Black Mesas Xen chapters are targeting a summer 2017 launch, shows off map size comparisons - Polidicks

[QUOTE]"Off the back of its Halloween update and coinciding sale, Crowbar Collective has announced a rough timeline for the Xen portion of its Black Mesa Half-Life remake. "...its maps have been redesigned and expanded—both in size and in number. "We wanted to use the holiday and the sale to announce our rough timeline for Xen. We are currently targeting a summer 2017 release," says Crowbar via an update post. "We will keep you up to date on our progress and we plan to show off some media as we finish developing Xen to give everyone a glimpse at what we are working on."" [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/0jsdWcF.png[/IMG] [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/zx35JxK.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE] [url]http://www.pcgamer.com/black-mesa-team-outlines-xen-levels-timeline-aims-for-summer-launch/?ns_campaign=article-feed&ns_mchannel=ref&ns_source=steam&ns_linkname=0&ns_fee=0[/url] [url]http://steamcommunity.com/games/362890/announcements/detail/548704690350103809[/url]

I'll be honest, I was prepared for them to abandon the project with Xen never seeing the light of day, so this is p.cool.

Was JUST about to post this. Been following Black Mesa since early 2006, I can't fucking wait to play the finished version. The amount of effort put into this game is astounding.

Looks like a promising design, I'm optimistic about how it'll look.

Looks promising, there's plenty of games coming out between now and then so they can take their time.

Those seem awfully big. I hope they're more enjoyable than the HL1 iterations of Xen, otherwise the huge size is a downside rather than a benefit.

[url=http://store.steampowered.com/app/362890/]It's still on sale right now for $8,[/url] this is the last day to get it though before the sale ends so it's the best time to do so if you were previously on the fence over the price tag.

This is the whole revamped Half-life game made by a fan correct? Or like a group of fans? They released the game, but it wasn't finished if I remember. Or am I wrong? Be nice to revisit the Half-life world again, now as an adult who won't turn of the screen and unplug the computer, cuz bullsquids make scary sounds.

I've been waiting to buy Black Mesa until Xen was added. I want to buy the finished product and not give the devs a chance to take the money and run, which happens with a lot of Early Access titles. Looks like I'll finally be able to support this great-looking mod this summer!

Dumb question, will Xen be a part of the free version as well or should I buy it now that it's on sale?

[QUOTE=Kirbunny431;51287571]I've been waiting to buy Black Mesa until Xen was added. I want to buy the finished product and not give the devs a chance to take the money and run, which happens with a lot of Early Access titles. Looks like I'll finally be able to support this great-looking mod this summer![/QUOTE] You really think that the people who worked on Black Mesa for 10 years would just up and run off with the money? I suppose it's not out of the question, but these guys seem much too devoted to the game to do something like that.

[QUOTE=Tervez;51287623]Dumb question, will Xen be a part of the free version as well or should I buy it now that it's on sale?[/QUOTE] it won't. there aren't going to be any updates for the free version if I've heard correctly.

[QUOTE=Tervez;51287623]Dumb question, will Xen be a part of the free version as well or should I buy it now that it's on sale?[/QUOTE] Paid version.

Cool. I was a little worried that development had halted.

Bought black mesa in the sale few months back but I'm waiting for xen before I install it.

What exactly happens when you reach Xen in the game as it is now?

[QUOTE=Dr. Evilcop;51287840]What exactly happens when you reach Xen in the game as it is now?[/QUOTE] Credit roll at the moment IIRC when you get to or finish the teleport sequence like in the original HL.

[QUOTE=Dr. Evilcop;51287840]What exactly happens when you reach Xen in the game as it is now?[/QUOTE] You jump into the portal, hear the Nihilanth, and the credits roll

[QUOTE=ZestyLemons;51287861]Credit roll at the moment IIRC when you get to or finish the teleport sequence like in the original HL.[/QUOTE] I always thought it was kinda shitty they took the opportunity to make Black Mesa a paid-for game without having Xen done. I understand the difficulties of making an organic environment in Source, but they could have at least put a place holder in there; [URL="https://youtu.be/7AvoPe2Z-pY"]there's a fan-made mod[/URL] that spruces up the Half-Life Source Xen maps and puts 'em in Black Mesa. Why couldn't the Black Mesa team do at least that instead of having a huge missing portion of the game for the last four years? Or at least the last year since the paid-for game came out..

