2TextFAMGUY1
On your data I am also inclined to the second table. My personal experience playing Black Mesa shows that war with aliens is simpler than with the military, which at a high level of difficulty literally rip you into little pieces. Yet 20% of victories Marines personally I like more. This adds a competitive factor. But with seven surviving Marines it too much. Perhaps in this case it makes sense to find alternative ways to destroy them. For example, what is not immediately apparent, but will significantly help to destroy the survivors. Ramp with explosive barrels, for example. The player is enough to shoot the ramp to the barrel hit the ground and explode them to not have a big problem with the survivors. Or, you can place some grenades for MP5, the player can fire the area of the shelter with it. But this is just a couple of alternative options for you, which I suddenly imagined. One more question on this data is the level of difficulty. I do not know how this affects the scripted battles, but the player may face a series of save / load. What level of difficulty you are experimenting?
Sadly, I still do not have the opportunity to play myself and see your wonderful work. 
In the meantime, always wait for your comments and media releases.
The Garg works prefectly for me. I’ve only seen it clip through the doors when i’ve used noclip at some point during the map.
What’s the difference on your map when u choose EASY - MEDIUM - HARD?
Thanks!
Yeah, but %age chance still influences the outcomes that people will get on their very first gos, remember. I want everybody’s first turn on that battle to be a good impression. It does matter. It’s negative for the player if there’s way too many of any unit left on the battlefield when that fight’s over.
Yeah, it’s not necessarily about the winning and losing, but it still helps to paint the HECU as losing. After all, it still makes sense that they’d pull out when they start losing loads of guys left right and center, and are expending way too many resources trying to fight the aliens. But, having them losing just makes it even more obvious.
I always test on Hard. For me it’s the most important difficulty by far. Perhaps that’s wrong of me, I don’t know. I’m going to assume the 7+ marine survivors is A VERY SERIOUSLY long shot, and very rare. I could have some grenades for the MP5, actually though, that might help.
I’m not sure what you mean by this. Nothing on my maps actually changes between difficulties. You always face the same number of enemies and same spawns no matter what. But from what I’ve heard, the soldiers tend to lose a lot more on the lower difficulties because comparatively the aliens are a bit tougher.
EDIT:
As for release, that should happen in a few hours. I’ve got the final versions of 0.83 compiled and ready to ship, but I gotta take them for a few test spins and make sure everything’s in order before I release. But it is ready. I haven’t quite included everything I’d have liked to in this release - C2A5I has only had a few minor bugfixes, but it’s still a damn big update, I promise you that.
Well yeah, that’s what I mean, the amount of enemies, the toughness of them, …
So still another release after this one it seems…
Well that’s a good thing, to squash the last bugs and to fine tune the maps, change some details, …
If you really want this much control over the outcome of the battle, you could still ‘cheat’ by using optional alien spawns (dynamic reinforcements) or if you don’t like that, “help” the aliens a bit by healing them if they are about to lose. That would not be so obvious for the players to spot.
It’s good that you spend soo much time on fine tuning the battles using placement, numbers of npcs and such. It shows the quality work you are putting into it and that you pay attention to the smallest details. But you can’t overcome the non-deterministic behavior of the AI using these techniques. It can only be done by reacting to the results the AI produces, in realtime.
Maybe something for the final version 
I’m really looking forward to your release this evening!
You could also have optional soldier spawns, if the soldiers are losing too hard. It’d be a little harder than the optional alien spawns, because the aliens can spawn anywhere with the justification of teleportation. With the soldiers, though, you could simply spawn them in locations that the player doesn’t have access to, and then have them rappel down into the action.
I already have both, I did say this earlier.
The fight on C2A5H uses dynamic reinforcements for the final wave, for both sides. If there are still aliens left alive, more soldiers span. If there are still humans left alive, more aliens spawn. It works just fine, though it’s not always consistent.
I’m ready to release, just trying to squash 2 small annoying bugs on C2A5I and then we’re good to go. Within the next hour or so I reckon.
not trying to be an annoying dick, but are the maps a little more optimized?
That is an annoying question, actually.
No. I’ve already done the main optimization pass, anything beyond this point will be minor. If you have performance issues throughout the whole map, at this point, it’s because your computer isn’t good enough. If you have performance issues during:
- LAV Helipad Battle
- Abrams Battle
- Garg Courtyard
The first 2 are expected and normal because of the large number of AI in operation. The third area is horribly optimized, but it was in Black Mesa’s version too.
