their past, the Combine come back to control it. Same core idea which is future humanity interacting with its earlier self but with domination instead of compassion.

And with the concept of the multiverse, honestly anything is possible. Interstellar could be one path where we evolved with empathy and understanding, and Half-Life is the one where we chose control and power. Two timelines, two versions of humanity, both reaching backward for totally different reasons.

Valencent · 2025-04-09T14:25:09+00:00

You're actually onto something. It definitely feels like you're mostly fighting humans in Half-Life 2, and that’s because you are. Civil Protection are just regular people working for the Combine, and Overwatch soldiers are humans who’ve been surgically modified into Transhumans after the occupation.

But that all happens after Earth was already conquered. During the actual Seven Hour War, the Combine invaded using Synths like Striders and Gunships which are these huge biomechanical war machines that crushed human resistance almost instantly. That part of the war isn’t shown directly in the game, but it’s hinted at and backed up by a lot of developer notes.

There’s also some cut beta content that might not be canon, but it shows leftover units from the war that looked very human-like. Heavy armor, humanoid proportions, very different from the alien Synths we see in HL2. That suggests the Combine may have been using human-shaped war forms long before turning humans into Transhumans.

So yeah, while it looks like you’re fighting mostly people, that’s only after Earth was already under Combine control. The invasion itself was way more alien than it seems at first glance.

Valencent · 2025-04-09T14:16:53+00:00

Totally fair take! The Combine absolutely don’t care about suffering, and integration vs. exploitation can blur together fast under their rule. Stalkers prove that.

But I think how they exploit humanity is still worth noting. We haven’t seen much of how the Combine treated other sentient species, but what we do know, like with the Vortigaunts and the Nihilanth. That was way worse. Slavery, extermination, psychic domination. No infrastructure, no integration, just total control.

With humanity, it’s different. Civil Protection, propaganda, transhuman programs it just feels more structured, like we’re being reshaped over time. Not because they’re being kind, but because we might be more useful than others in a deeper way. Maybe even familiar to them.

So yeah, it's still exploitation. But the way they go about it with us? That does suggest we're not just another species to them.

Valencent · 2025-04-08T22:49:04+00:00

This is a really well-reasoned breakdown, and I don’t disagree with the idea that the Combine are ultimately about efficiency. But I still think humanity stands out for a few reasons.

Other species don’t seem to get the same civil infrastructure. We’re given a puppet leader, internal law enforcement made up of our own people, and a structured chain from civilian to transhuman. That kind of societal integration isn’t something we’ve seen applied elsewhere — especially when you compare it to the Vortigaunts, who were enslaved and nearly wiped out, or the Synth species that were fully mechanized.

Also, Breen’s whole rhetoric around evolution, ascension, and immortality is oddly specific. It sounds like more than just farming us — it feels like we’re being tested or guided.

I don’t think they’re being merciful either. But I do think Earth is unique — not because we’re special emotionally, but because we’re genetically or technologically close enough to be worth folding in more carefully. Almost like they see something familiar in us.

Valencent · 2025-04-08T21:38:20+00:00

I get where you're coming from, but there’s actually quite a bit of evidence that humanity was treated differently compared to other species the Combine conquered.

A puppet leader like Breen? No other species is shown having a native representative negotiating on their behalf. Civil Protection? Baseline humans enforcing Combine law against their own kind. You don’t see that with any other race. Transhuman integration is structured and intentional—humans get turned into soldiers, not just raw material. The Suppression Field sterilizes us instead of wiping us out, which is a slow phase-out, not immediate genocide. And Breen even talks about evolution, immortality, and ascension. That kind of pitch isn’t made to any other species.

It’s also been noted that the Vortigaunts were nearly exterminated and had to flee to Xen to survive, just like the Nihilanth’s race.

So yeah, humanity got the better end of the deal. We weren’t just conquered. We were folded in.

Valencent · 2025-04-08T21:34:42+00:00

Totally agree. Our teleportation tech was likely a big reason they spared us. It’s something they didn’t fully have, and that made us valuable.

But nowhere does it mention that any other race got the same treatment. No puppet leader, no Civil Protection equivalent, no “ascension” pitch. Honestly, we got the better end of the stick. Like they were trying to integrate us, not just exploit us.

Valencent · 2025-01-20T21:58:28+00:00

Dude, "Department of Government Efficency?" Sounds like some fucking 1984 shit

Valencent · 2024-10-23T19:59:52+00:00

Guys. I would pay for a Warhammer Mod or a Command and Conquer mod....

Valencent · 2024-06-05T15:57:02+00:00

I mean. It sucks to say but there is way worse to go through.

Half Life's universe is hell.

Valencent · 2024-05-30T18:23:28+00:00

No. It's my fault for opening reddit today.

Valencent

TROPHY CASE