The Black Mesa team will be doing a community play session on Thursday, July 2nd!
Come face off against the Devs, and try out the new multiplayer beta!
The goal is to play the game and have fun, but we’ll be tracking any bugs or issues along the way.

We will also be streaming the games on the Crowbar Collective Twitch channel.
https://www.twitch.tv/crowbar_collective

(Note: Our gameplay tests have been super smooth, but some UI issues have not been fixed yet like character select, and the MP disconnect bug).

Happy Summer Sale!

The game is 35% off for Steam Summer Sale 2020 (June 23rd - July 9th). We have a bunch of stuff going on, so let’s get right into it!



We have pushed a build to public beta to test the changes we have made so far for the next update. We have fixed or improved a TON of things in the game, but here is a quick overview:

-New art throughout earthbound to get the natural environment art more on par with Xen

-Full clipping pass to the entirety of the game to prevent getting caught on random environmental obstacles and to allow more smooth navigation
-Fixed weapons not playing animations correctly in multiplayer (pistol, shotgun, tau)
-Improved combat encounters (including fixes to HECU shooting through walls and getting stuck)
-Various improvements to environmental storytelling and scripted sequences
-Lots of fixes to small visual bugs like floating props, missing faces, and holes in map


The game should feel much smoother and more polished.

How to opt into the public beta

Friday, June 26th at 6PM the Black Mesa project lead, Adam Engels, will be running through the game and attempting to get the “The Rarest Specimen” achievement.

We’ll be giving away keys to multiple games, including Black Mesa, during the playthrough. Check out Crowbar Collectives Twitch channel for the scheduled stream times!


The team will be doing a community play session on Thursday, July 2nd at 3PM EST! The goal is to play the game and have fun, but we’ll be tracking any bugs or issues along the way (Note: Our gameplay tests have been super smooth, but some UI issues have not been fixed yet like character select, and the MP disconnect bug).


We’ve hosted the Black Mesa game box file so that anyone can download it and print one for themselves. It’s a large print size, but we are interested in seeing mini versions of the big box :P

We've also host the files for the 3D print of the HEV suit.


Link to Box Print

Link to HEV 3D Print

We have even more for the future 1.5 patch, including:

-A big change to one chapter we are really excited about, but don’t want to spoil yet
-UI enhancements and improvements
-Full controller support
-Additional art improvements for chapters, including Interloper
-Continued bug fixes and polish

We’ll have more updates and reminders soon. If you wanna stay up to date with all things Half-Life, check out our social media links below. If you have technical issues, or just want to chat with the Black Mesa developers and our community, check out our official Discord!



Thanks all! Stay safe and be good to each other.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/362890/Black_Mesa/

Do you aspire to work on video games, or are you already in the video game industry? Crowbar Collective has some fantastic opportunities for those with an exceptional attitude and the skills to match it! We have put together a superb group of people throughout the years from all over the world, and now we are looking for more.

• Character Concept Artist: Contract - 3-6 Months
  
• Character Artist: Contract/Part-Time - 3-6 Months
  
• Environment Concept Artist: Contract
  
• Texture Artist: Part-Time - 10/20 Hours Per Week
  
• Source Programmer: Part-Time
  
• Business Developer: Full Time

To learn more and apply, go to our website by clicking here.
If these positions do not fit you, please share it with those who might be a suitable candidate.

We’re interested in building a team, not just a game. Come work with us!

Hope everyone is doing well during these tough times. Because we are a remote studio, work at Crowbar Collective is largely unchanged by the pandemic. Like everyone though, each of us has been personally affected by COVID-19.

To help, Crowbar donated $2,000 to various charities to support people on the front lines and those in need. The company gave:

$500 to Games Done Quick (who in turn raised over $400,000 for PPE!)
$500 to the CNY Food Bank
$500 to Meals on Wheels (North Syracuse)
$500 to RIP Medical Debt

We know this is a small step, and there is a lot more to be done, but we hope this will be just the first effort we can make to give back.

If you find yourself in a position like us, consider donating or volunteering for the many great organizations in need! Small donations can add up to big changes. If nothing else good comes out of this crisis, hopefully we can all see we are one big community, and the good can easily outweigh the bad.

