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

you know I would love to play this righr before hl3 to get me in the mood

[QUOTE=Sled Dog;51287628]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] This has been said for literally every early access game. I think I'll wait until it's [I]actually finished[/I] before I buy it.

[QUOTE=DeEz;51288493]This has been said for literally every early access game. I think I'll wait until it's [I]actually finished[/I] before I buy it.[/QUOTE] uhhh no it hasnt because this project has literally been running for a fucking decade dude, like they've had plenty of opportunity to just totally go black and never be heard from again, but they keep working on it. Hell 80% of the time they spent working on the game they were working with the mindset they weren't gonna make money off of it. I'll trust these guys over smarmy early access devs any day, and you should too.

I'm not a fucking investor lol. I'm a gamer, and I buy finished products, not products that will release in [I]maybe[/I] X amount of time.

[QUOTE=Sled Dog;51287628]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] I'll admit that they're definitely more trustworthy than most Early Access developers. I was just holding off because I want to A. support a completely finished product and B. play through a completely finished product, and not hit a disappointing cliffhanger at the end.

[QUOTE=Kirbunny431;51288546]I'll admit that they're definitely more trustworthy than most Early Access developers. I was just holding off because I want to A. support a completely finished product and B. play through a completely finished product, and not hit a disappointing cliffhanger at the end.[/QUOTE] I have to agree with you on point B there. I felt pretty blue-balled at the end of what's currently available. And that's when I knew it was coming, too.

[QUOTE=Hamaflavian;51287350]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.[/QUOTE] i still had blind faith because hey if they actually managed to release part of it after all those years surely it wouldn't be left incomplete

It's not about whether they're trustworthy or not (depending on who you ask) but the fact that you're putting down money for something that's coming out way down the line. It's the same thing with preordering games. If you're okay with that then go right ahead, that's your prerogative and your money but it shouldn't be very difficult to figure out why some consumers prefer to dish out the cash when they can actually see the final product.

[QUOTE=DeEz;51288714]It's not about whether they're trustworthy or not (depending on who you ask) but the fact that you're putting down money for something that's coming out way down the line. It's the same thing with preordering games. If you're okay with that then go right ahead, that's your prerogative and your money but it shouldn't be very difficult to figure out why some consumers prefer to dish out the cash when they can actually see the final product.[/QUOTE] You can see the final product, go play the free demo of the first 5/8ths of the game.

[QUOTE=phygon;51288765]You can see the final product, go play the free demo of the first 5/8ths of the game.[/QUOTE] I think he means the full game 100% completed, as in Xen being released and the game complete.

I guess after summer 2017, they can finally start working on Half Life 3.

I mean if you think that it's not, in its current state, worth the asking price I certainly wouldn't recommend you buy it, just wait until it is worth what they're asking for it. As for me, imo the game is incredible as is and certainly worth $8. If they took the money and ran right now, I wouldn't feel cheated, because when I bought it I payed for what was in the game at that time. I wasn't paying for Xen, I wouldn't have bought it if I didn't think it was worth it without Xen. The point is that even if it's not finished, if the actual content in it right now is worth $8 to you then you're not taking a risk by buying it.

[QUOTE=kariko;51288775]I think he means the full game 100% completed, as in Xen being released and the game complete.[/QUOTE] A demo of most of the game is better than you get even for fully released games, though. [editline]31st October 2016[/editline] [QUOTE=Mort Stroodle;51288823]I mean if you think that it's not, in its current state, worth the asking price I certainly wouldn't recommend you buy it, just wait until it is worth what they're asking for it. As for me, imo the game is incredible as is and certainly worth $8. If they took the money and ran right now, I wouldn't feel cheated, because when I bought it I payed for what was in the game at that time. I wasn't paying for Xen, I wouldn't have bought it if I didn't think it was worth it without Xen. The point is that even if it's not finished, if the actual content in it right now is worth $8 to you then you're not taking a risk by buying it.[/QUOTE] yeah, to be honest I'd be willing to pay full sticker price for a [I]new[/I] game for what's currently there (that being like 40 bucks, not necessarily a AAA sticker price) It's giant and fun even as-is.

[QUOTE=Killer900;51287404][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.[/QUOTE] What the hell? I had this game on Steam for free before. When was a price tag added?

[QUOTE=Xubs;51288617] A couple of their devs even post on the Black Mesa megathread here on Facepunch and our input has been used to shape future updates. [/QUOTE] Marphy better have said thank you to En Ex [video=youtube;iwtRY7ByfTg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whV_Edizaos[/video] [editline]31st October 2016[/editline] What he might not know is that it's also the texture of the computer in the Lambda Reactor's Xen Teleporter. I guess those were the guys chatting... :v:

[QUOTE=Kylel999;51289419]What the hell? I had this game on Steam for free before. When was a price tag added?[/QUOTE] Black Mesa has never been free on Steam

Been waiting for this to finish before I take a serious jump into it. I bought it ages ago, played the first few levels and decided to wait for full release.

