[VIDEO] Black Mesa Source 'On A Rail' Footage Leaked

People are actually complaining about the head bobbing? Does it really make that much of a difference? The iron sights however are pointless, they should take those out. The voice acting is amateur yes but to be honest, this is an amateur production, these guys are not professional game programmers and frankly, its like pretty damn good so far. The problem they have is that they are trying t replicate a Valve-made game and naturally as demonstrated here, people are going to be super critical of their work. If you just take a step back from that and have a look, its really not that bad.
 
I am a fan of this mod, so I am probably biased in my opinion, but what I saw in this video is more that satisfying and great!
Definately I am most excited about the work they did with this. It looks like a very mature work, the map design is awesome and all in all it feels like a commercial game rather than a community mod. Really really excellent job!

just for the record, the developers have set up a rather lengthy and rich wiki in the official site. They additionally offer two topics in the Cafeteria section of their forums for posing questions about the mod and the developer team respectively, and they are pretty active in responding most of them :)
 
The problem with the head bob is that it isn't really head bob, it's more like leaning from side to side as you move, it looks very stiff and unnatural. Ugh.
 
If they are going to go with the exact same intonations of speech as the original voice-overs, why replace them? The track is good. It's exciting. But it's out of place in the video's set-piece. It's jarring - two different things are trying to assert themselves, the game and the music.
 
SpotEnemyBoats said:
Iron sites and bobbling head in a remake of HL1? Oh god, please no.

I hope its not in the newer build.
Click to expand...


Indeed they are present, and you saw the graphics and others, just one thing to tell you, the definition of Black Mesa Mod - RE-MAKE!
 
The head bobbling and the iron sites where in the MP version of HL1, but the head bobbling was patched out.
 
This is as close to an official dev quote as it gets. It's from Raminator, from the official forum:

Is this a leak? Was it released intentionally?
We had always been planning to release gameplay video(s) as part of the social media campaign, and we'd always hinted as such. Unfortunately, we ran into some difficulties while we were wrapping up the build (including several severe FPS drops and crashes) that delayed our plans for the media campaign and any gameplay videos. Once we got those sorted, we started to try to figure out what we could show off; the video that was posted to YouTube was a rough first cut outlining some possible action.

Someone showed someone else something they shouldn't have, and that someone else decided to share that something with the internet. And here we are today. Bottom line is that sooner or later, you were going to see what you saw; that's why we haven't tried to cover everything up or get it taken down. There's no conspiracy, we don't have any ulterior motives.

How old is the build of the game?
The build featured in the video is between four and five weeks old. The art assets, level design, lighting, sound effects and music, voice acting, weapons, gameplay mechanics, etc. are all basically final. You won't be seeing very many changes between what's in the video and what's in the final product.

Is the music actually in-game?
The music in the second half in the video is the actual song from the level, it hasn't been overlaid afterwards. It syncs up well with the action because it's been designed to; the song was specifically written for this area. The audio quality of the YouTube video doesn't do it justice though, and it sounds like the game's music volume was turned up too high while the video was recorded.

Why are there iron-sights in the game?
You can look down the sights of the .357 for a slight zoom and increase in accuracy at the expense of your rate of fire. It was a mechanic that was present in Half-Life: Deathmatch, but we've brought it into the singleplayer to help solidify the weapon's role. We've added an option to the main menu to completely disable that functionality, as a result of the feedback we've received from the video.

The .357 and crossbow are the only weapons that you can use the sights on, and they're for decent gameplay reasons. We aren't casualising or consolifying the mod; you don't have regenerating health, there aren't chest-high walls, you won't get strawberry jam on the screen when you're hurt, etc.

Why does everything look like crap?
The compression YouTube applies has blurred and darkened everything, even at 720p settings. You lose a lot of stuff like the scanlines on the HUD, the stars twinkling in the sky, the moonlight illuminating the launch pad and the hologram illuminating the control bunker, any real texture detail, outdoor characters, etc. I've got the original video at 1080p, and everything looks fine.

Why is the voice acting so bad?
Everything is intentional; the soldiers are meant to sound like over-the-top movie bad guys. We're not interested in trying to get you to empathise with the enemies.

