whether or not we have xen the rest of the stuff looks gorgeous - personally i’ve been waiting a long time but can wait more, keep up the good work devs 
None.
Why would you have to bake dynamic lighting?
We don’t.
I was being facetious, because duh
So out of curiosity, what struck the need for another CC pass? I think a few limited areas had CC in older versions, but overall the meticulous lighting combined with fog seemed to generally do the trick on establishing atmosphere.
Believe me or not but I had a dream during a sleep today about looking on some stuff from Xen update on Steam,it was something blue-ish and then I wake up turning my PC on and guess what I see?Those blue skies that I saw during the sleep but they are real!
Would we be getting a public beta for the Xen update like we had with Crossfire and Surface Tension Uncut?
No. But we are planning to deploy the engine (minus Xen content) before we deploy the actual Xen content, as a way of making sure that Xen’s engine branch is stable and functional for everyone before we actually drop the Xen content. This will hopefully make the actual release of Xen very smooth, as we then only need to add content to the game - not change engine binaries or anything like that.
Are you planning to do more animation updates for HECU\Scientists\Security before dropping the Xen update?
Gorgeous pictures, lads. I never thought the lighting needed an upgrade, but after seeing the ‘before’ and ‘after’ pics, i agree that the new color is better! Dem red rocks.
Would be awesome if we could have some snippets in the months to come, like a spoken line from one of the scientists or a fragment of music, as teasers.
Take all the time you need with Xen, i’m sure it will be well worth the wait. Top quality is more important than a deadline.
Still, can’t wait for roaming the border world! ^^
I can see why the dynamic lighting was important to the devs. I am just starting to think of locations or situations in the game were this could make an awesome effect. I am looking forward to see how the shy little xen lamps will look like in motion!
Totally forgot about those, but yeah, now that I think about it, it makes sense that they’re gonna use dynamic lightning for those
I was soooo excited about the new Xen exterior shots until I read about the new Dynamic Light Shadows and it completely overshadows (get it!) the Xen release for me now. I’m a big fan of dynamic shadows in horror games and now it’s coming to a game that already has a very vibrant and horror filled atmosphere. It will be insane. Now I will have to play through Black Mesa… again. Thank you guys so much for your determination and endless efforts to improve the experience over and over again.
Ha, as if you needed an excuse for that. ;D
I am more than willing to wait another couple months - this looks beautiful, and the engine improvements are always a nice plus.
Keep up the amazing work!
Oh jeez, those Xen images are sexy as hell. I’m going to need a fresh pair of underpants. I’m okay with the delay, I’ve literally been waiting for this game for over 10 years, I think a few more months aren’t going to hurt.
Also, that dynamic lighting is awesome. I can see that creating some really great atmosphere in the Black Mesa Research Facility.
Thank you devs, for continuing your hard work. Hard to believe this project has been going for 13 years now.
Holy mother of G-man! This is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. I love that you took inspiration from the ocean for some of Xen’s environments. And damn, the detail in those screenshots! I can’t wait to explore this map.
Also, I really love that you guys are aiming to give Xen a more varied appearance (some being more earthly and others completely alien). I look forward to seeing some of the environments that are closer to to the original Xen.
nothing short of epic to see on those photos yall did awesome with xen i like the underwater inspiration too
I like this a lot.
Reminds me a little bit about Alien Swarm kind of lighting (which was gorgeous, btw).
Would be curious to know what can of additions you plan to make in the existing parts with that beautiful dynamic thing!
That’s good to hear, because as beautiful as those screen shots are, they still don’t immediately evoke Xen without context of knowing it’s Xen. I think RockPaperShotgun puts it best:
"It’s attractive, but, as Alice worried about the Xen interior screen they put last Chrimbo, I’m not entirely convinced it screams “Xen.” Valve’s take on this far-flung planet was weird and fleshy and pastel, whereas this is gloomier and rockier and looks a bit more, well, Mass Effect Andromedan. I can see one of those flying Manta Ray wotsits in the second screen, which is arguably the only giveaway here that we’re looking at Xen as opposed to Alien Place #5464552."
I’d argue it’s mostly the color pallet. I don’t need to repeat all the same thoughts I had about the first screen shot, as I understand from numerous posts this is just the first level and there will be a style progression. But yeah… all that aside they sure are beautiful. Exciting stuff. I think at this point I’m more jonesing to hear the soundtrack than anything else! INSPIRATION LINK. 
Well… that’s a fairly broad statement that I don’t believe is exactly true.