Black Mesa Source Countdown

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Crow550

Platinum Member
Oct 4, 2005
2,381
5
81
Aw I hope they add the Hazard Course. :p Then the people having issues with crouch jumping would know that it's a feature apart of the HEV suit. Like us old schoolers learned.

Here is a few videos on some AI stuff in Half-Life 97 that people may not have known about:

http://youtu.be/Elwb2lV88hM?hd=1

http://youtu.be/IEFnr7wTjUM?hd=1

http://youtu.be/Lqxag2TDqtQ?hd=1

Pretty neat. I never noticed these.

Also if for reason you were bummed that you couldn't play the Dreamcast port of Half-Life it was released on PC: http://youtu.be/KC4S__xirzQ?hd=1 :D Anyone play the PS2 port? It was the best version at it's time. Then later the PS2 stuff was ported to the PC version. Before that was the HD models from the Blue-Shift expansion but the PS2 version improved them even more.

Has Gabe said anything about Black Mesa yet?
 
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Crow550

Platinum Member
Oct 4, 2005
2,381
5
81
Yeah, it's not just you. There will be little stutters or jerkiness occasionally on mine too, even though my rig blows away every other source game without breaking a sweat (as it should).

Try:

In Steam you can also right click on Black Mesa and goto Properties then set launch options and add -threads # (# being number of cpu cores for example -threads 4)

As well as -high which will set the game to a high cpu priority. (Example -threads 4 -high) then click ok.

So give those two commands a whirl.
 

VulgarDisplay

Diamond Member
Apr 3, 2009
6,193
2
76
I noticed jerkiness on the platform ride down. I also found a glitch to get past the headcrabs with no damage. Stand in the front corner of the platform. Most of them will leap over your head and fall to their deaths below.

This mod is AMAZING. I can't believe how well done it is. Most AAA games aren't done this well these days. Hopefully how awesome this is will spark a renaissance in old school game design. No regen, actual difficulty, and maps that require thinking to get through.

I love it.
 

Sulaco

Diamond Member
Mar 28, 2003
3,860
44
91
404 polish not found.

Its not polished. Issues like the jump height and the difficulty of some parts of the game would never have made it into a proper release with QA. Plus the performance issues that people are having are most likely mapping related. And I saw a few scripting errors related to triggers not firing.

Its not polished.

For a mod though, it is amazing. It blurs the line between mod and game I think. Its too much content to be a mod, but also not quite a new game. Its more game than mod I think.

Yeah I know people will say that people like me are bitching about something free. I'm not bitching - its still an amazing achievement. I especially like the new maps - they tell the tale of HL1 in a better way. On a Rail was a huge improvement especially. But that doesnt mean it doesnt have its faults, and that doesnt mean they cant be pointed out so that they can be fixed.

Also, I wonder what would have happened if they had released parts of it earlier, and got feedback on those parts. Being free, is it ever "finished"?

Seriously? A wonky jump control out of the box, and a few non-game effecting stuttering issues? I haven't seen any of your "scripting issues".
Please. In this day and age where games often have CTDs, are unplayable until SEVERAL patches, have game breaking bugs both in gameplay and in technical stability, this is a polished release. NOT perfect. There's a difference.

If this was a MAINSTREAM game, those complaints would be minor. As a free mod, it's even more impressive.

It's all perspective, but the "issues" the game has a 1.00 release are so minor, in comparison to many game's faults, that yeah, it's impressive.
 

thejunglegod

Golden Member
Feb 12, 2012
1,358
36
91
Heck, once you play the game for about half an hour, the crouch jump gets easy :)
No worries at all now.

BTW what is with the sudden "heroic" music that plays in certain areas? Was it there in the original as well? I can't seem to remember.
 

Sulaco

Diamond Member
Mar 28, 2003
3,860
44
91
Heck, once you play the game for about half an hour, the crouch jump gets easy :)
No worries at all now.

BTW what is with the sudden "heroic" music that plays in certain areas? Was it there in the original as well? I can't seem to remember.

Yes, it was, although not quite as much as in Black Mesa.

They did an EXCELLENT job in the audio department especially. I loved Half Life's trademark looooooooong stretches of silence. And then when there WAS music, it made it that much more epic. They really got the feel of the music down too, the tracks are excellent and really fit with the game.
 

thejunglegod

Golden Member
Feb 12, 2012
1,358
36
91
They did an EXCELLENT job in the audio department especially. I loved Half Life's trademark looooooooong stretches of silence. And then when there WAS music, it made it that much more epic. They really got the feel of the music down too, the tracks are excellent and really fit with the game.

Yep, it's kind of a Valve trademark i think. They executed it perfectly in Portal 2 as well.
 

