"Entities"
{
	"entity"
	{
		"classname" "point_commentary_node"
		"targetname" "Griggs & Sheckley"
		"origin" "-2537.902344 -8953.668945 -681.769104"
		"angles" "0 95 0"
		"precommands" ""
		"postcommands" ""
		"commentaryfile" "#commentary\ep2-comment017.wav"
		"printname" "Griggs & Sheckley"
		"viewtarget" ""
		"viewposition" ""
		"prevent_movement" 0
		"speakers" "Chet Faliszek"
		"synopsis" "Griggs & Sheckley started off as minor characters who were just used to explain the setup for the turret battle.   Once done, they died fairly quickly, leaving players alone to fend off the antlion swarms.  We found this left players unsure of their defensive strategies and would force them to visually survey the cavern before setting up defenses.  So we made the two characters stronger and had them yell out their state to players and even suggest what openings the player should cover. This gave players extra time to setup a defensive strategy before the antlions arrived.  This also let us also rachet up the intensity level by slowly heightening their reactions to the threats.   Once we realized this worked, we decided to separate the characters and create an Abbott and Costello style team to do little bits during the down time the players were using to setup their defenses.  We ended up with entertaining character moments that also cued the player on game state and events."
		"parser_id" "17"
	}
	"entity"
	{
		"classname" "point_commentary_node"
		"targetname" "Squishing The Grubs"
		"origin" "-2738.820313 -8999.424805 -681.968750"
		"angles" "0 -180 0"
		"precommands" ""
		"postcommands" ""
		"commentaryfile" "#commentary\ep2-comment034.wav"
		"printname" "Squishing the Grubs"
		"viewtarget" ""
		"viewposition" ""
		"prevent_movement" 0
		"speakers" "John Morello"
		"synopsis" "Griggs and Sheckley's comment about not stepping on the grubs was originally intended for comedic effect and to suggest that, as usual, Gordon Freeman had brought trouble in his wake.  However, we found that some players took this comment too literally, and would spend the rest of the level avoiding grubs in fear of spawning more antlions.  We experimented for a short time with making this an actual mechanic, bringing in antlions whenever grubs were squished; but this had several negative results:  It made the tunnels far too difficult, and cancelled out any benefit the player got from squishing grubs for health.  We decided to keep the grub behavior simple and rewarding."
		"parser_id" "34"
	}
	"entity"
	{
		"classname" "point_commentary_node"
		"targetname" "shark turret"
		"origin" "-2351.882813 -9350.362305 -681.968750"
		"angles" "0 0 0"
		"precommands" ""
		"postcommands" ""
		"commentaryfile" "#commentary\ep2-comment024.wav"
		"printname" "Shark Turret"
		"viewtarget" ""
		"viewposition" ""
		"prevent_movement" 0
		"speakers" "Elan Ruskin"
		"synopsis" "In Half-Life2 and Episode 1, players learned that turrets will always attack them unless they are reprogrammed by allies. We needed a new visual way to instantly show that these new turrets also are allies, and decided to hark back to the aircraft nose art of WW2. The elaborate turret design also hints at how bored Griggs and Sheckley must have been sitting down here by themselves."
		"parser_id" "24"
	}
	"entity"
	{
		"classname" "point_commentary_node"
		"targetname" "The Breach"
		"origin" "-3126.98999 -9055.950195 -675.9299927 "
		"angles" "0 141.8099975586 0"
		"precommands" ""
		"postcommands" ""
		"commentaryfile" "#commentary\ep2-comment033.wav"
		"printname" "The Breach"
		"viewtarget" ""
		"viewposition" ""
		"prevent_movement" 0
		"speakers" "Phil Co"
		"synopsis" "The breach is a rough, earthen tunnel which many playtesters tended not to notice when the attack began.  They felt they had been told to defend only the three marked tunnel openings.  We addressed this confusion by changing the sequence of antlion waves so that the second attack came through the breach.  Players then understood that all four opening were vulnerable."
		"parser_id" "33"
	}
	"entity"
	{
		"classname" "point_commentary_node"
		"targetname" "Turret junction battle"
		"origin" "-2347.435791 -9811.390625 -681.968750;"
		"angles" "0 -45 0"
		"precommands" ""
		"postcommands" ""
		"commentaryfile" "#commentary\ep2-comment014.wav"
		"printname" "Junction Turret Battle"
		"viewtarget" ""
		"viewposition" ""
		"prevent_movement" 0
		"speakers" "Elan Ruskin"
		"synopsis" "The turret battle design went through many changes. Early stages had the player controlling 3 turrets and not ever having to fight antlions directly.  After playtesters complained of not having anything to do during the battles, we changed the number of turrets to leave the player underhanded when in later rounds all the tunnels are active. This creates a better mix of resource management and combat. Later we added this tweaked version of the hopper mines to give players yet another tool for fighting the onslaught."
