What was the hardest part of black mesa for you (Video)?

Black Mesa Archive The Cafeteria
#1

For me, my number 1 was definitely the part in Surface Tension where the VTOL dropship kept dumping HECU in the middle of the field. It literally took me almost 2 hours to get past that part. I must have reloaded 70 times. Here’s how I finally did it:

https://youtu.be/SQc4Mz51Hcc

The runner ups for most difficulty were:

  1. Questionable Ethics ambush
  2. Battle on the dam

Tell me what the hardest part was for you, and if possible, post a youtube video of you doing it. I want to see how you guys accomplished the hardest parts. It’s not that hard to make a video. Here’s a quick and dirty step by step for those who don’t know how:

PREREQS-

  1. Install VitualDub (google, get it from sourceforge)
  2. Install x264vfw (google, sourceforge)
  3. Install LAME MP3 ACM codec. MUST BE ACM, not the EXE. This is a bit of a pain if you’re on any 64bit os. You MUST install it from the command prompt if you are. It’s some rundll command. Just google “LAME MP3 ACM x64” The instructions are the same for XP, vista or 7, (as long as it’s 64bit) just copy paste the command after you download it.

METHOD-

  1. Activate the developer console under keyboard options in Black Mesa
  2. Get to the hard part where you want to record.
  3. Open the console (hot the ~ key) and type “record BMdemo”
  4. Beat the part that you thought was hard with the demo recording
  5. Type “stop” into the console when you’re done. If you died and messed up, type “stop” anyway and reload your save and type in the same record command and try again.
  6. With your successfully recorded demo, type “host_framerate 30” into the console.
  7. Without leaving the console, type “startmovie BMMovie” into the console. This makes a ton of .tga files in the BMS directory. 2min movies can be upward of 15 gigabytes in size so make sure you have the HDD space.
  8. Without leaving the console, type “playdemo BMdemo”
  9. This takes a long time. It will run at like 2fps as it makes the demo movie.
  10. Once done, type “endmovie” into the console.
  11. Exit Black Mesa and load up VirtualDub.exe
  12. File->Open video file and navigate to your steam directory, then steamapps, sourcemods, BMS and load up the first .tga file.
  13. Under “video” in VirtualDub select “Full Processing,” Then select “compression.” Select x264vfw and hit configure. Under “Rate control” Select “Single Pass - ratefactor based” and move the slider to 24 or less. Hit “Ok” a few times.
  14. Under “audio” in VirtualDub select “Full Processing,” Then “Audio From Another File.” In the same BMS directory select “BMMovie.wav.” Back under “Audio” in VirtualDub select “compression,” Then “Lame MP3,” Then “44100Hz, 128kbps CBR, stereo.” Hit “Ok”
  15. In VirtualDub under “File” Hit “Save As Avi…” and let it render.
  16. Upload to youtube.
  17. Post it here.

If you’re too lazy to make a video then just post were it was, but videos are much cooler. I want to see how you actually did it.

#2

Seriously? 2 rockets to the osprey, and its all over… took about 45 seconds. Hardest part was getting the hidden hat through the portals, hands down.

#3

2 rockets on easy

#4

Yeah, you must have been on easy mode or something, then. It took about five shots for me, and it dealt so much damage that it took me so many goes after so many deaths to bring it down. The hardest part for sure.

#5

@saphendym, this part really took you so long to figure out ? I remember it being hard too, but it took me maybe 3 times at most to understand that those airborne troops are going to keep coming and coming. If you run further passed the landing area you find a door which leads you to the second floor and there you find a stationary missile launcher. Only needs 2 missiles on easy difficulty to take it down and the troops stop coming.

In any case, I think the hardest part for me was the laser mine part in the Surface Tension chapter. Luckily I was recording at the time I was playing. In this video you will notice that I am quick saving and quick loading many many times as it was my first time playing this part.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZ5ms08INr0

PS: Thanks for posting instructions on how to record a video. But I really do not think that those are necessary.

#6

@orudie

Thanks for the video. I took a totally different route than you in the tripmine part, I found it tedious, but not too difficult. Lots of save/reloading like you.