AnMig

Golden Member
Nov 7, 2000
1,760
3
81
Does anyone have Low FPS issues? I have a Catleap playing at 1440 4xAA.
I have a I-5 at 4.5ghz 7970 x2 crossfire (1050 each), Vsync is off

When i stated playing, before the incident FPS was 120's with lows of 90's.
Then for the past few days FPS is crazy low 25-30 (FRAPS)

My 7970's also does not appear to be working at all, I dont get that fan ramping like when I play BF3.

Funny side note and warning for those people using FRAPS, the make a movie hot key is F9, which is the default key for Black mesa to load last save. I wound up with 74gb of game play video. I though this was certainly the culprit for my low FPS but even after turning the Movie capture low fps remains.

I hope its not using my I-5 on board video.

Currently on Cat 12.7 drivers, will try 12.8 later.

Peace
 

Pheran

Diamond Member
Apr 26, 2001
5,849
48
91
I'm loving this mod - I forgot how hair-raising climbing down the cliff in Surface Tension is. There is one thing that seemed missing to me, unless my memory is faulty. In the original Half-Life, I remember HATING the helicopter. It would harass you through multiple parts of the game, and then when you finally got a rocket launcher, taking it down was immensely satisfying. I didn't experience that in Black Mesa, only met the chopper once before finding the launcher. Anyone else notice this?
 

Martimus

Diamond Member
Apr 24, 2007
4,488
152
106
I am just flabbergasted that this mod was actually released! I was so excited about it 5 years ago or so, but to see it done and actually be good after all that development time is amazing to me. I am quite impressed.
 

Geosurface

Diamond Member
Mar 22, 2012
5,776
4
0
I'm loving this mod - I forgot how hair-raising climbing down the cliff in Surface Tension is. There is one thing that seemed missing to me, unless my memory is faulty. In the original Half-Life, I remember HATING the helicopter. It would harass you through multiple parts of the game, and then when you finally got a rocket launcher, taking it down was immensely satisfying. I didn't experience that in Black Mesa, only met the chopper once before finding the launcher. Anyone else notice this?

I think you're mixing up HL1 and HL2

HL2 was the one with the chopper that haunted you for a long time.
 

Bill Brasky

Diamond Member
May 18, 2006
4,345
1
0
Yes, it was, although not quite as much as in Black Mesa.

They did an EXCELLENT job in the audio department especially. I loved Half Life's trademark looooooooong stretches of silence. And then when there WAS music, it made it that much more epic. They really got the feel of the music down too, the tracks are excellent and really fit with the game.

This was one aspect of the game that really blew me away. Generally mods don't go above and beyond the original dev, but that was some of the best audio direction I've heard in a game.
 

The_Golden_Man

Senior member
Apr 7, 2012
816
1
0
I played this game in 1998 using Voodoo 1 or was it a Voodoo 2 card. Was a great game at the time. Probably the greatest.

Anyway, I'm not gonna play it again, even if it comes with upgraded grahics. I feel this belongs to my past....
 

Makaveli

Diamond Member
Feb 8, 2002
4,715
1,049
136
I played this game in 1998 using Voodoo 1 or was it a Voodoo 2 card. Was a great game at the time. Probably the greatest.

Anyway, I'm not gonna play it again, even if it comes with upgraded grahics. I feel this belongs to my past....

You are doing yourself a disservice.
 

KeithTalent

Elite Member | Administrator | No Lifer
Administrator
Nov 30, 2005
50,235
117
116
Played for about thirty minutes last night and it was awesome. Looks fantastic and I did not have a single glitch of any kind; smooth as butter.

KT
 

Dkcode

Senior member
May 1, 2005
995
0
0
Its a quality piece of work, really impressed with what they have done and a great throwback to some classic FPS gaming and one of the best shooters ever made. Its not a 1:1 remake, some thing have been added and moved around but it stays very faithful to the classic 1998 version.

Best thing of all its really solid and satisfying to play, which is hard to get nailed down in a mod. They have some talent on board for sure.
 

coldmeat

Diamond Member
Jul 10, 2007
9,214
78
91
Heck, once you play the game for about half an hour, the crouch jump gets easy :)
No worries at all now.

BTW what is with the sudden "heroic" music that plays in certain areas? Was it there in the original as well? I can't seem to remember.

Do you have a disc in your dvd drive?
 

Pheran

Diamond Member
Apr 26, 2001
5,849
48
91
Oh man, I'm in the huge room full of tripmines and explosives. I totally forgot about this. :)
 

nitromullet

Diamond Member
Jan 7, 2004
9,031
36
91
Issues like the jump height and the difficulty of some parts of the game would never have made it into a proper release with QA.

The jump height is a design choice. Has nothing to do with polish or completeness.

I also don't know what you mean about difficulty level. I'm getting close to the end of it and the difficulty seems in line with the original HL1 and HL2/episodes.

Plus the performance issues that people are having are most likely mapping related. And I saw a few scripting errors related to triggers not firing.

I haven't experienced any scripting errors, but I definitely know about the frame rate drops people are referring to. Hopefully they will sort that out, although while it's noticeable it certainly has not been game breaking for me.