Wow, those ARE incredibly similar.
And no, there was no Combine in HL1, the main badguys were Xen and the US Military. According to the storyline between the games the satellite that Gordon launched in HL1 to call for help just so happened to be the perfect beacon for the Combine to use to invade Earth. Their invasion happened sometime after HL1, but I'm not sure at how long after.
I sit in my zen of not being able to do anything right while simultaniously not being able to do anything wrong. Om. -CuppaJo
It is by caffeine alone that I set my mind in motion. It is by the beans of Java that thoughts acquire speed, the hands acquire shaking, the shaking becomes a warning. It is by caffeine alone that I set my mind in motion.
For me, a much stronger tie between HL2 and CoV became apparent as soon as I ventured into Mercy Island. The sleek, almost alien, Arachnos fortifications imposed on the aging architecture immediately put me in mind of the Combine's assimilation of 'City 17.'
And surely I wasn't the only one to think of a certain crowbar-wielding scientist when they saw Dr. Aeon for the first time?
In any case, most of these similarities are superficial. The Council/Arachnos and the Combine have much more fundamental qualities that set them apart. All are excellently conceived (though Arachnos is best ^___^.)
As far as simplistic monochrome symbols go, they aren't actually all that similar.
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Originally Posted by Zikar
As far as simplistic monochrome symbols go, they aren't actually all that similar.
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It's not just about the symbols.
That's... surprisingly similar! Although I do agree that it's really just a superficial similarity (i.e. the details are all drastically different), but at a rough glance, it's hard to fathom that the two groups could have been thought up entirely independently without any sort of cross pollination... Perhaps the Combine and Council were both inspired by another, prior, group?
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Originally Posted by ShadowNate
;_; ?!?! What the heck is wrong with you, my god, I have never been so confused in my life!
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Probably this. I've seen a good few other examples of concepts developed completely independent from one another, yet look like the people who created them were working hand-in-hand the whole time.
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Originally Posted by Westley
did they both just HAPPEN to come up with the same concept at the same time with VERY similar logos for their respective groups?
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"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
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they both "stole" from someone else who did it before them.|
Originally Posted by Westley
So what is it, did NCSoft "steal" from Valve, did Valve "steal" from NCSoft, or did they both just HAPPEN to come up with the same concept at the same time with VERY similar logos for their respective groups?
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and the logos aren't very similar at all.
The Nethergoat Archive: all my memories, all my characters, all my thoughts on CoH...eventually.
My City Was Gone
The inside of the Combine logo is also supposed to be white... for some reason the GIF has a translucent background instead... which makes it more similar.
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not seeing it.|
Originally Posted by Westley
The inside of the Combine logo is also supposed to be white... for some reason the GIF has a translucent background instead... which makes it more similar.
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one looks a bit like the Steam logo, a piston inside a bolt.
the other one is fire inside of a guy with a pointy chin & big nose wearing a dunce cap.
The Nethergoat Archive: all my memories, all my characters, all my thoughts on CoH...eventually.
My City Was Gone
So you don't see the "C" shape (Combine or Council) inside the Kite-shaped polygon that has a circular interior?
A comet and/or falling meteor/spaceship all look the same to me.
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While I do see the similarities, they ARE also both trying to get across the "evilbadnastyfascists" of their respective universes. Plus, the original 2004 logo for COH's guys is very different and much closer to the earthly nazi sign than the newer Council one.
>_> oh how I wish someone'd make a Gmod/AE combination... And we need crowbars in this game.
Please read my FEAR/Portal/HalfLife Fan Fiction!
Repurposed
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yeah, about how far some people are willing to reach to make the most tenuous of connections
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Originally Posted by Westley
Make you think, doesn't it?
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The similarity between the two symbols are pretty shallow.
My Going Rogue Trailer
Virtue (blue) - Wes The Mess
Virtue (red) - Jess The Best
@Razoras
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Shallow, but there are similiarities. Lots of shallow similiarities.
