Avoid.

Black Mesa Archive The Cafeteria
#1

They promised that when the game will be out on steam, there will be a free version, and a paid version, and they will be the same, so if you want to donate to them you will buy the paid version.
I waited for Black Mesa to come out on steam more than 2-3 years, I was really hyped for the Xen levels and the multiplayer and I thought I could play the game and enjoy it on release.
But guess what? No, I cannot enjoy the game. I opened steam and saw that Black Mesa is early access and costs 20 bucks. 20 bucks. 20 BUCKS FOR AN EARLY ACCESS GAME.

20 Bucks is not cheap here, you pay your water bill here with 30. Besides that, Early Access old school shooters dont survive for long (See a game called TOXIKK, a horrible UT3 knockoff and even its developers said that it is a knockoff of UT, its Early Access and after a month of its release it was already dead.) Anyway, after all of the development they still didnt finish the Xen levels which is pretty sad.

Avoid buying Black Mesa, because the developers are liars and make false promises.
Not that I can buy it anyway for that price lol.

#2

There is a free version, and from what I understand there will be a new one released further down the line, but Xen was never said to be part of the free version.
$20 gets you the game and any further updates, including Xen when it arrives will be free of charge. It really isn’t a lot, if you don’t think that 10 years of the team’s lives spent working on this without pay isn’t worth even that, then just don’t get it. But don’t accuse the devs of lying when you could literally look up the information.

#3

I know a lot of people, including myself, were out of the loop but they announced this change around a year and a half ago. The sheer quality of the game is well worth it. This is basically a new game built from scratch. They took a year porting it to a newer version of source, have access to the actual Source engine source files now, rewrote the HECU AI, etc. Some of the money they get from selling the game will be used to hire artists to work on Xen too. Money must be tight for you but this is a good price. Usually companies charge $50/$60 for HD remasters that spruce up a lot less than this. There are plenty of Early Access games on Steam in the $30 to $50+ price range.

You do bring up a good point that I’ve been confused about. The first (legacy) release of the mod will still exist as a free download but will a free version of this paid edition be released? I know it won’t have the same Steam features and lack multiplayer, but I have been confused if the updated engine and Xen will release free or not.

#4

The legacy version is not supposed to be the free version. they said that when the game comes out on steam it will be free to play and there will be a paid version which will be the same, but if you will want to donate you can do it by buying the paid version.
10 Years you say? its entirely their fault. If you read a little bit about its development , they changed the engine version something about every year or two. And the not all of the original Black Mesa devs are the ones working on it today. Some of them left after the version changes, The same happened with Duke Nukem Forever, because of the constant engine changes some staff left and 3D Realms didnt have money because it took so long. it was entirely 3D Realms’ fault.

#5

1) They never said the free version and paid version would be the same. They said the exact opposite: the free version is a mod on the freely available Source SDK, the paid version allows them to license a branch off the most up to date version of Source, and modify the engine code themselves, thus allowing them to do more to make a better game than could be possible in a mod.

  1. They have so far done exactly what they said: there is a free version, and a paid version. The free version is due to be updated to a newer version of the free Source engine shortly, although it will not then receive more updates except bug-fixes.

Also 20 BUCKS FOR AN EARLY ACCESS GAME is quite cheap compared to a very large number of EA games that are less complete than BM, so no idea why that deserved all-caps.

#6

It’s unfortunate really. It really shows the true motivation behind the development team. For well over 8 years people were lead to believe inspiration and fan loyalty were keeping the dream alive. I too will NOT pay one penny for the game.

At this point i don’t even care to play it. Why waste my time playing a false dream? In fact, i would like to offer advice. Perhaps you could all get a job working for EA games. They basically operate in the same regard. They promise the world, then proceed to lie to their fan base, followed by trying to sell what should be otherwise part of the initial game. Yep, don’t worry you’ll fit right in.

Luckily people without enough sense to know what’s right will help fill your greedy pockets.

My last word ever in this forum…karma :slight_smile:

#7

I knew all that charity work would pay off someday!

