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Black Mesa Source |OT| Do you know who ate all the donuts?

Deadbeat

Banned
Ive only played up to the beginning of forget about freeman (where the concrete should start falling). The beginning parts of this mod are stellar. They kept the original feel and added a ton of stuff on top of it that fits so well. Adding additional puzzles to complement the previous design was well thought out. Outside of a few things (such as the vent maze after you come back from top side and the electrical puzzle in the rocket engine section both missing) I have to say they did a hell of a job. Theres so much to say but its better left summarized as amazing.

But then after such a strong start the problems I had feared arise. The mod doesnt maintain its quality. The tram section is streamlined way too far and lacks all the great work the beginning levels had. So much has been removed or made very linear. Even the inside of the rocket launch room has been simplified too far. You know how in the earlier levels they added lots of little touches to make the game better? These things are not there anymore. Hell, things are outright missing. Very disappointing after such a strong start.

The toxic waste section leading to the blue labs has the game picking its quality back up and continuing what it had at the beginning: redesigned levels with additional detail that you would never expect. But then you go outside and the whole dam area is lacking. This is the level where the AI really starts to show how broken it is. I killed the chopper but the two marines on the damn just stood far away so I used my suit zoom and revolver to kill them. I did a reload and I could still exploit at far distances to kill AI that wouldn't react. This worked in some levels earlier on but here it was apparent. The quality the game had initially is long gone once again. The air strike with the giant alien also felt a little lackluster with how they handled him at the base of the tower and the whole scripting situation around it. It didnt feel right.

This mod sure has its ups and downs. You cant have a few great developers on a mod team carrying everyone else. This is what annoyed me in threads about this mod saying Valve should hire the entire team. Btw, the marine voices are kind of bad. Which is odd considering the rest of the voice work is pretty good. Does that make any sense?
The game really shines on Half-Llife weakest levels like On a Rail and Questionable Ethics, the changes they made really improved the original and thats impressive.
They didnt improve the tram section at all. They just gave up and ignored a bunch of things.
 
Finally completed it, really enjoyed it considering I thought this would never see the light of day I am pleased, I didn't think it would be such a good remake, so props to all those involved
 

wwm0nkey

Member
Can someone tell me what to do at the 2 smashing pillars on the belt line? There is not a switch to turn them off as far as I can see.
 

Tacitus_

Member
Just finished it. Pretty solid work. The few things I didn't like was the unavoidable damage (hitscans, seekers) made by enemies on hard. Either they didn't playtest it or their playtesters are masochists. Other complaint I have is the uneven voice acting quality. The scientists and guards are pretty good (and the Kleiner guy is awesome!) but the soldiers are way, way overacted. The later levels also got kinda buggy and crash happy, but nothing unmanageable since the game keeps loads of autosaves and I had a pretty trigger happy quicksave finger given the difficulty on hard.

The custom assets made for this were absolutely awesome - the final chamber in lambda complex was absolutely breathtaking once it started functioning. And the music, damn. So good.
 

Truant

Member
The mod is impressive, but it's when you have borderline projects like these that you really appreciate what a professional art director can do for the overall look of a game.

Now, don't get me wrong. The team did an excellent job, but the visual language is all over the place. Some areas are loaded with too much detail, yet others are painfully barren. Nothing really feels coherent and it kinda gives me the vibe of someone who has skins by different artists for every gun in in Counter-Strike.

Yeah, it's free, it's a mod, I have no right to complain, blah blah.
 

Sub_Level

wants to fuck an Asian grill.
Can someone tell me what to do at the 2 smashing pillars on the belt line? There is not a switch to turn them off as far as I can see.

Residue Processing? You need to sprint under them.

Now, don't get me wrong. The team did an excellent job, but the visual language is all over the place. Some areas are loaded with too much detail, yet others are painfully barren.

The levels were each made by different people which might explain it.
 

Tacitus_

Member
I had Residue Processing bug out on me on the part where there are two sets of three pistons. On the first set the two latter pistons were synced up instead of going in a 1-2-3 rhythm. Died something like 30 times before I looked up online if I was missing anything - which I wasn't. Loaded an autosave and cleared it on the first try.
 

Razek

Banned
Another random funny bug I ran into in residual processing. A bunch of blue barrels bobbing infinitely in water, and all the particle effects for them where taking place 20 some feet in the air above them.

inl1vRzuCN92y.png
 

jediyoshi

Member
One big complaint I have is the SMG. It feels completely useless.

Yeah, forcing it to be burst fire makes it feel really counter intuitive to use. The tau primary now seems way godlier, haven't done comparisons though, might just be from all the extra particle effects.
 

Sub_Level

wants to fuck an Asian grill.
One big complaint I have is the SMG. It feels completely useless.

Secondary fire is anything but! I used the primary fire to kill enemies away from a distance if I didn't have magnum/shotgun/tau/crossbow (just burst fire instead of holding fire down) or if I needed a quick switch. It is a little worse than the original though.

And yeah the tau is a beast in this game. Even after I got the Gauss, I stuck with the Tau. 2 ammo usage per fire, 2 hits kills most things. Amazing gun. And you know, you can kill tanks and choppers with the secondary fire, just a nice little feature lol
 

Mupod

Member
One big complaint I have is the SMG. It feels completely useless.

Agreed. I actually have better luck against the soldiers by spamming the plain old pistol as fast as I can pull the trigger.

Magnum's nice and brutal though. Don't see why you'd ever use the ironsights.

Pretty impressed so far, it's been over 10 years since I last played HL1 but it feels like a worthy remake. The voice work doesn't bother me...it's got this late 90s video game cheesiness to it, which is fitting.
 

Sub_Level

wants to fuck an Asian grill.
if you play the original Half-Life and play this back-to-back, you'll find that the voice actors tried to sound like the original, including the soldiers. Not just the tone, but their nuances too.

Go! Recon!

Outssiiiide for questionin'

They're waiting for you Gordon. In the tessssttt chammbeeerrr.
 

KorrZ

Member
I had low expectations for this mod and I'm completely blown away. I've never played the original Half-Life so the fact that this mod is so polished makes it a great way to experience it for the first time. The guns feel great, graphics are much improved and the VA far exceeded my expectations by not being complete shit. I intended to just check it out and ended up playing for 3.5 hours straight. The fact that this is free just makes it all the sweeter. I'd have easily paid $15-20 for this.
 

Razek

Banned
Agreed. I actually have better luck against the soldiers by spamming the plain old pistol as fast as I can pull the trigger.

Magnum's nice and brutal though. Don't see why you'd ever use the ironsights.

Pretty impressed so far, it's been over 10 years since I last played HL1 but it feels like a worthy remake. The voice work doesn't bother me...it's got this late 90s video game cheesiness to it, which is fitting.

I'm not a 100% sure but I feel it either gives the gun a bit of auto homing bullets or it makes it more accurate. Doing some saving an reloading, I could headshot a grunt at a pretty good distance, but trying the same with the regular reticule would either miss or just damage him.

20 minutes? So worth it.

Haha! I realized I missed it and felt pretty down. Didn't think about stacking creates like that.
 

EL Beefo

Member
For those getting annoyed with the crouch jumping, paste this into the autoexec.cfg file inside cfg folder
Code:
bind "space" "+jumpcrouch"
alias +jumpcrouch "+jump; wait 5; duckON"
alias -jumpcrouch "wait 5; duckOFF; -jump"
alias duckON "+duck"
alias duckOFF "-duck" 

//fix jump from crouch state
bind "ctrl" "+normalduck"
bind "c" "+normalduck"
alias +normalduck "+duck; alias duckON; alias duckOFF"
alias -normalduck "-duck; alias duckON +duck; alias duckOFF -duck"

Holding jump automatically crouches, makes the game much less frustrating.

Not my doing, credit goes to this guy: http://forums.blackmesasource.com/showthread.php?t=13013
 

Tripwood

Member
Nice! What level?

If I remember correctly it was when you run into the second assassins squad. It's the middle yellow container that has his doors open. But I'm not 100% sure if it's in that room, I finished the mod in one sitting on Saturday, it's all a blur now.
 

