Black Mesa Source Release Date Announced!!

5uspect

pixelburp wrote: »

Yup; happened with Portal too - Valve hired a gaggle of developers from an indie game that was the progenitor of Portal (can't recall it's name though). DOTA2 of course started as a mod for Warcraft, and even TF2 was originally a Quake mod. Not great on internal IPs but they know a good idea when they see one

Forgot about that. Here it is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narbacular_Drop

OMG, Valve are just like Microsoft, they never innovate, just buy up the small guys! :pac:

dreamers75

Well Newell has previous with msft :pac:

At least valve release things they buy.

marshbaboon

pixelburp wrote: »

Any spot any Easter Eggs for this yet - assuming there are any of course

The knock offs of real products everywhere. Everything in the vending machines are rip offs of real products. The boxes of del monte peaches in the warehouses. Got an achievement for giving the scientist in the toilets a thing of bog roll.

Dunno if you'd really call them easter eggs though.

Corkfeen

pixelburp wrote: »

Any spot any Easter Eggs for this yet - assuming there are any of course

The blue screen on the monitors is about Hl2.exe not booting. :pac:

TinCool

Very impressed so far. But ****, that poxy hanging crates section is doing my nut

tuxy

Does it crash lots for anyone else?
Especially as you near the end of the game.

BlitzKrieg

I think strangely the biggest nostalgia moment for me was the security doors opening after you get the tram. I use to love the detail in the original half life of those metal bars rolling back before the door open and they kept that in the game so I had a big grin on my face.

Tallon

Not crashing at all for me, loads of Easter eggs...

I'm havin so much fun playing this. I don't think I will ever play HL1 ever again

Kiith

I just hope they can get the last part of the game done soon enough. I know it's only Xen, but it would be nice to be able to go straight into playing HL2 and the episodes straight away.

pixelburp

Kiith wrote: »

I just hope they can get the last part of the game done soon enough. I know it's only Xen, but it would be nice to be able to go straight into playing HL2 and the episodes straight away.

Funny, I was just wondering what kind of bounce there might be, if Steam might see a sudden surge in sales of HL2 & the episodes

BlitzKrieg

any sign of a nod to aperture science yet?

Dunder Mifflin

Am I the only person who enjoyed the Xen levels? I reckon I preferred them to Residue Processing at least. This mod is amazing.

dreamers75

Being a cynical ****, i reckon valve got involbvd and helped finish the mod to a release state.


Not that it would prolong HL3 or anything but this MOD is polished to a AAA standard.

Dave_The_Sheep

Dunder Mifflin wrote: »

Am I the only person who enjoyed the Xen levels? I reckon I preferred them to Residue Processing at least. This mod is amazing.

No, I quite liked them as well. Not a massive fan of the Xen Masters, they were annoying little bastards to fight. The two boss levels weren't fantastic, but I enjoyed Xen for how different it was to the other levels (in looks and gravity, if nothing else).

I've forgotten so much of HL1 that doesn't deserve to be forgotten, this just brings it all back. What a cracking game, brought up to date with a cracking mod.

Azza

A similar mod is being created for Opposing Force, known as Operation Black Mesa.

Hopefully it meets the same standard as Black Mesa did.

http://www.moddb.com/mods/operation-black-mesa

quarryman

Anyone know if controller support is available for this? Couldn't find anything on google.

Tar.Aldarion

quarryman wrote: »

Anyone know if controller support is available for this? Couldn't find anything on google.

Controllers are supported in every game, just download a key mapper.

death1234567

Azza wrote: »

A similar mod is being created for Opposing Force, known as Operation Black Mesa.

* runs off to pre-order *

Black Mesa is better than half life three. There I said it.

Dave_The_Sheep

death1234567 wrote: »

* runs off to pre-order *

Black Mesa is better than half life three. There I said it.

Well, it exists, for one thing. That's a fairly major plus point right there.

tuxy

Just finished it now. Really amazing! A bit buggy in places but I can forgive that.
I really want to play xen now.