Stay safe everyone, and wash... your... hands!


Discord- https://discord.gg/sDdzKx

Here are some tips and tricks for new and returning players to Black Mesa!

Getting frustrated? Just lower the difficulty. No one worth listening to will judge you. We think Black Mesa is probably a bit harder than most games released today. You can always notch it back up if things get too easy. We want people to experience the whole game, not hit a difficulty spike and decide to move onto other things. We tried to address this as much as possible in the design of the game, but if you hit a wall, just go around it!



Don’t be afraid to use your good weapons. We built the game to make sure you would have what you need to progress. Maybe don’t go nuking headcrabs with your Gluon Gun, but don’t be afraid to start with the big guns for the bigger fights.



The long-jump is not just for forward travel. You can jump in any direction. This is super important in fighting the bosses and gives you a great way to dodge all enemy attacks.



No need to wait for the rocket to hit when you are in unguided mode. Just hit reload as soon as it is clear of the tube, and Gordon will load a new round!



We added a slide if you crouch while running. This is really handy for getting into tight spaces quickly, getting into cover, or lowering your profile as you emerge from cover.



The Hive Hand is often put aside as a useless weapon, but it is excellent for taking out headcrabs, barnacles, hoteyes, and breaking objects/objectives. Using it in smaller fights is a great way to save ammo.



A feature we added was the ability to sprint in any direction. This is super important in the later boss battles. You can also now hold onto objects and sprint, which makes life (and certain achievements) a lot easier.



also,

GDQ is running “Corona Relief Done Quick” to raise money to fight COVID-19 through the end of Sunday (UTC).
https://gamesdonequick.com/

This is a great cause. Check it out on Twitch, and if you can, consider giving them a donation. Even small amounts can add up quick. We know a lot of people are having a hard time during this pandemic, so let’s all pull together and help each other as much as possible.

We have tested a patch extensively on public beta and have switched it over to the mainline for everyone to use. This fix should not affect saves, but please let us know on the Steam forums or Discord if you have any issues.

Patch Notes
- Fixed a bug related to the engine not detecting controllers
- Fixed HECU bullet spread distribution not changing based on difficulty
- Decreased HECU reaction time
- Balanced damage of frag grenades used by NPCs (higher damage radius)
- Added an option in new UI to toggle classic iron sights ON/OFF
- Fixed Xbow classic iron sights not rendering crosshair
- Fixed a crash related to marionettist
- ToGL/Linux: Changed/tweaked internal texture formats and video options to avoid visual issues on different dynamic lighting quality levels

Hope everyone is doing well. Good luck and stay safe!

Discord - https://discord.gg/qgBU3a

Hello, Science Team!

Launch day is finally here, complete with a brand new trailer! We are making a big push to let everyone know that Black Mesa 1.0 is OUT! Please share this great news with your friends and followers on any social media platform.



We have been working exceedingly hard to bring you Black Mesa. Since the full release of Xen (0.9) we have done a complete overhaul pass on the combat design and guidance for all the earthbound levels, redesigned the HECU marine AI, upgraded the Vortigaunts AI, and built a new, modern user interface.

At launch, we’ll be right here to fix bugs and add quality of life improvements. After that, we will be taking a break before starting up on any big updates.

So, without further delay, here is a detailed change list for Black Mesa 1.0!



Our time in Early Access gave us lots of opportunities to beta test new content and talk with our community. We took what we learned during the development of Xen, and applied it to the Earthbound Chapters.

- Improvements to every major combat arena in the game
- Redesigned puzzles for clarity and intention
- Enhance environments to highlight objectives

We took a number of sections throughout the game and updated them visually to help the game feel more cohesive. We also made better use of the dynamic lights that we created for Xen.






-Better utilize cover and movement in general
-Put suppressing fire on players last known location and where they expect you to be
-Use grenades more strategically and more often
-New environmental analysis lets them track, flank, and move in for the kill
-Use weapons and abilities depending on their class
-Occasionally use RPGs (grenadiers)
-Use under barrel MP5 grenade launcher (commanders)
-Drop med kits properly (medics)
-Marines wearing a gas-mask will now use alternate, radio-filtered, deepened voice lines, which sound much more like the original HECU!
-Use more voice lines and communication




The Vorts got an upgrade too, with features from their Interloper counterparts and new features to make them more fun to fight!

