What Difficulty Will you play Black Mesa on?

Black Mesa Archive The Cafeteria
#101

I am going to play on medium, but I am considering playing on hard.

I have only played Half-Life once (as the whole series), and that game was indescribable. There are no words to describe how great the game is. I have been itching to just load the first level of HL, but I am saving it all for Black Mesa. I feel like the experience is going to be very awesome, remembering things from the game and seeing and hearing them in a new way. I am happy the devs made changes to some levels, as we can discover new places and feel like we are playing a new game while at the same time reliving one of the best games ever made.

#102

On hard, vorts take at least a double shotgun blast to down, if not following up with the MP5/M4. This should tell you something about the difficulty of the rest of the game.

Particularly when you have to go up against agrunts. Those are some tough motherfuckers.

And no, I’m not Russian. I live in the US; I just happen to have an appreciation for mat.

#103

I actually found myself enjoying HL1 most when playing on hard mode.
It made you more aware of your environment and check out every possibility.

Also, scenery is best experienced when as inaccessible as possible.
We all know that the actual waiting / striving for something creates more excitement than the actual thing itself.
It’s just like Christmas.
So if you just go through BM like some tourist, you’ll not be nearly as thrilled as when having to do a little something for it.

My two psychological cents.

#104

Yea I also love hard… but there are some pull your hair out moments because of it.

#105

This sounds really good. The Hard difficulty in Half-Life 2 was a joke

#106

D:

What kinds of “pull your hair out moments”?

More specifically, do all or most of them involve the HECU? I’ve always found them to be a massive health-drainer in the original Half-Life (on Normal) unless I methodically headshotted them with the power of quick save.

#107

Even then, they barely flinch from a double shotgun blast at point blank range.

#108

Hopefully, the HGrunts won’t take half of a MP5 magazine to kill

#109

Smart? They kill themselves with grenades and do other stupid things.

#110

Just the thing I wanted to ask. I really want to play it on hard mode (like to play like surviving, low ammo and health and that shit), but I just hate when the human enemies need 3 close shotgun blasts to the head. Can you tell us what is the difference for human soldiers between normal and hard mode?

#111

Honestly, I’ll start with “easy”. I’d rather enjoy Black Mesa, than to be frustrated that I keep on dying somewhere.

#112

I am unsure.

While I’ve managed to go through Half-Life 1 and 2 with full health/suit and full ammo I don’t know about how I’ll manage anything like that with Black Mesa’s better AI combined with less specific points the enemies will stop at.

Would there be a way to set the HECU grunts to a lower difficulty while keeping the rest of the game on hard? What about changing the damage I deal specifically to the HECU to a higher amount?

#113

Possibly console commands. But I won’t fiddle with that.

#114

MOOT
MOOT I SAY

#115

Medium the first time through, like most games.

I see medium as the benchmark for how a game is supposed to be played, the most “canon” as you will.

#116

Yeah… when I encounter them I usually spam the Tau cannon or the MP5 grenades. That takes them down quickly, and I usually have more than enough ammo for those since I spend about half the game saving them up for opportunities like that.

The MP5 grenade has actually become something of a main weapon for me, actually. It’s kind of funny since I use it probably way too much. Too bad its ammo capacity got nerfed in Black Mesa… that would’ve been fun to carry 10 of those things throughout the game. :stuck_out_tongue:

#117

IIRC, it has been stated that the Hgrunt’s health, at least on hard, has been improved when compared to HL. Also, i think ONLY ammo/health drops/pickups and your resistance to damage changes with difficulty.

sorry, too lazy to confirm. :meh: Perhaps, a browsing developer wont mind chiming in. :smiley:

#118

I dunno, the bulletsponge and aggressive nature of the HGrunts was kind of a defining part of HL1 for me. :stuck_out_tongue:

#119

I loved their aggressive nature, but prefer less resistance. Overall i still like hard the most, but Ill be glad if resistance is definitely adjusted compared to HL.

luckily, many parameters (including enemy health) can be modified through text files and other means.

#120

sk_plr_dmg_pistol 9001

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.