From Black Mesa: Wiki

The Tram turntable.

Chapter Summary

After fighting the tentacles, Gordon wanders through a toxic river and pipes only to fall into a room which leads into Power Up. In this chapter, he must try to get a tram running to crash through a blockade and continue to "On a Rail." However, two obstacles are in his path: The tram's power is off, and there is a Gargantua guarding the tram and the final station to turn on the power. First, Gordon must go further underground to unblock a power generator, while fighting through the military yet again. Afterwards, he must turn on an inactive power switch. Finally, he must return back to the tram (and the Gargantua) and rush to turn on the main power, which kills the Gargantua immediately if he is lured into the electrical field. The player then uses a turntable to move the tram onto a correct track, crash through the barrier, and continue onto "On A Rail."

Power Up is the seventh chapter of Black Mesa.

Gameplay

Reinforced concrete and hard edges make up the bulk of the chapter's architecture. It's bleak and run-down, and looks as if it has just been awoken from a long period of disuse. Tight corridors and sharp turns paired with the distant rumblings of the Gargantua create a claustrophobic air. A high density of enemies in tight spaces creates fast-paced, desperate action.

In Power Up, the Gargantua is introduced to the player. Initially exposed to the monster for only a brief moment before he reaches the cover of the abandoned rail network's generator facility. Along the chapter's path he encounters more HECU Marines, Vortigaunts and Houndeyes. The player's main objective is to restore power to the area in order to kill the Gargantua (which happens only between two massive, arcing coils, electrocuting the giant beast), as well as providing access to the tram which is required to proceed to the next chapter.

Media

The area outside the track control room. Same area after the catwalk collapse. Same, ground floor. An hazardous storage area witness a Xen invasion. More Hazardous storage area clear. Military guarding access to the generators. Military fighting houndeyes at the bottom of an elevator. An overview of the tram turntable. In this image, both trams (bottom left) are fully functional, but one has a different screen due to a bug with the tram vgui not working over multiple instances in one map [1]. Guards above elevator.

Redesign History

Early stages

The first version of the map was built by Mendasp. Later the original layout was discarded and the map was totally redesigned by Kim Dahlgren according his own vision of the map, with collaboration of Daniel Junek.

Screenshots of Mendasp's version: A very early shot (2005) of the chapter. Notice that many aspects of the map still use the textures from Half-Life 2. Early version of the tram turntable. Minor revisions made. Early version of the ladder to the control room. More The rail block. A very early shot of the tesla coils of the tracks's power generator. Render of an electricity box. By Jason Wells.

Planning of the redesign

In late December 2007, Kim started the planning of the chapter. To get inspiration for the new layout, he took many reference photos of the HL1's Power Up level (after playing it through at about thirty times) and used pictures of abandoned places and military facilities that suited the theme. The deadline for the chapter was two months; in the meantime he put his own smaller deadlines for each week to help with the redesign progress.

Layout & Visual

The objective was to keep the new design closer to the original - with many pipes in the roof and boxes on the ground looking like the military had occupied the whole area - but also fixing its gaps: the lack of technical equipment that gives the feel of a real underground powerhouse. To make the new level even more authentic, Kim filled the place with various ambient sounds (for example sounds for fans, computers and other machines).

Overview map floor one to two. Overview map floor two to three. Overview map floor three to four. Overview map all floors. More The orange map of Power Up, created to check the first impressions of the gameplay and make adjustments in the design, if necessary. Two examples of textures used in the level based on the original. Kim chose concrete with many details, in some cases with different colors to fit the lighting he planned to use. Some of the other textures used in the level. Putting light spots in the map. Kim initially tested different colors for the lighting, then decided for a blue hue mixed with light brown contrast to make the ambient less monotonous and give a rust look. A green fog in the map gives the final touch. The final result.

Minor Updates

Throughout the development, some sections of the map were changed and/or received minor updates. The shots below are older than the similar ones in the Media section, but comparing them it is possible to notice the subtle differences and see what was changed.

Changes in the floor tiles, the explosive boxes and the barricade. Removed the sign indicating the direction to the Power Generator.

Changes in the props placements. Some removed, others added. Sign of the Power Generator removed.

References

• Kim Dahlgren's Portfolio: Power up
• Power Up's Design Document (translation from the original in Swedish)