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Black Mesa 'Xen' update delayed, screenshots looks beautiful

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Black Mesa [Steam], the fan-made Half-Life revamp has delayed the 'Xen' update until much later this year. They've shown off the first shots and it does look good.

See also: Samsai's thoughts on Black Mesa.

From the update yesterday on Steam, the development team said:
Crowbar CollectiveUnfortunately, as some of you may have already predicted, we are going to need to push back our planned release of Xen to later this year, in December. We know that this is not what anyone would want to hear, but after taking a long and hard look at what we want to achieve, we have decided that this is for the best. We do not want to compromise on Xen’s quality in any way. That said, we consider December to be a do-or-die deadline.


Check out the awesome shots they showed off:
imageimage

While it's a shame it's delayed, hopefully it will mean it will be a great experience. In the original Half-Life, the Xen levels were quite annoying.

They aren't just adding in Xen though, they are also doing a colour correction pass on the game, which should make the colouring a little more realistic. They say it will "unify the game’s visual style" and also allow more full screen effects during intense sections.

On top of that, they're also adding in a brand new dynamic light system, which they claim is far more optimized than other Source engine implementations of it.

See the full announcement here. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Action, FPS, Steam | Apps: Black Mesa
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10 comments

razing32 Jun 21, 2017
So , will you be doing a playthrough on stream like HL2 ? :)
Liam Dawe Jun 21, 2017
Quoting: razing32So , will you be doing a playthrough on stream like HL2 ? :)
Last time I checked they still haven't fixed the bug I had where you're forced to do a command to skip a section due to a crash bug, so probably not until that's done.
Nezchan Jun 21, 2017
It's a pity that I can't even watch people play the game (I tried with a streamer who also gets simulation sickness, but no dice), or I'd be all over this when it's released.
dorron Jun 21, 2017
Waiting for this to play the game and get the full experience...
razing32 Jun 21, 2017
Quoting: KelsIt's a pity that I can't even watch people play the game (I tried with a streamer who also gets simulation sickness, but no dice), or I'd be all over this when it's released.

Is it just this new game ? Or the old ones as well.

I think I saw a vid a while back on simulation sickness and potential "cures" to try.

View video on youtube.com
MayeulC Jun 21, 2017
Quoting: liamdawe
Quoting: razing32So , will you be doing a playthrough on stream like HL2 ? :)
Last time I checked they still haven't fixed the bug I had where you're forced to do a command to skip a section due to a crash bug, so probably not until that's done.

If talking about the section with the helicopter blowing up, you can work around by moving the marines'corpes with a crowbar or grenades... Not perfect, but that's the only bug remaining I think... Or did they fix the shadows?

It's impressive to see what they are realizing with the ageing source engine :)
The textures look quite low-rez, though.
GBee Jun 22, 2017
This has been sitting unplayed in my library since last year. I bought it as a show of support, but having played the original multiple times I wasn't really excited by the idea of playing all over again, even if it's had a facelift. Those Xen screenshots however could change my mind, they don't just look better they give Xen a whole lot more atmosphere.
lejimster Jun 22, 2017
I bought it when they added Linux support. I'm waiting for them to finish the game before I play it through tho. This is the nature of game development though. It can take time to get right and its better than rushing it out and it being bad.

I really hope projects like this help fan some flames at Valve. They don't seem bothered in making a HL3 from what I've read only a small group within Valve were working on it. Also would love to see a LFD3
MayeulC Jun 22, 2017
Quoting: GBeeThis has been sitting unplayed in my library since last year. I bought it as a show of support, but having played the original multiple times I wasn't really excited by the idea of playing all over again, even if it's had a facelift. Those Xen screenshots however could change my mind, they don't just look better they give Xen a whole lot more atmosphere.

Trust me, this isn't just your usual facelift-with-better-textures. They actually improved quite a lot on the original.

There's another bug I just remembered, though: vortigaunts couldn't aim properly on Linux, last time I played.
I am expecting them to put a lot more time on general polish and improving the multiplayer, once Xen is out of the door :)
Nezchan Jun 22, 2017
Quoting: razing32
Quoting: KelsIt's a pity that I can't even watch people play the game (I tried with a streamer who also gets simulation sickness, but no dice), or I'd be all over this when it's released.

Is it just this new game ? Or the old ones as well.

I think I saw a vid a while back on simulation sickness and potential "cures" to try.

It's the whole series, even the ones under the old engine although HL2 is especially bad. Setting the FoV to 90 or 100 improves it so I feel less queasy, but doesn't fix it.
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