-Dodge on spawn or dodge when player aims at Vort
-Better navigate to the player
-Use close-range charge attack (Dispel)
-Use dynamic lights when attaching
-Vorts AI now behave differently depending on how brave or scared they are feeling, which is based on damage taken / done to the enemy.

-Slightly nerfed assassins to have lower health and accuracy
-Nerfed Abrams 50 cal damage to make it less murderous
-Buffed Apache 30mm damage slightly

-Optimized sun shadows
-Optimized dynamic lights
-Fixed bug with popping sun shadows
-Removed view punch from smaller caliber weapons
-Fixed trip mine hitbox
-Added dynamic lights to portal effects
-Fixed NPC teeth being black or bright colors
-Made sure all tripod and ceiling turrets use tracers
-Fixed gravity in Earthbound
-Fixed HECU calling wrong SMG animation
-All new, modern user interface
-Expanded options with descriptions and performance cost

-Fixed HEV chargers giving you 76 charge instead of 75
-Fixed slide sound effect playing each time the player crouched
-Changed tank machine gun accuracy for better game play



Lots of mods have not been updated to work with the new version of the game. Until they are updated, they may (and probably will) cause all kinds of strange and seemingly unrelated bugs. If you want the best Black Mesa experience, make sure that you do not have any mods installed. If you have had mods in the past, it may be worth uninstalling the game, deleting all local files in Black Mesa, then reinstalling the game.

-The entire game has been subject to a huge number of bug fixes and improvements throughout. The following notes won’t mention every single fix, but will detail the most important ones! We scoured the community for things to fix.
-Removed all old “dynamic” lightstyle VRAD lights and replaced them with new gbuffer dynamic lights. These will look better and perform better.
-Full dynamic light pass across the whole game. Lighting should be much moodier and dynamic throughout.
-Updated lightmap scales across many chapters, so baked lights will be more defined and have nicer shadows. This will result in generally nicer looking lighting.
-Implemented CSM volumes across every outdoor map, which should substantially improve performance at no visual cost

-Updated title card to take up more of the screen
-Fixed various dynamic light errors
-Totally re-arted outdoor/cave sections
-Fixed tram not casting sun shadows

-Updated lighting for HEV suit holder room
-Updated down lights to have crisp shadows
-Went through light maps and increased resolution (now that we are no longer using light styles)
-Updated Vortigaunt Xen scene with newer environment visuals
-Removed light style lights and replaced them with new dynamic lights

-Fixed headcrabs on platform elevator from spinning around 180 degrees as they landed
-Fixed various console errors that may have been affecting performance
-Fixed houndeyes spawning in and facing wall away from player
-Updated coolant/valve puzzle to better teach core valve mechanics and for better player guidance in general
-Improved design of AM machine control room to force the player into the space
-Improved player guidance throughout the chapter and added player “drop downs” and closed doors to prevent confusing backtracking, or breaking danger sequences
-Improved box jumping puzzle
-Improved lighting for the “Lamarr jar”
-Changed ladder skins to red to help them stand out from similarly colored walls
-Improved sewer water section to show the player the ladder exit before they find the valve to raise the water level, allowing you to know where your end objective is before activating the flood
-Improved platforming/jumping on the crane boxes section
-Improved Crowbar pickup by highlighting it with door movement
-Added rewards for exploration
-Added guidance light to first retinal scanner to help new players

-Fixed bad autosaves throughout
-Added cover to first ceiling turret section
-Added new dynamic lights to elevator
-Added clip ramped steps for better player and NPC navigation
-Added more dramatic lighting for the “help my buddy” scene where you can first get the shotgun. In addition…
-...moved the Shotgun back to its rightful place with the Guard in this chapter!
-Updated map C freezer puzzle, to better illustrate cause / effect and utilize the entire space
-Improved all “shortcut” doors given consistent signposting (use wooden boards)
-Improved changed ladder skins to red to help them stand out from similarly colored walls
-Removed end valve/fire hazard, to streamline the end of the chapter.

