The Dates of Every Major Event in the Half-Life Series

[@RichterOvertime]

Hey Neinfeld, I contacted Marc Laidlaw with a link to this vid. Here's what he had to say: > "I don’t have any interest in looking at the elaborate date schemes, since they tend to point out how little though I put into any of that sort of thing (very very very little). It wasn’t really intended to stand up to this sort of scrutiny."

[@jiraffe9600]

Proof?

[@cinnamon4]

Supporting evidence?

[@wiltonthefatty]

ay it's the funny youtuber man

[@Neinfeld]

Hey, thanks for the comment and apologies for the late reply. I once emailed Marc Laidlaw in February 2020 or so and basically asked him the same thing, but without any evidence, just more out of curiosity. He, too, said that he never gave it any thought and that there never was an official date in mind for the incident or Half-Life 2 for that matter, just that the first game happened in the 2000s and the sequel two decades later. I do not mean to suggest with this video that there was any kind of official date right from the get-go that Valve had in mind (a commenter above suggested Valve may have made the moon match up with a date, but I really just found a date in December 2000 that matched the moon cycle of that day) Still, Valve is fully responsible for what they put in their games, and I think it is fair game to establish a date scheme with the supporting evidence I arranged in this video, and not to dismiss it as "set pieces" as if they bear no significance to world-building. By that logic, there's really nothing with which to characterize the story if what the player sees in the game doesn't suffice to explain the nature and timeline of the world they immerse themselves in, which is fundamental to the structure of any video game, movie, book or media. Take this case, for instance, which seems to be a point of contention for people who disagree with my idea: if one were to treat Half-Life like a novel, one wouldn't read the line "As Gordon walks through the darkened corridor, he enters an office for ammo, noting the December calendar hung by its now deceased occupant" and immediately jump to the conclusion it was May or whatever. This sort of dissonance to clear evidence is the most frustrating part of arguing for a point, because you have to argue with people who ignore clear evidence as insignificant because they think Gearbox is a more valid source than Valve games themselves, and need people to tell them what the date is instead of trying to figure it out themselves. After all, the mantra of the Half-Life series and its mechanisms of story telling has always been show, don't tell. Anyways, sorry for the long comment, and much of it wasn't directed at what you were saying, but at people who disagree with the theory as a whole, and I felt it worthwhile to compile my thoughts here as opposed to having to repeat the same thing over and over again. Thanks for sharing the email as well. Also, since it's you, I'll just say this: nice work on that Gmod burnt corpse video, that was really interesting. I never thought the hobo PM from dark RP was a real guy... Weird thinking that that guy has now been immortalized as a hobo on video game servers...

[@luigifernando_]

nice

[@Cjnator38]

“May 12 - 13: Gordon recovers from jet lag” he never recovered

[@MilkIsTheOne]

He smelled the ashes, It was terrible

[@loco4loco]

@@MilkIsTheOne ‘so wake up and SMELL THE ASHES OF THE 232 PEOPLE YOU KILLED WHEN YOU HIJACKED A PLANE YOU PIECE OF SHIT’ -GMAN C. may 2000

[@MrMoriardy]

Just a reminder that Gordon hasn't eaten anything or consumed calories of any kind since his last Black Mesa SODA in the year 2000.

[@fellowscales458]

he has his food suit

[@thelegend2776]

That is not true. His HEV suits (both the original one and the modified one) administer him with morphine.

[@loco4loco]

@@fellowscales458 LOOK GORDON ROPES!

[@theorangeoof926]

I mean he was suspended perfectly by G-Man for the majority of time…

[@flightoftheraven]

that’s probably for the best tbh. combine rations & lambda resistance food are both probably ass lmao

[@DZK-sprtr]

Every fandom NEEDS people like you, people who love real facts based on official evidence, observation and deductions to explain lore events. In opposite to people who think their opinions, random theories or fanfics are the only true.

[@svijj_]

This. We need much more theories in games that rely a lot more on official lore evidence (if any exists, that is)

[@hayberdasher8625]

Agreed. We could use a lot more people in reality who base their opinions on reality.

[@kadenfrfx]

dude the fact that they fucking made the moons match with the real life dates is insane

[@KajiCarson]

These really have been meticulous games of their time.

[@procyon6370]

Well, they didn't. He made them match.

[@edgarglopes]

@@procyon6370 exactly....

[@Neo2266.]

I mean, that just seems like the way you'd do it. If you're making HLA, and you're designing a newspaper about the BM incident, If you don't have any pre-existing dates anywhere in Half Life, one way to determine the date of the incident would be the moon, another would be the length of the day. to determine summer/winter time. The state of plants, whether they're blooming or not... etc.

[@DerrickRG]

@@procyon6370 WRONG

[@Tgungen]

2000 or 2003? Tensions are heating up in the Half-Life fandom

[@breadsqueeze27]

it can't be 2003 because as we all know valve doesnt want to be involved with the number 3

[@rnrailproductions5049]

I like to think 2003, shortly after Operation Iraqi freedom.

[@ABC-jg3pv]

Mid 2000s most likely

[@ABC-jg3pv]

If anyone is wise enough, you'd know that the osprey was still in the development phase by 2000, and less than 20 of them existed at the time, which means half life 1 is set in the near future by 1998 standards.

