Overall, Black Mesa is almost as large as a city and is completely self-sustainable in all fields. This is seen for instance in Sector C and the Level 3 Dormitories. Several colors can be seen running along corridors, disappearing each time a related location is reached. In the underground laboratories, administration offices and dormitories, the main sections are always indicated in important intersections areas, and follow color codes consisting of lines running along the corridors to the related location. The complex also has its own newspaper, The Mesa Times, which is sold within the Black Mesa Research Facility to inform the personnel about events within and outside of the facility.ĭespite being located in the middle of a desert, the underground and indoor sectors of Black Mesa are “maintained at a pleasant 68° Fahrenheit (20° Celsius) at all times”, enabled by Black Mesa’s sprawling network of ventilation ducts. It is also used in the Black Mesa Transit System to give general information about the facility and mention each stop, with a female voice. As Eli Vance reveals in Half-Life 2 that his wife and daughter lived in Black Mesa with him, it can be inferred that employees’ families reside in the dormitory complexes as well.Īll main Sectors are linked together by the Black Mesa Transit System, the monorail network going through the whole facility.īlack Mesa is equipped with a public address system, the Black Mesa Announcement System, relaying audible messages and announcements across the facility with a male voice. The facility is well-populated by rest areas and dormitories for the employees of the facility. The complex also features multi-story car parks (where only Black Mesa SUVs can be found), arsenals of nuclear and conventional weapons, and a local electric rail materials transport network, Sector E Materials Transport.īlack Mesa is also apparently kept supplied by a conventional freight rail linked to the outside, managed in the Freight Yard.Īs employees are required to live in the complex itself, Black Mesa contains many personnel facilities, including laundromats, recreation and sports areas such as lounges, at least one basketball court, at least one swimming pool, a library, fast food outlets, food courts, cafeterias, and numerous vending machines. The complex is dominated by a number of underground laboratories, test areas (including an Anti-Mass Spectrometer), and administration offices, most of which contain very high-tech equipment, and even a rocket launch site. Chemical processing plants are also seen and as the facility is located within the desert water treatment plants are required to recycle waste water. The facility is self-sufficient, housing its own: ventilation, cold and hot water, central heating, sanitation, drainage, and power generation systems including a Hydro-Electric Dam and multiple types of electrical generators and reactors, some using nuclear technology. Black Mesa can be completely sealed from the outside. The complex is also equipped with retinal scanners and alarms, as well as heavy blast doors that may shut down in case of fire, explosion or other event. Security guards, carrying firearms and trained for emergencies, are present in all of the facility.
BLACK MESA RESEARCH FACILITY 1970S SERIES
However the surface areas of Black Mesa feature more modern construction.īlack Mesa undertakes its various scientific researches in the facility, which is a very high-security complex, as each employee is required to undergo a series of rigorous security checks to access most areas. Some areas are also described by characters such as Rosenberg as “old” or “abandoned” several areas of the complex are badly run-down despite the obvious fact that they are still in use. Several Half-Life texture files’ names contain the word “fifties”, suggesting the facility is as old as from the 1950s. The Black Mesa facility was apparently built over several decommissioned ICBM launching and testing silo complexes probably constructed during the 1950s, which was converted into a vast civilian institute for the research of almost every conceivable scientific discipline. This is the lore about both Black Mesa and Aperture Science
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