-Fixed consistent crash that occurred when using closed captions at lower resolutions
-The HECU overhaul really shines in this chapter!
-Re-timed music start cue and added an explosion before it so it transitions in less abruptly
-Replaced dynamic lights and shadows in the transitioning elevator between map B and C

-Fixed janky dying scientist so he doesn’t just pop when he dies
-Substantial improvements to Tentacle AI
-Added art to map E to make it feel more like you’re heading down the shaft where a giant tentacle monster just lived.
-Moved the first .357 here, to match HL1!
-Added xog volumes to areas with radiation liquid

-Multiple fixes to the Gargantua to make him behave better throughout
-Added xog volumes to bottom of water section in map B

-Removed redundant console in Map A opening puzzle to streamline progression
-Added alternate route in Map B office fight vs 50 cal, to allow flanking. Also changed approach path to provide more cover to the player.
-Fixed bug in map B where battery light would show through the world
-Overhauled launch pad fight in Map C so that the player must use the entire space and a variety of different angles and tactics.

-Overhauled opening barrel puzzle for map A to remove redundancy, better signpost the various stages of the puzzle, and encourage more exploration of the initial arena.
-Overhauled lighting around the shark cage to better signpost objective.
-Mood lighting across the entire chapter to enhance the ambiance and also better direct the player in multiple places.
-Removed soft lock where players could put barrels in the crushers and lock progression.

-Reworked navigation around the trash compactor to stall the player a bit more (gives the doors more time to open so there’s less of an awkward pause), and better direct the player.
-Entirely re-arted Map A opening section.
-Significant streamlining across the entire chapter to reduce length of backtracking and make the path clearer and easier to discern for players.
-Substantially improved performance throughout the chapter

-Improved signposting in the lobby fight to make the origins of each wave clearer to players

-Several major performance fixes and optimization tweaks throughout the chapter.
-Completely redesigned and re-arted Map A (dam map). Every combat encounter on the map was redesigned and the Apache fight was improved.
-Added structure to the end of map B to help guide the player better and highlight the exit
-Replaced all old HL2 rock models with new, beautiful models
-Foliage pass in many places across the chapter
-Moved around some cover and rocks in map C to help the player
-Fixed the Apache fight in map C to use proper health values and move between phases
-Implemented cinematic physics rocks at the end of the Apache fight in map C
-Reduced difficulty in the “whack a Gordon” section (removed some I/O logic that makes it so the Marines always know where you are) and improved player guidance
-Fixed bug in the “whack a Gordon” section where the tank would blow up a wall randomly for no reason, even after it had died
-Art pass on transition from map D → map E.
-Added a system to eject high velocity gibs when you kill the snipers
-Art pass on map E’s trip mine warehouse. Now with 200% more explosives!
-Reworked map F’s intro sequence so it’s more like you are coming into the middle of a conflict, rather than some Alien Grunts randomly standing around waiting to die
-Lighting / guidance improvements in map F’s bombed out building
-Door to the bathroom in map H will now close behind you so you can’t escape the Snark sequence just by backtracking

-Redesigned map B big finale fight. Now features considerably more aerial action and a big bang for an opener!
-Re-arted the snarks devouring HECU scene to better reflect the prominence of the alien infestation throughout.
-Redesigned map B underground garage fight to more prominently highlight the aliens vs HECU aspect.

-Substantially improved player signposting and direction across the 3 “hub-like” maps (C, D and E).
-Several guidance and path improvements to map C, particularly the main path by the huge turbine, to let player flow through easier.
-Significant optimizations across all Maps C, D, E, F and G. Performance should be drastically improved for all users.
-Several lighting improvements between maps D (orange map) and E (blue map), to better visually differentiate them and reduce player confusion.
-Simplified several paths around Map D and E to make navigating to your destination easier, and also massively simplify backtracking to map C.
-Multiple new dynamic lights across maps D and E to help guide the player better.
-Improved signposting on the Map G teleporter puzzle to make it feel less like trial-and-error. Burns now appear around each teleporter you’ve gone through, so you know which ones you’ve tried. The “right answer” teleporters gain a new sparkly particle effect once you’ve used them a first time, so it’s easier to remember.
-Overhauled Map I finale sequence before the teleport to Xen. You now no longer take falling damage (as previously intended), the combat is now centered entirely around controllers, and the core navigation of the arena has been rebuilt to facilitate better flow around the arena and serve as a light bit of long jump training.