[@eragonbromsson1122]

@@seeleagent Well, HECU troopers don't exist as well.

[@ceaselessagony606]

Holy shit, I thought the Austria thing was just something that Ross Scott said in Freeman's Mind to flesh the character out a bit. I didn't know it was actual lore, makes sense for Ross's attention to detail lol

[@KingThrillgore]

It's mentioned in the Manual that he was at Innsbruck and again in Half Life 2

[@fyreblazters]

Super late reply but there's also a Half Life 2 soundtrack called Innsbruck Experiment which is a reference to that event

[@annoyannoy]

Imagine if the seven hour war happened in January 2nd 2000 instead of 2001. It'd be basically that 'millennium bug' that was said to destroy all computer systems actually happening, but not because of computers but because of aliens!!

[@quagmoe7879]

Ah, yes. Good old Y2K.

[@thesuperintendent4290]

​@@quagmoe7879Wonder if those Y2K survivors are still living in the Americas?

[@Neo2266.]

Good job with them security cards. I was trying to read them but Valve Index makes one feel like they've got the eyesight of their own grandma

[@OldCouches]

Fantastic analysis and presentation. The amount of research and effort you put into your videos is beyond admirable!

[@standardzombie3454]

Since the Black Mesa Incident and Seven-Hour-War in December, Everyone had a crappy winter, christmas, and new year to start.

[@Brieg_Skald]

A bit before communications were cut and the Combine appeared, there were around 90 millions of casualties accross the globe. Sadly, a lot of people did not had the chance (or the curse) to see the next Christmas and New Year. When the Seven hours war started, casualties were counted on billions.

[@yalibiran5941]

Your content is absolutely amazing I really appreciate your work!

[@pwnzindaface]

To further support the Black Mesa incident happening in early December, on Half-Life: Blue Shift, you can see that the calendar in the locker room is set to December.

[@SgtHawk45]

Dang, what a Christmas gift.

[@tony882]

Nice work dude! The attention to detail and the time that this required from speculations to affirmations, and investigations, is insane

[@johnlennon4924]

I'm not quite certain about the Moon phases. It was certainly an interesting point to make, however, first quarter of the Moon is also visible the same way on August 25th, 2003, December 26th 1998. It's rather hard to pinpoint the exact date, considering the moon looks the same on different dates. I've checked a bit with Space Engine. It's uncertain, at least to me.

[@Brieg_Skald]

The newspapers from Alyx testifies, and confirms, the events of Black Mesa took place in December. The Seven Hours War happened a few weeks after the Resonance Cascade. The whole surface of the Planet got into what is known has 'portal storms'.

[@TabBuddie]

Valve should make a game on the seven hour war, like your a us soldier fighting the combine. (Reposted oh yeah)

[@issacclark1045]

They gave there approval for one set during that already. Hunt down the freeman...

[@Mate_Antal_Zoltan]

just play Hunt Down the Freeman lmao

[@issacclark1045]

@@Mate_Antal_Zoltan yes, exactly. A fun for the whole family experience tm.

[@TabBuddie]

@@Mate_Antal_Zoltan nah heard its bad

[@standardzombie3454]

We would last less than 7 hours due to the war being wide spread

[@dymaxion3988]

This is fantastic, but I have one nitpick: in the start of HL1, the tram voice mentions that it is 93° topside at 8:47 AM, with an estimated high of 105°. In Las Cruces (a particularly hot place in New Mexico): on May 16th, the average temperature at 9 AM is about 70°F, average high is 84°F, and record high is 101°F. On December 5th, the average temperature at 9 AM is about 45°F, average high is 58°F, and record high is 76°F. For it to be 93°F at 9 AM somewhere in New Mexico, the only realistic possibility would be a bad heatwave at the height of summer. Edit: at the very least, it looks like no matter where you are in the state, sunrise is before 8 AM year round, so the sunny tram ride is accurate

[@wreaverfizzlefen3234]

Yep, I agree this is the one major point of the continuity that doesn't jive. New Mexico is one of the highest states in the nation by average elevation (5,700 ft) with the one of the highest low points (2,842 ft); the arid climate means it gets pretty damn cool in the winter, and the elevation mitigates the summer temperatures.

[@eniscanic]

I think that the ridiculous high temperatures are the reason of the Resonance Cascade preparations malfunctioning technological stuff around the Black Mesa research facility. So the temperature wasn't REALLY that high, it was just that the computers measuring it got broken. Just like Barney couldn't get in through the door normally; he had to be manually let in. Also, please use degrees instead of Fahrenheits...

[@proCaylak]

@@eniscanic I'd like to nitpick at "...please use degrees instead of Fahrenheits..." I think it's fair to use *degrees* Fahrenheit in this case, because the temperature units used in the game was in *degrees* Fahrenheit(it's important to stay in the same unit). Also, when Americans use the word "degrees" to mention temperature, it's mostly in *degrees* Fahrenheit. Both Celsius and Fahrenheit scales are in "degrees", they have ° symbol as a prefix and they have arbitrary points as their 0(zero) unlike Kelvin scale which uses the absolute zero as its 0(zero) as that is the point where almost all molecular motion stops.

