What do the Whiteboards Mean?

[Zantron]

Of the entirety of Black Mesa, nothing quite draws me to the background as much as the whiteboards strewn throughout the facility (and beyond in some cases). They make fantastic decorations and really make it feel like a place populated by people well beyond our level of learning. However, I was wondering if you (Crowbar Collective) had someone on your team with a knowledge of Quantum Mechanics make these curiously detailed whiteboards, and if so, do they actually pertain to the phenomena surrounding the Xen research such as the Crystals, Creatures, or Interdimensional Portals?

Alternatively, are they basically a mishmash of various equations found online with drawings to make it "look" like actual data?

I ask because this has bugged me since I first saw the game and has only increased now that you increased the detail on them.

[Doctor Go-Go]

That's just routine for any kind of lab work. Whether it would be a factory, a processing plant, a production facility, a medical lab or a university. Wherever there is development of NEW theory
OR expansion of working theory there will be equations and sketches. It's just standard office lab and workshop equipment. It's a fancy chalk board

[Zantron]

I meant the writing on the Whiteboards. I can understand some of the symbols, but to truly understand what they mean you would need to understand actual Quantum Physics. (At least that's the theory)

[esopedantric]

It's fiction.

[Zantron]

Even works of fiction have real information strewn throughout them. Besides, based on all of the many in-jokes and hidden references, it's not too far-fetched to believe that someone with an education in such fields would hide their own versions of Easter Eggs.

I've given two options of potential reasons. If the fine folks at Crowbar could enlighten me as to which, then it would lay to rest an age old question, and I'm sure I'm not the only person curious as to this.

[Doctor Go-Go]

Theory and thesis can be faked in a sense, because it's all theory. You could theorize anything with a little knowledge of science.

That's why it's theory, because they don't really know. And that's why they are experimenting with it.

SO for the sake of fiction it could be completely faked and since all theory is founded or based on facts or OTHER working theory then some of it is fact. They have a few formulas and diagrams drawn, how difficult could it be to conjure something up to represent a working theory within testing phases? It's just theory.

Most players of video games ... you could show them a bit of basic science and it would BLOW their minds. You could draw up a diagram of laser and phase beams with frequency formulas, an atomic pool and radiation spectrum and what would that mean to them? What does the theory actually represent? Can they read it, understand it? It would be a thesis anyway. SO average person looks at it and see some jargon. It's just a decoration to them anyway, they don't care.

What would make it better is if they purposely put a bunch errors and conflicts in their formula as a gag. Suggesting they have no idea what they are doing.

That's the real purpose of diagrams and schematics. To instantly identify how one concept plugs into another or what is being tested.

So if you look at the diagram and see errors then you instantly see their mistake or flaw or flaws translating to ... they don't know what the ♥♥♥♥ they are doing, they are still learning, Which is fine but given the circumstances and level of profession they represent they would look like complete idiots if the diagram was full of errors where there shouldn't be any. Or the very least something so basic they shouldn't have missed that, like 2+2=5 going unnoticed.

Is that kind of what the question is?

[Zantron]

@Doctor Go-Go That is indeed the fun of it. I am also considering the possibility that someone with the knowledge of the formulas put true-to-life equations to explain the somewhat more complicated parts of the process.

For example how the one scientist refers to "Multichannel Plates". On the face of it, it sounds like Science Jargon, but in actual fact you would need something like that to read from a device like a spectrometer, and indeed all of those scientists you overhear complaining in the Sector D area after the elevator are preparing for the device to start sending readings from the crystal to their respective stations. An AntiMass Spectrometer is just a fancy word for an electromagnetic laser gun that shoots into the sample and collects the resulting radiation to better understand what it is composed of.

Truly talented writers can inject their knowledge base into a work of fiction to make that world that much more plausible, and in my opinion that much more interesting. As such Half Life has always been more than just a game where you shoot everything due to the deep amount of thought that went into the AI and story elements; and that extra element is what set it aside as an achievement of gaming in its time.

So, I'm less interested in which errors they made and more in whether they cared enough to sneak in some more meta-story using the whiteboards as a means to do so. Sadly I don't have a background in any of the required fields to determine whether it's actual information or BS.

[Zantron]

Three years later, and we finally have an answer thanks to this amazing user.

Originally posted by zumrus:

Originally posted by The Doctor:

huh? You managed to get the source textures?

Yep. Check this out (Google Translate may be required)
https://nplus1.ru/material/2023/03/01/black-mesa-physics
There are only 18 of 33 since I'm a physicist. But I have the rest of them too.

Here is the story of obtaining
https://nplus1.ru/blog/2023/02/25/who-are-you-dr-Horn

Here's the whole topic if you're interested : https://steamcommunity.com/app/362890/discussions/0/350542145695501380/

[Cat]

The numbers, Mason. What do they mean?