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Originally Posted by Razoras
The similarity between the two symbols are pretty shallow.
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Originally Posted by ShadowNate
;_; ?!?! What the heck is wrong with you, my god, I have never been so confused in my life!
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Now I want to play Gmod, bah.
Haven't smacked people in RP servers with a crowbar in quite some time...
Excuse me while I sprint around with a crowbar.
You're all welcome. 
(no, it's not an IOSYS video!)
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Originally Posted by ShadowNate
;_; ?!?! What the heck is wrong with you, my god, I have never been so confused in my life!
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Finally, someone else who enjoys quality youtubing.
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Originally Posted by Kitsune Knight
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You think that's similar to the Council symbol, what about these?
Issue 16 made me feel like this.
Warning: This poster likes to play Devil's Advocate.
I take it nobody on these forums can read, as the picture was only a single piece 
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Originally Posted by ShadowNate
;_; ?!?! What the heck is wrong with you, my god, I have never been so confused in my life!
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Originally Posted by Vanden
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ZOMG!! That's exactly like Mender Silos!!!
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He looks more like Lord Nemesis, no?
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Originally Posted by Zombie Man
ZOMG!! That's exactly like Mender Silos!!!
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It's a Tsoo!
My Going Rogue Trailer
Virtue (blue) - Wes The Mess
Virtue (red) - Jess The Best
@Razoras
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I've been calling the Arachnos black metal forts "Combine architecture" since the day the game launched. I went into CoV shortly after replaying Half-Life 2, and was immediately struck by the Combine citadel I was dropped in the middle of as I went out of Breakout.|
Originally Posted by Alasdair
For me, a much stronger tie between HL2 and CoV became apparent as soon as I ventured into Mercy Island. The sleek, almost alien, Arachnos fortifications imposed on the aging architecture immediately put me in mind of the Combine's assimilation of 'City 17.'
And surely I wasn't the only one to think of a certain crowbar-wielding scientist when they saw Dr. Aeon for the first time? In any case, most of these similarities are superficial. The Council/Arachnos and the Combine have much more fundamental qualities that set them apart. All are excellently conceived (though Arachnos is best ^___^.) |
I wouldn't say the Combine are similar to the Council. The "Galactic Alliance that small minds call the 'Combine'" is an organisation of extra-dimensional aliens who took over the Earth, enslaved humanity and use our own people as puppet soldiers. The Council, by comparison, is a purely human organisation led by an old man who became allies with space aliens and have only a handful of modified humans to serve as reinforcements for their largely purely human or enhanced human soldiers.
If anything, the Combine are a lot more similar to the Rikti than they are to the Council.
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.
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I was just playing through the "other stuff" in the Orange Box after finishing Half Life 2 and the episodes (Portal with the commentary, Lost Coast, etc.) Then after finishing Lost Coast, I decided to look up some info on the aliens on Wikipedia, just for fun.... and I came across this:
"The Combine, also referred to as the Universal Union, is a fictional multidimensional empire, which serves as the primary antagonistic force in the Half-Life video game series, developed by Valve Corporation. The Combine consist of alien, synthetic and human elements, and dominate Earth."
"The Combine are frequently shown as harsh rulers over the citizens of Earth, suppressing dissent with brutality, policing using violence and using invasive surgery to transform humans into either soldiers or slaves."
And their logo:
Which looked VERY familiar to me......
That's the Council...... hmmmm....
Paramilitary fascist society that performs experiments on humans and combines them with ALIEN DNA? Sounds awfully familiar to me.....
Now, CoH came out in 2004, and HL2 came out in 2004 as well. HL1 came out in 1998, but I never played it so I don't know if they had the Combine as we know it in HL2 back then.
So what is it, did NCSoft "steal" from Valve, did Valve "steal" from NCSoft, or did they both just HAPPEN to come up with the same concept at the same time with VERY similar logos for their respective groups?
Make you think, doesn't it?