[@Brieg_Skald]

I agree with one comment : Most devices from Black Mesa were disfunctioning at this time because of the electromagnetic parasites that were jaming the complex. It is more likely that the system measured both hours and temperatures correctly, but the temperature measuring device itself was malfunctioning.

[@ultimatecorgi3392]

In the Black Mesa mod, there's a corkboard in On a Rail with Federal minimum wage in 1996 going to $5.15 in 1997. The calendars also say December, so I figure the mod's story takes place in December of 1996. Probably early December since nobody's talking about the holidays yet.

[@robowisanveithasung6022]

but that’s black mesa, they added a bunch of stuff not in the original Half Life

[@citywokbesitzer6834]

You know it's gonna be a good video if Neinfeld uploads

[@kylefinn5301]

If you need any help pinpointing dates for events of the portal series, a few of the relaxation vaults you move past in the courtesy call have labels containing expiration dates and other info on them.

[@Dare88]

I mean, once again, great and informative video. Looking forward for more

[@llSuperSnivyll]

4:22 -By the way, it also says it happened on the newspaper's 127th year. If it's the same The Times as in real life, which was created in 1785, then it supports that it happened in 2001. Or 2002, depending on how the newspaper's first year is counted.-

[@theOKguy]

what? 1785 + 127 = 1912. Am I missing something ??⁉ ?

[@llSuperSnivyll]

@@theOKguy Not you, but I did.

[@pocketmarcy6990]

@@llSuperSnivyllthe math quite literally doesn’t math

[@BluMatterGaming]

I love Half-Life and this channel.

[@svijj_]

Supporting evidence: My visions manifested to me by a Vortigaunt

[@bobbyhill5067]

Now I wonder about the time that went by when Gordon arrived in Xen...

[@CynUnion-ji9uj]

If Gordon been with Black Mesa for the better part of year, I question why he's the only science team member(hell only employee) who doesn't have scanner access. I know its just a game mechanic, like keys in doom, but its still a bit weird

[@Medicalguy]

Nobody in anomalous materials had their own scanner access besides a few of the high ranking scientists in the test chamber. That sector had guards opening all the doors for people, probably for high security reasons.

[@PlusMeoww]

​@@MedicalguyA bit late, but keep in mind the system crashes happening at that day and the issues with people getting their identifications lost

[@Kiskaa-]

At least the Combine were considerate enough to let us celebrate the Holiday season before killing and enslaving humanity.

[@xxfalconarasxx5659]

Some really good research here, but there are a few discrepancies that kind of call some of these chosen dates into question. -According to the tram intercom in Half-Life 1, the temperature of the surface of Black Mesa on the day of the Resonance Cascade was 93 degrees F, and they stress the facilities reliance on air conditioning. The temperature given is way too high for December in New Mexico. There are two locations known by the name "Black Mesa" in New Mexico. One is located in Santa Fe County, and the other is located in Union County. In the former, the average temperature in December is about 43 degrees F, with a record high of 65 degrees F. In the latter, the average temperature is 51 degrees F, with the record highest being 84 degrees F. Night temperatures in both of these locations often dip below freezing on December. So, the temperature given to us in game is only really possible around late spring or summer. Half-Life 1 could not have taken place in December if we take these temperature readings literally. -While a calendar can be found in Black Mesa that does say December, it gives the day of December 5th as being on a Thursday. However, December 5th in the year 2000, would have been on a Tuesday, not a Thursday. If we take the calendars literally, then the earliest possible year they could represent is 2002. -I don't think the skybox details are all that reliable. For all we know, Valve just selected a pretty stock photo for the night skies, with little consideration for world building. We also know that the skyboxes are prone to consistency issues. For instance, in Half-Life Opposing Force, the maps of5a3, of5a4, and of6a1 go from twilight, to high noon, back to twilight. Even if we do accept the moon phases, they could represent all sorts of dates. Sure, the first quarter moon phase does correspond to December 5, 2000. It also corresponds to approximately 400 other days between 2000 and 2009, including May 16, 2005. -The main armament of the Combine in Half-Life 2 is the MP7A1 Submachine Gun. The MP7 entered service on October 2001, and the A1 variant would enter production circa 2003, after the hypothesised date of the Seven Hour War. I have doubts the Combine would continue development of HK weapons after the Seven Hour War. Most likely, the majority of their weapons would be military surplus equipment from captured stockpiles, and thus, they'd be using weapons that were widely available prior to the Seven Hour War. Any further developed weaponry would likely incorporate Combine technology, much like the AR2. -Half-Life 2 is only said to be set "nearly" 2 decades in the future, rather than "exactly". So that could be 15 to

[@tilbin7855]

This might be moot at this point, but a theory I have on why the tram system reported the temperature as 93 F with a high of 105 F could be because of the technical problems that BMRF was expierencing at the time of the resonance cascade. This could mean either the thermometers located at the site were malfunctioning or the facility receives the temperature from external weather reports, and could be stating the temp on a previous day in summer because of an error in transmission.

[@teajai45]

Another point of interest, I think, is how hot the facility got so _early_ in the morning. I'm not aware of too many places that have 93°F temperatures at 8:47 AM, but that might reflect my lack of knowledge of the temperatures of places around the world. Nonetheless, given that the sun rises later in the winter, perhaps the high early morning temperatures could support a summer hypothesis?