Looking at how you dealt with the osprey, I think my main problem was retreating into the back of the tunnel you drop into. I killed those vorts and grunts and the quicksaved while still in the back of the tunnel. But by then the HECU were already well established. Every time I tried to sprint for it I died. Attacking the HECU and I died, they’d just respawn. I think If I would had run out there earlier it would have given me time to get to position while the NPCs were distracting each other. But I saved too late and was basing everything off that. I eventually found that if I dump all my ammo with the tau cannon on the HECU and aliens I could get through, but I didn’t know if I would need it later so I didn’t want to do that.

PS: The video instructions were just there because I felt they’d improve my odds for getting video responses.

#7

I built 4 routes into that tripmine puzzle.

#8

The part in ops post was the hardest for me as well, playing on hard. The mistake I made was killing the two vortigaunts when you drop down then looking around in that little garage area. The marines all piled up at the top of that ramp and no matter how many I killed they were always replaced. If I tried to walk up there at all to shoot down the Osprey I was shredded in seconds. I couldn’t even crouch walk up the ramp behind the wall on the right side because they were shooting me through that wall. Obviously that’s a bug, but I feel like if you don’t know to run out there right away that fight can go very differently.

#9

The only part I had any real trouble with was the portal jumping sequence, i knew which portals to go into, its just the jump is so low it took a dozen or so tries to get in. Combat wise the only time I died was fighting the apachi on the dam, and only because i thought I killed it and calmly strolled outside to look for health/ammo when it finished me off with a burst from the cannon and a brace of rockets.

#10

The dam when the Apache appears. I had to jump into the water ignoring everything, although I wanted to stay in the bridge so badass, but it wasn’t possible.

#11

I was confused, running in circles for about 10 minutes before I figured out how to activate the 2nd pump. But then again, after leaving for 10 minutes I came back to the game and figured it out in about 30 seconds, so that was probably my fault.

I guess the most difficult was the last quarter, maybe third of Surface Tension. After the first tank fight I didn’t have much health and there wasn’t exactly an abundance of medkits.

#12

Show off :stuck_out_tongue: :smiley:

I thought the most difficult part was the QE ambush and that was mainly because I didn’t expect it…however the scientist kind of made me careful, but even then it only took me 2 tries to get by it.

I thought the tripwire part wasn’t hard. I just kept crouched most of the time and duck-walked my way through it. I actually thought I did something wrong because I was jumping onto the elevator and “Wow that seemed fast” popped into my head. But that thought was quickly replaced by “Man that poor hive hand…got a colon exam”

#13

The QE ambush isn’t too bad if you use the crossbow since grunts die in one hit by it. I did a video of it on hard for your perusal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeClNph-CSI

#14

The Surface Tension fight between me, twelve soldiers, and a tank with the garage area. I died about twenty times there.

The Questionable Ethics finale was also pretty difficult, because I only had 15 suit battery to go on besides health. I gained a new appreciation for the crossbow after that fight.

Fights with the assassins were also pretty tough, but as long as I react quickly enough and use lots of explosives, I can survive sometimes.

My first trouble at all in combat was the first real firefight with grunts. The scientists running into the room saying “Take me! I’m the one man who knows everything!” will be forever etched into my memory because of the amount of times I died in this section.

#15

I tried so many times to save at least one of those scientists. Waste of time:/

#16

Saving both scientists :slight_smile: But i finally did it (hard dificulty):
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=97231465
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=97231428

#17

I loved this passage with the original HL so maybe that is why I didn’t failed here. Killed trhree soldiers with doubleshotgun at the left (no damage taken at all, then going down to the shaft, up, crossbow, go down, go up, crossbow, go down, go up, rocket launcher, rocket launcher, crossbow and fight was over ;o)

#18

Using that damn Airstrike control thingy while the Gargantua was shaking the structure :retard:

#19

I died the most in the Questionable Ethics ambush scene. It’s a pretty open area and as we all know by now, those marines are relentless (playing on Hard). However, at least half of those reloads were down to my unwillingness to just use the Tau Cannon to get out of what turned out to be the game’s stickiest situation.

That’s the trouble with that sixth sense you gain from having played the original game a thousand times. You’re always saving ammunition for a big set-piece rather than 100% reacting to new challenges you might be facing. And then you get to said set-piece and they’ve added a crate of ammunition anyway, so you feel like a right lemon.

Actually, I suspect a lot of people will come back to the mod at some future date and seriously reappraise it on its own merits, rather than with the minutiae of Half-Life constantly nagging at them…

#20

BTW thanks to the OP. It seems there is a better way to record a video without loosing FPS (like fraps). Will try some ;o)

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.