#8

Man, so many whiny people now that, you know, the Dev team put out something new and exciting. It seems like…like…so many people were whining before about inactivity…and now…they’re whining because it’s 20 bucks…hmmm…while…the links for the free, not so classy version, are still working. But…if 20 bucks is such a big deal then, a free version that is quite a damn good game still is suitable right, in place of it?

If you don’t like it, then…go away? Go play Half Life Source. Or Half Life. Leave the people who are actually grateful for the devotion of our Dev team to be happy, and leave the Dev team to complete the game and give us the best god damn remake of this decade.

You see, posting in every sub-forum about how things didn’t go YOUR way…it only makes you look childish and rude, like you’re throwing a tantrum because you feel “betrayed” by people who have stuck to their word.

#9

Read also: Entitlement

#10

Holy shit I have some sympathy for the devs. The aggressive whiny bastards have gotten worse than they ever have before. The devs came into this with no intention of charging for it and operated under that assumption for the vast majority of development. The opportunity to license BM came completely unexpected to them. They decided to take the opportunity and to charge. I personally respect that decision as it will hopefully allow them to make a better game and, honestly, they deserve the pay. For early access this game already has a lot of content and is relatively well polished. 20 dollars for a video game is not a lot relative to other games, I have sympathy that you claim to live in such an impoverished state but that really doesn’t mean you should be getting games cheaper than anywhere else. Anyway, for a one time purchase, even if you don’t have much money, 20 dollars is pretty damn small.

Tl;Dr: go away and show the devs some more respect

#11

The devs announced two years ago that Black Mesa would be going retail on Steam. They didn’t lie, you were just out of the loop and, instead of doing research, are blaming them for it.

#12

Guys, I didn’t have information which I was too lazy to look for myself handed to me on a silver platter

therefore it’s everyone elses fault

Also I expect free updates for a free mod. But of course I don’t want to have to lift a finger to help out, I mean…work?..FOR FREE???

/thread

#13

reads title

Sure, I’ll gladly avoid you. Thanks for the tip!

#14

Oh how I miss Raminator’s mighty Banhammer…
Actually, why not create a big sticky thread on this whole subject of paying for Black Mesa (resoning and all) and then start banning people who spam this all around the forums?

#15

Not a bad idea to make a master thread for this. We do miss his banhammer too.

However, the new guys who do the forums, such as myself, don’t really believe in ruling with an iron fist. We want people to be free to express their opinions, negative or not, as long as they are not overtly abusive about it.

#16

I’d buy Black Mesa for $40. With mods, this will be a gift that keeps on giving. Also, that money allows them to have dedicated paid artists to speed up the whole process. I know it’s odd, this “getting paid for doing work” thing, I’m sure you’ll grasp it in time.

#17

Wow guys, there is so much butthurt here. do you have rough sand in ur sphincter? Maybe you need some lotion? or maybe you should stop eating spicy food if it causes you so much pain you little overly sensitive bum. Either way, if you don’t like anything here you don’t have to buy, download for free or play any of this awesome game/mod. There is no such thing as Karma, fate or any of that other spirit/woo/hippie crap but there is personal choice. You should exercise it and leave. You and your delicate holes will be the better for it

#18
#19

I sometimes wonder how people can become such joyless, cynical, angry bastards. When something doesn’t go exactly as they wanted what do they do? Blame someone else.

#20

It’s like the people on welfare who gets hundreds of dollars to spend on food every month and then whine and cry about how the government treats them so terribly.
I played around 90% of the mod version and then never got around to finishing the last bit, and the steam version is somewhere in the vicinity of 5-10 times better if you ask me. All this work put into updating the models, fixing map/script issues, texture work, balancing(skill.cfg op tho), Revolver that could possibly be used as porn, and everything else the devs have worked on for however long now, and people like the OP have the gall to bitch that the game isn’t free based on something the devs said years ago simply because they don’t want to/can’t spend 20 dollars on the best game I’ve played in a good while. And I don’t even really care about the multiplayer personally, at least with only deathmatch gamemodes.

Founded in 2004, Leakfree.org became one of the first online communities dedicated to Valve’s Source engine development. It is more famously known for the formation of Black Mesa: Source under the 'Leakfree Modification Team' handle in September 2004.