HAPPY 15TH BIRTHDAY HALF-LIFE! We here at Black Mesa have some big news!

The Big News:

Last year, Black Mesa was one of the first Steam games to be Greenlit by you, our amazing fans. We've had quite a year since then, with a lot happening internally that we haven't been able to talk about... until now. Black Mesa has been given the opportunity to be

sold as a retail product on Steam!

This is an incredible honor - one we never expected - but also one we found hard to accept.

We never developed Black Mesa with money in mind. Our team is made up of average, hardworking people, and no one joined the team to make money. For us, Black Mesa is purely a labor of love. We believe this philosophy has significantly contributed to the overall quality and feel of the game.

Our decision to sell Black Mesa rests on two key points. One is we believe we can make the game even better by having full access to the Source engine. This lets us tackle and fix limitations instead of working around them. The second is because frankly, our team could really use the financial help.

Full post here: http://forums.blackmesasource.com/showthread.php?t=17088

There was also this quote:

When we got on greenlight, we were forced to move to another engine. Right now, we can't tell you what that engine is due to our licensing agreement. Being on this new engine allows us to change how the engine works, modify tools, etc; things we plain and simply cannot do for the free version.

Could this mean Source 2?

Who here will buy this? I don't have any issues with giving these guys some money.

It has to be source 2. This just makes it pretty clear that Half Life 3 is a long way away.

Awesome news, I will definitely buy this

What they made was not complete but fuck if it was not next to perfect, best mod I have ever played that is for damn sure.

and....SOURCE 2 Means...they spent all this time building a new engine which would explain many things,

Maybe source 2 will BLOW OUR MINDS!

That Fake shot is so old but man it still looks nice.

I'd buy a paid version that still excludes Xen after they finish it. Anything to never play that section again.

why? Half Life 2 launched (almost) alongside the original source engine. From what I know, most devs dont consider an engine complete until a game is released for it (which is why most engines launch with a game or 2)

Also, a new engine was confirmed (apparently) awhile ago

Thing is: Black Mesa is awesome cause Half Life 1 is still awesome. Buying Half Life 1 again on Steam? Did it. Will I buy Black Mesa? Hell yeah, even though I already finished it.

It would be perfect for Valve to show off a new but familiar game in Source 2 where a game like Black Mesa is a great candidate and less risky than Half-Life 3.

I only skimmed, but any news about a release date?

Has to be Source 2. No reason they wouldn't be allowed to tell if they used the old Source engine. It's pretty much confirmed with that statement.

Will it have an ending when I buy it?

been waiting for this for a long time.... been over what? 8 years? 9 years? God, this is why games cost so much and have large teams. And Mods are forever because it's just dudes sending files back and forth on the weekends.

Yes I will buy it. Thing is so good it deserves my money.

Also, I keep feeling like I'm the only person in the world that didn't mind Xen (and actually liked a decent chunk of it - not Nihilanth, mind you...)...

Yep, same, I didn't think Xen was too bad.

Maybe I should play the rest of the free version - how long is the free version?

Black Mesa had a cool atmosphere to it, more than the original did. I'll probably end up buying this

I suspect the hate for Xen comes from inadequate machines and a rough experience.

Of course Xen looked mind-blowing, but that late in the game it became a drag. I ended up using some cheat codes to just mow through it to get to the end boss.