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Half-Life 2 Hints
Secret Area
1 of 15: Start by finding the white van that's turned on its side and leaning against a wall near the side area's entrance.
2 of 15: You need to rig a way to get up onto that white van, and then from there onto the concrete ledge that's above it.
3 of 15: Getting onto the van's easy -- just set an upright barrel on the ground next to the middle of the van's underside. (See the General Strategies if you need to learn how to set a knocked-over barrel back upright again.)
4 of 15: Getting from the van to the ledge above is *much* harder. Don't proceed unless you really need another box of .357 ammo (or really want to see this secret area without using the "noclip" cheat).
5 of 15: Find the two large wooden crates that you can pick up and carry, and take them up onto the van.
6 of 15: TIP: It's much easier to lift an item up onto the van and drop it, then jump up onto the van using the barrel while not carrying anything.
7 of 15: Set one crate down to where it's against the cement wall and isn't slanting any. A good spot for this is near the front of the van.
8 of 15: Get the other crate up there and set it carefully on top of the first one.
9 of 15: Now get the other barrel up there (you'll probably have to carry it up there with you to keep it from falling over) and set it against the wall near the crate stack (but not right next to it).
10 of 15: The crate stack isn't quite high enough for you to jump from it onto the ledge, so you'll need to set a smaller item on the top crate.
11 of 15: I recommend the small wooden shelf thing from the loft, but you can use one of the small rectangular baskets instead.
12 of 15: While standing on the van, set the item on the left side of the top crate so that you can jump from the barrel to the top crate, then onto the small item, and then onto the ledge.
13 of 15: Doing all those jumps without knocking over your crate stack is the hardest part of the whole thing, so do a quicksave once everything's set up and keep trying until you make it.
14 of 15: When you finally get up onto the ledge, move past the two metal support structures to find the secret stash (an old boot and a .357 ammo box) in a dark spot next to the large round white thing.
15 of 15: NOTE: To avoid damage when dropping down from the ledge, drop onto the white van and then to the ground.
