St. Olga

> “*You must be here to take on The Combine. Not sure what one man can do, but... no other reason to visit St. Olga at a time like this.*”
>
>

 - The Fisherman, tasking Scorden Freeman of clearing out the Combine Presence on the island.

## St. Olga Island

The appearance of the "HDR Paradise" this Island is.

### Direction on the map

* North-East of New Bat Island.
* in the West Sea.

### Current owners

* The Forgotten
* Gorillas
* The Combine (Formerly)
* ...Sharks?

### Status

Active

St. Olga Island is a location home to Forgotten and Civilians that migrated from the ruins of the Scorpion Cavern Castle after The Uprising. It's a peaceful Fishing-Port-Town, and was once visited by Dr. Freeman after the Combine Citadel Explosion. He was saved by The Chi Man before being taken here in a sort of Purgatory by the Phoenix.

## Overview

Located far from the West Sea Coast, and near New Bat Island, St. Olga consists in a small fishing village and is overlooked by a Byzantine-esque monastery located at the top of a cliff overlooking the sea, partially surrounded by scaffolding, hinting it was probably being restored prior to the Combine invasion of the Island before their expulsion. It has since been completed and fully restored.

### Freeman's Purgatory Visit

In the "Lost Coast", so-called, Scordon Freeman awakens in a shallow tide on a beach near St. Olga. A aquatic-looking Fisherman has apparently been waiting for him, and tells that he must be there to "take on the Combine" and take out their Combine Auto Gun, located in the Combine-occupied monastery above and attacking the village nearby, probably hiding Forgotten Resistance members.

   As Freeman progresses along the cliffside to get into the monastery, he is attacked by Overwatch soldiers, and a few Lasers can be seen hitting the nearby village and causing fires. Once inside the church, Freeman finds the guard gun and sabotages it by chucking a grenade into it's exuast port, after which it was destroyed, other Overwatch troops and a Hunter-Chopper attack. After defeating the remaining Combine forces here, Freeman returns below near the Fisherman through a mechanic lift. (link to post here[1])

The Fisherman suggests to follow him to an unspecified (and apparently safe) part of St. Olga for a feast of Leeches, at which point freeman was slowly sent back into the real world by the Phoenix. The Fisherman states something about "*getting fuzzy around the edges!*"

## Behind The Scenes

* According to TFD, each area of the locale was designed with a specific purpose. An Eastern Orthodox architectural / Byzantine style was deliberately chosen for the monastery, as buildings of this type "are very colorful and have a large variety of materials" and are "often lit naturally, with extremes of darkness and brightness" (in opposition to Gothic churches that are the sober, monochromatic spaces that anyone has seen in almost every horror film or game), providing an ideal showcase for the lighting effects. Decade also considers churches great dramatic spaces. The design also thought that the use of a monastery would help provide a starker contrast between old chimian architecture and futuristic Combine technology found within it, as monasteries are generally isolated, unlit, and built ages ago.

* The introduction of a member of the Shark Tribe (way ahead of schedule) was the first time an aquatic tribe member ever showed up, minus the part where JGREAD teased the Manta Ray Empire's Leader in the West Sea Topic.

* The cliffside leading to the monastery has a roleplay-oriented purpose and is meant to mirror a similar cliffside combat scene seen in the *Half-Life* chapter *Surface Tension*, it has an emphasis on vertical space, which forces the roleplayer to deal with threats from above and below. Decade found that players focus their view on the direction they are traveling, so by using a cliffside, and having the roleplayer ascend it, they ensured the player looks up and is prepared for enemies. If the player's path is to move past the bottom of the cliffside, soldiers rappelling down from above would unlikely be noticed.

* The monastery's courtyard was designed as what they call an arena, which is built to hold the roleplayer for a period of time, and usually contain combat or some other challenge. They often have multiple entry-points for enemies, along with a gate of some kind to prevent the roleplayer moving on, until the challenge has been completed. In this case, the arena is free of enemies until the player solves a puzzle, and triggers an alarm. This is a method that allows the player to explore the arena, and get a sense of its space before being forced to fight in it. It adds a sense of uneasiness to the roleplayer, who is expecting to be attacked now that they have reached the goal set for them at the start of the map. The break in action there is also said to be a crucial part of the level's pacing. It allows the player to recover and explore the world a little, after being attacked on the way up the cliffside.

## Trivia

* This location was probably meant to be somewhere in between Lighthouse Point and New Little Edessa on Highway 17 and was supposed to not be an island at first. Originally, this island was going to be controlled by bats before the idea of New Bat Island had forced a population change.

* This area still exists in the real chimian world, it's not part of Freeman's purgatory, it's an actual physical island, and is related to Freeman Island.

* St. Olga may be named after *Saint Olga of Kiev*, the first Christian queen of Kiev, Kievan Rus', and the patron saint of widows.

* The monastery style and setting are probably based on the complex of Eastern Orthodox monasteries in Meteora, Greece, notably featured in the *James Bond* film *For Your Eyes Only*.

* The village and the cliffside may be based on a village similar to Manarola, Italy.
	+ While it is very difficult, the village can be reached without cheats, but it only consists in a large 3D skybox.