-Added missing collisions to many props

-Fixed crash when you shoot Gonarch’s mortars (again)
-Fixed some logic in map B where the Gonarch could randomly be missing during the crystal cave sequence
-Fixed bug in map C where Gonarch wouldn’t show up for the final chase
-Added missing collisions to many props
-Re-balanced Gonarch AI for all the difficulty modes

-Fixed bounce pads during chase in Map A1 to always put the player where they’re meant to go
-Fixed map D glass at the end of the elevator section sometimes not shattering
-Fixed transition bug at the end of map D so players will always transition at the end
-Fixed sucky vent in map D1 to fix a rare case where players could fall through it out of the world
-Added another layer of lasers to the bottom of D1 to prevent rare bug where players could fall out of the world

-This was already perfect so we did not need to fix even a single thing on this ;)

-Fixed tram door occasionally going missing for some players

Thanks. Hope everyone enjoys Black Mesa!


Discord - https://discord.gg/PSZfh8N

Hello again, fellow scientists! I bet you weren’t expecting to hear from us again so soon!

We’ve just pushed another update to the game based on feedback from yesterday’s beta. As with the previous beta, you can find the latest update on the public beta branch.

We found an issue with the update’s deployment which meant that certain maps weren’t updated when they should've been. This led to some bizarre issues (which were not present on our internal build) with rainbow/pitch black cliffs in Surface Tension map A, or Gonarch C being unbeatable. Those issues should be resolved now.

We have also deployed a few major UI and AI improvements.

As always, please let us know what you think! As with the previous beta, we are mostly on the look-out for game-breaking issues.

Here is a small changelog specific to just this new beta only. When 1.0 goes live on March 5th, we will post the full changelog for all of 1.0!

• Fixed bindings layout.
  
• Fixed layout for new Video Options tooltips.
  
• Fixed missing translations.
  
• Fixed Engine crash with New UI on exiting the game.
  
• Fixed sensitivity bug with the “Invert Mouse Look" option.
  
• Fixed manual saves limit bug.

• Removed old Combine code responsible for spontaneous rushing and other quirks.
  
• Rushing now occurs less and is more dependent on distance. The HECU will tend to rush less now if they’re further away from you.
  
• Fixed infinite looping of melee schedule. Now rather than standing there hitting you repeatedly, there is a 50% chance of retreating after each attack.
  
• Added a new “Cat and Mouse” behavior which is used while in cover or holding assault points. This is much closer to how HL1’s Marines behaved and is more engaging to fight. If you attempt to approach their cover point, the HECU will now try to suppress you with "extreme force," while still remaining in cover. They will then immediately try to hide again after being exposed.
  
• Fixed the LOS checks performed before firing. Now they are much less likely to accidentally shoot each other in hectic scenarios, as they will take into account their weapon LOS before each shot, rather than before bursts.
  
• Fixed Grenadier with RPG running around for a while instead of focusing on firing. Now he should fire as soon as he finds an adequate position, with no delay.
  
• Fixed rocket spawn position for Grenadier with RPG. It no longer shoots from just below his head anymore.
  
• Increased suppression point query radius. This causes HECU suppression behavior (where they fire at your position when they can't see you) to occur more often and have a chance of covering a bigger area.

Hello again, Black Mesa friends!

We have pushed another build to public beta on Steam. This is the second revision to the 1.0 update, which will take us out of Early Access on March 5th! If you are interested in helping us test, we would greatly appreciate it. You can find instructions on how to opt into the beta here.

https://steamcommunity.com/games/362890/announcements/detail/1711867920418803575

Since the last beta, we have tackled any important issues that were raised by the community, along with eliminating the previously known issues list. Moving forward, we are most importantly looking for any major game-breakers or issues with the UI.

We also believe that all the achievements should now be fully working for everybody. Those of you who struggled to earn some achievements in the previous beta, please attempt to do so again. If you experience any further issues with them, let us know!

