I’m fairly certain that helicopter is scripted in some way that overrides the default health system. I’ve drastically lowered the health before, but it still took the same amount of hits.
We can agree on that the Apache fight definetly needs a revamp or at least a polishing. It’s not challanging, it’s just hard because of the lack of balance.
Funny. In HL 1 the same fight was the other end: easy beyond measure.
Well in HL1 it wasn’t a boss fight. It was just a “Hey you know those Helicopters that have been tormenting you? Well you have a Rocket Launcher now, and here comes one!”. It was basically your revenge against the helicopters for chasing you through half of Surface Tension. That’s removed in Black Mesa, so the effect is a bit different, maybe that’s why they opted for a boss fight.
The same theme is mirrored in HL2, you’re chased by Helicopters halfway through the canals, and run into a tunnel. It goes and waits at the other end for you, but then when you come out, Surprise! Heavy Pulse Gun! (and that panic alarm it emits so so goddamn satisfying, it’s like the helicopter itself is screaming “Oh shit!”).
They should restore the chasing helicopter imo. It was what made the surface tense.
This.
I don’t really think that it’s the lack of balance on its own, to be honest. It’s the way the RPG is introduced.
Like, okay, video game philosophy rant/text-wall thing incoming, but - The way mechanics are introduced in a game is really important. You can see this in practice in plenty of other games (here’s a really good article about what I mean, albeit for the original Super Mario Bros. - to the right, hold on tight), where elements are introduced in a way that informs the player what they’re supposed to do.
Of course, there are also instances where elements aren’t introduced properly (anyone here play Sonic 3? Remember the up-and-down barrels in Carnival Night Zone?), which at best can be frustrating and at worst game-breaking. You don’t want to explain everything to the player in a game, of course, but at the same time, you have to be careful about how you introduce things, or else the player could get the wrong idea.
The issue with the cliff-side helicopter battle in Black Mesa is that it’s so resistant to the RPG. At the beginning of Surface Tension, the player gets hounded by a helicopter, yes - Either A) they’ll escape the helicopter, leaving it be, or B) they’ll end up using the Tau Cannon to destroy it.
Now, here’s the thing - Even if the player uses the Tau Cannon to destroy the helicopter, the helicopter at the cliff only spawns when the player picks up the RPG. Not when the player enters the hangar area where the RPG is, when they’ve actually picked it up. The logic ends up going like:
Introduce RPG -> Helicopter arrives -> RPG should be used against helicopters/armoured vehicles
To be fair, I expect that not everyone will see it that way, like I do, but the point stands - Between the RPG triggering the helicopter and the crate of rockets nearby, the implication is “use the RPG here because it’s effective”.
And, well… It’s not. It takes what, a dozen rockets or so to take down the helicopter? And you can carry… five. To be fair, Half-Life 2 did this as well (where a flying enemy takes more rockets than you can carry), but not as egregiously.
If the player uses the Tau Cannon, then the helicopter goes down in… what, four or five hits? That’s a pretty big difference. I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that using the Tau Cannon had never occurred to me the first time around, mostly because I’m a stubborn idiot.
The point is - I’ve played Half-Life, so I know that the Tau Cannon is an effective weapon against the armoured vehicles as well. However, between the amount of rockets the helicopter takes and the fact that the RPG itself is introduced more or less the same way as it was in Half-Life, I doubt I’m the only one who had this problem.
(Oh, and if you’re wondering, yes, I over-analyze things quite frequently)
I agree the final showdown with the Apache is a bad interpretation of that fight. Actually, that whole section leading up to it is fubar now. You’re supposed to be ducking and dodging the copter as you sneak around trying to find your way to the cliff side. There was a sense of urgency. You could always shoot the Apache down early on, but it was funner not to.
The map design with the high cliff walls and tunnels was perfect for this chase scene in half-life. In black mesa these areas leading up to the cliff side feel really off (the maps are beautiful). The Apache isn’t following you, there’s no tentacle and the mines are completely visible. This makes what should be an interesting section into more of the same. One simply blasts away some marines and houndeyes without a worry.
I feel like the devs then compensated for that by making the end Apache battle insanely over the top, but why? Why not just leave it how it was.
It would be like if the helicopter in Half-Life2 didn’t chase you the entire way and then suddenly showed up at the end for you to battle it. No matter how fun or hard the end battle is it’s still going to be much more rewarding when it has been harassing you since the get go.
Actually the Apache in every map was a different one, and you went through 3 maps with it after you (the dam, then canyon, then tentacle (which was optional)). I don’t remember it tailing you over the minefield, but I could be wrong.
Anyway, since they were all different helicopters, you could destroy each one with the Tau Cannon, then in the cliff-side, face the last one with a Rocket Launcher. I think if they were meant to be the same one, they would have been made indestructible, but they weren’t.
I’m pretty sure the two maps around the drain hatch share just the one helicopter in HL1. I’m not certain on that, but I don’t recall seeing another helicopter after destroying the first one.
make it so you can drop the crate on that first live marine you encounter
There’s 3, I just checked (HLS, I don’t have HL’s content ‘updated’ on Steam yet). There’s one at the Dam, there’s one at the desert / military camp, and there’s a third at the tentacle / minefield.
It’s possible to destroy them all if you hoard Tau ammo, because they only take 1 charged shot to take out (as opposed to Black Mesa, where they can tank one, and then several more because merely becoming damaged and fleeing).
Speaking of, I hope they fix the hitboxes on the Tau Cannon / Helicopter. I’m not sure where the problem lies, but in HLS I could nail that helicopter with every hit even with me and the chopper moving in different directions. In BMS it feels much harder to land a hit on the chopper, unless you stand still and hit it when it comes overhead.
Yeah, I remember there being three in HLS, I’m just not so sure about the original.
Going to go check now, actually…
EDIT: Okay, if I destroy the helicopter on one map it doesn’t appear on the other, so I’m assuming the minefield/tentacle map shares the same helicopter with the hatch controls map.
I think Black Mesa had a chopper fight at the minefield first (due to the signs that there is a chopper at the start of the map, bm_c2a5b) but removed for unknown reasons.
Probably being dodging a helicopter and mines would just be too annoying.
I THINK this has been mentioned before, I’m not sure.
But I’d like (if possible), to make the crossbow clip things to walls again if they’re close. Maybe it’s not realistic, or maybe there is constraints with the source engine (I’ve got no idea), I’d really like to see that.
Just something small that I enjoyed immensely. Nothing like timing it so perfectly and clipping one those little twig assassin girls to a crate. 
Well the problem with that is it wouldn’t make sense. The Crossbow is supposed to shoot poison darts. The crossbow in HL2 could pin people because it shots chunks of fuckin’ rebar.
That’s true. Though technically as a ‘tranquilliser gun’, it does a good job of outright killing.
Ah well. A guy can dream. ;_;
Here is a couple of things:
Talking about suggestions; It would be good if we could go back to previous maps just like we could in Half-Life, so obvious limits should be kept; but in Black Mesa most doors, gates, and elevators that bring us to the next map are shutting (down) right behind us. It gives bad breeze to our back
Also, scientist should be weaker I say. At least in the Lamda Core supply depot, I find it ludicrous that the scientists survive some point blank shots into the head, from our handguns.
It’s a videogame. So is ridiculous Gordon surviving being hit by a rocket launcher and then healing himself with magic boxes placed on walls. With your logic, everything should die in 1 bullet to the brain
You can lower Sci Health in the skill.cfg