Drencrom

Member
For those getting annoyed with the crouch jumping, paste this into the autoexec.cfg file inside cfg folder
Code:
bind "space" "+jumpcrouch"
alias +jumpcrouch "+jump; wait 5; duckON"
alias -jumpcrouch "wait 5; duckOFF; -jump"
alias duckON "+duck"
alias duckOFF "-duck" 

//fix jump from crouch state
bind "ctrl" "+normalduck"
bind "c" "+normalduck"
alias +normalduck "+duck; alias duckON; alias duckOFF"
alias -normalduck "-duck; alias duckON +duck; alias duckOFF -duck"

Holding jump automatically crouches, makes the game much less frustrating.

Not my doing, credit goes to this guy: http://forums.blackmesasource.com/showthread.php?t=13013

Crouch jumping isn't rocket science guys.
 

Razek

Banned
It also isn't fun when you need to do it for every single jump because the default jump height is too low. Aside from his and the few crashes I've had, the game is great.

I Agree when it's: Every. Single. Jump. That tiny little edge of a sidewalk I could step up in real life? Crouch jump it! It gets annoying, fast. Still, I'll play default but I will use that tweak on my second playthrough whenever that will be.

Edit: How many times have you guys seen G-Man? I've seen him 3 times at the start of questionable ethics.
 
Well maybe this will help. It isnt crouch-jumping anymore. It's jump-then crouching. If someone cant pull that off then I don't know what to say.
 

Oreoleo

Member
If you guys are having so much trouble crouch jumping maybe you should try rebinding the controls so it's more natural to do? Didn't realize we had so many Mary's in here.
 

Imbarkus

As Sartre noted in his contemplation on Hell in No Exit, the true horror is other members.
It is easier with controller I have found. "Click L3+Jump"

This. But still, might use that command. Jump feels really inadequate. Then again I played original Half-Life on PS2, and they must have taken crouch-jump out of that version because I don't remember it at all.

Who's up for Half-Life: Decay: Source?
 

Razek

Banned
Sigh*
It's not that it's difficult. It's that it's a waste of an input. Why make the player press 2 buttons to jump 95% of the time? Why not just make it one button then if EVERY jump is going to require the 2 buttons. I'm making jumps just fine, but that doesn't excuse bad game design.

If you guys are having so much trouble crouch jumping maybe you should try rebinding the controls so it's more natural to do? Didn't realize we had so many Mary's in here.

I'm using shift=jump, ctrl=crouch, space=sprint like I do with every game I play. I suppose I could make crouch middle mouse or something, but I'm too lazy for that.
 
Judging by comments, I'm not seeing how some people made it through the original HL, let alone the hazard course.

Yea, I mean, this was something used in the original Half Life quite frequently. Even in something like TF2 or Portal it's required to know how to crouch jump.

It's not really bad game design. Is this your first Valve game?
 

epmode

Member
Now that I'm getting to the human enemies, I get the feeling that they're just too accurate from long range.

I also think that the vorts should have a longer charge time. Maybe not as long as in the original release but long enough to make getting out of line of sight a viable alternative in more situations.

And the crouch jumping really is required for too many jumps. It's way up from the original release. It's not particularly difficult to perform, it's just a distraction. I'm going to try that script!
 

Oreoleo

Member
I'm using shift=jump, ctrl=crouch, space=sprint like I do with every game I play. I suppose I could make crouch middle mouse or something, but I'm too lazy for that.

To each his own. I deduced a custom control layout for HL1 and TFC back in '99 that I've used in literally every FPS since then, and that includes putting crouch next to forward so it's accessible without having to play Twister with my fingers. Ctrl is practically the worst key on the keyboard to map something to because it's so out of the way IMO.

I am curious how you came to the conclusion of putting sprint on space bar though. Seems like a waste of real estate for what is basically a secondary function.
 
I don't really see the point in complaining about the crouch jumps, it's a skill you learn once (in the training section of the original) and know to do for the rest of the game. It doesn't really matter how frequent it is.
 