[@vodkice2416]

This feels like the problem with over-analyzation, the point is for it to be ambiguous, and setting a specific date won’t work. It’s not the point of the story to be given a specific date.

[@Dolphin002]

The calendar is unreliable, having only 30 days in December and a week with only 6 days. This can put the calendar argument anywhere from only the month matters to it doesn't matter at all. "nearly 2 decades in the future" most likely means it's 18-20 years. There's also the fact that Alyx is 19 during the events of hla, and considering the fact that she doesn't remember much from before the Combine invaded earth, she would probably be at most 5 years old during the Black Mesa incident making hl2 19-20 years after than hl1.

[@beardedvulturegaming]

HL2 SMG is actually based on a prototype MP7 (also known as HK PDW) which was made way earlier

[@lazynihilanth1899]

Okay this is just amazing right here, how much research and thought you put into this. My monkey brain wouldn't have even considered the employment dates and air travel times.

[@Dovah2798]

Only problem that i see is that Laidlaw said the ep1 is meant to be a few days after HL2 meaning 3-4 days later, I think that any other data is good. Nice work! Also here is a part of my comment at your reddit post some months ago about OP date events, i believe that I got it right but of course I am open to discuss: "From my personal opinion I think that you did a mistake at the hl1/op events, Shepard start his journey at the evening of the second day that is when Gordon is at the chapter "surface tension" meeting him at "lambda core" that must be near to be night (since he get to the surface and go to the portal a LOT of events happened and a lot of ground was travelled been the larger part of the campaign) ( I also concluded this with the shadows) This way the main campaign of both titles ends at the second day and the third is what Adrian sees with the Gman (It was about to the nigth for the final battle of the Race X) so may be it even was the same day. (the skybox seeing with gman can not be consider real since once he gets you he is interacting with your mind directly too)" PD: At this moment I open to consider that the last portion of the game (final battle and beyond) are at the early hours of the third day but no more beyond that since Shepard got into the parking while the sun still there. PD2: here is the full comment if you want to read it: www.reddit.com/r/HalfLife/comments/hwoxla/comment/kwf74hu/?

[@MoBahar687]

Seriously great video and research .. Appreciate the time this must of taken. There must be a HL movie soon!!!

[@asdbef3667]

Also adding to that... at the beginning of the half life opposing force ..where shepard regains conscious ... the room had a calender with the month DECEMBER

[@ABC-jg3pv]

A leftover texture from alpha, it doesnt mean much.

[@asdbef3667]

@@ABC-jg3pv this video says otherwise

[@ABC-jg3pv]

@@asdbef3667This video is an good exemple of half life fans overanalyzing and overthinking something that doesnt mean much in the greater scheme of things, when i say its a leftover texture from the alpha, its because it is.

[@asdbef3667]

@@ABC-jg3pv all i know is that opposing force happened during black mesa incident..and they put the calender with clear indication of showing the month... Valve never said it happened on may 16th And this video has some solid proof..specially from half life alyx...you wanna complain?..complain to valve for confusing it more in hl:alyx

[@ABC-jg3pv]

@@asdbef3667 Far as i know, opposing force is non-canon as per Mark Laidlaw words, and who said its december? They could simply be old calendars (Since Black Mesa doesnt use their budget correctly) And for the Zoo cards. They could be very well be expired even before the 7hw, because City 17 was in a THIRD WORLD COUNTRY in the balkans, and theres something called software decay, the lack of any firmware updates in nearly 20 years could've opened security holes and bugs.

[@TacBans]

i remember seeing your post on r/halflife last year, and now there's a video adaptation! at least now we can lay out a clear and concise timeline. _at least until valve starts messing with it again._

[@officialnyiyanmoehtet]

Contradicting evidence: How can it be 93°F-105°F in New Mexico in December? May is more probable.

[@robowisanveithasung6022]

even if it is not December, I highly doubt it is May considering the evidence (coworkers suddenly talking to Gordon as if he knows them for a while). it could be somewhere in the summer too

[@therealtimmyiy]

HL2 episodes 1 and 2 take place in the same day. you wake up after being captured by G-Man, which was after the citadel's explosion thing at the end of the HL2, the sky, apart from the hellish colors, appears to be morning, then you crash at the end of ep 1, and at the beginning of ep 2, its daytime/noon.

[@mlgsnip3rv291]

Yo this is too detailed

[@daor4]

Actuall, kliener was a mentor of gordon, and we can assume barney was a drinking friend of Gordon, and sector c personal just recognized him from some sort of log or something

[@cj-3810]

Barney was not a drinking friend of Gordon prior to Gordon’s employment to Black Mesa. How do we know this? Barney went to Martinson College, located in Anaheim, California, for two years and left without a decided major… Gordon Freeman went to M.I.T in well, Cambridge, Massachusetts for 9 years to obtain his Ph. D from his written thesis, “Observation of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Entanglement on Supraquantum Structures by Induction through Nonlinear Transuranic Crystal of Extremely Long Wavelength (ELW) Pulse from Mode-Locked Source Array.” Prior to studying in MIT we know Gordon was in Innsbruck, Austria at the University of Innsbruck in order to “series of seminal teleportation experiments conducted by the Institute for Experimental Physics”. Barney and Gordon would not have known each other prior to his tenure at Black Mesa. You are right in saying that Kleiner mentored Gordon as a professor in MIT through a small portion of Gordon’s 9 years there. Kleiner’s success and notability garnered by his book “From Here to There in Under a Second” and being printed on the front cover Popular Scientist covering the article of "Next level of quantum physics" led to being hired onto the ranks where he would climb the ladder to leading a notable research project.

