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Black Mesa: Source: Oh Right, That Still Exists

Posted by Bob Mackey

In honor of the first Half-Life's 10th anniversary, I've been thinking of replaying the original over my long-awaited Christmas break.  But now, I may hold off a bit longer after seeing the trailer for the Black Mesa: Source mod and nearly pooping myself.  I just gave you fair warning.



If you've been anticipating this mod as much as I have, then you'll know that seeing this much content is pretty big news. I'm no programming genius, but I imagine it takes quite a bit of work to remake an entire game--and a pretty big one, at that--in an entirely new and more powerful engine.  The Source engine may be beginning to show its age a bit, but there's no denying this is a major step up from Valve's previous attempt to give Half-Life a minor graphical upgrade with their own Half-Life: Source.  For now, this entire production is fan-made and free, but it wouldn't be too strange for Valve to pull another Willy Wonka (as they did with the Portal team) and invite the Black Mesa: Source folks onto their team.  As of now, this thing legitimately looks like it's worth money.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go chug a bottle of NyQuil. When I wake up months from now, I should be greeted by both Black Mesa: Source and the Policenauts fan translation. Cheers!  (Tell my friends and family it was an accident.)

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Comments

Luke said:

Oh my good god.  I *thought* I was looking forward to this, but having seen the trailer I know know what truly anticipating something feels like.  Anticipating it so hard I prove that there is no such thing as psychic powers, because if there were I would be accelerating spacetime itself to the point where this is released.

December 2, 2008 5:17 PM

Demaar said:

Valve, as far as I'm aware, has no intention of pulling the rug out from under this project. In fact, all they've done is request a name change so it's not mistaken for an official product (as in, Black Mesa Source to just Black Mesa).

They may pull the creators on board, but I have my doubts. Sure, it's a fantastic undertaking and well worth praise (even money, if it were legal to pay them for it), but it's a recreation of something that Valve has already made.  Unless they've got some amazing concepts they've managed to work in, I don't know if Valve would see any value in hiring them.

I could be completely mistaken though. Would be nice for them if they were picked up.

December 3, 2008 5:12 AM

About Bob Mackey

For a brief period of time I was Bull from TV's Night Court, but some of you may know me from the humor column I wrote for Youngstown State University's The Jambar, Kent State University's The Stater, and Youngstown's alternative newspaper, The Walruss. I'm perhaps most well-known for my bi-weekly pieces on Something Awful. I've also blogged for Valley24.com and have written articles for EGM, 1UP, GameSpite and Cracked. For all of my writing over the years, I have made a total of twenty American dollars. It's also said that I draw cartoons, which people have described with words such as "legible." I kidnapped the Lindbergh Baby and am looking to do so again in the future.

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