Black Mesa source: Half Life remake.

Probably a lot of you already know about this, but for those that don't, this is certainly worth a look. It has been under development for around 4 years (I think) though I only heard about it very recently.

In short, it is a complete 3rd party remake of the original Half Life that uses the source engine. Rather than just a reskin, it is a genuine remake from the ground up, and there will apparently be quite a bit of extra content. I think it looks pretty good.

It is especially impressive given that it will be a free addon, and as the website says, "the only thing you'll need to play the mod is a Steam account with any Source engine game installed."

More information http://www.blackmesasource.com/

Interview with one of the developers here

time line.

Hmm...I take it this has gotten the official nod from Valve?

This is indeed a timeline, but last I heard Valve has expressed full support of the idea. Seems like a company that actually supports modders, since they extend the life of the game exponentially. And maybe they feel bad about how lackluster Half-Life: Source was. I'm looking forward to it though, the revamping they've done to the original looks amazing.

So is this out now?
No, of course not. What was I thinking?

I can't think of a mod community more congested than HL2. It's not like ten years ago when modders messed with the code bit by bit, releasing preiodically, allowing their mods to grow organically. Hell, when I think back to the early versions of Counter-Strike, there were a few weapons, two models and a map. It didn't matter what condition it was in as long as it was one step closer to the end goal.

But no, everyone's so fucking ambitious these days. No one would dare release their mod in an unfinished state, to get feedback and enough momentum to continue. Websites are loaded up with concept art, renders and stills. Gameplay is a complete mystery. No one grasps the concept of "development hell". I wonder just how many mods are collecting dust on people's drives yet the developers are reluctant to officially abandon them, as they've already put in the effort equivalent to three HL1 mods.

Kyka said:

the only thing you'll need to play the mod is a Steam account...

Lost me right there. :P

Last I remember, they had to call it just Black Mesa because Valve didn't want them using Source since it's trademarked, but otherwise yes--Valve is fully in support of the project!

Also, as for being too ambitious, its because nobody makes mods for modern games for the fun of it anymore. They do it for a portfolio.

Bucket said:

So is this out now?
No, of course not. What was I thinking?

I can't think of a mod community more congested than HL2. It's not like ten years ago when modders messed with the code bit by bit, releasing preiodically, allowing their mods to grow organically. Hell, when I think back to the early versions of Counter-Strike, there were a few weapons, two models and a map. It didn't matter what condition it was in as long as it was one step closer to the end goal.

But no, everyone's so fucking ambitious these days. No one would dare release their mod in an unfinished state, to get feedback and enough momentum to continue. Websites are loaded up with concept art, renders and stills. Gameplay is a complete mystery. No one grasps the concept of "development hell". I wonder just how many mods are collecting dust on people's drives yet the developers are reluctant to officially abandon them, as they've already put in the effort equivalent to three HL1 mods.

I think the bigger problem is the community. They now expect a fully finished, bug free mod right out of the gate. Which, especially with the advanced engines and their technical details, is virtually impossible to do within a reasonable time scale. It would probably be in the modders best interest to release an unfinished beta to gain feedback, but if they did people would jump all over them for every problem, and call them lazy assholes for not releasing a finished product. A bit of a catch-22. They're doing it in their freetime, but if they can't release a polished product quickly then people will lose interest, but if they release a beta or demo that isn't polished then people will say it sucks, and never check back on it. Still, I'd say it's better to let them take their time, when it's released if it sucks then you can say the finished product sucks. If it's great, then it's worth the wait, there's plenty of other things to do in that time. It took Sierra/Valve 3 years to come out with Half-Life, and they were working full time and getting paid for it. I can understand a team of part time, unpaid modders recreating the game on a more advanced engine and adding to it taking a bit longer.

Ah, this looks nice. I think I have seen it before, but what the heck.

Nomad said:

Also, as for being too ambitious, its because nobody makes mods for modern games for the fun of it anymore. They do it for a portfolio.

What exactly is the problem with that?

Last I heard about Black Mesa is that they're planning to release this year, come hell or high water, basically because the team realized that if they didn't set a hard deadline, the project could just carry on indefinitely.

Personally, it's my opinion that they should've broken it down into chunks. Then, they could focus on one part of the game at a time, and be able to release something earlier AND have it be polished, too.

Enjay said:

Lost me right there. :P

Custom Title.

Jello said:

I think the bigger problem is the community. They now expect a fully finished, bug free mod right out of the gate.

Wha?
I don't think the community "expected" anything when HL2 came out. I certainly don't think they expected the well to be dry for two whole years.