		"parser_id" "14"
	}
	"entity"
	{
		"classname" "point_commentary_node"
		"targetname" "Ammunition"
		"origin" "-3000.693359 -9824.356445 -681.968750"
		"angles" "0 125 0"
		"precommands" ""
		"postcommands" ""
		"commentaryfile" "#commentary\ep2-comment032.wav"
		"printname" "Ammunition"
		"viewtarget" ""
		"viewposition" ""
		"prevent_movement" 0
		"speakers" "Dario Casali"
		"synopsis" "We experimented a lot with the ammunition for this level. Originally, we had a single ammo crate containing submachine gun bullets, positioned down near the elevator. Playtesters, however, seemed happier using the shotgun in this battle, so we added a crate full of shotgun shells and moved both crates to the top area, so players could easily trade off between the different styles of gunplay."
		"parser_id" "32"
	}
	"entity"
	{
		"classname" "point_commentary_node"
		"targetname" "Mystic Warrior Vortigaunt"
		"origin" "-3078.804932 -9391.2666024 -865.968750"
		"angles" "0 -120 0"
		"precommands" ""
		"postcommands" ""
		"commentaryfile" "#commentary\ep2-comment019.wav"
		"printname" "Mystic Warrior Vortigaunt"
		"viewtarget" ""
		"viewposition" ""
		"prevent_movement" 0
		"speakers" "Bill Van Buren"
		"synopsis" "In Half-Life 2, Lou Gossett's voice lent itself to a mystical and mysterious characterization of the vortigaunt.  In Tony Todd's reading for Episode 2, we heard new possibilities for a vortigant who is more of a mystic martial artist.  With new attack animations and companion behavior, we worked with Tony to build the vortigaunt into a powerful ally, a full-on alien ass-kicker."
		"parser_id" "19"
	}
	"entity"
	{
		"classname" "point_commentary_node"
		"targetname" "Vortigaunt as allies"
		"origin" "-3067.722168 -9564.958984 -865.968750"
		"angles" "0 120 0"
		"precommands" ""
		"postcommands" ""
		"commentaryfile" "#commentary\ep2-comment015.wav"
		"printname" "Vortigaunts as Allies"
		"viewtarget" ""
		"viewposition" ""
		"prevent_movement" 0
		"speakers" "Doug Wood"
		"synopsis" "At the climax of the turret battle, we introduce the new vortigaunt in full-on action mode.  The player can and should take part in the battle, but we were careful to make it fairly easy for him to hang back and enjoy watching the vorts clear the room of antlions.  We wanted to show off the vortigaunts' new abilities and get the player excited about the role they were going to play as active allies in the struggle against the Combine."
		"parser_id" "15"
	}
	"entity"
	{
		"classname" "point_commentary_node"
		"targetname" "Weapon Load Out"
		"origin" "-3277.853027 -9255.790039 -865.968750"
		"angles" "0 120 0"
		"precommands" ""
		"postcommands" ""
		"commentaryfile" "#commentary\ep2-comment029.wav"
		"printname" "Weapon Loadout"
		"viewtarget" ""
		"viewposition" ""
		"prevent_movement" 0
		"speakers" "Erik Johnson"
		"synopsis" "Every Half-Life game so far has started with Gordon Freeman weaponless.  Assuming some players had just played through Episode 1, while others might not have played it at all, we had to decide how long we should spend parcelling out new weapons and providing adequate time to play or practice with each one.  In this case, we decided to hand the player a number of weapons all at once, figuring most would have mastered their gunplay in previous episodes.  We held off doing a lot of deliberate training until we began introducing newer modes of combat later in the episode."
		"parser_id" "29"
	}
	"entity"
	{
		"classname" "point_commentary_node"
		"targetname" "Vortigaunt Gate"
		"origin" "-656.583557 -9494.800781 -675.890564"
		"angles" "0 45 0"
		"precommands" ""
		"postcommands" ""
		"commentaryfile" "#commentary\ep2-comment031.wav"
		"printname" "Vortigaunt Gate"
		"viewtarget" ""
		"viewposition" ""
		"prevent_movement" 0
		"speakers" "Jason Brashill"
		"synopsis" "In the prototype for this level, the Vortigaunt cleared the way by blasting apart a rockpile.  After a new model was created for the generator, we decided to exploit the vortigaunt's natural relationship with electricity by having him charge the generator much the way he charges Gordon's suit.  We were then able to use generators as 'vortigates' throughout the level to indicate areas the player could enter only with a vortigaunt's assistance."
