Do the Combine soldiers use night-vision?

[-$ilver-]

I assume they would being high-tech and all, even modern militaries of today use night-vision, albeit with them attached to their Kevlar helmets and have to be brought down manually over the eyes to be used by infantry personnel. I would expect it to be included in the Combine's face masks that already have numerous improvements/functions in it and their tinted lenses I would of assumed meant something along those lines as well. Yet I have not read anything distinct about them having the ability to see in the dark. I have played a mod that showed that they did indeed use night-vision, but it is not canon.

[9seed]

I don't think so. You might recall a section in "entanglement" in which combine soldiers ambush Gordon and Alyx in a dark room, illuminating the room with flares at the start of the ambush.

[Sovereign]

It's not canonically confirmed anywhere but it would make logical sense for them to have it considereing how advanced their helmets are and the glowing lenses. They also have no problem operating in dark areas without the use of a flashlight. Throughout all of HL1 we never learn that HECU masks have nightvision yet when we play as one in OppF we learn they do, Overwatch soldiers are logically the same.

As 9seed said they are seen making use of flares a few times but every time they do it's used to signal each other rather then as method of illumination, firing them onto the ground to signal attack/ambush or firing them into the air to signal nearby air units.

[Ghidrah1]

Tell me when cutting the lights to an area then lighting it up with flares makes sense regardless of whether the ambushers have NV or IR head gear?

How does tossing a flare signal an attack any better than a non material wasting verbal equivalent of ATTACK!

As advanced as they are why isn’t the combine using, an aged, even at our current standards truncated comms? Psst, hey guys, everybody go on 3 ... ok?

While the event is fun for the player, the sponges planning the attack lack the logistical skills to pull it off

[Sovereign]

Originally posted by Ghidrah1:

Tell me when cutting the lights to an area then lighting it up with flares makes sense regardless of whether the ambushers have NV or IR head gear?

How does tossing a flare signal an attack any better than a non material wasting verbal equivalent of ATTACK!

As advanced as they are why isn’t the combine using, an aged, even at our current standards truncated comms? Psst, hey guys, everybody go on 3 ... ok?

While the event is fun for the player, the sponges planning the attack lack the logistical skills to pull it off

It's just meant to look cool to the player. Flares are often used by military to signal each other, that's there original intended and primary purpose. Everytime we see the Combine using flares it's to signal an attack or reinforcements.

[Ghidrah1]

Yes smoke or flares were used to designate secure landing points within hostile zones for drops evac and med flight. Contemporary ops military and private use RFID tech to locate and ID important field assets, (not widely known today let alone 14 yrs ago). Surely the advanced Combine are tagged and comm’d and should be running sub vocal gear considering they’re set for ambush.

[Sovereign]

Originally posted by Ghidrah1:

Yes smoke or flares were used to designate secure landing points within hostile zones for drops evac and med flight. Contemporary ops military and private use RFID tech to locate and ID important field assets, (not widely known today let alone 14 yrs ago). Surely the advanced Combine are tagged and comm’d and should be running sub vocal gear considering they’re set for ambush.

They would of course but they also use flares 1. because it looks cool and 2. because it's more visible to the player.

[Ghidrah1]

Now we speak good eye to good eye

[Sovereign]

Originally posted by Ghidrah1:

Now we speak good eye to good eye

Say again?

[Ghidrah1]

K'ad nihi nihi aha’deet’aah! ..... Now we agree!

[-$ilver-]

The military, at least a few decades ago, were trained to use flares to both signal and for illumination. But the illumination can be a danger more so than a blessing. When fired into the night's sky it literally illuminates everything in a good sized chunk of area and you have to drop to the ground in the prone position when the sky is lit and get up and move between flares when it is dark again. Obviously anyone standing up would of been shot in the light more easily. And they were not the red ones, but the kind that just brightens the whole sky in a yellowish tint.

Also squad leaders use tracers to mark where they want their soldiers to fire and machine gunners use tracers to help "walk" targets. It is true you can see the general direction of where a tracer is coming from and then home in, but by that time you should be dead. Also I have heard Special Forces carry a few magazines of nothing but tracers, so when they are falling back it gives the illusion that there are a lot more soldiers firing bullets than just the few. As I recall a tracer is placed every three to five regular rounds. 30 rounds to a magazine of nothing but tracers equals how many soldiers firing... I suck at math, but I know for a fact seeing that many steady tracer rounds coming your way will make you think twice before chasing after someone else.

I have to think in my heart of hearts and I know my thinking is not always appreciated here, but the Overwatch has got to have nightvision in those goggles. They have to. It would be too stupid for them not too. Also the "loud" communication between soldiers and the deadline sound is odd for sure. I am not saying it has to be a whisper, but when you are many yards away, some times half way across open ground and can still hear regular chatter, that is just odd.

Also anyone else think that the City Scanner with it's hightech flight and seemingly independent movement, is a little old school with the whole camera flash and still picture and the torch light on the top? I mean drones to my knowledge today are not independent yet, but even they are equipped with “standard” video cameras and night vision. I mean I like the way the scanners are, but again from a sophisticated and highly technological stand point, that is down right backwards. But perhaps that is why they also deploy the actual shield scanner synths, but don't they use a flash as well, although not sure about the actual “eye” of the synth though.

[Ghidrah1]

The drone's arc flash provides temp blindness which gives the opposition an advantage, there's been a couple times they've delivered multiple flashes, and I'd swear it feels like the game lowers reaction time a smidge at the height of the flare.

[Sovereign]

Originally posted by -$ilver-:

The military, at least a few decades ago, were trained to use flares to both signal and for illumination. But the illumination can be a danger more so than a blessing. When fired into the night's sky it literally illuminates everything in a good sized chunk of area and you have to drop to the ground in the prone position when the sky is lit and get up and move between flares when it is dark again. Obviously anyone standing up would of been shot in the light more easily. And they were not the red ones, but the kind that just brightens the whole sky in a yellowish tint.

Also squad leaders use tracers to mark where they want their soldiers to fire and machine gunners use tracers to help "walk" targets. It is true you can see the general direction of where a tracer is coming from and then home in, but by that time you should be dead. Also I have heard Special Forces carry a few magazines of nothing but tracers, so when they are falling back it gives the illusion that there are a lot more soldiers firing bullets than just the few. As I recall a tracer is placed every three to five regular rounds. 30 rounds to a magazine of nothing but tracers equals how many soldiers firing... I suck at math, but I know for a fact seeing that many steady tracer rounds coming your way will make you think twice before chasing after someone else.

I have to think in my heart of hearts and I know my thinking is not always appreciated here, but the Overwatch has got to have nightvision in those goggles. They have to. It would be too stupid for them not too. Also the "loud" communication between soldiers and the deadline sound is odd for sure. I am not saying it has to be a whisper, but when you are many yards away, some times half way across open ground and can still hear regular chatter, that is just odd.

Also anyone else think that the City Scanner with it's hightech flight and seemingly independent movement, is a little old school with the whole camera flash and still picture and the torch light on the top? I mean drones to my knowledge today are not independent yet, but even they are equipped with “standard” video cameras and night vision. I mean I like the way the scanners are, but again from a sophisticated and highly technological stand point, that is down right backwards. But perhaps that is why they also deploy the actual shield scanner synths, but don't they use a flash as well, although not sure about the actual “eye” of the synth though.

I agree with you on the nightvision and flares.

The Combine radio chatter is their for the players benefit. Not only does it sound more dynamic and cool then if they were just mute most of the time it also allows an attentive player to predict their actions, rewarding the player for paying attention. If your paying attention you can tell things like when they've lost sight of you, when they're throwing grenades, when they're reloading, when they're the last in the squad etc. HL1 does the same with the HECU. Lastly, it ironically gives the illusion of greater tactical intelligence and makes them feel like actual soldiers that are making dynamic decisions rather then game enemies controlled by a simple AI program. Look at F.E.A.R 1 for a masterclass on this.

The scanner lights are once again mostly just there for aesthetics. It is also there as a subtle reinforcement of the game world's themes of oppression. The harsh, blinding light being flashed in your face without your permission the moment you step of the train and the way the drones are always watching and pestering the citizens is a good example of "show don't tell", showing us how little the Combine care about the citizens comfort as well as the surveillance state they've created.

[Ghidrah1]

It would be way more scary if they were silent

[Sovereign]

Originally posted by Ghidrah1:

It would be way more scary if they were silent

That's debatable, but it would have also made them annoying to fight, and would have made them seem less intelligent and dynamic.

[Ghidrah1]

Clever “Dynamic” enemies never hand deliver their intentions, only retrograde knuckle dragging mouth breathers prefer broadcasting their intentions!

Face it the cross talk no one but the combine should hear is for the benefit of the player that spends more time picking its nose, tweeting or posting a pouty selfie while kneeling in front of some androgynous boy band poster