I get FPS drops in the Abrams Battle, but not in any of the 2 other areas
That Abrams battle is the worst performing part of my map set by far and there’s nothing I can do about it. The area is very well optimized. I make full use of hints, occluders, and areaportals here. It performs badly because of the large amount of AI. I am not really willing to tone down the number of AI either, because it kills the effect. I reckon most people, myself included, won’t mind a dip in framerate if there’s a great big scene going on. I do mind dips in framerate for no reason, but there’s a clear reason here.
Almost ready to release, I’ve just wound up messing around with small things on C2A5I. It’s on the final compile now and I’ll do one testrun before release. Sorry to keep you waiting, if anyone is indeed waiting.
[COLOR=‘Red’]Update: Released![/SIZE]
Latest Version: 0.83 Beta. Download here.[/SIZE]
Please report any serious issues (seriously gamebreaking bugs, missing textures) to me immediately and I will work fast to get out a hotfix ASAP.
The next beta I’m hoping to roll out in a few days rather than a week (I’ve released the past 4 versions with 1 week gaps), and I’m hoping for the next beta to also be the final beta. After that it will be the finished release. Any nitpicks and other comments that you’ve been holding off, or serious issues you think need to be sorted - now is the time to address them. Please give me all the feedback and comments you can muster.
Going to make a video for 0.83 which I will probably record and upload tomorrow.
0.83b Changelog:
03/12/12
==083b== <-- Surface Tension Uncut - FILTHY WORKAROUND EDITION
Assorted/General
-Played around with item spawns hoping to find better balance. Was a bit too generous in C2A5G and a bit too stingy in C2A5H before. I am now nicer on C2A5H and a bit stingier on C2A5G.
-Fixed several long-standing serious bugs. It should now be free of any major bugs (aside from a crash or two!)
C2A5G
-Fixed a bug where some keypads would disappear, but only if you played through from the rest of Black Mesa’s campaign.
-Moved the impaled HECU a little bit lower so it no longer looks like he has a gigantic metal cock, but rather is impaled through the chest.
-Fixed a few lazy artistic decisions in the parking lot. No more overlapping lines/inexplicable crushed cars/Soviet cars.
-FINALLY got around to fixing the spiral driveway to not be stair-like due to a triangulation bug. Fixed architecture suggested by Mbit. Cheers!
-Swapped the upstairs Vort for a Zombie.
-Changed the glass texture on the garage to be dirtier.
-Fixed a few exploit spots where the player could see visible nodrawing.
-Added a few security cameras here and there to reinforce the later (revised) scene with Barney.
-Made the M35 in the TOW courtyard destructible, but only with the TOW.
-Made rudimentary custom collision mesh for a rock by the M35 which had no collision for some reason.
-Fixed a seemingly floating AC Unit.
-FINALLY fixed the Osprey gibs doing damage to the player! FINALLY! Thanks to Mbit for figuring out the solution for me. A serious long term bug, squashed.
-Rebalanced the LAV fight slightly. Did a very rough hotfix to the AGrunts trying to attack the LAV from the front but this may cause more problems than it solves.
-Fixed the clipping on the Silo doors the LAV comes out of.
-Fixed very obvious, and bad clipping with the door at the end of the level.
C2A5H
-Implemented a workaround for the weird red light appearing at origin. Turns out it was an engine bug involving the RPG. A serious long term bug, squashed.
-Gave what I now dub the “regret Vort” an “idle” animation which he performs when you first see him, where he’s examining the corpse of an HECU slightly mournfully. Just adds a bit of dynamism to the world, perhaps a reflection on how Vorts don’t really want to kill humans.
-Lowered the window by the regret Vort so the player can actually see inside the room now.
-Fixed a floating rebar near the start of the map.
-Re-did the effects for the Grunt smashing the marine through the wall. Looks much nicer now.
-Updated the wall where the blast opens the way to the Abrams fight. Area should be less bare now, and the effects are better.
-Finally decided to do something about the smoke obscuring the view of the Abrams fight. I’ve adjusted the smoke with EVERY version I’ve released, but it turns out the problem wasn’t the smoke from the Manta laser as I’d previously thought. The problem was the smoke from the wall blowing open hanging around for way too long. I’ve fixed it by using a different effect (just as good).
-Extended the swath of destruction from the Manta laser to stop AT the tank rather than before it.
-Swapped one or two Human Grunts for Medics, and gave a few of them Shotguns instead of MP5s.
-Tightened up the timings for the aerial display. Should be a bit quicker now and fits the action better - leaving less of an awkard pause when the tank kills everything.
-Completely overhauled the balance for the Abrams fight. There are (and always have been) 4 waves to the entire fight. The first 3 are better balanced now, and the final wave (4) now uses dynamic spawning. A math_counter counts how many units are alive for the Aliens and for the Marines, and adjusts the spawns in the final wave accordingly. Aliens should win 80% of the time by only 2 or 3 combatants.
-Fixed an (unreported!) bug which I’ve experienced where if Marines are the survivors of the Abrams fight, they run up to the door leading into the gasworks and just run into it infinitely, completely ignoring the player. This was because the gasworks aliens were spawning too early and the marines trying to reach them.
-Fixed a small bug where the third marine in the final wave of marines in the big battle stayed by his spawn rather than rushing with his teammates.
-Added two brand new side areas to explore, to make the map feel a bit richer and less linear, as well as rewarding exploration a bit. Will leave them up to the player to find. They’re both pretty good though, with some semi-hidden goodies.
-Remade from scratch the 3d skybox. It now fits the map much better (no more blurry rocks in the distance), and looks great.
-Made it so the headcrab in the bathroom no longer visibly pops into existence.
-Fixed the jump pad in the bathroom. Should cause no more crashes now and should put you in the right place properly 90% of the time.
-Added a player blocker to the top of the bathroom stalls in the jump pad toilet, to prevent players getting stuck in the cubicles.
-Fixed the rooftop encounter so the 2nd Alien Grunt appears BEHIND the two retreating Marines. Aliens should win every time now.
-Overhauled the roof slightly. Made it less sparse, far more decorated. Added some cover to make the encounter with the Sniper easier for those who thought it was too difficult.
-Fixed a bug where the Sniper carried on shooting at the barrels’ location after they’d been killed.
-Deleted the red light from the Satchel. As someone on the forums pointed out, now the furnace gives off the strong red glow, removing the red light actually made it easier to see the Satchel due to it silhouetting.
-Moved around a fair few objects in the furnace room so there’s way less obvious clipping now.
-Stopped one of the pipes in the furnace room glowing red for no reason.
-Moved the valve you have to pickup again to a more logical, but decently well hidden location.
-Added small invisible ramps inside the maintenence hatch in the furnace, to make it easier to access.
-Fixed a bug where the fire in the janitor closet did no damage.
-Deleted a pipe where you could see an untextured end. It was in a weird place anyway, and you could barely see it.
-Mucked around with the first alien encounter in the gasworks. They now actually attack the player rather than standing their blankly for a few seconds, and they can now make it into the janitor’s closet.
-Made the hurt barriers for the gasworks jumping puzzle a little bit more forgiving.
-Moved around the spawns for the aliens which appear during the jumping puzzle.
-Overhauled the security office. Looks much better now, and a much clearer theme. Barney’s “holdout” now has surveillance cameras showing scenes from across the mapset. Also has a few gun racks allowing the player to stock on ammo.
-Fixed a bug where the tripmines would detonate prematurely, often not being there at all when you reach the security office. (It was caused by the physics objects such as the plastic chairs moving into the lasers by accident when the map first loads).
-During your conversation with Barney, on one of the screens you can see a group of HECU get owned by some aliens.
-Fixed a pretty dumb artistic cock-up where the road leading out from the gasworks didn’t line up properly at all.
-“Overhauled” the road leading out from the gasworks so the buildings around it are way less bare. Looks MUCH better now.
-Added 3 Ospreys flying overhead as you man the 50 cal, to add to the feeling that things are going badly for the military.
-Changed the end of the level again. When Barney presses the button in the security office, rather than opening the large door at the end of the level, it unlocks a console in the little guard house. You then press the button on the console to open the door leading to C2A5I. This prevents players from skipping the final fight entirely by simply running straight into the next level. In addition, if Barney’s with you, he’ll very politely go and open it for you.
C2A5I
-Made it so that the Vort at the start of the map now rushes at you when you load in, rather than just standing there stupidly.
-Moved the Snark encounter further down in the vent. The player should have far more breathing room now.
-Fixed a bug where if the player waited in the vent, the scripted sequence for the Garg emerging would get broken.
-Hopefully fixed a few bugs where the Garg could glitch through doors without playing the animation of him opening them.
-Fixed up his patrol pathing just a little bit.
-Fixed a glitch with the decompiled occluder at the end of the map which was hiding visible objects, causing noticeable pop-in.
-Doubled the speed at which the doors open when you turn the crank at the end.
-Added another small aspect to the shelling sequence at the end - bits of ceiling start to collapse when you’re heading down the tunnel (rudimentary effect, but it works, took me quite a while!).
Downloading! You sir, are a genius.
Bless you my son…
Just finished playing through, I have to say, this is by far one of the best iterations. There’s only two issues I could spot that were obvious.
