While C2A5G and H have been cleared, C2A5I is giving me problems with the areaportals not working properly, and the Garg’s entrance where he throws the tank not working properly. Will keep you updated, shouldn’t take TOO long to fix.
“Currently In-Game
Source SDK”
THE MAGIC IS HAPPENING
Really sorry to disappoint everyone for what feels like the 10th time this week, but I won’t be releasing just yet. It’s half 3 and I’m seriously tired - with a very busy day lined up.
However, don’t think this is the same as all the other times I said that it’s nearly ready. The maps aren’t just “nearly ready”. They’re finished. I just locked in C2A5I, having solved the 2 very annoying bugs which were troubling it. This means all that’s left to do is the final compiles for all 3 maps, and my quick testruns before they can be sent to you. I could probably do it now but I’m very tired and I want to write quite a long and detailed message for my alpha testers to read which I don’t feel like doing right now.
I have already set my alarm to get me up at 10 to do this before I go out for the day. They are already finished for alpha, it’s just the releasing them which needs to be done now.
Sorry guys, I know I’ve been pushing it back again and again. But…the product you’re getting is damn good. Seriously damn good. I’m really totally proud of it, I’ve surpassed my own expectations again and again. I hope you guys will like it too.
I’m just glad my OCD didn’t make me kill someone just because Page 48 glitched out and kept trying to link me to a nonexistant page 49
Awesome man- great to hear that it’s nicely polished to our satisfaction. Really appreciate all the hard work you’ve done.
If you value feedback from another mapper’s view, I’d gladly give these maps a playthrough 
I hope this gonna be added to the game because its a badass
No problem mate, I hope u slept well! Don’t rush anything, even not at the end of it!
he’s still in bed bless him… Slaving away until the early hours of the morn… you gotta respect this guy for the sheer dedication to the project
I envy him, cause he’s able to do things I only dream of! Yes, at ur place it’s 11.11am, here it’s already 12.11am
I’ve just completed my first testing run and it went flawlessly. I’ve squashed the last few bugs that I wanted to. I’m now going to do the FINAL compile and the final test run. Then the map will be sent out.
Good Morning London!
well this sounds promising indeed… I can imagine your quite used to sniffing out many bugs from CSS mapping for multi-player so It sounds like it’s pretty polished up?
It seems like this is going to be not so much bugs but how it plays and how it works?
I’m IMAGINING (though not for sure) that this is probably the most bug-free alpha released for anything ever. In the whole world. It’s extremely polished, I’d call it late beta levels of polish, but we’ll see.
I don’t think bugs are going to be the issue I want testers to look for - it’s more about battle balancing, gameplay, if it’s possible to break scripted sequences, and optimization. It’s quite poorly optimized - I want to see if it affects anyone badly.
EDIT: Final test run complete. Gonna zip them up and upload now. It took me around half an hour, and that’s knowing the map fully well and not playing with god mode. I’d imagine for most players it’s 35 - 40 minutes extra content. I warn you though - it is NOT easy. The 4 alien grunts rushing out from the TOW door is probably the hardest moment though - boy it’s difficult! I beat it using 5 satchels and numerous trip mines.
Good place for an auto save then or reduce the amount of alien grunts to 3 or 2…
I think there was only 2 in the original?
Nice extend to the original one, never thought it would take use 30 minutes to get through it
So very well done again!
Keep up the great work and continue with amazing us!
I’m quite sure you’re gonna prepare one of your mega-post.
Here’s something you should underline in it:
1- number of autosaves.
2- things you’d like testers will focus on.
3- known issues.
4- Size (MB ) of your mod
5- Where testers can send you feedbacks
Just a last thing:
As testers we, on the forum, have a flaw:
We’ve seen all of your videos and we know what expect.
I advice you to find a friend that have played BM and ask him to play your maps.
If he get stuck in a point could mean that is not clear enough how to proceed.
It’s good that it’s difficult. If it became an official map of BM, it could be one of the favorite scenes and for people who said BM is too easy, their feedbacks can change.
warning… mega-post imminent
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT - RELEASE
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READ ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING HERE BEFORE DOING ANYTHING ELSE.
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Introduction
Hi there everyone, I have an important announcement to make!
