I firmly believe Black Mesa has been a better, more detailed Source game than any Valve title released so far, save for maybe Portal 2. (And even that is beaten by detail and level design.)
Has the mod team received any private or public congratulations/recognitions or anything in the past few days from Valve?
I mean I know that’s easier said than done, and is complicated, but you all deserve to be hired by them. This is a AAA title, free or not.
I’d love to know about this too.
I remember valve advertising the mod using the old Steam News pop-up, but now I’d love to read Gabe’s personal review after he plays it.
I wouldn’t say that it is better looking than all source games but from a texture lighting perspective its definitely in the range of CS:GO, Portal 2, and L4D2.
As for the mod itself… Probably slightly less than Valve quality overall. There were times during my play through that were just as good of an experience as any of the Half Life 2 games but when the game would crash or have AI Soldier difficulty problems or when I would get confused due to the very detailed level design (which occasionally happened every once in a while) Valve would have done better in that regard.
But considering its a free mod made by people on their free time with no pay… well you can throw those criticisms out the window. Best Mod I have ever played. and one of the best single player experiences I have played in some time. And thats saying a lot.
AAA game for free. thanks BM Devs!
I’d wager that we’ll hear something official after it gets on Steam. But yeah, maybe someone can shoot an email to Gabe and ask if he’s played it yet and what his thoughts are on it. He usually replies to most of the emails he gets.
I’d love to know about the status about BM going onto steam. Valve must have contacted the team in order to get the build onto steam by now.
There was a thread about it on the old forum, but I can’t find that one anymore 
Are there any news or updates regarding steam?
hmm…so he replies to almost every email he gets? I suspect that they must be in the millions…
THAT’S WHY HE HASN’T STARTED HL3 YET!
Well in episode 2’s commentary system he states “I usually get around 10,000 emails every time Valve releases a game, and while I don’t respond to all of them, I do read all of them” Or something along those lines.
hope he reads it.
Don’t think he will read it. Valve actually asked the project be submitted to them before it is released to the public, I’m not sure if the devs abided by this, but they are certainly aware of the project, especially with the Steam Green-light happening.
To be honest, a lot of the mod is below Valve quality and is rather classic in game-play so I don’t see Valve endorsing this as part of the Half-Life collection, it may be treated the same as any other mod that is in existence, that would certainly be the fair way to treat it.
Not about BM, not about green light, not about a personal jet to come hire me, not about anything.
This is sad
Every person that worked on this game has the gratitude of us all, I understand that although this sounds good, but after going through all this hard time and finally releasing such a high-quality product, you deserve much more recognition…
Have you guys contacted THEM about greenlight? It seems weird that they haven’t said anything to you yet. I mean, sure, there’s Valve Time, but damn.
Damnit I want an awesome statement from GabeN and/or Marc about BM 
This really disappoints me. The level of commitment to HL1 has exceeded Valves. BMS clearly not an average mod.
How many of there employees worked on this or any project for nearly 8 years? Without compensation.
While the BMS team have been working, losing family time, making unbielivable sacrifices, both personal and monetary to see this project through. Valve has been turning HL into a multi Chanel income machine. I hated when they forced Steam onto my machine. I despise hats as a focus of Team Fortress. I put up with these invasions of my personal space because I am a true fan of Half-Life the game. Not Steam the online store. This game almost blew up the Greenlight bar. I believe they stopped the vote and commited to release. Because they felt the level of attention this mod was getting may have set a bar so high. That future titles would have trouble even comming near it. I suspect there may have been a little fear in corporate’s decision to jump when they did.
I am embarrassed for Gabe, if he has not played this mod yet. Is he so busy making his multi million dollar backroom “let me be your store” deals? That he doesn’t have time, to even take a look at this level of tribute. Or if he has played through. Is he jealous that he/Valve did not do it for profit first? Or does it force him to give the HL3 team a kick in the ass. Because if Valve is going to charge money for the next big thing it will need to be better then BMS. Valve is famous for pushing the envelope of innovation. I suspect they may feel a little threatened. Remember BMS is free. TF2 is a micro sales store. I am sure they are a very busy company. But they have time for PR when it might effect there profit margin.
I suspect he has looked at it. Then he handed it off to his developement teams to tear it apart from the inside out. To see if they could find any talent within the mod that they just can’t live without. Valve has hired a pretty strong team over the years. They probably are not short in very many departments. If this is the case, I am hoping at the very least they could give the BMS team a little advice, and perhaps guidance in areas that may need it. From a developer point of view. Not a player point of view.
While I find it fascinating that some developers are seemingly opening there arms to critique from players. I don’t really agree with the majority of online moaners and complainers that seem to have infested every corner of every forum on the internet these days.
Case and point the forums here, and the outcry from the players who insist on playing in hard mode. Then comming here to cry about how hard it is. I find the difficulty of Black Mesa the way it is right now, Refreshing. It is Half-Life with a new life and presents a real challenge. I hope the BMS team will not bend to the spoiled children who believe if they complain enough mommy and daddy will cave in and cater to there personal demands.
Perhaps a few tweaks here and there, a little more polish, at the BMS teams sole descretion. There are a great number of us that are very pleased and satisfied with what you have achieved and your vision, revisions. We just may not be as vocal. Black Mesa team, I will say it again, you guys have made a fan of me. The kind of fan I was of Valve’s, at one time. And hope to be again.
Hay Valve!! …The Black Mesa Team just presented you with a trophy. Are you going to say Thank You?
Shame on Valve! and Gabe! for not acknowledging the BMS team’s commitment, dedication, sacrifice, and hard work that the Black Mesa team proudly offer the world for no compensation.
Shame on you Valve!! …This mod can only add to the legendary status of your flagship franchise.
Last I checked email was free.
Don’t worry guys Valve is probably having fun playing the shit out of it and once they are done they won’t hesitate to comment.
I hope you’re right.
Heck, you guys can’t honestly think there are people who MADE half-life 1 who don’t want to see what a group of random guys made over the course of 7+ years?
They may play it through a few times(More like 19389721)…then tear it to shreds in a positive way. Hopefully like "We really loved the way you did this part of the game, but there were some problems with this. Great work for being free guys. Come work for us and make 13581739857 million dollars!
~ VaLOLve
Imagine it from Valves perspective.
You have this amazing historic video game that created an entire series/genre and a company.
Then some guys who have never even worked at your company re make it way better than you did (half life :s ource).
Even though Valve/Gaben are supposedly all the way behind community made content etc, I imagine they/he would be very precious of half life, in particular the original. So if someone outdid you, wouldn’t you be a little miffed? But again they have to stay true to their apparent community generated content ideals, which by the way so far are few and far between.
That’s just one possibility, but personally I believe Gaben has played it, probably all of valve has played it, and they probably think it’s amazing just like we do. But why they haven’t even contacted the Devs yet, I’ve got no idea.
Valve is a very busy company. You guys expecting them to push greenlight out the door before they are even ready just because of black mesa are being a bit ridiculous. It’s their project and they haven’t released any games with it yet. They will do it when it’s ready. Also assuming everyone at valve has played this mod. Seriously? They have full time jobs and families. There are probably lots of them who haven’t had the time to sit down and play an 8-10 hour mod. Relax.
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.