I'm really enjoying it so far. I never got to play the original Half-Life, so this is all new to me. It certainly plays far different from the games I grew up with, since I was only seven years old when Half-Life 1 came out.
So... Black Mesa
- Thread starter Bagged Milk
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I love this mod. It not only enhances the graphics and locations but adds new gameplay elements. It was well worth the wait imo. The jump crouch getting annoying but I quickly got over it. I also kind of wished they didn't have those platform jumping sections but I understand they did to stay true to the game.
I'm doing a "blind" let't play of the game right now. I use the word "blind" loosely because I have played Half-Life several times. It's in the spoiler tags if you want to watch it.
I'm doing a "blind" let't play of the game right now. I use the word "blind" loosely because I have played Half-Life several times. It's in the spoiler tags if you want to watch it.
A question from someone who played the original but couldn't get past the older gameplay, is the story the same? Are the G-Man encounters still there? Do the Vortigaunts and the final boss still talk, act like they're being controlled by a higher master? Is this close enough to the original to be canon, or is this like MGS: Twin Snakes? I'd like to get this, but I essentially want something completely faithful to the series and the vision. Also, any news if Steam's put it out yet?
For all intends and purposes, Black Mesa is functionally identical to Half-Life. The level design is 90% identical, some minor variations here and there, but usually in places that don't matter. The G-Man encounters are the same. The walkthrough is identical.Nieroshai said:
When they started, all those many years ago, I thought they should definitely do this, do a 1:1 copy. But now that I'm playing it, it becomes obvious that even the best level and game design of 1999 just won't cut it anymore.
Being locked up in the Black Mesa Station for the majority of the game is boring, the level design of it is boring. The world - a showcase for dynamic and interactivity then - feels dead and dull. Enemy A.I. is non-existent. NPC interaction is rudimentary.
One of the coolest things used to be the various encounters with scientists scattered throughout the place, they gave a feeling of a living world. But today even third rate shooters have more immersion like this.
And yeah, as somebody else pointed out, the jump height issue is just appalling. I haven't done a duck-jump in ages and here I have to do it ALL THE TIME. I had to deviate from my regular key mapping to accomodate for this.
I used to think that Black Mesa was a way to introduce a new generation of players to one of the quintessential video games, but now I think NO, just prettifying it won't do. You can't recreate the impact HL had in 1999. If anything, it will diminish the greatness of Half-Life, because it now looks modern and new players might judge it against modern shooters - and it will fail.
In hindsight, they should have taken more artistic license. Even if extreme fanboys would be on the barricades (how many of them could be left anyways). But then a team of dedicated amateurs (as in not paid, not untalented) would have never been able to finish it. And it already was a monumental effort by the devs. Kudos!
I will gladly play through it, if just to bring up all those fond memories...
Story is the same except for some minor details to fit in with altered level structure, G-Man still shows his face, and Xen hasn't been completed yet and will be added to the game at a later date.Nieroshai said:
The game has been greenlit but isn't yet on Steam.
I think that the changes are intentional and well thought out. The change in crowbar location, for example, improves the pacing: you have flares that allow you to fight off the bad guys in a passive, more tense way. It basically bridges the gap between powerless and having the almighty crowbar, which is something they just couldn't do very well in the original without a physics engine. Now you have burning headcrab zombies wailing as they flail towards you, while you are there powerless, hoping it burns to death before it catches you. Which is perfect, seeing how that first stretch of the game goes a long way towards establishing the pace and atmosphere.Hardcore_gamer said:So far its good.
That said, some of the changes are a bit baffling. What purpose did it serve to give you the crowbar later then usual and to replace the first shotgun that you get with a magnun? The mod has these little changes here and there that while not really "bad" per say still weren't really needed.
I am also not a fan of how some of the areas have been messed with and redesigned. I hate those god damn barnicles, and now they are in lots of places where they weren't before. I almost got eaten by one in a barnacle trap that isn't in the original game
But generally speaking this mod is great, so far I have made it to the Blast Pit chapter.
My only complaint is that when you first see the microwave, there is a power setting called, "Head Crab". It's not a particularly inspired joke, and it requires a complete dismantling of the fourth wall, which feels sort of amateurish. But yeah, if that's my biggest complaint, that's pretty incredible.
Anyone catch the gremlins reference with the headcrab?
Mostly I'm really enjoying it. The music is good, but it doesn't feel like Half Life to me. Not enough synth.
Mostly I'm really enjoying it. The music is good, but it doesn't feel like Half Life to me. Not enough synth.
Did yu deliberately miss the point that mod was in fact made by the fans (not by Valve as you presumed) who criticized your joke which doesn't even make sense in context (if you had put a baby with a shotgun blasting away zombies that at least would have got some chuckles) and whom you failed to give credit for making the mod which was in fact the labor of eight years.Rastelin said: