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The reception desk in the lobby of the Sector C Test Labs.

Chapter Summary

After disembarking the tram, Gordon enters the Anomalous Materials lab of Sector C. At the front desk, a security guard tells him of a system crash in the computer network. He finds out from the other scientists that the Administrator is very interested in the secluded experiment, and have sent some of his people over to monitor it.

Gordon dons his iconic HEV Suit and proceeds to the test chamber. In the control room overlooking test chamber he meets up with his mentor, Dr. Kleiner, who, along with a couple of other scientists, briefs him on the experiment. Continuing downstairs, he passes by Dr. Vance, who is assessing an equipment malfunction.

Once in the test chamber, Gordon is tasked with activating the anti-mass spectrometer and inserting a crystal sample into the machine. Something immediately goes wrong; alarms begin to sound, and the anti-mass spectrometer cannot be shut down. A resonance cascade occurs, and as a result, hordes of alien creatures teleport into the facility. Gordon is teleported to several strange places before everything goes black. The chapter ends as Gordon wakes in the ruined test chamber, and Unforeseen Consequences begins.

Anomalous Materials is the second chapter of Black Mesa.

Gameplay

In Anomalous Materials, the player gets their first chance to explore the innards of the Black Mesa Research Facility. No real threat is present during this sequence (although falling from a high place may cause harm). This chapter orients the player in Half-Life's world, and foreshadows the coming disaster in several sequences involving equipment malfunctions.

The NPCs encountered along the way will all have an unique story to tell, which can be learned by the player either by interacting with them or through observation[2].

Anomalous Materials has two maps connected by one load point: bm_c1a1a (starting in the lobby and ending in the elevator to the lowers labs) and bm_c1a1b (starting in the elevator and lasting through the Test Chamber sequence) [3].

Main Locations

The anti-mass spectrometer

The Test Chamber

The test chamber is the location of the Anti-mass Spectrometer and the area in which the Resonance Cascade occurs. Gordon enters the test chamber near the end of the chapter and doesn't leave until the beginning of Unforeseen Consequences.

Media

Screenshots

Entrance to Anomalous Materials lab. More Scientist in a lab. Female scientists. The H.E.V. Suit containers. The test chamber control room. The cart with the crystal which causes the resonance cascade. The Test Chamber. The moment the experiment hits the skids. Ditto.

Videos

Trivia

• In Black Mesa, it is still possible to annoy the scientist on the toilet in the locker room, as it was in Half-Life. [4]
• Half-Life's easter egg placing the names of the developers on the lockers in the Locker Room is still present. This time, of course, they sport the names of Black Mesa's Developers. [5]
• The scientists and guards in the Anomalous Materials lab will have the same face settings in each playthrough. [6]
• None of the scientists before the resonance cascade are critical, as it is not possible for them to die unless you're using cheat codes. [7]

Redesign History

Level Design

Robert Yang was originally responsible for Anomalous Materials, and laid down the level architecture and lighting as well as most of the texture work. After Robert left the project to focus his schoolwork [8], Anthony Stone took over as its developer.

Redesign Gallery An early concept of the Sector C entrance. By BKD86. Yang's brainstorm (#1) for the chapter: "I wanted more moving parts/machinery to plug into the AM-spectrometer, but it didn't seem to fit with the room." Yang's brainstorm (#2) for the chapter. Bathroom in Anomalous Materials. Yang's brainstorm (#3) for the chapter: "Concepts for the beige lab2 section of Anomalous Materials. Keeping the same basic shapes and flow, but having the structure feel more improvised by human means for research purposes." Yang's brainstorm (#4) for the chapter: "More brainstorming on lab2, specifically part before the test chamber control room." Some textures made by Robert Yang for the chapter. The H.E.V. Suit Container mesh. By Alex Allen. The H.E.V. Suit Container (skinned model). Texture by Bard Fleistad. An early version of one of the test labs. This room was completely redone. [1] Ditto. View from outside. Render of a laboratory server, prop used in the chapter. Textures by Jason Wells.

Black Mesa's Sector C lobby was finished eighteen months before Valve released Half-Life 2: Episode 2, which showed a section of Black Mesa during a G-man speech that some players believe to be the Sector C Lobby. Regardless of whether it is the lobby or not, the developers decided not to alter their interpretation of the area. [9]

Even with Source's increased map-size limits, the entire chapter couldn't be combined into a single map, as the amount of entities required for the Test Chamber alone exceeds Hammer's entity limit [10].

Script

In the original Half-Life, Anomalous Materials contains the vast majority of the game's dialogue, choreography, and scripted sequences. Black Mesa makes this even truer, adding even more new scenes and dialogue. To get the whole idea, consider that the finalized script for the chapter has a length of about 50 pages. [11]