[@frogmonster.mp4]

i still think it's entirely possible that the resonance cascade happened in may (likely 2003). i fully agree that had gordon been employed at black mesa on the 5th, it would be unreasonable for him to have become so well acquainted after only a couple of weeks at most. but consider... maybe it's been at least year. march does happen once a year after all. perhaps he accepted his employment in 2000-2002 and the resonance cascade happened in 2003. also to debunk the bit about the newspaper; while that date would be compelling evidence, here's why it isn't. it's dated on the 127th year, which would imply that the times, as of the day that newpaper was printed, had been operating for 127 years. the times was founded in 1785, 237 years ago as of 2022. if the newspaper was printed on january 3rd 127 years after the times was founded, that would place the date of publication in 1912. something tells me hl1 didn't take place in the 1910's, meaning the date provided on the newspaper is a bogus number (assuming it is actually intended to be read as a date and not something else entirely). as for the calendars found in black mesa, i can't quite remember where this was found (likely with the instruction manual of hl1 or its expansions), but canonically the new calendars for the year hadn't arrived yet, meaning all of the calendars found around the facility are outdated. admittedly it does seem a bit unrealistic that they wouldn't have any new calendars by may, but it probably wasn't a massive priority considering they had computers in every other room. that and this is a videogame about aliens and an eldritch creature with a briefcase, so it wouldn't be the most unrealistic thing. regarding the moon cycle, other commenters have mentioned how the moon has looked the same at different points in time, so i won't get into it here. for half-life alyx, we don't even know for sure if it's set exactly in 2015. as stated in the video, hl2 is set "nearly two decades" after hl1. that doesn't necessarily mean it's set 19 years and 11 months after hl1. while the entire fandom is fond of rounding up to exactly 20 years (not that i'm exempt from this), it isn't that long. it would be more accurate to say that it's occurring 15-20 years after hl1. all we know for certain is that hl:a occurs 5 years prior to hl2. overall, this video is pretty solid, it's just that the base is a bit off in some places. allowing for a larger margin of error might help narrow things down a bit, but even then we can't be sure of anything until valve is merciful enough to feed us some new scraps of information.

[@dumbautisticmutt]

Thing is, the real The Times is a British newspaper, but this one says "International Edition" and says it's for all of Europe, so it could be a different paper. Regardless, the phrase "days of u enexplained phenomenon" most likely means the Combine arrived less than a month after the BMI.

[@ymmatinthehat]

great video as always

[@Immort4l5]

Half-Life 1 was recently confirmed to take place in 2003 in the recent documentary

[@TheAngryAstronomer]

Minor detail. The December calendar texture only has 30 days when there are 31.

[@DarknessVery]

It can't possibly be in the year 2000 due to the Crimethink poster with the headline "Making the world safe for terrorism" which was made in 2002.

[@FireFighterFromChernobyl]

Half-Life 1 is made in 1998...

[@DarknessVery]

@@FireFighterFromChernobyl yet its supposed to have future technology, I thought of that as a proper argument for its starting place until stuff made in Half Life-2 makes the date go forward with posters of George Bush

[@NuclearBlue09]

My Timeline October 11th, 2008: Half-Life November 16th, 2008: Seven Hour War November 29th, 2017: Half-Life Alyx October 2022: Half-Life 2

[@Valentin7789_]

So i born on the same day as the Black Mesa incident...

[@DarknessVery]

You should try and figure out the possible location of City-17

[@watchmangames2337]

eastern Europe (i win)

[@DarknessVery]

@@watchmangames2337 award enroute to your location

[@marklems5894]

@@DarknessVery Its Sofia, Bulgaria

[@redenginner]

Are we going to get an updated version of the "Aftermath of Black Mesa" video that incorporates this information?

[@jiraffe9600]

The original and remaster already do. These are the dates in those videos.

[@redenginner]

Jiraffe Nvm then

[@mediapeter4913]

I love your videos on the half life fandom wiki it has always bothered me that the year 2000 was not assigned as the year of the Black Mesa incident although it is obvious to anyone who knows a bit of math because Gorden Freeman was born in 1973 and. was 27 years old during the Black Mesa incident. Anyway good video keep it up.

[@jimbotron2]

Where is it established officially that he was born in 1973? I can't find anything.

[@mediapeter4913]

@@jimbotron2 German Valve Wiki Gordon Freeman Article.

[@lonelylad9818]

Yeah I'm sure the small team of programmers mostly focused on making a technological showoff really went to this much effort just to imply the game is set on this specific date.