[QUOTE=Kylel999;51289419]What the hell? I had this game on Steam for free before. When was a price tag added?[/QUOTE] You're thinking of the mod version, which was released first and is still available. The mod version is no longer updated and appears as it was during the first release. Valve offered them the possibility of a retail version on Steam, and they decided to accept it because Valve's developer kits offered them much more freedom than the SDK ever could, including access to newer branches of the Source engine. The only major downsides was they had to go back and remove old assets made by former team members (for legal reasons), and having loyal community members need to pay for the updated version. I don't mind it though, these guys (and a couple girls) worked on it for over a decade, and used their free time to do it.

[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;51290328]Valve offered them the possibility of a retail version on Steam, and they decided to accept it because Valve's developer kits offered them much more freedom than the SDK ever could, including access to newer branches of the Source engine. The only major downsides was they had to go back and remove old assets made by former team members (for legal reasons), and having loyal community members need to pay for the updated version.[/QUOTE] Didn't they just put the game on Steam Greenlight? I think any interactions with Valve would have had more to do with using their intellectual property, Half-life etc, and possibly help with the Source engine. Also, I've read about the issue with assets made by former team members before, but I'm a little confused, for example the maps made by developers who left, such as Raminator, that still appear in the mod. Wouldn't they also count as assets?

[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] People are never satisfied TBH: -If you add a Xen placeholder: "WTF the GoldSrc levels? I paid 10$ for this? Holy shit, for this quality I would have preferred to just make it end at the teleport!" -If you don't: "WTF the credits? Holy shit, for 10$ I paid for they could just have added the GoldSrc levels meanwhile!!" What is funny to me is that even nowdays I still seeing people saying "LOL I'm not going to pay 10$ for a mod", when they completely ignore the new engine, the extra detail added to the levels from the mod (image comparisons are around internet), the ton of bugfixes and improvements, and the workshop and the multiplayer. These modders have won my trust over Valve, they have shown more respect and work talent than the original company.

[QUOTE=Mr_Plumrich;51288345]The creator of those was hired and at least a updated surface tension uncut have been added to the full game. I am not sure about on a rail.[/QUOTE] They updated Surface Tension but it isn't based on surface tension uncut. [editline]1st November 2016[/editline] [QUOTE=Mort Stroodle;51288033]There's a leaked model of a grappling hook gun since the last update, which could be really fun.[/QUOTE] The grappling hook is just a prop. One of the devs confirmed it isn't usable. [editline]1st November 2016[/editline] [QUOTE=Raidyr;51287982]Can someone explain the differences between the free version of Black Mesa I played forever ago and the for-sale version?[/QUOTE] They updated a bunch of props to be higher quality, they have a licence to the source engine its self (don't remember which branch) so that means source code access. Surface Tension has been updated. New weapon models/animations. They added Zombie Marines in a recent update.

[QUOTE=Xubs;51290970]There's other stuff too. Godrays, CSGO-like dynamic shadowing in outdoor maps, [b]prebaked ambient occlusion,[/b][/QUOTE] how does that work? I've never heard of it before.

[QUOTE=cynaraos;51290981]how does that work? I've never heard of it before.[/QUOTE] Probably in the same way a prebaked lightmap would work.

oh my god have they SERIOUSLY not done this yet are you f*cking kidding me?

[QUOTE=abcpea;51291020]oh my god have they SERIOUSLY not done this yet are you f*cking kidding me?[/QUOTE] Believe it or not, working on something totally new on an old engine and a moderately small team is time consuming.

I guess i'll buy it now while it's cheap. [QUOTE=Hogie bear;51291203]Believe it or not, working on something totally new on an old engine and a moderately small team is time consuming.[/QUOTE] Working in any engine in a small team is time consuming but with this project size it's a bit more time consuming as they've gotta do a great deal more on their artpass.

[QUOTE=abcpea;51291020]oh my god have they SERIOUSLY not done this yet are you f*cking kidding me?[/QUOTE] Have you EVER seen source pull off any sort of organic landscape convincingly? That's what's taking them so long.

[QUOTE=Killer900;51287404][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.[/QUOTE] Or wait for the next sale?

[QUOTE=No Party Hats;51291289]Have you EVER seen source pull off any sort of organic landscape convincingly? That's what's taking them so long.[/QUOTE] [IMG]http://guides.gamepressure.com/titanfall/gfx/word/590585465.jpg[/IMG] it's not impossible edit: nvm bad example

[QUOTE=mchapra;51291510][IMG]http://guides.gamepressure.com/titanfall/gfx/word/590585465.jpg[/IMG] it's not impossible[/QUOTE] Admittedly, they stripped and replaced a lot of things in Source for Titanfall. Pretty sure the renderer is one of them. A better example of what you can do with vanilla Source would be Dear Esther.