Black Mesa Mod Released

ríomhaire

ríomhaire

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A lot of you are going to be anxious to play this mod so I'll make it quick. The first release of the very long-awaited Black Mesa mod is here. Although the mod has been Greenlit for distribution on Steam it cannot be downloaded from there just yet. The official downloads page can be found here and includes a Torrent option so you won't have to worry about download servers going down on you. The filesize is 3.8 GB and this release covers everything from the start of the game to the Lambda Core chapter.

The Xen levels and Black Mesa: Deathmatch are to come at a later date, along with full Steam support via Greenlight, which will include Steam achievements and other improvements. Keep an eye out for our video review, coming in the next few days.


Update: The website has unsurprisingly gone down but you can get a torrent for the mod here.
 

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So far I am very impressed. The detail in anomalous materials was particularly pleasing to me. :)
 
Oh dear, I've tried Moddb and that download is down to a crawl and all the other sites seem to have missing download links
 
took me awhile to download this but it was worth it fromm what i've played so far i just LOVE IT!
 
it's amazing ... credits to devs! It doesn't feel like a mod.
 
I like how so many people were upset about the ironsights and they don't even work properly so you almost have to shut them off lol


Other than this though.... This is without a doubt the best singleplayer Half-Life 2 mod I've ever played. Even if you just ignore the fact that it is Half-Life it is still very engaging and well designed. The elements they added and removed from the original really compliment the source engine and bring for an experience that feels more in sync with HL2 and Episodes than going back and playing the original Half-Life does (I don't mind being flamed for this one... I believe it). I was expecting it to be good... I wasn't expecting to feel like I'm playing Half-Life for the first time again. Well done!! A must play!!
 
Congratulations to the Team for getting this thing out! Looking forward to enjoying their hard work.
 
I'm at the most shit-tier section of the entire Half-Life saga, Residue Processing. I ****ing hate it.

Also, I'm getting choppy performance... and I have a GTX 680...
 
I'm at the start, have issues with myself :( getting sick.
 
Anyone else getting a big white line going through their screen during the game? If you know how to fix it please lemme know. It's really distracting.
 
Have played quite a bit, have reached the three huge plants and I must say this is awesome, even better than I thought it would be. :D
 
Time to see what all the fuss is about...
 
It's interesting to see how much they've put in to changing the level layouts. I wonder where that comes from, whether they're trying to make things simply more "scenic" or whether the developers have some higher intention of making the game "better".

This isn't entirely criticism, I've actually had several moments where I'm slightly spooked, or on edge, playing - which would never have happened if I was playing an exact replica of HL with better graphics (ie I know all the bits where headcrab zombies break through doors or things explode or w/e). But this has always been a problem with BM:S, the identity of the mod as simple update or complete reimagining. I have to say I'm finding the whole experience quite compelling so far.
 
the negative opinions pulling sudden u-turns upon the arrival of the game is reminding me a lot of how large and ridiculous a hole the uk press digged themselves into by being overly negative about the olympics before they had even started, and then praising them afterwards.

been pretty funny to watch, and subsequently quite nice to see so many positive things being said. looking forward to giving this a go sometime soon.
 
I've only played up to Unforeseen Consequences, but I must say the attention to detail is really impressive.
 
Played up to the beginning of Power Up yesterday. It lags a lot, but I'm on a laptop so I expected that. Still really enjoying it. Of course there are some changes that I'm not totally into, but some that I like a lot. Overall they did an excellent job.
 
Am I the only one who's vaguely sad about killing the Vortigaunts, now that we've seen them for what they really are in HL2?
 
I like the amount of life they added to some areas of Black Mesa. Walking around the lobby and all that felt more alive. My only problems so far have been that the soundtrack doesn't really fit ion my mind, the head bob (though that can easily be turned off). the MP5 being burst fire only (from what I've heard) and Houndeyes being handled badly. Rather than having a small number who are deadly together in an area it seems like they made them even deadlier and crammed a bunch more into one space, though I may just be remembering things from HL1 wrong.

Also f*ck the jumping. F*ck everything about it. The only thing that detracts from the experience so far.
 
Also the reshuffle of the beginning so that you're weaponless for a long time and have to rely on environmental kills is really tiresome - at one point there're flares and gasleaks everywhere, and then as soon as you get the crowbar they all but disappear? It's the same sort of approach of trying desperately to generate a "great game" on top of the narrative and layout of a preexisting game that's doing my head in
 
"
leib10 said:
Am I the only one who's vaguely sad about killing the Vortigaunts, now that we've seen them for what they really are in HL2?
Click to expand...

Get to "Apprehension" ... The feeling will pass.

Also, This game gets more and more detailed the further you get. I'm in love.
 
