(Already posted this on the Steam discussion board, but I like to be redundant. I’m also updating this post as I think of and discover more things.)
Just played the first couple chapters, and I am enjoying it so far. I’d like to give my feedback on some of the changes (later when I have time I can give screenshots and video of the specific things I’m referring to, for clarity):
Things I liked:
- The added dialogue in the room where the guard and the scientist bet on Gordon showing up; i.e. the female scientist overhearing the conversation and bursting out laughing. I felt like her laugh and facial animations were a bit overdone, but overall it was a good addition.
- Perhaps this was in the mod too, but the scientist going over Dr. Cross pickup lines. (I had only ever heard this when I actually checked out the game’s audio files.)
- The change in what happens when you put on the HEV suit. My jaw dropped. Awesome!
- The change in how the vortigaunts approach you during the resonance cascade. I didn’t even know this was something the game needed, until I saw it.
- The addition to the security guard’s dialogue after you blow up the casserole. “Because that was…‘you-know-who’s’ lunch.” Hehe!
- The option for auto crouch-jump. prostrates self before the crouch-jump gods
- The little GUI changes that make this feel more like your game.
Things I didn’t like: - The change in the title screen, which used to be bigger and more ethereal. Now it looks smaller, blockier (more solid), and not nearly as cool. Also, the ghostly sound which plays during the title screen used to play as the title was fading in; now there’s a delay and it’s a bit jarring. (Though maybe that was a bug.)
- The options menu is translucent, which means the main menu background and text can clutter it and make it hard to read.
- One of the scientists who lets you into the test chamber now has an English accent, instead of Sisk’s voice work from the mod. I suddenly felt like I was in The Stanley Parable. It’s not that the voice work was bad; I just don’t think the voice suits him.
- Kleiner’s lab coat being like everyone else’s now. In the mod, his is buttoned up. It makes him stand out, it’s in-character, and it provides a good contrast with Eli. It makes sense for it to at least be the same length as the others (in the mod it’s shorter than the rest, and that bothered me), but I think it would be better if it were still buttoned up. Something about his facial design and animation was kind of weird, too. Definitely preferred his appearance in the mod.
- It sounds like the HEV suit voice is different, and I don’t think it’s a good change. I remember someone in another thread said it “sounds like funny child”. That’s about the best comparison I can think of.
- Is it just me, or do loading screens take EVEN LONGER now? D: I assume there are more resources to load now, but oh my God does it ever break the flow. I don’t imagine there’s much that can be done about it, so I don’t know why I’m griping, but there you go.
- The new HEV suit model. It certainly looks cool, but in the mod I liked that it was very noticeably different from the Mark V. To be honest, in my mind, pretty much any detail that highlights how much things change between Black Mesa/Half-Life and Half-Life 2, and reinforces the sense of the passage of time, is an awesome detail. (Examples: G-Man’s model re-skinned with darker colours to match his Half-Life model; Eli and Kleiner being actually redesigned to look younger, not merely re-skinned.) So the mod’s HEV suit model was a source of much appreciation and satisfaction. And now it’s goooone. :<
- Some of the changes (like the HEV suit model change, some of the other model, texture, and layout changes) feel like they are trying to make Black Mesa more like Half-Life, at least visually. I’m sure many would love that, but I emphatically wouldn’t. I didn’t fall in love with Black Mesa for the ways it was similar to Half-Life. I fell in love with it for the ways that it was different. I loved it because it was its own, it was unique, and it wasn’t trying to be Half-Life with graphical improvements. It was so much more than that. I’d just…like it to remain more than that. Obviously, the visuals aren’t everything, and are far from the only thing that made Black Mesa such a great experience. But I started gaming in 2010, have played mostly post-2005, first-person games, and am a pretty fussy person. To me, appearance and imagery does count for a lot. So it would make me very sad to see Black Mesa shed its wonderfully unique, distinctive look in favour of visual atavisms.
Things I’m ambivalent about: - The layout and texture changes are interesting. I have somewhat mixed feelings, but they still look neat!
- I have mixed feelings about Gordon gasping in pain when he’s burned. On the one hand, it’s kind of thrilling to hear a tiny bit of voice from an otherwise silent protagonist, like Chell’s pain sounds in Portal. On the other hand, I feel like he should never have more voice than the breathing during the resonance cascade. It just feels taboo somehow. >.> But I wouldn’t want it to disappear… Ideally I would want it to be optional.
- The guy who mentions Gordon’s ponytail, having his voice filtered because of the speaker. On the one hand, it makes sense (I always wondered how you could hear him that well through solid glass), but I dunno, it just feels weird. I think a lot of my feelings are just resistance to change. I think this one will grow on me. It was just a bit startling the first time around.
- Flashlight! Forgot about the flashlight. It just seems…so dark now. ; _ ; And so small. But it also feels less ridiculous and more realistic, so I’m torn. All I’ll say is, when I first turned it on, I didn’t actually realize it had worked.
- The loading screen when you start a new game. On the one hand, it’s cute, and is one of the aforementioned details that make Black Mesa feel like a Crowbar Collective game, rather than a Valve game. But on the other hand, it feels a bit gimmicky and silly. One of the things that roped me into Black Mesa is that it felt much more immersive, as well as much Darker and Edgier, than Half-Life. That loading screen kind of pulled me out of that.
All in all, still the Black Mesa I know and love! I will post more as I continue to play!
)
Can you restore the flashlight beam it to its original, bigger size (like in the 2012 mod version)? Please! (Or maybe it’s smaller because of the default extended FoV to 90?.. even so, it looks small I think)
