Black Mesa: Xen update

[Verdugo]

Tried to search for an old thread, but decided not to after nothing was found in the last two years.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of Half-Life, the long awaited final chapters of Black Mesa are shown in motion for the first time! Xen is targeted for release in Q2 2019.

[Soulwind]

It looks amazing. Truly.

It almost looks good enough to justify the wait.

Almost.

[Shinzai]

Jesus Christ, after all this time, it's almost completed. I guess that's when I'll do my next Half Life playthrough then.

[Puupi]

Wait, this is something for Half Life...1?

[Firatha]

Omg it's finnaly happening I have been waiting for this for years they did such a good job with the rest of the game but this just looks better.

[Cosmic Janitor]

Wait, this is something for Half Life...1?

Surely this has to be for 2, right? I think I spotted some water reflection effects which I'm pretty sure were not possible in GoldSrc.
Edit: It's from the guys that did the fan remake, so I guess that makes sense then.

[XDurionX]

Surely this has to be for 2, right? I think I spotted some water reflection effects which I'm pretty sure were not possible in GoldSrc.

"Black Mesa" is a HL1 remake.

[Soulwind]

Wait, this is something for Half Life...1?

Black Mesa was a somewhat-fanmade remake of Half-Life 1. It had been in development for quite a while, and released a few years ago. Unfortunately, the game ends before the last chapter of the original game, with the devs essentially telling you "we're almost there, give us some more time to properly remake Xen".

What is shown here is not just a remake of the environments shown in Half-Life, but a massive, mostly original, world created from scratch. It is impressive, very much so, but one can't help but wonder if making a more faithful remake of the original wouldn't have saved them a lot of time and effort.

Nobody asked them to improve on what Valve made (which they most likely have, given the trailer), so it's slightly bittersweet that they have taken this long to create their own version of Xen, beautiful as it may be.

I guess if they had spent all this time and creativity on a project of their own, it wouldn't have gotten nearly as much attention as this will. I can't say I don't understand their reasons or appreciate their work, I just wish this could have been included in the release version of Black Mesa somehow.

Can't wait for it, I'm ashamed to say I never got to play the first HL.

It looks fucking great, can't wait.

You can already play most of the game except for the last chapter if you want. Or you can wait and play the whole thing when this releases.

[Soulwind]

Sweet, but I'll just wait, since I know I'll end up devouring the damn thing.

I get the feeling their version of Xen will be a lot longer, otherwise it's minutes, maybe an hour, that's really missing from the game. Including the final boss(es) and the ending, of course.

[Verdugo]

Black Mesa was a somewhat-fanmade remake of Half-Life 1. It had been in development for quite a while, and released a few years ago. Unfortunately, the game ends before the last chapter of the original game, with the devs essentially telling you "we're almost there, give us some more time to properly remake Xen".

What is shown here is not just a remake of the environments shown in Half-Life, but a massive, mostly original, world created from scratch. It is impressive, very much so, but one can't help but wonder if making a more faithful remake of the original wouldn't have saved them a lot of time and effort.

Nobody asked them to improve on what Valve made (which they most likely have, given the trailer), so it's slightly bittersweet that they have taken this long to create their own version of Xen, beautiful as it may be.

I guess if they had spent all this time and creativity on a project of their own, it wouldn't have gotten nearly as much attention as this will. I can't say I don't understand their reasons or appreciate their work, I just wish this could have been included in the release version of Black Mesa somehow.

Well its not remake or remaster or whatever, its reimagining. Thats why they cut a big chunk of "On the rails" chapter, because they felt that it dragged for too long. Likewise, original Xen was a rushed mess with annoying mechanics so they are trying to make it much more climatic.

[Acelius]

Can't wait! Black Mesa was, and is, an amazing experience. It'll be great to play it through again, all the way!

[Powerogue]

They really are determined to go above and beyond with this. As long as it releases before I die I'm happy.

Though I will then obviously want them to get to work on Half Life 2: Episode 3. :P

Stuff like this and Half Life: Echoes (which plays like an Opposing Force/Blue Shift style "expansion" of HL1) really show how awesome the half life modding community is even 20 years later.

Well its not remake or remaster or whatever, its reimagining. Thats why they cut a big chunk of "On the rails" chapter, because they felt that it dragged for too long. Likewise, original Xen was a rushed mess with annoying mechanics so they are trying to make it much more climatic.

I actually installed a mod for it that adds a lot of the cut content in. I just don't know if it works for the paid version (which I, being a cheapskate, have been waiting for Xen to release to buy)

Wait, this is something for Half Life...1?

Remake of HL1 in HL2's engine and utilizing a lot of HL2's added benefits such as actual physics. It mixes things up enough I'd recommend any newcomer to get both for unique experiences.

[Daedius]

Did I see an Onos charging over an Acid Spitter Crocodile thingy?