		"parser_id" "31"
	}
	"entity"
	{
		"classname" "point_commentary_node"
		"targetname" "Visual Theme: Mines"
		"origin" "-189.039230 -9755.215820 -646.500671"
		"angles" "0 -45 0"
		"precommands" ""
		"postcommands" ""
		"commentaryfile" "#commentary\ep2-comment022.wav"
		"printname" "Subterranean Visual Themes"
		"viewtarget" ""
		"viewposition" ""
		"prevent_movement" 0
		"speakers" "Randy Lundeen"
		"synopsis" "One of the three main themes for antlion areas, the mines were a plausible setting for light sources, mechanical obstacles, and resupply. Visually, the mines offer good contrast to the natural cave areas and the more organic spaces the worker antlions have carved out with acid secretions."
		"parser_id" "22"
	}
	"entity"
	{
		"classname" "point_commentary_node"
		"targetname" "Gman scene"
		"origin" "-2900.657471 -9447.414063 -849.800049"
		"angles" "0 0 0"
		"precommands" ""
		"postcommands" ""
		"commentaryfile" "#commentary\ep2-comment016.wav"
		"printname" "G-Man Intervention"
		"viewtarget" ""
		"viewposition" ""
		"prevent_movement" 0
		"speakers" "Erik Wolpaw"
		"synopsis" "One of the most significant story meetings we had near the beginning of Episode 2 concerned how much we were going to reveal about the G-Man.  Once we had decided exactly how much to explain, we had to come up with a way of revealing it.  Alyx's healing sequence offered the perfect way to pull Gordon out of mundane surroundings and put him in a realm where the G-Man can speak to him directly, but dialog is only one of our tools for narrative.  By blending images from the past, the present and the immediate future, we continue to stitch together the Half-Life story over time.  We make clear that the events at Black Mesa continue to resonate.  And we draw the strongest connections yet between Gordon, the G-Man, Alyx and Eli Vance."
		"parser_id" "16"
	}
	"entity"
	{
		"classname" "point_commentary_node"
		"targetname" "The Gman Mood"
		"origin" "-2900.657471 -9504.240234 -849.800049"
		"angles" "0 30 0"
		"precommands" ""
		"postcommands" ""
		"commentaryfile" "#commentary\ep2-comment239.wav"
		"printname" "Sound Design for the Healing Sequence"
		"viewtarget" ""
		"viewposition" ""
		"prevent_movement" 0
		"speakers" "Tim Larkin"
		"synopsis" "We sometimes use sounds to set a mood rather than to literally underscore the onscreen action. The G-Man sequence, for example, relies heavily on the use of abstract and ambient sounds. We wanted the soundscape to have the deadened, internalized quality you get from putting your hands over your ears, so we started with recordings from inside a womb.  If you listen closely, you can hear internal gurgling noises as well as muffled heartbeats. We then added various other effects around the rythym of the heartbeat, plus long tailed reverb. None of the door or transition effects are literal interpretations, but are obscure metal and feedback sounds created to work in sync with the observable action. All of these things contribute to the scene's dreamlike quality."
		"parser_id" "239"
	}
	"entity"
	{
		"classname" "point_commentary_node"
		"targetname" "The Alyx Vance School of Acting"
		"origin" "-3225.540527 -9421.561523 146.031250;"
		"angles" "0 -135 0"
		"precommands" ""
		"postcommands" ""
		"commentaryfile" "#commentary\ep2-comment252.wav"
		"printname" "The Alyx Vance School of Acting"
		"viewtarget" ""
		"viewposition" ""
		"prevent_movement" 0
		"speakers" "Merle Dandridge: Voice of Alyx Vance"
		"synopsis" "I really consider working on Alyx, my acting school.  Because it has stretched me, it has made me go deeper in my work, it’s sharpened me up as far as being able to call on emotions, or really just imagination.  A creative spirit is really just a lot of imagination, I think.  And afterwards I always seem to be sharper in everything I do.  I always have a good show at night or I always go onto the next job with a heightened awareness or heightened presence.  And it’s only helped me, so thank you Alyx for that!"
		"parser_id" "252"
	}
}