Security Guard
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Overview
The Security Guard is the main component of Black Mesa's support personnel force. His uniform consists of a light blue shirt, black tie, dark blue pants, black assault boots, equipment belt, armor vest and helmet.
Behaviour
Guards are friendly to scientists and the player, unless attacked.
They will follow the player when 'used' and can provide assistance by opening some doors and firing at enemies (specially Xenian aliens and the Military, which have been sent to silence the Facility personnel). Unlike in Half-Life 2, the player cannot command the guards [1].
Guards are also able to take cover, but not so effectively as the HECU Marines [2].
Variants
In Black Mesa, Security Guards use the Face Creation System system and are built with the potential to have: armored vest, helmet, walkie-talkie's, shoulder-mounted microphone, mag-light and holster. These options are configured per-character, or randomized.
The Security Guards are usually equipped with their standard sidearm, a Glock 17. Sometimes they can be found with better weapons, depending on the place where they are met [3]. For example, sometimes you can meet security guards armed with a shotgun [4]. It was considered some time to equip them with .357 Magnum pistols [5] but the idea was later drop and instead the only security guards armed with .357 are dead or unable to follow you [6].
Guards with hurt body types will also be seen after the incident [7].
See Also
Important Security Guard:
Media
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 In-game screenshot of a security guard with the Face Creation System enabled. |
Redesign History
Artificial Intelligence
In the early stages of the Security Guard development, his AI was programmed to pick up better weapons, like the Rebels from Half-Life 2 do; but it was later changed. In the current stage they are intended to stay stuck with a weapon defined by the mapper. [8]
Model & Vest
Initially in the design process, the developers intended to give to the guard's vest the same design approach it had in Half-Life. However, after many iterations and improvements, the majority of the staff believed the original design was not up to Black Mesa standards, so they decided to create a new version. The team has no intention of revisiting the old design, because it would demand too much work to fit with the Face Creation System. [9]
A curious thing to notice is the lack of chinstraps in the guard's helmet. It was made this way because it would be hard to ensure the straps do not clip with the model using the Black Mesa's and Valve's animations [10]. The chinstraps could be included only if every single human NPC had a helmet, which is not the case in the mod [11].
 An early model sheet and concept for the guard. |
 One of the very first iterations of the guard. |
 A later iteration of the guard's vest, more faithful to the original. An improved version of this model can be seen in the Official Trailer. |
 The guard's current model, vest design and accessories. |
