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'''''Black Mesa''''' (previously known as "'''''Black Mesa: Source'''''") |
'''''Black Mesa''''' (previously known as "'''''Black Mesa: Source'''''") was a third-party [[mod (computer gaming)|total conversion mod]] for ''[[Half-Life 2]]''. The ultimate goal of the mod was 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 [[Game artificial intelligence|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'' would have been playable by anyone with copies of both ''Half-Life 2'' and ''[[Counter-Strike: Source]]''. |
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== Overview == |
== 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 [[porting|port]], except for improved water and lighting effects. According to the developers, {{cquote2|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'', 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 [[porting|port]], except for improved water and lighting effects. According to the developers, {{cquote2|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.}} |
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''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 |
''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 was an official Valve product or not. |
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Some of the chapters |
Some of the chapters neared completion and they had released images of skins for the science personnel, and for some [[Xen (Half-Life)|Xen]] aliens. It was planned to have included [[Cooperative gameplay|co-op gameplay]]<ref>{{cite web |
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| title=Black Mesa - About |
| title=Black Mesa - About |
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| url=http://www.blackmesasource.com/about.html |
| url=http://www.blackmesasource.com/about.html |
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==Soundtrack== |
==Soundtrack== |
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An original [[soundtrack]] composed and produced by the mod's sound designer, [[Joel Nielsen]], |
An original [[soundtrack]] composed and produced by the mod's sound designer, [[Joel Nielsen]], would have been released along with the modification itself, as well as independently shortly after the mod's release. Several songs for the game were available at the official Black Mesa website. |
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==Development team== |
==Development team== |
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A complete and up-to-date list of developers |
A complete and up-to-date list of developers was found on the [http://www.blackmesasource.com/team.php team page]. |
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==Gallery== |
==Gallery== |
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Revision as of 05:27, 15 May 2008
- 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 | TBC |
| Genre(s) | First-person shooter |
| Mode(s) | Singleplayer, Multiplayer |
Black Mesa (previously known as "Black Mesa: Source") was a third-party total conversion mod for Half-Life 2. The ultimate goal of the mod was 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 would have been playable by anyone with copies of both Half-Life 2 and Counter-Strike: Source.
Overview
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 was an official Valve product or not.
Some of the chapters neared completion and they had released images of skins for the science personnel, and for some Xen aliens. It was planned to have included 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.
Soundtrack
An original soundtrack composed and produced by the mod's sound designer, Joel Nielsen, would have been released along with the modification itself, as well as independently shortly after the mod's release. Several songs for the game were available at the official Black Mesa website.
Development team
A complete and up-to-date list of developers was found on the team page.
Gallery
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A screenshot of "Surface Tension".A screenshot of "Surface Tension".
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Another shot of "Surface Tension".Another shot of "Surface Tension".
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The lobby from "Anomalous Materials".The lobby from "Anomalous Materials".
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The tram station from "Black Mesa: Inbound".The tram station from "Black Mesa: Inbound".
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The Test Chamber in "Anomalous Materials".The Test Chamber in "Anomalous Materials".
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The "Blast Pit" silo exterior.The "Blast Pit" silo exterior.
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The "Residue Processing" exterior.The "Residue Processing" exterior.
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Entrance to the "Lambda Core" reactor labs.Entrance to the "Lambda Core" reactor labs.
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The "Lambda Core" freight elevator.The "Lambda Core" freight elevator.
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A render of the Gargantua.A render of the Gargantua.
Source code leak
On May 10, 2006, the developers of Black Mesa reported that a portion of the source code, codenamed "Alpha 5", was leaked. Screenshots of the internal alpha release were reported on at least two forums.
Shortly afterwards, the developers released an announcement about the leak and requested that if any pictures were found, to report it to the development team. This request appeared to stifle the remainder of the leak, at least for the time being.
On May 11, 2006, the developers reported that they had found the person responsible for the leak, and while he had not agreed to delete the actual alpha file from his computer, he would not take any further action against the Black Mesa team.
However, on September 9, 2006, at 9:30PM PDT (14:30 UTC), a member of the Official Garry's Mod Forums, Facepunch Studios posted several links, including a torrent and several RapidShare download pages, to 478.6mb-sized archives named BMS.rar in a thread entitled "[RELEASE] Black Mesa Source! Woot! (Download Links)". The member closed his post with "Credits goes to me for releasing BMS". The thread has since been deleted and the links removed.
Forums hacked
As of June 6, 2006, the Black Mesa forums were closed for repairs due to a hacker. On June 13, 2006, it was made known (though not widely) that the hacker(s) responsible either directly or indirectly damaged the forums beyond repair; the 3500+ accounts and most if not all of the forums' posts were lost.
As of June 17, 2006, the Black Mesa forums had been restarted, under Invision Power Board. The forums were hacked again the next day; it was assumed by the same hacker who had originally taken down the forums in the first place in response to derogatory comments made about them on the board; the attacker, known only as "r00t", left this message:
r00t hacked those forums. Why? Because it annoys me that you think I'm a script kiddie which hacked 2.0.4. Now I hacked 2.1.6...Anyway, all the IPB series are full of critical bugs. When they close 1 bug.. another one opens. Just like Windows. So you were hacked again...My IP is not my IP, its my little proxy and it does NOT keep any logs. No admin was hacked, it was just an exploit to byass admin login and go straight to teh admin CP as an invissible [sic] root admin. Say sorry for something and admit that I'm not a script kiddie and I'll leave you all alone.
After letting the message sit for a few hours control of the board was returned to the Black Mesa team, which has issued a policy against making any further comments about the hacker, lest they suffer through another attack. They were then hacked again, the forums once more disabled.
Allright [sic], Apology accespted [sic] and I was out so I couldn't read it. Enable it when you see that messege [sic] I'll not hack you again (myself) but I can't speak so for others. And it wasn't me who hacked you long ago.
Forum move
As a result of these attacks, the Black Mesa team moved to merge the forums with GamerNode, a large commercially-based website devoted to videogames, who had already been hosting them for some time. The merge was completed on September 7, 2006. Lead animator Nathan Ayres had this to say on the subject:
We are doing this for many reasons, the most important of which is security in our forums. Despite rumors floating around, GamerNode is not doing this for any personal gain of their own, we have been on good terms with them for a long time, and we have voluntarily agreed to be merged.
Public website hacked
On September 15, 2006, Black Mesa's public website underwent an attack that wiped all files from the database. [2] The attack didn't seem to be directed at the team, but instead at the hosting service the website was on, M-E-Tech. Several other forums hosted by M-E-Tech, such as Leak-Free, were deleted as well. The public forums are still up and running on GamerNode's server and can be accessed by going to http://forums.gamernode.com/forumdisplay.php?f=4692
ModDB Status
On October 15, 2007 a posting was made by a ModDb staff member to the forums on Shacknews indicating that a member of the Black Mesa Team named Kester had contacted ModDB and requested the mod be placed in archival status. [3] The real Kester soon registered to indicate that ModDB was mistaken, he had made no such request, and the mod was still active. [4]
External links
Notable mentions
- Honorable mention at the Mod DB Top Unreleased Mod for 2007
- Mod DB Top Unreleased Mod for 2006
- Mod DB Top Unreleased Mod for 2005
- Online Recording of Gamers United Interview with Black Mesa Staff
References
- ^ "Black Mesa - About". Retrieved 2007-08-08. See Game Modes