To try and make up for all my indecision and delaying this week, I am officially releasing this project into [COLOR=‘Red’]OPEN BETA[/SIZE].
It’s a big step. I’ve been the only one testing it so far. I have no idea how the general community is going to handle it. There will be a big media release tomorrow (video, full walkthrough/commentary, lots of screenshots) as I’ve got a lot to do today, but I wanted to get this out there at once.
Bear in mind this is a rough and ready version. It’s still being worked on, it’s subject to change. You can help me by playing it, enjoying it, and giving me lots and lots of detailed feedback!
I am releasing two versions, in addition. Unlinked and linked. I strongly recommend using the unlinked version, for now. Unlinked gives you 3 maps, c2a5g_uncut, c2a5h, and c2a5i. These 3 maps are linked together, but are separate from Black Mesa’s main campaign. You play them by typing “map c2a5g_uncut” into the console from the main menu. By installing these maps, you are keeping the original Black Mesa campaign the way it is by default, with my maps being a little side bonus you can play at the end if you like. It doesn’t touch the main campaign at all.
The linked version is NOT SUPPORTED BY ME. I’ve just put it here as a bonus for some testers, as it has been highly requested. The linked version gives you 4 maps: c2a5g, c2a5h, c2a5i, and c3a1a. C2A5G and C3A1A REPLACE THE OFFICIAL BLACK MESA VERSIONS OF THESE MAPS. What this also means is that my stuff integrates seamlessly with the main campaign. If you installed this pack, and started the Black Mesa campaign from scratch, my maps would appear halfway through Surface Tension as they were intended to. The first map of Forget About Freeman had to be modified to allow it to transition to C2A5I, but other than that I didn’t change anything at all in it. Remember I don’t officially support this version, and am not responsible for anything it may do to your game. BACK UP your originals before installing mine, to prevent any issues.
Downloads[/SIZE]
Please let me know immediately if there are any problems with the release itself - if there are missing textures, sounds, or the maps are in some way incorrectly packed. I will resolve these issues immediately.
Unlinked Version[/SIZE] - Is not connected to the main campaign in any way. [COLOR=‘Red’]RECOMMENDED.
Linked Version[/SIZE] - Is linked to the main campaign. NOT SUPPORTED.
Instructions
BEAR IN MIND THESE MAPS MAY POTENTIALLY MESS UP YOUR SAVED GAMES. BACK THEM UP OR BE PREPARED TO HAVE PROBLEMS.
Extract the contents of the zip file into your BMS folder. This will install the maps and the materials which come with them.
Launch the game.
Open the console. If the console is not enabled, you can find it under advanced options in keyboard settings.
Type “map bm_c2a5g_uncut”. This will launch the first map in my set of 3.
Type “sv_cheats 1” into the console to allow you to use cheats.
Type “impulse 101” once the map has loaded. This will give you full weapons and ammo (for testing purposes).
Play the map, enjoy it, report bugs!
You do not need to do these steps for the linked version. You can simply play the BM campaign and my maps -should- appear in their place.
Feedback
You can help this project improve and grow by sending me feedback. Do so by posting in this thread, sending me a private message, or sending me an e-mail at nitrotomato@hotmail.com. This will all help make this project better in the long run, and I appreciate the community’s contributions. I would appreciate it if, when you post feedback, you post me long detailed amounts of information at once, rather than lots of separate posts containing lots of information. It’s more manageable that way. To report individual issues as you find them, please use the following format:
Conclusions
That’s it I guess. I hope you enjoy my maps. It’s been a helluva learning curve and a difficult process creating these maps, but I’ve enjoyed doing it and I hope the community likes them. Be nice. This is my first release for anything ever, and these are the first singleplayer maps I’ve ever developed. It is still in development. Problems can and will be fixed. I’m very eager to get this project resolved. This was a labour of love, both for my personal enjoyment and for the community. I hope I’ve done Surface Tension justice. Please let me know! I live off of feedback! Please read the readme for more information.
Useful console commands for testing purposes:
sv_cheats 1 - Enables cheats which let you use all sorts of console commands.
god - Makes you invulnerable to EVERYTHING.
impulse 101 - Gives you every weapon in the game with max ammo
notarget - Makes all NPCs ignore you
noclip - Makes you invulnerable and lets you fly/not collide with anything