At this point, we have addressed most of the issues (if not all of them) with the game that we intend on fixing for 1.0. The goal of this beta is mostly to check that the game is fully functional and ready for the final release, start to finish. Please let us know if you run into anything major.

Most importantly, a big thank you to everyone who helped us test this beta, and all the betas thus far. Your feedback was invaluable and we have absolutely loved pouring through your notes and thoughts!

The previously mentioned MASSIVE 1.0 changelog will be shared with you all once we have set 1.0 to the main branch on Steam, so those of you who would love to devour every little detail will be able to do so.

Finally, we are currently at PAX East! In case you didn’t see our last update on this, please check it out here:

https://steamcommunity.com/games/362890/announcements/detail/1716372156954041181
If you’re at the convention, please stop by Booth 24081 and check us out, have a chat, and play our demo! We’re having an absolute blast so far!



Thank you, and have a very safe and productive day. See you all for the 1.0 RELEASE on March 5th!

In March 2006, two of my college classmates got onto the Black Mesa mod team. I applied as an artist, and they more or less vouched for me. The team “hired” me without even completing an art test. From there I became the art lead, a partner in the new “Crowbar Collective LLC”, project lead, and eventually owner of the company.

As I write this, I am realizing that we plan to FINISH Black Mesa exactly 14 years to the month from when I first joined the team. 14 years working on a single project, with a dedicated team, that had a vision, and saw it through.

There are probably a fair number of people who if you asked them “Do you want to own a video game company?”, would say “Yes! Absolutely. Whatever it takes!”, but it is easy to commit to something when it is guaranteed. If instead in 2006 someone said to me “This will be difficult. You will consider quitting multiple times, and it is going to take you at least 14 years to complete.” I am not sure I would have signed up for that.

Who would have blamed me if I didn’t? For the majority of its development, Black Mesa was a volunteer project. Even after we got the green light to sell the game, we still did not make any money until late June of 2015.

I have heard “you should never work for free”, and I really couldn’t disagree with that more. I did multiple free side projects in college that either eventually paid off, or got me connections I otherwise would not have had. I learned communication and leadership skills in my volunteer fire department. I got my first game industry job because of my free work on Black Mesa, and then after a round of layoffs, my job BECAME Black Mesa. The thing that was supposed to be a portfolio piece to launch my career, became my career, and I would not have been in that position if I didn’t commit to the work as a volunteer.

The key to doing work for free is it has to be important to you AND it has to be important to other people. For Black Mesa, the quality of the source material, and the excitement of the community when we would post even the smallest amount of media is what kept us going.

The fact is, all roads are long roads. If you fear that, you’ll shy away from choosing the one that excites you most, and has the biggest reward. Not everyone is going to have reliable friends to pull them onto projects, not everyone is going to have the opportunity to own a video game company, but if there is something you want to accomplish there’s nothing left to do, but to do it. You can not win the game if you don’t play.

Through luck, hard work, and maybe a bit of ignorance we didn’t shy away from our goal of bringing this game to completion. We are proud of what we built. We think this upcoming 1.0 release is the best, most polished, and most fun version of the game yet. The anticipation and excitement around our project is beyond flattering.

Black Mesa is a video game, it is our video game, and it has its strengths, and its flaws. As Leonardo da Vinci said, “Art is never finished, only abandoned” and while we plan to fully support this game after 1.0 with bug fixes and more, it will never be a perfect game.

This is not to downplay, or make excuses, but as the person who drafts most of these media posts, I think it is important to break away from the marketing and the “hype”. Before Astroneer launched, they made a blog post about managing expectations for their game, and it really resonated with me, and inspired me to someday write a post like this one. We are super excited to have Black Mesa be “complete”, but acknowledge it is not perfect and won’t ever be perfect.

I hope that everyone has something that inspires them as much as Half-Life inspired us. I hope that everyone embraces the setbacks and challenges that come, and I hope no one fears the long road in front of them.

Black Mesa 1.0 will launch Thursday March 5th on Steam.

Thank you,
-Adam Engels
-The Black Mesa team

https://store.steampowered.com/app/362890/Black_Mesa/