Black Mesa (game mod)

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For the fictional location this game is based in, see Black Mesa Research Facility
Black Mesa
Developer(s) Black Mesa team
Publisher(s) TBA
Engine Source engine
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows PC
Release date TBC
Genre(s) First-person shooter
Mode(s) Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Input methods Mouse, keyboard, Joypad

Black Mesa (previously known as "Black Mesa: Source") is a third-party total conversion mod for Half-Life 2. The ultimate goal of the mod is to recreate the original Half-Life from the ground up, using the advanced capabilities of the Source engine, the improved graphics quality of Half-Life 2 and enhanced character AI, to create a new and more engrossing in-game world by introducing more varied, complex environments and more challenging, realistic gameplay. Black Mesa will be playable by anyone with copies of both Half-Life 2 and Counter-Strike: Source.

Contents

[edit] Overview

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Black Mesa, which began in November of 2004, was born of the discontent fans experienced when playing Half-Life: Source; when considering the living environment Valve created with Half-Life 2 using the Source engine, the original game fell far short of what many players thought could be done with the software, basically being a straight port, except for improved water and lighting effects. According to the developers,

“ Black Mesa: Source was built and founded on the principle that Half-Life: Source did not do the original title enough credit...[Black Mesa] set out to reconstruct the original title, giving it new environments, models, and abilities. ”

Black Mesa won the Mod DB "Golden Spanner Award" for the most anticipated Half-Life 2 mod of 2005. Most likely due to the amount of publicity given to an unofficial third-party mod, Valve Corporation privately asked the producers of the mod to remove the "Source" part from the title to avoid confusion on whether it is an official Valve product or not.

Some of the chapters are nearing completion and they have released images of skins for the science personnel, and for some Xen aliens. It is also currently planned to include co-op gameplay[1], something only the PlayStation2 version of Half-Life offered.

On November 26, 2006, the Black Mesa website was relaunched with a brand new layout. The launch coincided with a promised media release, including level shots, character models, weapon models and music samples.

On December 16, 2006, media release "Stage 2" was released, which featured a revamped website, updated weapon models, revamped and new maps, Gargantua render, an animation movie of the mod's Houndeye and pictures of the Bullsquid. [1]

On January 25, 2007, Black Mesa once again won the Mod DB "Golden Spanner Award" for the most anticipated Half-Life 2 mod of 2006. The development team also submitted a teaser video which includes flybys of the Test Chamber, Blast Pit, Residue Processing, Lambda Core, and Surface Tension dam areas.

On January 26, 2007, an announcement was made looking for people to serve as voice actors.

On May 25, 2007, the Development team announced that they had enough voice actors, and were searching for effects artists.

On December 24, 2007, a devblog (developer's blog) was first introduced on the Black Mesa website. Written by developers, it features weekly updates, including development news and tips on using the Valve Hammer Editor.

On December 25, 2007, a new media release was submitted. Also most of the older screenshots were released again in a higher resolution.

[edit] Soundtrack

An original soundtrack composed and produced by the mod's sound designer, Joel Nielsen, will be released along with the modification itself, as well as independently shortly after the mod's release. Several songs for the game are already available at the official Black Mesa website.

[edit] Development team

A complete and up-to-date list of developers can be found on the team page.

[edit] Gallery

A screenshot of "Surface Tension".

Another shot of "Surface Tension".

The lobby from "Anomalous Materials".

The tram station from "Black Mesa: Inbound".

The Test Chamber in "Anomalous Materials".

The "Blast Pit" silo exterior.

The "Residue Processing" exterior.

Entrance to the "Lambda Core" reactor labs.

The "Lambda Core" freight elevator.

A render of the Gargantua.

[edit] Security related issues

Black Mesa has had several security related issues including several forum hacks that eventually lead to the migration of BM's boards to GamerNode's forums.

[edit] External links

[edit] Notable mentions

[edit] References

  1. ^ Black Mesa - About. Retrieved on 2007-08-08. See Game Modes