[@spellwhomstve1]

The only real issue I have with your arguments are: 1. The Surface Temperature for New Mexico mentioned during the tram ride isn’t a winter temperature. 2. If the Black Mesa Incident takes place in December.. *where are all the Christmas decorations?*

[@procyon6370]

If it took place in 2000, how could GlaDOS have an image of a cake dated July 4, 2006?

[@Neinfeld]

GLaDOS is capable of great accomplishments due to her sophistication; I would say that she likely prepared it herself just as the one that was seen at the end of Portal.

[@richardbriley8072]

Kinda cool that Alyx most likely takes place on my birthday Nov. 29.

[@VillagerMan2006]

Bill Clinton's last days were wild

[@ondrejsterba1064]

One problem with this theory is that in the intro ride in Half Life 1 states that the topside temperature is 93F which feels a bit to hot considering you are stating the data to be December even if its in the desert.

[@enocescalona]

my dude here is the type of HL fan i like. citations are very welcome instead of "uh, muh theory and i know because i know, ask Valve". Great work.

[@eljestLiv]

I really like the idea of the resonance cascade taking place on December 5th 2001 because I was born on December 6th 2001 :D Shame it doesn't line up with the evidence about the 7 Hour War though

[@Bacony_Cakes]

Good work.

[@BHC_08]

Does anyone else remember a time when Gordon's age in Half-Life 1 said 24 instead of 27? [Mandela Effect?] Why do so many think it's May 16th 200- (2003) instead of December 5, 2001? I have always thought it was May 16th 2003...

[@FireFighterFromChernobyl]

Wait... Gordon isn't 24?

[@BHC_08]

@@FireFighterFromChernobyl I KNOW RIGHT!? I remember him being 24 not 27!

[@FireFighterFromChernobyl]

@@BHC_08 Same..

[@hmrdev-billnye8166]

Damn, i loved watching this analysis.

[@MajestikLark]

Interesting analysis. COUNTERPOINT: Why would it be 93 degrees in New Mexico in December

[@milesium-487]

Why would it be 105 degrees in December

[@dumbautisticmutt]

My answer is its easier to retcon the temperature for one day then to go against all the other evidence. Marc Laidlaw himself said the 7 Hour War took place a matter of days after the Black Mesa Incident.

[@Hater67876]

hey are you still remaking the streaming logs of distress?

[@Neinfeld]

That project soon became the Aftermath of the Black Mesa Incident, as a matter of fact.

[@fainted9675]

Holy fucking shit that dedication he calculated on the moon

[@ElseAndrecool]

where does Portal, Portal 2 and Aperture Desk Job take place on this list?

[@frogmonster.mp4]

while we can't be sure of exact dates, it's widely accepted that portal 1 takes place sometime after the seven hour war, as glados's line "even i'm not sure what's going on out there" is largely considered to be referencing the combine invasion. portal 2 takes place around 50 years after portal 1. many people say it takes place a thousand to a million years later (due to the announcer at the start of the game bugging out and repeating "nine" over and over), but this is unrealistic considering the amount of weathering that has occurred to the facility. aperture desk job is a prequel to portal 1, likely set in the 80's or 90's given the general style of the game and the fact that cave johnson has died and been transferred into the massive robotic head seen at the end of the game, and his last recordings in portal 2 are from sometime in the 80's.

[@TrekDelta]

@@frogmonster.mp4 Aperture Desk Job takes place in the 70's because of the company logo, and the thematic design of that era.

[@crazyguy_1233]

Portal takes place around 2009 to 2010. GLaDOS locked Aperture down about a week before the Black Mesa incident. Portal 2 is still up in the air since we don’t get an actual answer but some think it’s possibly 52,010. But it very easily could be much less.

[@LedgendaryPlayer]

the full conclusion? Gordon had no sleep

[@alejandrocombat]

Instant like 👍 Keep going

[@Gabriel87100]

I love this channel

[@zachary3756]

Just a reminder that Uncle Sam could’ve used its thousands of ICBMs to nuke the combine to absolute hell for a decent amount of time

[@Haru-spicy]

of course gordon goes to Ravenholm on halloween night

[@jiraffe9600]

Damn, I was hoping to see something new, but this is just your Reddit post in video form. Still good video tho

[@dragonlukasmapping805]

So now, we know when Black Mesa incident happened. Valve in their 25th anniversary documentary show year when Half Life 1 is set. It's 31st march 2003.

[@afterlife3429]

Where in the video does that come out?

[@dragonlukasmapping805]

@@afterlife3429 51:42

[@mediapeter4913]

No, that's not the official date. The date March 31, 2003 was an idea that, like a lot of other content, didn't make it into the finished game.

[@ARBB1]

Great video

[@lukebradford]

I know this video is 3 years old at this point, but a lot of the evidence used is... questionable at best. Some of it even got my Phoenix Wright senses tingling. First off, 'the Black Mesa Incident can't take place in May because Gordon wouldn't have developed his relationships with the staff'. Objection, May happens once a year. Gordon could've easily been working at BM for more than a year by the start of Half-Life. The employment letter could've been one year, and the incident the next. 'December-' *Nope.* For one, the calendars in HL1 show December having 30 days (along with a six day week), which is wrong. As everyone should know, December has 31 days. In addition, Black Mesa apparently didn't have the new calendars in yet. Okay, it would be weird to not have the new calendars halfway through the year, but this IS Black Mesa. Not to mention, the temperature stated in the game is literally impossible in winter, even in the middle of the New Mexico desert. The points you claim counterbalance this are also flawed, but more on that later. I very much doubt it took that long for Freeman to move from Innsbruck back to America. Who takes an entire day to pack? Freeman, at university, presumably doesn't have that many belongings to pack, so it certainly wouldn't take 'at least one full day'. Also, Freeman would've booked the flight way before the day before he was due to leave. Even before the internet, you'd have to book a flight at least a week before leaving. And jet-lag is never mentioned as far as I know. He also most likely finalised all his arrangements on the same day. Basically, the timeline you provide for Freeman's moving is deeply flawed. 'Gordon's age and Ph.D thesis'. Again, he could've been working at BM for any amount of time before HL1 starts. I can't argue with the age evidence, but the Ph.D is an arbitrary detail that feels cherrypicked to fit the theory. We're never told Gordon's age (at least not explicitly), so I refer you to the first sentence of this section. 'ID cards'. This *would* actually be good evidence... except you *completely ignore* the card that expires in 2002 outside of a brief mention of the expiry date. That alone contradicts your conclusion that the BMI can only take place in 2000. Again, you are cherrypicking evidence, and this time conveniently ignoring the evidence that contradicts your theory. And to that, I have a massive OBJECTION! The 2002 expiry date suggests that the BMI COULD actually take place as late as September of 2002. So that's TWO May 16ths it could happen on! Interestingly, this also contradicts the Word of God answer of 2003 (given in the 25th anniversary documentary). 'Because the player can choose either card...' Yeah, no. Again, you're completely ignoring the 2002 card. And in any case, the expiry dates are circumstantial evidence at best. The newspaper: Okay, The Times? That immediately doesn't line up. It was founded in 1785. 1785 + 127 is... 1912. That's 90 years too early. That basically invalidates it as evidence. Yeah, okay, The Times is a daily, so No.3 would logically be January 3rd's edition, except... it would be January 3rd 1912. No matter how you look at it, the newspaper doesn't work with any dates. So your conclusion about the BMI and Seven Hour War is fundamentally flawed. As such, so are your conclusions for Alyx and Half-Life 2. Also, 'nearly 20' is NOT 20.

[@TheMasterUnity]

Why should the 2002 card matter? The 2001 card also works. Therefore it simply cannot be after December 5th 2001. As for the calendars, why would they even have December calendars on the wall if they were completely out of date? Not having calendars is one thing, but having calendars from an entirely different year and month throughout the entire building is completely irrational. As for the newspaper, having The Times be in eastern Europe at all is just odd. Why would City 17 (most likely a city in Bulgaria) have British newspapers printed in English on every street corner? It's much more likely it's a fictional newspaper that just so happens to have that name, much like the other newspaper "The Terminal." "Also, Freeman would've booked the flight way before the day before he was due to leave. Even before the internet, you'd have to book a flight at least a week before leaving." No? Even today, post 9/11 you can purchase a plane ticket the day of your flight as long as it's 4 hours before departure. Pre 9/11 this would've been even easier. He would not be required to book a flight a week in advance.

[@lukebradford]

​@@TheMasterUnity Well, as stated, Black Mesa didn't have the new calendars in yet, and although the calendars they DO have show December, this version of the month apparently has a day less and weeks are only six days long instead of seven.

[@frankolioman]

Doesn't it mention the temperature outside of Black Mesa when you're on the tram? Couldn't that be used if you matched it with weather reports in New Mexico for that year?

[@arifcso6633]

It's wednesday my dude!

[@ForsakenSandpaper]

Hey hey what about other games such Scp: Containment breach? Do you planning make same as half life but for other games?

[@Bartolomeus_Ziglengton_Third]

Hello Neinfeld! can you make a video about, where exactly city 17 can be in our world?

[@tathnousoxide9707]

My guess is somewhere like Kiev, since there is Cyrillic but it doesn't seem ass-crystallising cold.

[@marklems5894]

City-17 is in Sofia the capital of Bulgaria, since the hologram map in Half Life Alyx matches the real life city area

[@NotHadiconlmao]

We don't know yet however it is mentioned as a eastern European city

[@eragonbromsson1122]

I think the date for the Black Mesa Incident is more likely to be 2003.

[@NotHadiconlmao]

Then that would mean that half life 2 would take place in 2023

[@iamrightoutsideyourwindowhello]

@@NotHadiconlmao oh no

[@NotHadiconlmao]

@@iamrightoutsideyourwindowhello aw hell nah

[@TheRoboKitty]

At least i finally get an answer why you constantly move the Resonance Cascade away from May (official canon) to December. Because i agree, HL2E1 makes it clear (albiet via a retcon) Gordon had indeed been working at Black Mesa for several months before the Cascade, so keeping the official May dates as his start of employment is a fair compromise

[@Neo2266.]

