Each and every ambience sound. from Xen to the lambda complex to sector-C test labs
\"The biggest embarrassment has been Black Mesa facility, but I think that's finally taken care of itself.\"
―G-Man
The Black Mesa Research Facility is the headquarters of the company Black Mesa and the primary setting for Half-Life and its three expansions, Opposing Force, Blue Shift, and Decay. The base is a decommissioned ICBM launching and testing complex in the New Mexico desert, USA, that has been turned into a scientific research facility.
The Black Mesa facility was built over several decommissioned missile silo complexes constructed during the 1950s, which was converted into a vast civilian institute for the research of every conceivable scientific discipline. Black Mesa undertook its various scientific researches in the facility. The facility also served as a base for decommissioning nuclear weapons.
The opening sequences of Half-Life and its expansions (Blue Shift and Opposing Force) reveal much about the facility. Apart from hinting at the enormous size of Black Mesa, it is revealed that the facility was very high-security, as each employee was required to undergo a series of rigorous security checks as they travel around the complex. Black Mesa was dominated by a bewildering number of laboratories, test areas, and administration offices. Those, along with cavernous storage facilities, took up most of the underground areas of the complex. Despite being located in the middle of a desert, the underground and indoor sectors of Black Mesa were maintained at 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius) at all times, enabled by Black Mesa's sprawling network of ventilation ducts.
As employees were required to live in the complex itself, Black Mesa contained many personnel facilities, including laundromats, recreation and sports areas such as lounges, basketball courts, swimming pools, a video rental outlet (as seen in Blue Shift), fast food outlets, food courts, cafeterias, and at least one bar serving alcoholic beverages. The facility was well-populated by vending machines and rest areas for the employees of the facility. As Dr. 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. The complex also has its own newspaper, The Mesa Times. The Blue Shift manual reveals further details about the facility. Barney Calhoun's duty rotation is printed in French, suggesting that the facility recruits international personnel. Included in Calhoun's papers are several pages describing bizarre animals, claiming that the facility houses strange specimens from across the globe (they are, in fact, creatures from Xen). A point of interest is that the same pages describe how, in the event of an emergency, security officers are required to co-operate with military personnel from the Hazardous Environment Combat Unit, suggesting that Black Mesa had experienced problems with escaped specimens in the past. Possibly to deal with potential escaped specimens, or perhaps as a leftover from the facility's days as a military missile complex, Black Mesa contained many automated machine-gun turrets, which, when activated, will emerge from armored cupolas and fire upon any moving object in their line of sight.
The heavily fortified Lambda Reactor Complex was the site of Black Mesa's top secret teleportation labs. The reactor was a huge device consisting of the Lambda Reactor Main Coolant System, and the cylindrical Lambda Reactor Core. The core of the reactor consisted of four levels (Levels A-D) that fueled an extremely powerful teleportation portal on Level A, where survey Teams were equipped and sent to Xen.
Sector F was linked to the rest of the base via the Secured Access Lambda Sector Transport and the Central Complex, which contains Black Mesa's Central Command and Communication Centers and a Mechanized Infantry Repair Bay.
Located at the lowest points of the Black Mesa Research Facility, Sector G channeled power from Black Mesa's rivers and underground Drainage Canal system. Its most prominent feature was the Topside Hydro Plant that consisted of a large hydroelectric dam-which resembles Hoover Dam-that cuts through the center of Sector E. The dam is heavily damaged by military bombardment and alien moss during Opposing Force.
A large lift in Blue Shift was built into Sector G. However, little else is known about Sector G. A tiny chemical-filled laboratory, freight tunnels, and the Small Materials Storage Area are all else that is seen of this area.
More info goto: http://half-life.wikia.com/wiki/Black_Mesa_Research_Facility
