A year ago, you gave anyone who asks for Xen news the same answer you would always give, “it’s ready when it’s ready”.
Now that we have a picture, the floodgates are open for teasing!
You’re killing me, Famguy, you’re killing me.
is that a multi-player map? Why does that ramp have a directional arrow painted on it?
And why am I the first person to ask about this?
If I were to guess, the ramps were made for the scientists that were surveying Xen prior to the incident. They probably used the ramps in conjunction to the long jump module
If you hit the A button at just the right moment, you’ll do a trick and get extra points
Exactly.
Yeah I thought it was pretty obviously a visual guide for the ljm
Well if u say this, it remembers me at those world seen in Unreal 2.
They were busy terraforming the world (a bit like this cave), but in fact the planet was a living organism which attacked the player when u stole the artifact…
I was never able to get to the part of Unreal II because my game would always crash at the start of the chapter. It’s a shame, because it was a pretty fun game.
But yeah, the platforms are for the long-jump module, I assume. You can also see equipment, scaffolds, and some kind of space tent in the background.
It’s exciting to see this after so many years of waiting. 
I’m sure it’ll be fantastic. I look forward to any possible future media releases.
This isn’t a multiplayer map, this is from the earliest map in the Xen chapter (bm_c4a1a). There is a good narrative (and practical) reason behind the ramps and scaffold, which I would loooove to expand more on at some point in the future.
It IS longjump related, and it does have to do with training the player but in context to the levels narrative, which will unfold as you play through.
As for the thematic aesthetic of the cave, please remember, this is just one cave. We’re being careful to create a narrative to the enviroment as well as the gameplay, to build multiple layers of experience for the player, and this is just one of many enviroments and the least alien feeling. Those we want to save for another time to show.
That reminds me, will we encounter zombified HEV suit-wearing people or no? I just remembered that in Xen we will encounter dead members of the science team. It would make sense, I think.
I can understand if you guys and gals want to keep it under wraps.
My first thought upon seeing the screenshot was: HOLY CRAP. THIS IS AWESOME. My second thought was: This looks nothing like Xen with the exception of the glowing water, crystals and light stalk. Then I read the post and comments and I’m fully confident you guys will more than impress me with you’re vision of the border world. I always loved how alien and organic it looked and can’t wait to see the more alien parts later on. I also like the idea of it transitioning from earthly to alien.
P.S. would it be too soon for another screenshot for New Years?
I fully believe the “This looks nothing like Xen” is one of the main reasons that the developers are on the silent side of things, because things can become misconstrued. I admit, I thought it looked “nothing like Xen” as well (because I expect the organic and oozy water and this looks mostly like a cave on Earth), but I’m willing to wait to see what it looks like in context. Maybe the research team has terraformed this section of Xen. Maybe the Earthly realm and Xen (or whatever the place Vortigaunts, et al come from) are merging on the border world and nature is trying to keep things in balance. Maybe it’s another reason entirely.
However, the people that are mad at the developers because they released this juiciest of juicy screenshot is probably the reason they’re keeping mum.
I’d say, let’s enjoy what they provide and then, when they finally release Xen (or even more screenshots), THEN we can begin providing our input. I’m sure they’ve discussed all this before making this public. Let’s see what they provide in the future.
It’s going to be awesome!
I just want Xen to be the best it can possibly be. It’s rare, but sometimes the devs have made a few questionable decisions in the existing Black Mesa release and, while my advice comes from one fan out of many, I figure I am better off giving whatever they show us an honest critique- because pointing out what might be wrong is how to most quickly make the game better.
My only real complaint about this screenshot is that it doesn’t look like an alien world, In my opinion one of the Impressive things of Xen is that it looked truly like an alien world with all the flesh, nasty liquid and Alien-like plants … etc.
What I see in this screenshot is just a Cave with a water pond, I hope this isn’t the final look of Xen.
Welcome to the thread. Perhaps reading more than the OP would interest you?
If the next screenshot contains organic stuff, I’m sure we’ll see some people complaining about the lack of science and human stuff.
this is the internet if people do not see exactly what they thought it would be they will complain like idiots.
Do you mean that one second in time captured by a screenshot does not accurately portray all the maps and chapters in Xen[/size], nah that can’t be right.
This is awesome, a very nice Holiday present, indeed. And I actually kinda like the fact that we haven’t seen the more organic-alien portions of Xen, it builds anticipation for what’s to come, and really, Xen isn’t a specific place, it’s an inter-dimensional subway for beings to cross between dimensions, not all of it would look alien-y, when you think about it. I do have a question though, will there be more references to HL2 lore here? and will the Nihlanth’s cybernetic implants look more Combine-esque, considering it’s implied it’s kind was enslaved and hunted to extinction by them?