Operation Black Mesa news

Nikita29-03-2014, 19:27

Not long ago the developers of Operation Black Mesa resurfaced, posting the latest news and a development update on their forum, along with a few screenshots from the game.

As a reminder, Operation Black Mesa is a Source engine remake of Half-Life: Opposing Force, released in 1999. This mod has nothing to do with Black Mesa. Operation Black Mesa is being developed by Tripmine Studios.

Multiplayer beta cancelled

The Operation Black Mesa developers planned to release a multiplayer beta in early 2014, but for several reasons they didn't.
The main reason is that some core features are still unfinished. The official forum says that a beta is the first impression of a game, and they would like that impression to be a good one. Releasing a beta would also have significantly slowed down work on the main project.

Operation Black Mesa multiplayer includes such classic Half-Life maps as Crossfire, Boot Camp and StalkYard, plus the new maps Depthcharge and Gambit.

I hope Operation Black Mesa will treat us to a good game and the multiplayer that Black Mesa never got.

Single-player development progress

Work on the single-player campaign is in full swing. The developers would like enthusiast animators to join the current two-person team and help speed up NPC creation.

Although OBM is the main mod, Guard Duty isn't being neglected at all. For those who don't know, Guard Duty is a Source engine remake of Half-Life: Blue Shift.
Guard Duty screenshots:

After players voted for OBM on Greenlight and it appeared on Steam, the developers were offered the chance to develop their products as full-fledged commercial projects and sell them on Steam. Besides "Tripmine Studios", the same offer was received and accepted by the Black Mesa team, now called Crowbar Collective; they will now sell their products on Steam, including the multiplayer version of Black Mesa. The OBM team hasn't accepted the offer yet and is still thinking it over. The main obstacles are licensing fees and investment.

According to the developers, Operation Black Mesa and Guard Duty (both single-player and multiplayer) will remain free and available for download to anyone, no matter what.

The main goal for the "Tripmine Studios" team is still to finish development, in the hope that players will love what they've made.

And finally, a few images from the developers: