Black Mesa (game mod)

Infobox VG
title= Black Mesa


caption=
developer= Black Mesa team
publisher= TBA
designer=
series= Half-Life
engine= Source engine
version=
released=
genre= First-person shooter
modes= Singleplayer, Multiplayer
ratings=
platforms= Microsoft Windows PC
media=
requirements=
input= Mouse, keyboard, Joypad

"Black Mesa" (previously known as "Black Mesa: Source") is a third-party total conversion mod for "Half-Life 2". The ultimate goal of the mod is 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" will be playable by anyone with copies of "Half-Life 2", ', "Portal", "Team Fortress 2", and '.

Overview

"Black Mesa", which began in November 2004, was born of the discontent fans experienced when playing ""; 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, 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" 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 is an official Valve product or not.

Some of the chapters are nearing completion and they have released images of skins for the science personnel, and for some Xen aliens. The developers plan to include co-op gameplay, something only the PlayStation 2 version of Half-Life offered. [cite web
title=Black Mesa - About | url=http://www.blackmesasource.com/about.php | accessdate=2007-08-08 See Game Modes]

History

On November 26, 2006, the [http://www.blackmesasource.com 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. [cite web |url=http://forums.gamernode.com/showthread.php?t=8046 |title=Media Release 9 - GamerNode Message Boards |accessdate=2008-06-23]

On January 25, 2007, "Black Mesa" [http://mods.moddb.com/4384/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.

oundtrack

An original soundtrack composed and produced by the mod's sound designer, Joel Nielsen, will be released along with the modification itself, as well as independently shortly after the mod's release. Several songs for the game are already available at the official Black Mesa website.

Development team

A complete and up-to-date list of developers can be found on the [http://www.blackmesasource.com/team.php team page] .

ecurity related issues

Black Mesa has had several security related issues including several forum hacks that eventually lead to the migration of BM's boards to GamerNode's forums.

Awards and recognition

* Mod DB - Top Unreleased Mod for 2005 [ [http://features.moddb.com/218/mods-of-2005/?fpage=6 Mod DB Top Unreleased Mod for 2005] ]
* Mod DB - Top Unreleased Mod for 2006 [ [http://features.moddb.com/287/mods-of-2006-players-choice/?fpage=2 Mod DB Top Unreleased Mod for 2006] ]
* Mod DB - Honorable mention for Top Unreleased Mod for 2007 [ [http://www.moddb.com/events/2007-mod-of-the-year-awards/features/25910/players-choice-winners-showcase/2 Honorable mention at the Mod DB Top Unreleased Mod for 2007] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.blackmesasource.com/ Black Mesa Official Site]
* [http://forums.gamernode.com/index.php?forumid=4692 Black Mesa Official Forums]
* [http://www.moddb.com/mods/black-mesa Mod DB review & Video]
* [http://files.filefront.com//;6616245;;/ Online Recording of Gamers United Interview with Black Mesa Staff]