I feel like a lot of stuff is ignored here. For instance, the night is really short in HL1 suggesting it's summertime. And we do not know whether HL2 takes place *Exactly* 20 years after HL1. -But even if it did, HL:Alyx takes place -_-"5 years before the fall of the Citadel".-_- That still moves you a week off from HL2 and therefore HL1, since Gordon and Alyx spend a week teleporting from Nova Prospekt to Kleiner's Lab.- EDIT: Okay hold up, you said HL2 and the episodes take place over 12 days? (November 1st to November 12th) What am I missing? 1 day of arrival 1 day after Ravenholm, ending with Nova Prospekt 7 a week of teleporting to Kleiner's lab 1 the day the citadel fell 1 Day Gordon and Alyx Escaped City17 and got to White Forest Base am I missing a day? because that's 11 days And the reliability of HL:Alyx as an information source is questionable, since it does also throw in shit like "genetically coded weaponry", which is obviously not the case in HL2 (not just because of how the player picks up guns, but the fact that the rebellion manages to arm itself)

[@clamdove3292]

im guessing gordon and alyx left nova prospekt in the early hours of the morning (eg 1:00am)

[@Medicalguy]

There is also the theory that Alyx is a parallel universe to ours in HL1-2

[@illtellmum]

Does the ending of Opfor take place on Dec 8th or 7th?

[@megatronleaderofthedecepti1283]

I know it's a bit late, but could you do the same thing with the portal games?

[@ΒασίληςΒλάχος-τ3κ]

i just realized, it must have been the worst christmas holidays of all time

[@Opinare]

Fun fact: Gordon Freeman was born on 1974

[@xysy000]

Thank u for this... 👏

[@karolynesuguimoto2222]

I believe that the Half-Life date being in December 2000 is cannon. If you look at the calendars at the Half-Life games (mostly Blue Shift), it is December. I stick with the theory that Gordon joined Black Mesa in May 16 in 1999. I mean, they would need a VERY long time to know Gordon well. I believe Gordon is still considered a new guy until he reaches 2 years of experience.

[@widescrew1552]

Neinfield, what font you use in videos?

[@Neinfeld]

I tend to use Bahnschrift Light (or DIN) and Consolas.

[@mohammedmustafa7757]

So Half-Life 3 when? :(

[@pearlorions]

7 hour war took place on my birthday?? Bruh

[@hayvantv4210]

Wow... Just Wow...

[@screenloch9291]

If the black mesa incident happened in 2000 how come gordon was hired in 200-?

[@robowisanveithasung6022]

Gordon could have just been hired in the same year

[@screenloch9291]

so then why don't they just say 2000@@robowisanveithasung6022

[@robowisanveithasung6022]

@@screenloch9291 because the year is indeterminate officially, but we it is confirmed it’s around 2000 to 2009

[@SamwellWK]

There is one problem with your chronology, specifically in relation to the date of the Black Mesa incident. At the start of Half Life, the transit system says this: "Current topside temperature is 93 degrees, with an estimated high of one hundred and five. The Black Mesa compound is maintained at a pleasant 68 degrees at all times." Now tell me, is 93 degree weather, let alone 105 degrees, expected temperature conditions for December in New Mexico, a state known to have cold winters? I think not. The kinds of temperatures reported are more typical of summer. I think based on this, it's reasonable to conclude that Half Life could not have taken place in December.

[@Tea2BeALT]

Neinfeld has writen about this in the description: "An issue that I feel compelled to address, as I feel as though it will almost certainly come up are the temperatures referenced in the beginning of Half-Life. Yes, I understand that highs of 105 are unseen in December, but this is counterbalanced by two important points established in the Times' article I mentioned in the video; 1., the Seven Hour War takes place on January 2, and 2., the Black Mesa incident and the Seven Hour War are days apart. Therefore, the Black Mesa incident must take place in December."

[@dauzlee2827]

93 degree Fahrenheit? What is the celcius translation?

[@kornsuwin]

@@dauzlee2827 35-ish

[@jimbotron2]

I'm still a May 16 2003 stan for several reasons: -December 2002 calendar and matching moon phase -Surface temperature far too high for winter -The (non-canon) resume, which was a piece of jokey third-party marketing, says Gordon graduated in 1999 also says he started working at Black Mesa in 1999. Which would be impossible as he received the offer of employment in 200-. So we can discount this entirely. -Gordon could have received the offer of employment a previous year, no? '200-' does not necessarily refer to the same year, does it? Meaning by the time of the Black Mesa incident he could have been working there just over a year, or longer. -Other counter-points: the ID cards could just be old ones someone neglected to throw away. The newspaper is trickier. It could be the third edition since the anniversary of the newspaper, which the '127th year' seems to suggest.

[@844box]

Calendar in Half-Life 1 is December 1997

[@clamdove3292]

this feels like a stupid question but how do you know ep1 and ep2 didnt take place on the same day?

[@robowisanveithasung6022]

because it was afternoon in Ep 1 and morning at the start of Ep 2

[@gambino_2247]

It sounds like g-man wrote this script

[@loco4loco]

Well I guess I don’t exist I was born 8 years after the nuking of BM so Welp goodbye world!

[@UntalentedBrick]

When are you uploading again? these are entertaining!

[@hansonkerman7286]

well, 2020 could have been worse

[@HaiAkuSydney]

This is more intresting

[@HadestheSaxon]

I love this video! I'm not sure if you'll see this, but what website did you use for the moon calendars? I've been trying to find a good website like that.