Just finished up to the portal to Xen. I was very impressed, and it's obvious that a TON of work went into this. It made me realize just how much HL focused on jumping as puzzles, which was irritating, but not the fault of the mod team. It was a lot of fun revisiting Black Mesa, and they really made it come alive.
 
I'm gonna say this. Whatever idiot thought cranking up the 'difficulty' (and by difficulty I mean there is none, they have no sense of f*cking balance) and adding bullshit like an Apache that takes 10 missiles to kill and never misses, or nerfing the MP5 to the point that it might as well not be in the game, or other stupid bullshit regarding enemies: you don't know what the hell you are doing. You are literally as retarded as I am when I lose my shit.
 
MP5 does seem kind of weak in the game. I mean, some enemies in HL could suck up a good clip before going down in the original, but it seems even more pronounced now. But maybe my memory is coloring my perspective, and maybe I suck a little more at FPS games after being conditioned to play with loose aiming and two weapon limit systems thanks to consoles.

Overall, the mod's really good. It's a real blast playing through Half-Life again and the polish that's gone into it is sometimes astounding. I do have a few issues with the presentation in some areas. I killed my first Garg and the tentacle monster from Blast Pit last night and while those sequences were excellent, taking them down lacked the oomph I had expected. Again, maybe it's nostalgia glasses since I've probably played through those parts at least ten times during my life, but I think they required more noise. The soundtrack is good quality, but I still have mixed feelings on how appropriate it is. Some of the quieter tracks have it nailed, and then other times it just feels flat with the moment I'm experiencing. YMMV. Personally, the less piano in my Half-Life, the better.

But these are relatively small problems considering that the whole so far is pretty great. There's no reason not to download this.
 
That's how I've felt about the soundtrack so far. A lot of it wholly inappropriate, while in places it works. The music that plays when killing the Tentacles is one that sticks out in my mind as bad placement. Everything else is good gameplay-wise. Except Gordon only being able to jump an inch off the ground. Still dumb.


I also have one more complaint, though this is probably more an oversight on the devs part. It's bad when the only way to handle the Apache is to waste Tau Cannon ammo on it, or utilize an exploit where you crawl along holding a barrel in front of you, rendering you invisible to the gunship. That actually made me laugh, though.


Props on the Garg too. Looked great.
 
I agree with the complaints on the difficulty. Right now I'm tweaking the skill config file. Among other things you can tweak the weapon damage, the jump height (both normal jump and crouch jump), and some properties on the enemies.

I made the mp5 do more damage, increased the ammo on some weapons, and will tweak the apache so it will be more reasonable.
 
I felt that the soldiers were way weaker in BM than HL1. I didn't see the MP5's lack of power. The Tau cannon seemed weaker though.
 
I don't like the ultra quick reaction and perfect snap aim of the soldiers. Otherwise it's pretty solid so far.
 
Difficulty is really crazy. Soldiers are psychic and are surgeons with the SMGs and the Apache has an insane amount of health and the Osprey takes way too many TOWs to take down as well. Bullsquill acid spit is actually difficult to avoid and Houndeyes attack much faster. Everything has been ramped up except of one of the things that I actually always struggle with in Half-Life; the Ichthyosaurs only take two crossbow bolts to take out.
 
I lowered the marine mp5 damage from 4 to 2, and the marine shotgun damage from 3 to 2. Now even on hard it's possible to have a run and gun fight with 4 marines and actually survive.

As for the Apache, I lowered it's health, and made those rockets move slower so you actually have time to get to cover. The way it was before all the rockets (player controlled or ai) moved so fast that they might as well be instant hit projectiles...
 
Hate the houndeyes' attack sound. Vortigaunts fire too fast. The stuff you guys already said about the marines.

And I was disappointed by the behavior of the tentacles in Blast Pit. There didn't appear to be any "testing/listening" behavior at all. They just bang about randomly and then concentrate on any sounds that happen. Good thing they did this though, as the walk modifier doesn't actually work for me. Half of what made that part interesting was the challenge and suspense of sneaking on those platforms without making a sound, now the objective seems to be to make a mad dash.

Currently at the end of On A Rail. Really disappointed that they took out some of the more interesting "setpieces" from that part of the game.
 
I'm disappointed that they took out anything. As much as I hate On A Rail and Residue Processing, I f*cking hate that they removed a lot of areas from the game. Just makes shit seem more streamlined and gives less to explore.
 
Tollbooth Willie said:
I'm disappointed that they took out anything.
Click to expand...

Even with it's flaws I enjoyed the mod. However this is the one thing I really hate about it.
It makes the whole game feel incomplete and well, shorter.
 
Absinthe said:
Still can't bring myself to move on from Apprehension.

Because I ****ing hate ichthyosaurs.

I am a pussy.
Click to expand...
The Ichthyosaur is the one thing in the entire mod that has been nerfed to shit instead of being upgraded. It only takes two crossbow bolts to kill it.
 
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