Area portaling in C2A5H after you enter the office:
And Ancient clipping bug for C2A5H/I:
And the doors on C2A5I open automatically after hitting not holding E on the handle for some reason.
Nit-pick issue:
Satchels still glow here. Why not have a larger transmitter or some apparatus that is hooked up to them all that’ll glow instead? I dunno, it just looks funny.
I’ll do another play through tomorrow morning. It’s late Eastern time, so I’m going to call it a night.
I had an issue where everything was falling through the floor in C2A5G. It was happening consistently with every reload of the map, but stopped after I completely restarted the game and I haven’t been able to reproduce it again.
Was that the map that you moved “up” to fix the red light issue? That could have something to do with it, I would guess.
This is far-and-away my favorite community project. Anything that makes Black Mesa less crappy is good in my book. Now I’m wishing that you were the lead developer from the start. Then maybe we would have had a great remake.
I’ll admit on my first play through i dident encounter any bugs at all. Everything seemed to of worked just the way it should.
C2A5G worked perfectly from the vort ambush to the helipad fight and everthing in between worked smoothly, the harrier take off was a little fast but maybe that was just me.
Same for C2A5H, the large battle worked well and the rooftop sniper was easy; loved that side area. From there to the security office was smooth. The only thing I would say about it is the tv moniter that shows the small side fight seems to trigger as barney starts to talk. maybe you could have the fight trigger when you look at the screen. However, I would find it just as good if you left it. For the ospreys I would trigger them after you kill the aliens when you leave the gas works and make your way to the 50cal. Later when barney goes to open the big doors to C2A5I you can have him say one of his defualt lines like “I’ll stay here and defend the area, you go on ahead”, so that way the player doesent have to feel so dumb leaving him behind. Other then that C2A5H worked perfectly.
C2A5I worked great aswell, the garg dident clip through the doors and patroled along the water. He had a few hicups but nothing terriable looking. As he chased me to FaF, I still think that if you added a large amount of debrie to fall near the the door at the end, so he cant follow you right up to the area portal, that would be great. You can have the garg on the other side roaring at you. It would add to the debrie you have falling already and would look much better then having him just stand there on the other side of the door starring.
Very VERY nice job text, just a few minor improvments and its perfect.
I palyed the maps on easy normal and hard jsut to see how the fights pan out here are my notes.
easy
map1
garage fight: balanced more or less though the shotgunner kept trying to fire at long range
road fight: aliens one one vort loss
osprey fight: aliens won then crowded around the LAV which exploded killing all but a Agrunt… wondering what happened there
map2
tank battle: balanced till the reinforce wave, the alien reinforcements cause the soldier ones to spawn but they are dumb in spawn (they ran right into a a-grunt all died from that one A-grunt
soldiers v zombies: soldiers won only one survived one hit with crowbar
normal
map1
garage fight: soldiers won barely (shotgunner left)
road fight: aliens one hands down again
osprey fight: ended up 2 vorts a Agrunt and the lav killed the Agrunt with the lav(aka it exploded).
map2
tank fight: same problem as before only the low roof vort stayed alive, and none hostile was able to bring the guard by it with out it attacking, the guard killed it though.
hard
garage fight: balanced
road fight: aliens won with no losses
osprey fight: balanced (agrunt and a vort left)
map2
tank fight: crashed for some reason after the manta started run.
notes on maps:
map1
TOW fight: decided to kill the A grunts with the truck on the normal run through, one shot killed all 4 as they clustered around it… suggest have one move to the left.
map2
Sniper battle: on the easy run through was trying to use the mp5 grenades to kill the sniper, during this it shot the explosive barrel as I was standing next to it, both me and the sniper died at the same time that was epic. on the normal run through the sniper kept shooting at the small power boxes trying to hit the closer or the 2 pipe barrels.
nitpick
on the last snark encounter, i was out of snarks so I picked up the ammo right as they spawned safe to say you inadvertently put a DEV F U right there as snarks don’t attack other snarks… I actually think this should stay because its one of the o crap what did I just try moments.
suggestions
map2: move the hecu reinforce group from the far side to the low building the vorts spawn on. reasoning for this other than tehy try and head but the spawning a-grunt nothing. suggest make that building enterible anyway, put afew supplies and beds in there as well as some batteries. (lacking on second map while there is plenty on the first)
edit: minor suggestion for map 3, place a door on the stair well at the start that the security gaurd can open but not the player in this room place a suit and health charger as well as some ammo. have this room also have a console. reason for this room. after the player enters the vent the guard will move to this room instead of standing there like an idiot.