Bucket said:

So is this out now?
No, of course not. What was I thinking?

I can't think of a mod community more congested than HL2. It's not like ten years ago when modders messed with the code bit by bit, releasing preiodically, allowing their mods to grow organically. Hell, when I think back to the early versions of Counter-Strike, there were a few weapons, two models and a map. It didn't matter what condition it was in as long as it was one step closer to the end goal.

But no, everyone's so fucking ambitious these days. No one would dare release their mod in an unfinished state, to get feedback and enough momentum to continue. Websites are loaded up with concept art, renders and stills. Gameplay is a complete mystery. No one grasps the concept of "development hell". I wonder just how many mods are collecting dust on people's drives yet the developers are reluctant to officially abandon them, as they've already put in the effort equivalent to three HL1 mods.

One word: Mordeth.

Another word: Millennium.

Yet another word: Paradox.

Jello said:

I think the bigger problem is the community. They now expect a fully finished, bug free mod right out of the gate.

This is true. And when you release early and released often, you'll be whined at by so many 12 year olds for being a loser for making the crappiest thing ever. (See: Science & Industry 2)

Heh, I remember the original S&I. That was actually a really fun mod...well, in concept. In reality, it would get retarded near the end because everyone would eventually vote in the crappy gimmick weapons which would replace the good ones.

Wasn't that the point of S&I, though? I always liked the idea that research would give you things like vials filled with a flesh eating virus. :p

Speaking of S&I2, they didn't throw in the towel early after the beta launch, did they?

Torn said:

What exactly is the problem with that?

On the surface, nothing. But everyone expects to have the next Counterstrike instead of actually having something fun and unique to play.

Actually, go ahead and sign me up. I could go and Boomify my last Skullspeed co-op map that went over the deadline. :)

Nomad said:

But everyone expects to have the next Counterstrike instead of actually having something fun and unique to play.

Speaking of which, just about every mod that does get released is basically a variant of Counter-Strike, which is both dull and unambitious.

I will be happy when this gets released. I have played all the bits of Half-Life 2 but not the first game.

Snarboo said:

Speaking of which, just about every mod that does get released is basically a variant of Counter-Strike, which is both dull and unambitious.

The hyped-to-death Neotokyo mod is such, praised for visuals but it basically is Counter-Strike in future Japan, and plays bland even with class-based play with minor variations in between (but still is all about bullets).

Looks pretty cool. If it captures the spirit of the original I'd definitely buy a Source-engined game to play it.

Whilst Bucket's rant is essentially true, I'm not a HL/Source modder, enthusiast or even player so it doesn't really bother me either way.

Goldeneye: Source has been doing beta releases.

Black Mesa looks awesome. I'm not a fan of CS-style games (because I totally suck at them). This will give me an excuse to reinstall Steam.

I followed Black Mesa source for a while, and just kinda stopped after it seemed like an eternity and they hadn't even released anything playable. Looks awesome but seriously, how much longer?

Krispavera said:

I followed Black Mesa source for a while, and just kinda stopped after it seemed like an eternity and they hadn't even released anything playable. Looks awesome but seriously, how much longer?

The end of the official trailer has "2009" fade into view right at the end, and also in an interview, one of the developers also stated that there will be a release this year.

So hopefully it will only be a few months...

Hopefullly.

Aliotroph? said:

Goldeneye: Source has been doing beta releases.

Not early and often enough though.

It looks pretty good. I will probably give it a play through as I did enjoy bits and parts of the Half Life series.

Lord_Z said:

I will be happy when this gets released. I have played all the bits of Half-Life 2 but not the first game.

You should probably invest in Half-Life and Opposing Force. I think they were better than Half-Life 2 as far as gameplay. It didn't have the story where you were the silent savior of mankind, and the whole love interest with Alex, but the AI to me seemed far better than HL2. It was more combat oriented, without all the annoying driving sequences breaking it up, and the enemies would actually dodge, flank, and use grenades intelligently. It might've helped that I played it a year after it came out because all the scripted sequences, usable entities, secondary firing modes, reloading, advanced AI were all new at the time, but I think the first one and OP:Force were better than HL2. HL2 was just a bit too scripted for my tastes, it seemed like they were trying to make a movie more than a game.

And Valve and possibly Gearbox really needs to resurrect Adrian Shepard. I don't care if Race X isn't regarded as Cannon, Opposing Force was the best mission pack I've ever played.

So I'm confused: so if I didn't feel lke rebuying half life I could just get this and run it off the engine potral uses?

If the propaganda is to be believed, you just need any Source-powered game, which would include Portal.