ShadowHearth

btw its only a part of the HL1? right?

kearneybobs

Just downloaded it via torrent only to be greeted by three errors when installing it. Oh well. And I've been playing HL:Source recently so I'm gonna play this instead.

Zab

kearneybobs wrote: »

Just downloaded it via torrent only to be greeted by three errors when installing it. Oh well. And I've been playing HL:Source recently so I'm gonna play this instead.

During the install? You can just unzip the 7z file into the source mods directory yourself if the installer isn't working for you.

Monotype

kearneybobs wrote: »

Just downloaded it via torrent only to be greeted by three errors when installing it. Oh well. And I've been playing HL:Source recently so I'm gonna play this instead.

Did you download source SDK 2007?

[url]steam://run/218[/url]

LuckyFinigan

When they do add the xen sections it'll look amazing. A lot of work is probably need to recreate that section of the game because its so different. Hopefully its not to far off.

SirLemonhead

It's good alright, but not amazing...weapons need some balancing (mp5 is somewhat useless), and i don't like how they've reduced the size of certain areas.

Hopefully they'll get some tweaks in at a later date

Can't complain for something free I guess, but I don't think it's quite near the level of the original.

kearneybobs

Zab wrote: »

During the install? You can just unzip the 7z file into the source mods directory yourself if the installer isn't working for you.

Yeah. I got some corrupt file errors. three of them while I was unzipping it. Both manually as well as when I ran the installer too.

Monotype wrote: »

Did you download source SDK 2007?

[URL]steam://run/218[/URL]

Have that downloaded but I also see that SDK 2006 is paused for some reason. Should this be? I never asked for it to be downloaded.

Blazer

very impressed by it so far...

and oh yeah...

must not use crowbar to open explosive boxes

Sierra Oscar

I have only played it a little so far, but I am very impressed!

pixelburp

Yeah my only gripes at this stage in the game (Surface Tension) is that the MP5 is very poor & barely registers against the Marines (while they happily snipe me from afar with the same weapon), and the soldiers themselves are tough as nails; they really enjoy popping out of nowhere and blasting me back to the last checkpoint. In fact the very first map you're loaded into on Surface Tension is mid-ambush by 4/5 marines. Infuriating on Hard difficulty.

Still though, patch the weapons a little & at this point it's hard to see how I'd ever want to go back and play Valve's own HL1 - Black Mesa can call itself the de-facto rebuild. The spirit is intact and it plays like one of Valve's own.

quarryman

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

Controllers are supported in every game, just download a key mapper.

I mean native support. Mapping programs are sh*t.

Tar.Aldarion

pixelburp wrote: »

Yeah my only gripes at this stage in the game (Surface Tension) is that the MP5 is very poor & barely registers against the Marines (while they happily snipe me from afar with the same weapon), and the soldiers themselves are tough as nails; they really enjoy popping out of nowhere and blasting me back to the last checkpoint. In fact the very first map you're loaded into on Surface Tension is mid-ambush by 4/5 marines. Infuriating on Hard difficulty.

Still though, patch the weapons a little & at this point it's hard to see how I'd ever want to go back and play Valve's own HL1 - Black Mesa can call itself the de-facto rebuild. The spirit is intact and it plays like one of Valve's own.

I like how it is actually a little challenging. No point in making the enemies on hard...easy.

quarryman wrote: »

I mean native support. Mapping programs are sh*t.

Dunno if it is, id be more interested in 3d


They work fine for me. I map the key then I press the key!

quarryman

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

I like how it is actually a little challenging. No point in making the enemies on hard...easy.


Dunno if it is, id be more interested in 3d


They work fine for me. I map the key then I press the key!

ah sorry. I needed to enable it in the options. Works perfectly now!

Zab

I agree that the MP5 is a little underpowered. It was a little better once I realized that you just spray them though, no short bursts required.

Monotype

kearneybobs wrote: »

Yeah. I got some corrupt file errors. three of them while I was unzipping it. Both manually as well as when I ran the installer too.

Try forcing a recheck in the torrent program.

Azza

Near the end of it. Very impressed.