Will this affect the plans for further media or the release?
It has, we're actually going to be moving some things forward. Time has never been on our side.
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Taken from: http://forums.blackmesasource.com/showthread.php?p=474198#post474198
 
Bitch, bitch, bitch. The smallest details you won't notice five minutes into a play-through...

You forgot one: why is the rocket towering over the Silo? Pretty sure rocket silos don't work that way. Odd detail to misinterpret - the whole point of On a Rail is that you can visit the various stages of the rocket. Hell, Episode Two does the same thing.

*disappears*
 
kupocake said:
You forgot one: why is the rocket towering over the Silo? Pretty sure rocket silos don't work that way. Odd detail to misinterpret - the whole point of On a Rail is that you can visit the various stages of the rocket. Hell, Episode Two does the same thing.

*disappears*
Click to expand...

I might be wrong, but I think one of the devs said through out the level you prep the rocket, maybe before you reach the top you raise it up.
 
Unexciting gameplay, not-so-great textures, terrible music and VA... Yah, not too stoked for this.
ACelibateClergy said:
>Improving shitty vanilla Half Life zoom system, irrelevant head-bob
>UHMUHGUDWHUTNUXTKILLKAM?

Half Life really does have one of the worst fan-bases.
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Ah yes, the notoriously awful HL fanbase :rolleyes: Could their rep possibly sink any lower...!

You're remembering HL pretty poorly if you think the voice work here is superior and that HL had a 'zoom system'. HL just had an alt-fire zoom for the crossbow which the BMS team have extended to the .357, like in HLDM. So no, it's not a big change, but it's hardly 'improving the shitty HL system' either. If you thought it was shitty, it's still shitty.
 
The main issue I have with this is that I am colour-blind and literally could not see the enemies unless they were shooting.
 
ChiliFan said:
The main issue I have with this is that I am colour-blind and literally could not see the enemies unless they were shooting.
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I watched this in a window and am not color blind and had the same problem.

Also what's so bad about iron sights?
 
Actually, I think the whole video looks pretty neat.... except the audio. I know they said they were trying to go for a different feel, but that track really misses the mark and seems terribly out place for Half-Life. Also, the HECU voices need to be drenched in radio static because they currently sounds pretty wimpy and bland.

Other than that, I'd give it a play.

Why is the voice acting so bad?
Everything is intentional; the soldiers are meant to sound like over-the-top movie bad guys. We're not interested in trying to get you to empathise with the enemies.​
Click to expand...
​

Dude, you're full of shit.
 
Wow, I am massively disappointed that this will likely be the final voice over work. It's going to be a huge black mark on what should be a good mod. It sounds like they are trying to save face because it's too late to fix. If they hadn't been so secretive this could have been at least had a chance to be avoided.
 
Rossjg said:
If they are going to go with the exact same intonations of speech as the original voice-overs, why replace them? The track is good. It's exciting. But it's out of place in the video's set-piece. It's jarring - two different things are trying to assert themselves, the game and the music.
Click to expand...

I thought this too, but I remember hearing that Valve wanted them to replace all assets to avoid any legal issues.
 
idopik said:
It's a non-profit mod, one that AFAIK Valve is happy to support, so what legal issues?
Click to expand...

Valve said there wouldn't be any issues as long as it used 100% its own content. I read it up on the BM's official forums. Heck, you could probably ask Gabe yourself by emailing him.
 
idopik said:
It's a non-profit mod, one that AFAIK Valve is happy to support, so what legal issues?
Click to expand...
The same issues that are involved with downloading stuff off the Pirate Bay.
 
Did anyone catch the "Thanks Valvetime!" on BMS main site? hah, they are so full of themselves.
 
I loved every minute of it.

It really amazes me that people's first reaction to a leaked 5 min gameplay video is to shit on and insult the developers who've spent eight years making a piece of entertainment that they plan to give away for free. Even if you disagree with a particular gameplay choice or have a criticism, there are better ways to express it than bitching like a spoilt child or indulging in ludicrous hyperbole. Some of the people who've posted in this thread should be ashamed of themselves.

No wonder these guys are secretive if this is the kind of the response they get from the community.
 
Vegeta897 said:
Wait, what? I don't follow the logic of those two statements.
Click to expand...

"Thanks Valvetime!" was in bold letters on the main page, and then later taken down. The BM forums is a mess, all hell has broken lose, etc.

Then they claim copyright infringement against valvetime.net youtube page (evidence of the gameplay video being taken down).
 
Some people seem to almost think that us running the news was almost malicious. I have to say the "Tribe Mentality" over on their forums has been rather interesting to see. Despite me thinking we have a bunch of chuckle****s a majority of the time, here there's been a pretty healthy diversity of opinion and dissent of that is pretty well tolerated. There are a few examples of "If you don't agree with me, your opinion is wrong" here, but by and large its not too bad. The guys over at the BMS forums seem to be acting as if they themselves are under attack which is by no means the case, and certainly not any intent of this video being posted.

I also want to say that right now there seems to be this impression by people that "People are being so whiny and dumb!" and then they themselves whine and make baseless conclusions or accusations. Please, try to respond not to the people who wouldn't change their minds even if you did debate them, and instead try to ignore them and respond to people who think about their answers. We'll all get a lot more out of it and I am disappointed to see legitimate discussion points lost under waves of "No one is worth responding to!"
 
I think it makes sense for them (the team) to be (or appear to be) in a mess though. They did not expect or anticipate this video release, and it's August, which at least to me means vacation time and it's not easy for a team to coordinate.
 
well everything seems fine, the only things I don't like:
1. music
2. military voices
 
Krynn72 said:
Because he spelled it with a "u" and Valve is an American company and their forums shouldn't use British spellings. Suck it.

Also, I missed the video :(
Click to expand...
Seriously, you'll find it.
 
For all "complainers": most of you don't know sh*t about developement process on this mod, becouse it requires at least following their forum. Your just complaining about things you saw in footage that LEAKED ( so it's not really prepared material, just some "first shot" they did preparing public release) is kinda stupid. For example (according to words of dev member): iron sight - added only for .357, like in HL1 multi, it can be turned off in options; actor voices - in authors intentions there were to keep "grunts" dialogues the way they are (on my mind comes the "B" category movies, where bad guys really wanna show how bad asses they are; for me it's pros, not cons column).
Besides, the goal is not to make HL1 in better graphics (you can play Half Life Source for hi-res textures), so it's not about recreate game exactly as it is on better engine. The goal is to give players the same awesomeness as they experienced playing HL1.

There is a wise old saying: "If you don't like it, GTFO". Nobody forces you to play this mod.

PS. How many of you would spare your free time to make game for few years and release it free ?
So I'm waiting for release or at least some official materials without bitching around, I've got better things to do
 
Raminator in the official statement said:
Bottom line is that sooner or later, you were going to see what you saw; that's why we haven't tried to cover everything up or get it taken down.
Click to expand...
...until it got too many negative reactions?
Pepe said:
There is a wise old saying: "If you don't like it, GTFO".
Click to expand...
That wise old saying sounds pretty dumb in someone's first post.
 
Pepe said:
For all "complainers": most of you don't know sh*t about developement process on this mod, becouse it requires at least following their forum. Your just complaining about things you saw in footage that LEAKED ( so it's not really prepared material, just some "first shot" they did preparing public release) is kinda stupid. For example (according to words of dev member): iron sight - added only for .357, like in HL1 multi, it can be turned off in options; actor voices - in authors intentions there were to keep "grunts" dialogues the way they are (on my mind comes the "B" category movies, where bad guys really wanna show how bad asses they are; for me it's pros, not cons column).
Besides, the goal is not to make HL1 in better graphics (you can play Half Life Source for hi-res textures), so it's not about recreate game exactly as it is on better engine. The goal is to give players the same awesomeness as they experienced playing HL1.

There is a wise old saying: "If you don't like it, GTFO". Nobody forces you to play this mod.

PS. How many of you would spare your free time to make game for few years and release it free ?
So I'm waiting for release or at least some official materials without bitching around, I've got better things to do
Click to expand...
You speak as if this mod will ever see the light of day.
 
Pepe said:
For all "complainers": most of you don't know sh*t about developement process on this mod, becouse it requires at least following their forum. Your just complaining about things you saw in footage that LEAKED ( so it's not really prepared material, just some "first shot" they did preparing public release) is kinda stupid. For example (according to words of dev member): iron sight - added only for .357, like in HL1 multi, it can be turned off in options; actor voices - in authors intentions there were to keep "grunts" dialogues the way they are (on my mind comes the "B" category movies, where bad guys really wanna show how bad asses they are; for me it's pros, not cons column).
Besides, the goal is not to make HL1 in better graphics (you can play Half Life Source for hi-res textures), so it's not about recreate game exactly as it is on better engine. The goal is to give players the same awesomeness as they experienced playing HL1.
Click to expand...

Hi there.
There is a wise old saying: "If you don't like it, GTFO". Nobody forces you to play this mod.
Click to expand...

This is an internet forum. For discussion of Valve-related things. BM is one of those things, and people are going to discuss it. They are going to present their opinions, which they are entitled to do, regardless of whether or not you like them.
PS. How many of you would spare your free time to make game for few years and release it free ?
So I'm waiting for release or at least some official materials without bitching around, I've got better things to do
Click to expand...

Hi again. I did. Does that mean my opinion is more important? What if I was critical of BM?
 
Pepe said:
There is a wise old saying: "If you don't like it, GTFO".
Click to expand...
But what if you applied this same wise old saying to your own post in this thread of comments that you clearly don't like? A conundrum for sure!
 
Laivasse said:
That wise old saying sounds pretty dumb in someone's first post.
Click to expand...
Two things: 1: what does it change that it was my first post? 2: it was kinda translation from my native language so it might not sound that well. But context shows what I meant.

sixteenth: I cannot guarantee that, it's just my wishful thinking but consider the fallowing things:
- authors were preparing actual promo release (leak did not appear from nowhere)
- in this year developers started their let's say "campaign action" ( IMHO few posted screenshots are hard to call campaign, but, well - the gameplay was supposed to be next part of it )
- leak contained music track not listed/shared before (I know, nothing to get excited about but they said earlier release will come shortly after soundtrack release)
- footage is from level, which has only 2 screenshots on their website (I was worried that they still have lot of assets to work on, but I read today something like the assets are done)
- I personally wouldn't leave project which would took me 8 years, unfinished
- even Duke Nukem Forever was finally released xD (shame it's a one-time game :/)

So, keeping fingers crossed :)

Pi Mu Rho, kineaesth:

Sure, point taken, I might overreact, but to defend myself: people were writing their complains to things being out of context (the aforementioned .357 iron sight for instance). Sure, I could stick to weird in my opinion sound of landing on the ground and .357 cylinder (proper word ? - part where bullets are inside) rotating left instead right and too late. But I'd like to be more objective/impartial so I'm waiting for official content release.

Pi Mu Rho:
about making that game in spare time by authors: it's not more important (why should be?), the thing is as for game developing without budget or financial benefits we should be a bit more forgiving for the authors. Don't get me wrong - of course we all want the game to be possibly best written, constructive criticism is always good, but we should at least give developers chance to present the game content on their own terms and than share our opinions.
 
Pepe said:
Two things: 1: what does it change that it was my first post?
Click to expand...
Because it looks as if you've participated in a thread, in an unfamiliar community, simply to tell a load of people to GTFO of it.
 
@Laivasse:
Point taken again, I guess I didn't gave the proper meaning of phrase that exists in community I live and have some negative meaning, but not to the point, that someone should felt offended. If anyone felt so, my apology.
 
I don't think this is justifying, developers when answering on BM forum seems honest and factual. That's my opinion, of course there is a possibility that it was just for get out from the situation.
I played a few times that lines from BM and HL1 (worse to judge because of radio distortion) and I prefer this one (again - personal preferences). Eventually intonation of "science team" and "responsible" is middling.
But I'm not an English native speaker.
Anyway, I think that trial of female computer voice released some time earlier is ok, so voice acting as an entirety might be good.
 
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