[QUOTE=Dr. Evilcop;51287903]I always thought it was kinda shitty they took the opportunity to make Black Mesa a paid-for game without having Xen done. I understand the difficulties of making an organic environment in Source, but they could have at least put a place holder in there; [URL="https://youtu.be/7AvoPe2Z-pY"]there's a fan-made mod[/URL] that spruces up the Half-Life Source Xen maps and puts 'em in Black Mesa. Why couldn't the Black Mesa team do at least that instead of having a huge missing portion of the game for the last four years? Or at least the last year since the paid-for game came out..[/QUOTE] From what I understand they didn't want to do that because the vast majority of Half-Life's fanbase sort of really disliked the FPS platforming and overall gameplay found in Xen. They decided that they wanted Black Mesa to have nothing to do with it, and landed on making a completely new and original vastly expanded version of Xen, taking the best of the classic version (I.E overall look and atmosphere) while removing everything that made it bland. But yes, I agree, the cliffhanger at the end of Black Mesa is bullshit, and it makes the universe even more confusing to people "new" to Half-Life who never played the first one

will you get a car to travel that long of a distance?

Can someone explain the differences between the free version of Black Mesa I played forever ago and the for-sale version? Does the for-sale version have coop?

[QUOTE=Rixxz2;51287937]From what I understand they didn't want to do that because the vast majority of Half-Life's fanbase sort of really disliked the FPS platforming and overall gameplay found in Xen. They decided that they wanted Black Mesa to have nothing to do with it, and landed on making a completely new and original vastly expanded version of Xen, taking the best of the classic version (I.E overall look and atmosphere) while removing everything that made it bland. But yes, I agree, the cliffhanger at the end of Black Mesa is bullshit, and it makes the universe even more confusing to people "new" to Half-Life who never played the first one[/QUOTE] I can understand that, and I can also understand not abandoning their creative vision of an organic environment for Xen. But sheesh, surely a placeholder would have been preferable to literally nothing, especially in a game they're now charging for. All they needed to do was put in big letters "THIS SECTION OF THE GAME IS A PLACEHOLDER." Oh well, is what it is I guess :v:

[QUOTE=Raidyr;51287982]Can someone explain the differences between the free version of Black Mesa I played forever ago and the for-sale version? Does the for-sale version have coop?[/QUOTE] it has multiplayer, additional on a rail and surface tension levels, and recieves updates

[QUOTE=Trekintosh;51287400]Those seem awfully big. I hope they're more enjoyable than the HL1 iterations of Xen, otherwise the huge size is a downside rather than a benefit.[/QUOTE] There's a leaked model of a grappling hook gun since the last update, which could be really fun.

[QUOTE=salty peanut v2;51288000]it has multiplayer, additional on a rail and surface tension levels, and recieves updates[/QUOTE] When you say multiplayer, is that coop, or a HLDM-esque thing?

[QUOTE=Raidyr;51288054]When you say multiplayer, is that coop, or a HLDM-esque thing?[/QUOTE] HLDM, it's pretty fun though. If you really are interested in playing it, I would recommend it. The level design stays true to the style of the original Half-Life while adding incredible amounts of detail to each area. The visuals are refreshing after playing through the original game many times over. The combat as pretty fluid and provides a decent challenge. BMS is currently on sale for $7.99, which is a great bargain considering how well made BMS is. Then play it as much as you want, wait until the Xen release, and play it even more.

[QUOTE=TAU!;51288074]HLDM, it's pretty fun though. If you really are interested in playing it, I would recommend it. The level design stays true to the style of the original Half-Life while adding incredible amounts of detail to each area. The visuals are refreshing after playing through the original game many times over. The combat as pretty fluid and provides a decent challenge. BMS is currently on sale for $7.99, which is a great bargain considering how well made BMS is. Then play it as much as you want, wait until the Xen release, and play it even more.[/QUOTE] I played it when it was a mod and thought it was outstanding, will probably pick it up on sale tonight. Thanks for the info guys.

[QUOTE=salty peanut v2;51288000]it has multiplayer, additional on a rail and surface tension levels, and recieves updates[/QUOTE] Do you mean the "uncut" ports in the workshop? Or am I missing something?

[QUOTE=halfer;51288311]Do you mean the "uncut" ports in the workshop? Or am I missing something?[/QUOTE] The creator of those was hired and at least a updated [I]surface tension uncut[/I] have been added to the full game. I am not sure about [I]on a rail[/I].