The changes to the enviroment layout and enemy placement keep it fresh and the enemies are generally tougher than in the orginal (except maybe the vortigaunts and the fish creature in the tank), For sure its more of a challenge than Half Life 1 was. Bullsquids arc of fire is hard to dodge and those sonic dog eyed creatures are way more of a threat.

Think the weapons are fine, though the MP5 seems a little under powered.

Noticed maybe 1 significant bug, the helicoptor in Surface Tension couldn't fire in the right direction after taking one or two rocket hits.

Performance wise, its runs easy enough for the most part but I do get severe albeit brief stutter when entering a new area.

Overall very good. Hope they bring out the rest of the game and multiplayer soon.

kearneybobs

Monotype wrote: »

Try forcing a recheck in the torrent program.

Finally got it working. Ended up downloading again and was getting the same error. So I downloaded 7zip (had been using winrar) and I only got one error instead of thousands. Unzipped it myself and just copied and pasted it into the source mods folder. Seems to be a common enough problem.

Having played it there for an hour or so I'm very impressed. Kind of odd moving coming from HL:Source where Gordon moves like he's on roller skates to something a bit more plodding. Felt HL:S was a bit too fast but this seems right.
Like the way that they've changed it up a bit, different enemy placements, even the location of the

trusty crowbar

was actually kind worrying me for a few minutes.
Runs like butter really with the very odd stutter/hangup. Looks really good. Shame it's not the whole thing. When it gets onto Steam, I'm positive that I'll throw money their way for it. This sort of dedication/attention to detail needs reward.

What easter eggs have people found? I suggest you use spoiler tags if you're gonna mention them.

I do like the

chuckle brothers cup

although the addition is odd.

TPD

kearneybobs wrote: »

What easter eggs have people found? I suggest you use spoiler tags if you're gonna mention them.

I do like the

chuckle brothers cup

although the addition is odd.

That and the ad in the food court reading

'taco taco burrito burrito'

got a chuckle out of me.
I also saw a sign saying

Notice: thank you for noticing this notice. Your notice has been noted and will be passed to the authorities.

Monotype

There's loads of little things in signs around. I especially like the knock-off brand that they pick. Be sure to press on all characters a few times as they've often got something funny to say if you wait around.

5uspect

Only got around to torrenting this last night. Did the intro tram ride this morning. Sent shivers down my spine!

Grumpypants

You really do forget how good games used to be when you had to figure things out for yourself. No mini map, no arrow, no highlighted doors to secret paths.

Chairman Meow

This is honestly a contender for GOTY 2012. It's just an amazing remake, to think that this is free, while Halo's remake for 360 cost 40 notes is almost criminal. Been playing it all weekend, i'd still say i think HL2 is the better game, but this is now the definitive version of Half Life and a perfect companion piece to HL2 & Episodes.

Grumpypants

Everyone else get the dead bodies falling through the floor?

Chairman Meow

I just put a comparison video for Black Mesa Inbound, switching from new to old graphics. Holy **** i really didnt appreciate the difference until i played HL1 again to make this video, the difference is incredible

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMeqIGuFeuU

Vicxas

I love this game!

So, so well made!

If Valve dont bring these guys on board itll be a damned shame!

BlitzKrieg

*grumble*

My only issue right now is that some of the set pieces dont seem to work like I remember (specifically the big hammers on the conveyor belt seem to have some bizarre timing I cant work out)

Genghiz Cohen

In it's context, this is one of the greatest achievements in gaming since colour.

SirLemonhead

BlitzKrieg wrote: »

*grumble*

My only issue right now is that some of the set pieces dont seem to work like I remember (specifically the big hammers on the conveyor belt seem to have some bizarre timing I cant work out)

Some parts are quite confusing for people who know the original game very well. I guess it makes things fresh..

BlitzKrieg

SirLemonhead wrote: »

Some parts are quite confusing for people who know the original game very well. I guess it makes things fresh..

actually it turned out that it was bugged seems sometimes you might need to reload the chapter if some things go out of sync.

danthefan

Didn't play the original HL I have to admit but really really enjoying this. I'm only about an hour in but it's incredibly well made for a free game.