Razek

Banned
Yea, I mean, this was something used in the original Half Life quite frequently. Even in something like TF2 or Portal it's required to know how to crouch jump.

It's not really bad game design. Is this your first Valve game?

It kind of is bad game design. It's used appropriately in only a few of the jumps in this game. Otherwise, it's making the player press 2 buttons for no reason.

It's like making a game where you have to press space and mouse1 to shoot your gun.

To each his own. I deduced a custom control layout for HL1 and TFC back in '99 that I've used in literally every FPS since then, and that includes putting crouch next to forward so it's accessible without having to play Twister with my fingers. Ctrl is practically the worst key on the keyboard to map something to because it's so out of the way IMO.

I am curious how you came to the conclusion of putting sprint on space bar though. Seems like a waste of real estate for what is basically a secondary function.

I'm not really sure why I keep, I guess just familiarity. When I built my PC last year, I got the sprint mod for New Vegas. It was my first time encountering it and I binded it as space. I've left it as that ever since.
 
This. But still, might use that command. Jump feels really inadequate. Then again I played original Half-Life on PS2, and they must have taken crouch-jump out of that version because I don't remember it at all.

Who's up for Half-Life: Decay: Source?

I totally agree that they should have removed the concept completely and just gone with a higher jump.
 

eot

Banned
I'm using shift=jump, ctrl=crouch, space=sprint like I do with every game I play. I suppose I could make crouch middle mouse or something, but I'm too lazy for that.

Turn on 'always run'.
Having to press shift + ctrl + space would be annoying, yes :)

It's like making a game where you have to press space and mouse1 to shoot your gun.

Oh you mean like aim snapping iron sights?

j/k
 

Sianos

Member
Crouch jumping has become a reflex for me and makes sense (since pulling your legs up in Real Life helps you jump higher), but sprinting crouch jumps are a little awkward, since default has you holding w+space+ctrl+shift. Think I'll rebound sprint to mouse 3.

Now that I'm getting to the human enemies, I get the feeling that they're just too accurate from long range.

I also think that the vorts should have a longer charge time. Maybe not as long as in the original release but long enough to make getting out of line of sight a viable alternative in more situations.

And the crouch jumping really is required for too many jumps. It's way up from the original release. It's not particularly difficult to perform, it's just a distraction. I'm going to try that script!

Yeah, I agree with nerfing the human's long range SMG fire a liiiitle bit, give them some extra spread. Especially considering how wide the spread feels at long range for you. The Vort charge time as well, just a hair would make it perfect. Other than that, AI feels pretty good so far.

Crouch jumping feels natural to me now, but it probably didn't really when I was learning to not be Fallengorn rocket jump for the first time. You'll get used to it after a little bit.
 

Razek

Banned
Turn on 'always run'.
Having to press shift + ctrl + space would be annoying, yes :)



Oh you mean like aim snapping iron sights?

j/k

Haha, touche on your second point!

I don't think I could handle auto run though in this game, I'd end up flying off of way to much stuff or around corners when I'm trying to sneak up on enemies.
 
It kind of is bad game design. It's used appropriately in only a few of the jumps in this game. Otherwise, it's making the player press 2 buttons for no reason.

It's like making a game where you have to press space and mouse1 to shoot your gun.
A lot of cover based or iron sight heavy shooters of today pretty much do require two presses to get the most out of your weaponry. :p

I mean, I guess it's like complaining about the run button in Mario. I'm holding it down 99% of the time, so shouldn't it be his regular speed? Well, it doesn't really matter to me.
 

Sianos

Member
Turn on 'always run'.
Having to press shift + ctrl + space would be annoying, yes :)



Oh you mean like aim snapping iron sights?

j/k

:O

Still think I might stick to just rebinding sprint to mouse 3. I admit I forgot how to sprint until after I walked at the bunker at the end of "We've got Hostiles" and fooled with my keybinds. :U
 
Space should be jump and shift should be sprint anyway. It's PC gaming so you can set up your keyboard config however you want, but it is set up wrong for PC games.
 
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